Cheng Xinzhan turned into a shadowy wind and traveled through the earth at tremendous speed.
Earth Yin Mountain lived up to its name: the yin qi underground was exceptionally dense. He had never been here before and did not know whether this oceanic Spirit Island had always been like this or had only become so after the demonic corpses occupied it.
After descending two hundred zhang, Cheng Xinzhan still felt no sign of prying eyes or sweeping restrictions. Instead, he unexpectedly saw quite a few stone chambers and earthen caves hidden within the mountain. These were the Cave Abodes of Yin Corpses. Even after attaining the Dao, many Jiangshi still preferred living underground. Cheng Xinzhan even saw one Yin Corpse, already at the middle three tribulations of cultivation, sleeping in nothing more than a cramped coffin, lying there as it absorbed the earth's yin qi.
He continued downward, weaving among the Yin Corpses, yet not one could detect him.
Moreover, Houtu was merciful, nurturing not only yin spirits. Many living creatures also inhabited the island's soil: mole crickets, Earth Silkworms, earthworms, Root-Cutters, house centipedes, ground bees, ants, and others, including, of course, cicadas. Nor were there only these little insects. Occasionally, he saw enormous crawling creatures such as pangolins, black snakes, and giant centipedes burrowing swiftly through the earth, vanishing in a flash.
These insects busied themselves underground, burrowing out a vast, intricate network of passages and forming a colorful, magnificent subterranean world.
This made things much easier for Cheng Xinzhan. Having transformed into wind, he traveled through the underground gaps these insects had bored, concealed and swift.
By the time he had descended three hundred zhang, Cheng Xinzhan, who had started halfway up Cloud-Covered Mountain, estimated that he should now be level with the foot of Brush-Rack Mountain-the ground