97. Underworld Nether Soil

The Yellow Springs Underworld lies beneath the entire mortal realm. One can only seize the opportunity to travel there when the Earth Dragon turns its body.

At this moment, in the deepest part of the God-Burial Tomb, within that black coffin, there exists a path leading to the Yellow Springs Underworld. This path is like an abyss, deep and bottomless. Yet, within this darkness, a golden light is plunging downward at high speed. It is the Escape-One Divine Light of the brass oil lamp.

"How strange," Chen Huangpi remarked suddenly while riding on Golden Horn. "I had intended to ask Yi Qingzhou if the God-Burial Tomb was set up by my Master, but now that we are nearly at the Yellow Springs Underworld, I’ve only just remembered this matter."

The God-Burial Tomb bears a striking resemblance to the Old Temple. The tomb gate is inscribed with the characters "Suppress Immortal." Combined with the fact that Yi Qingzhou is inside, it is difficult not to associate it with his Master.

The brass oil lamp sneered, "Chen Huangpi, you always boast about your good memory, yet in the end, you are a forgetful fool."

Hearing this, Chen Huangpi was ready to get angry immediately. He is grown up now and possesses a great lethal weapon like the Void-Piercing Divine Sword. Although he rarely uses it in daily life, having a sharp blade at his side naturally makes him feel formidable and extravagant. However, just as he was about to lash out and remind the brass oil lamp who the master is, the Soul-Snatching Ghost suddenly spoke up: "Master, we are arriving."

"So soon?" Chen Huangpi immediately looked downward. A light spot the size of a bean grew larger and larger in his eyes. Furthermore, vigorous water vapor surged from that light spot, and he could hear the sound of waves crashing. Clearly, passing through that light would bring them to the Yellow Springs Underworld.

This made Chen Huangpi quite happy. When he came, he had worried that the passage would be filled with Yellow Springs mud and would be extremely dangerous, requiring him to rely entirely on the Soul-Snatching Ghost. To his surprise, things had taken a turn for the better; he hadn't encountered any trouble at all before reaching the destination.

But the Soul-Snatching Ghost asked with extreme seriousness, "Master, are you afraid of water?"

"Of course I am." Chen Huangpi did not understand why the Soul-Snatching Ghost asked this. However, he was indeed afraid of water. Since childhood, his Master never allowed him near rivers or lakes, saying that one who frequently stands by the river is bound to get their shoes wet, and those who drown the most are usually the ones who know how to swim. Thus, Chen Huangpi was not only afraid of water but also did not know how to swim. Even the few times he had entered a river, it was only when the water had ceased flowing.

At this moment, the brass oil lamp seemed to realize something and said in disbelief, "Ghost, you don't mean to say that once we pass through that light, we are going to dive headfirst into the Yellow Springs, do you?"

"That shouldn't be the case," the Soul-Snatching Ghost thought for a moment before saying, "Our luck is very good; I suppose I am just overthinking it."

The God-Burial Tomb is such a dangerous place that for an ordinary person, entering meant certain death. Yet after Chen Huangpi entered, he first had the help of the Divine Lord of Broad Vision, and later the assistance of the immortal Yi Qingzhou. He didn't even lose a single strand of hair. Naturally, his luck was exceptionally good. However, the Soul-Snatching Ghost did not notice that the moment it mentioned their good luck, the face of the brass oil lamp turned green.

...

The Yellow Springs Underworld is a world unto itself. The underworld is boundless, with no end in sight. The Yellow Springs is the only river in this underworld, with numerous tributaries that encompass the entire domain. The river water is murky, yet extremely calm.

Just then, with a splash, the calm water surface suddenly surged with huge waves.

A massive figure, several hundred meters tall, emerged from the Yellow Springs. The figure resembled a human, but its body was covered in many pitch-black symbols and texts; those characters were twisted and connected together, looking more like tattoos. This was a creature birthed by the Yellow Springs Underworld, surrounded by yellowish mist.

At this moment, the creature looked at the Yellow Springs before it and suddenly opened its blood-stained mouth. A young man wearing Taoist robes and a bamboo hat stepped out from its mouth, carrying a brass oil lamp. This youth was Chen Huangpi, and the creature was naturally the Soul-Snatching Ghost.

Looking at the boundless yellowish water surface, Chen Huangpi couldn't help but say, "Ghost, is the Yellow Springs really this big? It’s much larger than the biggest lake in the Hundred Thousand Mountains; I can't see the end at all."

There is a lake in the Hundred Thousand Mountains that is very large, appearing like a sea, but it actually has boundaries. Compared to these Yellow Springs, it seemed so insignificant.

The Soul-Snatching Ghost shook its head, "Master, this is only a tributary of the Yellow Springs; it is not actually considered large."

At this moment, Golden Horn's voice resonated in Chen Huangpi's heart: "Daddy Huangpi! Daddy Huangpi!"

"Don't worry, I'll let you out right now." As he spoke, Chen Huangpi tapped the Soul-Summoning Book. In the next second, Golden Horn's fierce and ethereal soul-body emerged from the book. As soon as it appeared, it jumped into the Yellow Springs impatiently.

The Soul-Snatching Ghost is a creature birthed by the Yellow Springs, and the Yellow Springs is its mother river. After jumping in, the body that had been gnawed into a skeleton by Chen Huangpi's Master would be able to regrow flesh and blood. Although Golden Horn's connection to the Yellow Springs was not as close, jumping into it would similarly allow it to grow a full body of flesh and blood.

"Golden Horn said that if it recovers its physical body, it will be even larger than before, and I will look even more majestic riding it," Chen Huangpi said, looking at the water with anticipation. As the master, he could feel that Golden Horn's state was becoming increasingly powerful, radiating a strange vitality.

Before long, a ferocious beast-head with eight eyes poked out of the water. Golden Horn roared to the sky, "I, your grandfather, am alive again! It's time for revenge! You wretched ghost, I am going to..."

With a splash, Golden Horn immediately shrank back into the water. It rubbed its eight eyes and said in an incredulous tone, "Is my vision failing? How did that wretched ghost suddenly grow so tall?"

The Soul-Snatching Ghost had only been a few hundred meters tall just moments ago, but after Golden Horn took a dip and came back out, in the span of just a few breaths, it had grown as tall as a towering sacred tree. Golden Horn could only see the Soul-Snatching Ghost's knees when it looked up. It was like seeing a ghost.

"I must be too excited, my blood is rushing to my head, and I've messed up my own eyes." Golden Horn shook its head and leaped out of the water again. This time, it gave up hope, because the Soul-Snatching Ghost's body was still just as tall. Moreover, a voice like rolling thunder rang out—it was Chen Huangpi's voice.

"Golden Horn, where are you? Why haven't you come out yet?"

"Daddy Huangpi, I'm here!" Golden Horn roared, "Daddy Huangpi, where are you? I can't see you."

"How strange," Chen Huangpi frowned. "Golden Horn says it's down there, but why can't I see it? Ghost, Yellow-Two, can you see it?"

"No..."

"Master, I don't see it either." The Soul-Snatching Ghost and the brass oil lamp widened their eyes, but neither could see Golden Horn on the surface of the water.

"Could it be lying to you and then ran away?" the brass oil lamp speculated maliciously. "This Golden Horn has a rebellious nature ingrained in its head. Once it reached the Yellow Springs Underworld, it must have wanted freedom. Even though it's communicating with you in your mind, it's likely already plotting how to get revenge on us."

"It seems I wasn't ruthless enough!" the Soul-Snatching Ghost regretted. "Master, the Dog-Taming Scripture can control the life and death of a lackey. If worst comes to worst, you should cut off Golden Horn's path of survival. It is the son of the Di-Ting; we are no match for it here in the Yellow Springs Underworld."

They could not see where Golden Horn was, nor could they hear its voice. But to Golden Horn, their voices were truly like thunder; it would be hard not to hear them.

"You wretched ghost, you wretched lamp!" Golden Horn roared in fury. "You two wretches, you actually want to take my life! Daddy Huangpi, don't believe their words; they are too evil!"

"Daddy Huangpi, wait for me, I'm flying up to find you!" Golden Horn was extremely anxious. Fortunately, unlike Chen Huangpi, it could still fly without the black smoke. With a mere thought, water mist, a mix of gray and yellow, emerged from beneath its four paws. Immediately, Golden Horn, with reddened eyes, charged upward. Simultaneously, the golden horn on its head radiated a dazzling brilliance.

*Boom!* A bolt of golden lightning struck the Soul-Snatching Ghost's body directly. It hated the Soul-Snatching Ghost and naturally wanted to take revenge. However, in the next second, a massive palm suddenly slapped down. *Boom!* Everything went black for Golden Horn, and it instantly lost consciousness.

"Ghost, what's wrong with you? Were you bitten by a mosquito?"

"Doesn't seem like it, and since when do mosquitoes exist in the Yellow Springs?" The Soul-Snatching Ghost hesitated, "Could it be that because I haven't returned in so long, the Yellow Springs Underworld has undergone some changes?"

It hadn't forgotten that Chen Huangpi recognized the Underworld script earlier. A creature that had never been to the Yellow Springs Underworld but could read the script—this was clearly abnormal. At the time, the Soul-Snatching Ghost thought there was a major problem in the Yellow Springs Underworld. But after thinking about it, since Chen Huangpi was hatched from an egg, knowing the Underworld script wasn't that big of a deal. But looking at it now, the Yellow Springs Underworld was indeed different; there were even mosquitoes.

"Master, is Golden Horn still communicating with you?" the Soul-Snatching Ghost hadn't forgotten about the creature.

Chen Huangpi shook his head, "A moment ago it said it was flying up to find me, but now there is no response at all. It seems it really did run away."

"However, it did help me a few times. Taking its life just like this is not something I can bring myself to do. I’ll just grant it its freedom." Chen Huangpi felt helpless. Although Golden Horn had a sharp tongue, it hadn't actually done anything bad. Moreover, it only had a bad attitude toward others; it called him "Daddy Huangpi" at every turn. It is said that if a child is not taught well, it is the father's fault. Chen Huangpi felt that he hadn't taught Golden Horn properly, which was why it was so wild and desperate for freedom.

Just then, Golden Horn's weak voice suddenly rang out from the bottom of Chen Huangpi's heart: "Daddy... Huangpi, I'm in the gap of the Ghost's fingernail. Save me, save me..."

"What!" Chen Huangpi was stunned!

He quickly asked the Soul-Snatching Ghost to open its palm, then jumped up to examine it, finger by finger. There, in the gap of the Soul-Snatching Ghost's middle fingernail, he saw a wingless mosquito. The mosquito was dying, its four legs trembling.

No... it wasn't a mosquito; it was Golden Horn, shrunk to who knows how many times its original size.

The Soul-Snatching Ghost and the brass oil lamp looked at each other. They spoke in unison with a gloomy tone, "Master, fellow, let's just put it out of its misery."