Chapter 122: The Jade Bottles of Life Force

In an instant, the red light on the stone wall flared brilliantly. Lines of crimson formation light began to glow, countless talismanic symbols flowing across the surface. A massive array appeared upon the wall.

Even though the others had studied under Yun Jiao for over a month, none of them could discern what kind of formation it was.

But the next second, the countless fierce ghost soldiers flying wildly in the air seemed to be pulled by an immense suction force and were directly drawn into the formation. In less than a moment, they were completely absorbed—every last one of them.

The cavern fell silent. Everyone finally exhaled in relief.

Jiao Hengyi also let out a long breath and slowly withdrew the hand he had pressed on the core of the array. Then he plopped to the ground, panting heavily. That was close—thank goodness Fellow Daoist Yun had acted in time.

“Fellow Daoist Yun, what kind of formation was that?” he asked instinctively.

Yun Jiao frowned slightly, her expression still as solemn as ever.

“The last layer of the formation isn’t quite complete,” she said in a low voice. “I’m not entirely certain if it’s—”

Before she could finish, the expressions of Master Xu and the others changed drastically. Their faces filled with terror as they shouted toward the two of them:

“Watch out behind you!”

Both of them froze. A chill ran up their spines as an icy aura surged from behind. The red formation that had been glowing moments ago suddenly split open in its center, revealing a pitch-black hole—like the gaping maw of a giant beast—that swallowed Yun Jiao and Jiao Hengyi in one gulp.

“Fellow Daoist Yun!”

“Captain!”

Master Xu and the three elders rushed forward, but they were a step too late. The modified formation could not withstand the pressure of that black void and shattered instantly. The array, along with the black hole, vanished before their eyes.

“……”

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Yun Jiao felt the ground give way beneath her as her body plummeted sharply downward. Darkness enveloped her on all sides, filled with a cold that pierced to the bone. They fell for a full three minutes before a faint greenish light appeared below them, and she could make out gray sand growing closer and closer—

Sand?

Damn!

She finally remembered she was falling and tried to grab a light-body talisman—but it was too late. With a muffled thud, she plunged straight into the sand. Miraculously—it didn’t hurt?!

Then a weak voice came from beneath her.

“Ugh… ugh… Dao-you… I’m under… you…” (Fellow Daoist Yun, I’m underneath!)

“…” Yun Jiao froze for a moment, then quickly stood up. Beneath her, half-buried in the sand, was Captain Jiao. She hurriedly pulled him out. “Are you all right?”

“I—I’m fine… let me catch my breath first.”

He took several deep breaths. In the final moment of the fall, he had managed to use a light-body talisman to slow himself down. He’d wanted to pull Yun Jiao along, but his injuries had slowed him, and in the end he’d cushioned her fall instead.

“What… what is this place?” He looked around as he steadied himself, only to see a desolate landscape—dim and barren. The air was heavy, and only a faint greenish glow flickered in the distance. The atmosphere itself felt wrong. “Why is the yin energy so strong here? It feels like…”

“The Underworld,” Yun Jiao said grimly, her voice sinking.

Jiao Hengyi sucked in a breath of cold air, eyes widening in horror. “T-the Underworld? You mean—”

“The Underworld,” Yun Jiao confirmed flatly, crushing any illusion he had.

“……”

“I could never see through the last layer of that array before. Now I realize—it was a passageway connected to the Underworld,” Yun Jiao sighed. That sudden black hole had looked familiar—the same as the Gate of the Underworld that her sect’s ancestor once opened. But while the ancestor’s gate was stable, this one had been a temporary rift, which was why they’d been dragged in.

“I should’ve guessed it. The ghost soldiers could only have come from the Underworld. I’m sorry—I dragged you into this.”

“Fellow Daoist Yun, don’t say that,” Jiao Hengyi shook his head. “You only acted to deal with the ghost soldiers. No one could’ve predicted that there was a passage to the Underworld hidden there.”

He sighed. “What’s important now is figuring out what to do next. We—wait, what’s that?”

He suddenly turned, pointing behind them, his face filled with astonishment.

Yun Jiao followed his gaze—and for the first time noticed the objects behind them. There were many waist-high bottles lined up across the ground. Each one was pure white, emitting a faint, luminous glow from within—like flawless jade, glimmering softly in the gloom.

Even more remarkable was that around each bottle, a few inches of earth were sprouting greenery—tiny shoots of life that looked impossibly vivid in this dead, desolate realm.

The two exchanged a look and hurried closer. Before they even reached the bottles, they felt a surge of vigor rush through their bodies—as if endless energy was welling up within them. The oppressive yin energy vanished, replaced by a clear, refreshing aura.

Yun Jiao stopped abruptly, her expression turning dark.

“What’s inside these bottles?” Jiao Hengyi asked subconsciously.

“Life force,” Yun Jiao said quietly, looking up at the countless thin silver threads weaving through the air above them.

“What!” Jiao Hengyi’s eyes widened in disbelief, his voice trembling. “These… all of these…”

“The life force of the living from the mortal world,” she finished.

Jiao Hengyi’s eyes went even wider. Rage surged through him, his whole body trembling as he scanned the hundreds of bottles scattered around. He didn’t want to believe it, but Yun Jiao’s words rang true. The greenery growing beneath the bottles—there was no other explanation. The Underworld was a land of death; only life force could bring vitality here.

He had never imagined that the ones sealing away all that life force had come from the Underworld itself.

No wonder they could never restore the vitality of the people from West City—it had already been taken here.

So many bottles… these couldn’t hold only the life force of West City’s people. How many others, in places unknown, had already been stripped of their very essence?

“Damn it!” he burst out. “These wretched spirits dare to invade the human realm so brazenly and steal life force—and no one stops them?!”

His fury ignited. Without thinking, he drew his weapon and smashed one of the bottles.

Yun Jiao opened her mouth but didn’t stop him.

Still furious, he threw out several more talismans.

A series of booming explosions followed as flames, ice shards, and wind blades struck the ground, shattering all the remaining bottles. The sound of cracking jade echoed through the air, and the glowing light sealed within burst free.

The white lights floated up like fireflies freed from a glass jar, scattering and drifting upward until they slowly disappeared into the dim sky.

Without the bottles’ seal, those life forces could now return to their rightful owners.

Only then did Jiao Hengyi’s anger begin to subside.

But just as he caught his breath, a cold, chilling voice echoed faintly from afar—

“What was that sound? Who’s there?!”

Their hearts sank instantly.

Damn it.

(End of Chapter)