Chapter 663
by fanqienovelChapter 663: Northern Evil Eye
When Wang Chen stepped out of the duty hall, his expression was grim.
He had just completed his rotation guarding the Western Evil Eye, only to be assigned to guard the Northern Evil Eye.
Guarding the Evil Eye might sound prestigious, but in reality, it is an extremely arduous and dangerous task. No guard willingly takes it on, which is why a rotation system is used.
The rotation occurs once a month, and under normal circumstances, Wang Chen would only be assigned to guard the Evil Eye two or three times during his three-year stay in the Evil Abyss.
Now, not only did he have to perform this task consecutively, but according to the duty hall’s requirements, he had to remain at the Northern Evil Eye until a replacement arrived before he could return.
As for when the new guarding cultivator would come, the duty hall’s response was that there was no information available at the moment.
Even if Wang Chen thought with his toes, he knew he was being targeted!
Although there weren’t many guards working in the Evil Abyss, under a normal rotation system, a lack of replacements should not occur.
However, the duty hall had imposed this assignment, and unless Wang Chen was willing to risk everything and ignore the consequences, even if he appealed to the Forbidden Prison Office, it was unlikely he would receive fair treatment.
Wang Chen was well aware of this.
He was just a powerless young cultivator, a “temporary worker” without even an immortal registry, and had no strength to resist. He could only let others dictate his fate.
The only thing Wang Chen could do was display a firm attitude to fight for some small benefits.
And the so-called rewards and compensation from above were merely increases in his salary and materials like Dan symbols.
At this point, Wang Chen was 100% certain—someone was trying to pressure him this way!
But who that person was and what their purpose was, he had no idea.
The unknown is terrifying, but Wang Chen was fearless!
After resting for a night at his residence, he set off for the Northern Evil Eye the next morning.
The four Evil Eyes—North, South, East, and West—serve as the exhaust ports for the negative energy from the veins of Yongle Immortal City, with the Northern Evil Eye located at the lowest point and furthest from the Evil Abyss.
The Evil Abyss is originally a place where guards from the Forbidden Prison Office are sent, and the Northern Evil Eye is the lowest tier of assignments.
Arriving here, Wang Chen felt as if he had been exiled!
Last time he went to the Western Evil Eye, he was just filling in for someone else; this time he went directly to take the spot. The Safe House not only had no one but was also in complete disarray, as if it had endured a calamity.
The scene before him was a mess!
Wang Chen had to spend some time tidying up the Small House; by the time he truly settled in, half the day had already passed.
Fortunately, his Xumi Ring stored a large number of personal items, and he had everything he needed—tables, chairs, and benches; otherwise, redecorating would have been a hassle.
He wondered what had happened to the previous guarding cultivator that had turned the Safe House into such a state!
This was indeed a thought-provoking question.
Once he finished his tasks, Wang Chen set up the red clay stove and brewed himself a pot of spiritual tea.
As he drank, he quietly contemplated.
In fact, guarding the Evil Eye wasn’t necessarily a terrible thing for him.
Although the environment here was extremely harsh, the Safe House provided a place to rest and cultivate. As long as he was careful, safety would not be a significant issue.
Even though the days spent guarding the Evil Eye were exceedingly dull, he was far from the chaos of the Evil Abyss and could cultivate without interruption.
Most importantly, the greatest threat to cultivators, the Evil Spirits, turned out to be Wang Chen’s treasure trove of experience!
Virtue, spiritual energy, and Evil Energy Pearls could all be harvested from the Evil Spirits!
After carefully weighing the pros and cons, Wang Chen solidified his resolve.
Fortune and misfortune are two sides of the same coin; since he couldn’t change his circumstances, he would seize the opportunities hidden within them.
As a cultivator, only by becoming truly powerful could he take control of his own destiny.
No longer would he be manipulated or schemed against by anyone!
He quickly cast aside his lingering resentment and doubts, embarking on a new chapter of his journey at the Northern Evil Eye.
Wang Chen began by scouting the area surrounding the Safe House.
Familiarizing himself with the environment and terrain was crucial to ensuring his safety to the greatest extent possible.
However, he soon realized that the Northern Evil Eye was far more complex than the Western Evil Eye, with its influence extending over an area several times larger than the latter.
If compared to the Evil Abyss, the "sphere of influence" of the Northern Evil Eye was at least half that of the former!
Here, vast underground caverns and bottomless caves coexisted.
Wang Chen even stumbled upon a subterranean dark river!
This dark river lay over a thousand steps away from the Safe House; it originated from a shadowy cave, meandering for a mile before disappearing into a narrow fissure in the ground.
Though called a dark river, it was more akin to a brook.
To Wang Chen’s delight, the water in this dark river was remarkably clear and brimming with spirit gas!
To unleash the full destructive power of his Supreme Mysterious Spirit Dragon True Form Image, he needed to consume spirit gas.
The spirit gas he had painstakingly gathered before was quickly depleted, and finding a new source was no easy task.
This dark river was an unexpected boon!
It was like stumbling upon a hidden resource node.
Moreover, the distance between the Northern Evil Eye and the Safe House exceeded fifteen miles.
Though this distance was considerable, Wang Chen could still sense the immense threat emanating from the Evil Eye even from ten miles away!
After testing the limits, he estimated that he could only venture within five miles of the Northern Evil Eye.
Any closer, and even his Immortal body technique would falter!
Of course, there was no need to take such risks.
During his exploration over the next few days, Wang Chen noticed an unusually sparse presence of Evil Spirits; he encountered very few.
This was peculiar.
After all, the concentration of negative energy around the Northern Evil Eye was extraordinarily high, making it a veritable paradise for Evil Spirits and magical spirits. Under normal circumstances, they should have been as numerous as hairs on a cow!
Yet, Wang Chen found only a handful.
Anomalies often foreshadow strange events, and Wang Chen remained vigilant. He marked several nodes where negative energy converged and checked them daily for any unusual activity.
On the fifth day of his stay at the Northern Evil Eye, the situation took a dramatic turn!
A sudden storm of sinister energy forced Wang Chen to retreat to the Safe House at top speed.
He also activated the defensive formations in the Small House to their maximum capacity!
Even inside the room, Wang Chen could clearly hear the eerie howls from outside, like chilling sounds of wailing, which neither the thick stone walls nor the formations could fully block.
Fortunately, he had been alert and returned to the Safe House in time to take shelter; otherwise, the consequences would have been dire!
The storm of sinister energy raged for three full days and nights before finally subsiding.
When Wang Chen deactivated the defensive formations and stepped out of the Safe House, the sight before him left him utterly stunned.
Countless white ghostly shadows drifted aimlessly around the Small House, colliding and repelling one another, like lost souls exuding an eerie, bone-chilling aura.
The moment Wang Chen opened the door, all the ghosts seemed to receive a signal simultaneously.
They turned in unison, their hollow eyes locking onto Wang Chen.
The surroundings fell into an unnerving silence, reaching a peak of strangeness!