Chapter 437: The Underground Labyrinth

The vast, barren mountains stretched for thousands of miles, devoid of any vegetation. Eroded by time, they took on various shapes, creating a truly spectacular yet desolate landscape.

This was a place utterly uninhabited by humans, even insects and animals at the bottom of the food chain preferred not to settle here.

Li Qi led the way, with the two flying close to the ground at a steady pace, carefully searching for the entrance to that dangerous place.

After twenty minutes, Li Qi said sheepishly, “Back then, I never came here in person. I only heard about it and knew only a general location. I’ve troubled Master Tian Yu to search for so long, yet we still haven’t found it.”

“It’s okay,” Su Che replied gently, without the slightest hint of impatience in his tone.

Within his consciousness, which covered an area of thousands of feet, there were countless caves of various sizes among the strange mountains and rocks—essentially a natural labyrinth. To be honest, even if one visited this place once or twice, the extremely complex terrain would make it hard to keep track of the exact locations. Moreover, Li Qi had never seen the entrance himself.

“It should be around here…” Li Qi looked around and murmured, “My old friend once said that about a dozen feet away from the cave entrance, there’s a huge rock shaped like a tiger descending the mountain, very lifelike.”

“A tiger descending the mountain?” Su Che nodded. “With such a marker, it’ll be easier.”

After searching a while longer, Su Che’s consciousness indeed detected a strange rock shaped like a tiger descending the mountain thousands of feet away.

“Where is it?” The two immediately flew over and successfully found the entrance, hidden deep within a crack in the mountain, extremely concealed.

They were sure it was the right place not only because of its location but also because Su Che’s consciousness couldn’t penetrate far enough into the passage—clearly an abnormally deep cave.

“This is already Moruo Continent, a place lacking spiritual energy and rarely visited by humans. Add to that these barren mountains and such a hidden, narrow entrance…” Su Che shook his head slowly, marveling, “I really can’t understand how your friends back then managed to discover such a special place.”

“It was pure chance. One of my old friends was pursued by his enemies and fled here, seeking the most concealed cave to hide in…” Li Qi chuckled. “By coincidence, he ended up here.”

Su Che nodded and said softly, “Now that we’ve found it, and it’s extremely dangerous inside, there’s no need for you to take the risk.”

Su Che’s words also came from good intentions. Those blood-colored fragments were of no use to Li Qi. If he followed Su Che in, and something unexpected and dangerous happened, Su Che couldn’t guarantee he could protect him safely. As an ancient demon spirit thousands of years old, how could Li Qi fail to understand these principles? In fact, he could consider even more factors than Su Che. Li Qi was even concerned that even if he managed to get out alive after following Su Che in, if he saw something he shouldn’t see during that time, Su Che might… silence him! Such things were extremely common in the realm of cultivation. So, Li Qi’s original plan was to repay Su Che for his kindness by bringing him to the entrance of the cave. Knowing when to stop and knowing how to retreat was key to living a long and comfortable life. Thus, Li Qi bowed and said to Su Che, “I thank Master Tian Yu for thinking of me like this. I am indeed weak and should not recklessly take risks and become a burden to you. In that case, I will return to the Floating City first.” “Alright,” Su Che replied with a smile, “When I return, I will go to the Floating City to thank Elder Hou for his guidance.” Li Qi quickly expressed his humility a few more times before taking his leave… Whoosh! After he left, Su Che summoned five Yuan Ying subordinates at will to protect him as he entered the cave. These subordinates could be called personal guards if put nicely, or scapegoats in critical moments if put bluntly. Before their souls were transformed, they were all notorious criminals deserving death, which was why Su Che kept them by his side at all times for emergency use. The six of them entered the narrow entrance one after another. The downward-sloping passage was indeed very long, winding for hundreds of miles before they reached the underground labyrinth Li Qi had mentioned. The so-called underground labyrinth was likely a naturally formed group of underground caves, resembling a honeycomb with numerous entrances everywhere, making it impossible to know where to enter. The eleven explorers back then had chosen a cave at random, and today, Su Che could only pick one at random and hope for the best. Fortunately, Su Che’s spiritual perception covered a wide area, and Lao Hei’s penetration and detection abilities were extremely strong. By marking the path along the way, they didn’t have to worry about getting lost. Moving through the underground labyrinth, they encountered some minor troubles and obstacles along the way, but for a Yuan Ying cultivator like Su Che, they posed no threat at all. Hundreds of years ago, those Golden Dan stage explorers could pass through this underground labyrinth, so it was even less of a problem for these Yuan Ying cultivators.

Half an hour later, Su Che and Lao He concluded that these underground caves were all interconnected. In fact, choosing any path would work—the end result was reaching the center of the maze.

Another fifteen minutes passed, and Su Che and his group arrived at the center of the maze, the very area described as being filled with unknown dangers.

The underground maze was pitch black, with not a trace of light. An ordinary person would surely struggle to move here, but for a powerful divine consciousness at the Yuan Ying stage, the presence or absence of light made no difference.

The center was extremely spacious, like a huge underground hall. As soon as they arrived, Su Che was shocked: “So many!”

Blood-red bone fragments were scattered everywhere, piling up in such quantities that it was impossible to count them. Some of these fragments were enormous, over ten zhang long, resembling broken ship hulls scattered about…

“How many could there be?” Lao He used his detection abilities to estimate and said in surprise, “Master, based on the size of the fragments you found earlier, there must be at least a million here. Enough for you to ‘chew’ on for a very long time.”

“Wanting a beating, huh?”

Su Che cursed him in his mind. The metaphor of “chewing bones” was clearly implying he was a dog…

Though it was just a joke, Su Che was also extremely excited. If all these bones of demon gods were fused together, to what extent could his divine powers be enhanced? Could he even kill a high-level cultivator at the Lian Xu stage with a single punch?

Such expectations weren’t exaggerated—after all, these were the bones of ancient demon gods! It was said that even in the Immortal Realm, they could be used as key materials to forge immortal artifacts…

As Su Che was filled with excitement, something strange suddenly happened inside the maze!

Woo woo woo woo…

A strange sound came from all around, like the roars emanating from the throats of fierce beasts.

And there wasn’t just one—sounds came from all directions…

Huh huh huh huh…

A few breaths later, through his divine consciousness, Su Che saw several figures—very vague and strange shapes.

“Eight!”

Su Che became highly alert and said to Lao He, “Eight human-shaped figures. They seem immaterial, like ghosts.”

Eight dark red figures appeared out of nowhere, floating without touching the ground. The strange sounds were coming from them.

“Yes, master,” Lao He confirmed, having detected the same thing. “It seems to be ghosts. But with our Immortal Prison, we’re not afraid of such things…”

Before Lao Hei could finish his confident boasts, a heavy blow struck…
Whoosh!
One of the dark red figures vanished suddenly hundreds of feet away, only to reappear just a few feet away, much like Fei Yun’s instant teleportation technique.
“Be careful!”
Su Che urgently warned one of his subordinates through his mind, as that dark red figure had appeared right behind him.
Although that subordinate, who was at the Yuan Ying stage, had been used by Su Che as a living shield or even a scapegoat, he still possessed full consciousness and combat abilities. Upon receiving Su Che’s warning, he too sensed the danger.
Buzz…
The defensive Dao artifact he had been carrying all along was fully activated. Though it was only a mid-tier Dao artifact, few forces in the Qi Yuan Star’s cultivation world could break through such defenses.
Yet at this moment, that deep blue defensive barrier did nothing at all. The dark red figure eerily penetrated the barrier, rushed at him, and passed through his body without any hindrance.
“Ah!”
The subordinate let out a cry before falling silent.
“Has it possessed him?”
Su Che was shocked. He really hadn’t expected that this subordinate, who possessed a mid-tier Dao artifact and was at the mid-Yuan Ying stage, would be so weak—like a useless fool—easily possessed by a ghost.
Of course, this thought lasted only a moment. Su Che understood the real reason: his subordinate wasn’t useless; it was just that this ghost was too eerie and terrifying, clearly beyond comparison to those so-called Ghost Emperors in the cultivation world.
Huh…
Without hesitation, Su Che immediately unleashed his Destruction Power, creating a protective layer around himself. Subconsciously, he thought that since this was the burial ground of the Sky-Devouring Rat, his Destruction Power might serve as a talisman—not only to protect himself but also to prove his identity to “it.”
“I am your successor. You shouldn’t attack me.”
But that was just Su Che’s thought. No one could predict what would actually happen.
At that moment, the subordinate seemingly possessed by the ghost suddenly moved and slowly turned around, revealing a sinister smile at Su Che and the others. Yet his eyes were completely blood red, with no pupils at all.
Whoosh!
Another dark red figure teleported over, appearing behind another subordinate. That subordinate had already activated his full defenses. Sensing the threat from behind, he didn’t need to turn around—he simply threw a palm strike.
Huh!

A powerful palm strike was sent out, but it passed through that dark red figure unimpeded, having no effect on it at all. In the next instant, that figure vanished instantly, slipping into the body of one of his subordinates and successfully possessing it once again. No matter how vigilant or prepared one was, a Yuan Ying cultivator equipped with defensive talismans was utterly helpless against such a ghostly entity, just like a fragile girl facing a fierce thug. Whoosh! Seeing this, Su Che didn’t dare hesitate anymore and immediately pulled back the remaining three Yuan Ying subordinates to the Immortal Prison. Whoosh! Without pause, he sent out another dozen prisoners from the Immortal Prison who were at the Foundation Establishment stage. What was Su Che trying to do?