Chapter 1883 - The Nether Dungeon's Warden and Jailer.
Chapter 1883: The Nether Dungeon’s Warden and Jailer.
The cultivators of the Zhenyu Clan all looked at Zhang Ruochen, showing a look of both anxiousness and expectation.
Did an even more advanced Blood Suppressant Talisman really exist?
If it did, then it would be a deadly weapon against the Immortal Vampires. Even a powerhouse like Baihuan Shenzi would need to flee, and never dare to step into the holdings of the Zhenyu Clan again.
Zhang Ruochen pondered for a moment, and took out the rune imprint of the ‘Supreme Saint Blood Suppressant Talisman’ and handed it to Shi Qiankun.
“There’s actually an even more advanced Blood Suppressant Talisman.
“Great! With it, no matter how many powerful Immortal Vampires were to come, we can suppress them.”
The cultivators of the Zhenyu Clan were all delighted and excited.
Shi Qiankun carefully took the rune of the Supreme Saint Blood Suppressant Talisman, feeling quite surprised. Can a Nine-step Saint King, or even a Supreme Saint of the Immortal Vampires be suppressed with just a talisman?
Shi Qiankun observed the rune imprint intensively, and first, there was a hint of joy on his face, but as time passed, the look of joy disappeared, and his expression gradually turned solemn.
The Supreme Saint Blood Suppressant Talisman was very complicated, and its runes arcane.
Some of the runes, even with Shi Qiankun’s attainments in talisman-making, felt like he was reading some divine tome, it was quite difficult to understand, and some how he could not grasp them.
WHOOSH!!
Shi Qiankun used his fingers as a brush to draw the runes in mid-air.
After more than a dozen tries, all of it failed.
Shi Ren, upon seeing Shi Qiankun’s forehead was drenched with sweat, and his eyes bloodshot, he immediately awakened Shi Qiankun from his immersion. “Father, don’t push yourself too hard. Wake up.”
Shi Qiankun shuddered all over, before letting out a long sigh, before finally looking away from the rune.
He messaged his temples and sighed. “My spiritual power is not strong enough. I’m afraid I won’t be able to draw out the Supreme Saint Blood Suppressant Talisman. A shame, what a shame.”
“Patriarch, your spiritual power is already of the fifty-seventh level, and it’s not strong enough?” Elder Xuanfeng said.
Shi Qiankun shook his head, and handed the rune to Shi Ren, saying. “Ren, my son, your spiritual power strength have suppressed mine. How about you give it a try?”
Shi Ren took the rune and tried, but it still ended in failure.
“The Supreme Saint Blood Suppressant Talisman is just too arcane! Every circuit is like a river of tens of thousands of miles long. Trying to draw out those rivers on a small talisman is already difficult. Moreover, trying to draw tens of thousands of rivers together on the talisman. It’s too difficult, too difficult. Only a spiritual power Supreme Saint would be able to do that. Plus, that spiritual power Supreme Saint would need to have deep understanding of the path of talisman for him to do it.” Shi Ren sighed repeatedly.
The atmosphere in the Sword Vault Palace became heavy.
Shi Qiankun said. “If father was around, perhaps he could have given it a try.”
Shi Qiankun’s father, named Shi Mingyuan, was also the Elder Patriarch of the Zhenyu Clan.
Two hundred years ago, Shi Mingyuan entered the fifteenth level of the Nether Dungeon, trying to breakthrough the path of martial arts Saint King realm. The original estimated time for his confinement was three years.
But two hundred years had passed, and Shi Mingyuan had never reappeared from the fifteenth floor of the Nether Dungeon, and was most likely dead.
Although two hundred years ago, Shi Mingyuan was only a Half-step Saint King in the path of martial arts. However, the strength of his spiritual powers was unfathomable, and was a person that could be spoken in the same sentence alongside the lord of the Martial Market, Wu Zun. As for his attainment in talisman-making, even if Shi Mingyuan was not the first in Kunlun, he would at least be in the top three.
Shi Ren’s expression changed slightly. “Father, in the past, our cultivation level was just too low, and we dared not go into the Nether Dungeon to look for grandpa. With our strength now, maybe we can give it a try.”
Shi Qiankun’s eyes condensed, as he stood up, and paced back and forth in the Sword Vault Palace, as if he had some concerns.
In fact, he had long thought of going into the fifteenth level of the Nether Dungeon, however, the fifteenth level held the Great Ruiner, Lord Ming who had once wrecked Kunlun Realm, so the matter had always been set aside.
Shi Ren hurriedly continued. “Faher, you don’t have to hesitate anymore, if grandpa is not dead, and is trapped in the fifteenth level of the dungeon, then we can rescue him. Plus, we are not fighting alone. Brother Zhang and his friends will also aid us.”
Zhang Ruochen had the idea of entering the Nether Dungeon, and naturally would not miss this opportunity. So he stood up and said. “I have a rather bold request, and I hope Senior Shi can answer me.”
“What bold request do you speak of?” Shi Qiankun asked.
Zhang Ruochen said. “Is the third disciple of Emperor Ming, Bao Lie, held in the Nether Dungeon?”
Shi Qiankun shook his head and said. “I’m not sure about this matter. You can only get the answer from the three great wardens of the Nether Dungeon. While the Zhenyu Clan are responsible for guarding the dungeon, however the person in charge are the Wardens and the Jailors.”
The Nether Dungeon had always been guarded by four wardens.
However, when the Azuresky Blood Emperor attacked the Zhenyu Clan, he had killed one of the wardens. So, now there were only three left.
Lead by Shi Qiankun, Zhang Ruochen and the rest went into the depths of the Sword Vault, and came to the bottom of a turtle-shaped stone mountain.
The stone mountain was pitch black, and stood hundreds of feet tall, its surface as smooth as a mirror.
Rather than calling it a mountain, it was better to call it a massive black boulder buried in the ground.
“This is the entrance to the Nether Dungeon!” Shi Qiankun said.
“Entrance? I don’t see any?”
Xiang Chunan walked to the bottom of the stone mountain and slapped his palm on the smooth stone wall as he looked for something like a switch or a secret tunnel.
Suddenly, two golden leaves grew on the stone wall, and was as huge as a fan.
The two leaves flew up, and like a golden butterfly, appeared on the top of Xiang Chunan’s head.
“Woah! What the hell is this? Where did it come from?”
Xiang Chunan yelped and slapped his palm out. His powerful palm strike struck the two golden leaves.
BOOOMM!!
A layer of golden light appeared from inside the leaves, and the light curtain had tens of thousands of saint path precepts intertwined in it, blocking Xiang Chunan’s palm strike, and sending him tumbling backward.
Shi Qiankun stood before Xiang Chunan as he clasped his fist and saluted. “Warden Goldleaf, please put aside your saint arts. He is not an enemy, but a friend of the Zhenyu Clan.”
“Warden?”
Xiang Chunan’s eyes widened, and he found it unbelievable.
Two pieces of tree leaves could be a warden?
Zhang Ruochen had a thought and carefully observed the two golden leaves. He saw at the center of the two leaves was a very tiny person, the size of a thumb.
The two leaves grew on its back.
“That is a Gold Leaf Maize, and it has grown for at least a hundred thousand years.” Ji Fanxin sent a telepathic message to Zhang Ruochen.
The Gold Leaf Maize opened its mouth, and sucked all of the golden light back into its stomach, and did not continue to attack Xiang Chunan.
Soon after, two other wardens appeared one after another. Both of them were plants, one was a pink flower, and another a green-skinned melon.
Upon seeing the three wardens, Zhang Ruochen frowned. Can these three guard the Nether Dungeon where countless of vicious beings and beasts were held?
Awesome the Little Taoist flew to Zhang Ruochen’s shoulder, and said with a low voice. “Why it doesn’t look right?”
Zhang Ruochen remained calm and said. “At the very least… at the very least their cultivation are still very powerful, and each of them have strength comparable to powerhouse of the Precept Dominion realm.
“Can they actually guard Long Ming with them alone?” Awesome the Little Taoist kept shaking its head.
WHOOSH!!
There was a flash on the stone wall of the mountain, as a bald old man walked out. He was clad in a gray official gown, with an ancient mark of ‘jailer’ printed on his chest.
The bald old man seemed to be covered with age spots, his eyes were dull, and seemed to be a little unstable when he walked.
“Is this the jailer of the Nether Dungeon?” Xiang Chunan asked.
“That’s right, this… old one, is the only jailer of the Nether Dungeon.”
The bald old man raised his head, and seemed to not see where Xiang Chunan was actually standing, as he smiled at the small rock to the right of Xiang Chunan.
Awesome the Little Taoist took a deep breath and said again, “Zhang Ruochen, both the Kunlun Realm and Zhenyu Clan sure have a big heart, to let this old coot become a jailer, and the only jailer to boot.”
The bald old man seemed to have heard Awesome the Little Taoist’s voice, and looked at Murong Yue beside Zhang Ruochen, and let out a gentle smile. “It’s mainly due to the fact that the Nether Dungeon is just too sturdy, and the prisoners inside cannot escape at all. So anyone can be a jailer.”
A strange look flashed in Shi Qiankun’s eyes, as he walked over and saluted the bald old man. “Elder Kong, you haven’t changed even after so many years.”
The bald old man said to Shi Ren who was standing next to Shi Qiankun. “You think that I should have died?”
Shi Qiankun said. “No, I wouldn’t dare.”
The old man before him looked like an ordinary person, without any energy fluctuations on him. Yet, Shi Qiankun had seen him two hundred years ago, and he was no different from back then.
Shi Qiankun’s father, Shi Mingyuan, had once said that he had seen Elder Kong when he was a child, and that Elder Kong looked the same as now.
So, Shi Qiankun suspected that Elder Kong was not human, but rather, a plant like the four wardens, so that’s why he had such a long life.
Shi Qiankun said. “Elder Kong, a Swordbearer of the Zhenyu clan wants to ask you about something.”
“Swordbearer? Which swordbearer?” Elder Kong asked.
“Zhang Ruochen, the eighteenth generation Swordbearer of the Dreadblade. Salutations.”
Zhang Ruochen came before Elder Kong and saluted him.
Elder Kong tried his best to open his eyes, and looked at Murong Yue beside Zhang Ruochen before stretched out a trembling hand and said. “Take out the Dreadblade and let me have a look.”
“That… I have left the Dreadblade at somewhere else, and did not bring it with me.” Zhang Ruochen said.
“Ah, is that so!”
Elder Kong lowered his head again, looking a little disappointed, and then asked. “What do you want to inquire about?”
“About eight hundred years ago, had Princess Chi Yao of the Chiqing Central Empire locked a living being named Bao Lie inside the Nether Dungeon?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
“It had been eight hundred years, how would I remember? I’ll help you check, maybe there had been a record.”
Elder Kong stretched his hand into his sleeves and pulled out a mud pot. Inside the mud pot was a cactus ball burning in flames, its needles was extremely sharp, and emitted nine-circle of flame halos.
“Not this, not this, the wrong one!”
Elder Kong stuffed the mud pot back into his prison robe, and continued to fumble about.
Shi Qiankun saw the cactus ball, and his eyes twitched. He recognized that it was Warden Fengying who was killed by the Azuresky Blood Emperor. It was actually planted in the pot and was actually still alive.