130: A gift

There was no way to clearly see that face, not even its outline was discernible.

He could only strain to peer through the thick cloud layer, vaguely making out two extremely blurry specks of light, as faint as flickering stars in the night sky.

Just then, a voice, as if from the deepest abyss, striking directly at the soul, inexplicably and without warning, exploded directly in Li Wen's mind.

"Human, for what reason do you intrude upon this realm?"

Li Wen's heart jolted, but he quickly calmed down and replied.

"I came here? You were the one who summoned me, weren't you!"

However, he knew very well that the most urgent task at hand was to communicate with this mysterious entity as quickly as possible to find a way to escape.

So, he continued.

"I merely walked a mere three hundred meters in a straight line within Pingdu Mountain..."

However, Li Wen's words were cut off unceremoniously by the other party.

"Indeed, that is the method to enter the Netherworld."

The voice said coldly, devoid of any emotion. It then added.

"Don't you humans often say, 'Do not look back on the Bridge of Helplessness'? This short three-hundred-meter journey is actually a rare opportunity given to you, to test whether there is still a trace of obsession or unfinished business in your heart."

Li Wen was speechless after hearing this, thinking to himself, "In that situation, with my life on the line, how could I have the mind to think about other miscellaneous things?"

He pondered silently, since there were no other useful clues to pursue at the moment, he might as well be direct.

After all, as things stood, he didn't seem to have angered the other party.

Thinking of this, he spoke:

"Then, may I ask, what exactly do I need to do now to successfully leave this place?"

However, before he could finish speaking, he was once again mercilessly interrupted.

This time, however, the one who interrupted him was none other than the Scholar.

The Scholar was heard shouting impatiently.

"Alright, alright, you two stop bickering! Hurry up and start playing chess! I've been waiting for a long time!"

Upon hearing the Scholar's shout, the Netherworld Guardian, who had been so imposing, instantly seemed like a different person, even his tone of voice became vastly different from before.

He quickly responded.

"Coming, coming, don't rush, don't rush."

It was as if first-time parents faced with a crying child, wanting to soothe them but not knowing where to begin.

Just then, an astonishing scene occurred—the Netherworld Guardian didn't even move a finger, but circles of strange purplish-black light slowly emerged from the black chess piece.

Immediately after, under the effect of this eerie light, the black piece actually floated up on its own and made an extremely brilliant move.

After this series of actions was completed, the ethereal and distant voice slowly came again.

"Finding a way to leave here is naturally not difficult, but first, you must patiently listen to me finish my story..."

"When the universe was just born, the Netherworld already existed."

"The boundary between the Netherworld and the real world has always been shrouded by a huge and bizarre spatial distortion."

"This spatial distortion is like an insurmountable chasm, linking two vastly different worlds."

"Because of this, astonishing spatial dislocations often occur between the two realms."

"At a certain period, a supreme emperor among the human race—You Emperor—emerged."

"This emperor, witnessing the various disasters and chaos brought by spatial dislocation to the world, decided to solve the problem."

"After much deliberation and arduous searching, You Emperor finally came up with an ingenious solution."

"He moved a secret realm and began to transform it. He endowed this secret realm with a unique law, the Faceless Ghost."

"According to this special law, when a Faceless Ghost dies, the soul power left behind after its death will continuously return to this true boundary of the Netherworld."

"These soul powers, like a powerful torrent, converge to collectively help suppress the occasionally restless spatial anomalies, and at the same time, effectively isolate the Netherworld from the real world."

"And among You Emperor's many spirit beasts, there was one that was particularly unique."

"You Emperor entrusted him with an important task, and this spirit beast naturally took on the arduous mission of guarding this mysterious space."

"Through the long river of time, only his solitary figure has always lingered in this space."

"For no other reason than the suffocatingly dense aura of death that permeates here."

"In such a harsh environment, no life can be conceived."

"Not only that, but other creatures besides humans, even if they possess immense power, cannot freely traverse this area."

However, in the long, endless, flowing river of time, it seems that nothing is truly impossible.

As long as the probability of an event occurring is great enough, even the most incredible situations can become reality.

"Then one day, an unexpected miracle actually happened!"

"The rare resource carried by the spirit beast that had been guarding this place—the yin sen wood—actually sprouted new shoots in such a harsh environment."

It is known that this yin sen wood usually grows in places with extremely heavy yin energy, and its requirements for the surrounding environment are extremely stringent.

But now, it has broken through the soil here, showing tenacious vitality.

"Borrowing this precious hint of new life, this originally dead and lifeless world finally welcomed its first life, and also its unique existence."

"This life is the Scholar who stands before you now."

"Because this place contains extremely vast soul power, the Scholar, shortly after gaining new life, completed the evolutionary journey from Book Child to Scholar at an astonishing speed."

At this moment, the voice that had been recounting this past slowly said.

"And I am the spirit beast that was left behind to guard this place back then..."

Hearing this, Li Wen already understood. The other party had laid such a long groundwork, and his true purpose behind it was probably only one.

That was to hope that he could bring this Scholar out of this enclosed world.

As for the specific reasons, perhaps it was for the Scholar's better development and Growth, or perhaps there were some unknown factors.

But no matter what, this was already the only help Li Wen could offer at the moment.

This was simply a gift.

So, Li Wen nodded without hesitation and replied.

"I am willing to sign a contract with him, but unfortunately, my Beastmaster level has not yet reached level four, and achieving this goal will require some time and effort to improve."