Chapter 436: Ghost River
Of course, Qiurong Wanxue understood the significance of this key, but since time immemorial, the number of times this key had appeared could be counted on one’s fingers.
Amidst her astonishment, Li Qiye gently raised her chin to close her cherry lips and said: “My Chief Qiurong, don’t be so alarmed. Your saliva almost dripped onto me. I already believe that your lady-like looks are charming enough.”
Qiurong Wanxue composed herself and then glared at Li Qiye with flushed cheeks. She then said: “So the rumors about the key appearing at the Penta Realm Gate are true.”
Li Qiye smilingly said: “To be more exact, the key had once appeared in this place.” But then he shook his head: “Unfortunately, the key is not here this time.”
Qiurong Wanxue looked at the empty center and asked: “Was it here before?”
Li Qiye replied: “There is no set rule about where the key will appear; it could be said that there is a chance for any location in Necropolis. One needs great luck to obtain the key, not just anyone can find it. A few places indeed have higher chances for its appearance, but the possibilities remain very low.”
“How do you know that there are a few places with a certain chance?” Qiurong Wanxue asked. An outsider shouldn’t know such a big secret.
Li Qiye explained: “This has a lot to do with Necropolis and its relationship with the Prime Ominous Grave. Both have secrets that are not known to outsiders.”
“Then how do you know about it?” Qiurong Wanxue emotionally asked. Even great powers wouldn’t know such a thing, but Li Qiye was privy to it as if it was written on the palm of his hand.
“This is a secret.” Li Qiye looked at the mature woman before him and shook his head: “There are a few things you shouldn’t know because it is not good for you.”
Qiurong Wanxue was sensible enough to stop prying further. Instead, she said: “The Prime Ominous Grave had not been opened by anyone for a long time. The chance of finding the key is minuscule and only a few people across the eons had been able to find it.”
“Believe in me.” Li Qiye calmly said: “I will find the key! The Prime Ominous Grave shall be opened in this generation even if I have to flip Necropolis over to find it.”
Qiurong Wanxue was taken aback by this high-handed tone. Since the ages, how many young people would dare claim that they would flip Necropolis over? The many people who came here were very reluctant to antagonize Necropolis.
“Where do we go now?” Qiurong Wanxue looked at the young man and asked: “Do you want to try the other four passes?”
“Although the other passes have treasures, they will absolutely not have the key.” Li Qiye shook his head and said: “We’ll go somewhere else, perhaps the Ghost River, to test our luck.”
“The Ghost River?” Qiurong Wanxue movingly said: “That is a famous yet dangerous place in Necropolis. I heard that people die there every day.”
“Don’t worry, I am here.” Li Qiye nonchalantly said: “Although the Ghost River is fierce, it is not able to take me.”
Qiurong Wanxue pondered for a moment then handed all of her Yang Nightfish to Li Qiye and said: “You decide, I believe that you will bring about a creation for us.”
There were a lot of dangerous locations at Necropolis that Qiurong Wanxue could not go to, like the Ghost River, so she handed her fish to Li Qiye and let him decide.
They then left the Penta Realm Gate and immediately went to the Ghost River.
Just like Qiurong Wanxue had said, the Ghost River was indeed a dangerous place. They arrived to find a much smaller line compared to the Penta Realm Gate.
The Ghost River was occupied by the Ghost Fate Sect. In order to obtain the treasures in the Ghost River, people must pay the sect Yang Nightfish.
The river was underground; once someone entered a cave, they would find a ferry right before them with a deep river quietly flowing below it.
Legend states that whoever dies inside Necropolis, whether by accident or willingly, would have their corpse sink into the Ghost River. Because of this, many people believed that this place was the gathering spot of evil spirits. 1
Of course, this was just a legend. It was difficult to verify whether the corpses of the dead would actually sink down to this river or not.
The two of them stood before the ferry and felt the cold air of the Ghost River rushing into their face — a ghastly and evil energy.
The river was not large, but even with a Heavenly Gaze, people were not able to glance at its depths.
While looking up from in front of the ferry, one would only see a vast and empty expanse. Below was a bottomless river that flowed towards an unknown destination with no end in sight.
Rumor has it that powerful characters had once tried to go upstream to find the river’s source as well as downstream to see its final destination. But either way, none had ever come back alive, including powerful existences like Virtuous Paragons.
“One Ghost Algae Trunk is thirty Yang Nightfish. You must salvage them while bearing all the dangers. The moment you pull one up, you must hand over the fish. Regardless of whether you obtain any harvest or not, you will have to risk yourselves.” A disciple from the Ghost Fate Sect told the two upon the moment of their arrival.
Ghost Algae Trunks flowed down from upstream. Anyone could pull them up as long as they had the power to do so or had no fear of dying.
A Ghost Algae Trunk was not a container at all, it was a mass formed by thick ghost algae. These masses tangled together as if there was something inside, but it was hard to tell what it was.
The inside of these trunks could contain a treasure or rubbish. No one knew the origin of these Ghost Algae Trunks; some people said that after someone dies in Necropolis, they would sink down into this river and their possessions would go upstream to be stuck at some place. Then, the possessions would be covered with countless ghost algae. After many years, these things would begin to float down the Ghost River.
Other said that these trunks came from a treasure grove inside Necropolis. This grove contained many things, such as divine weapons or immortal stones, or even items that date back to the Legendary Era. Of course, there were also lost scraps from those who died in Necropolis.
This particular legend believed that the treasure grove lied upstream of the Ghost River, so a plethora of things inside floated down the river from time to time.
Either way, the origin of these trunks remained a mystery. The one thing for certain, however, was that the chance for even ordinary treasures inside these trunks was not large. Legendary divine weapons were even rarer; it was to the point of being close to zero.
The story that was talked about the most was of Immortal Emperor Ju Tian. The tale was about how the young emperor came to the Ghost River to test his luck and eventually obtained an unparalleled treasure. Because of this treasure, the emperor who was but a vagrant ghost race cultivator became an invincible Immortal Emperor for a generation. 2
Because of the emperor’s luck, later on, many powerful young cultivators were willing to risk their lives here at the Ghost River.
Of course, many young people died here at the river each year since it was much more dangerous than the Shifting Mountain Pass. There were only a dozen people here so there was no need for a line.
The two stood there, waiting at the ferry for a bit. Amongst the dozen young cultivators gazing upstream, a person suddenly shouted: “Another batch of Ghost Algae Trunks is about to drift down!”
Everyone then looked upstream and confirmed that it was indeed the case. Each trunk had different shapes and sizes. The algae seemed to be like vines that intertwined like small snakes, causing others to feel a chill. The algae also emitted a black smoke that encompassed the group completely.
Even Heavenly Gazes were not capable of seeing the things inside these trunks. Li Qiye gazed at each trunk to see if there was one worthy of him taking action.
Once a trunk floated near the ferry, someone immediately took the chance. Five young cultivators soared out and tried to scoop up the trunk from the river.
All five were powerful experts from the ghost race. They were as fast as lightning and they immediately picked the trunks that they wanted.
“Crash!” However, once the trunks left the water’s surface, waves began to form.
Along with the sound of crashing water, several ferocious things rushed out from below the Ghost River. A huge snake formed by nether smoke coiled around the river and opened its mouth to bite. Another thing that resembled a tongue quickly pierced through the water’s surface to catch a young cultivator. Then, a white skeletal hand stretched out towards another young person…
Anyone who tried to take out these trunks from the river would be attacked by something fierce from beneath the surface. Some people said that these were the corpses below the river that would claim possession of all the items in the river, so naturally, they would attack anyone who tried to take their trunks.
1. Ghosts, ghost race, sentiments, evil spirits…
2. Ju Tian = Gigantic Heaven/Sky.