Chapter 1384
The Heart of Radiance was a true Essence Relic lost by the Sanctum of Light over a millennium ago. For most, it held little value, but to a mage of the Sanctum of Light, its significance rivaled that of a perfectly attuned top-tier Essence Relic.
This Essence Relic had been missing for more than a thousand years, yet no one knew when the Chester Family had acquired it. The main reason for the Sanctum of Light's cooperation this time was precisely this relic—a symbol for their order, impossible to refuse. No matter how displeased they felt, they could only grit their teeth and endure.
Rives, the traitor, paid no attention to the ongoing exchange. Instead, he clutched an artifact resembling two crystal spheres joined together—Voice of the Wind, the Storm Tower’s top-tier Essence Relic. It was said to allow one to converse with the wind and borrow its power. On the Endless Sea, this relic could be used to probe conditions thousands of kilometers away.
This collaboration had been initiated by the Chester Family. Not only did they possess the crucial records, but the Heart of Radiance was also brought forth by them.
The Sanctum of Light had been pulled in as a collaborator, and the Storm Tower was in the same position. Both factions were needed for the most critical tasks: locating the precise spot, the point where the fabric of space was thinnest, where the passage had once been opened—even if it had since closed, traces would remain.
The job of pinpointing the exact location fell to the Storm Tower—only their Voice of the Wind could accomplish such a feat. Once the spot was found, opening the passage became the Sanctum of Light’s responsibility. Only their strongest, working in concert with the Heart of Radiance, could unlock the gateway.
To give away an Essence Relic that held little use for themselves, just to open a passage—it was a steep price. The importance of this relic to the Sanctum of Light was no less than that of an ordinary Transcendent Relic. Besides, the relationship between the Sanctum of Light and the Chester Family was far from cordial; even the mages of the Sanctum of Light couldn’t fathom why the Chester Family would go this far.
They treated it as nothing more than a Plane Path—just another route between worlds. In a place like this, it was unlikely to lead to a resource-rich plane. The Sanctum of Light didn’t care; as long as the gateway was opened, that was enough. Once they knew the location, they could always return on their own later.
Despite the steep cost, Daenoson felt no regret—only eager anticipation. Glancing at Delton and Rives beside him, Daenoson put on a show of concern, but inwardly, he was delighted.
As long as the passage to the Netherworld was opened, who could say what treasures lay within? No one knew for sure. Even if the environment was different, it was still part of the Northend World—there was no doubt it would be rich in resources.
And with the magical beasts and subterranean races dwelling in the Netherworld, for a family like the Chester Family—whose strength relied on contracted magical beasts and summoned creatures—the whole Netherworld was a goldmine, not just for its resources.
What could the Sanctum of Light possibly achieve in the Netherworld? It was a haven for dark creatures, devoid of Light Mages. For the Sanctum, there was little to gain there.
For the Storm Tower, the greatest interests still lay in the Endless Sea. That was their specialty. In the Netherworld, there was little they could accomplish; even gathering a few resources would be considered a success.
Daenoson waited quietly, and before long, the artifact in Rives’ hand emitted a gleam. The two crystal spheres—one began to display a blurry, distorted image, while the other showed an arrow, pointing the way.
Following the guidance of the Voice of the Wind, the group traversed the complex underground passages. Soon, they arrived at the spot indicated by the Voice of the Wind. These tunnels had been excavated after the original passage to the Netherworld was destroyed; countless others had tried to dig a new way in, but none had succeeded.
After more than half an hour underground, they reached the precise spot indicated by the Voice of the Wind. It appeared to be just another section of the ordinary tunnel, but here—the fabric of reality was at its thinnest, the perfect place to open a passage to the Netherworld.
“This is it. This is the weakest spot.”
With those words, Rives put away the Voice of the Wind. His part was done; now it was Delton’s turn.
Delton hung the Heart of Radiance around his neck, his expression solemn as he crossed his hands over his chest. Chanting in a liturgical cadence, sacred incantations poured from his lips, transforming into white runes cloaked in a faint golden light, slowly revolving around him.
As Delton chanted, ripples began to shimmer across the space before them. Soon, every rune seemed to dissolve into the air itself.
“…By the radiance of the Holy Light, illuminate all that is unseen. In the name of the Light, manifest once more!”
The True Word spell, renowned for encompassing the might of any magic, was a formidable transcendent spell. With its power, as long as the caster spoke their intent, the spell would fulfill it—though the strength required could vary greatly.
With Delton’s current strength and the power of the Heart of Radiance, it was impossible to fully restore the passage that once existed here. But recreating a crack like the one from before posed no real problem.
Yet for all its reputation, the True Word spell had its limits. In battle, it was almost useless against an equal opponent. If Delton tried to use True Word to kill Rives outright, not even a hair on Rives’ head would be harmed. Only when the spell’s power absolutely dominated its target did it see use in combat.
With Delton’s incantation, the stone wall ahead suddenly began to collapse. The rocks swirled like a desert vortex, swallowed bit by bit into the darkness. In mere seconds, a gaping hole over five meters high appeared in the wall, shrouded in pitch blackness and edged with countless fine spatial cracks.
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Dense darkness poured from within, laced with chaotic energies—explosive, bloody, and wild…
The instant Delton sensed that aura, his expression changed. The power of the Holy Light surged forth involuntarily, but as he probed deeper, he realized it was an immense world—the magical source was identical to that of the Northend World. In other words, this plane was itself part of the Northend World!
Recalling the legends of the Netherworld beneath the Northend World, Delton’s eyes snapped open, a contemplative light flickering within. After a few seconds, his face grew solemn.
“Darkness will ultimately be purified by the Holy Light. This place truly is a world of shadows—the radiance of the Light must descend upon it!”
Without sparing a glance for Daenoson or Rives, Delton stepped into the passage ahead of everyone else.
Rives’ expression soured. He’d known from the start: this was the way to the Netherworld—a sealed realm cut off for countless years. Who knew what lurked within, or how many untapped resources lay in wait? For the Storm Tower, the rewards here far surpassed those of any ancient empire’s ruin. Now, with the Sanctum of Light involved, even if he knew he couldn’t claim everything alone, there was no way he’d be happy about it…
Daenoson, on the other hand, was perfectly calm. When they’d first found the Sanctum of Light, they’d discussed this matter already—just invite them to open the door, and once it’s done, they leave?
Counting on those mad dogs to keep their promises? You’d have to be kicked in the head by a pig beast to believe that. Whatever—one more is just one more. In the Netherworld, the Sanctum’s people were like beacons, guaranteed to draw the hatred of every subterranean creature…
The Chester Family, the Sanctum of Light, and the Storm Tower all entered the Netherworld through the narrow passage. Once everyone was inside, the power of the True Word spell faded, and the portal closed behind them.
After they disappeared, not far behind, an owl’s head silently emerged from the shadows of the space, gazing at the sealed passage. Its eyes spun, and in an instant, it vanished without a trace.
“Master Merlin, Master Merlin, those fools have left. They entered another world through a spatial rift.”
Hughes appeared noisily at Lin Yun’s side, staring at him with wide eyes. His tongue, already short, stretched out to lick his beak—seeing Lin Yun unresponsive, Hughes turned instead to Xuban.
Xuban was happily gnawing on a roasted beast leg over half a meter long. Seeing Hughes’ expression, he reluctantly tore off a piece and handed it over. Instantly, Hughes beamed and began munching on the meat with delight…
That’s right—Hughes had switched diets again. Previously, the best thing he’d ever tasted was noble pastries; he’d never cared for meat. But after accidentally trying Xuban’s roasted meat, he’d completely betrayed his love for sweets.
You had to know, Xuban’s roasted meat was always from magical beasts at least level thirty, often even thirty-five and above. As Xuban put it, only meat from beasts of that caliber had any real bite to it.
Aside from the texture, it was the magical energy that set it apart. Hughes’ first tastes had been ordinary or low-tier beast meat—he’d found it dull and lost interest in all meat. Now, though, he’d started craving Xuban’s roasted cuts…
“Hughes, do you even have teeth? Can you bite through that? Aren’t you afraid you’ll choke?”
Xuban grumbled, but watched as Hughes tore into the meat with astonishing speed, shredding the chunk into strips and swallowing them whole in seconds.
Lin Yun, thoughtful, gazed ahead with a hint of schadenfreude in his smile.
Those fools were in for trouble. Did they really think the Netherworld was weak? When the underground world was first discovered, it was never mages who ruled—it was the subterranean races.
The strongest among them was only fifth rank, and they thought they could sweep the entire Netherworld? How naïve…
Especially the mages of the Sanctum of Light—their power was the least welcome in the Netherworld. Hopefully that Delton fellow hadn’t been killed outright by the subterranean powers…
Lin Yun was thoroughly amused and paid no mind to the three factions. His main goal this time was to find cave goblins and red-skinned spirit leeches. If he couldn’t subdue some of their tribes, he’d have to wait another thousand years for a chance at a breakthrough.
Even the search for the Seventy-Third Deity’s reincarnation came after this. According to the normal course of history, the Deity’s grand ambitions had never been realized, and the destruction of the Northend World was still tens of thousands of years away.
That’s why establishing a complete Sanctuary Tower was the top priority. Compared to that, finding the Seventy-Third Deity was less urgent.
The three factions entered the Netherworld through the very spot where, years ago, the Seventy-Third Deity had forced open the underground realm. After so much time, no matter what it looked like before, there were surely subterranean races watching that place now. Marching in so brazenly—if they weren’t killed outright, they could count themselves lucky…
Lin Yun didn’t follow the same route as the three major factions. Breaking open the rift there wasn’t easy—aside from brute-forcing it with an alchemical array, only something akin to the True Word spell would work. But the former would make far too much noise…
Leading his group deeper underground, Lin Yun pressed on. After more than an hour, they finally reached a rushing subterranean river.
The subterranean river flowed quietly through the depths, winding through the complex underground landscape. Here, the power of wind could not reach every corner—only the force of water could do so. The earth’s power permeated every inch of the underground, but it was too vast and steady to move; any slight shift would cause tremors in the ley lines, and earthquakes would shake the surface above.
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Harnessing the power of the subterranean river was the safest bet. Following its course, Lin Yun searched for a thick, straight section. After a few minutes of calculation, he produced the blood of a dark magical beast that he’d had collected earlier.
The blood was stored in a heart that looked like a grotesque lump of flesh—taken from a dark magical beast king. Their power came from blood; for bloodbone beasts, the king’s heart was the core of their kind. For storing their blood, the king’s heart acted as a massive spatial artifact, capable of holding vast quantities of bloodbone beast blood.
A massive amount of blood was stored inside, keeping the bloodbone beast’s heart alive. Lin Yun tossed the heart into the surging river and casually cast Mage Hand to crush it.
In an instant, it was as if a planar gateway appeared overhead. Black-red blood poured down like a flood, its pungent stench and dark power spreading across the surface of the river. The torrent of blood stained the subterranean river black and red, a dark flow tinged with crimson.
The blood river continued to surge, and Lin Yun produced a lone boat carved from dark ebony, tossing it onto the river. He boarded with Xuban and Reina, and the boat drifted along the blood-red current into the endless darkness. The shattered heart kept spewing out that dark red blood.
Standing atop the boat, Lin Yun raised his dragon staff and opened the Book of Death. The power of the opening chapter flared, a layer of black radiance enveloping the tome. Harsh, sinister incantations spilled from Lin Yun’s lips, thick darkness spreading like ink through water, stirring the latent power within the blood river.
Gradually, the space around the boat darkened. Both Xuban and Reina were now rank-ten powerhouses, capable of seeing clearly in the depths after their transcendent transformation. Yet now, the riverbanks had vanished from sight; all that remained was endless darkness, with only the river beneath them visible.
The boat drifted along the river, time passing unnoticed. Lin Yun’s chanting never ceased, but his voice grew more sinister, saturated with darkness—like someone muttering to themselves in the endless void.
All around was endless darkness, and beneath their feet, a river that seemed to stretch on forever. The sense of time itself faded. Gradually, the dark river below began to change; at some point, it became pure, dark red.
It was as if the river was formed entirely of blood. The boat floated atop its surface, undisturbed by the waves.
Xuban glanced over the side of the boat and saw countless dark shapes darting through the blood river, along with twisted-faced monsters lurking below. At some point, the boat had become surrounded by these shadowy creatures, pushing it forward.
“Damn, what are these things?”
Xuban cried out, ready to swing his weapon, while Andefa’s left face began to taunt him.
“Idiot, if you don’t know, just shut up. Don’t open your mouth and flaunt your stupidity. These are bloodbone beast souls, pushing us onward.
If you want us to fall into this nameless place and be lost forever, go ahead and kill these bloodbone beast souls.”
Xuban sullenly lowered his weapon and squatted on the boat, completely ignoring Andefa. Ever since Andefa’s upgrade, he’d been like three people in one—always arguing, always trying to outtalk everyone. After a few losses, Xuban had learned: never argue with Andefa…
Andefa’s left face saw Xuban turn away and sulk, and immediately grew annoyed. Just as he was about to start mocking Xuban again, the middle face spoke up, deadly serious.
“Enough, quit squabbling. Damn it, I don’t want to fall into this blood river. Who knows where this cursed river will carry us?”
Bloodbone beasts, in the great Dark Plane, were the lowest of the low—not only food for many dark races, but also the equivalent of draft animals. Any dark lord with a territory would have a whole herd of bloodbone beasts to pull their carriage through the skies.