Chapter 451: Ancestral Flow
“The Ancestral Flow—” Qiurong Wanxue uttered after hearing Li Qiye: “It is impossible, the Ancestral Flow has never let outsiders in. I heard that even the sentiments can’t go in, so it will definitely not open its doors to outsiders.”
Li Qiye responded with a smile: “Indeed, the Ancestral Flow has not opened its doors to outsiders, but that depends on who it is. The right person can still enter.”
Qiurong Wanxue looked at Li Qiye and stayed quiet as she followed him to the Ancestral Flow.
The Ancestral Flow was the strongest lineage in Necropolis. Rumor has it that it ruled the city, but this was only a rumor because very few people ever saw sentiments from this lineage. In addition, its master had never shown himself to the world.
There was hearsay stating that even the local ghosts had never seen the master before, let alone an outsider. This master was very mysterious and chose to remain reclusive.
At Necropolis, all of the lineages and sects occupied a particular location, and each of them welcomed outsiders as long as they were willing to pay the right amount of Yang Nightfish. However, the Ancestral Flow was different for it remained closed to all.
People believed that the Ancestral Flow occupied the best location in Necropolis and that this ground contained the legendary treasure trove. This includes the most precious thing in Necropolis — the treasure mountain.
Because of this belief, many cultivators from outside tried to enter the Ancestral Flow via various means, but none had ever succeeded.
There were young geniuses or powerful near-death cultivators who wanted to use pure force to enter the Ancestral Flow. The consequence of this was easily predicted; they all died miserable deaths and their corpses hung outside of the Ancestral Flow as a warning to the public.
Qiurong Wanxue followed Li Qiye to the Ancestral Flow’s entrance and noticed all the corpses that were hanging on the old trees. Some were just bare bones, some were dried up from the wind, and some were still relatively intact…
Each of them could be identified by the clothing on their bodies. Qiurong Wanxue took a look and recognized the origin of some of them.
“The Yin Yang Gate, the Nether Crossing Swamp, the Titanic Crescent Sacred Ground, the Thousand Carp River, the Insect-King Lineage, the All-Eras Ancient Kingdom, the Simple Mountain Immortal Kingdom, the Myriad Bones Throne…” Qiurong Wanxue’s heart pounded after she recognized the identities of these dead corpses.
They were all part of the most powerful emperor’s lineages in the Sacred Nether World. These powers controlled the entire Sacred Nether World, but their experts all died at this place.
Emperor’s lineages like the Yin Yang Gate and the Nether Crossing Swamp were formidable enough, but the All-Eras Ancient Kingdom and the Simple Mountain Immortal Kingdom caused others to tremble in fear. A small tribe like the Snow-shadow Tribe could only forever look at these high above existences.
If a dual emperors lineage was an elephant, then the Snow-shadow Tribe was merely an insect.
What was the most shocking was the corpses of the Myriad Bones Throne’s experts in this place. This was a sect with three emperors that stood at the apex of the Sacred Nether World. No existences dared to oppose them in this world of ghosts.
But now, corpses from their members were hung here to warn the world.
Such a powerful and domineering style. This was directly humiliating the Myriad Bones Throne; no lineage in the Sacred Nether World would dare to do such a thing.
The Ancestral Flow was not afraid of offending any emperor’s lineages. No matter the intruder’s identity, if they dared to take even half a step into the Ancestral Flow, their fate would be the same as those who were hanging on the trees.
A local ghost blocked their path by the entrance. This ghost was as ethereal as mist; it was as if it was not real.
It then spoke without any trace of emotion on its face: “The Ancestral Flow is not open to anyone, halt your steps.” Compared to an Ancestral Flow ghost, the other ghosts in Necropolis were more friendly and had richer expressions. They seemed to be more like living humans while the Ancestral Flow ghost was more like a stereotypical ghost.
“Go inform your master that I want to see him, or tell him to come meet me.” Li Qiye calmly said.
The ghost continued to block the way and emotionlessly replied: “Our master will not see visitors, please go back.”
Li Qiye then took out a piece of a paper and used a very complicated method to fold it into a strange hat. He then placed the hat on the ghost’s head and said: “Wear this hat to see your master and say that I have arrived.”
The ghost looked at Li Qiye with its lifeless eyes as if it was staring at a dead man. Eventually, it turned around and disappeared within the entrance. It didn’t return even after a good while passed.
“Will the Ancestral Flow Master agree to see us?” Qiurong Wanxue nervously asked.
Compared to her worries, Li Qiye was much more carefree as he smiled and replied: “Don’t worry, he will see us.”
Sure enough, the ghost who went to inform his master came back while the hat on its head had disappeared. “My master welcomes you.” It was still expressionless like a dead person, or a ghost, rather.
With it leading the way, Li Qiye followed in a relaxed manner while Qiurong Wanxue was a lot warier.
Once they stepped inside the Ancestral Flow, Qiurong Wanxue didn’t believe her own eyes; she didn’t think that she was still inside Necropolis. Before her was a majestic scenery with mountains and rivers along with a dense worldly energy. This was just like the ancestral ground of an emperor’s lineage; this place was filled with king medicines as if they were weeds. Treasure trees swayed in the wind along with flowing sacred springs. This sacred ground was astonishing! Even the ancestral grounds of emperor’s lineages could not be any better than this.
Qiurong Wanxue was quite emotional as she tried to take in all of this. Not even in her wildest dreams would she believe that there was such a place in Necropolis. This was a holy ground for cultivation, a place desired by all cultivators.
Compared to Qiurong Wanxue, who was marveling the surroundings, Li Qiye only smiled and enjoyed the scenery.
The ghost led the two straight ahead. It was quite strange; although this place was a sacred ground, they walked for a very long time without seeing anyone. To be more exact, a second ghost.
This landscape was quiet and was without another shadow. The picture was indeed fascinating, but the lack of people created an eerie atmosphere.
Qiurong Wanxue would rather meet a second ghost than stay in this tranquil atmosphere. The quietness of this place would make other people afraid.
“Why is there no one else here?” Qiurong Wanxue whispered to Li Qiye.
“Because they are all sleeping.” Li Qiye looked at the mature woman and replied: “Unless something big happens, they will not wake up.”
Qiurong Wanxue was not expecting this answer. Necropolis was full of ghosts; outside of not having flesh like real people, they were no different from cultivators. Necropolis’ ghosts did not need to sleep, but the ones in the Ancestral Flow were all hibernating en masse — this was too weird.
Of course, this serenity reminded Qiurong Wanxue that this was indeed Necropolis. Without this eerie quietness, Qiurong Wanxue would mistake this place for the ancestral ground of an emperor’s lineage.
Eventually, the ghost took the two of them into an old temple. This temple was extremely grand and huge. A quick glance would immediately make others think that this was the abode of deities.
After leading them inside, the ghost quietly left.
The temple was empty. Qiurong Wanxue looked around and didn’t see humans nor ghosts. She then looked at the highest place in the temple. There was a very large stone chair there with a stone statue sitting on it. The chair was carved from an unknown type of stone as this statue seamlessly blended with it.
The statue had a divine crown with tassels hanging from the front, hiding the person’s face so one couldn’t tell whether it was a man or a woman.
The statue had a divine robe so majestic that it seemed to be able to cover the entire universe. It hid the statue’s body, causing it to be even more mysterious.
What attracted her eyes — at this moment — was the hat in the stone statue’s hand that was folded by Li Qiye earlier.
“You still haven’t changed at all.” Li Qiye looked at the statue on the stone chair and said with a smile as bright as the sun.