Aspiring to the Immortal Path
chapter-645

The Inkcloud Abyss.

It was located beneath a steep cliff off Phoenix Crown Mountain, to the west of Dongjin Pass.

Looking down into the Inkcloud Abyss, one saw churning dark clouds, and it felt like one was looking down into the entrance of hell.

And this wasn't far from the truth. The Inkcloud Abyss was brimming with unpredictable dangers, and everyone except Titans had little chance of coming back alive. For centuries now, the Inkcloud Abyss had been a barren land with few visitors.

But every one hundred years, there would be a special case.

And the moment had come once again for that special case.

Today, the Inkcloud Abyss was visited by that once-in-a-century festival.

Several figures shot down from the heavens, appearing at the base of Phoenix Crown Mountain.

Their leader had a blue face with high cheekbones and horns growing from his head, and he appeared like a savage ghost. It was none other than the Ghostface King who had appeared at the assault on Dongjin Pass. Upon arriving at Phoenix Crown Mountain, he chuckled and said, "It seems like we got here first."

Behind him was a short old man with long overhanging eyebrows and a distressed face. This was none other than the human form of the Whitebrow King. He chuckled and said, "Brother Serpent, don't get careless. There might be many unseemly things hiding behind the curtains, silently watching us."

As he spoke, a grumbling came from the distance. "This weasely Whitebrow, daring to call me an unseemly thing. Get over here and eat my bear paw!"

As this voice spoke, several more figures appeared in the distance. Their leader was a large man with black skin, fan-like ears, a tough body, and a booming voice. This was a bear fiend, the Mountain Sealer King.

He was the one who had spoken just now.

Behind him was another fiend king, but this one was a great beauty who had rosy cheeks and colorful clothes, with a peach blossom on their belt. It was actually a peach blossom that had attained the Dao. Its name had once been the Powdered Lord, but after becoming a fiend king, it changed sex from man to woman and took on the title of Small Peach Queen.

The Small Peach Queen covered her face as if she couldn't stand to watch, commenting, "Stupid bear, just one insult was enough to rile you out of your hiding spot."

The bear king wasn't convinced, nonchalantly saying, "I already said that a true man does things boldly and frankly, not sneaking around like a rat. You were the one who insisted on hiding and watching. Watching, watching, watching, and for what? If anyone dares to take the Umbra Cactus flower from us, we'll just slap them down."

His rumbling voice traveled far into the distance.

The Small Peach Queen became even more distressed. "It's over. You even mentioned the Umbra Cactus flower."

Not every fiend king knew what was in the Inkcloud Abyss. Some only knew that a treasure was going to appear, but not exactly what it was. But now that the bear fiend had shouted it out, everyone who heard would know what it was, so the Small Peach Queen couldn't be blamed for being worried and bemoaning her luck in making such an ally.

Sure enough, another team of fiends appeared, led by a wildcat fiend, possessing a large, colorful face and two little cat whiskers. In a shrill voice, he chuckled and said, "So it was the Umbra Cactus's flower! That's quite the treasure. I, the Hundred Tribulation King, want it!"

"Hmph, you big cat, you think you can do it?" Another group of fiends appeared, led by a rhino fiend.

The bear roared at the rhino, "Bastard thing, you dare come here!?"

It seemed that there was a deep grudge between them. If the Small Peach Queen hadn't been holding him back, he would have already rushed over.

The rhino sneered, "What do I have to be afraid of? You dumb bear, no matter how big your mouth is, do you think you can do anything to me?"

18 fiend kings and nearly a hundred fiend generals had appeared around the Inkcloud Abyss, completely surrounding the place. All of them had come after hearing the news carried along by the wind.

The Ghostface King looked around and chuckled. "I knew a lot of fiends would be coming to see what was going on, so shouldn't those humans also be hiding in the area? Hurry up and come out!"

He spat at the air, and a powerful shockwave of energy rippled out.

This shockwave contained powerful fiend energy. The fiend kings ignored it, but as the fiend energy spread out, strange ripples appeared in the air. And then one person after another began to appear in the sky.

These people were led by Sun Shuming. He was joined by Liu Yunshan and Elder Yellow Goat, making up three of the Soul Transformation experts that Tang Jie had met at Dongjin Pass. Only that Zhang Tu wasn't here. As a general, he was focused on killing, and he had little interest in fighting over resources. Besides these three, there were two other Soul Transformation experts, ones that Tang Jie had never seen before. These two had probably been stationed elsewhere. Finally, there were some Spirit Ring and Heart Demon Tier cultivators.

Even though there were five Soul Transformation cultivators, they were facing 18 fiend kings. The humans were clearly disadvantaged.

But Sun Shuming's group wasn't afraid. Instead, Sun Shuming saluted the Ghostface King and said, "Serpent King, why such a rush to tear open the curtain? That only puts you in a difficult spot. We have yet to enter the Inkcloud Abyss, and the Nether River has yet to open, so why is Serpent King in such a rush to fight with us?"

He looked at the rest of the fiend kings.

None of the fiend kings said a word.

Although fiends and humans were opposed to each other, fiends had their own power struggles, their own internal conflicts. Some of them even had deep grudges, like the bear and rhino. Thus, if there were a fight, they might not be united at all. On the contrary, they might even have to watch their backs.

Moreover, they were still outside the Inkcloud Abyss, where the open terrain made it easy to escape. Even if Sun Shuming's group was no match, they were rather confident in their chances of escaping. At their level of cultivation, one could say without exaggeration that they could instantly travel tens of thousands of feet, and Dongjin Pass was only fifty kilometers away. Going back and forth took only a little time.

This was why they just looked at each other.

Perhaps they hoped that some other fiend king would attack and they could follow along and exploit the situation.

After a little while, the Small Peach Queen giggled and said, "Since you're here, you're a guest. Now that I think about it, we fiends have never been into the Inkcloud Abyss, and we know nothing about it. The humans know the area more, so why not let the humans go in and open the way for us? That would be much more convenient. Once we're at our destination, we'll kill the humans. The limited space down there will also make it harder for them to run."

She spoke of stabbing them in the back so naturally, but the other fiend kings simply nodded in agreement, and even Sun Shuming's group simply smiled, as if they had expected this result.

The Inkcloud Abyss had always been occupied by humans, and the fiends had only managed to get it within the last one hundred years, so they knew far less than Sun Shuming's group. It had to be understood that Sun Shuming was a major figure of Fengshan, so one hundred years ago, he had gone into the Inkcloud Abyss to take the flower for Fengshan. But back then, he had been backed by the sovereign and nobody dared to oppose him, so he had only needed to safeguard the flower and escort it back. Now, however, he had a host of fiends to contend with.

Meanwhile, the clouds of the Inkcloud Abyss churned, and large black bubbles began to rise up as if there was boiling water down below.

The fiends were confused, but a human barked, "The bubbles have appeared. The passage to the Nether River has opened, and the Blackwater River has appeared."

The fiends realized that this was a sign that the Blackwater River had appeared. If they didn't know this, they might really have missed out on this opportunity.

Sun Shuming cupped his hands and shouted, "The Blackwater River has appeared, but the area down below is still crawling with danger. This old man has gone down before, so if the fiend kings do not mind, this one will go down and serve as the vanguard."

"Do as you please, Sir Sun," the fiend kings laughed, not trying to stop him.

The fiend kings weren't afraid of the humans so long as their side was stronger. Even if the humans did manage to use this opportunity to take the Umbra Cactus flower, that would only be this one time. So long as the humans sealed themselves up at Dongjin Pass, the Inkcloud Abyss would always belong to the fiends. After another one hundred years, the fiends would get what they wanted.

It was this confidence that allowed the fiends to let the humans go and open the path so as to reduce their own losses.

Sun Shuming began to fly down, the other human cultivators following him.

As Sun Shuming was flying down, he glanced upward and smiled. Without another word, he vanished into the black fog.

The fiends followed right after Sun Shuming's group, descending into the abyss.

Once all the fiends were inside, peace was restored to the skies of the Inkcloud Abyss.

Only now did another group appear: Tang Jie's group.

Tang Jie called back his concealment formation diagram and smiled. "That Sun Shuming truly is formidable, still sensing us through the formation."

Ximen Changfeng explained, "Sun Shuming uses the world as his canvas, the soul as his brush. His Divine Will is extremely powerful, at the peak of Soul Transformation. Our cultivation is shallow in comparison, so even when we're hidden by the formation, we still can't hide from him."

Tang Jie smiled. "It's not a big deal. If we're discovered, we're discovered. Since they've all gone in, we might as well go in as well!"

He led the way into the Inkcloud Abyss, followed by Shentu Yuan and the others.

A few moments after the five had gone in, another human figure appeared in the distance. They appeared to be on a casual stroll, but they were moving deceptively fast, covering a great distance with every step. What appeared above the Inkcloud Abyss was a very refined man in white robes.

As he floated above the abyss, the churning clouds ceased their motion.

As the man glanced down, his silver eyes rippled, reflecting the entire abyss…