The Location Of The Underworld Blood Lake
Translator: Mr Voltaire
Editor: Modlawls123
Ling Chen took out the Forgotten Continent’s map and looked over it, but he couldn’t find anything related to the Underworld. As such, he could only look around himself and walk towards the run-down houses.
It looked like a ransacked village. There were tens of houses, and all of them were damaged and in need of repairs. The walls were jet black, and many of the walls were falling off. Weeds grew on the roofs, and most of the windows and doors were rotten. The small village was completely silent, and from the distance, light could only be see in 3 or 4 of these houses.
Tap… Tap… Tap…
Because it was so quiet, Ling Chen’s footsteps sounded extremely clear. After he took a few steps, he suddenly stopped because he realised the walking sounds weren't just coming from himself.
Tap… Tap… Tap…
Ahead of him, a dark figure appeared within his field of vision. Because it was too dark, Ling Chen was unable to see the person’s facial features or what the person was wearing. He could only see that the person had a crooked back, had their head tilted to one side, and walked extremely slowly. Each step was so heavy that it seemed contain all of his body weight. Ling Chen frowned as he gripped the Chilling Star in his hand, walking towards the figure.
When they were about 10 metres apart, Ling Chen was finally able to see the figure clearly… it was indeed a person. He wasn’t short, but because of how hunched he was, he looked like he had some sort of illness. His footsteps were slow and heavy, and every step seemed to take all of his strength. He looked like an old man who barely had any strength. The clothes he was wearing made him look worse than a beggar, and there was no place on them that was clean or undamaged… they were no longer clothes, but rather rags that were barely held together. His face was also incredibly ashen, and it was so wrinkled that it looked like the exterior of a hundred-year-old tree. His eyes were wide open, but they had no life in them. He stared forwards, not even looking at Ling Chen who was so close to him.
Even after passing each other, the person did not even look at Ling Chen. Ling Chen stopped walking and turned to look at the person.
Was that a resident of the Underworld? Or… an Undead? He was quite similar to the Zombies in the Ghastly Grounds.
Moreover, Undead were very sensitive to the aura of life and hated it, but this person did not react at all… could it be that the deathly aura that Leng’Er gave off covered his aura of life?
That was the only explanation.
Ahead of Ling Chen was a dimly-lit room. There was a broken sign that had 2 crudely written words: Underworld Goods.
Eh? Underworld Goods? Could this be…
Ling Chen thought about it before he made up his mind and walked to the door, carefully stepping inside.
Although he was entering a room, he did not feel any warmth. Instead, he felt a cold, eerie air. The room was less than 10 square metres, and it was just as dirty and messy as it was outside. The counter was made from rotting wood, and there was a small candle with a small, flickering flame on the counter. The Undead could not see anything in absolute darkness, but they feared and hated light, so they only used a little bit of light to help them see.
Behind the counter was an old man with an incredibly dark face and a body as thin as a skeleton's.
“What… do… you… want… to… buy…”
When he saw Ling Chen enter, the old man’s dead fish eyes flickered as he spoke in a voice that was as unpleasant as sandpaper grating against something.
After speaking, the old man suddenly raised his head as a Zombie-like face appeared in Ling Chen’s sight. “What a dense deathly aura. This sort of deathly aura needs to have accumulated for more than thousands of years… or even ten thousand years. You… are most likely a high-level Undead, right? As a high-level Undead, why are you not at the Royal City? Why are you instead at a low-level place like this?”
This elderly Undead had a terrifying appearance and his voice was horrible to listen to, but his words made sense, and it seemed like his mind was like that of a normal human’s. Ling Chen quickly thought of a response as he walked to the counter and said, “Hello, I just came here, and I’m not sure what you’re talking about. Where are we right now?”
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“You just came? So that’s why.” The elderly Undead’s hoarse voice sounded out, “No wonder why you’re dressed so strangely. This is the Underworld, a place where dead creatures are gathered. Right now, you’re in a low-level village that doesn’t even have a name.”
“Where dead creatures are gathered? Does that mean that after people die, they’ll come here?” Ling Chen asked.
“No,” The elderly Undead said as he moved his withered lips, “after living creatures die, they leave behind corpses. If corpses gather large amounts of deathly aura, they can be reanimated as Undead. Low-level Undead are like the Zombies in those deathly environments, and they only have the ability to move and have very basic thinking. They do not have the right to enter the Underworld because the Underworld Door will not open for them.”
“If the deathly aura is incredibly dense, or if they’ve developed in those environments for a long time, or if the corpse still has large amounts of energy left after becoming an Undead, they might develop more advanced thinking to the point that they have the same intelligence as living creatures. High-level Undead’s minds are exactly as if they were alive, and if they are strong enough, they can perhaps awaken some of the memories remaining in their bodies about their previous lives. Just like you… you have the deathly aura of a high-level Undead. As such, you have high-level intelligence. The way you walk and speak are evidence of this.”
The elderly Undead’s words caused a chill in Ling Chen’s heart. He naturally knew about Zombies – they were the most common form of Undead. The Ghastly Grounds, which was right in front of the Underworld Door, was filled with Zombies. This was because the deathly aura was extremely strong, making it common for Undead to spawn there. The elder Undead’s words made Ling Chen surprised him, so he asked, “According to your words, if high-level Undead have intellect rivalling that when they were alive, wouldn’t that just be like they hadn’t died? And if they can access their memories… wouldn’t that mean they had been revived? Like a second life?”
The elderly Undead rolled his eyes as he spoke in his hoarse voice, “You’re too naïve. The intelligence I’m talking about is limited to within the Underworld. This is because the Underworld has the densest deathly aura in the world and is a heaven for the Undead. In here, the deathly aura within the Undead is at its most active state, allowing the Undead to have a clear mind… otherwise, apart from very few apex-level Undead, even high level Undead’s minds will be scattered when they leave the Underworld, turning into mere Zombies. As for regaining their memories from when they were alive, less than 10 have accomplished this over the past 10,000 years… that’s about 1 in every 1,000 years.”
“… So it’s like that.” Ling Chen nodded. This made much more sense. If the Undead could remember what had happened during their lives, it would be akin to reviving – that would simply be too heaven-defying.
“You’re a high-level Undead, yet you were not sent to the Royal City but to here. Looks like your body was attracted by the Underworld Door’s deathly aura, and you came here through the Underworld Door. After coming here, you slowly developed consciousness,” The elderly Undead said stiffly.
“That’s right, I remember that I somehow passed through a place called the Underworld Door. When I came to, I was near here,” Ling Chen said.
“Half of the new Undead in the Underworld were attracted by the 900 Underworld Doors scattered throughout the Forgotten Continent, and the other half were found by the 900 Underworld King Representatives. If they find any Undead that are at least medium-level, they are brought back to the Underworld. If they find any high-level Undead, they are directly taken to the Royal City.”
“What sort of place is the Royal City?” Ling Chen asked.
“The Underworld Royal City is the place with the most high-level Undead, and it is where the magnificent Underworld King lives. With your deathly aura, you definitely have the right to enter the Underworld Royal City. If you want to go there, perhaps this map will help you.”
The elderly Undead stretched out a withered hand and took out a burned paper scroll, throwing it to Ling Chen.
[Underworld Map]: A map that roughly lays out the Underworld’s regions and localities. It is worth using as a reference.
Although it was a ‘map’, it was incredibly crude. There were many lines messily drawn over each other, creating what looked like a main road. Twisted and messy words were written on various places on the map, labelling some of the place’s names.
However, it was still a map in the end, and receiving a map that he could use ‘as a reference’ filled Ling Chen with delight. What made him even more surprised and happy was that this map also had a positioning function, which told Ling Chen that he was at the most north-eastern point in the Underworld, while the Underworld Royal City was about 500 kilometres away at the exact center.
The size of the Underworld naturally couldn’t be compared to the Forgotten Continent, but it was still much larger than Ling Chen had expected.
The Underworld Royal City was at the centre of the Underworld, and it was where many high-level Undead gathered. When Ling Chen was looking around the Underworld Royal City, his pupils suddenly contracted.
Right above the Underworld Royal City on the map were 3 words written so small that they were almost imperceptible. Ling Chen brought the map closer to his eyes and read each of the words…
Underworld… Blood… Lake…
“Underworld Blood Lake!” Ling Chen couldn’t help but call out… that place was why he had come here!
“That’s an incredibly terrifying place to us Undead,” The elderly Undead said expressionlessly, “and it’s one of the 3 Forbidden Areas of the Underworld. Over the past 10,000 years, countless high-level Undead were submerged in there; however, their power remaining in there. As such, that place is the place in the Underworld with the most deathly aura and the most energy. Only those who have the Lord Underworld King’s permission can enter. Anyone else will be destroyed and also thrown into the Underworld Blood Lake. This is because at least 3 of the Underworld King’s 8 Generals stand guard there. Even if one passes through the entrance, one will need to pass through a fire purgatory and an ice purgatory to reach the Underworld Blood Lake. It’s said that there’s a powerful Undead Guardian Beast that Lord Underworld King brought back many years ago sleeping there… all in all, forget that place and never go near it.”