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The man in black’s wounds were worsening, and his body showed signs of cracking and falling apart.
But he obviously wasn’t concerned about that. Instead, he rasped, “Over the years, our sect leader has been searching for someone capable of contending with the Laws of Heavenly Prayer.”
His urgent voice revealed his endless agony. After this sentence, his flesh cracked and split, and his bones crumbled. Blood sprayed through the air.
Su Yi could tell that the man in black couldn’t hold on much longer. “What are the Laws of Heavenly Prayer?”
The man in black’s voice started and stopped. “It’s what you… call the… the… Prohibition of Ancient Darkness.”
By now, his fleshly body had already been destroyed, and only his primordial spirit remained. However, it too was subject to that terrifying corrosion, and numerous cracks appeared on its surface.
Spiderweb-like cracks spread across it, as if it were shattering porcelain. A cracking sound followed.
What he’d just learned made Su Yi’s heart shake.
The Nine Heavens Pavilion stood in the Heavenly Prayer Star Realm.
The leader of the Nine Heavens Pavilion was searching for someone capable of resisting the Laws of Heavenly Prayer.
And the Laws of Heavenly Prayer and the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness were one and the same.
Because, relying on the power of the Sword of the Nine Heavens, he could destroy the power of the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness!
Did that mean that he was the one the leader of the Nine Heavens Pavilion was searching for?
And was this somehow connected to them viewing the Nine Great Star Ruins as a cage?
Su Yi furrowed his brow, but before he could ask any further questions, the man in black let out a miserable shriek as tribulation fire set his fractured primordial spirit ablaze.
Then, he suddenly seemed to have found release. A free, calm smile spread across his face, and he muttered, “Every cultivator who joins the Nine Heavens Pavilion has their name replaced with their ranking. In the Nine Heavens Pavilion, they only know me as the Fifth Executioner. They have no idea that my name is Mo Chuan.”
“And my little sister is called… Mo Li…”
Mo Li. When the man in black, Mo Chuan, spoke his sister’s name, his voice was full of tenderness, doting, and reluctance.
Then, Mo Chuan’s primordial spirit disintegrated entirely into ash.
Waves of emotion coursed through Old Yao White Eyebrows’ heart, and he couldn’t calm down.
A terrifying, peak Profound Serenity Realm existence had perished simply because of a broken oath!
The sight was utterly shocking. Who wouldn’t have been astonished?
Even Su Yi’s distant gaze was shifting and uncertain.
And he found the information the Executioner had shared with him quite surprising.
First, Mo Chuan, the fifth-ranked Executioner, was already in the peak of the Profound Serenity Realm.
The Wardens ranked above the Executioners, and the Heavenly Libationers ranked above the Wardens!
And the sect leader was the most mysterious of all!
The power at this faction’s disposal was unquestionably terrifying.
Never mind the Netherworld; none of the peak orthodoxies of the Wilds were comparable!
But what really surprised him was that the power that turned the Nine Great Star Ruins into cages, the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness, was actually called “the Laws of Heavenly Prayer.”
This was an extremely terrifying power, a calamity of the Grand Dao.
Over the years, the leader of the Nine Heavens Pavilion had continuously searched for someone capable of contending with it.
Su Yi rather suspected that the sect leader was ultimately searching for him, or perhaps, for the Sword of the Nine Hells!
“The Heavenly Prayer Star Realm, the Nine Heavens Pavilion, the Laws of Heavenly Prayer… interesting.” After a while, Su Yi gathered his scattered thoughts and set them aside.
Mo Chuan had already perished, and his Dao had already disappeared. Only one lonely object remained in the spot he’d once stood.
A bronze lock about the size of a baby’s hand.
Whoosh!
Su Yi stretched out his hand and grabbed it. It landed in his outstretched palm.
Upon closer inspection, it was simple and old-fashioned, but its surface was carved with mysterious Dao Markings and diagrams of a pair of fish playing in the water and the confluence of Yin and Yang.
This was the Cloud Apparatus, and it sealed the remnants of Mo Chuan’s little sister’s soul, preventing them from dissipating.
Su Yi could tell at a glance that if he undid the seal, Mo Chuan’s sister, Mo Li, wouldn’t last long before she disappeared completely.
“Come on, let’s go to the Great Chaos Ruins.” Su Yi put away the Cloud Apparatus and looked at Old Yao White Eyebrows.
“Yes, sir!” Old Yao White Eyebrows respectfully agreed, then transformed back into a Radiant Void Beast and carried Su Yi through space.
……
The entrance to the Great Chaos Ruins.
Whoosh~
Space rippled as the Radiant Voice Beast emerged through a rift, Su Yi on his back.
The entrance to the Great Chaos Ruins were a massive abyss enshrouded in fog year-round. Throughout history, countless experts in search of good fortune had perished within its depths.
However, there was now a massive ritual ground near the entrance. It was in the shape of a nine palaces grid, and ninety-nine thousand-foot bronze towers stood around it.
A formation of blood sacrifice!
Su Yi and Old Yao White Eyes currently stood in front of it.
“Your Excellency, don’t tell me you’re planning to take care of the Netherworld King?” Old Yao White Eyebrows said tentatively.
Although no one knew what the Netherworld King looked like, every evil spirit living in the City of the Wrongfully Dead knew that none of them would be a match for the Netherworld King if he escaped confinement!
Even the strongest of them, monsters like the White Bone Emperor and Divine Monarch Falling Star, wouldn’t cut it. Not even if they all worked together!
“The Netherworld King is already confined. Why should I do anything so superfluous?” Su Yi asked without a care.
He then examined the formation of blood sacrifice.
It was arranged in a nine palaces grid, but it hid other secrets, too. Ninety-nine bronze pillars protected it on all sides. Their tips connected to the north star, while their bases linked the ten directions.
Each individual bronze pillar was covered in strange and inscrutable Dao Markings and diagrams.
Su Yi could tell that this was a sacrificial formation at a glance.
All they had to do was bind an expert to a pillar, and it would devour their blood, cultivation, and soul completely, turning them into offerings. The formation would then bequeath them upon the confined Netherworld King.
“Little crow, where are the Emperors you’ve captured over the years?” Su Yi asked as soon as he woke the unconscious Nine Serenities Netherworld Crow back up.
Su Yi was holding it aloft by the feathers of the back of its neck, and its heart filled with a deep sense of humiliation.
But when it heard Su Yi’s question, something occurred to it. “If you let me go, I’ll let them go! Otherwise, I won’t tell you even if you kill me!”
Whap!
A sudden blow to the head left it seeing stars.
“Be good and cooperate,” Su Yi said calmly, “And I promise you a chance to make amends. Otherwise, I wouldn’t mind teaching you the meaning of the phrase ‘a life worse than death.’”
Had anyone else said this, the Nine Serenities Netherworld Crow would have turned up its beak at them.
But coming from Su Yi, these words carried an altogether different weight.
The Nine Serenities Netherworld Crow was well aware that if someone as capable as Su Xuanjun wanted answers… it really wouldn’t be able to withstand torture and interrogation of that level…
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After a moment’s hesitation, the crow’s head drooped. “Su… Your Excellency Su, might you tell me how you’d like me to make amends?”
Old Yao White Eyebrows couldn’t help but sneer inwardly. This little crow is nowhere near as tough as I imagined!
“It’ll depend on my mood,” Su Yi said casually.
“....”
Su Yi was being so domineering that it was downright unreasonable.
But the Nine Serenities Netherworld Crow had no choice but to grin and bear it. “Your Excellency Su, I can cooperate with you, and I can let the captive Emperors go, so please, don’t make this difficult for me. Even if I die, I won’t betray the Netherworld King!”
“Very well.” Su Yi nodded. “First, tell me: where are the captive Emperors?”
The Nine Serenities Netherworld Crow sighed. “Far beyond the horizon, yet right in front of your eyes. All you need to do is circulate the formation of blood sacrifice, and you’ll be able to see them.”
Su Yi looked enlightened. “So that really is the case.”
Earlier, one look at the formation, and he’d gleaned several of its secrets. However, certain secrets wouldn’t reveal themselves without actually circulating the formation, so he couldn’t confirm his initial judgments.
“Are Qing Teng’s physical body and stolen cultivation base there too?”
“That’s right,” said the Nine Serenities Netherworld Crow. “All of the Emperors we captured alive are still confined inside. There are seventy-three in total, all alive and uninjured.”
Su Yi nodded, then asked suddenly, “Do you know whether or not the Netherworld King is really from the Nine Heavens Pavilion?”
The Nine Serenities Netherworld Crow stiffened and shook its head. “The Netherworld King’s origins are a mystery to even the Dark Vassals, let alone me.”
“Oh,” said Su Yi. “Then how did you make contact with the Netherworld King earlier?”
“Once every thousand years, as the night of the Lantern Festival approaches, the Laws of the Great Chaos Ruins shift. On those nights, the Netherworld King uses an unparalleled divine skill to issue orders to me.”
Su Yi’s brow furrowed. “What if I want to meet with him? Is that possible?”
The Nine Serenities Netherworld Crow was stunned, and its blood-red eyes shone with strange light. “Your Excellency Su, since you can move the tombstone, meeting with the Netherworld King won’t be difficult at all. Unless you’re too afraid that the Netherworld King will escape to try it?”
Bang!
Before it could say any more, a sharp blow to the head left it gasping with pain, and it shuddered from head to toe.
“You’re foolish to even try and provoke me like that,” Su Yi said flatly. “If it happens again, I swear to pluck your feathers, cook you well done, and wash you down with wine. I just don’t know if you’ll taste good or not.”
The Nine Serenities Netherworld Crow’s feathers stood on end, and it shuddered. It dared not doubt that Su Yi was willing to do just that!
It said hurriedly, “Your Excellency Su, might I ask why you wish to see the Netherworld King?”
“I’d like to have a chat about the Nine Heavens Pavilion,” said Su Yi.
The Nine Serenities Netherworld Crow’s eyes flashed. “Your Excellency Su, “I’m actually willing to serve as your guide and help you meet with the Netherworld King! If you’d permit it, I can contact the king and request guidance right now.”
Su Yi smiled faintly. “Didn’t you just say that you can only receive the Netherworld King’s guidance on the night of the Lantern Festival?”
The Nine Serenities Netherworld Crow was instantly sheepish. It said bitterly, “Your Excellency Su, when extraordinary circumstances arise, I can sacrifice one of my natal feathers to make contact with the Netherworld King.”
It had only just said this when it suddenly shrieked and twitched.
When it looked down, it saw that Su Yi had already plucked one of the natal feathers on its abdomen. There was even blood on it.
The Nine Serenities Netherworld Crow was so angry that it almost launched into a series of expletives, but out of fear for Su Yi, it forced its rage back down.
Kcch!!
Then, a bundle of divine flames lit on Su Yi’s fingertips, and he instantly set the natal feather ablaze.