Journey to the End of the Night Chapter 1707 - 1020: Soul Punishment Tomb (Part 2)

Seeing Baili An sheath his sword and leave, Fang Geyu also stepped off Qin Muqing, preparing to drive and follow him to the Soul Punishment Tomb.

"Fang Geyu, you stay in the city." Baili An stopped her.

Fang Geyu frowned: "What? The moment I helped you find Lady Ying Ji’s whereabouts, you turn your back on me and leave me?

"Don’t try to provoke me, the Soul Punishment Tomb can imprison living souls, a slight misstep...

After leaving the Soul Punishment Tomb, souls will be gnawed by the resentment within, the thing suppressed in the Ten Directions Sword makes it a risk you cannot afford."

Fang Geyu was momentarily stopped by his words, just as she was about to step on his foot in anger, Baili An ruffled her hair.

"I have a Venerable Immortal’s bone to suppress souls, not to mention that a soul tempered for three years by Nine Nethers netherworld fire is much stronger than ordinary souls. The Soul Punishment Tomb won’t be too dangerous for me; you needn’t worry."

Fang Geyu cast him a cold and noble glance, saying, "Who would worry about you? It’s just that the Soul Punishment Tomb is a secret realm painstakingly created by my mother.

Your every disturbance is so grand; I’m just afraid you’ll destroy my mother’s hard work."

Baili An acknowledged with a "hmm," saying, "Golden Immortal Feng Xu left a backup plan against you, so Shifang City shouldn’t be very peaceful these days. You must be vigilant."

The charges brought by Golden Immortal Feng Xu are enough to shake the foundation of Shifang City and even Zhonghua Immortal Mansion.

In the shadows lurks the Rebel Puppet man Jiushijiu left by the former City Lord, itching to move. No matter how willful Fang Geyu is, she can’t follow him into the Soul Punishment Tomb.

She needs to prepare and plan in the city, only then can she face the coming storm calmly.

...

...

Guided by the specific landmark provided by Fang Geyu, Baili An used Sword Control to arrive at the sea area where the Soul Punishment Tomb is submerged.

Since arriving in Shifang City, the surrounding Endless Sea has always been calm and serene.

Perhaps because Shifang City was built by Lord Xue’s Divine Power, seemingly no different from the capitals of other nations, yet it conceals miraculous power.

In Shifang City, natural disasters like storms and tsunamis are basically nowhere to be seen.

But at this moment, a corner of the Northwest Sea Domain’s barrier indeed has a scar split open by a sword.

From an aerial view, Baili An could see on the calm and clear sea surface a sword scar that was impossibly deep, emanating the intense chill of Astral Wind.

In that cold wind, the distant roars of countless demons could be heard, sea demons’ wails, the chilling clash of malicious intent.

The sea birds, flying and circling above the sea, were swept by that Astral Wind, instantly torn into blood fragments, not even having the chance to dye the sea water red before falling.

Only to see threads of light extend from the black sword scar on the sea surface, consuming the shredded remains of the sea birds without a trace, then slowly retracting again into the depths of the sea.

Such a bizarre scene made Baili An’s pupils contract sharply.

Truly unimaginable how many sea demons and strange creatures this untouched Soul Punishment Tomb has devoured over centuries.

The mere wisp of malicious energy seeping from the sea surface could transform into a self-aware, predatory force.

Baili An dared not imagine how terrifyingly dangerous the real Soul Punishment Tomb could be.

Yet, no matter how dangerous, Baili An dared not delay in the slightest. He descended with Sword Control, his body passing through the sword scar slashed by Baili Yu, delving in further.

Baili Yu truly lived up to the title of World Sword Master, the power of that slash pierced through the domain, reaching deep sea for thousands of miles.

It’s known that the deep sea realm is unlike the mortal land; in the air, at most there’s the resistance of Astral Wind, Sword Intent reaching through, a single slash across a thousand miles is a stunning feat.

But in this deep sea, the pressure of the seawater is extraordinary; this thousand-mile sword strike is enough to leave Sword Cultivators across the world awestruck.

...

...

A gigantic deep blue vortex, deep and abysmal, coiled and gathered above like an expansive, edgeless dark blue cavity.

"Cough cough cough..." Accompanied by a violent cough, Baili Yu felt his chest and lungs filled with a strong bloody scent.

Kneeling on one knee in a blood-soaked muddy ground, the hems of his clothes were stained bright red.

The Dao Sword held on the ground had its sword tip full of corroded-looking red notches.

Baili Yu’s brows furrowed, his expression solemn, as he looked up at the eerie creatures floating out from the dark blue void like drifting snow.

The solemnity on his face slowly transformed into bitter sorrow.

He turned his head to look at the red-robed woman standing beside the stone, his lips moving with difficulty, his voice hoarse: "I’m sorry, in the end, it’s me who has implicated you."

Ying Ji’s gaze was straight, not bothering to move even a glance, she bit her fingertip and used blood to draw a spiritual formation on the stone opposite.

As her fingertip completed the last stroke of the spiritual formation, the stone surface emitted a violent strong light.

From her bitten fingertip, a large amount of blood was drawn out, transforming into gemstones-like Blood Pearls, suspended in this space.

Ying Ji’s face was subtly pale, she sucked a cold smile at the corner of her mouth and said, "Sword Master, you are quite adept at choosing your own grave. This Soul Punishment Tomb, since its establishment thousands of years ago, I fear it’s the first time it welcomes a Mortal World guest like you."

Baili Yu was stupefied by her sarcastic tone, he turned his face to one side, his tone unconsciously becoming somewhat cold:

"If I wasn’t worried about something happening to you, I would never have come to this ghostly place."

Ying Ji sneered: "Complaining to me of all things; if not for your foolish actions, I would right now be comfortably lounging on my chaise, waiting for my little one at home to serve me breakfast."

"You—" Baili Yu gritted his back teeth, angrily said: "Don’t mention that kid in front of me!"

Regarding this matter, Baili Yu had always been bitter in his heart. Though having reached this point, he was no longer in any position to make comments on her feelings.

But that kid was clearly not any honest sort.

Since coming to Shifang City, it hasn’t been long, yet he has already stirred up so much trouble.

Yet the always astute Ying Ji, upon meeting him, seemed as if her mind was clouded by lard.

Baili Yu habitually wanted to chide a few words, but upon raising his head and seeing Ying Ji’s increasingly pale and bleak face, his heart ached, and all anger morphed into guilty compassion.

Thinking back, centuries ago, he almost perished on the battlefield, and when he lost consciousness, it was she who ruthlessly excavated the Spirit Core, saving him without regret.

Now as time has passed and things have changed, the once burning pure love has withered away; whether she regrets sacrificing to save him remains unknown.

Presumably, she never regretted it.

She’s just being stubborn.

If she regretted, why today, when he’s in such a predicament, would she rush to save him?

Baili Yu supported himself with his sword to stand up with difficulty, tearing off a strip of clean undershirt hem to wrap around his wrist to stop bleeding.

He smiled bitterly, at such times, why be angry over such trivial matters?

"You are always like this, words unforgiving, but I know you still worry for me; breaking into a place like Soul Punishment Tomb."

"This madness is just like back then."

Ying Ji glanced askance: "Don’t be so arrogant, your life and death are none of my concern."

Except...

If this realm collapses, and strange demons invade the Mortal World, Shifang City will be the first to be devoured.

Whether it’s the obsession to protect Baili An or the sentiment to shelter a friend’s daughter, she cannot sit by and watch disaster strike.

Yet Baili Yu’s Sword Qi was too forceful, breaking the Barrier at one corner of the Soul Punishment Tomb too thoroughly, allowing the sea demons of the different dimension to potentially swarm out at any time.

Inside the Soul Punishment Tomb, the dense and terrifying miasma has already formed a strange consciousness, the Death Spirit.

With Ying Ji’s Deceit Skill, she can still suppress them a bit, preventing the miasma from flowing into the sea domain and affecting the sea creatures.

She pressed her hand against the stone surface, chanting ancient incantations, the suspended Blood Pearls in mid-air began to twist into lines, threading through the space.

As long as in that ink-blue giant void, the air is sullenly stirring, countless silhouettes of sea demons spread their wings and come.

These threads of blood, weaving through the space incessantly, seemed to come alive, densely penetrating the sea demon bodies.

Ying Ji deeply closed her eyes, incantations continuously murmured, and blood gushed more profusely from her fingertips.

Multitasking, she used her blood to draw the Rebirth Talisman in mid-air, transcending those strange sea demons she annihilated.

She gave Baili Yu a look, signaling him to repair the spiritual formation of this realm, otherwise, with the Barrier damaged, the collapse of this realm and invasion of miasma into the city is inevitable.

Baili Yu, receiving Ying Ji’s gaze, had an awkward expression.

He had always focused on sword dao cultivation, aspiring to attain divine power through the sword dao, ascend to dominion over the world.

To him, talismanic, deceit, and array paths have always been inferior, trivial arts, he never deigned to waste time specializing in them.

The Barrier he had split in a single stroke, he simply... did not know how to repair.