Chapter 154 The Soul Within the Jade Pendant

The mountain path was exceptionally ordinary, with no prohibitions, barriers, or other inexplicable creatures blocking the way. Their pace was swift, and before long, the dilapidated mountain gate came into view.

It was still a scene of broken walls and ruined remnants, without even a single intact room in sight. Desolation stretched as far as the eye could reach. Walking over the shattered tiles brought a continuous stream of sighs, alongside an inevitable trace of suspicion.

This sect had been massive, even larger than the Tianyuan Sect. Even in its current state of utter decay, one could still glimpse its former glory. The giant cauldron standing amidst the ruins bore testimony to that past.

It was an ordinary bronze tripod, its surface densely covered with runes, yet completely devoid of any offensive power. Had Su Fan wished, he could have shattered it with a single palm strike. Perhaps out of reverence for this great sect, however, the bronze tripod still stood to this day.

At some point, the inside of the great tripod had become a bird's nest. A few foraging birds returned to feed their newly hatched chicks, and the wingless hatchlings inside the nest curiously gazed out at this world.

Suddenly, a cold wind blew, and dark clouds gathered instantly. A light, pattering drizzle began to fall without warning, and miraculously, a protective barrier materialized out of nowhere to shield the birds from the wind and rain.

Li Mingxuan smiled faintly at Su Fan and said, "I never expected Fellow Daoist Su to be such a sentimental person."

Noticing Su Fan's puzzled expression, Li Mingxuan quickly explained, "Practitioners of the Dao are mostly cold and unfeeling, and very few are so meticulous toward external matters. I suppose Fellow Daoist Su must have a very fulfilling romantic destiny as well."

Hearing the words "romantic destiny," Su Fan could not help but smile faintly. He shook his head helplessly at Li Mingxuan and said, "My path of romance has been exceedingly turbulent."

Perhaps sensing the change in Su Fan's expression, Li Mingxuan did not dwell on the subject further. Instead, with a solemn look, he cast his gaze toward the peak hidden behind the broken walls and ruins.

Su Fan briefly reined in his wandering thoughts and asked in a low voice, "The mystery must be up on that peak, right?"

Li Mingxuan knitted his brows, nodded slightly, and drew a map from his sleeve. In a deep voice, he said, "The map indicates that this was once the ancestral hall of this great sect, and it is the location heavily marked by the predecessors who brought the map back."

The map was indeed immensely useful. Although the mountain path seemed ordinary, that was only because they had the map. Without it, even after walking for several years, they might not have reached this place.

Therefore, Su Fan had no reason to doubt the markings on the map. After making brief preparations, he strode quickly toward the direction of the former ancestral hall.

***

Beneath a myriad of miles of dark clouds lay a barren plain.

A true wasteland—black, dying wild grass, and a region devoid of water sources for a thousand miles.

A group of people was trekking across this wilderness. They wore exceptionally heavy clothing, even though the scorching sun was directly overhead and beads of sweat the size of peas continually broke out from beneath their hair.

Suddenly, a heavy sound rang out, followed by a shout: "Someone has collapsed!"

The elderly man leaning on a walking stick at the very front maintained a calm expression. With great difficulty, he moved his aged body and slowly walked backward. Catching sight of the five- or six-year-old child lying on the ground, he sighed and asked, "Is there anyone else who can carry him?"

"Chieftain, we do not know what dangers await us on this journey. Yet right now, every man in our group is already carrying a child, which severely drains their stamina. Once danger strikes, it will likely be very difficult to cope," a man standing before the elder said with a deeply worried and helpless expression.

The elder lowered his head, placed his finger between the child's brow, and after a moment, said in a deep voice, "Carry him. The rear guard will catch up soon."

The words were spoken very plainly, but no one dared to argue. A burly man stepped out from the back of the group, hoisted the child onto his back, and resumed the march alongside the others.

The elder's wise eyes stared intently ahead as he trudged beneath the heavy dark clouds. He murmured softly under his breath, "As long as the black sandstorm doesn't strike before evening, we will be fine."

The middle-aged man who had spoken earlier looked at the emaciated companions around him, anger flashing across his face. He demanded, "Why did the Seventy-Two Clans have to send our Hetian Clan to this damn place?"

The elder slowly shook his head and explained in a heavy voice, "This is a trial. Every one of the Seventy-Two Clans must undergo this trial. This time it was our turn, so we came."

The middle-aged man let out a cold snort and snapped, "Then why hasn't the Li Clan participated in this damn trial for nearly a hundred years?"

The elder whipped his head around and glared at the middle-aged man, who instantly lowered his head. Unpleasantly thumping his walking stick, the elder coldly rebuked, "What Li Clan or Hetian Clan? Originally, we were all of the Wu Clan! If it weren't for copying the Thirty-Six Counties of the Song state back then and splitting ourselves into the Seventy-Two Clans, the Wu Clan would likely have wiped out the Song people long ago, instead of being reduced to migrating our entire clan to such an unknown wasteland."

The usually tranquil chieftain's sudden outburst made the middle-aged man shiver involuntarily. He lowered his head in apology and murmured, "The chieftain is right. It's just that our destination involves a direct confrontation with the Song people; will it be difficult?"

The elder furrowed his brows and pondered for a long time before saying coldly, "The Song people are indeed hard to counter, but for many years, our Wu Clan has planted spies deep within the Song territory, so there is no need to worry overly much. Besides, General Lan has already been eliminated by our joint forces."

"General Lan?" The middle-aged man's pupils constricted as he repeated the elder's words in shock, "General Lan has been eliminated by joint forces?"

The elder smiled triumphantly and said, "General Lan, who led countless armies and battered our Wu Clan like a torrential flood, never imagined that it would be his own people who betrayed him."

It took a long time for the middle-aged man to recover from his shock. His bewildered expression seemed frozen, but after a long pause, he sighed and asked, "What is the purpose of this expedition?"

The elder glanced at the darkening sky, a look of worry crossing his face. He rubbed his fingers together, igniting a spark of deep blue ghost fire, and with a flick of his wrist, sent the blue flame flying swiftly into the distance.

"This time, our purpose is not to battle the Song people, but the Gate of the Outer Realms."

After silently repeating "the Gate of the Outer Realms" a few times, the middle-aged man's eyes suddenly lit up, and he exclaimed, "I wonder if the Demon Sage is still alive!"

The elder closed his eyes slightly and continued speaking, "Whether the Demon Sage still lives remains uncertain. However, it is certain that the Ghost Emperor has perished, and the scattered ghosts and specters have been driven hard by the Song people over the past few years."

The middle-aged man fell silent for a moment, forcing down his lingering astonishment before speaking slowly, "When the Boundary Master sealed the outer realms gate back then, he surely never expected that group of ghostly entities would be able to spread so widely throughout the mortal world."

The elder shook his head dismissively. "If you ask me, the Demon Sage was the greater ambition. He exhausted ten thousand years of his cultivation attempting to drag the Boundary Master down with him. Though he did not fully succeed, the Boundary Master was indeed wounded."

The middle-aged man nodded in partial understanding, then asked again, "The Boundary Master stood alone against both the Demon Sage and the Ghost Emperor yet did not fall behind. I only wonder whether he truly belongs to our Wu Clan or the Song people."

The elder swiftly opened his eyes and declared with absolute certainty, "Of course he is of our Wu Clan! Otherwise, how could he have withstood that full-strength blow while the Demon Sage burned his cultivation? That is impossible without a formidable physical body."

Having said this, the elder's expression turned somewhat awkward. After a brief pause, he added, "Though, I suppose the Boundary Master must also possess Song bloodlines; otherwise, how could he wield his mastery of the Dao to such a realm?"

The middle-aged man smiled faintly and muttered, "If not for the Boundary Master, it is likely both our Wu Clan and the Song state would have been conquered by those from the outer realms."

The elder closed his eyes once more and resumed his walk across the wasteland. To an outsider, this scene might have seemed bizarre, but anyone knowledgeable would recognize that the elder was sensing the ghost fire he had cast out.

By relying on the subtle connection within the ghost fire, he could probe for dangers in places where divine sense could not reach, allowing them to react in a timely manner.

"Actually, the four divine beasts beneath the Boundary Master are quite extraordinary as well. Nowadays, though, they are kept by the Song people like livestock, possessing only flesh and blood without souls. Still, that is enough to deter the wandering ghosts and specters across the world."

"Divine beasts? Legend has it that the Azure Dragon divine beast retains half of its soul, though I know not whether it is true. I heard it was fused into the Boundary Master's token back then and can only be summoned with the Boundary Master's blood."

"With such immense power, the Boundary Master simply vanished after that battle. It is truly strange that no records document where he went."

"In the cultivation world of the Song state, there is a realm called Peeking into Heaven. It is said that those who reach this level can ascend to the nine heavens and sit alongside the gods. Perhaps the Boundary Master attained that realm."

"Peeking into Heaven, Peeking into Heaven... Perhaps the Boundary Master truly perceived the Heavenly Dao, and thus willingly forsook this mortal realm to seek a more boundless world."

***

After traveling for barely half a day, they reached the ancestral hall visible in the distance.

Their shoes were caked with mud, emitting a familiar, earthy fragrance. Completely ignoring the grime, they kept walking rather than flying.

The so-called ancestral hall was merely a mountain cave, save for the fact that this cave was rather peculiar, resembling the terrifying, gaping maw of a tiger.

Without much hesitation, the two quickly walked into the cave.

The cave was not deep, so they reached the end in no time. There, they spotted Xue Yun and Feng Shan, confirming they had not taken the wrong path.

Running into these two was expected, though meeting them *here* was a surprise. They had anticipated a life-or-death battle upon encountering them, yet instead, they merely exchanged wary, guarded glances before lowering their heads to survey the ground.

Indeed, they were looking down because the floor was densely scattered with various oddly shaped stones.

The cavern chamber was quite large, but with four people standing inside, it felt somewhat cramped—especially as they kept their distance from one another, making their search all the more meticulous.

Yet, no traces related to the "Gate of the Ghost Realm" could be found anywhere. The towering pagoda, the strange runes, and the mysterious figure from their minds were nowhere to be seen here.

All four simultaneously and doubtfully pulled out their maps for a close inspection, then stowed them back into their sleeves, stubbornly resuming their ground-level search without letting go of a single clue.

Suddenly, Su Fan felt a strange tremor within the jade pendant in his body. As his divine sense quietly probed inward, he unexpectedly discovered that he could delve deeper into it once again. Inside the jade pendant's space, a dim, faint soul was thrashing about frantically.

Recalling memories from long ago, he finally remembered the origin of this soul. It was a wisp of soul that the jade pendant had forcibly siphoned from the Ghost King within the Underworld King's tomb back then. He had never expected to witness its frantic movements once again today.

Thus, for the first time, Su Fan truly believed in the mystery hidden within this place.