Chapter 952: Dark and Sunless

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

Five balls of bloody fog in total approached from the distance. They quickly arrived at the edge of the Bottomless Abyss and stopped.

The bloody fog thinned, revealing five Immortal Vampires with flesh wings. Four of them were Half-Saints. The other Vampire’s cultivation was too high to be calculated. His Blood Qi was as vast as the sea and dyed the inky clouds above him red.

The man standing at the front was younger. He was handsome, giving off an extraordinary aura. It was the Second Prince of the Vampires.

He’d been hurt gravely after the fight at the Sikong Zen Temple, but his vitality was very strong. Not only did he escape, he even improved his cultivation after healing.

“This is the Bottomless Abyss? It’s such a strange place. Cultivation is seriously restricted here. I can only use one-tenth of my strength.”

The Second Prince raised his hand. Slightly moving his Qi, he formed a palm print. Then he shook his head, putting his Holy Qi back into his Sea of Qi.

A big guy, almost ten feet tall, stood beside the Second Prince. Thick chains wrapped around him. Clenching his fist, he smiled. “Cultivation is restricted here, but one’s physical strength isn’t. This way, we have an advantage over humans.”

“Indeed. We Vampires are the strongest physically,” another Vampire Half-Saint said. “We can butcher humans of the same level.”

The Second Prince looked over at King Xianlan. “Royal Uncle, did we really come to the Bottomless Abyss to search for the Vampire Secrets?”

“It’s highly possible that the Saint Lady received the Vampire Secrets from the Gong Clan. It must have records of secrets. Otherwise, she wouldn’t come to the Bottomless Abyss for no reason. Since she died here and fell into the abyss, the Vampire Secrets must have fallen as well.”

King Xianlan put his hands behind his back. Intangible aura spread from him. Even the laws of the nature here seemed unable to suppress his powerful cultivation.

The Second Prince glanced down the abyss. A shocking and abnormal power traveled from the lower depths of the abyss. It tried to drag him down and swallow him.

The Second Prince actually produced cold sweat. He took five steps back immediately, distancing himself from the abyss. Terrified, he said, “The Bottomless Abyss really has three gradients? Is the information reliable?”

“Regardless of whether it’s reliable, we must go down and investigate it,” King Xianlan said. “This is the Crown Prince’s order.”

Anger flashed past the Second Prince’s eyes. “I think he just wants to kill me.”

King Xianlan patted the Second Prince’s shoulder and sighed. “In the battle against the Prison Guardians, Blood Emperor Qingtian fought alone against the Saint Elder of Sacred Central Crypt and the Emperor Buddha’s first disciple and was badly hurt. He’s recovering in isolation.”

“Now, the Crown Prince has his maternal clan’s support and temporarily controls the Qingtian Tribe. If we can’t bring the Vampire Secrets back, the Crown Prince will definitely use this against you. We can only suffer it for a while. As long as Blood Emperor Qingtian returns, everything will become better.”

The Second Prince clenched his fists. “If the Crown Prince’s mother isn’t Blood Emperor Qitian’s daughter, he won’t even qualify to compete with me.”

In the end, King Xianlan still calmed the Second Prince down. After that, the five Vampires jumped into the Bottomless Abyss, disappearing in the mysterious fog.

Whoosh—

Zhang Ruochen appeared at the edge of the Bottomless Abyss. He looked down and muttered to himself, “King Xianlan is in the Saint Realm and he jumped into the Bottomless Abyss without any hesitation. He must know some secret. Can the three gradients really exist?”

Seeing that Zhang Ruochen was about to jump in, Blackie immediately tugged at Zhang Ruochen’s robe. “Even if there really are three gradients, you’ll most likely die if you jump down. Let’s go back to the Nether Heavenly Palace and get more information before deciding. The Blood God Sect will definitely know more about the Bottomless Abyss than the Vampires.”

Zhang Ruochen’s brow furrowed. Many thoughts flashed past his mind in that moment. “Indeed, there are many things that I haven’t done yet. I can do those things first before going down.”

In the end, Zhang Ruochen and Blackie left the Bottomless Abyss and returned to the Nether Heavenly Palace.

…

Around 30,000 feet below the ground, it was a dark and sunless world. One couldn’t see the sun at all. It was icy and dark, like some type of hell.

If the first gradient really existed, it should be this.

Roar!

A seven-meter-tall fire tiger stood above a cluster of boulders and released a deafening roar. Its blood-red eyes, as large as basins, stared cruelly at the weak woman below. The fire tiger licked its tongue and opened its maws, revealing sharp fangs. It released a bloodthirsty aura.

The woman seemed very weak. She was covered in blood. One could no longer see what her bloody body had been like originally. However, below all the blood and gunk, her eyes were still lively. She confronted the fire tiger with unfaltering will.

She clutched a jade scroll in her hands. It shone faintly with white light.

The fire tiger feared the scroll and didn’t approach brashly.

It had already been a month. The woman would be attacked by at least two beasts every day. She was tense at every moment and didn’t even dare to close her eyes. Thus, her already-wounded body worsened.

She was expending herself to the max every day.

Here, her powerful Spiritual Power was seriously restricted. She wasn’t much stronger than an average woman. If she didn’t have the Saint Book Ruzu, she probably would have died in a beast’s belly long ago.

However, after all this time, even her body and Spiritual Power was at the brink of collapse.

Poof!

Just then, the light of the Saint Book Ruzu suddenly vanished, plunging the world into darkness.

The fire tiger finally got its opportunity. It pounced, jumping to the top of the woman’s head. It extended a huge sharp claw and swatted.

If the woman was hit, her fragile body would probably be snapped in half. However, when the tiger charged at her, a smile appeared in her eyes.

The next moment, the Saint Book Ruzu shone once again, reflecting at the fire tiger.

Poof, poof…

Four saintly characters flew out of the book, hitting the tiger. The beast howled tragically. It flew out and landed on the ground with a thud. Its huge body convulsed as blood poured out of four holes. It dyed the surroundings red.

Seeing the tiger die, the woman’s taut nerves finally relaxed. At the same time, exhaustion spread throughout her. She could no longer support herself and collapsed onto the ground. The Saint Book Ruzu’s light disappeared completely.

That attack had used up all her Spiritual Power. However, she still bit down on her lips, producing blood, to keep herself awake. If she lost consciousness in her current state, she might never wake up again.

She pushed up her weak body with difficulty and crawled to the fire tiger’s corpse. Lying on the tiger hide, she finally felt some warmth.

“Perhaps…I really will die here!” she muttered to herself.

She had told herself more than once to continue on. Perhaps, someone would discover the secret of the Bottomless Abyss and jump down to save her. However, an entire month had passed and no one came. All she met was a group of beasts that wanted to eat her.

“The Monks of the Kunlun’s Field believe that the Bottomless Abyss is a desperate world of no return. No one will know that there’s a vast world under here.”

No one coming to save her was normal. After all, they already thought that she was dead. Thus, her heart gradually calmed.

For some reason, Zhang Ruochen’s image appeared in her mind at this moment. Ever since the first meeting at the Tomb Forest, Zhang Ruochen’s image seemed to be ingrained in her mind. She couldn’t get rid of him.

Who would’ve thought that the famous Saint Lady would fall in love with a man at first sight? Who would’ve known that the Saint Lady, pursued by thousands, would be waiting for death here and transform into a white skeleton, a clump of ash?

She laughed at herself. Her smile was partly sweet, partly remorseful, partly pitiful, with a bit of regret. She’d never regretted anything until now, when she was about to die. Why hadn’t she told Zhang Ruochen about her feelings?

What would his expression be like if she told him?

She didn’t think that they would have a happy ending if she told Zhang Ruochen. He was the Empress’ wanted criminal; she was the Empress’ official. They were from two different worlds. How could they have a happy ending?

Plus, she understood Zhang Ruochen.

If another man knew that the Saint Lady liked him, he would definitely be excited and feel extremely lucky.

However, Zhang Ruochen definitely wouldn’t. He would definitely stay calm and perhaps even look down on her. He might feel that the Saint Lady was just a common woman. She couldn’t compare to Huang Yanchen; she wasn’t much better than the little Saintess of the Demonic Sect.

In her current state, it would be hard to live another day even if there were no more beasts. In that case, she would greedily enjoy the last bit of peace.

Thinking of all types of things, she said brokenly, “The first meeting in the Tomb Forest, wasted my life from a glance.”