Chapter 0254: Abyss of Ten Thousand Ghosts

More than a month later, Huang Long and the others returned to the Xiqing Tribe. After returning, all the medicinal materials sent by those clan leaders, chief chieftains, and alliance leaders through their subordinates were delivered to the Xiqing Tribe. With all the materials gathered, Huang Long began preparing to refine the Qingling Pill. Of course, in addition to the Qingling Pill, he also needed to make some pills for healing and restoring physical strength. Although all the materials were ready, Huang Long had no magical power at the moment, so he couldn’t activate the Five Pits Divine Cauldron. Thus, he had to find other cauldrons commonly used by alchemists in this world. When Han Mi and the others learned that Huang Long needed a cauldron, those who had top-quality cauldrons naturally sent them over. Though these cauldrons couldn’t compare to the Five Pits Divine Cauldron, Huang Long had no choice but to make do with them. Fortunately, although the efficacy of the Qingling Pill produced was somewhat reduced, Huang Long estimated it was still sufficient to deal with those poisons and miasmas. Refining pills like the Qingling Pill didn’t take much time—after three days, they were ready. Instead of rushing to the Forbidden Magic Mountain with Long Yi and the others, Huang Long took the opportunity to inquire about the Earth Core Fire from Han Mi and the others. Upon hearing that Huang Long wanted to learn about the Earth Core Fire, Han Mi was astonished. “Elder Huang Long, you’re looking for this Earth Core Fire?” Han Mi asked in surprise. Huang Long nodded. Could it be that, just like the fig tree, Han Mi also knew something about the Earth Core Fire? Seeing this, Han Mi quickly said, “If you’re interested in the Earth Core Fire, I encountered it decades ago in the Abyss of Ten Thousand Ghosts.” Huang Long and the others were delighted—they never expected Han Mi to actually know where the Earth Core Fire was. “Abyss of Ten Thousand Ghosts?” Huang Long asked doubtfully. “It’s located north of the Dark Stars and is a death zone in our Dark Stars,” Han Mi continued. “Back then, a close friend of mine had his soul damaged and needed the Heartless Grass. I learned that this grass could be found in the Abyss of Ten Thousand Ghosts, so I went there. When I found the Heartless Grass, I encountered a vicious spirit. After a fierce struggle, I accidentally fell into a vast abyss of ghosts, where I finally saw the Earth Core Fire at the bottom!” Han Mi then recounted more details about the Abyss of Ten Thousand Ghosts. After hearing this, Huang Long, Long Yi, and the others fell silent. The Abyss of Ten Thousand Ghosts described by Han Mi was actually similar to the Gods’ Continent in the Hengyuan Realm. The Gods’ Continent was filled with undead and evil spirits, and the same was true for the Abyss of Ten Thousand Ghosts. Although it was extremely dangerous, it posed no threat to Huang Long and the others, so they didn’t take it seriously.

After refining the Qingling Pill, Huang Long and the others rested for a few days before heading to the Abyss of Ten Thousand Ghosts. However, this time, when those clan leaders tried to follow them again, Huang Long gently dissuaded them, and they wisely stepped back and took their leave. Only Hami, who knew the location of the Earth’s Core Fire, accompanied Huang Long and the others. Knowing where the Earth’s Core Fire was, Huang Long and his group didn’t rush. By the time they reached the Abyss of Ten Thousand Ghosts, two months had passed. Two months later, they arrived at the top of a canyon, with an abyss spewing thick black mist not far ahead. This was the Abyss of Ten Thousand Ghosts. Like the White Mist Desert, the people of Dark Star had no exact idea of how large or deep this abyss was. The White Mist Desert was shrouded in thin mist year-round, while the Abyss of Ten Thousand Ghosts was filled with thick black ghostly mist. Amidst this dense black mist, faint, eerie screams could be heard. “Elder Huang Long, this is the Abyss of Ten Thousand Ghosts,” said Hami, looking at the abyss with apprehension. Huang Long nodded, paused for a moment, then led everyone into the abyss. This time, he only brought the Fire Cloud Beast King and the Sky Roc. Once inside, when the fierce spirits hidden in the mist attacked, the Fire Cloud Beast King erupted in flames, instantly turning those spirits to nothingness, while the Sky Roc spread its wings and used its winds to tear apart those evil spirits. Thus, under the power of these two divine-tier peak beasts, there was no need for the others to intervene as they advanced deeper. Even so, it still took them half a month to reach what Hami called the Ghost Caves. The entrance to the Ghost Caves was hidden within a mountain wall deep in the abyss. As they went deeper, the mist in the abyss grew thicker, filling the space like liquid. Upon entering the Ghost Caves, they found the mist there to be more than twice as dense as outside. Terrifying screams of ghosts kept reaching their ears. If not for their strong cultivation levels, they might have been terrified by these screams, losing their minds or even going mad. Inside the Ghost Caves, in addition to the fierce spirits, some plants clinging to the walls were also extremely dangerous. If you passed too close, you could easily become nourishment for them.

Thus, winding their way through this dark, hellish realm filled with the wails of demons, they fought their way forward. Some of these monstrous creatures even possessed divine-level strength. Of course, in the face of the Fire Cloud Beast King and the Sky Roc, these divine-powered demons were all eliminated one by one. Half a month later, they finally reached the bottom of the Abyss of Ten Thousand Demons.

At the bottom of the Abyss, a land area dozens of miles across came into view. On this land, apart from a huge lake in the center, there was nothing else. Long Yi and the others couldn’t help but look toward the lake. At that moment, Hami quickly explained, “The core fire lies at the bottom of this lake.”

“At the bottom of the lake,” Huang Long nodded and said, “If that’s the case, let’s go down.” With that, he rode on the Fire Cloud Beast King to part the waves before entering the lake, followed by the Sky Roc and the rest.

Above, they hadn’t realized how deep the lake was. But after parting the waves, even after reaching hundreds of feet below the surface, they still hadn’t reached the bottom, which left them in awe.

After descending another thousand feet, a golden glow emerged from the bottom ahead. Hami’s face lit up with joy, “That’s the core fire!”

The group sped up again. As they got closer, the glow grew brighter, and the temperature around them rose steadily, eventually feeling like being in magma.

“Is that the core fire?!” Long Yi exclaimed in amazement as they drew nearer and finally saw the source of the golden glow.

Hundreds of feet ahead, a dark golden flame, shaped like a drop of water, emerged from the ground. Everything around it was burned to nothingness, reduced to nothingness itself.

The group was overjoyed. But when they came within a hundred feet, Long Yi said with a wry smile, “Brother Huang Long, let’s wait for you here.”

Although their cultivation was strong and they had held on hard, they still couldn’t withstand the scorching heat of the core fire and could only stop here.

Huang Long looked at Long Yi and the others, whose faces were red and covered in sweat, and nodded, “Okay.” Then he, along with the Fire Cloud Beast King and the Sky Roc, continued to approach the core fire.

However, when they reached ten feet away from it, even Huang Long had to stop. If he went any further, even his current physical body would likely turn to ashes.

The core fire, known as the strongest fire in the universe, capable of burning anything that approached it—this was no joke.

Looking at the core fire ten feet away, Huang Long frowned. Though he knew where it was, figuring out how to retrieve it remained a huge challenge.

As Huang Long had thought, for something extremely yin, there should usually be something extremely yang to counter it. Around the core fire, there ought to be something capable of containing it, but all around the core fire was nothing but emptiness.

From afar, Long Yi and the others saw Huang Long stop and also showed signs of worry and anxiety. If even Huang Long couldn’t find a solution, then the core fire couldn’t be taken away. By then, even if they reached the peak of the Forbidden Magic Mountain, they still wouldn’t be able to cross the River of Heaven.

“Hmm, what’s that?” Just as Huang Long was at a loss, suddenly, with a glance, he saw a stone beneath the core fire. This stone had the same color as the core fire and was firmly attached to the bottom of the lake. If not for Huang Long’s powerful spiritual perception, he wouldn’t have been able to spot this unusual stone through the emptiness around the core fire.

After a moment of surprise, Huang Long felt delighted. This stone must be the extremely yin substance—otherwise, it wouldn’t have remained unburned beneath the core fire. His eyes gleamed as he snapped his palm, causing the emptiness around the core fire to ripple. The stone beneath the core fire turned into a beam of light and shot toward Huang Long. He caught it in one hand, feeling a cool sensation rather than coldness. The stone was only the size of a palm, completely translucent, with faint mist flowing within it.

After taking the stone, Huang Long headed back. Seeing Huang Long return with a stone in his hand, Long Yi and the others were puzzled. Just as they were about to speak, Huang Long said, “Let’s go up and discuss it.”

Now that the container for the core fire had been found, the stone still needed to be refined further into a bottle-like shape before it could hold the core fire.

Back on the surface, Huang Long briefly explained the situation to everyone. Then, under their astonished gazes, he began refining the stone into a jade bottle. It wasn’t long before the jade bottle was ready. Huang Long returned to the bottom of the lake, came to a distance of ten zhang from the core fire, and used the jade bottle to contain it.

Up above, Long Yi and the others smiled seeing that Huang Long had finally obtained the core fire. With everything prepared, the next step was the journey to the Forbidden Magic Mountain. At the thought of being able to escape from Dark Star, they couldn’t contain their excitement.

Hami, noticing the expressions of Long Yi and the others, was puzzled and tried to guess why Huang Long and his group were searching for the core fire. Yet no matter how hard he guessed, he never imagined that Huang Long wanted it to deal with Bing Yu at the peak of the Forbidden Magic Mountain.

Two months later, Huang Long and his group returned to the Xiqing Tribe, while Hami parted ways with them halfway and returned to the territory of the Terence family.

Returning to the Xiqing Tribe, Huang Long and his companions rested for a few days. Once everything was prepared, they bid farewell to Cecil and set off for the Forbidden Magic Mountain.