Upon hearing Lâm Thiên's words, Ngũ Hành Ngạc momentarily pondered: "What seeks to burst forth? Could there be..."

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

The sound of wind tearing through the air resonated, abruptly cutting short Ngũ Hành Ngạc's words. The next moment, dense tentacles burst forth from beneath the earth, each one over a zhang thick, covered in nauseating viscous fluid, emitting a pungent, foul stench.

"This is...?!"

Ngũ Hành Ngạc's expression shifted.

The dense tentacles surged forth with extreme speed, as if sensing the presence of the one human and two beasts. They immediately coiled around them, their swiftness quite astonishing. In a blink, Lâm Thiên, Ngũ Hành Ngạc, and Tiểu Thái Sơ were all caught by three tentacles, which then dragged the human and two beasts directly into the Subterranean World. The entire process was so swift that even Lâm Thiên, who had previously sensed something emerging, had no time to react.

Moreover, the tentacles possessed astonishing strength and resilience, so much so that the human and two beasts could not break free in such a short time.

In the blink of an eye, they were pulled into the Subterranean World.

The entire Subterranean World was shrouded in darkness. They saw that the entity whose tentacles had ensnared and dragged them down was a Corpse Beast, resembling an octopus. It was far larger than the previous Corpse Beast, and its aura was even more terrifying.

"Comparable to a half-step True Immortal who has condensed eight Immortal Origins!"

Ngũ Hành Ngạc exclaimed in surprise.

Lâm Thiên was also astonished that such a powerful Corpse Beast existed here; just one more step, and it would be a True Immortal.

This octopus-shaped Corpse Beast possessed a frightening number of tentacles. Three tentacles separately coiled around Lâm Thiên, Ngũ Hành Ngạc, and Tiểu Thái Sơ, pulling the human and two beasts closer. It had no visible pupils, only a gaping blood-basin maw that opened wide.

An extremely putrid stench wafted from this wide-open mouth, accompanied by some murky yellow fluid dripping down.

Evidently, it intended to devour the human and two beasts alive.

A faint light flashed in Lâm Thiên's eyes. With a slight shift in thought, his formidable physique vibrated powerfully, imbued with a vast force, directly shattering the tentacle coiled around him into pieces.

Clang!

He swept out two golden sword beams, severing the two tentacles that had ensnared Ngũ Hành Ngạc and Tiểu Thái Sơ.

"It's quite extraordinary for a Corpse Beast comparable to one that has condensed eight Immortal Origins. Old Man Alligator couldn't even break free in such a short time."

Ngũ Hành Ngạc said.

"After reaching the peak of the Eternal Realm, for the Nine Immortal Origins, each Immortal Origin condensed is equivalent to elevating one's cultivation by a small step. Moreover, the strongest aspect of Corpse Beasts is their tough bodies. It's perfectly normal that you couldn't break free in a short time."

Lâm Thiên said.

No sooner had he spoken than the sounds of tearing wind resounded once more, accompanied by furious roars.

The octopus-shaped Corpse Beast possessed many tentacles. At this moment, dense tentacles once again coiled towards the human and two beasts.

In an instant, even the void here seemed to be pierced by these tentacles.

"Lad, deal with it."

Ngũ Hành Ngạc said.

Lâm Thiên nodded. The Soaring Heavens Sword Art surged forth, and with a wave of his hand, he unleashed dense sword beams, severing all the tentacles.

Immediately, he flickered to appear above the Corpse Beast's head, directly delivering a heavy punch downward. Amidst a mournful wail, he utterly shattered the Corpse Beast into pieces.

Ngũ Hành Ngạc rolled his eyes: "A Corpse Beast comparable to one that has condensed eight Immortal Origins, yet it was shattered by a single punch just like that."

"While it is said to be comparable to a Corpse Beast that has condensed eight Immortal Origins, in reality, its battle prowess is far inferior to a genuine human cultivator who has condensed eight Immortal Origins. It merely possesses a physique slightly stronger than a human cultivator of the same level, but in terms of physique, I can utterly crush it, so it's nothing significant."

Lâm Thiên explained.

"Though that may be true, it's still extremely abnormal." Ngũ Hành Ngạc spoke, then added: "Let's explore this Subterranean World further."

Lâm Thiên nodded. They were currently treading in the void, looking downwards, only then discovering that this Subterranean World was akin to a vast, dark chasm. The octopus-shaped Corpse Beast they had just encountered resided above a small river below this chasm. The river water was a murky yellow, like Corpse Water gathered together, exuding a dense aura of death.

"This water seems to have collected from above, truly like Corpse Water." Ngũ Hành Ngạc tilted its head slightly, gazing upstream along the small river. A faint light flashed in its Demonic Eyes: "This dense aura of life also seems to originate from that direction."

Lâm Thiên nodded, for he, too, had naturally sensed the same.

Upstream, the emanating aura of life was extraordinarily astonishing, dense beyond compare.

"Such a dense aura of life must surely belong to some exceptionally astonishing treasure." Ngũ Hành Ngạc looked towards the upstream section of the small river, then tilted its head and asked Lâm Thiên: "Should we first return to the location of the Seven-Colored Little Ape marked on the sheepskin map, or proceed upstream?"

"Let's go upstream and take a look."

Lâm Thiên said.

If the Seven-Colored Little Ape marked on the sheepskin map truly was a fragment of a Sword Soul, then he was not particularly anxious about it. This was because only by mastering the divine sword that contained the Sword Soul fragment could one acquire said fragment. He thus did not worry about others taking the Sword Soul fragment. Here, however, such a dense aura of life indicated an extremely extraordinary item. Therefore, considering all factors, he wished to first investigate upstream and acquire the treasure emitting such a startling aura of life. Furthermore, he noticed that the upstream direction of this subterranean small river happened to lead towards the very center of the Ghostly Soul Death Valley.

His path from here, moving upstream along the subterranean small river, was in fact heading towards the central core of the Ghostly Soul Death Valley. It would simply require him to break through the earth layer above later to ascend from this Subterranean World.

Immediately thereafter, he beckoned to Ngũ Hành Ngạc and Tiểu Thái Sơ, heading upstream along the small river in this Subterranean World.

The subterranean small river's water was a murky yellow. As the human and two beasts proceeded upstream, the aura of death grew even denser.

Before long, they gradually began to see corpses, floating in the small river, drifting down from upstream.

And not just one.

The human and two beasts paid this no mind. After all, in a Subterranean World suffused with such a dense aura of death, a few corpses were truly too common.

They did not stop, but continued upstream along this small river, following the extraordinarily startling aura of life.

Soon, more than a minute passed, and they had traveled a great distance. Ahead, the aura of death became even denser, and so too did the aura of life.

Then, as they rounded a bend of about 90 degrees, the scene before them caused their expressions to change.

Looking ahead, the small river reached its end. Before them was a subterranean plain, where countless corpses lay strewn across the ground, emitting an unusually foul stench. Murky yellow liquid continuously seeped out, then collected into the small river.

"Here... there are so many corpses? Could this have once been a colossal battlefield?" Ngũ Hành Ngạc exclaimed in surprise. Earlier, as they traveled here, they had seen some corpses on the surface of the small river, but their number was not great, so it hadn't been alarming. However, at this moment, the sheer quantity of corpses before them was somewhat terrifying, making them unable to help but be startled. Then, it looked towards the small river they had followed. Its demonic body couldn't help but tremble slightly: "This subterranean river... it truly is formed from collected Corpse Water!"

Ahead, the murky yellow, foul-smelling liquid flowing from those countless corpses was clearly Corpse Water. These Corpse Waters continuously flowed into this small river, and evidently, the river itself was formed by the accumulation of these Corpse Waters in one place.

It was not just Ngũ Hành Ngạc; even Lâm Thiên revealed a look of astonishment. Since he began cultivating, he had traversed many places of death similar to this and seen many corpses. However, never before had he witnessed such an enormous number of corpses piled together, save for the great fissure in Mount Tai on Earth. Moreover, while the number of skeletal remains in that great fissure on Mount Tai was vast, they had all turned to white bones. Here, however, most still possessed flesh and blood.

Of course, most of the flesh and blood had already decayed.

Perhaps precisely because of this, the scene appeared even more frightening.

Whoosh!

Baleful winds swirled through this place, and wisps of pitch-black mist rolled, causing one's scalp to tingle involuntarily.

The human and two beasts gazed at this scene before them, each startled, and then, the next moment, their expressions changed once more.

"There, that is..."

Ngũ Hành Ngạc's pupils contracted.

Looking further ahead, towards the plain where countless corpses lay strewn, scarlet Soul Phantoms were moving, each enveloped by an extraordinarily terrifying Yin Qi. They resembled wandering spirits of death from hell, utterly horrifying.

These were not mere Soul Bodies, but rather Baleful Spirits.

However, even though they were called Baleful Spirits, they were not simple Baleful Spirits. The Yin Qi surrounding them was simply too dense, far more terrifying than even an Emperor-level demonic entity.

"They are all heading deeper into this subterranean plain. What could be there?"

A faint light flickered in Lâm Thiên's eyes.

Here, all the Baleful Spirits were moving deeper into the subterranean plain, their movements mechanical and slow, like countless zombies. He looked in that direction, the faint light in his eyes gradually deepening. This was because the extraordinarily startling aura of life they sensed also emanated from that direction.

Moreover, the Death Qi in that location was also denser.

"Let's go take a look."

He beckoned to Ngũ Hành Ngạc and Tiểu Thái Sơ.

Here, the number of Baleful Spirits was extraordinarily astonishing, and each one was quite terrifying. However, with the cultivation of the human and two beasts, they naturally paid these Baleful Spirits no mind.

They followed behind the Baleful Spirits, heading deeper into this subterranean plain. Not long after, they had traveled tens of thousands of zhang, and the number of corpses they witnessed along the way grew ever greater.

Then, after several dozens of breaths, the Baleful Spirits ahead became even more numerous. Their shadowy figures swayed, forming a dense crowd, all encircling a gigantic ancient tree. The ancient tree's trunk and branches appeared verdant green, while its leaves were pure white. It stood hundreds of zhang tall, emitting an incomparably dense aura of life, as if a boundless ocean of life surrounded its vicinity.

"This is... a Life Tree?!" Ngũ Hành Ngạc's eyes widened: "How... how can it grow so tall and immense?!"

Lâm Thiên was also startled. Life Trees are born from the convergence of Life Essence. Cultivating beneath one yields double the results with half the effort, offering numerous benefits. He had once found one in the First Heaven Domain, but that Life Tree was merely half a zhang tall. Yet, this one before them was hundreds of zhang high! Furthermore, the aura of life it emanated was vastly superior, utterly incomparable to the Life Tree he had initially found in the First Heaven Domain; the difference was as vast as heaven and earth.

This was truly an Immortal Life Tree!

***

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