Chapter 776: Half Bloomed Boruo (Part 1)

Yun Che turned around and said, "Yuanba, Xue'er, it's extremely dangerous inside. You two should wait outside. I'll come out immediately, regardless of whether I find what I'm looking for or not."

"No need to say anything, brother-in-law," Xia Yuanba said, shaking his head. His muscles were already bulging, and a powerful aura of profound energy enveloped him. "Since we've come all this way, how can we not go in and take a look?"

"Big Brother Yun, if I don't stay by your side to protect you, my martial aunts and uncles will blame me," Feng Xue'er said softly, showing no signs of fear on her face.

"Alright," Yun Che said, taking Feng Xue'er's small hand. "Xue'er, don't let go of my hand. Yuanba, be very careful! If anything goes wrong, remember your first reaction should be to run!"

*Rip!* A sound like tearing lightning echoed. The barrier and the Sea God Seal simultaneously pulsed with blinding blue light. The next instant, Zi Ji clutched the Sea God Seal and quickly retreated, revealing a six-foot-square opening in the barrier ahead.

An intensely black mist surged out from it.

This is...

"Only a hundred breaths! Get in quickly!" Zi Ji swiftly put away the Sea God Seal, raised a hand, and was the first to rush into the opening in the barrier.

"Be extremely careful!" Yun Che didn't have time to think further. He pulled Feng Xue'er and quickly rushed in, with Xia Yuanba following close behind.

Stepping into the Moon-Slaying Devil Den was like suddenly entering an icy abyss. Both body and soul were instantly chilled, and all the hairs on their bodies stood on end. Yun Che felt Feng Xue'er's hands grip him tightly, and her body pressed even closer against him.

Above the Southern Sea, there was abundant light, and a six-foot-square opening should have allowed enough light to illuminate a large portion of the cave. However, after only three steps forward, they found themselves in complete darkness, with barely a flicker of light visible.

Turning back, the exit was nothing more than a blurry greyish-white patch.

"The light from outside can't get in!?" Xia Yuanba exclaimed in surprise.

"It's the power of darkness," Yun Che said, frowning deeply. Fen Juechen had used profound energy of the same attribute when they fought earlier. "This dark power devours light and also restricts spiritual perception... and even the five senses!"

"Precisely!" Zi Ji's voice came from the darkness. "This is just the entrance to the Devil Den. The deeper we go, the denser the dark aura becomes, suppressing spiritual perception to less than ten percent of its usual level! The same applies to the five senses! In the deepest parts, even profound energy will be suppressed to only the Sky Profound Realm."

"I'm already starting to feel... the profound energy suppression," Xia Yuanba said, raising his arm and gritting his teeth slightly. "My profound veins feel like they're being shackled by something, and profound energy circulates much harder than usual."

"...Senior Zi, we only have a hundred breaths of time. Please lead us immediately to where the Underworld Rakshasa Flower once appeared," Yun Che said calmly.

"Understood!" Zi Ji replied.

In the darkness, Feng Xue'er raised her arm, and a crimson Phoenix flame ignited in her pale palm. The Phoenix flame she wielded was far purer than Yun Che's, and its light could normally illuminate great distances, yet within the Moon-Slaying Devil Den, it barely illuminated a radius of less than ten steps.

Moreover, this was still just near the entrance.

Using the Phoenix flame's light, Yun Che saw the ground, which remained jet black even under the crimson glow, but he couldn't see the cave walls or ceiling. Clearly, this cavern was far more spacious than he had anticipated.

"Don't worry, the Moon-Slaying Devil Den has only one path; there are no forks or branches. Following this path will lead directly to the end of the cave. The entire cavern isn't very deep; at our current pace, we should reach the end in about thirty breaths," Zi Ji said, walking ahead without slowing his steps. Although it was his first time entering the Moon-Slaying Devil Den, he was very familiar with all the records about it in the Sea Palace.

"So, the Underworld Rakshasa Flower discovered here thirteen hundred years ago was located at the very end of the Devil Den?" Yun Che asked.

"That's right," Zi Ji nodded. "Ten thousand years ago, seven ancestors of the Sea Palace who discovered the Moon-Slaying Devil Den managed to reach its deepest part. All of them had profound energy at Sovereign Profound Realm Level eight or above, but in the deepest part of the Devil Den, their profound energy was suppressed to only the mid-stage Sky Profound Realm, and their life force rapidly drained away. They then encountered the Moon-Slaying Devil Monarch, who was only at the early-stage Tyrant Profound Realm, and were tragically massacred. Only one ancestor managed to escape by sheer luck... Afterward, the ancestors left strict orders: never enter the depths of the Devil Den unless it was confirmed that the Moon-Slaying Devil Monarch was dead."

Zi Ji's pace subtly quickened, but the profound energy aura emanating from him grew steadily weaker.

The range illuminated by the Phoenix flame was also rapidly diminishing.

"Is the Moon-Slaying Devil Monarch confirmed to be dead?" Yun Che asked cautiously.

"After all, it was only a Tyrant Profound beast. Even the most powerful Sovereign Profound beasts only live for a few thousand years, and no Tyrant Profound beast, no matter how strong, could possibly have lived for over ten thousand years. Although its corpse was never found... it should have turned to dust in the darkness by now," Zi Ji replied.

"Then, is there any idea about the source of this sinister energy?" Yun Che asked, frowning as he looked ahead and simultaneously sensed his own profound veins.

With almost every step forward, the profound energy auras of Zi Ji in front, Feng Xue'er beside him, and Xia Yuanba behind him weakened. Zi Ji's weakened the fastest, followed by Feng Xue'er, and then Xia Yuanba, who was slightly slower. They were now roughly in the middle section of the Moon-Slaying Devil Den, and Zi Ji's profound energy aura had dropped to around the strength of a Tyrant Profound Realm Level eight.

Meanwhile, both Feng Xue'er and Xia Yuanba were at approximately Sovereign Profound Realm Level three.

The reason he could clearly sense their profound energy changes was because...

His own profound veins were completely unaffected!

Even the circulation of his profound energy felt no difficulty.

Jasmine was indeed right; the Evil God's profound veins simply couldn't be suppressed by ordinary forces. Neither the Heavenly Might Soul Suppressing Array nor the Moon-Slaying Devil Den could do it!

As for Feng Xue'er, her suppression was weaker than Zi Ji's, clearly due to her Phoenix bloodline!

And for Xia Yuanba, it was the Divine Tyrant Emperor Veins!

"This is precisely the greatest unsolved mystery of the Moon-Slaying Devil Den," Zi Ji said, exhaling a long breath, his breathing becoming slightly more rapid. "Our Sea Palace wants to know the source of this terrifying sinister energy more than anyone, but for ten thousand years, we haven't found an answer. Perhaps its origin lies in the deepest part of this Devil Den, but the sinister energy there is too terrifying; it drastically reduces one's profound energy and blurs the five senses. Even if the Sea Emperor himself were to come, he wouldn't be able to stay for more than twenty breaths of time. To explore it is as difficult as ascending to heaven."

Their profound energy was diminishing, the range of their spiritual perception was shrinking, breathing became increasingly difficult, and their five senses noticeably weakened, to the point where they could no longer even hear their own footsteps clearly.

"Such a place actually exists in this world. Hiss..." Xia Yuanba gritted his teeth. The feeling of his profound energy and spiritual perception being suppressed made him incredibly uncomfortable, as if his entire body was submerged in a thick swamp, making even taking a step far more arduous than usual.

"Jasmine, have you thought of any possible source for this sinister energy?" Yun Che asked in his mind. One thing bothered him: since entering the Moon-Slaying Devil Den, Jasmine had remained silent, not uttering a single word.

"This dark aura here..." Jasmine's voice was incredibly grave, seemingly laced with disbelief. "What exactly is going on!?"

Yun Che paused his steps and quickly asked, "Is there something unusual?"

"More than just unusual!" Jasmine's voice was frighteningly low. "In terms of pure intensity, the dark aura here isn't strong; in fact, it's quite weak. But... its tier is terrifyingly high!!"

The four words "terrifyingly high" sent a jolt through Yun Che's heart, because they came from Jasmine's mouth.

"The tier of its dark laws is so high that even I can't comprehend it!"

Inside the Sky Poison Pearl, Jasmine's expression was heavier than ever. Her crimson-flickering pupils were filled with intense disbelief. "I've never encountered dark aura of this tier, not just in this plane, but even in the plane where I was born! What on earth is releasing this!!"

Jasmine's few brief sentences impacted Yun Che a thousand times more powerfully than all of Zi Ji's descriptions of the Moon-Slaying Devil Den combined.

"Yun Che! Leave here immediately!" Jasmine suddenly shrieked. "The situation here has completely exceeded my expectations! To be able to release such sinister energy, there must be an incredibly terrifying entity hidden within! Leave now, don't worry about the Underworld Rakshasa Flower! Because even if..."

"Hee hee hee... Heh heh ha ha... Chatter chatter... Ooh wooo wooo..."

Just then, an incredibly sinister laugh suddenly emanated from the darkness ahead. As they delved deeper, their five senses had become greatly restricted, yet this terrifying, devil-like sound pierced their ears with disturbing clarity, like a mix of weeping and laughter, chilling them to the bone.

"Ah!!" All four of them stopped simultaneously. Feng Xue'er cried out in alarm and collapsed against Yun Che's chest. "Wh-What was that sound... It's so scary!"

"Th-There's someone inside!?" Xia Yuanba took a wide step, positioning himself in front of Yun Che and Feng Xue'er, unleashing his profound energy without reservation... Yet, even for Xia Yuanba, a shiver of uncontrollable dread ran down his spine at that moment.

Xia Yuanba's full profound energy release startled Zi Ji. At this point, his own profound energy had been suppressed to the late-stage Sky Profound Realm, while the immense pressure emanating from Xia Yuanba was still unmistakably that of the late-stage Tyrant Profound Realm!

Zi Ji's heart filled with shock... They were now nearing the deepest parts of the Moon-Slaying Devil Den, and his own profound energy had been suppressed by nearly two major realms, yet Xia Yuanba seemed to have only been suppressed by one major realm!

Although it was only a difference of one major realm, it was undoubtedly a world of difference! Under normal circumstances, Xia Yuanba's profound energy was weaker than Zi Ji's, but in their current state, it would be effortless for Xia Yuanba to kill him.

Could this also be the power of the Divine Tyrant Emperor Veins?

"Wait! That sound..." After a brief moment of horror and vigilance, Yun Che's expression suddenly relaxed, and his pupils even gleamed with wild delight. He released Feng Xue'er, darted forward, and rounded a stone wall.

Instantly, the world before him was no longer pitch black; a bright purple glow appeared.

Amidst the terrifying dark and sinister energy, Feng Xue'er's Phoenix flame could barely illuminate a single zhang. Yet, the purple light, though thirty zhang away, appeared with incredible clarity in Yun Che's pupils, as if even the most extreme darkness in the world could not swallow this purple glow.

The purple light flickered, and the chilling, devil-like cries and laughter emanated from that very glow.

Yun Che's heart pounded violently, and his eyes widened. That was... that was...

"The Underworld Rakshasa Flower!!" Zi Ji's astonished cry came from behind Yun Che.

"Ah? That... that's what Big Brother Yun was looking for!?" Feng Xue'er's voice was filled with surprise and delight.

"That's right! It's it... The bright purple demonic light, and when it sways, it emits a ghostly wail—exactly as Master described!!" Yun Che clenched his fists, speaking with immense excitement.

For seven full years, he had found not a single trace of the Underworld Rakshasa Flower. Now, merely with the hope of finding a needle in a haystack, he had entered this Moon-Slaying Devil Den... and a miracle had truly appeared before his eyes!!

"Jasmine, we found it... We found it!!" The overwhelming surprise and excitement left Yun Che momentarily speechless. Just then, he suddenly sensed something unusual; behind him, there was suddenly no sound, not even the faint rustle of breathing.