Chapter 897: The Black Abyss

“If the Fallen God’s Heir knew you were here, he would likely take action,” the chubby boy remarked.

“The top figure of the Fallen God Ridge, overwhelmingly powerful—wow, there are so many legends about him. Finally, we’ll see him in person,” the little rabbit squealed excitedly.

“Whose side are you on?” Shi Hao knocked her on the head with a *thud*.

“Ow! How dare you flick me!” The little rabbit glared with her big red eyes and immediately kicked out with her rabbit legs. The street beside the small tavern collapsed with a *boom*.

Yet, no one batted an eye. In the Burial City, conflicts were common, and buildings being destroyed was nothing out of the ordinary.

“I’ll wait for him to appear!” Shi Hao declared. He had long wanted to settle the score for his two senior brothers. If the Fallen God’s Heir sought to kill him, it would be the perfect opportunity for reckoning.

“Let’s go. We should explore too and see if we can find any opportunities,” the Divine Striking Stone suggested.

Cao Yusheng led the way toward a certain area.

Burial City had no walls. It was vast and incomparably prosperous, with markets, ancient districts, and a mix of all kinds of people—dragons and snakes alike.

Moreover, the city contained mountainous terrain, dark red in hue, remnants of battles from the previous era. Beneath the soil lay buried treasures of all kinds.

However, the earth was too hard to break through easily.

Even so, this land had been plowed dozens of times by ancient explorers, unwilling to miss any rare artifacts. Surprisingly, even after all that, good finds occasionally surfaced.

“A blood-red pearl! Heavens, someone dug up something valuable! Could it be the condensed essence of a supreme being’s blood?”

After wandering for over an hour, exclamations erupted from the mountainous area.

Soon, a fight broke out in that region as people scrambled for the blood pearl.

Shi Hao and his companions frowned. This was clearly no peaceful place. Even if one found something, without sufficient strength, they wouldn’t be able to keep it—and might even lose their lives.

The discoverer died before he could utter a word, and a crowd of creatures fought over the blood pearl.

Tragically, it was later confirmed that while the pearl was indeed a blood essence pearl, its divine properties had long dissipated, rendering it nearly worthless.

Since arriving, Shi Hao had kept his Heavenly Eye open, his pupils shimmering with runes as he scanned the land. Yet, he found no divine treasures.

There were fragments of weapons and ordinary artifacts, but at his level, such materials were of little use.

“Generations of people have combed through this place. What could possibly remain? Let’s move elsewhere,” Shi Hao said, shaking his head.

“Fatty, are you any good? Thought you were a local expert, but you brought us to this useless place—it’s been picked clean a hundred times over,” the little rabbit complained.

“Burial City is no simple place. It holds countless secrets. There’s one spot guaranteed to have treasures, surrounded by anomalies for ages—yet few dare to enter.”

“Then what are we waiting for? Lead the way!” The little rabbit waved imperiously, acting like the leader.

Qing Yi smiled faintly.

The Black Abyss lay at the heart of Burial City. Peering down, one saw only endless darkness, with no bottom in sight.

“This place is eerie,” the Divine Striking Stone muttered. Though it was a stone, even it felt a chill.

True to its name, the abyss was unnaturally dark, sending shivers down the spine. Faint wails seemed to rise from its depths, as if something was weeping.

Occasionally, dazzling lights flickered at the bottom, accompanied by astonishing phenomena.

“Some speculate that an immortal artifact lies down there, waiting to be claimed. Alas, no one can reach it,” an old man nearby sighed.

“Who could descend? Even supreme experts theorize that the artifact is infinitely far below, perhaps sealed within a mid-tier world,” another lamented.

Many creatures lingered at the edges, watching from afar. Few dared to venture in.

The abyss was too perilous. Most who entered never returned, making it the most feared place in the Burial Realm.

“This place is strange. There are indeed divine objects below, but some force obscures everything—even divine sense can’t penetrate,” Shi Hao mused.

“Exactly. It’s terrifying here. Standing atop it is fine, but descending means losing all sensory perception. Any attempt to probe is devoured,” Cao Yusheng explained.

The Black Abyss spanned ten thousand zhang in diameter, its walls ancient and rough, sheer and unyielding. Since antiquity, no one had ever reached its true bottom.

Even the ancient overlords among the natives—those terrifying clan leaders—had failed. Legends spoke of a group of supreme experts who once ventured in together, never to return.

To the natives, this place was now forbidden. Their mightiest no longer set foot here.

“So many people,” the Divine Striking Stone grumbled. The area outside the abyss was densely packed with creatures, all watching intently.

“Huh, quite a few natives too,” Qing Yi noted.

“Every time the Immortal Ancient opens, many natives gather here. If outsiders bring up treasures, they’re willing to trade for them with priceless items.”

The Centaur Clan, massive half-human, half-horse beings, carried giant bows. Their strongest were said to be capable of shooting down the sun.

The Ancient Demon Clan, pitch-black and scaled, were fearsome to behold.

…

No outsider dared provoke them, for their clans harbored terrifying existences.

Shi Hao’s eyes ached as he focused his Heavenly Eye, but even its runes couldn’t pierce the abyss’s obscuring rules and power.

His Heavenly Eye had failed, deepening his frown.

“At close range, the Heavenly Eye works. But probing the depths? Impossible,” Cao Yusheng said, shaking his head.

“How far can cultivators usually descend?” Qing Yi asked.

“For instance, how deep could I go?” the little rabbit chimed in, eager to explore.

“This place is bizarre and deadly. With luck, one might go deeper than a clan leader. With bad luck, a hundred zhang could be fatal,” Cao Yusheng explained.

The abyss walls bore strange, unpredictable runes. The deeper one went, the greater the danger.

For those at the Divine Flame Realm, the first hundred zhang were relatively safe, allowing survival and self-preservation.

“I see,” Shi Hao nodded, absorbing the details.

“You don’t need to go down. It’s too risky,” Qing Yi said, frowning.

“I feel something unusual here, as if calling to me. But the rules on the walls obscure the truth,” Shi Hao replied.

He warned them to stay vigilant against ambushes from the Heavenly Country.

“Don’t worry. My killing array is ready. At the first sign of danger, it’ll activate, with formation flags everywhere,” Cao Yusheng assured.

This time, Shi Hao left even the Divine Striking Stone and the Imperial Butterfly behind, descending alone into the abyss.

He wasn’t the only one. Many clung to the walls, cautiously climbing down. Only upon entering did one realize flight was harder than ascending to heaven.

“Amazing! Who’s that? They brought back a weapon fragment embedded with a piece of Ten Thousand Laws Stone!”

When someone emerged with a find, the crowd erupted. Natives swarmed, offering saint herbs in exchange.

Here, violence was rare. The natives maintained order, and outsiders, though competitive, knew better than to break the rules.

Shi Hao glanced briefly but didn’t linger. He climbed down swiftly, like an ape, descending dozens of zhang in moments.

True to warnings, flight was impossible, and divine sense was slashed like blades if extended. Fortunately, his lightning-tempered soul endured briefly, but he dared not probe further.

“How bizarre!”

Shi Hao grew wary. Below, visibility worsened. Strange runes blocked all perception.

From above, one could see farther, but descent drastically narrowed vision. Without the Heavenly Eye, only a few zhang were visible.

Even with his Martial Heavenly Eye, he could see only a hundred zhang ahead, forcing caution.

Still, this surpassed others, who groped blindly, fearing unseen dangers.

The first hundred zhang were safe. Any attacking runes were easily deflected.

Unsurprisingly, this zone held no treasures—long scavenged by past explorers.

Beyond, the situation worsened. The rough, cold walls bore eerie patterns, unsettling the mind.

“Ah—!”

Nearby, a creature screamed as it fell, its glow useless against the abyss’s pull. Its cries faded into the depths.

“How horrifying!” Some shuddered.

At a hundred and fifty zhang, fewer dared descend, knowing the increasing peril.

Shi Hao moved fast, scaling the sheer walls like a gecko. Soon, he was six hundred zhang down.

He ignored the walls, uninterested in common materials.

Here, figures were sparse. No treasure was worth certain death.

“Hmm, a fragment of Star Essence—rare even for clan leaders,” Shi Hao noted in surprise.

At eight hundred zhang, he spotted a weapon shard, its luster undimmed by time, though its runes had faded.

At a thousand zhang, he nearly fell when the wall flared with runes, almost hurling him into the void.

“Trouble. But the call grows stronger,” he muttered, unwilling to stop.

At thirteen hundred zhang, the pressure intensified. The walls radiated terrifying energy.

Yet, just then, he glimpsed a glimmer dozens of zhang below.

After a brief rest, he pressed on.

“This is… a willow leaf!” Shi Hao gasped. He’d found another of the Willow Deity’s leaves, vibrant and full of life.

The wall bore a terrible gash, stained with dark blood and lingering runes—evidence of a supreme being’s demise.

Within the crevice lay two broken leaves, emerald and translucent, remnants of the Willow Deity’s battle.

“What lies below? The Willow Deity was here. But the call isn’t from it.” Shi Hao’s heart trembled.