Nan Zhi thought for a moment and came to a decision.
“I still want to try. Please give me a jade token.”
According to the memories left by the Locust God, the fall of the North Province had begun in the mortal realm. Five hundred years later, anomalies occurred in the Wuwang Sea, and trillions of hungry ghosts and Sky Demons emerged from the source of the black mist, slaughtering the twelve nations of the four directions.
Since then, the North Province was no longer a homeland. The former land of spiritual cultivation had been reduced to scorched earth, a vast kingdom of demons and monsters.
“Good advice is wasted on a ghost hell bent on dying!”
Seeing that he could not dissuade her, the cultivator sighed. He grabbed a jade token and tossed it to her.
“Killing one hungry ghost earns you one low grade spirit stone. If you obtain the corpse of a demon beast, regardless of the species, the Wuwei Sect will buy it at market price as long as you can bring it up.
“Just pick any Vermilion Bird Lock, tie yourself to it, and jump. This chain is made of South Sea black dark iron; even if your bones shatter, this chain won't snap.
“If you run out of strength and can't hold on, just grit your teeth and grip the chain. You might find a way to live.
“Also, keep this jade token with you. If the light on it fades, climb up as soon as possible to avoid dying down there from spiritual energy exhaustion.”
“One hungry ghost is only worth one low grade spirit stone? This really is hard earned money.”
Nan Zhi took the jade token and examined it closely. She noticed formations carved on both sides, likely used for timing and counting.
“Fellow daoist, you haven't mentioned the price for killing a Sky Demon.”
“A Sky Demon?”
The cultivator laughed. He exchanged a glance with his fellow disciples sitting nearby, and they all burst into laughter.
“Those things stay deep in the Wuwang Sea and can't climb up. Even if a rare few bypass the formation and you happen to run into one, you're only at the Foundation Establishment stage. Instead of thinking about how to save your life, you're boastfully talking about slaying a Sky Demon?”
“This fellow daoist probably doesn't know the power of a Sky Demon. Although they have 'demon' in their name, they are neither demon nor monster, neither spirit nor ghost. Ordinary spells cannot deal with them.”
“Exactly. Those things are incredibly troublesome. They devour pills and swallow formations; they can even gnaw through artifacts and flying swords.”
Someone offered a smiling word of comfort:
“But you don't need to worry. We have a sect ancestor stationed on the Splendid Platform, and the ship is protected by the Map of the Heavenly Net laid out by the masters and grandmasters of the formation branch. Sky Demons generally cannot get near the hull.”
Nan Zhi knew very little about Sky Demons, and the memories from the Locust God were fragmented and blurry, offering no clues.
The prompt given by the system was that she only needed to collect forty nine secret realm fragments in the real world to rewrite the ending of the Four Provinces Continent's collapse.
But as for why the Four Provinces Continent would collapse, Nan Zhi had never found the reason.
She had a premonition that her trip to the Rakshasa Sea Market might solve this mystery.
...
Following the directions of the Wuwei Sect cultivator, Nan Zhi unhooked a section of iron chain from an empty Vermilion Bird Lock and fastened it around her waist.
Beneath each Vermilion Bird Lock was an iron wheel. If a lowered black iron chain showed no movement for a long time, a Wuwei Sect disciple would step forward to check and pull the Vermilion Bird Lock back up.
“Sigh, another one gone.”
A yellow robed cultivator turned an iron wheel. At the end of the long black iron chain was only half of a blood soaked corpse that looked like an alligator dragon.
The people nearby hesitated at the sight, staring into the dark expanse and wavering, not daring to jump.
Nan Zhi also took a glance, but then she leaped, her entire body following the direction of the wind as she plunged straight into the abyss!
The wind was incredibly fast!
During the rapid descent, the clouds and mist stinging her face felt like countless steel needles pricking her skin. The iron chain behind her clattered until a loud splash echoed; she had clearly reached the bottom!
If one did not manage the force properly, they could easily be snapped in two at the waist by the iron chain!
“Ah!”
Several screams drifted through the mist.
Nan Zhi did not panic at all. She kept her eyes forward, her feet treading upon the ship's hull as if it were level ground. She ran quickly, and just as she was about to reach the very bottom, she twisted her waist and rode the wind, landing steadily on a protrusion on the ship's underside that was just large enough for one person to stand!
Only then did she begin to observe her surroundings.
The sky was filled with black mist.
It was impossible to see the surface of the sea.
Unlike fresh, damp white mist, this black mist had no physical form. It was more like a sticky, soft shadow draped over the sea.
Boundless and endless.
And on the bottom of the ship, there were indeed dense swarms of hungry ghosts climbing upward. They roared and shrieked with hideous faces, crowding together like barnacles on the hull.
These hungry ghosts came from the sea surface. As the black mist passed over, these pitch black things latched onto the bottom of the ship like leeches.
The hungry ghosts had no capacity for thought; they simply buried their heads and gnawed at the ship's planks, but even after gnawing for a long time, they failed to scratch the surface of the hull.
Suddenly sensing the scent of a living person, they naturally turned at once, crawling toward Nan Zhi's position.
“Urgh...”
“Roar!”
“Go!”
Nan Zhi cast a fire curse. A basketball sized fireball split into three, turning into three sparks that crashed into the swarm of hungry ghosts. Immediately, several hungry ghosts were struck by the sparks and fell into the black mist, struggling.
Nan Zhi waited patiently for a long time, but she never heard the sound of the hungry ghosts hitting the water. She felt puzzled and also noticed that the circulation of her spiritual energy felt slightly sluggish.
It was like computer lag, like having a ping of 460 while gaming; moving spiritual energy through her body within the black mist was slightly difficult.
Fortunately, she did not need to rely on the spiritual energy in her sea of qi to ride the wind, which saved her a lot of effort.
While Nan Zhi cleared the hungry ghosts beneath the ship, she pondered the strangeness within the black mist. Unknowingly, she ignored the fact that the light on the jade token was gradually fading.
Clatter clatter clatter!
The iron chain began to turn. Nan Zhi felt a massive force pulling her, but she wanted to observe a bit longer, so she took out the Fish Dragon Guillotine and tapped the chain to signal.
The sound of the chain being pulled stopped abruptly.
...
“Logically speaking, hungry ghosts are evil spirits transformed from people who committed many misdeeds in life. They should be active in the Underworld. Why would they appear near the Wuwang Sea?
“And this black mist... why can it interfere with the circulation of spiritual energy? Could it be related to the great disaster of the Wuwang Sea five hundred years from now?”
Nan Zhi rubbed her chin and thought for a long while. Suddenly, her gaze sharpened as she looked directly at a certain spot in the black mist.
That damned, familiar fragrance.
It was back.
She had smelled this scent on Huiyuan before.
On the locust corpse Ma San, it had been especially pungent.
A rich, heavy aroma woven from various tangled scents.
Now, it had appeared again in this vast Wuwang Sea, thousands of feet in the air.
Nan Zhi stared at that spot in the black mist without blinking.
The flying ship sped along, the wind howling.
The fragrance drew closer and closer.
Yet there was no change in the surroundings, and even her divine sense could not detect anything.
Crack!
Nan Zhi suddenly lunged. Riding the wind beneath her feet, she swung the Fish Dragon Guillotine down with immense force. A spray of black liquid erupted from the air!
“Ha!”
From the shadows of the void, a one zhang tall black humanoid monster emerged. It was completely different from the hungry ghosts.
It had a humanoid body and an exceptionally large head, yet its face was only the size of a palm. Aside from a pair of hollow white eyes devoid of any emotion, it had no other facial features.
That fragrance was being emitted from its body.
It was very similar to a hungry ghost.
But this thing felt pain, possessed intelligence, and knew how to hide.
【Low level Sky Demon (Zhemu): Level 10】
“What kind of freakish thing is this? It only has Qi Refinement cultivation, yet it could actually evade my divine sense?”
Nan Zhi pressed down hard with the long blade, but she felt no sensation of cutting through flesh. Instead, it felt like she was hacking into a giant piece of modeling clay.
Sizzle sizzle sizzle!
A series of sharp noises came from the edge of the Fish Dragon Guillotine. Nan Zhi was horrified and immediately pulled the blade back. Sure enough, in just that short moment, the tip of the blade had been corroded and dulled!
Dammit!
This blade was worth eighteen fecal stones!
Nan Zhi was furious. She swapped the blade for her fist and slammed it into the monster's head.
Pfft!
Fortunately, this thing was not immortal. Its head was crushed, and its body instantly lost all strength, falling limply downward.
Nan Zhi reached out to grab it, intending to put it into her storage bag, but she found herself blocked by a distinct barrier.
What kind of freakish thing is a Sky Demon?!
Her eyes widened in surprise.
Rate on N.U.
