Chapter 6317 - The Corpse Fisher of the Underworld River

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Long Chen and Mo Nian slowly climbed up along a rope dangling from the stern of the ghost ship. At this moment, both were a bit nervous; the rope had decayed to the point where it seemed it could snap at any moment. They could only rely on their physical strength to climb slowly. Fortunately, they managed to reach the bow without any mishaps. The ghost ship wasn't large, only about a hundred zhang in length. Yet, upon boarding, they discovered its interior was vast, as if it could contain an entire world. On the decayed deck lay countless corpses, including humans, demon clans, devil clans, and even powerful beings from beyond. Some of these corpses emanated terrifying auras, belonging to existences at the God Emperor level. Long Chen and Mo Nian were shocked, wondering about the origins of this ship. "Thud..." At this moment, a female corpse was thrown at their feet, and a long sword clattered onto the deck, the sound echoing like thunder across the silent sea. Startled, Long Chen and Mo Nian looked up to see an old man with white hair, holding a corpse-hooking rod, who had appeared in front of them without them noticing. Long Chen was about to act, but Mo Nian grabbed him, signaling not to make any sudden moves. However, the white-haired elder, with a withered face and shriveled eyes, turned out to be a corpse as well. He stood in the air, as if sensing something, looked around suspiciously, and finally walked slowly to the bow, sitting motionlessly. "He can't see us?" Long Chen said in surprise. "This should be the legendary Ferryman of the Underworld River, responsible for clearing the corpses that die in the long river of time. Legend has it that the Ferryman can only see corpses, not the living. The lantern at the bow is called the Underworld Lantern, guiding him to find corpses," Mo Nian explained. Having mingled in the underground world for so many years, Mo Nian was quite knowledgeable about many secrets. "However, this Ferryman doesn't quite match the legends. When excavating historical relics, I once read a legend about the Ferryman. They are said to be incarnations of the Great Dao, the scavengers of the Six Paths of Reincarnation. But this person carries not a trace of Dao rhythm, more like a cursed puppet," Mo Nian added. "Ghost ship, Ferryman, this might involve some extraordinary secrets. However, we don't have much time and don't know where this ghost ship is heading. If it takes us to a strange world and we can't return, it would be disastrous. Let's quickly explore," Long Chen suggested. Mo Nian nodded, and they exchanged gestures. The ghost ship had two levels, so they split up: Long Chen searched the upper level, while Mo Nian explored the lower level. Mo Nian slowly descended to the lower deck, while Long Chen approached the female corpse. Under the light of the Underworld Lantern at the bow, Long Chen finally saw the woman's face clearly. This woman was a powerful member of the demon clan, with horns on her head and fangs in her mouth. Her body was wrapped in black threads resembling a spider web. These black threads were similar to those that had attached to Long Chen before. Long Chen, with a thought, used his blood essence to drive the threads. The spider web-like threads melted away instantly, and as they did, the woman's fierce aura erupted. "Not good!" Long Chen was startled. He hadn't expected that, though the woman had been dead for countless years, her vitality remained. When the web seal vanished, terrifying waves surged forth. "Whoosh" Long Chen immediately stored the woman's corpse into his chaos space. But at this moment, the ghost-like Ferryman had already appeared before him, moving even faster than Long Chen's Starry Cloud Step. Long Chen dared not move a muscle. The Ferryman looked at the empty spot on the ground where the female corpse had been. The hook in the Ferryman's hand gleamed with a chilling aura, almost touching Long Chen's nose. Long Chen could even smell the endless scent of death on the hook. After a while, the Ferryman, detecting no other anomalies, slowly walked back to the bow and sat quietly. Long Chen finally breathed a sigh of relief and quickly immersed his mind in the chaos space. At this moment, the woman was emitting a terrifying aura. She was an existence at the peak of the Emperor level, possessing a trace of God Emperor aura, only a step away from becoming a God Emperor. "This is a great demon from beyond, but why hasn't she manifested her demon form if she's dead?" Long Chen was puzzled. Examining her weapon, he found it inscribed with strange symbols, differing from the inscriptions of the Nine Heavens world. Long Chen tested it but got no reaction, as if it were dead. Long Chen put the weapon away to let Guo Ran and Xia Chen study it later. As for the corpse, since it was of an alien race, he simply tossed it into the black soil. Long Chen's consciousness withdrew. Seeing that the Ferryman indeed couldn't see him, he decided to go all out and threw the corpses one by one into the chaos space. After all, he wasn't afraid of the web curse, as long as he didn't make a sound, the Ferryman wouldn't notice him. The more corpses Long Chen collected, the more alarmed he became. This web-like thing had sealed the energy of the corpses. Thinking of the Ferryman, Long Chen couldn't help but shudder. If these corpses were refined into puppets, the scene would be terrifying. With this in mind, Long Chen sped up the collection of corpses. Some were existences at the God Emperor level, which he placed separately in the chaos space. God Emperor-level corpses were priceless treasures, with emperor runes on their bones, eternal and indestructible, allowing one to explore the secrets of the dead. Some corpses were of the Nine Heavens world's powerhouses, which Long Chen also carefully placed. He hoped to return them to their descendants upon returning to the Nine Heavens world, though he wasn't sure if their descendants were still in this world. Soon, thousands of corpses were stored in Long Chen's chaos space, leaving the deck empty. Unfortunately, besides the woman, none of the others had weapons. "Dong dong dong..." Just as Long Chen was checking for anything else to collect, a light tapping sound came from below the deck. Long Chen quickly returned to the stern and entered the lower deck, finding it filled with dense corpses, all of which were from the demon clan beyond. Long Chen didn't rush to collect the demon corpses but walked to the end, where Mo Nian was staring blankly at a corpse at the end of the cabin. It was upon discovering this female corpse that Mo Nian signaled Long Chen to come. "A member of the Purple Blood Clan!" When Long Chen approached the female corpse, his heart trembled as the purple blood in his body resonated. Long Chen carefully examined the female corpse, finding it bound by black threads. He prepared to release the bindings to see if he could awaken her remnant soul with the power of the purple blood. "Mo Nian, guard me!" After saying this, Long Chen gently pointed a finger at the woman's forehead.