“Kui Mu Lang!” Shen Shui Yuan shouted, his neck straining. “When did you transform?!”
Kui Mu Lang was in the middle of a frenzied attack on Plague Rat, completely deaf to Shen Shui Yuan's question as if he hadn't heard it at all. He only focused on pouncing, clawing, and chasing, with not a single shred of sanity left in his wolfish eyes.
Shen Shui Yuan's heart skipped a beat.
He turned to look at Bi Yue Wu again. The white bird was currently half-emerged from a shadow at the edge of the battlefield, his silver-white eyes completely devoid of emotion as he quietly watched the conflict.
Shen Shui Yuan's voice began to tremble. “Bi Yue Wu! Speak! What about Mao Ri Ji and Zui Huo Hou? How is their transformation going?”
Bi Yue Wu did not answer either.
He kept his head lowered, casting a fleeting, indifferent glance at Shen Shui Yuan.
Shen Shui Yuan's pupils contracted bit by bit.
Something was seriously wrong.
Their true bodies were all inside the array, connected to it. Having gone through the transformation himself, Shen Shui Yuan knew the conversion rate of the Heavenly Weeping all too well. It was impossible for it to be this fast.
Otherwise, their true bodies wouldn't have remained curled up in the Myriad Ghost Array, slowly absorbing its power.
What happened? Just what on earth had happened?
Why did he know absolutely nothing about this?
Shen Shui Yuan suddenly felt a bone-chilling cold rush from the soles of his feet straight to the crown of his head.
He abruptly raised his head, attempting to ask something else, but a black wave came crashing down upon him.
Chen Zhou gave him no time to think.
The waters of the River of the Underworld surged and rose beneath Chen Zhou's feet. The dark currents condensed into a black water column, slamming violently into Shen Shui Yuan's chest.
Shen Shui Yuan let out a muffled groan as he was sent flying backward, plunging into the River of the Underworld.
The freezing river water poured into his nose and mouth. He struggled to surface, but those deathly pale hands beneath the water grabbed him once more, dragging him down into the depths.
Panicked, Shen Shui Yuan opened his mouth to cry for help, but his throat was flooded with the water of the River of the Underworld, preventing him from uttering a single word.
He struggled desperately, white slime erupting from his body in an attempt to dissolve the arms holding him. However, the water of the River of the Underworld was far too heavy, firmly suppressing the slime he released. His struggles grew weaker and weaker.
Standing at the bow of the boat, Chen Zhou watched Shen Shui Yuan struggle in the depths of the River of the Underworld with an expressionless face.
He could, of course, directly use the River of the Underworld to completely consume Shen Shui Yuan, but he was in no hurry to do so.
He knew very well that some variable must have arisen within the Myriad Ghost Array.
The fact that Shen Shui Yuan could utter the words “Heavenly Weeping” proved that the white pollution beneath Qingzhou was indeed an organized, conscious force.
However, the way those three Constellation Spirits had transformed was clearly abnormal, and Shen Shui Yuan's panic was definitely not an act.
This was an opportunity.
He wanted Shen Shui Yuan to live a little longer to see what other information he could squeeze out of him.
But during this time, Wei Tu Zhi began to harass him frequently.
One white earthen arrow after another shot in from a distance, possessing incredible penetration. Even though Chen Zhou used the waters of the River of the Underworld and his Ghost Domain to set up a defense, an occasional stray arrow would still slip through, nearly striking his vital points.
He was forced to divert a portion of his focus to dodge Wei Tu Zhi's sniping, which slowed down his suppression of Shen Shui Yuan.
Wing-Fire Snake and Nü Tu Fu had already finished clearing the first wave of white beasts, and they immediately went to reinforce Taotie and Plague Rat.
If possible, Chen Zhou wanted to directly eliminate the four Constellation Spirits right here. That would certainly make things much easier when he faced Bai Xing in the future.
But right now, though Shen Shui Yuan was suppressed, Wei Tu Zhi's harassment was growing more frequent. Those earthen arrows were incredibly fast and accurate; a single slip-up could result in being hit.
Chen Zhou decided it was best not to drag this out. Delay breeds trouble.
He had a faint premonition that the transformation of the Constellation Spirits was accelerating. If Mao Ri Ji also entered the fray and the Sunlight Array joined the battle, his disadvantage would expand drastically.
Chen Zhou took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes.
He sank his consciousness deep into the River of the Underworld.
Beneath the dark currents lay a boundless, endless darkness.
Silent, freezing, and vast.
Standing here, Chen Zhou felt like a speck of dust floating above a limitless black ocean.
Then, he felt it.
The River of the Underworld was breathing.
It seemed to be asleep, but in truth, it had always been awake.
This behemoth-like spiritual entity rose and fell at an extremely slow frequency. Just standing at the edge of its phantom, Chen Zhou could feel a heavy pressure—the majesty and weight of the river that served as the final resting place for departed souls.
He slowly opened his eyes.
The River of the Underworld had awakened.
Beneath the surface, a massive silhouette was slowly shifting.
A pair of freezing eyes lit up from the deepest depths of the dark water.
How large were those eyes?
They were like two full moons submerged in the water, quietly gazing in Chen Zhou's direction.
The flow of the River of the Underworld began to accelerate.
The black currents beneath the surface began to churn, the waves rising higher and higher.
The deathly pale corpses that were originally suspended in the water began to shake violently. One by one, they too were awakened from their slumber.
With great effort, Shen Shui Yuan managed to struggle his way up from the depths and break the surface. Just as he gasped for air, he witnessed a scene that made his hair stand on end.
Upon the surface of the River of the Underworld, pairs of eyes began to emerge.
Pale, turbid, and hollow, they rose in dense numbers from the riverbed, turning in unison to look at him. Then, pale hands reached up from beneath the water, clawing onto the solitary boat beneath Chen Zhou's feet.
The sides of the boat were covered in crawling ghosts from the River of the Underworld—all of whom were souls that had been taken into the river to rest from the external space not long ago, and all of whom had been drowned by Shen Liang.
They had been trapped here for too long. Bearing grievances in life and having nowhere to go in death, they had been imprisoned by the array for a hundred thousand years, unable to reincarnate, unable to find peace.
Chen Zhou slightly raised his hand. The water of the River of the Underworld gathered in his palm, turning into a black droplet that floated in midair, reflecting the light and shadow of the entire fragmented space.
Shen Shui Yuan felt a terrifying aura, and his face instantly paled.
He had felt the weight of the entire sky pressing down when the Fate Officer handed down his decrees.
But the aura emanating from this water droplet was entirely different from those.
It seemed to be something far more ancient and fundamental, as if the river itself possessed life, and was now looking down upon him.
At the same time, Kui Mu Lang's offensive came to a halt.
He had been in the middle of a frantic pursuit of Plague Rat, and the whistling sound of his claws tearing through the air had not yet fully dissipated when his body suddenly froze midair.
His wolfish pupils shrank violently, his limbs tensing and his back arching. The white slime on his face fluctuated continuously, revealing a twisted, anxious face beneath.
He was in fear.
The bowstring in Wei Tu Zhi's hand was already drawn more than halfway, the tip of her arrow originally aimed straight at the back of Chen Zhou's heart.
But at this moment, her fingers were trembling slightly. She loosened the bowstring a fraction, pulled it back again, and repeated this two or three times, yet she simply could not release the shot.
Her gaze crossed the water's surface, locking eyes with Bi Yue Wu.
The two of them stared at each other for about two breaths.
Bi Yue Wu did not speak, but he gave an almost imperceptible nod.
Wei Tu Zhi's lips pursed tightly.
She looked down at the arrow in her hand.
The plan had to change. This was their only chance.
She hesitated for a brief moment, but ultimately took half a step back, slipping behind several of the clones Bi Yue Wu had just split off.
Wei Tu Zhi drew her bowstring fully once more. Through the gaps between the clones, her arrow tip pointed directly at the churning black waves on the water's surface.
Rate on N.U.
