Chapter 163: Chapter 163: Cold Pool Bird
Meanwhile, Song Jiulai was in a dungeon that defied description.
The small worlds everyone else entered were all different.
Before Mu Qiu could even react, a demon beast lunged at her face.
Mu Qiu instinctively ordered Feixue to strike, but her blade passed right through its body.
’No, this isn’t a demon beast.’
It was more like the resentful spirit of some wild animal, clinging to the world with unresolved anger and letting out a harsh, grating shriek.
Terrifying, ghostly wails and howls echoed all around her.
Raging fires burned across the ground, scorching the earth black. The uneven terrain looked like the ruins of some ancient battlefield.
It stretched out endlessly, with no visible boundary.
Seeing no one else, Mu Qiu moved forward cautiously, step by step.
The area was so vast that after several steps, the horizon hadn’t seemed to shift at all, as if she were merely walking in place.
The searing flames warped the space around her, bringing waves of rolling heat.
Pale, mindless resentful spirits darted through the flames. Listening to their wails for too long was enough to make one’s head ache.
If she listened closely, she could almost make out the lingering sobs within their cries.
"Mother... Mother is gone..."
"Ada, where are you? Why haven’t you come for me?"
"Why can’t I practice Cultivation? I won’t accept this! I won’t!"
"Tianyang Sect..."
"Oh? Child, come here. Come over here..."
Suddenly, Mu Qiu heard a voice, its tone distinct from the other low, blurry whispers and shrieks.
It was clear, as if someone were beckoning her.
She looked up and saw a pale, humanoid shadow ahead, waving at her.
Its facial features were a blur, but its silhouette was vaguely recognizable as a woman with her hair tied in a bun.
"Come here, come here..."
The repeated beckoning put Mu Qiu on high alert.
As Mu Qiu drew closer, the figure floated toward her. With swift, ghostly movements, it circled her twice and muttered, "Strange. You’re very strange."
Mu Qiu’s scalp tightened. Her eyes followed the figure’s every move, her hand gripping Feixue, ready to strike.
This was despite the fact that Feixue had already proven unable to pierce these pale, unknown Spiritual Bodies.
"You can see me?"
The other Spiritual Bodies were like mindless beasts. Only this one seemed human, and it could actually see her.
"Hee..."
The Spiritual Body let out a short, cryptic laugh. The sound was crisp and nimble, like that of a vivacious young woman.
Mu Qiu was even more surprised.
"Of course I can see you. It’s just..."
The Spiritual Body drifted slowly in front of Mu Qiu, settling into a casual pose as if lying on its side in midair. "You’re not from the Yunzhou Continent."
This confident assertion startled Mu Qiu. "Nonsense!"
Of course, she had to deny it.
The players were perfectly clear about their own identities.
On the surface, they were Cultivators of Yunzhou, but in reality, they were players merely inhabiting borrowed bodies.
’I can’t expose my identity now.’
The woman laughed lightly again. "No need to deny it. Cultivators from the Yunzhou Continent can’t see us. It’s not as if I haven’t seen other Cultivators from Yunzhou before."
Mu Qiu lied through her teeth. "You’ve been in this Secret Realm for too long. The times have just changed on the outside..."
"Hee..." Another short chuckle. "Why are you so flustered? No one else can see me, and I have no way of telling anyone about this. I’m just so bored... After all these years, I finally have someone to talk to."
As she spoke, she even made a gesture of blowing a puff of air at Mu Qiu.
Mu Qiu instantly felt a light breeze brush past her.
But she felt nothing else.
Mu Qiu subconsciously complained to the System in her mind, ’Good thing I can’t smell it. The thought of how many years it’s been since she brushed her teeth would make me sick.’
System: "..."
’Why is the Sect Master so eccentric? The soldiers he trains are just as bizarre,’ the System thought.
Since the spirit couldn’t leave and no one else could see her, Mu Qiu grew bolder. "Then what are you? How long have you been here? And where is this place?"
"See? I told you you weren’t a local. If you were, how could you not know these things?"
Mu Qiu: "..."
But the female Spiritual Body was clearly very lonely and had no intention of hiding anything. "This is Wanhai Abyss City. You’ve probably never heard of it, but several hundred... or perhaps several thousand years ago, this was the kingdom of the Demon Cultivators."
Mu Qiu was astonished. "A kingdom of Demon Cultivators?"
Now that was a surprise!
The players knew a bit about Demon Cultivators by now; they were mortal enemies of humans.
Demon Cultivators could transform into demon beasts, but not all demon beasts were Demon Cultivators.
Some Demon Cultivators even ate people.
Mu Qiu looked around. "So where are the Demon Cultivators? All gone? The buildings too?"
The woman pointed to the ground. "All buried beneath your feet. If you had the power, you could unearth this whole land and witness the former glory of the Ten Thousand Seas Abyss."
Mu Qiu: "...And what level of power would that require, roughly speaking?"
The woman’s voice was filled with lazy amusement. "Oh, probably just the Transcendence Tribulation Stage."
Mu Qiu: "..."
’Isn’t that just asking for the impossible?’
While Mu Qiu was talking with the Spiritual Body, she wasn’t letting her other line of communication sit idle.
[Mu Qiu: I’m in the middle of a hidden quest storyline. A Demon Cultivator kingdom called Ten Thousand Seas Abyss came up. Does anyone with connections have any info on this city?]
[Qi Dazuo: You’re asking a bit much of us.]
[Han Tian: Ten Thousand Seas Abyss? Never heard of it. A kingdom of Demon Cultivators? Holy crap, what kind of insane hidden quest are you on to get that level of story?]
[Zhou Nvzi: Did you get put into a dungeon like me? Which small world are you in? @Mu Qiu]
[Zhen Weida: You guys are getting hidden quests? I’m so jealous!]
[Mu Qiu: @Zhou Nvzi I don’t know. A local NPC said this is the site of the Ten Thousand Seas Abyss ruins, and that it used to be a Demon Cultivator kingdom. That’s why I’m asking you all.]
[Lin Yuyu: Ten Thousand Seas Abyss Ruins? I’m at the Moon City Ruins. I wonder if they’re related.]
[Shuitan: ? What ruins? You guys aren’t fighting?]
Shuitan’s question brought a momentary silence to the private channel.
[Han Tian: You mean there are different quest lines in here? Obviously one of our bros just went in guns blazing.]
Of course Shuitan started fighting the moment he entered.
He hadn’t even figured out what was happening. He opened his eyes, and a demon beast was right in his face.
Unlike Mu Qiu’s experience, this demon beast was a living, breathing creature right in front of him.
He was surrounded by what looked like a dense forest. Towering trees blotted out the sky, making the environment feel oppressive.
The demon beast before him radiated intense malice. It spat a breath of icy energy at Shuitan, who immediately countered with a Sea View Sect Cultivation Technique, launching into battle.
This demon beast had a pair of enormous wings. It didn’t look like a normal bird, but more like a species of pterosaur from the legends of Blue Star.
Shuitan felt it looked vaguely familiar.
It was at least a Third Rank.
Shuitan was too caught up in the fight to get a good look. Its massive body and cunning blasts of icy breath were exceptionally difficult to handle.
It was more troublesome than a typical Third-stage Demon Beast.
It wasn’t until Shuitan had struck it with Palm Thunder, leaving it on the brink of death, that he suddenly remembered.
"Isn’t this a Cold Pool Bird?"
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