Chapter 1021: Chapter 1021
Chapter 1021: Chapter 63: First Trial of Immortal Might
Watching as the group of Netherworld River Pirates rode on their ghost catfish mounts, roaring as they closed to within a hundred meters, even the dim bloodstains on their weapons and the greedy, vicious expressions on the grotesque fish heads could be seen clearly.
Xiao Jie still stood steadily at the bow of the boat, merely raising his right hand slowly, pressing gently downward toward the surging Netherworld River ahead!
“Immortal Law—Big Vortex!”
In this move, he borrowed some principles from the Jiao Dragon Spirit’s manipulation of water flow, but more so relied on the powers of an Immortal’s “Will Drives Five Elements” to directly drive the vast waters of the Netherworld River with his divine thought! Its power and precision of control were incomparable to when he was a mortal, instantly elevating several levels!
As if his words had authority, the moment his palm pressed down, the previously slow-moving Netherworld River suddenly gave a deep roar! A massive, bottomless vortex formed at a speed visible to the naked eye, rapidly expanding, and in an instant, it covered a vast river surface spanning several miles! The center of the vortex was pitch black like ink, emitting a terrifying suction, while the edges churned violently, appearing like a giant mouth poised to devour everything!
The speeding skeletal fish demon pirates had no time to react; both riders and mounts were instantly swept into the terrifying vortex that appeared out of nowhere! No matter how frantically they screamed and cursed in panic, how desperately they urged their Nether Corpse Ghost Catfish beneath them, it was all in vain against the vortex’s force, as futile as snowflakes falling into boiling water, being swept by the violent currents, dragged helplessly toward the abyss!
Even the Ghost Head Wooden Boat under Xiao Jie’s feet was being tugged by the vortex’s peripheral force, wobbling violently, seemingly about to follow and be dragged into the vortex!
“Immortal! Immortal! The boat! Our boat!” Liu Tong and the ghost soldiers were frightened to the point of their souls flying away (literally), shouting in panic.
Xiao Jie, seeing this, was slightly embarrassed. It was his first time exerting such a large-scale Immortal Law with full force, and he was having some difficulty controlling the force, almost leading his own people into a disaster.
Fortunately, “Will Drives Five Elements” afforded control over energy and matter at an almost instinctive, meticulous level. With a slight movement of his thoughts, the water flow near the wooden boat immediately became relatively calm, even producing a gentle push-back force, skillfully offsetting the suction, as if an invisible giant hand was steadily pushing the Ghost Head Wooden Boat away from the vortex’s edge, out of the danger zone.
As for the unfortunate skeletal fish demons, they had no such luck. Dragged toward the vortex’s center by the violent currents, the more they struggled, the deeper they sank. Xiao Jie watched those despairing black dots tossing in the vortex and no longer hesitated, lightly clenching his right hand!
As if receiving an unresistable command, the water flow at the vortex’s center and surrounding instantly transformed from violent rotation into a terrifying squeeze from all directions! That sensation was like suddenly bearing the full water pressure at ten thousand fathoms deep!
A series of cringe-worthy “crack” shattering sounds continuously echoed as those Nether Corpse Ghost Catfish and skeletal fish demons caught in the vortex’s center didn’t even have time for a final wail; their fragile bones, swollen bodies, and even the hard bone spines of their mounts, all instantly crushed, twisted, deformed, and ultimately burst under the horrifying pressure! Transformed into a mess of debris mixed with broken bones, rotten flesh, and black soul energy, it was instantly washed away by the surging Netherworld River, vanished as if they never existed!
Yet, amidst this absolute crushing force, with a loud boom, a pitch-black figure forcefully burst from the violently rotating and squeezing water wall! It was none other than the fish demon leader with the skull crown! Though it appeared in a wretched state, with its bone armor mostly shattered, exposing the blue-black skin beneath, it had indeed withstood that deadly strike! A layer of dark, iron-like, constantly flowing strange fluid coated its surface, evidently relying on this peculiar spell’s protection to miraculously survive!
The fish demon leader, unable to escape the vortex’s range, glanced with extreme horror and malice at Xiao Jie, standing on the bow with an air of nonchalance, and without hesitation, stomped on its half-destroyed ghost catfish mount, aiming to dive into the depths of the Netherworld River to flee!
How could Xiao Jie let it slip away; he still intended to capture someone alive to ask about the current situation in the Netherworld. He casually waved a hand, and beside him, the Netherworld River water immediately gathered into shape, transforming into a giant, semi-transparent hand completely composed of water flow, as large as a house, which swiftly reached out and grabbed the fish demon leader attempting to flee underwater firmly, like an eagle catching a chick, pulling it out of the water, and conveniently hauling it onto the Ghost Head Wooden Boat’s deck.
Seeing no hope of escape, the fish demon leader’s ferocity was fully aroused! It emitted a strange, ear-piercing roar, its entire body bulging with muscle, a burst of black light suddenly erupting; who knows what spell it used, but it managed to break free from the restraining grasp of the watery giant hand! Wielding its heavy bone hammer with a reckless resolve for mutual destruction, it charged ferociously at the nearby Xiao Jie!
“Courting death!” Xiao Jie still hoped to capture a live one for information but seeing the other so remiss, he could not be bothered to waste more words. Without using any intricate Immortal Law, merely with a thought, with a “clang” of dragon roar, the Demon Slaying Sword autonomously unsheathed itself from the sword bag on his back, landing in his hand! He casually swung forward—
A blade of intensely condensed, deathly cold, crescent-shaped sword energy slashed forth, slicing through the air silently!
The sword energy sliced through the Fish Demon leader’s body like a hot knife through butter, without the slightest obstruction!
The massive body that had been charging forward suddenly jerked to a halt and then split neatly in half, collapsing to either side! The wound was smooth as a mirror, without a single drop of blood. Only the thick black ghostly aura sizzled and rapidly dissipated. Before the two halves of the corpse hit the ground, they turned into dust and vanished, leaving only the skull helmet and bone hammer clattering onto the deck.
“Huh?” Xiao Jie was a bit surprised, “Did I perhaps do too much damage with that casual strike?”
This leader had around three thousand blood volume, yet did this single, seemingly casual sword energy strike it out instantly? How much damage did that strike do anyway? Why didn’t it even show a damage number?
While he was pondering, a strange, immaterial yet distinctly real energy began to gather from where the annihilated Skeleton Fish Demons had perished, as if attracted, turning into extremely fine, nearly transparent golden threads, quickly merging into his body.
Xiao Jie was startled and instinctively tried to control the odd energy flooding into his body, but found he couldn’t grasp it at all! They seemed to exist between being and non-being, and even with his Immortal’s Divine Thought and methods trying to intercept, it was like trying to catch smoke with bare hands—he caught nothing and could only watch as they fused into his limbs, eventually converging into his Elixir Field Immortal Yuan.
“I refuse to believe this!” Xiao Jie’s competitiveness was roused. He once more exerted his divine thought with all his might, forming his hands into a virtual sphere. Immortal Spirit Qi concentrated highly in his palms, creating a miniature gravitational field, forcibly holding a few strands of the incoming golden threads temporarily in his palm! The source of this content ɪs novel[f]ire.net
The few golden threads twisted and struggled in his palm, emitting warm and strange pulses.
He watched the golden energy that was ceaselessly trying to merge into him while being temporarily trapped and was immensely astonished. He finally understood what this was!
This must be what’s called “Experience Points,” right?!
In the past, playing games on a computer screen, he could only see the experience bar grow and numbers jump, with no real sensation. But entering this world physically made him realize that “Experience Points” were such a miraculous form of energy! It felt a bit like nature’s spiritual energy yet was even more ethereal, elusive, and unfathomable, impossible to truly touch or understand its essence. Even with his Immortal’s methods, he could only keep it confined in his palm momentarily by relying on his powerful divine thought and energy. Within less than a minute, those threads of gold seemingly penetrated the spatial barrier, thoroughly merging into his body and disappearing.
“Well, I gained some insight,” Xiao Jie shook his head helplessly, withdrawing the immortal power from his hands. Yet, being momentarily able to hold the experience points meant that the power of an Immortal could indeed affect, to some extent, even interfere with the underlying rules of this so-called “game system.” This was certainly an interesting discovery.
“Immortal! What remarkable technique! You’ve truly opened my eyes, I must say, I’m impressed!” At this point, the Ghost Official Liu Tong was filled with awe and admiration, leading the surviving Ghost Soldiers to step forward and pay respects. The Immortal means that had turned everything on its head and annihilated adversaries with a smile had completely subjugated them.
Xiao Jie smiled faintly, and indeed felt a sense of pride. A splendid technique indeed! Despite being only at Level 39, dealing with these over Level 40 big monsters was like a leisurely game. Only now did he truly understand why the Red Dust Taoist was so persistent about becoming an Immortal and was so ecstatic to the point of losing his Dao heart upon achieving it.
The sensation of wielding great strength and viewing mortal threats as nonexistent is indeed intoxicating.
He gathered his thoughts and pointed at the two relics left on the deck, asking, “These water bandits, have they been entrenched here for a long time? From your words, it seems they are subordinates of the Netherworld Emperor?”
Liu Tong immediately replied, “In response to the Immortal, these water bandits are mostly vassal forces under that Pseudo Emperor’s command. Although the Skeleton Fish Demon Clan is not a direct regiment of the Pseudo Emperor, their leader and most of the tribe have long sworn allegiance to the Pseudo Emperor. Consequently, these damned Fish Demons often attack our patrolling and transport fleets on the Nether River, plundering soul materials, which is most detestable! They are evil creatures born from the ghostly energy of the Nether River mixed with the grudges of drowning victims. Naturally, they aren’t subject to the soul-body erosion effects of the Nether River water. Instead, they can cultivate using the Yin Energy of the Nether River, thriving in these waters and being exceedingly difficult to handle.”
Xiao Jie thought to himself, this King Yan is truly in a tight spot, being bullied so much in his own turf.
The subsequent journey was indeed smooth sailing, without any more difficulties. Xiao Jie was a bit unsatisfied, hoping to encounter a few more waves of water bandits to practice his hand and gather more experience. He felt that the substantial experience infusion earlier had pushed his Level 39 experience tank to the brink, ready to break through to Level 40 at any moment. Unfortunately, until the silhouette of a gigantic city appeared on the dim horizon, no more fools showed up to court death.
“Immortal, look ahead! There lies the ‘Wangchuan Platform’! Beyond Wangchuan Platform is the ‘Senluo Ghost City’! Lord Yama is there in the Netherworld Hall attending to business!” Liu Tong pointed ahead, speaking excitedly, as if he was returning home, bringing with it a sense of security.