Chapter 51: The Name of the River of Death Battle Realm
Li Hao walked along the damp, gravel path for several miles until he reached another waterfall and deep pool.
"Strange, I thought I heard flute music just now."
Li Hao glanced around. Was it an illusion?
The waterfall ahead cascaded like a curtain, and within the gaps of the flowing water, he vaguely discerned what appeared to be a small temple.
Feeling somewhat surprised, Li Hao’s figure flickered. He activated his White Phoenix Movement Technique, which had reached the Supreme Perfection level, and darted through the water curtain like a bird flitting through a forest, emerging completely dry.
The 3 points of artistic technique points he had previously saved had been spent on the path of movement techniques, allowing him to easily comprehend this upper-grade skill...
...
As Li Hao passed through the water curtain, far away on another moss-covered stone platform, two slender figures stood.
“Hmm, Yueyao, did someone just walk past over there?” Lin Feifei asked in astonishment, pointing toward the waterfall.
“It seems so.”
Song Yueyao had noticed too, but the figure had disappeared in a flash, and it seemed the person was wearing Outer Palace attire.
“So, I wasn’t imagining it. But why would an Outer Palace disciple come here? The annual exam for new students hasn’t started yet, has it?”
Lin Feifei frowned in confusion. “He seemed to enter the Temple of the Local Lord. Could he be heading for the River of Death?”
Song Yueyao withdrew her gaze and shook her head slightly, uninterested in such external matters. She raised the flute in her hands and began to play gently again...
...
Behind the waterfall, Li Hao stood before the temple.
It was small, barely half a man's height, but its design was intricate. Inside, two statues, one male and one female, stood side by side. Their features were worn and blurred by the passage of time, yet a careful examination revealed they once looked kind and benevolent.
However, due to peeling mud and erosion, their faces had become distorted, and the faint smiles they wore now appeared eerie and sinister.
On either side of the temple, a couplet was inscribed vertically:
“The earth can nurture all beings,
The soil can bury all life.”
Above the temple’s entrance hung a horizontal plaque that read: “Lord of the Land.”
As Li Hao examined the temple, a small booklet suddenly shot out from within, flipping open before his eyes.
Immediately afterward, a piece of paper flew out from the booklet, shooting toward Li Hao’s forehead like divine light.
Startled, Li Hao instinctively tried to dodge, but with his cultivation at the Fifteen Li Realm, he found himself unable to react in time. The divine light merged into him.
In an instant, the world around him seemed to be submerged in water and light, only to fade away moments later, revealing a new, surreal realm.
The dim cave became hazy, as if shrouded by a water-like barrier three feet around him. Beyond the barrier, faint remnants of mountains could be seen, vast and desolate—nothing like the narrow cave he had just left.
“So this is the legendary mysterious and perilous place?” Li Hao muttered in amazement.
Even though he had heard of the River of Death, experiencing it firsthand was a different matter. This was far beyond the realm of ordinary martial arts.
But which level did this particular River of Death belong to?
Li Hao recalled what his second uncle had mentioned during their fishing trips. The River of Death had five levels, with the Netherworld-Level River of Death being so dangerous that even his second uncle and Feng Lao dared not tread there due to the horrors within.
At this moment, the golden light that had entered Li Hao’s forehead gathered in his hand, transforming into a golden sheet of paper.
The paper was blank.
Simultaneously, waves of information flooded his mind. Understanding dawned on Li Hao. He bit his finger and wrote his River of Death name on the golden paper:
Chonger.
As soon as he finished, the golden light enveloped his written name, then dissolved into his body.
At the same time, the water-light barrier around him began to fade, revealing the desolate mountains and barren land outside.
In his mind, a message appeared:
"Domain: Fengshan River of Death.
Completion Progress: 0%."
Li Hao looked up. The sky was crimson, the sunset like blood, half-submerged in the distant horizon.
Before him lay a desolate mountain. A village with faint smoke rising from chimneys was nestled within its depths.
Li Hao’s gaze shifted. He sent out his Divine Soul to scout the area ahead.
A soul projection identical to his own emerged from the top of his head. In a flash, it traversed thousands of miles, soaring above the village to survey the entire mountain.
The soul’s vision extended further, attempting to grasp the full scope of this River of Death Battle Realm.
But as it gazed toward the end of the River of Death, it encountered impenetrable darkness. When the soul tried to probe further, a chill ran down Li Hao’s spine, as though something within the darkness should never be disturbed.
Li Hao quickly retracted his soul's perception, limiting its focus to the mountain, village, and surroundings.
In the village, old men, women, and children went about their daily tasks, farming and weaving—seemingly harmonious...
...if not for their appearances.
Each villager’s face was withered and desiccated. The elderly resembled dried corpses, the children’s pupils were like black voids, their tongues hanging down to their chests, and the women weaving at the windows had dagger-like nails, sharp teeth, and unsettling smiles.
“What a macabre parody of a paradise…” Li Hao remarked, sighing.
Having seen the grotesque appearances of various aquatic demons, he found these undead of the River of Death not as terrifying.
“So, do I need to deal with all of them to complete this?” Li Hao wondered aloud. He considered retreating but knew he would first have to reach the corresponding Temple of the Local Lord within the River of Death to leave.
Through his soul’s reconnaissance, he pinpointed the temple’s location in the village center, placed atop a structure resembling a stage.
“How devious to put it there...”
...
Li Hao’s eyes narrowed as he noticed a black-robed scholar sitting at the back of the village. Behind the scholar floated a female soul projection, her smoky figure clinging to his back like a sinister specter.
“A Soul Fusion Realm undead with their own soul projection? That must be the leader here,” Li Hao murmured thoughtfully.
After assessing the situation, Li Hao didn’t linger. His Divine Soul returned to his body, and he strode purposefully toward the village.
Soon, some villagers at the entrance of the village noticed Li Hao.
“Hello, hello…” Li Hao raised a hand and greeted them with a smile.
The old man, who had been holding the hand of a child moments ago, suddenly let out a feral roar and lunged at Li Hao with a menacing expression.
The previously "innocent-looking" child’s face twisted into a savage snarl, revealing sharp fangs as he also charged at Li Hao.
“So enthusiastic.” Li Hao sighed helplessly.
He casually broke off a dried branch from a nearby tree and flicked it lightly.
A flurry of snowflakes descended from the sky. Before the old man and child could get within two zhang of Li Hao, their bodies froze abruptly, their heads snapping off at the necks. The cuts were unnaturally clean and smooth.
With the branch in hand, Li Hao walked down the ancient path into the village.
Along the way, farmers transplanting rice seedlings in the paddies noticed him and suddenly turned ferocious, roaring as they rushed toward him.
Some straw-hatted men carrying baskets of grain picked up their wooden poles and charged as well.
“Do you also dream of conquering the sea?” Li Hao quipped, his pace unbroken.
With a casual swing of the dried branch, snowflakes drifted down again. The flakes landed on the villagers, acting like some kind of seal. Their bodies froze mid-motion, as if immobilized by an invisible force.
As Li Hao ventured deeper into the village, more and more villagers emerged—housewives with bowls and pans, long-tongued women weaving at their windows—all charging toward him.
“All of them are Zhoutian Realm, and quite a few have reached Zhoutian Perfection.”
Li Hao kept swinging the branch as he walked along the wide path. Behind him, a trail of severed corpses lay in his wake.
These undead appeared to be specters, which theoretically lacked physical forms. Yet here, within the River of Death, they possessed flesh and blood. When struck, their limbs would spurt black blood as if they were alive.
“Could this be the River of Death they’re planning to use for next year’s annual exam?” Li Hao muttered to himself.
He didn’t feel the River of Death was overly dangerous. So far, the greatest threat he had encountered seemed to be the black-robed scholar at the back of the village, who was at the Soul Fusion Realm.
Using a Soul Fusion Realm entity to test disciples of the Outer Palace’s First Courtyard seemed appropriately challenging.
As one villager after another fell, Li Hao glanced at the golden paper etched in his palm. It displayed a new message:
"River of Death Completion: 89%."
It seemed that eliminating each villager increased the completion rate by approximately 1%.
“Given the unique nature of the River of Death, even if I eliminate every undead here, I might not achieve 100% completion and completely eradicate it.”
Li Hao murmured, deep in thought.
The challenge of suppressing the River of Death lay precisely in this: complete eradication required 100% resolution.
Some had tried slaughtering every undead and destroying everything within the River of Death, only to fail.
The River of Death could not be destroyed. Without being fully deciphered, it would inevitably recover, reappearing anywhere in the world.
Passing by the Temple of the Local Lord near the stage, Li Hao glanced at it but chose not to exit just yet.
Since he had entered this River of Death, he intended to see how far he could go. After all, this was his first encounter with such a phenomenon.