The Ascension of Contracted Spirits

Chapter 818 - 332: Corpse Mountain, Sea of Blood, Crystal Coffin

"Teleportation... failed?"

"No... teleportation is still ongoing..."

"What is this passage leading to? Why does it feel like we’re plummeting into the Netherworld, with every step shocking the heart?"

Dizzy and disoriented, Ye Hanjun tried to open his eyes, only to see a vast expanse of white before him.

Suddenly, bizarre energy beams scattered and turned into illusions, causing tinnitus, chest tightness, and palpitations... An unknown fear was climbing the depths of his heart.

Ye Hanjun’s limbs began to spasm, his physical body on the verge of collapse at any moment.

In this terrible discomfort, it seemed as if demons and ghosts were wandering above his head, while malicious spirits and specters laughed malevolently below his feet.

Was this gate truly leading to the 16th layer, or was it the graveyard of the Grim Reaper?

Ye Hanjun was puzzled but could only grit his teeth to combat the pain.

Finally, after an excruciatingly long ordeal, the sensation of weightlessness faded, and the distorted perception of space returned to his soul.

Ye Hanjun, who had been continuously vomiting, staggered to his feet, and his six purple magatamas shone with divine splendor within his turbid gaze.

"Where is this?"

With a mix of three parts wandering and seven parts bafflement, Ye Hanjun looked ahead.

He saw towering city walls before him, with robust fortifications and strict bricks and tiles, like a giant dragon crawling on the ground, magnificent and imposing.

The high towers on both sides stood like titans holding up the heavens, radiating with an antiquated and domineering majesty.

Ye Hanjun was stupefied, his drifting gaze wandering left and right before finally settling on the highest part of the wall.

There was a massive plaque with "Hall of the Holy Spirit" carved into it, each character as if dripping with blood. At first glance, it appeared sinister and terrifying.

But in the next moment, a transcendently holy presence assaulted him, and the figures of giant beasts roaring to the heavens took form, like mirages against both mirror and water.

"Hiss!!"

"Baa!!"

"Roar!!"

Not far away, the Chimera cub had also shaken off the space going out of control, ending its state of chaos completely.

Usually, each of its three heads had its own character.

But at this moment, there was a surprising consensus as they all opened their bloody maws wide, roaring fiercely at the grand and majestic city.

"Big tadpole... where is this?!"

GuaGua, with the greatest ability to resist abnormal states, awakened first, and had already taken in all the sights.

But it was too shocked; staring transfixed for a long time, its little head was filled with endless thoughts, drifting far and wide.

"I don’t know..."

Ye Hanjun shook his head, seriously saying:

"I have never heard from my clan’s memories of a ’Hall of the Holy Spirit’ within the great tomb."

"Like Soul Calming Mountain, this is an unknown area. I don’t know if it has never been opened before, or if it was opened in the past but the clan members that encountered it all died, unable to bring back any corresponding information..."

After answering GuaGua’s question, Ye Hanjun’s attention was diverted, and he suddenly realized Ye Yin was nowhere to be seen.

"Where did Ye Yin go? Where is he?"

GuaGua crisply said, "The old grandfather wasn’t with us. When that guillotine came down, it forcefully separated us."

"What?!"

Ye Hanjun’s eyes widened in shock and he carefully sensed around.

Indeed, within his perceptible range, he could not feel the presence of the Taoist at all.

He was either extremely far from Ye Hanjun or trapped in a special space, with all related auras completely blocked.

"Just passing through a Space Gate, and the two of us ended up separated?"

"Where on earth is this place? It couldn’t be that we’ve encountered consecutive spatial rifts, falling from the 16th layer to the 17th or even the 18th layer, could it?"

Ye Hanjun, moderating his breathing rhythm, attempted to dig into the soil.

But to his surprise, he found the soil exceedingly hard, as though connected to the city itself.

No matter how he pounded, smashed, shoveled, or poked, he could not excavate even a handful of dirt.

Unable to locate the stone tablet that corresponded to the floor level, he was at a loss for what to do.

"Roar!!"

With the Chimera cub, now at the Immeasurable Small Achievement stage, under Little Lazy Lion’s domination, it unleashed a heaven-shaking slap.

However, the sound of striking metal passed in a flash, and the earth remained steadfast and unyielding.

The palm print left behind was as shallow as paper, fading away within the span of a breath, leaving behind no trace.

"The principle of this place... cannot be swayed by the Unlimited Foetus!"

Ye Hanjun, speaking seriously and cautiously as if walking on thin ice, said as if facing a great enemy:

"To dare to use the name ’Holy Spirit’ for this hall, this place must be inextricably linked to the Supreme Saint Embryo."

"If we could take possession of the treasures within, the gains would be immense."

"But in a place like this, if there weren’t dangers at every step, why would it be buried here, unknown to anyone for more than 120,000 years?"

"Spare my life... spare my life please..."

The last to wake up, the handsome merman, was foaming at the mouth and had wet himself:

"Little fish did not mean to offend the holy land. Please, great, great Fish King, send us away. Little fish will seal my lips, never to reveal the secrets of this place..."

"What a loser, begging for this and that. What use are you?"

Ye Hanjun snorted coldly, his magatama eyes revolving; he quickly retracted the handsome merman, no longer wanting to listen to its senseless babbling.

Therewith, only the Chimera cub and GuaGua remained by his side, bringing some peace to his ears.

"Rumble rumble rumble—"

Before Ye Hanjun could decide on what to do next,

the city gate as unyielding as a boulder suddenly opened, and a bone-chilling wind blew out from within, causing his soul to tremble with unease.

"Come..."

"Come..."

"Come, come, come..."

The ethereal voices called out as if echoing through a mountain range.

As soon as they entered Ye Hanjun’s ears, his scalp tingled and his legs became especially heavy.

"GuaGua, did you hear that?"

Ye Hanjun asked gravely.

"I heard it!"

Little GuaGua kept a straight face and quietly grasped his hand: