Immortality Cultivation

Chapter 342: Ancient Mine of Buried Gods

Fang Hao only felt his vision go dark, followed by a world-spinning sensation, as if his entire person had been stuffed into a high-speed rotating drum. In his ears was the ear-piercing shriek of space being torn apart, and his body was crazily pulled by a massive force, making his internal organs feel displaced.

The taste of this high-grade escape talisman was truly unpleasant.

Fortunately, this pain did not last long. In just a few breaths, accompanied by a soft "puff" sound, as if piercing through a layer of water film, that tearing force suddenly disappeared. Fang Hao stumbled and fell heavily to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

He didn’t care about the aching all over his body; he leaped to his feet with a kipping motion. At the same time, the golden puppet instantly appeared in front of him, its massive body shielding him tightly. His Divine Sense surged out like a tide, instantly covering a range of several hundred yards.

"Where is... this place?"

What met his "eyes" was an unfamiliar scene. All around were rolling black stone mountains, with jagged rocks and no grass growing. The air was filled with a faint smell of sulfur and... some kind of decaying aura. There was no moon or stars in the sky, only a layer of gray mist that seemed like it would never dissipate. The light was dim, like twilight.

The Spiritual Qi here was sparse and exceptionally chaotic, mixed with intense Evil Qi and Death Qi, making it extremely uncomfortable. Even more bizarre was that the space here seemed somewhat... unstable. When his Divine Sense probed out, it felt like sinking into a quagmire and was greatly suppressed; the Divine Sense that could originally cover dozens of miles could now only barely extend about a thousand yards.

"This escape talisman... the teleportation distance seems short, and it seems to have deviated from the intended direction." Fang Hao’s face looked grim. The teleportation location he had originally set was a hidden valley a thousand miles west of Myriad Laws Immortal City, but the environment here completely mismatched the map in his memory.

He immediately took out the map Jade Slip, trying to determine his position. However, when his Divine Sense probed into the Jade Slip, he found that the records for this area were actually blank! Only at the edge were a few small words marked in an extremely blurred font—"Ancient Mine of Buried Gods, enter with caution."

"Ancient Mine of Buried Gods?" Fang Hao’s heart skipped a beat. This name sounded ominous. He had never heard of such a place near Myriad Laws Immortal City.

"Damn it, that high-grade escape talisman was probably obtained by that old fellow Mo Yunhe in his early years. It’s so old that the spatial coordinates were off, actually teleporting me to this godforsaken place!" Fang Hao cursed inwardly, an ominous premonition welling up in his heart.

This place was definitely not far from Myriad Laws Immortal City! With that old fox Su Xuan’s cultivation and methods, it probably wouldn’t take long for him to track him here!

"I must leave immediately!" Fang Hao didn’t dare to delay. He put away the golden puppet and sacrificed that Third-grade azure spirit boat, preparing to take flight.

However, as soon as he circulated his Spiritual Power, his expression changed drastically. The Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi here actually produced a strong rejection of his Spiritual Power! The driving Formation of the azure spirit boat operated with extreme difficulty in such a chaotic Spiritual Qi environment; its spiritual light was dim and it was teetering. Let alone flying fast, even hovering was extremely difficult.

"The Spiritual Qi in this godforsaken place... has a problem!" Fang Hao’s heart sank. He tried to circulate the Chaos Derivation Art and found that although Chaos Spiritual Power had a certain tolerance for the chaotic Spiritual Qi here, it was still very difficult to refine it quickly. Flying here would consume several times more than normal, and the speed would be greatly reduced!

"I can’t fly; I can only walk!" Fang Hao made a prompt decision, put away the azure spirit boat, chose a direction where the terrain seemed lower and the mist slightly thinner, and performed the Divine Spirit Steps, rushing toward the bottom of the mountain close to the ground.

He had to leave this bizarre area as soon as possible, find a safe place, and then... fly far away!

However, he had barely rushed out a hundred yards when a roar of extreme rage suddenly came from the distant sky behind him, like a rolling thunderclap!

"Fang Hao, you little thief! You can’t escape!"

It was Su Xuan’s voice! This old fox had indeed caught up! And his speed was even faster than he had anticipated!

Fang Hao’s face turned pale. He pushed the Divine Spirit Steps to the limit, his figure turning into a faint phantom as he wove through the jagged rocks. He could feel a powerful and cold pressure approaching from behind at an alarming speed!

"Damn! So fast!" Fang Hao was horrified. Su Xuan’s cultivation was definitely far beyond a normal Late Nascent Soul Stage; he probably already had half a foot in the Soul Transformation realm! In this godforsaken place where Divine Sense was suppressed, the opponent could still lock onto his position so accurately!

"No, I can’t outrun him!" Fang Hao’s mind raced, and a look of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes. Fighting head-on was a dead end; the only chance for survival was to use this bizarre environment!

He suddenly stopped, no longer running, but turned and rushed toward a nearby mountain peak shrouded in black mist and jagged rocks. At the same time, with a thought, the golden puppet appeared again. It didn’t attack but instead thrust its arms into the ground, lifting up huge rocks and hurling them fiercely at the figure chasing from behind!

"Trivial tricks!" Su Xuan’s figure appeared like a ghost a hundred yards away. With a casual wave of his withered palm, those whistling giant rocks shattered into powder one after another. He stared fixedly at the direction Fang Hao was fleeing, the killing intent in his eyes almost materializing.

"Little thief, do you think hiding in the Ancient Mine of Buried Gods will save you? How naive!" Su Xuan sneered. With a flash of his body, he instantly crossed dozens of yards, chasing after Fang Hao. The two Nascent Soul Cultivators behind him also followed closely.

Fang Hao rushed into the stone forest at the foot of the mountain. The mist here was even thicker, and the suppression of Divine Sense was even stronger, making it difficult to reach even a hundred yards. He used the cover of the jagged rocks to constantly change direction, trying to shake off his pursuers.

However, although Su Xuan’s Divine Sense was suppressed, it was still far superior to Fang Hao’s. He followed like a maggot on a bone, closing the distance continuously.

"See where you can run!" Su Xuan shouted and struck out with a palm from a distance. A massive palm of Spiritual Power, carrying the power to destroy heaven and earth, slammed fiercely toward the stone forest where Fang Hao was hiding!

"Boom—!"

The stone forest was instantly leveled, and dust filled the air. Fang Hao’s figure scrambled out of the dust in a sorry state, a trace of blood overflowing from the corner of his mouth. The aftershock of that palm strike just now had still injured him.

"golden puppet, stop him!" Fang Hao barked.

Red light flashed in the golden puppet’s eyes. Its massive body charged fearlessly at Su Xuan, its fists smashing down with terrifying force that tore through the air!

"Get lost!" A hint of impatience flashed in Su Xuan’s eyes as he struck out with his withered palm again. This time, he used his full strength!

"Bang—!"

A dull, heavy thud! The golden puppet’s body, which was strong enough to withstand a Late Nascent Soul Stage cultivator, was actually sent flying by Su Xuan’s palm strike. Its chest was deeply dented, and its spiritual light flickered violently, clearly having suffered heavy damage!

Fang Hao felt a pang of pain in his heart but didn’t dare to stay. Taking advantage of the precious time the golden puppet had bought, he plunged into a deep, dark cave ahead.

The cave entrance was narrow, only allowing one person to pass. The inside was pitch black, with gusts of cold wind blowing out, emitting a heart-palpitating aura of decay.

Su Xuan chased to the cave entrance. Looking at the deep opening, he frowned slightly. He could feel that some kind of danger seemed to be hidden inside this cave; even when his Divine Sense probed in, it was like a clay ox entering the sea, swallowed by some force.

"Hmph, do you think hiding in such a place will save your life?" Su Xuan sneered and said to the two Nascent Soul Cultivators behind him, "You stay outside and don’t let anyone in or out! I will go in personally to capture and kill this scoundrel!"

After speaking, Su Xuan’s figure flickered, turning into a streak of light and rushing into the cave.

Inside the cave, it was pitch black, cold, and damp. Fang Hao held his breath, concealing his aura to the limit. He felt his way forward carefully against the cave wall. He didn’t dare use his Divine Sense or produce any light; he could only barely see the path under his feet with his far-beyond-normal eyesight.

This cave seemed extremely deep, winding and turning with many forks, like a massive maze. Even more bizarrely, some blurred murals were faintly visible on the cave walls, depicting strange and hideous-looking creatures that seemed to be performing some kind of ritual, exuding an indescribable evil.

Alarm bells rang in Fang Hao’s heart; this place was definitely not simple. But he had no choice and could only push forward.

Behind him, Su Xuan’s footsteps and that cold pressure were getting closer and closer.

"Fang Hao, come out. You can’t escape." Su Xuan’s voice echoed in the deep cave, carrying a playful tone like a cat catching a mouse. "Hand over the Chaos Spirit Root obediently, and perhaps I can give you a quick death."

Fang Hao turned a deaf ear and quickened his pace. Turning a corner, a faint light appeared ahead. He was overjoyed and rushed toward it.

However, when he rushed out of the cave and saw the scene before him, he felt as if he had been struck by lightning and froze on the spot.

Outside the cave was not the exit he had imagined, but a massive underground space shaped like an inverted bowl. In the center of the space was a huge, bottomless black water pond. The water was as black as ink, dead silent, and emitted a dense aura of decay and death.

Around the water pond stood twelve giant pillars, each dozens of yards high and carved from a type of black jade. On the giant pillars were carved countless complex and bizarre runes, as well as patterns of distorted creatures that Fang Hao had never seen before.

What shocked Fang Hao even more was that in the very center of the water pond, a... sarcophagus was suspended.

A sarcophagus made entirely of some kind of transparent crystal, emitting a faint glow. Inside the sarcophagus, a blurry figure could be faintly seen, lying there quietly as if having slept for thousands of years.

And above the sarcophagus was suspended a fist-sized, completely black... pearl covered in fine cracks.

That pearl hung there quietly without any light, yet it seemed to be the center of the entire space, emitting an ancient, desolate, and ominous aura that made one’s Soul tremble.

"Where is... this place?" Fang Hao murmured to himself, a chill rushing from the soles of feet straight to the top of his head.

Behind him, the footsteps stopped. Su Xuan’s figure appeared at the cave entrance. Looking at the bizarre scene before him, for the first time, a look of shock and... a trace of undisguisable greed appeared on his withered face.

"Ancient Mine of Buried Gods... the legendary ’Netherworld Pond’ and ’Soul-Suppressing Coffin’... they actually exist!" Su Xuan’s voice trembled slightly. "That pearl... could it be... the ’netherworld pearl’?"