I was just making up techniques... how did all of you become Emperors?

Chapter 240: The Flower of the Underworld on the Road to the Afterlife

"The… the Road to the Underworld?!"

Bailong instinctively took half a step back upon hearing those words. He was only a soul—if he set foot on the Road to the Underworld, he might never return to the living world.

He had no desire to vanish here for no reason. His followers were still out there, and as long as their faith and wishes remained strong, he still had a chance to rebuild his physical body.

Off to the side, Blastoise couldn't help but mock him. "Was that half-step of yours supposed to be serious?"

"???"

Bailong gave a helpless expression. "Fellow cultivator, it's not that I fear death, but this is no place for a disembodied soul like me."

Chu Feng had said nothing from the beginning. Instead, he silently activated the World-Breaking Eye, trying to see the true nature of the Road to the Underworld.

Unfortunately, under the divine laws left behind by the True God, even the World-Breaking Eye was limited. All he could see was an endless stretch of the road ahead.

He frowned slightly and muttered with interest, "How fascinating. It's been a long time since I've encountered something that required real thought."

Bailong asked carefully, "Your Highness… can you break the Road to the Underworld?"

Chu Feng smiled. "If the True God were still alive, I would've turned back immediately. But now that he's no longer in this world and only traces of divine law remain—if I go all out, I should be able to break it."

"As expected of the strongest Half-Saint alive."

Bailong flattered him without missing a beat.

Blastoise rolled its eyes. What does this have to do with you, soul fragment?

Shouldn't this kind of thing be handled by me, Blastoise?

Chu Feng ignored them. Sitting cross-legged, he began reciting a Buddhist scripture.

"When Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva practiced deeply the Perfection of Wisdom,

He perceived that all five skandhas are empty, thus overcoming all suffering and distress.

Shariputra, form is not different from emptiness, emptiness is not different from form..."

He read slowly, as if each syllable required his full strength to speak.

But with every word, a faint golden light of Buddhist radiance spread outward, bringing subtle vitality into this death-filled realm.

Time passed, minute by minute.

And the Road to the Underworld began to change dramatically under the chanting.

By the time Chu Feng finished the final verse, the Road to the Underworld had completely vanished.

In its place was a desolate courtyard.

At the center of this barren space, a stunningly beautiful and eerie flower stood in full bloom.

For reasons unknown, the moment Bailong laid eyes on it, his soul began to waver—as if the flower was trying to draw it in and take it away.

"Your… Your Highness, that flower isn't right."

Chu Feng said calmly, "There's nothing strange about it. If I'm not mistaken, that's a flower of the underworld—a Red Spider Lily, said to bloom on the other shore of the Yellow Springs. It symbolizes the dead. Your soul has not yet dissipated, but the Red Spider Lily is your natural enemy."

Blastoise blinked and asked, "Master, so that means the soul can't go any further?"

"Not necessarily," Chu Feng replied. "As long as I collect the Red Spider Lily, he'll be able to lead us onward."

As he finished speaking, Chu Feng stepped toward the flower.

With each step, he felt the life force around him grow weaker. If he continued like this, he might not even reach the flower before it consumed all his vitality.

He stopped.

A contemplative look appeared on his face.

Though he'd read about the Red Spider Lily in ancient records at the Miscellaneous Dao Institute, none of them detailed how to pick one.

After half an hour of thought, he still hadn't found a solution.

If thinking couldn't solve it—then he'd just use force.

He retrieved his sword from his storage ring.

Clang!

Chu Feng drew the blade and slashed casually at the flower's stem.

Clang!

The sword aura hadn't even touched the flower before it was blocked by an invisible wall.

"How is that possible?!"

Blastoise exclaimed in disbelief.

In its mind, Chu Feng represented the impossible made possible. And now—a single flower had blocked his way.

"A bit interesting."

Chu Feng showed no surprise. On the contrary, his excitement only grew.

"One Sword, Ten Thousand Blades!"

Exerting his full strength, Chu Feng swung his sword once again toward the stalk of the Red Spider Lily.

In an instant, thousands of swords filled the small world, converging into one massive blade that slashed downward with a deafening roar.

Clang!!!

As the sword fell, the Red Spider Lily gently descended toward the ground.

Seeing this, Chu Feng reached out with a large hand and caught the beautiful and eerie flower.

Even though he had already picked it, he could still feel a potent and mixed aura of death and extreme yin law lingering on it.

"Good thing this flower hasn't developed sentience. If it had, there might've been nothing I could do about it."

He murmured quietly, then placed the Red Spider Lily into a box and sealed it away in his storage ring.

"Let's go."

"Yes, sir."

Bailong responded and quickly moved to Chu Feng's side. At this moment, he felt as if he had survived a great calamity. Excitement surged within him—he would finally get to see the treasures within the fifth palace.

The group left the courtyard behind, passing through the exit of the fourth palace and continuing toward the fifth.

Moments later, they arrived at the entrance of the fifth palace.

Before even stepping inside, Chu Feng sensed a powerful aura from within. The owner of that aura was no weaker than the old headmaster.

Feeling the pressure, he murmured to himself, "A Saint-level guardian in this palace?"

Hearing this, Bailong shivered instinctively and hesitantly asked, "Should we still go in?"

Chu Feng smiled. "Even if there's a Saint guarding this palace, it's nothing more than a dead one. If it were alive, you'd be long gone."

Bailong nodded. "That's true… though I do wonder what kind of creature this Saint once was."

"Let's go in and find out."

With that, Chu Feng stepped through the palace gate first, with Bailong and Blastoise following closely behind.

The moment they entered the hall, everyone—including Chu Feng—was stunned in place.

At the center of the palace stood a colossal skeleton, towering dozens of meters high.

Though long since deceased, the saintly pressure radiating from its bones was so overwhelming that it invoked an instinctive urge to kneel and worship.

Bailong stared at the skeleton and gasped, "A qilin… the guardian of this palace was actually a Saint-level qilin!"

"What a pity."

Chu Feng had never encountered a qilin in either of his lives.

He began searching for the source of the lingering saintly aura. Eventually, he discovered a dull, lifeless beast core within the qilin's skull. That was the source of the powerful pressure they felt earlier.

Without hesitation, Chu Feng flew straight to the qilin's head. Once in position, he reached out and grabbed the beast core, which was as large as a human adult's head.

Just as his hand made contact with the core, a sudden change swept through the palace…

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