Netherworld Mountain

Hatred, boundless hatred.

Hatred for the Great Dao, hatred for all living things, hatred for his own mission.

Hatred for his own fate, forever shrouded in darkness.

Boundless hatred.

Ji Tian slowly refined the soul of the remnant soul, but no matter what, he could not assimilate this hatred. He lacked hatred within himself. His cultivation suppressed the other, and before his powerful Spiritual Sense, it could not make waves. He would eventually refine the other's thoughts. Perhaps he would assimilate them. In the end, could it become his own deity?

Netherworld Mountain stood in the middle of the entire Netherworld Land. It was a towering mountain, a full million meters tall and spanning more than ten thousand li. Boundless demonic fog swirled around its slopes. It was said that Netherworld Mountain was riddled with danger and must never be entered recklessly! The most wicked Ghosts and skeletons in this world dwelled there. They were the outlaws of the Netherworld Land.

Ji Tian sneered. They were nothing but a bunch of vengeful spirits. The most powerful beings in this world were Ghost Immortals, and none had been discovered so far. Those powerful beings had yet to be born; for now, this world had merely been left in the hands of a pack of clowns.

The Demonic Dragon gazed at Netherworld Mountain, a feeling of awe welling up inside him, along with reverence.

It was towering, and seemed imbued with an eerie strangeness; imposing, yet shrouded in mystery.

Standing at the foot of the mountain, Ji Tian gazed up at Netherworld Mountain, which rose into the heavens. The mountainside was strewn with jagged rocks. He carefully watched the ever-shifting demonic fog. Its transformations possessed a peculiar power.

It was disorienting, drawing him into its depths.

Evil Ghosts howled. A malevolent thought dragged him into a strange space, something like a haunted house. Waves of Yin Energy trembled before him.

At the center of the room hung black gauze curtains, the place as gloomy and terrifying as a funeral hall. The walls on both sides were covered with images of sinister, terrifying Evil Ghosts. They were painted so realistically that they made his skin crawl.

Most terrifying of all, a towering, headless Evil Ghost stood in the room. Its broken-off head, hideous and dribbling black Demonic Qi, floated in midair, its blood-red tongue hanging halfway out...

It was an incomparably powerful Ghost. Before him, Ji Tian was nothing but a weak soul. Ji Tian felt utterly helpless.

The Evil Ghost reached out a hand covered in blood and grime and struck at him. At the same time, the hideous ghost face with its dangling tongue opened its mouth wide and lunged to swallow him.

Facing the hand swiping at him, Ji Tian instinctively retreated. The gaping mouth suddenly swallowed his primordial spirit.

Ji Tian shut his eyes and flailed his arms. At the critical moment, he managed to brace his arms against the foul-smelling maw. A feeling of near-suffocation surged through him, along with fear. He shook his head. Why was he feeling afraid? That made no sense. Could this be the fear hidden deep within him?

Even fear could only become nourishment for him. Ji Tian tore apart the gaping mouth trying to swallow him. He looked at the enormous, millstone-sized palm and conjured a long sword in his hand, stabbing viciously at it. Hundreds and thousands of sword auras slashed through the air.

Ji Tian's vision suddenly went dark. The scene before him shifted. The enormous palm, the Evil Ghost, and the haunted house vanished. He had already entered the heart of Netherworld Mountain, though he had been at its foot just moments ago. It had happened in the time it took to close his eyes.

Netherworld Mountain was wondrous. Perhaps there had been no Evil Ghost at all, only an illusion—a vision conjured from his fear. They had all been manifestations of his own fears.

As Ji Tian climbed, he sensed a powerful Death Qi.

A black skeleton reached a bone claw out of the black soil and seized Ji Tian's primordial spirit.

A muffled voice rumbled, "I never expected such a powerful soul. I, the Great Desolate Skeleton, love them most."

Ji Tian stared at the enormous skeleton before him. It had a massive humanoid skull and the bones of a giant dragon. Could this still be an illusion? He sensed powerful Death Qi coming from it. Could it have formed from Death Qi?

Ji Tian circulated the power of his primordial spirit, unleashing a violent surge of spiritual energy. The Great Desolate Skeleton's bony hand shattered at once.

The Great Desolate Skeleton roared in fury. It reassembled a bone claw and swung it at Ji Tian.

Ji Tian swept his right arm, sending an enormous palm striking toward the skeleton as well.

With a loud crack, Ji Tian was smashed straight into the mountainside, leaving only one arm sticking out. The skeleton fared no better. Its frame could not withstand the force of the impact and instantly broke into pieces. The fragments scattered across the ground. The black skull let out an unwilling roar, and a strange surge of energy made the entire skeleton reassemble into a monstrous figure.

If one strike couldn't defeat you, then he would smash your bones one by one. He wanted to see how you could put yourself back together then. Ji Tian pulled himself out of the soil, a black long sword in hand, Killing Qi covering its blade.

With every swing, Ji Tian targeted the joints in the skeleton. His figure flickered too quickly to see, and the entire skeleton shattered into pieces again.

"Sky Covering Seal!" A palm took shape and rapidly shrank. The patterns of Heaven and Earth he had comprehended appeared on its surface.

The countless bones wriggled, trying to reassemble, but the Sky Covering Seal came crashing down.

The Great Desolate Skeleton roared and raised one finger to jab at the Sky Covering Seal.

Ji Tian sneered. It was useless. His Sky Covering Seal weighed a thousand jun. How could that patchwork Bone Body withstand it?

The Sky Covering Seal slammed down. The finger jabbing at the technique shattered instantly, and the entire skeleton was driven underground beneath the seal. Cracking sounds rang out without pause.

An unwilling roar came from beneath the seal. "Why? Why can't my divine bone withstand your seal?"

Then all of Netherworld Mountain began to shake, and huge fissures spread across its slopes. But the Demonic Cloud rippled, and the mountain quickly returned to normal. Only the crater left by the impact remained, slowly shrinking.

Ji Tian watched the fissures heal. Some strange power existed in the Netherworld Land, one that could repair itself. Once the power of his Sky Covering Seal faded, the crater would surely heal rapidly.

The bottom of the crater was covered in fragments of the Great Desolate Skeleton's bones. But several strange finger bones rose slowly, emitting a gentle black light. Wherever the light reached, broken bones were repaired, and the Great Desolate Skeleton assembled itself once more.

"It's useless. I'm one with Netherworld Mountain. You can't destroy me."

Ji Tian watched the bones reassemble and slashed out wave after wave of sword aura, cutting toward the mass of Black Mist.

The Black Mist was yielding and intangible, deflecting all his sword auras to the side.

Could these be Pangu's remains? That was impossible. Otherwise, why hadn't his own remains reacted at all?

Ji Tian circulated his primordial spirit and released his Spiritual Sense, carefully probing the mass of Black Mist. There was a trace of life within it.

Just then, a voice transmitted itself from the golden palace in Ji Tian's sea of consciousness. "Ji Tian, I can feel it. The entire mountain bears Pangu's aura, but it's suppressed by a powerful Power of Creation. Great God Pangu's remains were refined by this Power of Creation into this towering mountain. We came too late."

Ji Tian said, "Does that mean there's nothing we can do?"

A dejected voice replied, "Too late, too late. I never imagined that only two fragments of our bones remained in the world: one finger bone and one broken arm bone. Haha, is this fate? Ten thousand years have passed, and nothing has changed."

Ji Tian felt a profound sorrow. Even the broken remains of Pangu's right arm had been found by the Heavenly Dao and turned into Netherworld Mountain, a million zhang tall. Why had only two fragments been left behind?

Could it be that the so-called impartial Heavenly Dao had left a sliver of hope for every living being, with everything that came afterward left to fate? Just then, the hatred of the suppressed remnant soul in his sea of consciousness suddenly surged in strength.

A powerful force repeatedly battered the golden cage imprisoning it.

A roar rang out from within the golden palace. "I hate this! The Heavenly Dao is unjust!"

Ji Tian cried out in alarm, "This is bad!" He continuously used the power of his soul to suppress the rampaging hatred and the remnant soul, which was beginning to lose its mind.

The skeleton reassembled once more, once again forming the strange Great Desolate Skeleton. Seeing Ji Tian still lost in thought, it swung a claw at him.

The black bone claw came crashing down, carrying a gale of tremendous force.

"Roar!" A dragon's roar rang out. A dragon tail slammed into the bone claw.

Two waves of black force collided and spread outward in ripples from the center, shattering countless rocks.

The Demonic Dragon had just overcome his fear and reached the mountainside, where he saw the Great Desolate Skeleton attacking by surprise.

"You despicable skeleton! Attacking by surprise—you're disgracing all of us skeletons!"

The Great Desolate Skeleton roared, "He wasn't defending himself! What's that got to do with me? This is the mountain I guard!"

The Demonic Dragon mocked him. "You? With strength like that, you call yourself a guardian? Hahaha, you're pathetic."

The Great Desolate Skeleton snarled, "You dare mock me? You'll become part of my Undead Army!"

"Summon the Undead Army!" Ghosts wailed and howled. It was like a summons from the distant Yellow Springs, like a Demonic Sound calling lost souls astray.

Countless skulls began to bob into view. Millions of bone claws waved as they crawled out of the black earth and rocks...

The white skeletons seemed countless, stretching beyond the horizon.

The Demonic Dragon scoffed. "A bunch of trash. Their Bone Bodies are so fragile."

"Roar!" A dragon's roar rang out. The powerful sound waves instantly shattered many of the skeletons rushing forward.

He reached out a dragon claw and casually picked up a skeleton, putting it in his mouth. He crunched it to pieces.

One skeletal shadow after another shot into the sky, pouncing on Ji Tian, who was still dazed. The Demonic Dragon raised his pair of pitch-black claws and slammed them down.

"You lot are no match for us."

Seeing his Undead Army accomplish nothing, the Great Desolate Skeleton flew into a rage.

"Undead Bone Prison!" If he couldn't kill them, he would trap them to death.

The skeletons across the ground turned into countless bone arms and pieces of Bone Body, surging toward Ji Tian and the Demonic Dragon to surround them.