Chapter 629 - 471: Gazing into the Abyss (3)
Chapter 629: Chapter 471: Gazing into the Abyss (3)
"King, could it be... that Archie is already dead?"
The man on the Bonescorch throne let out a low snort. "Impossible! As long as his true form isn’t destroyed, his body can regenerate even if it’s reduced to ash!
The Abyss... Did you find out why he brought that human woman’s corpse into the Abyss?"
Gus shook his head. "My King, the power of the Abyss is enough to destroy any of us undead. My men can’t get close... so..."
"Qianyan is dead, and Archie is missing..."
"By the way, my King! I heard Linden woke up near the Abyss right before his advancement. I’m not sure if it’s true, though..."
"Linden... Have him come see me."
"My King, have you forgotten? Linden was grievously injured after retrieving the seeds from the Tree of Life. He’s been in seclusion healing ever since. I’m afraid..."
"Never mind... I will go to the Abyss and investigate myself."
After the King departed, the bright Bonescorch Palace was plunged into darkness. From the shadows, Gus watched him go, his expression behind the skull mask utterly inscrutable.
’The Abyss... If I can use the King’s power to force a way through the Abyss, maybe I’ll be able to find him!’
Deep within the Land of Deathly Silence, it seemed you had reached the very edge. Yet, no matter how far forward you walked, you felt as if you were merely treading in place.
The surroundings were filled with identical flora and fauna, all sustained by Death Energy. There were mountains and rivers, but they too were formed entirely from Death Energy.
They were colorless and lifeless, devoid of any living creatures. Everything was born of Death Energy, and to Death Energy it would return.
Wrapped in Death Energy, the King approached a continuous mountain range. The terrain was treacherous and spanned a vast area. He traveled alone for a long time, traversing the entire mountain range before finally reaching a valley.
The valley was low-lying, with mountains soaring to the heavens behind him. But the path ahead looked as if it had been cleaved in two by some enormous, sharp object, creating a sheer drop. This formed a deep, abyssal fissure.
The fissure plunged straight down from the valley floor, its bottom lost to sight. An endless stream of undying energy seemed to rise from its depths.
"Such dense undying energy! If I had cultivated here long before manifesting my true form, my progress would have been twice as fast!" The man sighed. "A pity I can’t absorb the undying energy in this area. If I could..."
After only a moment’s glance at the entrance to the Abyss, he leaped in without hesitation.
He was surrounded by black rock formed from Death Energy. He fell quickly, yet there was no wind, only streams of black energy rushing past his body.
He drew a sharp breath, shocked by the density of the Death Energy. This was beyond dense! Here, one could absorb a lungful of Death Energy in a single breath. With this, how could one’s cultivation not be swift?
He also discovered that the deeper he went, the richer the Death Energy became. What’s more, the Death Energy now rising from below was a type he could actually absorb!
The man’s face lit up with excitement. He was glad he had risked this venture into the Abyss.
’No wonder Archie managed to manifest his true form despite his short years of cultivation. He must have had access to this treasure trove!’
As the Death Energy below grew ever richer, the man’s expression became increasingly fervent.
Suddenly, a colossal mass of blue ghost-fire appeared below. Its core pulsed with an eerie light, and it stared up at him like a great beast of the Abyss lying in wait.
Its size rivaled that of his Bonescorch Palace. Brimming with the power of ghost-fire, it moved through the Death Energy-filled Abyss as if it were a fish in water.
It lay in wait for the rapidly descending King, its flickering flames betraying its excitement.
It could sense that this sudden intruder possessed a primordial Death Energy. This was different from the Death Energy within the Abyss. They were born of the Abyss, within its Death Energy.
But for them, the Death Energy of the Abyss was like the oxygen humans breathe: essential for survival, but impossible to absorb as a source of power.
This man’s Death Energy, however, was a power that could be absorbed and used to grow stronger.
’If I devour him, I might just break through the final threshold and become the King of the Abyss.’
The King knew something was wrong the moment he saw the mass of blue ghost-fire hurtling toward him.
Here, his Death Energy was draining rapidly, and his speed was far slower than it had been outside the Abyss.
The blue ghost-fire appeared before him in an instant, seeking to envelop his head.
The moment it made contact, he felt his Death Energy rapidly draining away, siphoned into the creature’s blue core.
Meanwhile, the blue core grew purer and more powerful.
’This won’t do! If this continues, my Death Energy will be completely drained, and my true form will be exposed.’
’The land of the undying is filled with opportunistic jackals. For a King like myself, the slightest sign of weakness invites disaster. For the sake of the entire undead race, I must break free from this blue ghost-fire’s control and escape the Abyss immediately.’
With a ruthless glint in his eyes, he split his body in two.
One half he sacrificed to the blue ghost-fire, while the other seized the chance to flee upward, finally escaping the Abyss.
He looked back at the Abyss, his heart still pounding with fear. He gazed into the Abyss, and the Abyss gazed back. Now, he could see not only the blue ghost-fire, but swarms of cyan, green, yellow, and red ones, all trying to surge upward.
But halfway up, they were blocked by an invisible force, forced to retreat helplessly to the depths.
Just then, a pair of deep purple eyes suddenly opened in the Abyss. They were like the eyes of a great beast just awakening, and the sight sent a tremor through his very Divine Soul.
’What in the world was that?’