Chapter 289: Completely Outside Ye Beixuan’s Expectations

Could Senior Brother Cao read minds?

Ye Beixuan's body trembled imperceptibly as he looked at Cao Youqian with a bewildered expression.

Pa!

Xiao Chen smacked the back of Cao Youqian’s head in exasperation. “At a time like this in Da Qian, you're still joking around with Junior Brother Beixuan?”

Hearing this, Ye Beixuan breathed a long sigh of relief.

Cao Youqian chuckled. “Hehe, Senior Brother here just wanted to lighten the mood. We've been fighting non-stop for a while now, right?”

Xiao Chen responded only with an eye roll, then swept his gaze across everyone present.

“Let’s take a short rest, then set out.”

“Alright.”

After recovering for a moment, Ye Beixuan took the lead and opened the gate to the royal court.

What met everyone’s eyes was a glowing portal of light.

Without hesitation, Xiao Chen stepped into the portal first. The others followed closely behind.

Upon passing through the portal, Ye Beixuan was stunned. He found himself alone—none of his companions were around. Just like in his previous life, he appeared alone in the plaza.

“This is bad. In my last life, I came here alone and had no idea what this light gate did. I never expected it to have a teleportation effect.”

Muttering to himself, he no longer hesitated and could only proceed based on his previous life's memory toward the palace where the Primordial Mirror was located.

Meanwhile, Xiao Chen and the others also discovered they were alone after stepping through the portal. Yet as top-tier prodigies, none of them panicked at this unexpected turn. Instead, they each moved toward the palace in front of them.

“I wonder where little sister Zhaoyi was sent?”

Cao Youqian muttered as he gazed at the dilapidated building before him, then without hesitation, stepped inside.

The moment he entered the structure, he felt an eerie chill permeating the air.

Cao Youqian didn’t dare be careless. Instinctively, he extended his spiritual sense outward.

He quickly realized that this place was filled with a terrifying yin aura, not the slightest bit weaker than that of the Yellow Springs Abyss.

Within the yin aura were numerous wandering souls. These spirits, seemingly drawn by the presence of a living being, began to converge on Cao Youqian.

He didn’t spare them even a glance. Instead, he moved toward the source of the yin energy, intent on uncovering its origin.

Within moments, over a hundred spirits had surrounded him.

Still, Cao Youqian made no move to attack. He simply released the pressure from his body, and arcs of lightning flowed ceaselessly across him.

He stood out like a beacon in the dark.

Lightning, being the most yang and rigid of forces, was a natural nemesis to spirits. The surrounding souls halted, gathering around him without daring to get close.

Hmph!

Cao Youqian let out a cold snort, then continued forward. Before long, he entered a dark, gloomy room.

Though clearly uninhabited, the room was spotless. The furnishings looked completely new, forming a stark contrast with the decay outside.

Tap, tap, tap…

He began pacing slowly through the room, searching for the source of the extreme yin energy.

After walking dozens of steps, he suddenly halted and looked down at the stone floor beneath his feet.

“This is it.”

As he spoke, he stomped hard on the ground. A cracking sound rang out from beneath.

Huh...

Cao Youqian hadn’t expected that a single stomp couldn’t break the floor. Not bothering to search for hidden mechanisms, he stepped back and launched a powerful punch.

Boom!

The entire palace trembled violently, yet the slab didn’t break open. The cracks merely deepened.

Interesting.

Cao Youqian then unleashed a full set of Farmer’s Three Fists. The palace shook and crumbled under his blows, and at last, the floor slab shattered.

A staircase leading underground was finally revealed before his eyes.

Without hesitation, Cao Youqian descended. The stairs seemed to lead straight into the depths of hell.

He walked for a full hour without reaching the end. If it were the old Cao Youqian, he would’ve already lost patience. But after all he had experienced, the present Cao Youqian had long since come to take many things lightly.

After two hours, Cao Youqian finally reached the end of the staircase.

Faintly, he heard the sound of flowing water.

An underground river?

Instinctively, Cao Youqian walked toward the source of the sound. As he drew closer, the surrounding temperature dropped steadily.

He also noticed flickering ghostly green flames in the distance.

He didn’t know how far he walked, but eventually, Cao Youqian arrived at the riverbank. Looking around, he spotted a stone tablet standing at the river’s edge, upon which were inscribed two strange characters.

Cao Youqian scratched his head and thought to himself, “If only I had read more back when I was in the Miscellaneous Dao Institute. I can’t even recognize these ancient characters now.”

Though he couldn’t understand their meaning, judging by the yin energy emanating from the river and the eerie green ghost fire swirling above it, he could be certain—this was a river of the underworld, one not at all inferior to the Yellow Springs.

After confirming the nature of the river, a faint smile appeared at the corner of Cao Youqian’s mouth.

He had just been worrying about where to temper his body—this river was the perfect place.

Splash.

Without hesitation, Cao Youqian leapt into the underworld river. Bone-piercing cold instantly enveloped every inch of his body.

Within the river, countless souls tried to drag him toward the bottom.

Cao Youqian didn’t resist. He closed his eyes and allowed the spirits to pull him downward.

Sensing no resistance from the living man, the souls became like sharks smelling blood, tearing at his body.

But in the next moment, divine radiance burst from Cao Youqian’s body, dispersing the souls.

Even without the spirits, his body continued sinking toward the riverbed.

The defeated souls tried to attack again, only to be repelled once more. After repeating this several times, they finally gave up.

Time passed minute by minute.

Seven days and seven nights later—

Cao Youqian had completely settled at the bottom of the river. With no souls remaining nearby, he could finally continue his body refinement in peace.

At that moment, a hoarse, elderly voice whispered beside his ear.

“Young man, did you drop some precious item into this underworld river?”

Cao Youqian gave no response and continued cultivating.

Behind him, a shadowy figure saw the young man ignore him and asked again.

Still, there was only silence. After the third question went unanswered, the shadow gave up and simply lingered near the young man, waiting for him to open his eyes.

While Cao Youqian refined his body at the bottom of the underworld river, the others each encountered their own fortunes...

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