My Crazy Upgrade System

With the Netherwater Insect leading the way, they advanced with ease. Aside from fending off the Demon Beasts that constantly lunged at them, they faced no other issues. For cultivators with low cultivation levels, this place was a nightmare, but for him, it was a walk in the park. Not only did he have the Netherwater Insect to guide him, but he also possessed considerable strength.

The death mists couldn’t stop their advance. They walked on without a problem. He had originally planned to rely on Soul Guidance to find the path. While theoretically possible, Soul Guidance only provided a general direction, not a precise one.

Of course, if he were to activate his Luck Aura and walk randomly, he could also find his way out. With his formidable Luck Power, he could definitely exit with ease. However, the cost in Madness Value would be astronomical, so it was best not to attempt it.

Fortunately, the Netherwater Insect was there to guide them, making everything incredibly simple.

After they had walked a fair distance, the death mist ahead began to thin. It wasn’t that the mist was preparing to dissipate again; rather, they were about to emerge from it!

Soon, under Yi Tianyun’s lead, they walked out of the death mist. The first thing that greeted their eyes wasn’t a dangerous scene, but a group of people! That’s right—a group of Cultivators was camped in the distance, meditating as if they lived there.

Yi Tianyun swept his gaze over them and found that their cultivation levels were quite high. Most were at the sixth or seventh layer of the Core Transformation Stage, and some had even reached the peak. There were at least ten to twenty Cultivators in total—a considerable number.

Out in the world, a group like this would constitute a powerful faction. However, they seemed to be in separate camps, not part of a single group. When Yi Tianyun’s party appeared, the others all looked over with extreme vigilance. Seeing the four of them emerge, their faces filled with astonishment.

It was incredible that so many people had managed to emerge from the death mist. It was even more unbelievable that they had come out from *within* it.

Most people would wait for the death mist to dissipate before coming out. Had it dissipated now? Of course not; it still shrouded the area behind them. However, once they were out, there wasn’t a trace of death mist here. Even the black aura had thinned considerably, as if they had exited the region entirely.

However, the scene before them clearly told them they had not.

Before Yi Tianyun stood a towering cliff, and not far from it, no other path could be seen. This meant they had to scale the cliff to pass. There was no other way!

The towering cliff pierced the sky, its peak obscured by a layer of black clouds, completely hiding what lay above.

And this was the final trial—the Netherworld Sect!

Passing through here would lead them to the Netherworld. This was their final trial. Most of the black aura in this area was being absorbed by the cliff, so little of it was released into the surroundings. This allowed them to stay for extended periods without needing to replenish their Spiritual Power.

He turned and looked back at the passage through the death mist. They had simply walked out, shaken but unharmed.

"We’re finally out! That went surprisingly smoothly. It’s all thanks to Yi. If it weren’t for him, we’d have been in serious trouble, and we might have even died in there..." Ren Liangchen said with deep feeling.

They had made it out so easily largely thanks to Yi Tianyun’s help. They hadn’t really contributed much, aside from walking and providing the map. ’I wonder what they’d think if they knew Yi Tianyun had a map all along?’

In any case, they all wore ashamed expressions. They had agreed they would pull their weight, but in the end, Yi Tianyun had handled everything, leaving them at a loss for what to say.

Given how things had gone, Yi Tianyun didn’t need to team up with them at all. It might have even been easier for him to travel alone.

"Let’s not dwell on that," Yi Tianyun said with a faint smile. "This should be the final trial, right? Once we pass through here, we’ll reach the Netherworld."

"That’s right. Once we pass through this Netherworld Sect, we’ll have reached the Netherworld," Ren Liangchen said, his gaze sweeping over the area. His voice grew heavy. "But this is the hardest part. So many Cultivators have made it this far only to get stuck here. Their only options are to turn back or climb this cliff. There is no other choice."

Their expressions grew grim. This was a cliff they couldn’t hope to climb easily, either. Seeing so many Cultivators trapped here, they knew they couldn’t ascend it immediately. However, they had anticipated this before coming and had made preparations.

As Yi Tianyun’s group walked closer, the other Cultivators glanced at them but paid them no mind. After a single look, they ignored them and returned to their focused cultivation.

Yi Tianyun could see a hint of mockery in their eyes, but what he saw more of was despair. It seemed that being trapped here had eroded their drive, leaving them unwilling to even move.

As they neared the cliff, they immediately felt an intense black aura seeping out from it. This was clearly no ordinary cliff. Anyone who climbed it would be constantly invaded by this black aura. The higher one climbed, the worse it would become. If the corrosion became too much to bear, a climber could lose their grip and fall.

Normally, if they could fly, this cliff would pose no problem at all; they could soar over it with ease. But things were different now. They could only climb it by hand; flying was impossible.

Just then, a Cultivator was making his way up the cliff, climbing steadily, bit by bit. As he climbed, a black aura continuously seeped from the rock face and bored into his body.

At first, he was able to expel it, but it grew more difficult the higher he went. If it were a simple matter of climbing, they could scale mountains for days on end without a problem, easily conquering any incline, no matter how steep.

But here, every inch of the ascent was a struggle. The Cultivator, whose power was at the seventh layer of the Core Transformation Stage, looked like he was at his limit. Yet, he persisted, pushing upward. Just as he was about to reach the black clouds, they suddenly swarmed toward him, burrowing into his body in an instant.

The Cultivator’s expression changed drastically. His once-fair complexion instantly turned pitch-black. After struggling to climb a few more feet, he could finally hold on no longer. His hands slipped, and he fell slowly through the air. The moment he hit the ground, he collapsed to his knees.

"HUFF... HUFF... HUFF... I failed again... I failed again..." the Cultivator gasped, panting heavily. He began to purge the black aura from his body, but the process was slow; he could only expel it little by little.

There were many others like him. Some of those meditating nearby had clearly attempted the climb before and failed, forcing them to stay and recover.

Once recovered, they would attempt the climb again, with no idea when, or if, they would ever succeed.

And this was the Netherworld Sect, the gateway to the Netherworld. It was baffling that so many people were still willing to face such a difficult trial.