Chapter 623 Bone Sacred Mountain
Two hours later, the hidden meteorites and the black mist ahead started to change, and a dark road gradually emerged.
Shan Tian looked rather tense and solemn.
The Sword of Freedom he drove traveled at an uneven pace, cleaving the dense mist of Yin Qi and continuing to move forward.
All the protective tactical deployments on the Sword of Freedom had been switched on.
A streamlined, fish-scale-patterned s.h.i.+eld had wrapped the huge s.p.a.ce shuttle in. Like a fish, the huge s.p.a.ce shuttle was now swimming in the haze of Yin Qi.
Li Mu had noticed that some of the alchemical objects in the martial arts civilization, such as the s.p.a.ce shuttle, the flying shuttle, and the magic treasures with all kinds of functions, had obviously adopted the principles of biological mimicry, which simulated animals’ appearance so as to optimize the function. This was quite similar to the biological mimicry instruments invented on Earth.
While cautiously observing the surrounding Yin Qi and the hidden meteorites, Li Mu silently memorized the route and he secretly tested some measures the old faker used to take to deal with the Yin Qi. Gradually, he had a plan in his mind.
Next to him, the body of Second Senior Fellow Apprentice began to change. And the changes were getting more and more conspicuous.
His figure became brawnier, and a white mane of a pig as sharp as steel needles sprouted out from his neck. At the same time, his face became fierce. Four long and sharp white fangs stuck out of his thick lips. A kind of ferocious and violent aura that was rarely seen in him was quietly emitting from him. There was a faint low roar in his throat, which sounded like a giant beast that would devour any person he saw. He was extremely horrible.
Li Mu looked back thoughtfully.
Meanwhile, Ding Yi had already returned to the inner cabin of the Sword of Freedom. With the help of the power of the tactical deployment, he was able to resist the invasion of the dense Yin Qi.
For a Worm Realm cultivator, entering this kind of environment was like an ordinary person falling into a vast ocean. It was extremely depressing as well as dangerous.
This was especially the case with the dense Yin Qi. If it invaded one’s body, it would cause damages to one’s cultivation, cut back one’s lifespan, and bring one serious illness. The power of Yin Qi was indeed frightening.
About four hours later.
The Sword of Freedom covered about 5,000 kilometers in a stop-and-go manner and eventually stopped in front of a mountain-sized giant meteorite.
“Hero Li, this is the furthest that my shuttle can reach,” said Shan Tian, who accompanied Li Mu and the others to the top of this giant meteorite.
One could see some artificial carvings, worn-away stone steps, as well as some caves and platforms on the top of the mountain. It was perhaps a temporary stop, a sentry post, or something like that.
“This is a provisional safe harbor built by the older interstellar sailors. It enjoys a history of more than 10,000 years and has been named the Cliff of the Living. Every year, only a handful of people would come here. Generally speaking, only the most experienced sailors know this place.”
There was a hint of pride in his words.
He was born in the most powerful family on the Opposite Bank Star. But he had liked to travel in the universe since he was a child. He had sneaked onto many s.p.a.ce shuttles and learned all about sailing. Without relying on the power of his family, he purchased a s.p.a.ce shuttle of his own. He was also a captain who could be ranked in the top three in this Star Region.
He had been to many places where ordinary interstellar sailors didn’t dare to go, seen countless secret realms and dangerous places, and completed many challenges that ordinary cultivators couldn’t even imagine. Visiting this ancient safe harbor called the Cliff of the Living was one of his great adventures.
“If you keep going, you have around 10,000 miles to go before you enter the Ghost Rally Star. The s.p.a.ce shuttle can’t go any forward, so you can only rely on our own cultivation power from this moment on.” Shan Tian looked at Li Mu and advised, “Hero Li, as bold and powerful as you are, you still need to be careful and think this over.”
Li Mu opened his Third Eye, stood on the top of the meteorite mountain, and looked ahead.
Layers upon layers of meteorites and the Yin Qi as thick as the sea lay head. Ghastly and ominous auras kept blowing against his face.
Li Mu gazed for moments and said, “Second Senior Brother and Brother Ding, wait for me here. I’ll be back soon.”
At last, he decided to enter the Ghost Rally Star.
By this time, Second Senior Fellow Apprentice had completely turned into a giant white-haired pig. A kind of violent and fierce aura in ancient times spread out from his body. There was also a scarlet beam swirling in his pupils. Hearing this, he nodded slightly.
Knowing his cultivation and strength, Ding Yi also understood that he was unable to accompany Li Mu on the rest of the quest. If he insisted on going, he would become Li Mu’s burden instead. Therefore, he also nodded helplessly.
In the end, Shan Tian gave Li Mu a small life-saving shuttle as a tool to cross the void.
Li Mu, like an independent hermit who had left the world, boarded the small boat. As if a man sailing the ocean in a canoe, he left the Sword of Freedom by himself, parted the thick dark mist in front of him, and headed for the Ghost Rally Star.
“Hero Li, I’ll wait here for you for a month. If you don’t come back in a month, the supply of the Sword of Freedom would run low. Then, I would have to head back. If you return after that, please wait for me at the Cliff of the Living. I’ll come to pick you up after I reload the supply. Bear this in mind. Don’t ever leave the Cliff of the Living by yourself, or you’ll be easily lost in this spooky land.”
Shan Tian’s voice came from behind.
Li Mu felt a surge of gratefulness in his heart.
Shan Tian was indeed a warm-hearted man.
Li Mu advanced for two hours.
The hull of the life-saving boat had been seriously corroded by the dense Yin Qi. When he arrived in this area, even Li Mu started to feel the pressure. The aura of the living gradually thinned. The dense Yin Qi around him was like the shadow of death that continued flinging at him.
In the end, the black Yin Qi seemed to become tangible and pressed down upon him. The horrible pressure was so strong that even an expert in the Soldier Realm would be instantly crushed into powder.
It was no wonder that Shan Tian had mentioned that if one wanted to enter the Ghost Star, one must have either a strong physical body or a special magic treasure.
Otherwise, the chances of survival would be very slim.
Fortunately, Li Mu’s physical body was strong enough to crush average General Realm cultivators, so it was not hard for him to bear this kind of pressure.
In the end, unable to stand the pressure, the life-saving flying boat began to cripple.
Li Mu immediately abandoned the life-saving flying boat.
He put out a piece of jade, and streaks of silver light draped from the jade. As if pouring hot oil on thin snow, the light easily s.h.i.+elded Li Mu from the extremely dense Yin Qi.
“The old faker’s Taiqing Ghost-repelling Talisman works beautifully.”
Li Mu clicked his tongue in wonder.
This piece of jade was made in a hurry on his way here. It was engraved with the Taiqing Ghost-repelling Talisman that the old faker had taught him. Li Mu used to believe that this was just a spooky method used by the old faker when he “engaged in superst.i.tion”. But now, it seemed that the talisman was real and was very effective to isolate the Yin Qi.
That could be considered one of Li Mu’s secret means.
This way, to Li Mu himself, the greatest threat the Ghost Rally Star posed on the living had basically been diminished.
The 24 flying willow-shaped broadswords whizzed out of the case and spread out behind Li Mu like a pair of blade wings. As the broadswords vibrated, Li Mu sped up and rapidly advanced toward the Ghost Rally Star.
Several hours later, a huge black planet came to Li Mu’s sight.
“This must be the Ghost Rally Star, isn’t it?”
Li Mu heaved a sigh of relief.
But at this moment, he was surprised to find that the originally extremely dense Yin Qi suddenly disappeared when he was about 10,000 meters away from the Ghost Rally Star. A clear void had separated the boundless sea of Yin Qi from the Ghost Rally Star, just like the egg white separating the yolk from the eggsh.e.l.l.
The arrangements of the universe were truly amazing.
Li Mu put away the piece of jade and continued to approach the vast black planet.
Gradually, he could feel a strange gravity coming from the direction of the vast planet.
Li Mu flapped his blade wings and swooped down.
The mountains and rivers on the surface of the vast planet below gradually became visible.
Li Mu turned on his Third Eye to observe the environment. But at this precise moment, a voice suddenly came from the vast planet—
“Who are you? How dare you break into my Ghost Star?”
The black cloud vibrated, then, turned into a huge ghost claw swiftly grabbing at Li Mu.
“Why being so hostile?”
Li Mu sped up, took a sharp turn, and arced across the sky. He dexterously dodged the huge ghost claw and eventually landed on the continent on the Ghost Rally Star.
The terrain of the Ghost Rally Star was quite similar to that of ordinary planets. But there was one thing unique about the planet—the light was rather dim here. There seemed to be no day and night here, as though it was always dusk.
It was extremely quiet in the surroundings.
There were no trees. All Li Mu could see were black rocks.
Countless strange stones stood on the land.
There was no wind. Air did not seem to exist, either.
The sky was always gloomy, and the surrounding mountains were dark and mysterious. The sky and earth seemed to be the same color. There was a kind of oppressive vibe, as though it was really not a world of living people but a dwelling of the dead.
Li Mu couldn’t sense any trace of the Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, either.
But there was another kind of energy that he could not figure out.
Li Mu took out a black Ghost Mask and put it on. Then, he changed into a large black robe. When he walked, he looked like a head floating in the air above the robes.
He was playing a ghost.
He did that because he had found some information on the Immortal Net before he came to the Ghost Rally Star.
“It is said that on the Ghost Rally Star, there will also some living people blending in with ghosts. There are a lot of ghost sects on that planet. Except for their special cultivation methods, the ghost sects are just like other sects of the living cultivators in the universe and are divided into different cla.s.ses and parties…”
Li Mu mused while heading forward.
About half an hour later, he pa.s.sed by some villages and towns and saw some real ghost cultivators. They were souls of the dead. It was very simple to distinguish the realm of their cultivation—the more concrete the soul was, the more powerful his strength was.
In the next few days, Li Mu blended in with the ghost cultivators and inquired for information. He also figured out the specific division of the cultivation realms for ghost cultivators.
From the lowest to the highest, there were the Wandering Soul, the Ghost Spirit, the Ghost Soldier, the Ghost General, the Ghost Lord, the Ghost Emperor… and eventually the Celestial Demon.
Upon becoming the Celestial Demon, a ghost would finally be freed from the half-dead state. They would again become living beings and transcend the cycle of life and death. They would possess an inconceivable order of cultivation and power, and even be able to grasp the divine abilities of reincarnation.
“So, Yu Hualong, Wu Ming, and the others can only be regarded as Wandering Souls. Without a Ghost Cultivation Method, they can’t increase their strength at all. In the current state, they are just a little better than real dead people.”
Li Mu came to a rough judgment.
He had learned from various sources that the nearest ghost sect, that was the Bone Sacred Mountain, was a rising ghost sect that had two great Ghost Lords.
It was said that this Bone Sacred Mountain had only been established for less than five years. But it quickly thrived and rose to power. In a short time, it gobbled several ghost sects in this area and took over this land, becoming an upstart on the Ghost Rally Star.
This was quite rare in the history of the Ghost Rally Star.
Because generally, the ghost clan needed to take a lot of time and effort to grow stronger. There were very few shortcuts on this front. Most of the high-level Ghost Lords had cultivated for thousands of years before they got where they were. So, it was simply inconceivable for Wandering Souls who came to this planet only about five years ago to rise to the Ghost Lord Level in such a short span.
“I’d better go to the Bone Sacred Mountain and take a look. Maybe I can find some good Ghost Cultivation Methods there.”
Li Mu knew what he needed to do next.