Chapter 133: The Pond and the Stone Pagoda

This was clearly a living corpse, and a fully refined one at that. The red light in its eyes completely filled the sockets, casting a dull red glow through the shroud of the night like a gigantic red lantern, vaguely imprinting an endless chill within.

Its broad face no longer showed any skin or flesh; from the forehead down to the neck, it was covered in thick scales like some monstrous fish. Each scale was the size of an ancient copper coin, bearing a bronze-colored luster that faintly rippled with a bloody hue under the moonlight.

With every breath, the giant pulled in air like a bellows, making a wheezing sound as thick yellow vapor continuously seeped from its nose and mouth, rapidly dissipating into the surrounding air.

Seeing this, Hu San had a pretty good idea in his mind. This fellow was undoubtedly the living corpse refined by Old Master Yu, though it remained to be seen what level of combat strength it had attained. The surrounding stench was also caused by the corpse aura emanating from its body, which continuously circulated through its respiration to sustain the operation of its entire frame.

This must be the reason why, despite lacking any vital signs, it still continuously inhaled and exhaled.

It seemed Yu Ning had already encountered this living corpse before. Old Master Yu offered no introduction, merely waving his hand, and the massive living corpse turned around like an obedient puppy, taking the lead to guide the way ahead.

As soon as they stepped into the manor, Hu San felt his mind tighten sharply. An abstruse and vague sensation seemed to continuously bewilder his spiritual wisdom, slowing down the speed of his thoughts considerably.

Fortunately, the role he was playing was precisely that of a living corpse, and this dull, sluggish demeanor fit his current identity perfectly, failing to arouse Old Master Yu's suspicion. Yet, inside, Hu San's heart was churning with towering waves. This feeling was exceptionally familiar to him—he could recall it even in his dreams.

A formation!

Indeed, the moment he entered the manor, Hu San could be certain that they had stepped into an array. This ethereal and illusory sensation was almost identical to the feeling of falling into the Black Wind Formation.

Faced with this reality, Hu San could not help but harbor some misgivings. If he were facing a fully equipped cultivation practitioner at the peak of the Sixth Heaven of Qi Gathering, launching a sudden ambush while catching them unprepared, his own strength and stellar energy combined with the close-combat methods of the Ten Breaking Slaughters, supplemented by the Bird Strike and Fish Step, might possibly enable him to heavily injure the opponent, or at the very worst, escape. Once trapped inside a formation, however, it was an entirely different matter.

Forget about heavily injuring the opponent; once the other party activated the array, with Hu San's current methods and divine abilities, he would likely be trapped immediately, losing all sense of direction.

Old Master Yu was not like the giant serpent Hu San had encountered earlier, which was merely a wild, solitary monster lacking in various aspects. He originated from the orthodox Black Spirit Sect, and unlike the giant serpent, he had no lingering concerns holding him back. Once trapped in his formation, he could completely grind Hu San to death bit by bit, leaving Hu San with no way out.

Coupled with the fact that Old Master Yu surely possessed magical artifacts and talismans, Hu San would probably find it difficult even to die when the time came!

Despite the tension in his heart, matters had reached this point, and Hu San had no other choice. He could only bite the bullet and follow closely behind Old Master Yu. This area was shrouded by a formation; who knew what might happen if he lagged even a step behind? If he were to give himself away because of that, his grievance would truly be too immense.

Although the courtyard looked small from the outside, once one entered it, it gave a boundless sensation. The three people and one corpse wandered through this courtyard for about a quarter of an hour before finally arriving at the very center.

***

Appearing before Hu San was a broad pond. Under the drifting moonlight, the water in the pond kept flowing, occasionally emitting splashing sounds. In the center of the pond was a patch of land. Because of the great distance and the deep darkness, Hu San could not clearly see the situation on the land; he could only vaguely discern that the land was high in the middle and low on both sides, with a three-tiered small pagoda standing at the highest point.

At that moment, the sound of clanking iron chains suddenly drifted over from not far away, followed by a patrol guard turning the corner and walking directly toward where the three stood.

As they drew closer, Hu San realized this was no ordinary patrol of guards, but rather a band of completely zombified martial artists. Each of them held chains, their faces swollen and eyes a dense yellow, expressionless, and looking extremely heavy in build. Yet, as they moved, they were as light as feathers, and from time to time, stellar energy blossoms could be seen flashing across their bodies, each resembling a giant lantern.

Every one of them wore a set of iron armor covered in sharp iron spikes, linked together from head to toe to encase all the vital points of the guards. This was clearly a full set of heavy armor, and judging by its thickness, the weight was certainly not light. Naturally, the defensive power of such armor could be easily imagined.

The team of corpse-men quickly passed by the three of them, vanishing in the blink of an eye like a gust of wind. Before long, another identically dressed team of corpse-men rounded the corner from the other side. Although their attire was identical, Hu San could still recognize from their facial features that this squad was definitely not the previous one.

Thinking of the Black Spirit Sect's Profound Yin Corpse-Refining Art, the slight astonishment in Hu San's heart vanished. Since they even possessed the ability to refine living corpses usable in the cultivation world, controlling these ordinary pugilists turned into zombies for battle was surely a piece of cake.

As for the origin of these martial artists, one might arrive at a conclusion simply by recalling the legends of those missing martial artists who were purportedly conscripted by the manor after winning the Thirteen Estates Treasure Tournament.

After several more patrol squads passed, and after quite a while had elapsed, Old Master Yu finally waved toward the pond ahead. Instantly, a stream of spiritual light flashed from his wrist, and upon second glance, this stream of light had transformed into a jade bridge, spanning directly across the surface of the pond, with one end resting on the land in the center of the pond and the other on the bank.

This was the first time Hu San had witnessed Old Master Yu executing immortal magic with his own eyes. Clearly, this jade bridge must be a magical artifact, originally stored within the empty stone on the Old Master's wrist.

It seemed Old Master Yu was indeed far wealthier than Yu Ning, possessing at least one empty stone.

"Let's go!"

Old Master Yu said indifferently, taking the lead and stepping onto the jade bridge.

Walking on the jade bridge, facing the overhead moonlight, Hu San suddenly felt a rich stench of blood drift into his nose. Looking closer with the aid of the moonlight, even with his mental preparation, his scalp tinged with numbness.

As it turned out, the water in the so-called pond beneath his feet was not water at all, but blood. One withered corpse after another floated on the blood pool under the moonlight with ferocious expressions. Blood continuously poured into their mouths and noses, flowing back out from the pores of their bodies. As the volume multiplied, this sound accumulated into the splashing sound of flowing water.

The pond was neither exceptionally large nor particularly small, but based on Hu San's calculations, it would be impossible to fill it with blood without tens of thousands of people.

Though he himself was someone who had killed countless people, upon witnessing the scene before him, Hu San could still not help feeling a slight chill, inwardly startled: "Just how many people has this fellow killed? What vicious methods! Judging by the painful expressions of these people, they were probably thrown in after having their limbs snapped alive, leaving them to be corroded to death by the blood pool. I must be careful; otherwise, once discovered, my fate might not even match theirs."

***

While Hu San was inwardly slandering, Old Master Yu had already led them across the rather short jade bridge. Afterwards, the Old Master did not retract the jade bridge, leaving it right where it was—seemingly because this artifact could not be stowed away and deployed with high frequency, requiring a certain interval to avoid damage.

Leaving the range of the blood pool and stepping onto the land at the center of the pond, a soft, spongy sensation rose from the soles of his feet. The soil beneath seemed to possess life, continuously emanating a suction force and pulsing every breath or so, much like a human heartbeat.

Only then did Hu San see clearly that the ground here was not entirely barren, but covered in blood-red grass about a finger's length. The grass swayed slightly in the night breeze, and wisps of red vapor continuously drifted from its stems. Upon closer sniffing, one could sense an alluring sweet fragrance, but if one smelled too much of it, this fragrance would slowly fade, ultimately revealing a faint, fishy stench instead.

"Such large Nether Spirit Grass! Could this be top-grade Nether Spirit Grass?"

Hu San recognized this grass. In fact, everyone in Nether Spirit City was extremely familiar with it; this was the renowned Nether Spirit Grass. However, ordinary Nether Spirit Grass was only light red in color, less than half the length of the grass before him, let alone capable of emitting a sweet fragrance. A patch of Nether Spirit Grass as vast as the one before him was something Hu San had truly never laid eyes on within Nether Spirit City.

The group traversed the path winding through the Nether Spirit Grass and soon arrived at the very center. At this moment, Hu San could finally see the three-tiered pagoda clearly. A towering stone-carved giant pagoda without any external decorations stood at the highest point of the land, shaped in a triangular form that grew narrower toward the top.

In the dark night, the top of the pagoda faintly emanated a trace of red light. Starting from the summit, grooves resembling human blood vessels covered the body of the pagoda, extending all the way down to the ground beneath their feet, where they linked through various channels to the Nether Spirit Grass. The entire structure, combined with this patch of land, resembled a gigantic spiderweb, with the stone tower acting as its absolute center.

Upon reaching this place, Old Master Yu waved his hand, and the massive living corpse that had been trailing closely behind them vanished into a corner of the stone tower, hiding somewhere unseen.

Afterward, Old Master Yu personally led the way, with Hu San and Yu Ning following closely behind into the stone tower.

The first floor of the stone tower was structured like a grand hall. From the outside, one could never tell that the interior space was so vast. Even after entering, Hu San found it somewhat hard to believe. What met his eyes was a resplendently decorated hall, whose interior layout was practically identical to the place where Old Master Yu received guests in the manor.

However, Old Master Yu did not linger on this floor. Walking over to the wall on the right, he slapped a stone ring, causing a stone door to slowly rise and reveal an upward-spiraling passageway.

Following this passageway for a short distance brought them to the second floor. The space on the second floor was much smaller than the first, appearing very empty and seemingly entirely unarranged, allowing one to take in the entire view at a single glance.