Divine Sorrow Ridge!

This place is located in the southwest of Dianchuan Province. It comprised lands from the former domains of Dongshan Prefecture, Zheng'an Prefecture, Yongchang Prefecture, Xingchao Prefecture, Jingnan Prefecture, Chengming Prefecture, Ningyuan Prefecture, and Wushu Prefecture. Later, it was occupied by Demons and Evil Cultivators who used ancient formations to gather the land of the eight prefectures into an endless, perilous mountain range filled with over ten thousand cave mansions. As the saying goes: "Where demons and monsters dwell in the mountain's leaves, even gods would fret upon the sight." This is the origin of the name Divine Sorrow Ridge.

Today's Divine Sorrow Ridge has become the de facto demon stronghold of Dianchuan Province, with eight Dao Body Realm Demon Kings presiding therein, and even Primordial Spirit demon lords lying in wait. Ordinary Sects and Aristocratic Families dare not confront it. Even those major sects and powerful clans with the strength and heritage to challenge it choose to watch from the sidelines. Human hearts are selfish; no one wants to sacrifice their own foundation for the benefit of others.

「…」

In the gloomy night, moonlight, soft as water, spilled onto the river's surface. On the Quan River, its dark waters churning, an astonishingly large ship parted the waves, moving forward slowly. This ship was not constructed from wood or metal but was refined from blood, flesh, and bone. Its Dragon Bones were composed of massive beast bones, each one imbued with a deep, dark hue and covered in bloodstains, moss, and an aura of decay. The entire hull seemed to be a fusion of various biological organs and body parts, flickering in and out of sight under the moonlight. The deck was littered with countless distorted and deformed creature fossils, which emitted low, eerie groans in the night wind. These fossils appeared to be pieced-together fragments of humans, animals, or monsters, each conveying a strange malevolence. A large skull served as the ship's figurehead, its eye sockets flashing with a sinister green light, as if declaring its dominion. The sails were also hung with flayed human skins, bloodily drying in the wind. These human skins were inscribed with bizarre characters and forbidden demon spells, seemingly to enhance the power and horror of this great ship of flesh and blood. Below the waterline, at the ship's bottom, countless indistinct tormented souls screamed and wailed, propelling the great ship continuously forward through the river water.

Within the cabin, filled with foul smoke and a lingering stench, hundreds of Demons and Evil Cultivators were gathered. Hundreds upon thousands of red and green lanterns of varying heights were suspended all around. The entire cabin, packed with Demons and Evil Cultivators, was a cacophony of noise. Among these Demons and Evil Cultivators, the vast majority still retained obvious human traces.

After three hundred and sixty contingents of demons flooded into Dianchuan Province, besides catalyzing the "Evil Domain" with the Scolding Sacred Heart to invade the territories of the Human Race, they also widely distributed items infused with demonic power, damaged scriptures, and demon blood and flesh. Such actions led to a large number of the Human Race mutating into demons. Indeed, compared to the external demons that had infiltrated Dianchuan Province, those demons transformed from living humans were even more cruel and brutal; in their evil deeds, they were utterly lawless. There were even some living humans who spent large sums of money to acquire demonic items and voluntarily became demons, a truly sorrowful state of affairs.

"This young fellow here looks quite handsome. This journey is boring, why don't we... have some fun?"

On one side of the cabin, a Daoist in a black robe with dark hair and a demonic, handsome appearance sat cross-legged with his eyes closed; the four or five seats beside him were all empty. A fox woman with an unearthly appearance and a snow-white tail at her lower back, who had boarded midway, approached with a coquettish laugh. As she opened her mouth, a sweet, bewitching fragrance wafted out.

"Get lost," the handsome Daoist coldly uttered, without even lifting an eyelid.

Rebuked so harshly, the fox woman, who had always found success with her physical charms, looked displeased, a hint of frost flashing in her dark green eyes. But just as she was about to retort in anger, a large hand covered in thick black fur suddenly pulled her away.

"Who?" Her face suddenly twisted into a beast-like snarl. The fox woman turned and saw a man with a rigid face, covered in black fur, and emanating a chilly aura. She immediately softened her expression, "Oh, it's Brother Hei Jiang."

"Don't provoke... this person. Extremely fierce... Look there," Hei Jiang spoke slowly, stuttering. He lifted his large hand and pointed towards a corner of the cabin. There, a messy pile of hollowed-out skins and bones lay discarded. It was barely discernible that, not long ago, they had been a group of lively demons.

"Could it be…?" Turning her head in shock, the fox woman looked towards the handsome Daoist who emanated a deathly chill.

"Mm," Hei Jiang nodded slightly, his stiff, wooden gaze also revealing a trace of wariness.

"Thank you, Brother Hei Jiang, for saving my life. I will surely repay you handsomely in the future," the fox woman said quickly, patting her heaving, snow-white bosom with lingering fear as she expressed her gratitude to Hei Jiang.

"Later...? Why wait? Isn't now... just right...?" A sly smile curled Hei Jiang's lips. Ignoring the fox woman's displeased expression, he turned and led her hurriedly toward a corner.

The air in the cabin was thick with foul smoke and haze. Qi Xiu, disguised as the handsome Daoist, lifted his eyelids slightly, glanced at the indescribable scene unfolding in a corner of the cabin, and his fingertips twitched.

If not for the need to conceal my identity and successfully infiltrate Divine Sorrow Ridge, I would have already blasted this demon ship to pieces with divine thunder.

Drawing back his gaze, Qi Xiu quietly focused his mind. His hands shimmered with a black light as he held a three-foot-long long banner. Its fabric, woven from some unknown material, was dark and forbidding, adorned with countless skulls and inscribed with a circle of Evil Method script.

The Tai Yin sect's Dharma Gates could make me look like a Demonic Cultivator. But my own Dharma Gates comprise Thunder Magic and swordsmanship; if I made a move, my cover would surely be blown. Knowing the level of danger involved in infiltrating Divine Sorrow Ridge, to ensure my identity wasn't discovered, I simply purchased a scroll of a Demonic Cultivator Dharma Gate. When acting, one has to play the part completely. Fortunately, the Hunyuan True Essence cultivated from "The Secret of the Primordial Dragon-Tiger Scripture" possessed an extremely strong inclusivity that unified the Ten Thousand Laws. It could freely operate any Dharma Gate. Otherwise, there would truly be no way to ensure a flawless disguise.

The Demonic Dharma Gate he was now practicing came from a Demonic sect known as Heshan Path. The Dharma Gates of Heshan Path were peculiar, emphasizing the integration of spells with their corresponding Magic Artifacts. For every spell practiced, a Magic Artifact had to be refined. Therefore, Heshan Path could also be considered half an Artifact Refining sect. But every spell was like planting a great tree from a seedling, requiring cultivation from the very beginning. For someone from Heshan Path to master a single spell would invariably consume an endless amount of time. Although this approach made them formidable in combat, it offered no benefit to their personal cultivation and, instead, hindered their progress. The further they progressed, the weaker they became, their cultivation shallow, their bodies remaining mortal. Therefore, even though Heshan Path's battle techniques were unique, they were considered only a second-rate minor sect in the cultivation world.

The Heshan Path Dharma Gate Qi Xiu practiced was named the Banner of Thousand Souls and Bones. This Dharma Gate, an Evil Technique, required the skulls of beings who had died tragically as material. It was refined by gathering countless fierce and malicious souls, and by slaughtering innumerable living beings. Once mastered, a slight shake of the banner would unleash countless White Bone Skull Demons. These demons could fly through the air and burrow underground, possessed immense strength, could spew poisonous smoke, and could seize the vital essence, blood, and souls of people, making them incredibly ferocious.

For the sake of mastering this Dharma Gate, Qi Xiu had brazenly exterminated thirteen demon strongholds, slaughtered over ten thousand demons, and used their skulls to refine this malevolent banner.

As he quietly refined the Banner of Thousand Souls and Bones in his hand, Qi Xiu occasionally raised his eyes, his cold gaze sweeping over the Demons and Evil Cultivators present.

Even though Heshan Path was a second-rate sect that valued Dharma Gates over physical prowess, its combat methods were indeed fierce. His Banner of Thousand Souls and Bones was only at the First Realm, its interior housing merely a few hundred White Bone Skull Demons. Yet, when he first boarded the ship and was provoked by a few demons, a swing of the banner had unleashed several hundred White Bone Skull Demons, which wreaked havoc. In an instant, they had surrounded the few demons, devouring them completely in the blink of an eye. Their skulls too were swept back into the banner, leaving behind only a pile of bones and flayed skins. It was precisely because of the ferocity of the Banner of Thousand Souls and Bones that it instilled fear among the other Demons and Evil Cultivators, leading to the situation where, after Qi Xiu took his seat in the cabin, the four or five places around him remained empty, as no one dared to sit near.

The ship floated down the Quan River for several days. As its hull vibrated slightly and the flesh and sinews enveloping it writhed, all the Demons and Evil Cultivators aboard slowly rose. It was time to disembark.

With the Banner of Thousand Souls and Bones in hand, Qi Xiu walked expressionlessly toward the deck, a three-to-four-meter radius around him utterly devoid of people. The demons, keeping their distance, watched the Banner of Thousand Souls and Bones in his hand with wary eyes, terrified that countless hideous, fearsome White Bone Skull Demons, with their eerie, bone-chilling grins, might suddenly burst forth from it.

After disembarking at the port, he saw a multitude of ships, large and small, filled with all kinds of demonic auras and Demon Light, twisted and terrifying, emitting strong, bizarre stenches, docked at the wharf. All sorts of Demons and Evil Cultivators—with bizarre limbs, hideous appearances, reeking of foul stenches, and exuding an air of savage terror—moved about freely here as if they were ordinary people, a ceaseless, bustling flow, resembling a lively marketplace. Clusters of multicolored clouds—foul-smelling, sticky, a nauseating mix of sweet, fishy, gamey, and salty stenches—hovered in midair, faintly manifesting countless bizarre images of Demons and Monsters.

Here, a normal person was the anomaly. And they, the demons, were the masters of this place.

"D-Daoist, are... are you going to move on?"

Just as Qi Xiu was marveling at how such an unnamed port could gather so many Demons and Evil Cultivators, a timid voice urged him from behind. Turning around, Qi Xiu realized he was standing at the gangway entrance, and the ship full of Demons and Evil Cultivators behind him had not yet disembarked.

Fully displaying a sinister and perverse arrogance, Qi Xiu loudly berated the assembled Demons and Evil Cultivators, "What's all the rushing for? This humble Daoist moves when I wish to, and if I don't wish to, I won't!" With a cold snort, he then strode away.

Having left the smoky and foul port, Qi Xiu entered a place named Black Ebony City. This place was an outer defensive pass of Divine Sorrow Ridge. Around Divine Sorrow Ridge, there were over a thousand such border towns. However, calling them "defensive" was merely nominal. In reality, they were just gathering points for entry into the deeper parts of Divine Sorrow Ridge.

As Qi Xiu walked through this city—where black smoke perpetually curled, buildings leaned precariously, streets were rugged, and gusts of wind carried eerie, whispering echoes—he could distinctly feel tiny, bizarre flesh buds constantly attempting to sprout on his skin. But a surge of Hunyuan True Essence within him would instantly dispel this aberrant transformation. This was the highly concentrated demonic aura in the air, attempting to induce a grotesque metamorphosis in him. If an ordinary person were to enter this demon city, they would instantly be twisted and transformed into a demon.

To enter the depths of Divine Sorrow Ridge, one had to possess a Passage Command Token. Standing at a street corner and surveying the entire street, Qi Xiu's gaze slowly focused on a tall building adorned with bright red lanterns.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.