The Underworld Ghost City

Facing the madly surging chaos-colored fire seed and the overwhelming flames, Gu Qingfeng's expression remained indifferent. He simply opened his mouth and inhaled.

Then, like a whale swallowing the sea, the sky full of flames transformed into a river of fire and entirely poured into his mouth.

With this, the boundless flames dissipated into nothingness.

Meanwhile, Xu Qingyun and the others had already fled into the Yellow Springs Ghost City.

Gu Qingfeng did not stop them; instead, he sized up the situation with keen interest.

After a long while, he let out a light chuckle, "To be hunted by this Emperor, yet run right into this Emperor's home? Truly throwing yourselves into the net."

Just as he was about to step forward and head home, a graceful figure flew over at a rapid speed.

It was none other than the white-clad woman who had fled earlier, Yan Lingyu.

As it turned out, when Yan Lingyu saw the situation taking a turn for the worse earlier, she had fled directly. This woman seemed to possess some life-saving means, actually surviving and escaping the aftermath of that level of destruction just now.

"Senior Gu, could you please take me along with you?" Yan Lingyu pleaded, her face full of entreaty.

Gu Qingfeng cast a faint glance at her. "Let me see your face."

A hint of struggle flashed across Yan Lingyu's eyes. Seeing Gu Qingfeng's previous style of doing things, which was simply more wicked than an evil cultivator like Patriarch Huntian, she was terrified that revealing her true appearance would be like a sheep throwing itself into a tiger's den.

But at the thought of her sister still waiting to be rescued, she gritted her teeth and made up her mind.

A tender, fair, jade-like hand gently wiped across her face.

Following a flash of immortal light, the ferocious, centipede-like scars on Yan Lingyu's face vanished completely, restoring her true appearance.

It was a breathtakingly beautiful face capable of toppling cities, with elegant eyebrows, phoenix-like eyes, jade-like cheeks, and cherry lips. She was truly exquisite.

Seeing Gu Qingfeng staring at her unblinkingly, Yan Lingyu subconsciously averted her gaze, her pretty face flushing slightly.

"Senior Gu..."

"Hmm, you do have some measure of beauty. Barely qualified to walk alongside this Emperor." Gu Qingfeng nodded with slight appreciation, then casually strolled toward the Yellow Springs Ghost City as if taking a leisurely walk in a courtyard.

Yan Lingyu hesitated in place for a moment before hurriedly following behind Gu Qingfeng.

At this moment, Gu Qingfeng was her only reliance. Even if it ultimately meant feeding herself to a demon, she had no other choice.

The gates of the Yellow Springs Ghost City were a full hundred zhang tall. Pedestrians crawling before them seemed as insignificant as ants.

The moment they stepped through the city gates, it felt as if they had crossed from one world into another. The sense of detachment was incredibly stark.

Yan Lingyu felt as though she were submerged in water, her breathing becoming labored. This was due to the overly dense ghost aura permeating the city.

She abruptly turned around, only to be shocked to discover that the city gates had vanished.

The very moment they had entered, the city gates had abruptly disappeared just like that.

The path they had come from had transformed into an eerie, bottomless darkness.

Yan Lingyu panicked instantly. She had long heard that the Yellow Springs Ghost City was a forbidden ground among forbidden grounds, and she had mentally prepared herself, but she never expected to encounter such a bizarre scene the very moment she entered the city.

She subconsciously drew closer to Gu Qingfeng, much like a person in the dark drawing near to a bonfire. However, when she got a clear look at Gu Qingfeng, she immediately froze.

She saw Gu Qingfeng sniffing the city's ghost aura with a look of sheer intoxication, his face full of enjoyment.

"Jie jie jie... It's the fragrance of ghosts and gods."

Yan Lingyu panicked even more instantly, taking several frightened steps backward.

Gu Qingfeng paid her no mind. Instead, he quickened his pace, impatiently walking further inside.

Soon, a massive expanse of graves appeared before their eyes.

It was simply an ocean of graves, stretching as far as the eye could see, densely packed together.

Black lightning covered the firmament, eerie nether lights scattered across the earth, and a terrifying, gloomy aura permeated the entire area.

Furthermore, floating in front of every grave's tombstone was a blood-red human skin lantern. Emitting a blood-like glow, they looked like pairs of bizarre, bloody eyes.

A forbidden, ominous aura rushed at her face, making Yan Lingyu uncontrollably shudder.

These graves varied in size. The small ones were very crude, nothing more than little mounds of dirt. But some of the large ones were incredibly majestic, resembling mountain peaks, and there were even graves built like mausoleum palaces, looking exceptionally grand.

"Senior Gu, could these graves be the burial grounds of the city's ghosts and gods from when they were alive?" Unable to bear the deathly silent atmosphere, Yan Lingyu couldn't help but ask.

"Wouldn't we know if we dig them up and take a look?" Gu Qingfeng said, staring at the graves with burning eyes.

"What!? Dig them up? Senior, you want to dig up their graves?" Yan Lingyu turned pale with fright.

"Absolutely not! The Yellow Springs Ghost City has many taboos. Once triggered, it will definitely bring about terrible consequences. In my humble opinion, we should still be caref... Senior, don't!"

Before Yan Lingyu could even finish her sentence, Gu Qingfeng had already picked a massive grave mound and unleashed a punch.

Boom!

The grave was directly blasted open.

Just as Gu Qingfeng looked over with full anticipation, he found that there was absolutely nothing inside. No burial objects, no corpses.

Yan Lingyu, on the other hand, was like a frightened bird, consecutively summoning several immortal weapons to protect her body. It seemed she would flee immediately at the slightest rustle of leaves in the wind.

"The graves are actually empty?" Gu Qingfeng became a bit displeased. Damn it, why build them so well if they are empty? Are they crazy?

Refusing to believe it, he consecutively blasted open several more graves, but without exception, they were all empty.

"Senior Gu, since the graves are all empty, how about we keep moving forward?" Yan Lingyu suggested. She was truly afraid that Gu Qingfeng would continue courting death.

It would be better to hurry up and leave now while nothing had happened yet.

Although Gu Qingfeng was dissatisfied, he also decided to leave, because it seemed there really was nothing to be gained here.

Thus, the two continued forward, quickly passing through the graves. Ahead, a white jade stone bridge appeared. The stone bridge was incredibly smooth, white and bright as snow, and wreathed in immortal light. Countless immortal Dao runes were engraved upon it, making it look as though it were a bridge leading to the Immortal Realm.

However, the appearance of this white jade stone bridge in the middle of this gloomy and eerie cluster of graves seemed incredibly abrupt. Against such a backdrop, the more immortal aura it exuded, the more bizarre it actually appeared.

"Senior Gu, there's something strange about this bridge. Please... Senior Gu!"

Just as Yan Lingyu voiced her warning, Gu Qingfeng had already stepped onto the white jade stone bridge.

Seeing this, Yan Lingyu had no choice but to bite the bullet and follow suit.

Strangely enough, absolutely nothing bizarre happened.

Gu Qingfeng grew increasingly dissatisfied. Is this really a damn forbidden zone for the living?

He felt that if something bizarre didn't happen soon, he was going to get angry. He would absolutely tear down the Yellow Springs Ghost City with his bare hands.

When the two crossed the stone bridge, finally, something bizarre occurred.

Unexpectedly, a clamor of human voices appeared ahead. It was extremely lively, just like a bustling market.

Gradually, a large-scale cluster of street buildings appeared. They were antique and classic, decorated with lanterns and colored banners. People were coming and going, making it exceptionally bustling.

It was as if they had arrived in a prosperous town in the mortal world.

Looking at the lively scene before her, Yan Lingyu's vigilance had reached its peak. She was just about to offer a warning, but upon second thought about Gu Qingfeng's previous behavior, she swallowed the words that had reached the tip of her tongue.