Chapter 82: The Realm of the Undead

Amid the rolling yellow sands, the thunder of hooves echoed. I rode atop my horse, a compass in one hand as I calculated, the other gripping the reins to adjust our course. Before long, I pulled the horse to a stop, gazing at the slow-moving river of sand before me.

"This is the place—the Celestial Burial Sand River of the Yuezhi tribe, and the very source of the Yin Vein," I murmured to myself. Yet, the source of a Yin Vein should have been thick with sinister energy and teeming with malevolent spirits, but here I felt nothing at all.

Dismounting, I walked to the edge of the sand river and reached out, letting the fine grains slip through my fingers. Suddenly, something seized my hand, a powerful force yanking me toward the sand river.

Startled, I thrust my Blood Fiend Blade into the sand with my free hand. In an instant, whatever had gripped me let go; black water surged from the yellow sand, only to be swallowed again moments later.

I stepped back and lifted my captured hand. Through my Yin-Yang Sight, I saw several finger marks etched into my flesh, exuding a dense aura of death.

At that moment, an uncanny sensation prickled my instincts—a presence lurking in the shadows, watching me. I scanned the surroundings but found nothing amiss.

"This place is indeed cursed. The source of the Yin Vein is here, yet it seems to shift with the river's flow," I muttered.

I pressed on, but suddenly my horse reared and neighed in terror. I glanced over to see two streams of black mist twining around its legs, dragging it toward the sand river.

With a low shout, I leaped forward, slashing the black mist with the Blood Fiend Blade. Where the blood-red light swept, the black mist vanished like smoke.

But before I could catch my breath, alarm bells rang in my mind—my scalp prickled as I dodged to the side. A streak of golden flame brushed past me, followed by a roaring wind. Something struck me, hurling my body into the sand river.

As I sank beneath the flowing sand, I caught a glimpse of Qu Yuanshan's cold eyes.

In an instant, darkness enveloped me as the quicksand dragged me ever downward. Countless ghostly hands reached for me, eager to siphon my life force.

But then, the Eye of the Nether Dragon embedded in my chest grew scorching hot, sending forth a stream of energy that coiled around me. Any ghostly hand that touched me was instantly absorbed and assimilated by the flow.

I had no idea how much time passed as I plummeted deeper, as if into a bottomless abyss. A violent shudder ran through me, and suddenly I awoke.

Opening my eyes, I found myself in an underground world bathed in eerie green light.

A ghost drifted past. It glanced at me, then floated on, unbothered.

I swallowed nervously. That was a fearsome spirit, yet it hadn’t attacked me?

Soon, more ghosts drifted by—but not one spared me a glance.

I looked myself over. The energy from the Eye of the Nether Dragon, having absorbed so much ghostly aura, now completely enveloped me.

No wonder—they probably mistook me for one of their own. I wouldn’t even need the Human Skin Lantern here.

The Human Skin Lantern could transform a living person into a ghost, but it had one fatal flaw: powerful specters like vengeful spirits could see right through the disguise.

But what kind of place was this?

I mingled among the crowd of spirits, continuing forward.

Soon, I saw zombies—iron-armored, copper-armored, and even a silver-armored corpse.

Next appeared all manner of monster spirits.

A chill ran through my heart. Was this the underworld? There was such a bizarre domain beneath the sand river.

And yet, the ghosts, monster spirits, and zombies did not attack one another. They all surged forward in the same direction.

As I walked, I realized the crowd around me had grown dense with ghosts, monster spirits, and zombies. I, a living man, lost among them—my feelings were hard to put into words.

I had no idea how long we walked before the procession suddenly halted.

Ahead stood a massive stone, easily a hundred meters tall. Its first impression was that of a giant, watchful eye.

Then a troop of ghostly warriors appeared, riding monster spirits and clad in ghostly armor, screeching at a high pitch.

The crowd scattered, driven into separate groups.

My heart turned cold. This place was under control—by something other than humans.

A ghostly warrior mounted on a monster spirit rode up to me and pointed forward.

So I was to move to the designated spot. Suppressing my shock, I went where I was told.

My position was far ahead of most other ghosts and zombies, leaving me exposed and my heart pounding.

Soon, more ghosts, monster spirits, and zombies gathered nearby; some stood right beside me, a few even farther forward.

I shut my eyes—those two ghosts next to me were clearly fierce spirits.

Even farther ahead, ghostly forms nearly solidified, their aura towering—those were ghost generals, even more powerful than fierce spirits.

Beside the ghost generals stood a golden-armored zombie.

If my aura leaked even a little, I would be torn to shreds.

Suddenly, the massive stone erupted with brilliant ghostly light, like a giant eye opening.

In a flash, a vast tide of energy from the underworld surged forth, pure and overwhelming, utterly unlike anything I’d felt before.

The closer to the stone, the denser the energy, nearly crystallizing in the air.

My pupils contracted—this energy tide was similar to that of Nether Crystals.

What’s more, this energy, upon contact, was absorbed directly into the body.

I didn’t hesitate; I began absorbing it desperately.

Streams of energy sank into my core, transforming into magical power.

The energy tide ebbed in waves, weakening with distance. The further back, the weaker it became.

Now I understood—the ghostly warriors had mistaken me for a fierce spirit.

The energy tide lasted only about twenty seconds before dissipating, and the giant eye-like stone dimmed once more.

Then, all the lower ghosts, monster spirits, and zombies dispersed.

Yet, the fierce spirits, monster spirits, and zombies of silver armor and above remained gathered.

At the level of fierce spirits, ghosts had gained intelligence and could even recover fragments of memory from their previous lives.

What I saw next stunned me.

Some fierce spirits and monster spirits manifested items within their souls: stones emanating a terrifying chill, strange grasses wreathed in deathly energy.

Then, amazingly, they began to barter among themselves—Nether Crystals among their treasures.

It upended everything I thought I knew. Even here, the denizens of the underworld seemed to live by rules.

At that moment, a fierce spirit approached me, its blood-red eyes fixed on mine.

I jolted—had I been exposed?

But the spirit merely pointed to a damaged part of its ghostly body.

What did it mean? I hadn’t caused it.

Perhaps seeing my lack of response, the fierce spirit shifted its form, presenting a dozen items before me: Nether Crystals, strange fruits, stones, even a tattered book.

I flipped through it—elementary school language arts, of all things, treasured by this fierce spirit.

When I still did not react, the spirit grew anxious, grabbed my hand, and placed it upon its wound.

At that moment, I sensed a thread of energy from the Eye of the Nether Dragon seep into its ghostly body, beginning to mend it.

Simultaneously, a thread appeared on the Gate of Karma within the Nether Dragon’s Eye.

A revelation struck me—the energy from the Nether Dragon’s Eye could heal ghostly wounds.

I controlled the flow, quickly repairing the spirit’s injuries.

I took two Nether Crystals and a black, veined, strange fruit.

The fierce spirit departed, satisfied, and the thread of fate vanished; a cavity on the Gate of Karma glowed.

I nearly leaped for joy. Not only had I earned Nether Crystals and the fruit for healing the spirit, but I’d also resolved a karmic debt.

And all this took less than two minutes—so easy, I could weep.

After the fierce spirit left, a ghostly green python spirit slithered over. I saw it, too, was wounded.

I repeated the process, and after healing it, I received a purple flower radiating spiritual energy.

"Purple Spirit Flower—worth twenty thousand contribution points on the Ninth Bureau’s app," I trembled inwardly.

Truly, a healer is valued wherever they go!