Chapter Twenty: The Luo Immortal Clan

“Three hundred and sixty-nine halls, subtly corresponding to the laws of the celestial hexagrams…”
“The so-called Divine Treasury, besides the Spirit-Lake, contains nothing else of note…”
As his spiritual sense swept over the hundreds of palatial structures, the Prince of Shadows’ eyes flickered with contemplation, and he murmured softly to himself.

Though his mind was busy with speculation, his steps remained unhurried as he moved gracefully toward the nearest hall. Fixing his gaze, he saw that the hall rose nearly sixty feet high and stretched across fifty-four feet in width. It appeared grand and imposing, its surface suffused with a faint azure glow that imparted an inexplicable sense of unease.

Yet the carvings upon it depicted endless mountains and rivers, fertile fields and tranquil scenes, birds soaring and beasts roaming—a tableau of peace and harmony.

“Mere trickery,” he scoffed.

Casting a cursory glance at the carvings, the Prince of Shadows’ eyes flashed with disdain. Without pause, he stepped up to the hall, and with a flick of his sleeve—

A chilling force swept forth, accompanied by a faint, resonant hum. The great doors of the hall began to tremble and slowly opened.

The scene within was immediately revealed to his sight.

Unlike the harmonious engravings outside, the inner walls displayed a vision of hell: skeletal remains, mangled bodies, rivers of blood… Tattered garments, rusted spears, shattered armor… And a once-vast continent now utterly desolate…

At the center of the hall sat a skeleton, cross-legged.

Judging by the faded garments, this skeleton had been dead for ages beyond reckoning.

Yet as the Prince of Shadows’ spiritual sense passed over it, a profound light gleamed in his eyes, and a faint, chilling aura swirled about him. A cold smile curled at his lips.

“Dead for endless ages, yet still a remnant soul lingers in the world. How amusing.”

No sooner had he spoken than the skeleton trembled violently and, without warning, exploded into fragments!

In the next instant, an almost imperceptible wave of soul-force surged forth, and within the hall, a strangely dressed, ethereal soul quickly condensed into form.

Though its features were blurred, the curves of the figure revealed it to be a woman.

“Prince of Shadows…”

“I have awaited your arrival for a long time.”

Abruptly, the spectral woman bowed slightly to him, her voice drifting eerily through the entire subterranean palace.

“Did you foresee, countless ages ago, that I would come here today?”

Gazing at the bizarre soul within the hall, the Prince of Shadows’ expression betrayed nothing. As if pondering, he murmured to himself.

This woman, though termed a remnant soul, possessed no true consciousness.

In the end, she was merely a wisp of intent left behind ten thousand years before—capable only of delivering a message, and nothing more.

Yet to predict, across the chasm of aeons…

Such means were by no measure within the grasp of ordinary mortals!

“The Dao is sentient, yet time is fickle…”

“After the battle at the end of all things, you defied the cycles of reincarnation. The Lord of the Divine Dynasty also seeks the path to transcendence…”

As the Prince of Shadows pondered inwardly, the spectral figure suddenly spoke, her voice echoing throughout the subterranean palace, gradually drawing his thoughts back from their depths.

“Surely, you are aware: in a single universe, only one can attain true transcendence…”

“This universe is already thoroughly fused with the world within your own body… You know, too, that the Yellow Springs are the key to transcendence…”

“And only you are worthy to use this universe to break through and transcend…”

“This is what makes you, after endless cycles of reincarnation, so utterly fearless…”

Her voice was airy and soft, almost languid, yet to the Prince of Shadows, every word fell like thunderclaps.

He did not reply, but his gaze upon the soul grew ever deeper.

Indeed.

The Yellow Springs were bound to his flesh and blood, and by virtue of their unique nature, he could, at his command, lay a road across the stars.

To shed all dross and become the River of Forgetfulness—this, too, was but a thought away.

By his original design, once the Yellow Springs spread throughout the universe and the spirit of the River of Forgetfulness manifested, the entire cosmos would become the underworld!

Then, with the River of Forgetfulness as his guide, he would merge his being with the underworld.

With the unique nature of the Six Paths of Reincarnation, he would evolve the world within him, and thus take a single step to transcendence!

Yet…

This person had foreseen, countless ages ago, that he would do just this!

Was this not absurd beyond reason?

“It must be said, Prince of Shadows…”

“Since the birth of this universe, there have been countless prodigies, but you are the only one to earn the admiration of my clan, the Luo Immortals…”

“Your temperament is ruthless and domineering, your talent unmatched, your cunning and wisdom without peer…”

The woman seemed oblivious to the change that had come over him; as he sank into contemplation, her ethereal voice sounded once more.

“Since you are now aware that only one can transcend in this universe…”

“And since the key to transcendence has always been in your hands…”

“How then did the Lord of the Divine Dynasty manage to step half a foot into transcendence?”

At this, her voice abruptly ceased, and the Prince of Shadows’ gaze grew even deeper.

In just a few words, she had revealed too much…

Neither the Luo Immortals—of whom he had never heard—nor the Lord of the Divine Dynasty’s path to transcendence should exist in this universe.

Then, what lies beyond this universe…?

What is it…?

“Is this world truly the one you think you know?”

“Prince of Shadows… I await you at the summit of the Nine Sources…”

“Don’t think of evading this. You… have no choice…”

A thunderous boom erupted from deep within.

The entire subterranean palace began to tremble violently. As the rumbling grew, the Prince of Shadows took a single step back and hovered in the void, coldly surveying the palace below.

All this, though told at length, transpired in a flash.

The moment the Prince of Shadows stepped from the hall, the entire subterranean palace—its three hundred and sixty-nine grand halls—crumbled into dust in an instant!

Suddenly, the space was eerily empty.

At its center, floating in the void, was a single bead, glowing with a faint blood-red light.

“So the Spirit-Lake was but a ruse…”

Staring at the blood-red bead, the Prince of Shadows’ eyes flashed with an unprecedented depth. With a gentle gesture, he drew the bead before him, murmuring to himself:

“Demonic energy coils, the aura of demons surges…”

“A grand gift, prepared just for me…”

His eyes, once deep, now glinted with a wintry chill, cold as the dead of winter, brimming with a boundless, eerie menace:

“The Luo Immortals…”

“I am eager to see what storms a band of skulking cowards can stir up…”

With that, the chilling light in his eyes faded. He stowed the blood bead with a wave of his hand, took a single step, and his figure vanished in an instant.

When he reappeared, he was once more within the wooden cottage he had left before.

By then, the food within had been swept clean by Ling Ye.

Little Jin’er sat quietly to one side, gazing obediently at the Prince of Shadows who had suddenly appeared, while Ling Ye, having eaten her fill, let out a satisfied burp and offered a sheepish smile.

Creak…

At that moment, Mo Sen, who had departed earlier, pushed the door open and entered, bowing deeply and respectfully with cupped fists to the Prince of Shadows…