CHAPTER 495: CHAPTER 480: NETHERWORLD IRON WOOD

Rushing through the road Liu Boyong pointed out, after a while, the strength level of the demon corpses and ghost creatures intercepting Zhouyang and his team noticeably increased, so much so that occasionally there were demons charging past Zhouyang towards Liu Boyong and Yan An behind him.

Noticing this, Zhouyang was not alarmed but delighted, knowing that he was on the right path.

He didn’t care what effect these fish that escaped the net would have on the two behind him, but continued to push forward fiercely.

Hiss hiss hiss!

Countless black smoke rose, as a demon array was triggered by Zhouyang, causing countless poisonous corpse water to pour down from the cave top, which was then burned into black smoke by the "Qianyang True Flame" blazing on him.

On this rush forward, Zhouyang had also experienced attacks from many demon array traps. The power of these demon arrays could only be said to be average, at most causing Golden Core Stage cultivators to pause slightly.

However, the traps hidden within the demon arrays could severely injure even Golden Core Stage cultivators if they were not careful.

For example, the poisonous corpse water just now, even if a Golden Core Stage cultivator were touched, their body would be corroded, poisoned by corpse venom, and magical artifacts below Tier Five would be corroded within half an hour, losing their magic ban and rendered useless.

This was just one of the relatively ordinary traps; the most vicious trap Zhouyang encountered was a resentful ghost demon refined through Ghost Path Secret Technique.

This resentful ghost demon was selected by a demonic cultivator from a steadfast cultivator, tortured by all means, and when the resentment reached its peak, the cultivator would be slain and their divine soul extracted as material for refining the resentful ghost demon.

The resentful ghost demon Zhouyang encountered was refined from the divine soul of a Purple Mansion Stage cultivator, hiding within a demon array, it launched a sudden attack, almost breaking through the "Qianyang True Flame" defense on him, trying to leap into his body.

Once this resentful ghost demon invaded his body, even with Zhouyang’s powerful divine soul, he couldn’t assure he could withstand the attack.

Fortunately, the "Qianyang True Flame" was strong enough, so the various demons encountered along the way didn’t cause Zhouyang any harm.

From this, it was clear why Guo Jinhong had Zhouyang, a Purple Mansion Stage cultivator, participate in this dangerous mission and lead the way.

It was unclear what method Liu Boyong used for precise navigation, under his guidance, Zhouyang proceeded without once taking a wrong step, and after charging through the underground demon cave passage for nearly half an hour, his vision suddenly broadened, entering a huge underground hall.

Looking around, this underground hall was at least three thousand zhang long, nearly two thousand zhang wide, and a hundred zhang tall, densely packed with over a hundred black stone coffins.

At the center of these black stone coffins stood a round altar over ten zhang tall, upon which rested a dark golden coffin three zhang long and half a zhang wide.

The dark golden coffin seemed neither to be made of any kind of stone nor metal, nor wood, it was non-metal, non-stone, non-wood.

Generally, things that look non-metal, non-stone, non-wood are definitely rare and valuable objects in the Cultivation Realm.

Sure enough, while Zhouyang was pondering what material the dark golden coffin was made of, Liu Boyong followed him into the hall, losing his voice and calling out the origins of the dark golden coffin.

"Netherworld Iron Wood! Could it be the legendary Netherworld Iron Wood? Did someone really venture into the Netherworld?"

Netherworld Iron Wood!

Zhouyang’s attention was instantly attracted by this unfamiliar spiritual object’s name.

Many things in this world have names with "Netherworld," but Zhouyang knew that most of the spiritual objects with "Netherworld" in their names were native to this realm, not the legendary Netherworld.

But seeing Liu Boyong’s shocked expression and hearing his words, it was apparent that this "Netherworld Iron Wood" probably truly originated from the legendary Netherworld!

"Senior Brother Liu, do you recognize the coffin’s origins?"

As Zhouyang was about to inquire from Liu Boyong for detailed information, Yan An couldn’t help but ask first, revealing that he also didn’t know what "Netherworld Iron Wood" was before.

"If the legend is true, the material used to make that coffin should indeed be the legendary Tier Six Yin Attribute Spiritual Object [Netherworld Iron Wood] that only grows in the Netherworld!"

"I only read about [Netherworld Iron Wood] in a senior cultivator’s journal; supposedly, it only grows in areas of dense corpse qi in the Netherworld, growing an inch every thousand years, with a hardness comparable to Tier Six Spiritual Gold, revered by demonic cultivators as a sacred artifact for artifact refining!"

As Liu Boyong spoke about the origins of "Netherworld Iron Wood," his eyes shone brightly as he gazed at the dark golden coffin intently, filled with greed.

That is a Tier Six Spiritual Object!

Although only demonic cultivators can fully utilize a Tier Six Yin Attribute Spiritual Object, it doesn’t detract from its preciousness.

Moreover, Liu Boyong didn’t mention that coffins made from "Netherworld Iron Wood" possess a unique "life extension" effect.

If a cultivator seals themselves inside a coffin made from "Netherworld Iron Wood" before their lifespan limit, they can temporarily seal their lifespan from depleting, avoiding dying from reaching their lifespan limit.

Liu Boyong was already over nine hundred years old, nearing the lifespan limit of Golden Core Stage cultivators.

Originally, after living for so many years, he had long mentally prepared himself for the inevitable end of his lifespan, given that advancing to the Nascent Soul stage seemed hopeless.

But there was one thing he couldn’t let go of, which was the worry that the Celestial Blade Sect he had established with his own hands might decline after his passing due to the absence of a Golden Core Stage Cultivator to oversee the sect, thus severing its legacy.

His initial plan was to work for Guo Jinhong to exchange for a certain degree of protection from him.

However, upon seeing this coffin refined from Netherworld Iron Wood, he conceived another idea in his heart.

If he could seize this coffin, he could seal himself within it ten to twenty years before the end of his lifespan, hide the coffin within the sect, and then fake his death by announcing to the outside world that he had passed away.

In this way, if anyone harbored designs on the Celestial Blade Sect because of this, he could launch a surprise attack at the crucial moment, catching the enemies off guard and eliminating those who were plotting to overthrow the sect’s legacy.

"According to Senior Brother Liu, since this [Netherworld Iron Wood] is so rare and precious, could it be that Master Heisha is interred within that coffin?"

While Liu Boyong was contemplating how to acquire that dark golden coffin for himself, a remark from Yan An caused his face to change, leaving him momentarily stunned.

Indeed!

He knew that the Netherworld Iron Wood coffin had the effect of sealing the loss of lifespan. Would Master Heisha, who refined this coffin, be unaware of it?

Thus, if what Yan An said was true, whether the Nascent Soul Stage Evil Cultivator, Master Heisha, was truly deceased or not remained an unknown!

"Senior Brother Liu, why do you look so grim? Could it be that you’ve discovered something?"

Zhouyang, who had been observing Liu Boyong’s expression, immediately sensed something upon seeing his sudden change of face and promptly inquired.

"Nothing, it’s just that when I recalled Master Heisha’s life after hearing Junior Brother Yan’s words, if what Junior Brother Yan said is true, and his remains are indeed inside the coffin, it won’t be easy for us to accomplish the task assigned by our master!"

Liu Boyong’s expression changed slightly, but he did not divulge the truth, only hinting at the danger with vague words.

"Senior Brother Liu means, you’re worried that Master Heisha’s remains might undergo a corpse transformation?"

Yan An furrowed his brows, and as expected, Liu Boyong’s words misled his thoughts elsewhere.

The so-called "corpse transformation" refers to some high-tier cultivators, reluctant to destroy the treasures accumulated over their lives, making arrangements with their bodies before passing away to prevent others from easily acquiring these treasures.

When someone enters their resting place to collect their leftover treasures, their bodies would suddenly erupt with power to attack the treasure-seeking cultivator.

Given the deeds of Master Heisha during his lifetime, it’s entirely reasonable for him to leave such posthumous measures in place.

However, Zhouyang always felt that Liu Boyong’s words seemed somewhat insincere, sensing that he was withholding something.

After all, "corpse transformation" was not a difficult deduction; in fact, upon seeing that dark golden coffin, he had similar suspicions.

Therefore, he believed that if it were merely a matter of "corpse transformation," it shouldn’t have caused a Golden Core Stage Cultivator like Liu Boyong to be so visibly upset.

But these were just his feelings and conjectures, which could not be openly expressed. So for now, he could only heighten his vigilance silently without saying much.

At this moment, his greatest regret was not bringing Xu Song, that old specter, along. Otherwise, with Xu Song’s knowledge and expertise in the Demon Dao, he might have offered numerous safety suggestions in this environment.

"What do you suggest we do next, Senior Brother Liu?"

Yan An frowned, staring at the quiet hundreds of stone coffins in the underground cavern, and asked Liu Boyong about their next course of action, looking worried.

Strangely enough, since they entered this underground cavern, no more demon corpses or ghost creatures came to attack them, as if this place was a forbidden area for those demon corpses and ghost creatures outside.

"We..."

Liu Boyong started to respond to Yan An’s inquiry, but before he could finish, he paused, his expression shifting slightly as he looked towards a certain direction deeper into the cavern.

Hmm?

Both Zhouyang and Yan An were momentarily taken aback when they saw this, then instinctively followed his gaze.

At the edge of another chamber fifteen hundred zhang away, they saw three Golden Core Stage Cultivators wearing scarlet magic robes suddenly emerge from a passageway behind them.

"It’s the Red Eyebrow Old Monster from the Li Huo Sect; they have also arrived!"

Yan An murmured with a low exclamation, immediately identifying the origins of the three newly appeared Golden Core Stage Cultivators.