Chapter 009: Sacred Rank?

As he was thinking, he heard a series of murmuring sounds coming from afar, like vengeful spirits cursing, causing extreme discomfort.
Du Fan couldn’t help but frown and reached out to cover his ears.
But Gan Nong, for some reason, suddenly waved his hand lightly, emitting a soft white light that enveloped the area where the three of them stood.
The strange noises seemed to be blocked by the white light, and soon everything around became quiet.
Though the noises were no longer heard, Du Fan still felt nauseous, as if extremely irritated by them.
He couldn’t help but whisper, “What on earth is going on?”
“Well…” Gan Nong shook his head slightly. “Young Master Du Fan, you’ll know once you take a look.”
With that, Gan Nong waved his hand again, this time sending a beam of white light into the darkness. Instantly, the surroundings lit up brightly, and sharp screams arose…
Du Fan narrowed his eyes and looked through the light, only to find that the creatures hidden in the darkness seemed to be… cats?
These creatures, resembling well-fed domestic cats, had yellow and white stripes all over their bodies. They were about a meter tall, and although they appeared clean, there seemed to be a sense of bloodstain clinging to them. The most eerie part was their eyes, which seemed to be burning from within, while their mouths continuously spat out waves of white mist, as if they were… sucking in something…
Judging from their size, they resembled some kind of fierce beast. Of course, with such creatures appearing here, no one would consider them ordinary.
Du Fan faintly felt a sense of familiarity with them. After pondering for a moment, he couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise, “Are these Soul Devouring Cats?”
These Soul Devouring Cats were said to be quite common among abyssal creatures. Unlike other creatures, they used mental attacks. After defeating their opponents, they would suck their souls as food, which was why they were called that.
Among abyssal creatures, those that used mental attacks and sucked people’s souls were far more terrifying than the Nether Wolves they had encountered before.
Du Fan frowned. Although there weren’t many of these Soul Devouring Cats, their attacks were hard to defend against. If a fight broke out, things would get troublesome for him.

To his surprise, when Gan Nong heard Du Fan say that, he actually gave an approval and said, “It seems that Young Master Du Fan is truly extraordinary. There are very few people on the continent who can recognize these abyssal creatures, yet Young Master Du Fan can immediately discern their origins and nature—truly impressive.” Du Fan nodded but remained silent. Seeing his expression, Gan Nong didn’t say much more and simply smiled faintly, saying, “Well… since we know what they are, we just need to be careful. With just these few hundred Soul-Devouring Cats, I can still manage to deal with them… But Young Master Du Fan, you must stay close!” Without any visible movement, he simply waved his hand slightly, and a magic blade swept out—far more powerful and larger than the ones Ling Yin used, by many times over. Du Fan secretly stuck out his tongue. If Ling Yin was at level eight… then by that standard, could it be that this High Priest Gan Nong was at the Saint level? With this move by High Priest Gan Nong, the hundreds of Soul-Devouring Cats were instantly torn to pieces, and darkness returned once again. Only then did Gan Nong seem relieved. He waved his hand slightly to disperse the white light around them, said nothing more, glanced around a few times, and then slowly stepped forward. Du Fan didn’t dare ask too many questions and could only grit his teeth and follow. Along the way, they encountered countless abyssal creatures, but in front of High Priest Gan Nong, they were nothing at all—often vanishing in an instant with just a gesture of his hand. This amazed Du Fan greatly. Judging from the power displayed by High Priest Gan Nong, not just Du Fan, but even ten Du Fans wouldn’t be his match. After walking for an unknown length of time, the darkness around them began to fade, and faint rays resembling sunlight could be seen ahead. Delighted, Du Fan thought that after walking for so long within a range of no more than five meters, he had already grown frustrated. Now that he saw sunlight, could it be they had reached their destination? The sound of water gradually became clearer, and the ground became flatter, making it easier to walk. Finally, Du Fan stepped out of the darkness and stood in the sunlight. He found himself at the entrance of a canyon, with a small river running across it. With just one glance, he understood that this river must be the Submerged River.

He turned to look behind him, secretly puzzled—the path he had come along seemed like a plain, covered only by a layer of dark mist. Yet at this spot, it was as if an invisible barrier of glass separated them from the mist.
This place was truly eerie!
At that moment, the bell in her arms suddenly struggled and whispered, “Something’s wrong… There’s something strange about this place…”
With that, she struggled to get free from Du Fan’s embrace.
After resting for so long, Ringtone had regained some of her strength. Though her face was still pale, she was clearly no longer too weak to walk.
Staring at High Priest Gannon standing ahead, she showed a conflicted expression and said, “According to legend… behind this… this canyon lies the Gate of the Abyss… This submerged river here is the final barrier… What… what exactly does he want?”
She struggled for a while but couldn’t utter the word “teacher” anymore. Du Fan sighed but said nothing.
He simply glanced over. From this position, he could see High Priest Gannon’s profile. With his hands behind his back, the priest stared at the canyon ahead, as if sighing, and murmured, “All these years… I’ve finally returned to this place… Hmph… hmph…”
Then, Gannon turned to look at Du Fan and said calmly, “Lord Du Fan… beyond this lies the Gate of the Abyss… Care to take a look?”
Du Fan grunted and slowly walked over. Ringtone hesitated for a moment before following.
The submerged river was several times wider than what they had seen before. Though not as large as real rivers, given its nature, crossing it must be extremely difficult.
But to Gannon, it seemed as if he regarded the river as nothing at all.
Suddenly, he took a deep breath, lowered his hands from behind his back, muttered something, then quickly brought his hands together in front of his chest before slowly spreading them apart to the sides…
The once perfectly calm water gradually parted to both sides with his movements, as if an invisible barrier had been inserted into the river…

Finally, there was a loud “boom” as both sides of the river were suddenly blown apart. Then, as if everything froze in place, the water that had risen into the air remained suspended, revealing a passage above the riverbed.
“Well… the strange part of this submerged river lies in this water. Without it, it’s just plain ground… But I also don’t know how long this magic will hold. So, it’s better if you make up your mind quickly!”
Saying this, Gannon walked over slowly with his hands behind his back, as if whether Du Fan and Ringtone followed or not had nothing to do with him.
Ringtone hesitated for a moment before gritting her teeth and following.
Du Fan could only sigh bitterly in his heart as he watched their backs. How could he not go in such a situation?
When they reached the bottom of the submerged river, although the ground was relatively stable, the piles of white bones on both sides and the water high above still made Du Fan feel uneasy. If Gannon’s magic failed now, he might never be able to climb out again!
Though he didn’t know exactly how dangerous this submerged river was, Du Fan had no interest in testing it at all.
Perhaps noticing Du Fan’s nervousness, Gannon suddenly smiled faintly and said, “This submerged river may seem mysterious, but according to your Rolandians’ understanding, it’s just a rather strange magic array. What the Karans say about people being sucked into the water is just a joke. But it’s true that this river connects to some spatial rift—anyone who accidentally falls in will be drawn into that rift… As for what’s inside, I have no idea…”
“And these white bones on the riverbed?”
“That’s just an illusion, added to the magic array as a trick to deceive people. Is that so difficult?” Gannon said indifferently.
After walking a few more steps, he suddenly took a breath and said, “Well, we’ve reached the shore… So, Young Master Du Fan, you’d better get ready… Whether you climb out or not is your choice—no one is forcing you.”