Martial World (Web Novel)
chapter-817

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Bi Ruyu floated high in the air, her dry and withered body wrapped in an overly large black robe. As her clothes blew in the wind, she looked like a skeleton.

Underneath her, the third and fourth Demon Envoys that had stayed behind because they were recuperating from their wounds had disappeared.

The only one left over was the second Demon Envoy. He was kneeling on the ground and his two calves had been nailed to the ground with foot-long black nails.

After the two nails passed through the second Demon Envoy’s calves, they thrust into the ground. Muscle was twisted around them as blood flowed out; it was a mess of flesh and blood!

As Bi Ruyu saw this strange scene she felt her heart shrink. That pair of nails was the second Demon Envoy’s own heaven-step mystic tools. They could be thrown out to kill others and were called the Nine Nether Iron Needles.

Why would the second Demon Envoy use the Nine Nether Iron Needles to nail himself to the ground? Or had someone snatched them away and then turned them against him, turning him into this appearance? But if so, why didn’t they kill him?

Bi Ruyu suddenly felt a chill in the air. Although the second Demon Envoy was weaker than her, he wasn’t a common martial artist of his generation. If this other party could easily play with him then they might prove a grave threat to herself.

“Demon Two!”

Bi Ruyu’s voice resounded like a thunderclap in the second Demon Envoy’s ears. The second Demon Envoy violently shook and he blankly looked up from the ground. His eyes had already lost their color; there was nothing reflected in them but white.

Bi Ruyu was a cruel and ruthless individual who practiced wicked Yin devil arts. But as she saw this strange scene before her, even she felt the hairs stand up all over her body.

In this 8000 Mile Black Swamp, even an unlucky Divine Sea Supreme Elder could perish. And anyone below the Divine Sea realm faced near-certain peril entering this damned land.

Bi Ruyu maintained full vigilance, completely releasing her perception to the limit. At this moment, she was wavering about whether she should turn and flee. But then, she heard the sound of surging water behind her.

As she turned around to look, what she saw struck her like a lightning bolt from the sky.

Behind her in the thick fog, there was a blurry river rapidly rolling forwards. This great river was over a thousand feet wide and the waves were vast and endless, carrying with them a deathly pale yellow color. The tumbling dirt waves made one feel an inexplicable sense of sorrow and anguish, demoralizing to the extreme!

Countless bones floated atop the waters of the river like weeds in the water. But, these bones had no root and no sources; it was unknown just where they were floating to.

There were bones of humans, vicious beasts, and even members of unknown races that had wings and tails, seeming as if they were ancient races from times long gone.

This torrential river seemed to originate from a boundless, archaic time, flowing towards a mystical graveyard!

If Lin Ming were here he would immediately recognize what this was. This was the Yellow Springs River!

When Lin Ming adventured into the Eternal Demon Abyss, he too had seen this river. The Demon Emperor had once gazed upon the Yellow Springs River and it had left an unfathomable deep impression on him. He had arrived at the banks of the Yellow Springs River, thinking to study that pale yellow river water but had nearly died as a result.

The Yellow Springs River. Anyone who touched its waters would die. Their body would disintegrate, their dantian would collapse, their soul would melt away, and there would be nothing left of them but stark white bones that floated in the river forever.

Although Bi Ruyu didn’t know what the Yellow Springs River was, she knew that a deep fear was suddenly birthed within her. Despite not discovering anything dangerous, she still instantly turned around and fled without a second thought!

As she passed by the second Demon Envoy, she took out her whip and snapped it around his waist, forcefully ripping him away from the two Nine Nether Iron Needles.

Puff! Puff!

Blood splashed out. The second Demon Envoy had actually used his own Nine Nether Iron Needles on himself. Now that he was forcefully torn away, his two legs had nearly ripped off and there was nothing but a thin thread of flesh connecting them.

Bi Ruyu rushed seven or eight miles out in a single breath before stopping to collect herself from the shock.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to run further away but that she was afraid she would run into something else that was dangerous. In this incomparably strange 8000 Mile Black Swamp, every step one took was an additional chance to die without a burial!

“What happened?”

Bi Ruyu threw the second Demon Envoy to the ground. The reason she had rescued him just now was mainly to understand just what had happened to him. She didn’t want to run around in confusion with so many life threatening dangers around. And now with the third and fourth Demon Envoy having disappeared, chances were that they had also succumbed to the dangers here. If she was alone in this strange place then it would inevitably be more dangerous.

With the second Demon Envoy accompanying her, at least she would have a shield during a critical moment.

The second Demon Envoy still had blank, listless eyes. Bi Ruyu put down the idea of forcibly searching his soul and then took out an extremely precious soul recovery pill from her spatial ring and force fed it to him.

A moment later, the second Demon Envoy hacked up in loud coughs. Every time he coughed he spat out pure black blood.

He collapsed to the ground, limp, as his eyes finally began to slowly restore themselves.

A deep fear and dread flashed across his face but he reined his emotions in, “Honored Imperial Scholar… are you the one who saved me?”

“What happened to you? Where are Demon Three and Demon Four?”

Bi Ruyu breathlessly asked.

“They died, they all died.” A pained expression crossed the second Demon Envoy’s face. “After I flew down from the Thunder Dominion, I waited with the two of them. Then, I don’t know when but a greenish yellow river suddenly appeared beside us. When the severely wounded Demon Three saw this river, his eyes turned dull and his face stiffened before he began walking towards the river like he had lost his soul. Demon Four felt that something was wrong and wanted to pull him back but he actually suffered the same fate. They had both become walking corpses, unable to be awakened.

“There is something strange within that river water. As they walked into the river, whatever the water ran over turned into bone, swallowing up all their flesh and blood. I hesitated for just a moment but I also came under the influence of the water. There seems to be an unbelievable magical summoning power in that river; I couldn’t even control my own legs and prevent them from stepping forwards. So I took out my Nine Nether Iron Needles and pierced them through my legs to nail myself to the ground. This was the only way I managed to maintain my life until now.”

As the second Demon Envoy spoke, his complexion became paper white. That incomparably strange scene just now had left a horrifying shadow in his heart.

To evil and cruel-hearted individuals like him, dying in battle wasn’t something they feared. What they feared were unknown, deviant forces like this that could kill them without them knowing what had even happened.

As Bi Ruyu listened to the second Demon Envoy’s story, her face whitened. The 8000 Mile Black Swamp was a land where anyone below a Divine Sea powerhouse would have nine chances to die and only one to live. Now it seemed as if this description wasn’t even enough to describe this place; it was truly terrifying to the extreme.

She also feared this strange mystical strength.

But now, she was simply unwilling to withdraw!

She didn’t even know if she could live while trying to leave the 8000 Mile Black Swamp. But even if she made it out alive, she would still receive Situ Bonan’s punishment.

And the key point was that after all this struggling and danger, she only had 100-200 years of life left. Even if she made it out of this land alive, what meaning was there?

She might as well place her life on the line and try to capture Lin Ming and obtain a 10,000 Year Peach Pith, a treasure far more valuable that a Life Bestowing Heaven Pill. This was a heavenly material that could even extend the life of a Divine Sea Supreme Elder.

Bi Ruyu knew that Situ Bonan had already absorbed a 10,000 Year Peach Pith. This sort of life extending treasure didn’t have much effect when used multiple time, thus it was possible that she would be rewarded with one.

She looked at the second Demon Envoy and coldly said, “We will stay here and wait for Lin Lanjian!”

The second Demon Envoy’s mind trembled with fear. “Lin Lanjian has already penetrated deeper into the Thunder Dominion than even you, Imperial Scholar. Wouldn’t he have died by now?”

Bi Ruyu grit her teeth and said, “That boy is tougher than a cockroach! My last strike didn’t hit him but I was still able to leave a tiny trace of my netherworld energy in his body. I can use that to faintly sense his current position. He still hasn’t died yet! Even if living here is playing at death’s door I will stay wait until that boy comes back so I can pull out his soul and refine his marrow!”

Bi Ruyu knew that even if Lin Ming didn’t die in the Thunder Dominion, he wouldn’t be able to stay in there much longer. As long as she could capture him when he left then everything would have been worth it.

The second Demon Envoy’s lips twitched. He grit his teeth and finally said, “Then I will follow Honored Imperial Scholar!”

He also had no other path left to take. With his current strength, wanting to leave this 8000 Mile Black Swamp alone was next to impossible. It would be much safer to stay here with Bi Ruyu and wait for Lin Ming.

Moreover, Lin Ming was his heart demon. With his martial talent, he didn’t have much hope of breaking through to the Divine Sea to begin with. And with this heart demon added onto it, he was certain to never break into the Divine Sea in the future.

“Good. Then we will join forces. At least we’ll be able to watch each other’s backs. You sit down and meditate to restore your strength first. Restore your leg injuries and then we’ll decide what to do. That Lin Lanjian should come out soon enough; he shouldn’t be able to last in there for much longer.”

Bi Ruyu reached an agreement with the second Demon Envoy and began to nervously wait. The second Demon Envoy sat in meditation as he began to heal himself. With his sixth stage Life Destruction cultivation and his soul body having been reformed three times, he could fully recover his limbs as long as they weren’t completely destroyed.

Bi Ruyu had originally thought that Lin Ming would at most be able to persist in the Thunder Dominion for half an incense stick of time, but she quickly discovered that she had been wrong. Not only had she been mistaken, but mistaken to a ridiculous degree!

After half an incense stick of time, the skies remained dark and cloudy with faint lightning flashing through without change.

After an incense stick of time, the lightning still flashed as before. Bi Ruyu could feel the extremely faint wisp of netherworld energy in Lin Ming’s body. He was deep in the Thunder Dominion, and it was even possible that… he was going even deeper!

How was this possible!?!?

Bi Ruyu was breathless with anger. She realized that Lin Ming might have been trapped inside the Thunder Dominion’s closed off force field. After all, even with her own strength she had to consume a massive amount of energy to break through the distorted space and forcibly leave that space. Lin Ming’s cultivation was limited. After his body and divine soul were ruined with the manic power of thunder, he would likely not have the ability to break through that closed force field.

But the problem was, if he couldn’t break through the force field then he should have died in the Thunder Dominion. It was impossible for him to stay in there alive for such a long time!

As Bi Ruyu thought about the black fog from before and how Lin Ming had emerged without a single injury, she had a crazy premonition. It was extremely likely that he had a quasi-Saint artifact on him, or even a true defensive Saint artifact treasure!

‘Even if you have a Saint artifact you won’t be able to last inside forever. After I kill you, everything you have will be mine!’

Bi Ruyu thought, her mind nearing madness.

However…

A quarter hour…

Two quarter hours…

Three quarter hours…

One hour…

After nearly two hours passed, Lin Ming still hadn’t come out. And at this time, she suddenly heard a bass roar around her. As she looked ahead, her complexion completely changed, becoming as pale as paper. She stared blankly on as not too far in front of her was a humanoid vicious beast covered with red scales. Its red eyes glowed like ghostly fire, sending a chill down the backs of whoever looked into them.