"Where is the Gate of the Death Realm!" Ye Xiu roared, startling himself so much that he tumbled from the height, rolling down until he splashed into the icy water below. The water was bitterly cold, making movement almost impossible.

"Even the Death God can talk in his sleep!" Old Liu reached out to pull Ye Xiu up with little patience, his expression returning to its previous calm.

Ye Xiu finally managed to pull himself out of the puddle, but the oppressive feeling surrounding them caught him completely off guard: "What's going on? Did we pass through the Mirror Palace? Where are we?"

Old Liu pointed toward the sealed rock ceiling above, a trace of excitement in his voice. "This is an underground dark river. By my reckoning, this should be the fifth realm barrier of the Nine Deadly Fiend Formations."

"Dark river." Ye Xiu patted his head, beginning to study their surroundings closely. High above, there was clearly a bright opening—a cavern whose exterior was covered by a transparent, crystalline layer, which he recognized as the clear spring water they had traversed earlier. The area was enclosed by dark, stony ramparts, within which flowed this river. The only unsettling detail was that the water was utterly black.

Old Liu pointed toward a dark opening ahead, shrugging helplessly. "It seems we must venture into the unknown again."

Ye Xiu crouched down and dipped a finger into the black river. An instant chill shot deep into his bones, making him feel almost frozen stiff.

"Damn it! You still dare touch that thing." Old Liu delivered a kick, separating Ye Xiu's finger from the black river water. He spoke with annoyance, "Do you know how much vital force I had to expend just to keep you afloat when you fell just now? This is no ordinary black river water; this river is the Styx."

Ye Xiu let out a sharp breath, finally recalling how close to death he had been from the cold. However, he had absolutely no concept of the Styx. "Old Liu, be honest, why do you understand so much about the Fuxi Clan's affairs? Is there some connection between your Ancient Path of Wonders and the descendants of Fuxi?"

"I have nothing to say about that," Old Liu stated firmly, intent on concealing certain matters. He quickly shifted the topic back to Ye Xiu. "My background isn't that important. What is important is that you were talking in your sleep just now, and you mentioned something about the Gate of the Death Realm. What is that gate? Is it a necessary passage to reach your Death Realm?"

"Sleep talking?" Ye Xiu had indeed drifted into a peculiar state just moments ago. Who was that hand, and who was that speaker? He rubbed his head. "I'm not too clear on it myself. In fact, I know nothing about the Death Realm. Let alone the location of the Gate of the Death Realm, I haven't even mastered the basic abilities of a Death God. I only know that every Death God should possess something called a Soul Stone; only with that item can the cultivation of a Death God begin."

"I haven't heard of a Soul Stone, perhaps it's just another magic treasure. Never mind, let's resolve this Nine Deadly Fiend Formation as quickly as possible." Old Liu didn't press further or offer further explanation. He took out his flashlight again and walked along the bank of the dark river. Yet, his silhouette suddenly appeared aged, or perhaps Old Liu sensed the peril lurking in the Styx.

Ye Xiu followed behind. To see his surroundings more clearly, he channeled his Violet Flame into his index finger. A faint light ignited on his fingertip, proving to be a reasonably effective tool for illumination.

Along the way, the black river water flowed with a gentle murmur. Ye Xiu deliberately kept his distance from it, but jutting, strange rocks on the bank forced him to lean back toward the river.

"Hey, Old Liu, what exactly is this Styx?" With nothing pressing to do, Ye Xiu remained somewhat ignorant about profound Daoist arts.

Old Liu turned his head and glanced at Ye Xiu gloomily. His shadowed expression, combined with the beam of the flashlight, was quite frightening. "As a Death God, you don't even know the Styx. This is a legend closely related to your Death Realm."

"You mean the Underworld?" Ye Xiu had guessed the legend. These were two tribes far closer to death. However, based on Ye Xiu's shallow understanding, Death Gods were merely guides, while the Underworld was death's final destination.

"Precisely. The Styx represents the entrance to the Underworld." Old Liu seemed burdened by many thoughts. "There are countless Styx rivers in this world, and the destination of all these rivers is various separate places or realms within the Underworld. I should have realized long ago that the malevolent energy of the Nine Deadly Fiend Formations is connected to the Underworld."

In the next moment, Ye Xiu felt Old Liu seemed more steady, yet the matter of Hong Ling still weighed heavily on his mind. "Right, Old Liu, what kind of people do you think took Hong Ling, and where might she be right now?"

Old Liu waved his hand as he walked. "I think that's a matter for their Fuxi descendants' clan; we can't interfere. Right now, you should worry about yourself. We have no idea what fierce gods or evil spirits await us at the end of this Styx."

"Damn, it really is biting." Ye Xiu accidentally touched the black water of the Styx again. The black water seemed almost alive, surging constantly around Ye Xiu.

"Don't underestimate the Styx Blood Sea," Old Liu said listlessly, kicking a stone into the Styx. Strangely, the stone didn't create a splash when it entered; rather, it seemed as if the Styx had actively swallowed it.

Ye Xiu was confused by his words and questioned, "Styx Blood Sea? This water is clearly black."

"The history of the Styx likely traces back to another era of the Primordial Desolation. The Styx was a primordial deity born from the Blood Sea during that time." In Old Liu's view, the Ancient Era and the Primordial Desolation were almost the same period in different regions. "The Blood Sea was originally a place for guiding vengeful souls. When large numbers of these souls could not be properly guided, the Asura clan was formed here in the Blood Sea. This clan is bloodthirsty and uses blood as their covenant."

As Ye Xiu listened, he felt waves of killing intent. He asked cautiously, "So, this black river water is actually blood, just at such a high saturation level that it appears black visually?"

Old Liu did not deny it, continuing, "Legend says slaughter was constant upon the Styx, and the Asura clan used this to establish contact with the mortal realm, seeking to wreak havoc. It wasn't until the arrival of Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha at the Styx that the chaos of the Asura Blood was suppressed."

"Does that mean we shouldn't run into those vengeful souls?" Hearing of Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha's great deeds, Ye Xiu felt significantly relieved. "I didn't expect a Nine Deadly Fiend Formation to contain so many miraculous Daoist realms. It seems the rare magical treasure you seek, Old Liu, is no small thing."

"That's not necessarily true." While speaking, Old Liu fixed his flashlight beam onto a spot on the rock wall. That spot had been pitch black, but after the light passed over it, countless tiny, glittering specks appeared. Old Liu's voice dropped very low. "Heaven knows if there are any stragglers from the Asura clan in this particular Styx we are in."

Ye Xiu stared intently at the direction Old Liu was pointing. The deep specks of light high above were clearly some kind of bats that had long resided in cold, dark places. Without a second thought, Ye Xiu shot a pulse of Violet Flame toward them. A small burst was enough to startle the creatures into fleeing everywhere. "They're just bats; why be so tense?"