Chapter 702: The Yellow Springs

Chen Changsheng frowned.

"Listening to Rain."

At his words, the Listening Rain Sword flew to his side.

But Listening to Rain seemed drained of strength. After touching just a few drops of water from the Yellow Springs, it plummeted.

Chen Changsheng hurriedly caught it.

'The water of the Yellow Springs is actually this powerful...'

Chen Changsheng murmured, tightly gripping the Listening Rain Sword.

Not only did it erode Magical Power, but it also suppressed the sword's spirit.

Chen Changsheng asked, "Can you hold on?"

The Listening Rain Sword trembled slightly, its response weak.

It was forcing itself to endure.

Seeing this, Chen Changsheng sighed softly and immediately put the sword away.

He had no desire to risk Listening to Rain's safety by taking it down into the depths.

He had to find another way.

Chen Changsheng tried to summon his soul.

But then the unexpected happened.

The exact moment he summoned his soul...

It was pulled straight out of his physical body.

Chen Changsheng froze, looking back at his physical shell floating on the water.

"Soul projection?"

Immediately after, a pulling force surged from beneath the Yellow Springs.

The suction was incredibly powerful. Resisting it in his soul form felt strenuous. While it couldn't actually harm him, it was still the greatest threat to his soul that Chen Changsheng had felt to date.

Chen Changsheng understood.

"So only a soul can go down..."

He glanced at his physical body, pondered for a moment, and decided to plunge into the depths to investigate.

He stopped resisting the pull of the Yellow Springs and let it drag him downward.

Now in soul form, the Yellow Springs posed no obstacle to him whatsoever.

He sank steadily.

Looking around, Chen Changsheng could faintly make out the souls of others brushing past him.

Most likely, they had all come here through the City God Temple.

But what Chen Changsheng didn't quite understand was why these souls lacked any consciousness.

The only explanation was that they had entered in a different way.

They were dead, whereas he, Chen Changsheng, had arrived here with a living body.

He sank deeper.

Gradually, Chen Changsheng began to feel a slight pressure.

Under this pressure, all the other souls sinking alongside him were gradually compressed into glowing orbs of spiritual light.

After reaching a certain depth...

Chen Changsheng looked down and spotted a gleam of light directly beneath him.

It seemed to be the exit.

He sped up, pressing onward.

The light ahead grew increasingly blinding, making it hard for him to keep his eyes open.

He finally stopped just short of the light, going no further.

One after another, the glowing soul orbs arrived at this place, but the radiance was simply too piercing to see what lay beyond.

Chen Changsheng tried to investigate using his divine sense.

But just as he approached the light, a force pushed him back.

"Why?"

Chen Changsheng was momentarily stunned.

The light seemed to resist him.

Was it because he was a living person?

Thinking this, Chen Changsheng frowned.

He sat cross-legged before the light and began to carefully sense his surroundings.

Vaguely, he could feel the power of heaven and earth.

But when he tried to probe deeper...

A figure suddenly appeared within his senses.

He snapped his eyes open.

The blinding white light shone over him.

But piercing through the glare, Chen Changsheng saw a silhouette standing within the brilliance.

The silhouette suddenly opened its eyes and met his gaze.

"You're here?"

A voice rang out.

Chen Changsheng froze. Immediately after, everything around him ground to a halt.

The pull of the Yellow Springs also stopped in that instant.

The brilliant light slowly dimmed.

In a daze, Chen Changsheng's vision gradually cleared.

What he saw looked like a sacrificial altar.

A person sat cross-legged upon it. The figure had only a body and wore absolutely nothing. Yet when Chen Changsheng focused on the person's face, he found it had no features at all—it was completely blank.

The figure glanced at Chen Changsheng, pondered for a moment, and touched its own face.

Immediately, a set of facial features identical to Chen Changsheng's own grew into place.

"This way, you won't be afraid," the figure said, its tone and cadence completely identical to Chen Changsheng's.

Chen Changsheng took a deep breath and asked, "Who are you?"

The figure stood up and stretched lazily.

It seemed that staying here for so long had left him somewhat fatigued.

He smiled and said, "You arrived here a step earlier than I did. Not bad."

Chen Changsheng frowned. "You know me?"

The figure chuckled. "You are me."

Chen Changsheng fell silent, carefully sizing up the person before him.

An indescribable eeriness hung in the air.

The figure stepped forward and circled Chen Changsheng, observing him. He nodded at times, then frowned at others.

"This is vastly different from what I originally envisioned..."

He raised an eyebrow, seemingly unable to understand, as if the Chen Changsheng before his eyes hadn't met his expectations.

Chen Changsheng looked at him and said, "If you are going to speak in such ambiguous terms, Your Excellency should either say nothing at all or explain yourself clearly."

"Then I won't say it."

Chen Changsheng paused for a moment, then asked, "Just who exactly are you? Are you an avatar of heaven and earth? If not, why are you deep within the Yellow Springs?"

The man offered a warm smile. "I already told you. You are me."

Chen Changsheng thought for a moment before probing, "Are you my past life?"

The man shook his head. "No. Yes and no. Like I said, you are me."

"What do you mean?" Chen Changsheng asked.

The figure in front of him yawned and said, "You don't need to worry about it. If you can't figure it out, don't overthink it. Many things in this world simply don't have answers to begin with, and knowing isn't necessarily better than not knowing."

"However, since you've come here, I still must tell you: what you are trying to do right now is beyond your ability to handle. If you act rashly, you will ultimately only end up toiling in vain to benefit this heaven and earth."

"You are too impatient."

Hearing these words, Chen Changsheng's heart skipped a beat.

This person had indeed struck at the crux of the matter.

Regarding the matters of the Underworld and Reincarnation, he really had been a bit too eager, even going so far as to venture into the Yellow Springs after having completely lost his Magical Power.

Chen Changsheng said, "This Chen merely wanted to come down and take a look for now. As for other matters, I naturally have other plans."

The man smiled. "Is that so?"

He didn't seem to believe Chen Changsheng's words at all; his tone suggested an exceptionally deep understanding of him.

The man glanced upward and said, "The power of the rules in the Yellow Springs has shifted slightly. It seems you've done something on the outside. Can you tell me how you managed it? Back in my day, I expended a tremendous amount of effort on that."

Chen Changsheng asked, "Why should This Chen tell you?"

The man waved his hand, saying nonchalantly, "It's fine if you don't. I can roughly guess anyway. Hm..."

After pondering for a moment, he said, "If there are no surprises, you likely started with the Human Dao Investiture, didn't you? That would be the safest method."

Chen Changsheng slightly raised an eyebrow, remaining silent.

To think this person understood so much.