Chapter 163: Cold Pond Bird
Song Jiulai was currently undertaking an indescribable instance.
The small worlds others entered each had their own differences.
Before Mu Qiu could react, a Demonic Beast smashed into her face.
Mu Qiu instinctively commanded Flying Snow to stab forward, but it passed right through the creature’s body.
No, it didn’t feel like a Demonic Beast.
It was more like the vengeful spirit of some wild beast, lingering in the world with unwillingness, emitting hoarse, unpleasant shrieks.
All around were these terrifying sounds of wailing ghosts.
The ground was burning with raging flames everywhere, the earth scorched black, the uneven ground resembling some war ruins.
It was boundless, with no end in sight.
Mu Qiu saw no one and cautiously moved forward step by step.
The place was too vast; after a few steps, she felt no sense of movement towards the boundary, as if she were walking in place.
The scorching flames distorted the surrounding space, bringing rolling heatwaves.
The pale vengeful spirits darting through the fire were mindless, their wails, if listened to for too long, would cause a headache.
Listening closely, one could still hear the lingering cries of those vengeful spirits.
“Mother… Mother is gone…”
“A’Da, where are you? Why haven’t you come to pick me up yet?”
“Why can’t I cultivate? I’m unwilling, so unwilling!”
“Tianyang Sect…”
“Huh? Child, come here, come here…”
Suddenly, Mu Qiu heard a clear, sharp tone that was unlike the other vague whispers.
It was as clear as someone calling her.
She looked up and saw a pale, human-shaped shadow in front of her beckoning to her.
Its features were blurred, but from its figure, one could vaguely discern a woman with her hair in a bun.
“Come here, come here…”
Those calls made Mu Qiu wary.
By the time Mu Qiu got close, the figure floated over, moving quickly and eerily, circling Mu Qiu twice and muttering, “Strange, you’re really strange.”
Mu Qiu’s scalp tightened, her eyes following the figure’s movements, Flying Snow already poised in her hand.
Even though Flying Snow had already tried, her sword couldn’t pierce these pale, unknown spirit bodies.
“You can see me?”
The other spirit bodies were like mindless beasts, but this one was like a person and could see her.
“Hee…”
The spirit body let out a short, ambiguous laugh, its voice clear and lively, like a cheerful young girl.
Mu Qiu was even more surprised.
“Of course I can see you, it’s just…”
The spirit body slowly turned to face Mu Qiu, assuming a relaxed posture as if resting its head on something while floating in mid-air: “You’re not from Yunzhou Continent.”
This certain statement startled Mu Qiu: “You’re spouting nonsense!”
Of course, she had to deny it.
Players were well aware of their identities.
On the surface, they were cultivators from Yunzhou, but in reality, they were Players who had merely borrowed bodies.
She couldn’t expose her identity at this time.
The woman chuckled again: “No need to deny it. Cultivators from Yunzhou Continent cannot see us; I’ve seen other Yunzhou cultivators before.”
Mu Qiu lied with her eyes open: “You’ve been in the Secret Realm for too long; the outside world has changed…”
“Hee…” Another short chuckle: “Why are you so flustered? Others can’t see me, and I can’t tell anyone these things. I’m just too bored… How many years has it been? Finally, someone can talk to me and relieve my boredom.”
As she spoke, she made a puffing motion towards Mu Qiu.
Mu Qiu instantly felt a gentle breeze.
But there was no other sensation.
Mu Qiu subconsciously complained to the System: “Good thing there’s no smell or feeling, otherwise, if I thought about how long she hasn’t brushed her teeth, I’d feel uncomfortable.”
System: “…”
How could the Sect Master be so abstract, and the soldiers she trained also so abstract.
Since the other party couldn’t leave and no one could see her, Mu Qiu became bolder: “Then what are you? How long have you been here? And where is this?”
“I told you you’re not from here. If you were, you wouldn’t even know these things?”
Mu Qiu: “…”
However, this female spirit was clearly very lonely and had no intention of hiding anything: “This is Wan Hai Yuan City. You might not have heard of it, but hundreds… or even thousands of years ago, this was a Demonic Cultivator Kingdom.”
Mu Qiu was surprised: “A Demonic Cultivator country?”
This was truly rare!
Demonic Cultivator Players currently had some understanding; they were mortal enemies with humans.
Demonic Cultivators could also transform into Demonic Beasts, but Demonic Beasts were not Demonic Cultivators.
In fact, Demonic Cultivators even ate people.
Mu Qiu looked around: “Where are those Demonic Cultivators? All gone? And the buildings too?”
The woman pointed underground: “They’re all buried beneath your feet. If you had the strength, you could naturally unearth this land and witness the past glory of Wan Hai Yuan.”
Mu Qiu: “…Roughly how strong would I need to be?”
The woman’s voice was lazily teasing: “Around the Tribulation Stage.”
Mu Qiu: “…”
Isn’t this making things difficult for an honest person?
While Mu Qiu was negotiating with the spirit, the other half was not idle.
【Mu Qiu: I’m currently going through a Hidden Task storyline, and the Demonic Cultivator Kingdom Wan Hai Yuan has appeared. Does anyone have connections to find information about this city? 】
【Qi Zuo: You’re making things a bit difficult for us. 】
【Han Tian: Wan Hai Yuan? Never heard of it, a Demonic Cultivator country? Damn, your Hidden Task is so powerful, you’ve reached this level of plot already. 】
【Zhou Nüzi: Did you enter an instance like me? Which small world are you in? @Mu Qiu 】
【Zhen Weida: You guys have Hidden Tasks? So envious! 】
【Mu Qiu: @Zhou Nüzi I don’t know, a local NPC said this is the ruins of Wan Hai Yuan, and that Wan Hai Yuan used to be a Demonic Cultivator country, which is why I’m asking you all. 】
【Lin Yuyu: Wan Hai Yuan Ruins? I have Moon City Ruins here, I wonder if they’re related. 】
【Shuitan: ? What ruins? You guys aren’t fighting? 】
Shuitan’s question caused a brief pause in the internal channel.
【Han Tian: You guys have different storyline paths in your instances? Clearly, one of us went in and started fighting. 】
Shuitan, of course, started fighting immediately.
Before he even understood what was happening, he opened his eyes to find a Demonic Beast right in front of him.
Unlike Mu Qiu’s Demonic Beast smashing into her, this Demonic Beast was alive and appeared before him.
The surroundings looked like a dense forest, with trees so tall they blocked out the sky, making the environment feel oppressive.
The Demonic Beast before him, filled with intense resentment, spat a breath of ice towards Shuitan, who immediately engaged in battle using the Guanhai Sect’s Cultivation Technique.
This Demonic Beast had a pair of huge wings, but they didn’t resemble those of ordinary birds; they were more like a species of pterosaur mentioned in Blue Star legends.
Shuitan felt a sense of familiarity.
The opponent was at least Tier 3.
During the fierce struggle, Shuitan didn’t have time to examine it closely; the creature’s massive body and its tricky ice breath were both aimed with precision.
It was more troublesome than an average Tier 3 Demonic Beast.
It wasn’t until Shuitan struck the creature with Palm Thunder, leaving it on the verge of death, that he suddenly remembered.
“Isn’t this a Cold Pond Bird?”
