Longzang

Chapter 534 The Land of Red Leaves

As it turns out, people's talents are indeed divided into different levels, and this applies to ordinary people in the mundane world as well.

Of the seven people on whom Wei Yuan placed high hopes, only two Heavenly Foundation cultivators made some progress, with the Dao Foundation cultivator advancing from Heavenly Foundation to Immortal Foundation. The other five gained nothing.

These Foundation Establishment cultivators constantly needed to expend their Dao power to resist the icy chill in the Netherworld, so the two Foundation Establishment cultivators quickly became unable to hold on and had to return to the mortal world.

The two museum owners, however, seemed quite relaxed, as if spending a whole day in the Netherworld wouldn't be a problem. Wei Yuan let them wander around the small valley freely, collecting as many samples as possible to bring back to the Heart Realm for research, while Wei Yuan himself repeatedly tested the magic of the portal.

This spell requires the caster to have a mental world, and it can only be connected to the Netherworld. In fact, it is a spell used exclusively by Netherworld Witches. After pondering for a while, Wei Yuan understood that this was probably the spell used by Netherworld Witches when they successfully advanced and established their kingdoms in the Netherworld.

Although Wei Yuan had not yet reached the Imperial Realm, the mortal world was already quite similar to the true world of the mind. Thus, by chance, he opened the passage between the two worlds, allowing the first batch of Dao Foundation Establishment mortals to step out of the mortal world.

Wei Yuan himself had a very deep foundation in Taoist magic. After studying it for a while, he made some minor modifications to the portal spell and added a disguise to the portal a moment later.

Once the disguise is applied, looking into the Netherworld no longer reveals the human world, but rather a world filled with blood and yin energy, resembling the mental world of some sorcerer.

After completing his disguise, Wei Yuan was quite satisfied. After a second inspection, he found no flaws and prepared to summon the two masters of the valley back.

At this moment, Wei Yuan suddenly sensed something, and his figure instantly disappeared from the spot. He concealed his aura and hid behind a large tree.

Four Daoji Witch Clan members entered the valley, cautiously looking around. Each of them held a dark blue tube in their hand, the contents of which were unknown.

They searched their way forward, talking quietly as they went.

"Lord Gu Xiong has sent back a signal saying that the target has been spotted. The location mentioned in the message is almost there, so everyone be on high alert, or you might not even know how you died."

"Is Wei Yuan really that powerful?"

"You've been staying in the Netherworld and are unaware of the latest situation outside. The entire Rain Kingdom has mobilized to attack Wei Yuan's territory, and it's been going on for months, but they still haven't taken it!"

"You don't know yet, do you? I heard that in a battle not long ago, Wei Yuan specifically challenged Lord Hongye to a duel, but the lord did not accept the challenge."

"Such a thing is true?!"

"By the way, why has no one ever mentioned where Lady Kureha's kingdom is..."

Before the witch had even finished speaking, the other three witches showed expressions of extreme fear!

The shaman was still confused when suddenly blood began to flow from his mouth and nose, and his two eyeballs began to roll in different directions. After a few rolls, they fell to the ground.

Large patches of blood began to gush from his body, and he couldn't even scream. In the blink of an eye, he turned into a pool of filthy blood!

The three surviving witches remained silent for a moment before saying, "He shouldn't have brought up taboo topics."

"The country is in great chaos right now, and probably no one told him any of this when he came in."

"What a pity, he's still so young..."

The three shamans didn't linger for long and continued forward. Neither of them noticed two faint figures appearing in the woods to their side, both possessing considerable skill in concealing themselves.

As for Wei Yuan, he was watching from directly above them. The three Dao Foundation Stage shamans couldn't detect him at all, having consumed the Concealment Fruit. One figure in the forest was eager to fight the three shamans. Another figure gestured to stop him and pointed to the sky.

Wei Yuan naturally saw both of their reactions.

The one who wanted to make a move was the exceptionally talented vice-governor, who had sparred with the gym leader many times in the Fighting Saint Gym, losing every time. And no one else was a match for him. Over time, he gradually lost interest in these predictable battles.

Now that the three witches' cultivation levels were comparable to his own, and he was facing three opponents at once, he felt considerable pressure. This immediately made the deputy master's heart pound wildly, and he longed to fight a real battle against the first true enemy he had ever encountered in his life.

Wei Yuan also wanted to see the skill level of these mortal cultivators amidst the mundane world, so he prepared to isolate the heavens and earth to prevent the fluctuations generated by the battle from leaking out.

Just then, one of the shamans walking in front suddenly asked, "What is that?"

He pointed forward, and a thin beam of light shot out from his fingertip. Suddenly, a portal appeared in the previously empty space in front of him, the very portal to the human world.

Wei Yuan never expected that among the three ordinary Foundation Establishment stage cultivators, there was one who possessed the Heavenly Eye Divine Power, who saw through his disguise and discovered the portal.

An older shaman, upon seeing this, became so excited he was almost incoherent: "This, this is the gateway to the world of the Netherworld Shaman! Judging from the appearance inside, it must be a very powerful person. Moreover, this world is lifeless, with no living creatures in sight. We might have discovered a kingdom left behind by a dead Netherworld Shaman!"

Upon hearing this, the three witches were extremely excited.

The realm of the Witches differs from the mental world of the Imperial Realm; the realm is far more stable. Many Witches dislike others entering their realms, so their locations are kept secret. If they unexpectedly perish outside, their realms become unclaimed.

Even after the death of the sorcerers, the kingdoms they left behind often lasted for tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years. If later generations found such a kingdom, it was equivalent to finding the entire life savings of a sorcerer.

The three witches approached the doorway, about to examine it closely, when Wei Yuan quietly appeared behind them and kicked them all inside, one after the other.

The three witches stumbled into the human world, and before they could even stand up, their eyes were stung painfully by the bright light.

They were surrounded by dozens of Dao Foundation Warriors who swarmed forward and beat the three witches half to death before interrogating them in detail.

The three witches were not highly skilled to begin with, and their will was not particularly firm. There were also many hidden talents and promising young prodigies among the mortals, who had fought with the witch clan for so long and had a deep understanding of how to torture the witch clan.

In the midst of human life, there are more than seventy cruel tortures specifically for the Wu tribe, marked as inhumane. Before each Wu even reaches the second torture, they all lose their moral compass and blurt out everything they should and shouldn't say, everything they know and don't know.

The three henchmen didn't know much, but they revealed something very important: the Kingdom of Red Leaves was an absolute taboo in the Netherworld. Anyone who asked in detail where the Kingdom of Red Leaves was would end up like that young witch, their body turning to filthy blood and dying.

They didn't know whether the curse was placed by Hongye or by some other being; they only knew that the curse was incredibly effective, and even a great sorcerer who broke the taboo could not escape it.

However, Wei Yuan had an idea after hearing this. Since his Dao Foundation Warriors were all from the Witch Clan and there were many of them, if he controlled one of the Dao Foundation Warriors to ask that question and trigger the curse, and set up an array in advance, it would be possible to trace the cause and effect of the curse, and even find the source of the curse.

Wei Yuan immediately issued a task to optimize the relevant formations.

This trip to the Netherworld, no matter how many Netherworld kingdoms we overthrow, will not be as direct and effective as finding the kingdom of Red Leaf.

P.S.: Unable to add an extra chapter. I'll try again tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)