“Travel together? I’m truly sorry, but I’m afraid that’s not possible. I’m looking for friends from our human race,” Fang Yun said with a smile.

Fang Yun had heard of Dou Ji before and knew quite a bit about him. As one of the most outstanding young saints of the Demon Barbarian and Flood Dragon Clans, the human race always paid extra attention.

Fang Yun said this as he carefully observed the surrounding environment.

Aside from the stone walls on both sides, the path ahead, and the sky full of fog, Fang Yun couldn’t see anything else, not even wild grass or moss.

And not a single one of the friends who had entered the fifth corridor with him was there; they had completely lost touch with each other.

Dou Ji looked at Fang Yun, smiled slightly, revealing a set of sharp, white dragon teeth, and said, “I’m heading the same way as you.”

“Brother Dou Ji, being a saint of the Demon Clan, you must be very familiar with this Comet Corridor, right?” Fang Yun said as they walked.

Dou Ji followed behind Fang Yun and said, “I do know some things, but not much. For example, this fifth corridor is a labyrinth.”

“It does indeed resemble a labyrinth,” Fang Yun said.

The man and the dragon did not speak again and silently walked forward.

Fang Yun did not ask Dou Ji why they couldn’t fly or climb mountains, such pointless questions. Since this place was a labyrinth, naturally there was a powerful force restraining everyone.

After a while, Dou Ji said, “It seems you don’t know much about this fifth corridor. Haven’t your elders mentioned it to you?”

“I know very little about the Comet Corridor,” Fang Yun replied.

Dou Ji said, “Since we’re heading the same way, let me tell you about the fifth corridor. This corridor is different from the others; there are treasures here, as well as dangers.”

“Dangers?” Fang Yun asked.

“Yes, an ancient demon is imprisoned here. As long as we don’t encounter the place where the ancient demon resides, there’s basically no danger, and we will always find our way out of the labyrinth.”

“Thank you for the information, Brother Dou Ji,” Fang Yun said.

Dou Ji said cheerfully, “We’re both trapped in the labyrinth, so naturally, we should join forces to get out. By the way, the environment here is particularly suitable for the growth of longevity fruits. If you see any, feel free to pick them. I don’t need them; longevity fruits are of no use to our Flood Dragon Clan.”

“The Dragon Saint Palace is indeed wealthy and generous,” Fang Yun remarked.

“It’s nothing, just mutual benefit.”

Fang Yun said, “If I’m not mistaken, you’ve been preparing for The Holy Land for a long time. You can’t possibly be stumped by this fifth corridor, right? I don’t believe that with the power of the Dragon Saint, you don’t even have a map of this labyrinth.”

“Don’t mention it! Didn’t I say there’s an ancient demon here? The power of that ancient demon causes the labyrinth to change frequently. Not to mention my father, even the Demon Ancestor doesn’t know what changes will occur in the fifth corridor,” Dou Ji said in a tone so relaxed, he didn’t treat Fang Yun as an outsider.

“The labyrinth changes? It seems that the ancient demon is extraordinary. I hope we can find a way out,” Fang Yun said while drawing a simple map in the Book of Marvels, recording every part of the labyrinth’s journey.

“Your human race is better at using your brains than our Demon Clan. Do you have a way to leave the labyrinth?” Dou Ji asked.

“There’s no set pattern to a labyrinth. How could there be a way to leave? I won’t lie to you; I’m completely clueless right now,” Fang Yun replied.

“No worries. If you can lead me out of the labyrinth sooner, I will persuade Long Ling to leave and not kill you. If we leave too late and Long Ling reaches the seventh corridor first or even becomes the King of Stars, then there’s nothing I can do,” Dou Ji said helplessly.

“As you know nothing about this fifth corridor, Brother Dou Ji, and since you want to get out of the labyrinth, why not be frank and tell me everything you know about it? It might give me a reference, and perhaps your words will help me find a clue to leave,” Fang Yun said as they walked.

Dou Ji frowned deeply and thought for a while before saying, “There are many legends about the Comet Corridor among the Demon Clan, true and false, passed down for thousands of years, making it hard to determine. How about this: we talk as we walk, and maybe we’ll find a clue.”

So, the man and the dragon walked through the labyrinth, with the man listening as he walked in front and the Flood Dragon speaking as it followed behind.

“I heard a Demon King say that this Comet Corridor holds a great secret, not to be underestimated. The Demon Ancestor values it highly. It’s used to test the demon generals to distract and deceive…,” the Flood Dragon recounted.

“It is said that there have been seven Kings of Stars in the Comet Corridor. Apart from that unfortunate dragon from the Kong Family who died, the Demon Emperor and… that young one, the other four Kings of Stars all became disciples of the Demon Ancestor and eventually succeeded in becoming saints.”

“However, some demons say that the Comet Corridor is just a front. The throne of the King of Stars is the real treasure; that’s the power bestowed by the Demon Ancestor. The Comet Corridor itself doesn’t actually have much power…”

“The Demon Ancestor is a Star Demon Barbarian, but many of his disciples became Blood Demon Barbarians. One of his disciples helped King Zhou of Shang build Zhao Ge City. Remember the Great Saint killed by Sage Confucius? That was one of the Demon Ancestor’s disciples. It’s said that he attacked the human race because of a great secret, but unfortunately, he was killed and eaten by Sage Confucius. His flesh must have been delicious.”

Fang Yun listened intently. Dou Ji didn’t seem like the notoriously ferocious son of the Dragon Saint from the rumors; instead, he seemed like a chatterbox.

As they walked, a large black tiger, about the same height as Fang Yun, came sprinting towards them. Both parties were startled and stopped simultaneously.

Fang Yun recognized this tiger demon. When they had just entered the fourth corridor, this tiger demon’s son was right at the half-mile point at the end of the bridge. In the end, it successfully passed the fourth corridor at the cost of one front leg. However, this tiger demon’s son now had an intact front leg, showing no signs of injury.The Tiger Demon Prince saw no change in Fang Yun, but a flash of terror crossed his eyes after seeing Dou Ji, and then he slightly lowered his head, saying, “You’re here too?”

Dou Ji chuckled, “Hu An, you haven’t found the exit either?”

Hu An replied with a mournful face, “I’ve been completely confused. I clearly remember the way, but when I return from a dead end, I find that the path has changed!”

“You’ve noticed it too?” The smile disappeared from Dou Ji’s face.

“Yes, I suspect that this maze is constantly changing. Do you think it could be the stone lions playing tricks?”

Fang Yun shook his head; the likelihood of the stone lions playing tricks was too small to be significant.

“Do you have any other discoveries?” Fang Yun steered the conversation back on track.

After thinking for a moment, Hu An said, “I’ve smelled the scent of several familiar members of the Demon Clan. I wanted to follow the scent to find them, but their scents always led me to dead ends, which is very strange. Our Tiger Clan ancestors who have entered the Comet Corridor mentioned the fifth corridor, which is completely different from this place.”

“What exactly has changed in the fifth corridor?” Fang Yun asked.

“I don’t know either. What should we do?” Dou Ji looked to Fang Yun.

Fang Yun shook his head, then glanced at Hu An’s claws and felt a familiar aura.

Suddenly, the ground shook, the mountain walls trembled, and Fang Yun, unable to stand steady, quickly braced himself against the stone wall. To his surprise, the stone wall suddenly softened and then transformed into a giant black vortex, creating a tremendous suction force that pulled Fang Yun in.

“Not good!” Dou Ji and Hu An both fled, but the suction was so powerful that both of them, like Fang Yun, were sucked into the mountain wall.

“Damn ‘The Carrying of the Mountain’!” Dou Ji cursed at the last moment.

Fang Yun felt his body enveloped by a sticky substance, emitting a pungent odor, and he was unable to open his eyes, completely sealed by the viscous material.

Then, Fang Yun felt his body fall from mid-air.

Splash…

Fang Yun realized he had fallen into water, but then a familiar yet intensely cold chill rushed into his body, assaulting The Courage to Write, filled with such ferocity that it seemed it could freeze him solid in the next moment.

“It’s the comet’s chill, dozens of times stronger than the chill of the Falling Star Bridge!” After making this judgment, Fang Yun found that the sticky substance enveloping him seemed to dissolve in the water, so he forcefully opened his eyes and found himself in a cold river, quickly using The Courage to Write to protect his body and swiftly heading to shore.

Fang Yun discovered that although he had the ability to control water, he could not manipulate this river water.

This river water was also unusual; it was not transparent but a mercury-like silver liquid.

Fang Yun reached the shore, and the silver river water on his body immediately formed into thin silver ice, which seemed capable of freezing everything. Fang Yun’s The Courage to Write was about to step into the second realm, and the powerful force of The Courage to Write shattered the ice on his body.

Ice shards scattered, silver light twinkled, exceptionally beautiful, and then a strange scene occurred: all the ice shards turned into silver droplets, flowing back into the river.

Splash! Splash!

Fang Yun saw Dou Ji and Hu An fall into the river, a dragon and a tiger with blazing vital energy flames, shouting as they rushed to shore.

Fang Yun looked at the two shaken demons and asked with a smile, “Brother Dou Ji, what is ‘The Carrying of the Mountain’?”

A shadow flickered in Dou Ji’s eyes, then returned to normal.

“I told you, there’s an ancient demon in this fifth corridor. To be precise, it’s the offspring of an ancient demon, imprisoned here since it was very young. This ancient demon is ‘The Carrying of the Mountain,’ and it’s said that the strongest among them can carry a star and traverse the Myriad Realms. However, The Carrying of the Mountain is very rare, even rarer than your Mist Butterfly.” As Dou Ji spoke, he glanced at Fang Yun’s chest, where the Mist Butterfly was soundly asleep.

Fang Yun nodded, saying nothing.

“The Demon Saint seems to need The Carrying of the Mountain for something, but it believes the Demon Saint killed its parents, so it would rather die than comply. As a result, it was thrown into the Comet Corridor by the Demon Saint to endure the torment of the comet’s chill. This wouldn’t be a big deal, but the Demon Saint has been missing for a long time, and The Carrying of the Mountain has been suppressed for who knows how many years. Since the Demon Saint forbade it from cultivating, it often sleeps for hundreds of years at a time. However, The Carrying of the Mountain is ultimately an ancient demon, and even without cultivating, after thousands of years, it has the strength of a great demon king, just one step away from becoming a Demon Saint.”

Fang Yun said, “You mean to say, The Carrying of the Mountain sucked us here? Where is this place?”

Dou Ji looked around and said, “This seems to be underground of the fifth corridor, possibly where the Demon Saint suppressed The Carrying of the Mountain.”

Fang Yun looked at the silver river water and asked, “Brother Dou Ji, what is this silver river water?”

Dou Ji shook his head.

Fang Yun turned to Hu An, and the Tiger Demon Prince also shook his head.

Fang Yun did not expect the two demons to be clueless, so he had to think of a solution while observing his surroundings.

The place was very dark, but Fang Yun’s bright eyes allowed him to see everything clearly.

This was a passage, about twenty zhang wide and three zhang high, with no end in sight, and aside from a strange silver river flowing slowly, there was nothing particularly noteworthy. (To be continued.)

PS: The second and third updates will be very late…