Book 18, Highgod – Chapter 20, Lost
As soon as Linley entered the Abyssal Mountain, he felt a heart-palpitating presence spread out from it.
“What a powerful presence!” Linley’s face turned solemn. “Even in the Infernal Realm, when I faced the Bloodridge Sovereign, I didn’t feel such a terrifying pressure!” After having been pressured by this presence as soon as he entered the Abyssal Mountain, Linley had a feeling...as though he had returned to his childhood years in Wushan township, and was once more facing that magical beast, the ‘Velocidragon’ for the first time. It was that sort of terror and shock that he now felt.
His heart was shaking! This sense of pressure pressed down on his soul!
“Boss, I can’t even spread my divine sense out.” Bebe turned to look at Linley. “This pressure is too powerful, even more powerful than that of the Bloodridge Sovereign.”
“That’s because when the Bloodridge Sovereign appeared, it was just an energy construct, rather than his true form.” Linley carefully inspected his surroundings.
Behind him was the Abyssal Mountain gate. For now, none of the Highgods who had entered dare go any deeper into the mountain, as they were all carefully inspecting and getting accustomed to their new surroundings. The Abyssal Mountain was filled with danger. Even Seven Star Fiend level experts who entered might perish. Such a dangerous area...how could any of them dare to be incautious?
“Within the Abyssal Mountains, even gravity is gone. It is as though this place is completely cut off from the outside world.” Linley just hovered there.
“This white fog can even cause people to go dizzy. However, for myself and Bebe, the influence is negligible.” Linley was still constantly weighing his surroundings.
There were many trees, bushes, and other types of vegetation growing atop the Abyssal Mountain, which was completely covered by the white fog. Outside of the white fog was the ‘Heaven-Earth Chains’. The power of the endless chains of lightning was something which Linley had heard of long ago. Linley didn’t want to touch them or to personally experience how powerful that lightning was.
“Whoosh!” Linley’s body sank down, and he descended until he stood atop the mountain stone.
“Bebe, within the Abyssal Mountain region, let’s advance while on the ground.” Linley sent mentally, speaking solemnly. “If we fly, the white fog will completely block our field of vision. If we aren’t careful, we might run into the lightning chains. That would be terrible.”
“I rather want to give them a try.” Bebe laughed, but he still descended until he stood atop the mountain stone as well.
“Remember, beware the snakes and the trees!” Linley sent, while at the same time, he stared vigilantly at the trees nearby. The trees who were living in this unique environment of the Abyssal Mountain were all fairly short, and had unusual shapes as well. “Perhaps these trees are capable of attacking people.”
Linley didn’t dare to be incautious.
“Don’t worry.” Bebe looked at the nearby trees as well. “These trees won’t be able to hurt me.”
The other Highgods had gotten a good sense of their surroundings by now as well, and they all began to head out.
“Let’s move out.” Linley gave the order.
Linley and Bebe, sticking close to the surface of the Abyssal Mountain, began to fly forwards. However, they didn’t dare to fly too quickly...for fear that the trees might suddenly attack them mid-journey. In addition, Linley had yet to see a single ‘snake’ which the red-haired woman had warned him about.
Moments later...
“Swish!” Linley and Bebe came to a halt, puzzlement in their eyes.
“Boss, which direction should we advance towards?” Bebe stared around himself.
“This damn place.” Linley was frustrated as well.
Linley was surrounded on all four sides by endless fog. Despite Linley and Bebe’s ocular prowess, they were at most able to see to a distance of a few dozen meters. In addition, given the terrifying pressure emanating from the Abyssal Mountain, they weren’t able to make their divine sense leave their body. And given that the Abyssal Mountain had no gravity within its borders...
These things combined to make it impossible to determine a direction!
Although the mountain did have slopes and inclines, given that there was no gravity at all, even though Linley and Bebe might be standing atop the mountain they wouldn’t be sure which direction they were standing. The trees that grew in this gravity-less region also grew in strange, distorted directions.
“It’s impossible to even tell directions clearly within this Abyssal Mountain. There’s no way to tell which way is ‘up’ the mountain and which way is ‘down’!” Linley carefully inspected the surroundings, but everywhere around him were those bizarrely shaped trees and some ordinary plants. As well as that thick, endless white fog...
Bebe had a sour look on his face. “All I know is that if we leave the surface of the mountain and fly upwards, we’ll encounter those lightning chains. As for front, back, left, right...I have no idea where to go.”
Linley and Bebe had encountered the first difficult trial of the Abyssal Mountain...
The loss of a sense of direction!
“Forget it. Let’s just move forward.” Linley gritted his teeth. “The white fog only extends for a few hundred thousand meters, a distance of less than a thousand kilometers. We’ll just charge forward blindly...and perhaps we’ll be able to charge out.” By now, the only option left to them was a foolish method such as thing; by relying on their speed to burst out of it.
“Right.” Bebe said in approval.
The two immediately began to advance in the direction they considered ‘forward’!
But Linley and Bebe didn’t dare to run forward at full speed. They still had to be vigilant of the nearby trees, as well as the heretofore unseen ‘snakes’. Thus, of course they moved a bit slower.
“Someone’s there!” Bebe sent mentally.
Linley and Bebe immediately came to a halt. From afar, there was a blurry figure in the white fog, which was also drawing closer to their direction. Only now did Linley and Bebe clearly recognize who this person was; it was the black-robed, violet-haired youth. He, too, had noticed Linley and Bebe, but with a low snort, he simply continued to move forward.
Suddenly...
“CRACK!”
A bolt of lightning suddenly descended from the heavens, smashing directly against a large tree that was only ten meters or so away from Linley. The tree was instantly transformed into ashes.
“What’s going on?” Bebe was badly startled.
“You two, be careful!” The violet-haired youth, who by now was fairly close, said in a cold voice. “Within the Abyssal Mountain, lightning will occasionally descend from on high. This lightning is the lightning contained within the Heaven-Earth Chains, and the power of it is exceedingly great! When flying forward, best pay attention to what is going on above you. If you are struck...hmph...”
His voice slowly grew distant, and then faded away.
The reason why the Heaven-Earth Chains were always filled with endless amounts of electric power was because the Heaven-Earth Chains were constantly absorbing the natural surrounding lightning-type elemental essence to nourish itself. But once the Heaven-Earth Chains absorbed a certain amount of lightning-type elemental essence, it would begin to randomly cast down bolts of lightning as some energy began to leak out.
This was why...
Even if you didn’t go touch the Heaven-Earth Chains, sometimes, the Heaven-Earth Chains would still strike you.
Linley and Bebe couldn’t help but raise their heads, staring upwards.
“This damn place.” Bebe gritted his teeth. “This is ridiculous. Lightning bolts that will suddenly descend for no reason? If we aren’t careful and end up getting hit, that would have been such an unfair death.”
“Anyone who dares to enter the Abyssal Mountains has to be mentally prepared for death.” Linley laughed calmly. “Let’s go. Let’s continue to move forward.”
Both Linley’s group and the other groups which entered the Abyssal Mountain knew that since they had chosen to enter the Abyssal Mountain...if they died, they couldn’t blame others. The Abyssal Mountain was the residence of the mightiest of the seven Sovereigns of the Netherworld, the Chief Sovereign of Death. How could it be a place where others could easily enter?
Linley and Bebe felt as though their path forward was a straight line.
After advancing for a long time...
“Hmm...we haven’t reached an end yet?” Bebe said, puzzled. “We should’ve advanced for more than a thousand kilometers by now.”
“It seems as though we went the wrong way.” Linley said.
There were no other possibilities. If they had gone the right way, they would’ve left the region of white fog long ago.
In an ordinary place, Linley and Bebe would’ve been able to walk out of it by now, even if their eyes were closed. But the Abyssal Mountain constantly radiated that terrifying pressure, and the white fog was somewhat impacting their souls. Thus, Linley and Bebe’s senses of direction were inaccurate, and so, unknowingly, they had gone off-track and begun to move in a circular manner as opposed a straight one.
“Forget it. Let’s just keep going forward.” Bebe said.
Linley nodded as well, and the two immediately advanced deeper into the white fog. On the way over, Linley still didn’t discover any ‘trees’ or ‘snakes’ that were able to attack. Aside from the occasional bolts of lightning that descended down and the disorienting loss of direction, the Abyssal Mountain didn’t see to hold any other dangers.
“Hm. The white fog is growing sparse.” Linley was immediately excited.
The tri-colored fog clouds of the Abyssal Mountain represented that the mountain was divided into three regions. The borders of the three regions were areas with fairly sparse fog. The sparseness of the fog here was an indication that they had reached the borders!
“We made it!” Bebe said with surprise and delight, but then Bebe’s expression changed. “How can this be?!”
Linley and Bebe walked out of the white fog, but within their field of vision, the Heaven-Earth Chains once more appeared. The thick chains of lightning had that invisible membrane between them, and through the membrane, Linley could see that on the opposite side...was the vast, endless plains.
“We...returned to the base of the mountain?” Linley couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.
After entering the mountain through the gate, they had blindly wandered for so long, but in the end, they had actually walked back to the base of the mountain. Still, at least they hadn’t walked back to the gate.
“Let’s go. This place is only one or two thousand kilometers in size. In an hour, we should be able to criss-cross it several dozen times. I refuse to believe that we won’t be able to make it in an hour.” Linley turned and immediately re-entered the white fog, while Bebe followed from behind.
“CRACK!” From not too far away, yet another bolt of lightning descended.
Linley and Bebe didn’t slow down, continuing to advance forward.
Linley had believed that leaving the white fog region would be fairly simple, but three times in a row, he ended up returning to the base of the mountain. Even by taking a circuitous route, however, the distance was just a few thousand kilometers. Given Linley’s speed, each trip was a very fast one, and so Linley had more than enough patience to continue advancing.
“There is someone up ahead.” Bebe’s eyes lit up.
Linley had noticed the person up ahead as well. It was a muscular man with short golden hair, who was carefully advancing forward. As though he sensed something, he turned to look towards them, and when he did, he was badly startled...Linley’s Dragonform made him think that he had encountered some sort of monster. But he quickly realized who it was.
At the mountain gates, they had all seen Linley’s Dragonform.
“The two of you haven’t made it out yet, either?” The man with the short golden hair actually moved towards them as he spoke.
“There’s no sense of direction in this damn place.” Bebe said.
“The white fog region of the Abyssal Mountain is actually the safest place here.” The golden-haired man laughed calmly. “It’s just an inability to tell directions, right? If we try a few extra times, we might get lucky and make it out. It’s just a matter of time. If once isn’t enough, then ten times, a hundred times...we have plenty of time.”
Linley said with a laugh, “Then good luck to you in being able to make it out. We won’t disturb you any further. Bebe, let’s head out.”
Linley and Bebe immediately advanced forward.
The golden-haired man had a hint of disappointment flash past his eyes. He had come to chat with Linley because he wanted to travel alongside Linley and Bebe. This was because at the hotel, they had all learned that Linley and Bebe were supreme experts. It would be much safer if he travelled alongside them in the Abyssal Mountain.
“They are ignoring me?” But then, the golden-haired man’s eyes lit up, and he actually chased after Linley and Bebe while saying, “The two of you came from the Infernal Realm, and so I imagine you aren’t familiar with the Abyssal Mountain. I know a few things about this place.”
As he spoke, he caught up.
Linley and Bebe couldn’t help but turn and glance at the golden-haired man.
“Boss, this guy is really annoying.” Bebe sent mentally.
“Just let him follow if he wants to.” Linley didn’t mind. But suddenly, Linley saw a hint of a green blur flash past from the corner of his eyes, shooting out from a nearby tree. Linley instantly grew guarded, and the semi-translucent godspark sword, ‘Mirage’, appeared in his hands. But that green blur shot towards the golden-haired man behind Linley instead.
Linley and Bebe immediately turned.
“Haaaargh!” A bellow rang out, and the golden-haired man’s hands suddenly became filled with a warblade, which he swung directly towards the green blur. At the same time, a black aura sprang up, ensconcing the golden-haired man in layers of defense.
“Swish!” The green blur twisted in mid-air, dodging past the golden-haired man’s blade chop.
The green blur slammed directly onto that black aura, which actually wasn’t able to block it at all. The green blur instantly broke through the black aura, and also shot directly towards the golden-haired man. The strange thing was...the green blur actually merged into the man’s body. The layer of light surrounding the golden-haired man vanished, and the warblade in his hand fell to the ground as well.
“Ah...ahhhh!” A terrifying sound rang out from the man’s mouth, and his entire body trembled. But an instant later, the man’s body became stiff, and no more sound came from his lips.
“Thud!” The man fell down to the ground, smashing against a nearby tree, and then floating up into the air and drifting about randomly.
Linley and Bebe stared carefully at the man’s corpse.
“Hiss...”
From the forehead of the corpse, a hole suddenly appeared, and a thin green serpent that was only the size of a man’s palm wriggled out from the hole. The green serpent’s body suddenly trembled, then it transformed into a green flash of light, disappearing into the white fog.
Linley and Bebe’s facial expressions turned solemn.
“Snake!”