I picked up skill fragments in the demon world

#241 - Ferryman

"What the hell is that?" Zhang Chen 'looked at' the green flames in the distance, a look of horror in his eyes.

The whole world exuded an indescribable sense of weirdness.

The green ghost fire was extremely fast. When he first saw it, it was still tens of miles away, but in the blink of an eye, the green ghost fire had already arrived.

However, after Zhang Chen saw the true face of the green ghost fire, he couldn't help but jump in fright.

It was a small boat ten meters long. The entire boat was completely made of white skulls. Green ghost fire flowed in the white skulls, which was the source of the green flames Zhang Chen saw.

On the small boat, stood a black-robed figure, holding a pale green lantern in his hand, quietly standing at the bow.

However, when Zhang Chen 'looked over', he saw that there was nothing under the black robe. There was no torso at all. It was just a mass of empty air, but it supported the black robe, making it look very strange.

"Ten epochs have passed. Is the road to the Yellow Springs open again? How come there are living people mixed in again?" The black-robed man sighed softly on the boat. Although he had no eyes, his empty face faced the Yellow Springs water, Zhang Chen had a strange feeling that the other party seemed to be looking at him.

When Zhang Chen heard the other party's words, he didn't dare to move, instinctively disguising himself as Yellow Springs water and floating with the Yellow Springs current.

Seeing that Zhang Chen didn't answer, the black-robed figure smiled softly and pointed at the yellow water. The next moment, the water rippled, and then Zhang Chen was dragged out of the water by a strange force, and his whole person was directly returned to his original form, turning into a human form.

Zhang Chen was shocked when he saw this, and hurriedly wanted to jump into the river to escape, but who knew that the figure on the opposite side pointed lightly, and Zhang Chen was actually frozen, as if he had been hit by a body-fixing technique.

"Ten epochs have passed. Someone has actually come to this Netherworld again. It's really a rare guest." The black-robed man looked Zhang Chen up and down at this time, but there was nothing under the empty robe, which looked terrifying.

"Let me see your origin... You actually have the aura of Great Sun Golden Light on your body. Which family's Qi Refiner are you?" The black-robed man asked.

Thousands of thoughts flashed through Zhang Chen's mind, but he didn't know how to answer, for fear that he would say the wrong thing and cause disaster.

Just when he was anxious, a flash of inspiration suddenly flashed in his mind. He remembered the Shangqing talisman technique he had obtained in the past, so he said: "This junior is a disciple of Shangqing."

"A disciple of Shangqing?" The black-robed man looked Zhang Chen up and down after hearing this. Zhang Chen only felt that the black-robed man's gaze seemed to penetrate Zhang Chen's soul and directly enter his spiritual world, wanting to peep into his origin. At this moment, his Zhen character talisman vibrated slightly, causing the black-robed man's movements to stop. It wasn't that the Zhen character talisman hindered him, but the aura of the Zhen character talisman attracted his attention.

"It really is a disciple of Shangqing." The black-robed man retracted his probing power and sighed: "I didn't expect that there are still people in this world who practice the Shangqing talisman technique."

Zhang Chen looked at the black-robed man, and at this time, he mustered up his courage to build a relationship and asked: "I wonder what the origin of the senior is?"

"I don't remember! I only remember that I was born in this Wangchuan River, and then on a certain day in the endless years, I don't know why my memory kept fading and becoming chaotic, and only some insignificant memories remained." The black-robed monster sighed softly: "Didn't your master tell you that you can't enter the Netherworld if you don't cultivate the Nascent Soul?"

Zhang Chen's head grew bigger when he heard this, and he didn't know how to answer. If he answered wrongly and let the other party know that he was disguised as a disciple of Shangqing, I'm afraid things would be troublesome, but he couldn't not answer, so he could only bite the bullet and say: "This disciple wants to obtain the origin of the Yellow Springs essence, so I have to come here."

The black-robed man smiled when he heard this: "You don't know the immensity of heaven and earth. How can you covet the Yellow Springs essence?"

"However, since you can come to this Netherworld, you and I are also destined. I will make a deal with you. I will give you the Yellow Springs essence, and you give me something in return, how about that?" The black-robed man said.

"I wonder what it is?" Zhang Chen cautiously asked.

The black-robed man didn't answer Zhang Chen's words, but stretched out his hand and waved towards the Wangchuan below, and then a crystal stone flew out of the Wangchuan.

"This thing is for you." The black-robed man said.

As he spoke, the crystal stone was thrown and fell into Zhang Chen's hand. Zhang Chen subconsciously stretched out his hand to catch it, but who knew that the next moment, after the crystal stone fell into Zhang Chen's hand, it instantly melted into black mist. The black mist intertwined into a black robe, the style of which was exactly the same as the black-clothed man in front of him, wanting to put it on Zhang Chen and wrap him in it.

The black robe slowly extended on Zhang Chen's arm, and Zhang Chen's body had a little more black robe, and the black robe on the opposite side was missing a little out of thin air.

"You want to seize my body!"

Zhang Chen was shocked at this time. He had an intuition in his heart that as long as the other party's black robe completely enveloped him, he was afraid that he would be seized by the other party.

"I will give you a piece of Yellow Springs essence, and you will give me your body. Isn't that very fair? You must know that this Yellow Springs essence is incomparably precious. Even existences who have touched the fruit position have to break their heads. You are just a Qi Refining realm ant. Using the Yellow Springs essence to exchange for your life, aren't you willing?" The black-robed man said.

"I am a disciple of Shangqing, how dare you harm me?" Zhang Chen roared.

"Hehe, when the heaven and earth return to ruins, all laws and all ways under the immeasurable tribulation fire have already become ashes. Even if you are a disciple of Shangqing, what can you do? You are just a small ant. Disciples of Shangqing are as numerous as the hairs of an ox, and there are thousands of Taoist lineages under them. You are just a small ant in the Qi Refining realm. You are not even qualified to be recorded in the 'True Name Register'. Are you worthy of being called a disciple of Shangqing?" The black-robed man's voice was full of disdain: "Moreover, even if the Shangqing Saint is here, I am not afraid."

Speaking of this, the black-robed man's words were a little empty: "Who is the Shangqing Saint? Why am I not afraid of him?"

At this moment, Zhang Chen's arm holding the crystal stone was completely covered by the black robe, and black sleeves were derived, wrapping his arm. Zhang Chen had completely lost sensation in that arm.

"Damn it, where did this old guy come from?" Zhang Chen only felt his scalp tingle, his eyes full of horror. After hearing the name of the Shangqing Saint, he was even more shocked, wondering if the Shangqing Saint in the other party's mouth was the Shangqing Saint he knew.

Right now, he couldn't delve into it, because this old guy was going to seize his body, and he had to find a way to deal with it.

Fortunately, Zhang Chen was not completely powerless to fight back against these old guys. Zhang Chen's eyes swept across his golden finger panel, and then his eyes fell on the Soul Hooking and Soul Seizing.

Then Zhang Chen did not hesitate, and his Soul Hooking and Soul Seizing skill was directly activated:

[Target: Unknown Remnant Soul]

[Lifespan: -1296000]

[Status: Markable]

Zhang Chen looked at his golden finger panel, a dazed expression on his face: 'What the hell? A negative lifespan?'

He had marked countless people, but he had never seen a negative lifespan.

Seeing the black robe enveloping his arm, spreading to his shoulder and neck, Zhang Chen decisively activated the Soul-Seizing skill.

As Zhang Chen's skill activated, two chains appeared out of nowhere in the darkness. One connected to the sleeve of the black robe on Zhang Chen's arm, and the other connected to the black-robed man in front of him.

Zhang Chen didn't dare delay and immediately yanked the chain connected to his body. The black sleeve transformed into a wisp of black smoke and was pulled out, re-fusing with the black-robed man opposite him.

"What the hell?" The black-robed man was stunned, sensing the strangeness in his body, staring blankly at Zhang Chen.

Seeing this, Zhang Chen quickly transformed into water and jumped into the river. The black-robed man, seeing Zhang Chen trying to escape, quickly tried to intercept him, a ray of black light turning into a net to envelop Zhang Chen. But, surprisingly, the black light ignored Zhang Chen's body and passed right through him, having no effect whatsoever.

Then, Zhang Chen transformed into Yellow Spring water, quickly escaping through the spring.

"Oh, interesting! A spring connecting to the Great Thousand Worlds has sprung up in the River of Forgetfulness? When did this spring appear? I, as the Lord of the Blood Sea, didn't even notice?" The black-robed man chased after him to the spring, a hint of joy in his eyes, and directly transformed into a wisp of black smoke, drilling into the spring to chase after him. But as soon as he had chased halfway, the Yellow Spring water flow suddenly stopped, losing track of the passage ahead.

"That seems to be a great formation. The power of the great formation actually summoned the Yellow Spring spring, and then connected the two realms to form a passage. It's a pity that the other party put away the great formation, otherwise I would definitely be able to cross the void and enter that material world." His eyes were filled with regret:

"But it doesn't matter, he can't escape! I just need to wait here for him to open the spring next time, and I can sneak over."

Speaking of Zhang Chen, he quickly climbed out of the Yellow Spring spring. Because he was going downstream and he was familiar with the road, he quickly slipped over. Then, a sense of impending crisis arose, and without thinking, he directly put away the Nine Bend Yellow River Formation.

In the underground river, Zhang Chen stood in the water, a hint of fear in his eyes: "What the hell was that? So terrifying! There is a great horror behind the Yellow Spring, I'm afraid I've provoked a great trouble."

Zhang Chen stood in the river, still shaken, holding a crystal stone in his hand, the condensed origin of the Yellow Spring.

"This action was too rash. That old guy is really terrifying. If I hadn't mastered the Soul-Seizing Chains, I'm afraid I would have capsized. In the future, when upgrading skills, I must prioritize upgrading the Soul-Seizing Chains." Zhang Chen stood in the underground cave, countless thoughts flashing through his mind: "I wonder where that Yellow Spring land is?"

Zhang Chen's mind flickered, an idea arose in his heart, and he directly activated the chain skill to locate that strangeness.

As Zhang Chen activated the skill, his perception spread along the skill chain, passing through endless voids, piercing through layers of invisible barriers, seemingly crossing an infinite distance, directly entering a dim world.

In that dim world, a vast yellow river, winding and twisting, its length unknown for tens of thousands of miles, its width unknown for thousands of miles, spanned the entire world.

Then, as Zhang Chen's perception became clearer and closer to the target, Zhang Chen saw the boundless lake, the green boat, and the black-robed man standing on the boat.

What he saw before was not a lake at all? What he saw was just the tip of the iceberg of the River of Forgetfulness, a section of the river.

The black-robed man on the flat boat seemed to sense Zhang Chen's aura, and suddenly raised his head, revealing an empty face. The other party clearly had no facial features, but Zhang Chen could feel the other party's evil smile.

"Boy, we will meet again, keep my body safe." The black-robed man's voice echoed throughout the world.

Then Zhang Chen was frightened by that smile, and his perception quickly returned to his body, and he stood on the water, panting heavily.

"Is that really the legendary Netherworld? Is that river the legendary River of Forgetfulness? Is the Yellow Spring just a spring of the River of Forgetfulness?" Zhang Chen gradually calmed down in the cave, and then pondered thoughtfully.

"There really is a Netherworld in this world, is that the destination after death?" Zhang Chen's heart was filled with shock, and then he thought slightly: "That's right, even Qi training techniques have been developed, so if there is a Netherworld, it seems very normal, not worth being surprised."

"The other party said the Supreme Purity Saint... does that mean that there is also a Supreme Purity Saint in this world? The Supreme Purity Saint, the Lord of the Heavens? Or is it just the same name?" Zhang Chen's mind flashed with thoughts.

"This world is not right, if there really is a Saint-level Lord of the Heavens, even the Immeasurable Tribulation can't do anything to him, right?" The more Zhang Chen thought about it, the more unreliable he felt.

This world is too mysterious, countless buried tombs of gods and demons, as well as countless mysteries born in the heaven and earth, and the gods of the past, the Eastern Emperor Taiyi, etc., are all extremely mysterious, making Zhang Chen a little confused.

When in doubt, ask the Great自在Heavenly Demon.

This old guy is extremely ancient, if anyone in this world knows the secrets, it must be him.

With Zhang Chen's summoning, the Great自在Heavenly Demon appeared.

"Zhang Chen, what did you do? Your body actually has the aura of the Underworld world?"

As soon as the Great自在Heavenly Demon appeared, he noticed something wrong with Zhang Chen, staring at Zhang Chen up and down.

Zhang Chen didn't hide anything, now that the Great自在Heavenly Demon was marked by him, the other party couldn't escape his Wuzhi Mountain, so he told his experience.

The Great自在Heavenly Demon looked at Zhang Chen with a look of surprise and uncertainty, his eyes full of disbelief: "You said that your Nine Bend Yellow River Formation connects to the Underworld world? The Yellow Spring water originates from the River of Forgetfulness? You even sneaked in?"

"Of course." Zhang Chen said.

"Impossible! Do you know the origin of the River of Forgetfulness?" The Great自在Heavenly Demon heard this and flatly denied it, his voice full of firm refutation of Zhang Chen's words.

"I don't know." Zhang Chen shook his head.

"Then do you know why the Yellow Spring water is yellow?" The Great自在Heavenly Demon asked again.

Zhang Chen shook his head.

How would he know such a thing?

Even if the twenty-first century has various myths and legends, there are also myths about the River of Forgetfulness, but there is no explanation of the origin of the River of Forgetfulness, only that the River of Forgetfulness was born in the Underworld, and is a river in the Underworld.

"Stop beating around the bush, quickly tell me the origin of the River of Forgetfulness." Zhang Chen said unhappily.

The Great自在Heavenly Demon's firm denial made Zhang Chen feel a strong curiosity in his heart.