Chapter 2426: Chapter 2426
Ye Liuyun’s death training had finally begun.
A total of twelve members of the Black Killers had gathered for this session. Under the guidance of Wuhen and several other deacons, they stepped through a teleportation array and arrived in an unfamiliar world.
Ye Liuyun expanded his spiritual sense and realized this pocket dimension wasn’t particularly large—his current perception could easily cover its entire expanse. However, the place was thick with sinister energy, clearly no benign location. His senses also detected another group of martial practitioners, some clad in soldiers’ armor, likely military personnel.
Before this military contingent stood the entrance to a secret realm.
"Is this the training ground?" one of the members asked a deacon.
"No," the deacon replied bluntly. "But it’s extremely dangerous here. Stay close and follow our lead!"
With that, the deacons led the group toward the secret realm’s entrance. Though the distance seemed short, the deacons remained tense, their true energy coiled and ready, as if expecting an ambush at any moment.
Noticing their vigilance, Ye Liuyun activated his golden pupils to scan ahead. A vast swamp stretched before them, teeming with hidden specters. Beneath certain patches of mire lurked embers of ghostly flame—cleverly concealed traps.
He moved cautiously, sidestepping the wandering spirits while deliberately stepping into the ghostly flames to absorb their energy.
Seeing his careful demeanor, several of the other Black Killers sneered at him, mocking his apparent timidity.
"Scared before the training even begins?" The martial artist who had previously looked down on Ye Liuyun started provoking him again, drawing raucous laughter from the others.
Ye Liuyun ignored them, while the overseer up front reprimanded the troublemaker, urging everyone to stay alert.
"Must be nice having connections," the martial artist muttered under his breath, his tone dripping with envy.
Ye Liuyun glanced at the man’s position but didn’t react with anger—instead, he simply smirked.
The martial artist was taken aback that Ye Liuyun didn’t engage in a war of words, leaving him feeling deflated. But the next moment, his legs suddenly gave way as something cold and unseen seized his ankles.
His reflexes were sharp—after all, he was an elite assassin—and he immediately struck downward.
Yet his attacks did little to the spectral wraith beneath him. The ghostly figure slithered up his body like smoke, invading his mind in an instant.
The spirits here were no weaklings. A single wraith might not have been enough to overpower him—but then, several more surged from the swamp, flooding his consciousness in a chilling assault.
And it didn’t end there. As the wraiths ravaged his mind, ghostly flames erupted beneath his feet, engulfing him in an eerie blaze.
The onslaught happened in mere seconds. One overseer reacted swiftly, slamming his palm toward the flames to unleash a blast of frost, while another raised a golden mirror, directing its radiant light at the assassin.
"AAARGH!"
The wraiths inside the killer’s mind shrieked as the mirror’s glow forced them out, sending them fleeing back into the murky depths.
The ghostly fire was quickly suppressed—but not before the assassin’s legs were burned down to charred bone.
"AAAAH!" The man only registered the agony a second later, his scream tearing through the air.
Meanwhile, others in the group were also under attack. Having been alerted by the earlier incident, most had shielded themselves with protective energy, sustaining less severe injuries than the assassin.
Yet even those untouched by the ghostly flames found themselves targeted by vengeful spirits.
Only Ye Liuyun remained motionless, completely ignored by the spectral entities.
He had already sensed it—the spirits recoiled from him, repelled by the aura of the Underworld’s ruler that clung to his presence.
Amid the chaos, the overseers barked orders, urging everyone to flee the marsh as quickly as possible.
Ye Liuyun, however, kept his gaze fixed on the ground, absorbing the ghostly flames while carefully avoiding the treacherous muck. The swarming spirits around him might as well have been invisible.
The overseers struggled to protect both themselves and the Black Kill operatives, inevitably leaving gaps in their defense.
The assassin who had been burned earlier now fell victim to the spirits, his soul extinguished before his body collapsed into the bog.
"Move! Faster!" the overseers shouted, herding the group forward—all except Ye Liuyun, who lingered far behind.
"Keep up!" Wuhen sent a silent mental warning, urging him to stay with the group before he got left behind.
"Don’t worry about me. Go ahead," Ye Liuyun replied casually, strolling at his own unhurried pace.
Ahead, the spectral onslaught intensified. The group faltered under the assault, and one by one, unlucky members fell to the spirits’ merciless attacks.
From a distance, the watching soldiers placed bets on how many would make it out alive.
By the time the survivors reached the exit of the secret realm, only eight remained.
It was only then that the others finally noticed Ye Liuyun—still ambling leisurely through the marsh, untouched and unhurried.
The spectral wraiths had all vanished, not a single one daring to attack him. Even the ghostly flames were nowhere to be seen, as if they were deliberately avoiding him.
As Ye Liuyun approached, he noticed everyone staring at him. With an awkward chuckle, he offered, "Maybe I’m just too weak for those wraiths to bother with."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than the expressions of those around him twisted into horror, their eyes fixed on something behind him. Ye Liuyun turned to look—only to see countless wraiths surging from the swamp, accompanied by flickering ghostly flames.
If all these specters attacked at once, there was no way the group could hold them off.
*Oh no... the jig’s up!* Ye Liuyun thought, inwardly cringing. He knew exactly what the wraiths were about to do.
Then, to everyone’s shock, the spectral figures bowed deeply in unison—to him.
With a casual wave of his hand, Ye Liuyun dismissed them, and the wraiths and flames retreated back into the earth.
All eyes snapped back to him.
"Uh... I think they were just thanking me for not attacking them?" he offered lamely.
No one bought it, of course. These were seasoned cultivators—they weren’t fooled by such a flimsy excuse. But since Ye Liuyun wasn’t explaining, they could only speculate in silence.
Some who had underestimated him before now regarded him with newfound wariness. Others assumed he must have used some hidden treasure.
Wuhen, however, gave him an approving nod. Though he said nothing, pride swelled in his chest. His instincts had been right all along. He knew Ye Liuyun had subdued those wraiths through sheer power—not some artifact. In all the time he’d trained him, he’d never seen the young man rely on external aids.
As for what technique Ye Liuyun had used, Wuhen wouldn’t ask. A warrior’s secrets were their own.
Meanwhile, Ye Liuyun’s thoughts were grim. *Four dead already, and the real training hasn’t even begun. This "Journey of Death" is no joke.*
This encounter with the wraiths had been sheer luck. Next time, he might not be so fortunate.
Without wasting another second, he pulled out an energy core infused with primordial essence, converted from an exchange stone. Sitting cross-legged on the ground, he began absorbing its power.
*Every little bit counts. Gotta get stronger—fast.*
