Chapter 0843: Pathfinder

Chapter 0843 The Pathfinder

Qin Yun jeered, "I didn't lie to you! Before you came down, you already knew how terrifying this Bloodfiend Dragon's Den is. If you want good treasures, you naturally have to pay the price!"

"I risked my life to scout ahead for you, and you still doubt me! If it weren’t for me, would you have found that colossal palace so easily?"

Though the others didn’t speak, they secretly admired Qin Yun.

After all, Qin Yun had wandered alone inside without getting killed and even made a major discovery.

They had seen countless corpses of predecessors and encountered many demonic creatures and evil spirits on their way here.

"There are quite a few demonic creatures near the palace entrance. I’m definitely not going there—I’d die for sure!" Qin Yun said.

"Bastard, so what if you die? You're dead weight to us now!" Long Chuanwu sneered.

"Oh really? Then go ahead and kill me! After that, you can take over as the pathfinder, Long Chuanwu. How about it?" Qin Yun sat on the ground, leaning against a tree and with a shit-eating grin. "Just tie a rope around your waist like I did and head into that palace. You’re so strong and hardy—you won’t die so easily!"

Long Chuanwu fell silent. He truly couldn’t replace Qin Yun as the pathfinder—he’d rather die than do it.

On their way here, they had faced all sorts of dangers, and it was only thanks to the Half-Immortals that they managed to drive them back.

Not just Long Chuanwu—even those Half-Immortals wouldn’t dare go solo in this place.

The mere thought of traversing this terrifying underground world by themselves made their blood run cold.

Xian Rujing said coldly, "If we repel the demonic creatures outside the palace, will you agree to scout inside?"

Qin Yun sighed. "I know there are demonic creatures outside the palace, so I won’t go there to die! But I don’t know what’s inside the palace, so I’m not afraid of that!"

"Fine. Once we clear out those creatures and open the palace gates, you’ll continue scouting ahead!" a Half-Immortal said. They were finally realizing just how crucial Qin Yun was to them.

Qin Yun replied, "I'm running on empty here. Give me some healing potions or something. Oh, and it’d be best if you could provide me with a set of dao artifact armor and a decent weapon! Keeping me alive will benefit you all greatly!"

Long Chuanwu said icily, "You worthless lackey, don’t push your luck!"

Qin Yun chuckled. "Long Chuanwu, you might be stronger than me, but you’re useless here! Can you scout the path? Can you repel evil spirits and demonic creatures? You can’t do anything—you're just dead weight. At critical moments, you might even hold everyone back!"

"You bastard, I’ll kill you!" Long Chuanwu pushed forward but was immediately grabbed by an Emperor Wu.

"Chuanwu, stop this!" the Emperor Wu said sternly.

At the same time, someone handed Qin Yun some pills, along with a set of dao artifact armor and a dao artifact-grade blade.

Qin Yun accepted them cheerfully, gobbling the pills like M&Ms.

Xian Rujing asked, "Yun, why don’t you have a single injury? Didn’t you encounter anything on your way here?"

She already knew Qin Yun could turn his body transparent, but she asked deliberately to see how he would respond.

"I have *Righteous Qi*. Evil spirits and demonic creatures retreat from afar—they wouldn’t dare come near me!" Qin Yun said.

"In that case, let’s just throw you over there to scare those creatures away!" Long Chuanwu said coldly.

"What if the creatures outside the palace aren’t affected by that? If I die, you'll all be flying blind, and this trip will be a total bust!" Qin Yun retorted.

At that moment, two Half-Immortals and over a dozen Emperor Wus scaled the mountain and headed toward the palace entrance.

They were all from the Heavenly Dragon Gate, equipped with top-tier gear, talismans, and serious firepower.

Qin Yun hoped they'd succeed too, as he himself was eager to enter the massive palace to check it out. He planned to cut the rope once inside and let the group wander blindly within.

By then, tons of them would be dead.

After half an hour, those who had gone out returned.

"We took out the demonic creatures, but the gate's a pain to open! We’ll need to work together to force it open!" said one of the elders.

The group agreed to go and open the gate together.

The golden rope was still cinched around Qin Yun’s waist, and Long Chuanwu was watching him closely, making it damn near impossible to escape.

Xian Rujing also eyed him warily, worried Qin Yun might flee.

Soon enough, Qin Yun followed the group to the palace’s grand entrance, where he saw several hulking demonic beasts.

These creatures had humanoid bodies, jet-black skin, massive builds, and sludgy green blood as thick and sticky as mud, reeking of rot.

The gate stood a hundred meters tall, pure black, no magical carvings in sight—meaning no barriers or formations guarded it.

"This gate is enormous… You guys aren’t scared of what’s in there?" Qin Yun remarked.

"Once we open a crack, you’ll go in and scout the path!" a Half-Immortal snapped.

Qin Yun just shrugged.

With the combined effort of the powerful group, the gate groaned open just enough for a person to slip through.

Qin Yun was pushed forward.

From the crack, a chilly draft seeped out, though in this setting, it felt eerily sinister.

Qin Yun passed through the gap into pitch-black darkness, unable to see anything. His heart hammered with fear, dreading what might suddenly emerge.

And just as he feared—

The moment he stepped in, he sensed a surge of danger!

His body flickered with white light, illuminating the interior, and his blood ran cold.

Ahead lay a vast hall filled with a sea of twisted figures!

Empty sockets gaped where eyes should be, their muscular bodies bursting through their clothes, their teeth long and sharp, spewing vile black smoke. Their jet-black skin was covered in grotesque bumps—utterly terrifying!

Qin Yun’s hair stood on end, but fortunately, his Righteous Qi was strong enough to hold the monsters back.

"There must be a freaking army of them… How are there so many? And they’re strong too!"

Ling Yuner said, "They can’t be that hard to kill, yeah?"

Qin Yun drew the Soul Sacred Blade, unleashing Dark Moon mental energy to control its flight.

The Soul Sacred Blade pierced through one demonic creature, instantly devouring the evil spirit within to repair its damaged blade.

Swiftly darting back and forth, the blade harvested the horde of monsters, absorbing vast numbers of evil spirits.

Qin Yun charged forward as well, unleashing waves of Righteous Qi, shaping them into raging winds and flames that incinerated the corpses on the ground.

Soon, tens of thousands of demonic creatures were wiped out.

Qin Yun held the Soul Sacred Blade and could also sense the energy within it.

"Still not enough. It needs to absorb more souls to fully repair!" Qin Yun thought to himself.

After slaying those demons, he arrived at the center of the hall and noticed an open door on the left side.

As he approached, he saw a pitch-black corridor.

"No telling what’s in there!"

Qin Yun took out a glowing stone and tossed it hard.

The glowing stone shot straight ahead without obstruction, encountering no obstacles or triggering any traps.

At this point, Qin Yun brought out a Diamond Puppet—one of the eight he had swiped from the people of the Profound Domain.

After some minor modifications, he had made it work for him.

Naturally, he kept this under wraps. If the Profound Domain or the Long Family found out, they’d hit the roof.

A Diamond Puppet walked ahead to scout ahead, capable of detecting any hidden traps or mechanisms.

The puppet moved ahead quickly, and Qin Yun found it somewhat amusing—he was the one who usually scouted, yet now he was sending a puppet to do the same job.

"What the hell’s in this palace? I have a feeling there's something terrifying here!" Qin Yun knew nothing about this palace, and exploring it fully would take ages.

KABOOM!

The Diamond Puppet walking down the corridor was suddenly shot through by an arrow. Upon impact, the arrow exploded, blowing the puppet to bits.

Qin Yun jumped. That Diamond Puppet was incredibly sturdy, as tough as the Martial King himself, yet it had been obliterated so easily.

"There really are a lot of traps inside!" Qin Yun took a deep breath and held back.

He quickly pulled out a Whispering Conch and filled them in on the situation to the Heavenly Dragon Sect members outside.

Upon hearing the message, those outside squeezed through the gap in the door.

They lit up the hall with glowstones, scanned the place, and then moved toward Qin Yun.

Standing at the entrance of the corridor, Qin Yun said, "I just scouted ahead—an arrow was fired. Anyone got a puppet we can use to test for more traps?"

A HalfImmortal quickly tossed out a puppet and sent it forward. It made it through the corridor clean.

"It seems the only trap has already been triggered!" Qin Yun chuckled and then stepped inside.

He soon traversed the long corridor and entered another hall, where numerous massive stones, two to three meters tall, were arranged. No clue what they were for.

"Is it safe over there?" a HalfImmortal asked while controlling the puppet to investigate further, discovering many large rocks.

Before Qin Yun could answer, the HalfImmortal hurried over.

Seeing this, the others quickly followed, assuming there must be something valuable in that hall.

The space was filled with large stones, emitting no discernible aura yet giving off a weird vibe.

Xian Rujing put all her strength into a swing with her immortal sword at one of the stones, but it only left a faint scratch—completely unbreakable.

"These stones are incredibly tough!" Xian Rujing exclaimed in shock.

Several HalfImmortals from the Heavenly Dragon Sect also struck the stones with their weapons, but only managed to leave shallow marks.

"There must be something valuable inside!" one HalfImmortal yelled, pumped.

Qin Yun activated his Spirit Eye, but all he could see were vague dark shadows within the stones—couldn’t make out what they were.