Nine Desolate Records

As the morning light pierced through the forest mist, Lu Li had already left the cave.

He didn't choose the main road, but instead ventured deep into the dense forest. After last night's battle, the Demon-Slaying Guards and the Turbid Abyss Sect would surely send more men to block the main roads out of the mountains; taking the main road would be tantamount to walking into a trap.

In the dense forest, miasma filled the air and poisonous insects roamed freely. But for Lu Li, this was the best cover. He activated "Seeing Heaven and Earth," and with each step he took, he precisely stepped on the weakest points of the vegetation, his figure moving like a cat, without disturbing a single leaf.

Shouzhuo Sword hung at his waist, its blade gleaming faintly silver in the forest light. Last night's battle had seemed to have made the cracks on the sword finer, but it also had a warm luster, as if it had absorbed the power of release from the vengeful spirits and gained a touch of spirituality.

Lu Li took out a piece of parchment from his pocket and unfolded it.

"The underground river of the earth's veins..." Lu Li muttered to himself.

He put away the map and turned his gaze to the depths of the dense forest. That was the direction from which the underground river of ley lines would enter.

After traveling about fifty miles, the dense forest ahead suddenly thinned out. A rocky beach appeared before them, covered with fist-sized black pebbles, from which a faint chill seeped.

Lu Li stopped in his tracks.

In his "seeing the world" perspective, beneath this rocky beach, there is an extremely thick ley line, dark blue in color, winding like a snake, which is the underground river marked on the map.

But at this moment, the trend line is fluctuating violently, as if something is stirring up the bottom of the river.

"Something's not right." Lu Li frowned. He could feel a faint suction force coming from beneath the rocky beach, as if it were trying to drag everything around him into the ground.

He crouched down and picked up a black pebble. The pebble was cold to the touch, and its surface was covered with tiny holes. From these holes, black threads could be faintly seen emerging. The threads melted as soon as they hit the ground, emitting a faint fishy smell.

"These are traces of corruption." Lu Li's heart sank. The underground river of the earth veins was originally a place where pure earth vein spiritual energy gathered, but now it has been polluted by corruption.

Just then, a huge rock in the middle of the beach suddenly started to shake.

The boulder slowly rose, revealing a dark, gaping opening. The opening was about two people high, and a chilling, fishy stench billowed out. The cave walls were covered with black holes similar to those on the pebbles, and within these holes, threads spread like a spiderweb.

A muffled roar came from deep within the cave entrance.

Lu Li gripped the Shouzhuo Sword tightly and slowly walked towards the cave entrance.

As he reached the edge of the cave entrance, a stench assaulted his nostrils. Looking up, he saw that the bottom of the cave was not the dark river he had imagined, but a vast underground cavern. In the center of the cavern, a dark blue river flowed quietly, its waters crystal clear, its bottom covered with white crystals.

But at this moment, in the middle of the river, floats a huge skeleton.

The skeleton was about three zhang long, resembling a giant python, but with four legs. On its skull, two spiral horns pierced straight up to the cave ceiling. The surface of the skeleton was covered with a thick layer of black foul air, within which countless black threads weaved and continuously eroded the skeleton.

Above the skeleton, a figure was floating.

It was an old man dressed in a black robe, his back to the cave entrance. He was as thin as a rake, holding a black staff in his hand. At the top of the staff was a black crystal the size of a fist, which was emitting a strong foul aura that was continuously flowing into the skeleton.

The old man let out a hoarse, eerie laugh. "Once we refine the skeleton of this 'Mystic Water Beast' into a vile puppet, the Sect Master's grand undertaking will be just around the corner!"

Lu Li's pupils suddenly contracted.

The Xuan Shui Beast, recorded in the "Fragments of Mountains and Seas," is an ancient mythical beast that dwells deep within the earth's underground rivers. It can manipulate water elemental energy, and its skeleton contains extremely pure water laws. If it were refined into a corrupted puppet, its power would likely be comparable to that of a peak Dharma Aspect Realm cultivator.

"The Turbid Abyss Sect... is indeed eyeing the earth's veins." Lu Li understood immediately. As the fighting spirit of the Sword Tomb gradually awakened and the earth's vein lines became disordered, the Turbid Abyss Sect took the opportunity to infiltrate the underground, attempting to refine the remains of strange beasts to enhance their strength.

He did not act rashly.

Within the "Seeing Heaven and Earth" perspective, the aura of the black-robed elder was a deep black, blending seamlessly with the foul air, making it difficult to distinguish between reality and illusion. The aura of the Xuan Shui beast skeleton, on the other hand, was a dark blue, and although corroded by the foul air, it remained resilient, showing faint signs of breaking free from its restraints.

"We must cut off the supply of foul air first," Lu Li thought to himself.

He slowly drew his Shouzhuo sword, its blade shimmering with silver light. He then activated the "Soothing" technique.

The sword intent, as fine as silk, seeped silently into the cave entrance.

The old man in black robes was completely absorbed in refining the skeleton, oblivious to everything else. The black crystal in his hand shone brighter and brighter, and the foul aura on the surface of the skeleton grew stronger. The white crystal at the bottom of the river began to tremble slightly, as if it was about to be swallowed by the foul aura.

Just then, the sword intent of the Shouzhuo Sword precisely entangled the foul energy connection between the black crystal and the skeleton.

Wherever the sword intent passed, the foul air melted away like ice and snow, and the originally violent fluctuations of foul air instantly became calm.

The old man in black robes' expression changed drastically: "Who?!"

He turned around abruptly, waved his staff, and a black, foul stream shot straight into the cave entrance!

Lu Li was prepared. He stomped his foot and shot out like an arrow, slashing horizontally with his Shouzhuo sword.

"guide!"

With a shift of sword intent, the stream of foul energy was forcibly deflected and slammed into the cave wall. The black holes in the cave wall shattered instantly, sending debris flying.

The black-robed elder's pupils constricted sharply: "The Sword Intent of Ceasefire? You are a successor of Xuanji?!"

"Indeed." Lu Li landed, his Shouzhuo sword pointing at the old man. "The Zhuoyuan Sect has wreaked havoc on the earth's veins and harmed countless lives. Today, I will use you as a sacrifice to my sword!"

"Arrogance!" the black-robed elder roared, slamming his staff heavily on the ground. "Mysterious Water Bones, heed my command!"

The skeleton in the center of the cave trembled violently, and its two horns burst forth with black light. The underground river beneath the skeleton instantly boiled, and countless water arrows condensed and shot towards Lu Li like a torrential rain!

Lu Li advanced instead of retreating. He activated "Seeing Heaven and Earth," and a dark golden light shone brightly in his eyes.

In his vision, the water arrows' trajectories were chaotic and disordered, clearly controlled by foul energy, and had lost the original water laws of the Xuan Shui Beast.

"Transform!"

Shouzhuo sword slashed down vertically.

The sword's star chart spun, intertwining crimson gold and silver light. The water arrows that were shot at it, upon touching the star chart, had their black filth forcibly stripped away, transforming into pure water spirit energy, which was then fed back into the dark river.

"Impossible!" The black-robed elder's eyes widened in fury. "You can actually purify the foul air?!"

He laughed maniacally and suddenly plunged his staff into his heart.

"With my blood, I offer sacrifice to the power of the corrupted god!"

The black-robed elder's body rapidly withered, black foul energy gushing from his seven orifices and flowing into the black crystal at the tip of his staff. The crystal's light surged, transforming into a gigantic demonic face. The demonic face opened its blood-red maw and spewed out a black beam of light, piercing straight at Lu Li!

Wherever the beam of light passed, space distorted, the water in the dark river evaporated completely, and the white crystals at the bottom of the river instantly turned to ashes.

Lu Li's expression was solemn.

The beam of light was as black as ink, containing an extremely terrifying devouring power, stronger than any previous attack.

He took a deep breath and completely merged the power of the Yan Emperor's bloodline with the Zhige Sword Intent within his body.

On the Shouzhuo Sword, crimson-gold flames intertwined with silver starlight, transforming into a sword rainbow three zhang long.

"See yourself, see all living beings, see heaven and earth!"

Lu Li unleashed a sword strike.

The sword rainbow ripped through the void and collided violently with the black pillar of light.

There was no earth-shattering roar, only deathly silence.

Where the beam of light met the sword rainbow, a vacuum-like spherical region was formed. Within this region, foul air and sword intent collided wildly, with the forces of devouring and purifying constantly intertwining.

Finally, the crimson flames on the sword rainbow suddenly surged, completely engulfing the black pillar of light.

The vacuum region exploded with a deafening roar.

The old man in black robes was struck as if by a heavy blow, and was sent flying backward, crashing into the cave wall. His body instantly disintegrated, turning into black powder that filled the sky.

The black crystal lost its power supply, its light dimmed, and it fell from the sky, crashing to the ground and shattering into countless small pieces.

The foul air inside the cave dissipated rapidly under the aftershocks of the sword rainbow.

The underground river water became clear again, and the white crystals at the bottom of the river began to slowly regain their luster.

The skeleton of the Xuan Shui Beast, freed from the taint of its foul energy, lost the black light on its horns, revealing its original translucent white color. The skeleton trembled slightly and slowly sank to the bottom of the river, as if falling into a deep sleep.

Lu Li sheathed his sword and let out a long sigh of relief.

He could feel that the power of the Flame Emperor's bloodline within him had awakened a bit more during that sword strike. The crimson-gold patterns on the sword imprint had also become clearer.

He walked to the riverbank, looked at the slowly flowing underground river, and suddenly a thought struck him.

He took out the "Fragments of Mountains and Seas" from his pocket and turned to page thirty-seven.

The totem, which he had completed by a third, was now slightly warm. The patterns on the totem bore a faint resemblance to the arrangement of the white crystals at the bottom of the river.

"Could it be..." A thought flashed through Lu Li's mind.

He crouched down and picked up a white crystal.

The crystal felt warm to the touch, imbued with pure water essence. The moment the crystal touched the "Fragments of Mountains and Seas," the totems on the pages suddenly burst forth with golden light.

In the light, the totem's patterns rapidly extended, automatically completing the other third!

The completed patterns are perfectly consistent with the direction of the underground river and the arrangement of the crystals!

Lu Li's pupils suddenly contracted.

This underground river is no ordinary river at all.

It is a huge "array diagram".

And that skeleton of the Xuan Shui Beast is the guardian that protects this array diagram!

Lu Li put away the crystal and the fragment, and looked up into the depths of the dark river.

At the end of the river lies an even deeper darkness.

He took a deep breath and leaped into the dark river.

The river water was icy cold, but not bone-chilling. The pure water essence enveloped his body, sweeping away his fatigue.

Lu Li swam along the river, heading deeper into the underground river.

The Shouzhuo Sword lay beside him, emitting a faint light that illuminated the path ahead.

The road ahead is long and fraught with danger.

But Lu Li felt no fear whatsoever.