PD -Chapter 143 Spatial Rift

With a loud bang, a massive black stone was thrown out from the spatial rift…

Immediately afterward, I saw Liu Xiaopeng’s and Shentu’s souls shoot out of the crack.

Both looked panicked. I could even see a trace of blood at the corner of Liu Xiaopeng’s mouth, while Shentu’s hair was disheveled and her face filled with alarm.

The moment they landed, Shentu formed a hand seal with two fingers, intending to immediately close the spatial rift they had just emerged from.

But at that moment, a pair of enormous hands suddenly reached out.

Those giant hands gripped the edges of the rift as though trying to stop Shentu from sealing it shut.

Shentu’s fingers trembled as she maintained her hand seal, struggling with all her strength against the giant hands. Their power was immense. Several times, just as the space was about to close, they tore it open again.

And deep within the rift, I could see a gigantic face attempting to emerge.

It was none other than King Chujiang, the one who had tried to throw me into the Sixteen Lesser Hells.

“Old man, this is the mortal world! Even as one of the Ten Kings of Hell, you can’t violate the laws of the Underworld. Tearing open space and descending to the mortal realm on your own could lead to unimaginable consequences!”

Shentu spoke in a trembling voice while confronting King Chujiang.

The giant hands suddenly paused.

Clearly, he hesitated after hearing her words.

Taking advantage of the moment, Shentu immediately used her spiritual power to force the rift shut.

At last, peace returned to the vault.

Liu Xiaopeng’s soul then walked over to his body lying on the sofa, formed a seal, and returned to it.

“Cough… cough…”

Just like when I had returned earlier, Liu Xiaopeng instantly opened his eyes, coughed several times, and spat out a mouthful of blood onto the pink carpet Zhu Zhu had laid out.

Zhu Zhu quickly threw aside the talisman she had been clutching the entire time. Sitting beside Liu Xiaopeng, she patted his back and poured him a cup of water from a kettle.

Shentu also let out a sigh of relief. Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she casually straightened her hair before turning to me with a teasing smile.

“You brat actually managed to provoke one of the Ten Kings of Hell. Liu family’s boy and I almost didn’t make it back because of you.”

I frowned and looked at her.

“Wasn’t causing trouble in the Frozen Hell your idea? Frozen Hell is King Chujiang’s territory. You knew that from the start and never warned me. If anything, I think you were trying to get me killed.”

Shentu froze for a moment. Knowing she was in the wrong, she scratched her head.

“I honestly thought those old geezers from the Ten Courts wouldn’t personally get involved. I never expected King Chujiang to chase us himself.”

“But you ran pretty fast. I thought that old man had already thrown you into his Sixteen Lesser Hells.”

As she spoke, she narrowed her eyes slightly.

I couldn’t tell whether she was complimenting me or mocking me.

Turning toward Liu Xiaopeng, who was gulping down water beside us, I asked what exactly had happened.

After finishing the entire cup Zhu Zhu had poured for him, Liu Xiaopeng let out a long breath and looked at me.

“After you contacted me with the Voice Transmission Talisman and told me to meet up with you, I stayed waiting at Ghost Gate Pass. But later, I saw dark clouds suddenly gathering over the sky beyond the pass, and there was a gigantic figure hidden within them. I knew something must have happened to you, Brother Han. So I planned to temporarily leave the black jade I was cutting and refining where it was and rush over to check on you. But right then, the scholar pinned beneath Baxia broke free from his petrification and woke up.”

“Fortunately, the commotion I caused in Avici Hell wasn’t any smaller than yours.”

Shentu brushed aside a lock of hair near her temple and glanced at me.

“That old fool King Chujiang really likes meddling in other people’s business. Avici Hell isn’t even under his jurisdiction, yet he still came after me.”

“The newly appointed Eastern Ghost Emperor, Yu Lei, was also drawn by the disturbances the two of you caused.”

Liu Xiaopeng picked up where Shentu left off.

“He didn’t bother entangling himself with me for long. We only exchanged a few dozen moves. If it had continued any longer, I probably wouldn’t have been able to hold out.”

He paused before adding:

“It seems… we’re still far too weak.”

I sighed and walked over, patting him on the shoulder.

I wanted to say something comforting, but no words came out.

After his bloodline awakening, Liu Xiaopeng was probably already stronger than I was. What right did I have to comfort him?

Besides, I understood his concern.

He was afraid that when the day came for us to truly battle the Eastern Ghost Emperor, our current strength simply wouldn’t be enough.

I sighed again and stopped dwelling on it.

For now, all we could do was take things one step at a time.

Fortunately, our operation had succeeded.

All three of us had returned safely.

And we had brought the black jade back with us.

I walked over to the black stone that had been the first thing thrown out of the spatial rift and placed my hand upon it.

The black stone felt warm and smooth to the touch.

Unlike the piece that had once sealed Shentu’s soul, it wasn’t cold and didn’t radiate intense yin energy.

Liu Xiaopeng had cut the black jade into a cube roughly two cubic meters in size. As I touched it, I couldn’t sense any aura at all. Even the oppressive killing intent it had possessed at Ghost Gate Pass had completely vanished.

It seemed Shentu had been right.

The black jade itself was originally no different from a flawless piece of uncarved jade.

Its value depended entirely on how its owner chose to use it.

The next question was how we should use it.

Turning to Zhu Zhu, I said, “For now, leave the black jade here. Don’t touch it, and don’t tell anyone what it is.”

Zhu Zhu nodded.

The group of us left the underground vault, and she ordered it sealed once more.

She accompanied us back to the office, repeatedly asking whether Liu Xiaopeng and I needed to go to the hospital.

Both of us waved off her concerns.

We grabbed a simple meal downstairs from the office.

Throughout the meal, Shentu sat with her arms crossed, quietly watching us eat.

As a soul spirit, she didn’t need food to sustain herself.

After taking a sip of alcohol, I looked at her and asked: “So how exactly are we supposed to use the black jade?”

Shentu looked at me leisurely.

“Didn’t I already tell you? Forge it into a weapon. A weapon capable of giving you a chance to fight against her… and Lucifer.”

“Then what should we make?” I asked with a frown. “A sword? A blade?”

Liu Xiaopeng took a drink of water.

“And who could possibly forge such a weapon?”

Shentu glanced at him.

“You don’t need to worry about the craftsman. I already have someone in mind.”

“As for what kind of weapon to create…”

She twirled a strand of hair around her finger, leaned back in her chair, and looked at both of us.

“That’s something you’ll have to decide for yourselves.”

“After all, you’re the ones who’ll be using it.”