Chapter 435: Shifting Mountain
Qiurong Wanxue had nothing to say after hearing his explanation. Ordinary treasures were already very good for the Snow-shadow Tribe, and she didn't even dare to think about legendary divine weapons.
However, she believed in his choice and asked: "What should we do now?"
Li Qiye responded with a smile: "There are five mountains at the five corners of this desert. As long as you can push these mountains into the middle, you will be able to open up this desert. Then, it will be up to your own fortune whether you will get a treasure or not."
His familiarity with the Shifting Mountain Pass caused Qiurong Wanxue to gaze at him: "Didn't you say that you have never been to Necropolis before?"
Li Qiye answered with a smile: "If I had answered that I have been to this place before, would you have let me come along? If I am not mistaken, Chief Qiurong had always been suspicious that I bore ill will towards you guys."
Being figured out by Li Qiye caused her to blush. This made her feminine and elegant aura to be even more alluring like a dripping ripe peach.
"Just kidding." Li Qiye smiled and said: "Don't take it seriously." Li Qiye didn't mind it at all since it was natural for her to be so cautious as the chief.
Qiurong Wanxue angrily glared at him: "Who would have been so paranoid if you didn't act so suspiciously?" Her mature demeanor now had a youthful coquettish air mixed into it.
"Come, we have to go find the five mountains and push them together to see if we are lucky this time around." Li Qiye smiled and said.
They began searching in the vast desert. Very quickly, they found a mountain. It wasn't overly large nor small and looked very ordinary. The only distinctive feature was that it was completely black.
"We'll push now." Qiurong Wanxue quickly said after finding this mountain.
Li Qiye shook his head and said: "You won't be able to, just follow me for now. Be on the lookout in case someone comes with bad intentions." With that, he placed his hands on the mountain.
It was not hard to overturn mountains and seas with Li Qiye's cultivation, so a normal-sized mountain should be as light as a feather and would easily be lifted up with one hand by him.
However, this black mountain was extremely heavy. Despite his utmost efforts, the mountain only shifted slightly. If any other mountain was met by this same force, it would have already been blown flying across the sky.
"Roll—" Li Qiye pushed the entire mountain as it followed a strange path; it was as if this path was already predetermined.
Qiurong Wanxue hurriedly followed behind him. She didn't dare to be careless and released her divine intent to look around in case someone else wanted to take advantage of the situation.
Fortunately, no one else picked the Shifting Mountain Pass so only the two of them were in this desert.
"Rolling—" Under Li Qiye's constant pushing, the black mountain slowly followed the predetermined path to the center of the desert.
Now, Qiurong Wanxue understood why people didn't pick this pass. She witnessed Li Qiye's strength with her own eyes when he crushed a Royal Noble like crushing an ant. However, he was struggling to push this mountain, so she wouldn't be able to make it budge at all.
"Rolling—" This black mountain was heavy beyond one's imagination. Even someone with astonishing physical strength like Li Qiye found it to be a huge challenge.
It was halfway to the center, but Li Qiye's entire body was drenched in sweat.
"Take a rest for now." Qiurong Wanxue noticed his fatigued panting and worriedly said.
Li Qiye kept on pushing and shook his head: "No, if I let go, it will move back to the original location and all will be for naught. You have to push it to the center in one go or it will never work."
Qiurong Wanxue was shocked; no wonder why no one else wanted to pick the Shifting Mountain Pass. She believed that even Ancient Saints would find this very difficult.
Li Qiye was quite mighty, so despite the heavy weight of the black mountain, he persevered until it reached the center in one setting.
After moving it to the center, he suddenly heard a cranking sound as if something had latched onto the mountain. At that point, he finally let go while being completely out of breath as he felt his legs giving out.
Qiurong Wanxue was scared and quickly came to embrace the staggering Li Qiye before asking: "Are you okay?"
The exhausted Li Qiye heaved a sigh and said: "Let me rest a bit. So tiring… This is indeed really hard."
Qiurong Wanxue propped him against a safe place to sit. After a while, his blood energy began to recover.
After his blood energy rejuvenated like a receding tide, Qiurong Wanxue felt relieved and caringly asked: "How do you feel?"
Li Qiye smiled while basking in his enjoyment: "Very comfortable, sleeping in a beauty's embrace is indeed very comfortable. Just a bit more then I'll be fine."
Qiurong Wanxue was startled and suddenly realized something as her face turned red. She was hugging him tightly as his head was resting on her chest, deep into the valley. He also had a very comfortable and joyful expression.
"You!" She wanted to push him away due to the embarrassment.
Li Qiye lightly waved his hand to stop her and smiled: "Don't be angry, Qiurong. If I really wanted to take advantage of you, using these kinds of means would be a disgrace to me. If I wanted to enjoy such affection, then I would directly take you in and taste you completely in addition to earning your willingness to be my woman. I have confidence and complete certainty in this. Don't worry, this is just for fun and I have zero intent of treating you licentiously."
Li Qiye's head remained on her high bosom with a relaxed look. Despite this suggestive pose, Li Qiye still had a calm and natural air with no lustful thoughts.
Qiurong Wanxue didn't know how to reply. After a while, she asked: "Are you always so full of yourself? Do you not feel that you are too arrogant and outrageous?"
"There are always those who tell me that." Li Qiye answered with a smile: "But if I pretend to be humble, then I will either become a hypocrite or the most sacred sage throughout history. Unfortunately, I don't belong in either category. I have the power as well as the qualifications, so this is only to be expected of me. Of course, to others, I am full of hubris."
"A lot of confidence." Qiurong Wanxue snappily said: "The Nine Worlds is huge and has countless experts — hidden dragons and crouching tigers. Being overconfident is not a good thing."
"That is for other people." Li Qiye contentedly enjoyed his current situation and said: "The nine heavens and ten earths indeed have countless experts and invincible existences, but that does not affect me. I am Li Qiye, that alone is enough."
Qiurong Wanxue was stunned for a while. I am Li Qiye, that alone is enough — such an ordinary phrase, but when uttered by Li Qiye, it was painted with a domineering attitude that could reign over the nine heavens and ten earths throughout the eons.
This sentence alone said it all. After a while, Qiurong Wanxue calmed down to look at this young man lying in her bosom. His eyes were closed and he had a calm smile on his face. It was as if, to him, everything in the world right now was just like the gentle flow of a river.
The stare lasted for a long while since Li Qiye was an unsolved mystery that others would never tire of trying to figure out.
Confident, calm, ordinary yet profound — these were his greatest charms. Just like the path towards the grand dao, they were both filled with temptation and attraction.
She then slowly stroked his hair and caressed his face before slowly speaking: "Just who are you?"
Li Qiye's eyes remained closed and he only answered with a smile.
He spent a lot of effort before finally pushing all five mountains to the middle of the desert. Once all five mountains joined together…
"Clack!"
The empty ground that was surrounded by the five mountains suddenly opened like a treasure box. Li Qiye quickly took a look, but there was nothing inside.
"Unfortunately, that thing isn't here." He lamented with a disappointed sigh.
Qiurong Wanxue was also disappointed. She then remembered what Li Qiye said before and curiously asked: "What are you looking for?"
He clearly came to the desert for a certain something, so this piqued her curiosity. Just what kind of item could garner Li Qiye's interest?
"Do you really want to know?" Li Qiye smiled at her and asked.
"Come on and tell me." She glared at him with a mature charm that could swoon all beholders.
"It is no big deal to let you know. The thing I'm searching for is the key to opening the Prime Ominous Grave."
"The key to the Prime Ominous Grave!" Qiurong Wanxue was shaken as she stared at Li Qiye for a long time.
435 Teaser It actually is really hard to find a teaser for this chapter… [collapse]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.
Ghosts, ghost race, sentiments, evil spirits… ↩ Ju Tian = Gigantic Heaven/Sky. ↩Chapter 437: Finding Treasures At The Ghost River
"Ah!!!" A miserable scream resounded as a young cultivator's chest was pierced by a white hand. "Crash." His body was then dragged into the Ghost River by this skeletal hand.
"Die!" Another cultivator let out a battle cry as he revealed his most powerful technique, causing waves to swell up.
These four cultivators were prodigies of the ghost race. After utilizing their most powerful techniques, they were able to escape the attacks from these evil creatures and rushed out from the river.
As each had their own trunk, they immediately paid the fish fee to the Ghost Fate Sect.
After doing so, they then took care of the ghost algae that surrounded the trunks. Two young men obtained useless items; one of them got an old and tattered helmet while the other got a broken shield. They were both cast from the lowest ranking metals — not worth a coin.
The other two were a bit luckier. One obtained an ancient medal with unknown usage, but its trace of divinity showed that it was a treasure.
The last young man was the luckiest as he obtained a Vermillion Stone. It was around the size of a fist and dancing flames were on the surface as if a small fiery bird was about to fly out. 1
"Hahaha, this time was pretty profitable!" The young man with the Vermillion Stone happily exclaimed. This stone was indeed valuable, so he quickly stored it.
The other people also exclaimed in admiration. One of them said: "Pretty lucky. I have been waiting here for ten days, and this Vermillion Stone was the best thing to be salvaged in the last ten days."
After a while, some of them abandoned testing their luck. In the end, the Ghost River was too dangerous. Every attempt ended with one or two of them dying. However, a few of them were unwilling to give up and decided to stay.
"Although the Ghost River is dangerous, it is one of the fierce grounds in Necropolis that produces the most treasures. In fact, some divine weapons even came out from this place." A young cultivator that wished to stay said.
This did make sense since a lot of treasures came out of this dangerous river. For example, the supreme treasure taken by Immortal Emperor Ju Tian. It was said to be an extremely ancient artifact.
There were no patterns to the trunks floating down from the river; sometimes there would be a lot and the time it took for the next batch to come was random. All the young cultivators were standing by the ferry to wait for them.
Some even stayed here for several months in order to see if there were any particular techniques to obtaining these trunks.
Whenever these trunks floated down, some people would take action and some would die. The corpses of the dead would disappear as they would sink all the way down to the bottom of the river.
Li Qiye and Qiurong Wanxue continued to stay by the ferry. He did not take action and instead only watched over the batches of floating trunks. They had stayed at the ferry for more than ten days; people came to test their luck and others left due of fear.
Within these ten days, no one found anything. Some obtained one or two decent items, but there was nothing too earthshaking.
Today, Li Qiye and Qiurong Wanxue continued to watch the Ghost River. A gloomy voice suddenly came out like the murmuring of ghosts: "Ghost River, it is time to test my luck."
These words reverberated throughout the ferry, but no one saw the speaker. No one was weak amongst the young cultivators present, but their hearts thumped since although they couldn't see the speaker, they understood that it was a very powerful expert.
As they looked around to find the source of the voice, a soft sound rang. "Poof." Curling smoke eventually aggregated into a figure that resembled a ghostly shadow in an instant.
People focused their eyes to find that the person condensed from smoke was a very handsome young man, but his face was completely white as if he had never seen the sun all year round. He was just like a ghost that lived in the darkness.
"Ye Sha!" All the young cultivators lost their colors the moment they saw this young man appear amidst the crowd. They quickly took several steps back to avoid this man.
The name "Ye Sha" changed Qiurong Wanxue's expression as well. Many cultivators were very wary of Ye Sha. 2
Ye Sha was a famous character in the southern Distant Cloud and even in the entire Sacred Nether World. He was the descendant of the prestigious Nightwalker Sect in the Distant Cloud that consisted of the Nightwalker Tribe.
The Nightwalker Tribe was a branch of blood sucking ghosts; their members came and went silently without a trace, especially during the night. It was as if the darkness was their paradise.
Ye Sha was an assassin, but he was not for hire. He only killed people who opposed him. In recent years, he had been very famous since he assassinated several grand characters, including geniuses, a few sect masters, and royal lords who had once offended him.
Even powerful sect masters from the previous generation died miserably to his assassinations.
He never clashed against his opponents fair and square. Once offended, he would shadow them like a thorn behind one's back. He would continue to haunt them until their death.
For cultivators, grievances and grudges were common things. The easiest way to settle a dispute was to fight solo or participate in team battles.
In particular, geniuses especially liked to use their own power to deal with their enemies. This was a form of training to them; only when they swept through all of their enemies would they be able to reach the peak.
However, assassinations were frowned upon not only by geniuses, but any disciple from the great powers who had a bit of fame. They would rather choose to fight in a group; at the very least, it would show their sect's power.
However, Ye Sha, who came from the Nightwalker Sect, did not care for such trivial things. He was an assassin and he only knew how to destroy his enemies regardless of the method.
Because of this, Ye Sha was not included in the list of the current top geniuses in the Sacred Nether World, but many people still feared him. A few young geniuses were stronger than him, but they still showed apprehension in his presence.
Ye Sha smiled at the sight of the other cultivators retreating before him; he enjoyed the fear displayed by others. He then said: "Fellow Daoists, I bear no ill will towards anyone. Why the need to look at me as if I am a monster?"
"Brother Ye Sha's fame is like thunder next to one's ear, so we were thunderstruck by your presence." No one wanted to offend him. Although he was not the strongest amongst the younger generation, no one wanted to be haunted by him.
Ye Sha let out a gloomy and creepy laugh. He then noticed that Li Qiye was the only one who didn't move, so he asked with a smile: "Human Junior, are you not afraid of me?"
Li Qiye looked at him and lightly replied: "I don't know you so why should I be afraid of you?"
Many young cultivators started to sweat in Li Qiye's stead. If one offended Ye Sha, then they wouldn't know how they died before it was too late.
Ye Sha looked at Li Qiye and noticed his ordinary looks. He then thought that this made sense. He nodded his head and said: "I guess, an ant like you is probably not qualified to hear my name."
Li Qiye only smiled and didn't bother to care, nor did he glance at Ye Sha any longer. As for Ye Sha, a human junior was less than an insect, so Li Qiye was not worthy for him to take action.
Despite being so conceited, he really did have the strength to be like this. After standing by the ferry for one day, Ye Sha finally picked a batch of trunks floating down from the river. In just the blink of an eye, he entered the river with a gasp-inducing speed and took four trunks from the flow.
Four ferocious monsters also came out the moment Ye Sha dragged these four trunks out from the surface. Sporting a gloomy smirk, he was not afraid at all. He suddenly turned into four wisps of smoke and, with a slashing sound, a cold saber glint cut downward.
Just a moment later, the four monsters were killed by Ye Sha as he landed safely on the ferry. He threw down the Yang Nightfish then disappeared. No one knew whether his trunks contained treasure or not.
"So strong!" After his departure, the young cultivators finally became relieved and exclaimed. No one wanted to be close to an assassin, it was way too dangerous.
"He is indeed very strong. I heard that he recently assassinated the Demon King of the Iron Ox Country. Rumor has it that the Demon King was a Little Sovereign, but he still died in Ye Sha's hands." A young cultivator recalled.
The young cultivators present felt their hearts thumping fast. Even for geniuses, a Little Sovereign was still a very powerful existence, especially those from the previous generation. Ye Sha being able to assassinate a Little Sovereign spoke plenty of his might.
Li Qiye and Qiurong Wanxue had been at the ferry for twenty-one days. On the twenty-second day, a group of trunks floated down. Li Qiye, who had been watching these trunks, suddenly put on a serious expression as his eyes narrowed due to a particular trunk.
Vermillion here is Vermillion Bird. ↩ Ye Sha = Night Kill, so Night Assassin is a fine interpretation of this name. ↩