Volume I: The Emperor's Sword Chapter 146: Requesting Passage Through the Underworld

Yun Que first went to the side of the blood-feathered spider's carcass.

This spider had a total of four fangs, and Yun Que collected the remaining three.

The thousand-silk web could only be pierced by the fangs, which might prove useful in the future.

He then used a spider fang to cut the thousand-silk web, rolled it into a large ball, and stored it in his spatial ring.

Finally, he stowed the massive carcass of the blood-feathered spider into his spiritual beast space.

Since the spatial ring had plenty of room, the corpse of a fourth-tier demonic beast could be brought back in exchange for sword tassels.

More than half of the storage bags scattered across the ground were completely destroyed and shattered beyond recognition, the items inside crushed along with them and rendered useless.

There were still about four hundred intact ones, all of which Yun Que gathered up.

Not to mention other gains, the items inside these storage bags alone were enough to amount to an astronomical figure.

Moving effortlessly through the curtain of rain, Yun Que sometimes stepped on his sword and sometimes sprinted, hurrying along the way.

He had no need to fear the threat of the sword rain, intending to search and see if there were any spatial passages that had not yet closed.

A year was far too long; if they could not get out, Mu Qingyao and the others would likely die within this transformed realm.

Even with a large supply of spiritual pills on Yun Que's person, it would not sustain them for long.

The pills would eventually be exhausted, and once the resources ran out, there would be nothing more they could do.

They had to get out!

Yun Que wore a grave expression as he searched the transformed realm at high speed.

After a full two hours of searching, he found nothing.

Not a single spatial passage remained.

Every single exit leaving the Sword Burial Ground had completely closed.

Halting his steps within a patch of the forest, Yun Que paused to catch his breath.

Not far away, faint rumblings of thunder echoed faintly—that was the core region of the transformed realm, shrouded beneath dark clouds.

The sword rain grew heavier, and the distant landscape became hazy, making it no longer suitable for searching.

Yun Que abandoned the idea of looking for an exit.

He grabbed a high-grade flying sword and closed his eyes in meditation.

Immediately, his sword veins were driven to their fullest potential, and a faint layer of black aura coated the surface of the longsword.

That was the power of the fatal tribulation!

Yun Que had never displayed this before in front of others and had rarely used it casually.

This power was far too terrifying; even Yun Que himself found it difficult to control. If he were the least bit careless, not only would he suffer a backlash, but any living creatures nearby might also be implicated.

This was the exact reason why he had never resorted to it during his fierce battle with the blood-feathered spider earlier.

Now, Yun Que intended to use the power of the fatal tribulation to test whether he could slash open a tear in the transformed realm to achieve the goal of reaching the outside world.

At this moment, Yun Que's expression was incomparably solemn.

He carefully sensed the ultimate load-bearing limit of the fatal tribulation's power.

When the black aura on the longsword grew dense to a certain degree, a trace of pain crossed Yun Que's brow, and then he swung his sword fiercely, hacking out a surging sword qi amidst the curtain of rain.

Clang!

The curtain of rain was cleaved apart!

The sword qi carrying the power of the fatal tribulation almost slashed ripples across space itself.

The longsword snapped in response, shattering into dozens of pieces that tumbled to the ground.

During their descent, these sword fragments seemed to have traversed a long river of time, instantly shedding all their sharpness and becoming covered in rust.

Once they hit the ground, the once high-grade magical artifact flying sword had turned into a pile of scrap metal.

Yun Que lowered his head to look at the fragments beneath his feet, a chill of horror rising in his heart.

The erosion caused by the power of the fatal tribulation was actually terrifying to such a degree!

It could even corrode magical artifacts; if he were to use too much of it himself, he would be reduced to ashes in an instant!

No wonder Uncle Wang had once warned that the power of the fatal tribulation was not suited for the weak. Not to mention weak cultivators, even Foundation Establishment and Core Formation experts could not withstand this thing.

Yun Que shook his head helplessly.

If his sword veins had not already been formed, the power of the fatal tribulation he had just unleashed would have been enough to destroy him hundreds or thousands of times over!

Spatial ripples spread outward, gradually returning to tranquility.

The power of the fatal tribulation, unleashed by Yun Que to its extreme limit, failed to cleave open the space of the transformed realm.

His idea of cutting a gap to escape was officially declared bankrupt.

Finding a sword-bone tree, Yun Que climbed to the top.

He released his mutant sword soul to act as a guard, while he himself sat cross-legged at the treetop with his eyes closed, resembling someone in deep meditation.

The next moment, his primordial spirit awoke within the sea of consciousness space.

On the surface of the river, hunting black robes swayed silently.

"Uncle Wang, I am trapped in a transformed realm space. Can you break through the transformed realm?"

Yun Que truly had no other options left and had to turn to Kong Wang for help.

"I can."

Kong Wang's voice was low and concise, sounding to Yun Que like the music of heaven.

"Mu Qingyao and Zhou Yuanliang and the others are saved after all!" Yun Que said happily.

"Only you yourself can get out." Kong Wang's voice continued, low and indifferent.

Yun Que was suddenly startled.

"Why?"

"Because my power is the power of the fatal tribulation, unless you wish to bring some corpses out with you."

Yun Que instantly understood. He gave a fierce stomp of his foot, wearing a look of helplessness.

Uncle Wang could use his power to carry him through the transformed realm and reach the outside world, but if he brought anyone else along, whoever it was would have to face the shrouding of the fatal tribulation's power head-on.

They would get out, yes, but that momentary shrouding process would be enough to kill Mu Qingyao, Zhou Yuanliang, and the others.

"Can you cut a hole in the transformed realm first, and then we crawl out?"

Yun Que's anticipation was met only by Kong Wang's slow shake of the head.

"A transformed realm is a world unto itself, each possessing its own spatial rules. To break through it, it must be done in an instant; there is no such thing as opening a door first and leaving afterward," Kong Wang explained simply.

Although a transformed realm was not a true heaven and earth, it still had rules resembling spatial laws, and entering and exiting had specific regulations.

Having arrived in this small world, one could only abide by its rules.

Yun Que sat by the banks of the River of Forgetfulness, worrying.

After a long while without coming up with any other ideas, his gaze fell upon the blind snake nearby, eyeing it up and down continuously.

He wondered if the snake's skin could block the sword rain, Yun Que pondered wildly in his heart.

The blind snake suddenly grew alert.

As if sensing malicious gazes, it flicked its forked tongue, its body taut.

Was this fellow about to become a spirit?

Yun Que found the blind snake's vigilance strange; he was merely thinking about it and hadn't actually intended to skin the snake, so how was it that the blind snake seemed able to sense hostility?

Didn't it lack eyes?

Yun Que had no mind to dwell on the blind snake's oddities and continued to rack his brains for a solution by the riverside.

In truth, he had fallen into a misconception.

This was his own sea of consciousness space; every shift in his thoughts and intentions would affect the entire space. The slightest bit of hostility floating in Yun Que's mind could be infinitely magnified within this sea of consciousness space, reaching a degree where the blind snake could perceive it.

Seeing that Yun Que continued to sit by the riverbank without taking any actual action, the blind snake silently crawled into the distance.

If we can't afford to provoke you, we can at least hide from you.

"If only this river could connect to the outside world..."

Yun Que muttered, suddenly recalling something as he murmured, "Connecting to the outside world, connecting... Uncle Wang! Can we borrow the path of the Underworld to leave the transformed realm?"

Yun Que thought of the boundary-fixing plate left behind by the Yaksha Fire Fiend.

Since the boundary-fixing plate could open a temporary passage to the Underworld, might it be possible to use the Underworld to achieve the effect of spatial relocation back to the mortal realm?

After all, the Yaksha Fire Fiend had dared to come to the mortal realm relying on the boundary-fixing plate, and he could use it to return to the Underworld at any time.

Yun Que's wild imagination actually received affirmation from Kong Wang.

"We can."

Yun Que was suddenly stunned, followed by an outburst of joy.

Kong Wang's indifferent voice echoed faintly: "However, there is one premise: you must be able to withstand the aura of the Underworld."

Yun Que did not understand just how terrifying the aura of the Underworld was, but he figured it certainly wouldn't be weak.

The Underworld was definitely not a pleasant place to linger.

"To withstand the aura of the Underworld, your friends certainly couldn't manage it elsewhere, but within the transformed realm, it is very simple." Kong Wang dropped a bombshell.

"Sword-qi raincloak!" Yun Que was extremely clever; a single hint made everything clear.

Kong Wang nodded slowly.

The sword rain originated from the Thunder Tribulation Sword Spirit and belonged to the evolution of the Nine Tribulations Sword Power. As long as they could condense a sword-qi raincloak, they would have a chance to resist the aura of the Underworld.

This time, Yun Que finally saw hope.

"How far do we have to walk in the Underworld to leave the transformed realm space?"

Yun Que asked for guidance.

This point was crucial; if they went through dangers in the Underworld only to find themselves still trapped in the transformed realm upon coming out, it would all have been for nothing.

Borrowing the path of the Underworld sounded simple, but in reality, it meant risking life and limb. Once was the absolute limit; they could never attempt a second time.

Kong Wang fell silent for a moment, then uttered two words concisely.

"Ten miles."

Ten miles...

Yun Que's expression turned incomparably serious. He knew that this ten-mile journey would undoubtedly be a trip through life and death.

Leaving the sea of consciousness space, Yun Que intended to return immediately.

Just as he was about to jump down from the sword-bone tree, his gaze suddenly shifted, and he looked toward the edge of the distant forest.

Something was moving slowly, looking rather like a person.

Strange.

Yun Que hesitated for a moment, then approached the figure.

Indeed, it was a person, their aura extremely faint, while a small insect was pushing them along, treating them as food.

When he clearly saw the person's appearance, Yun Que was startled.

"Wu Dachuan!"