The Rich Cultivator-Chapter 324. Abyssal Paths and Hunters

Tyler and his group trudged through the vast expanse of the Abyssal Desert, the scorching heat bearing down on them. Though their cultivation had returned, the oppressive nature of the Abyss still weighed heavily on them. Each step they took kicked up blackened sand that shimmered unnaturally, as if infused with residual energy from the void.

"Ever heard of Abyss Hunters?" Astrid asked, breaking the silence.

"Yeah," Tyler responded, not taking his eyes off the erratic compass in his hand. "They hunt and gather rare materials in the Abyss, then sell them to other worlds. From what I heard, some of them literally live in the Abyss for centuries."

"In a way, we’re also like Abyss Hunters," Mathilda added, glancing at the desolate landscape.

Tyler nodded. "Nope... More like we are Visitors."

Mathilda smirked but said nothing more.

Tyler, Mathilda, Mana, Astrid, and the five grandmasters pressed forward, their movements steady despite the shifting terrain. Tyler glanced at the compass again, watching the needle flicker between two slightly different directions.

"Can any of you see what’s wrong with this compass?" he asked, his brows furrowed.

One of the grandmasters sighed. "We can’t. The curse master in our group died, so we have no way of analyzing it properly. We have no choice but to follow it."

Tyler clicked his tongue in irritation but didn’t argue.

Astrid suddenly pouted. "Listen to me."

Tyler looked at her. "Yeah... continue."

Astrid hesitated briefly before saying, "I once saved an unconscious man in one of the Abyss floor. His name was Apollo. Apparently, he was an Abyss Hunter. But after I saved him, he tried to take advantage of me and was about to do improper things."

After saying this she glanced at Tyler, trying to observe his reaction.

Tyler’s expression remained unchanged. "Tell me who he is. We’ll teach him a lesson once we find him."

Astrid’s eyes lit up with satisfaction at his reaction, and she continued, "Well, he was weak at the time due to his injuries, so I slapped him and escaped. But before that, he bragged about having five powerful subordinates and thousands of slaves."

Mathilda scoffed. "Abyss Hunters are ruthless, but he sounds especially vile."

Tyler shrugged. "We’ll be careful. Don’t worry. As long as we don’t get trapped in something like the Village of Vale again, I’m confident we can escape any situation faster."

Mathilda nodded in agreement.

"What happened to the angel that was chasing you?" Mathilda asked Astrid.

Astrid sighed. "Jerahmeel. He said he was from my mother’s clan. He was arrogant, tried to forcefully capture me. But Lily helped me escape. He tried to sneak attack me, but I accidentally jumped into the Abyss Crack. After that, he kept chasing me across multiple floors, but Lily held him back. I don’t know what happened after that."

Tyler smirked. "Let’s barbeque his wings when we find him."

Astrid let out a small laugh, though the tension in her shoulders didn’t fade.

Meanwhile, Tyler glanced at the compass once more. It still pointed in one direction but wavered slightly toward another. He ignored the deviation and focused on moving forward.

The desert seemed endless, but as they moved forward, the ground slowly became firmer, shifting from sand to cracked obsidian. In the distance, a ruined fortress loomed, its jagged edges barely visible against the eerie horizon.

"This place..." one of the grandmasters murmured. "It feels... wrong."

Tyler frowned. "Elaborate ’wrong.’"

The grandmaster hesitated. "Like something unnatural is watching us."

A sudden gust of wind howled through the ruins ahead, carrying whispers that no one could understand. The air grew colder, the oppressive heat of the desert vanishing as if they had crossed into another domain entirely.

Mana shivered. "Mana hate this place."

"We should move cautiously," Tyler said. "There must be some creatures here.."

Then He took the lead, gripping his trident tightly. As they approached the ruins, the compass flickered wildly, its needle spinning erratically before finally locking onto the giant spatial crack in the centre.

"This is where we need to go," Tyler announced, stopping in front of a ruined fortress.

"Just like that?" Mathilda muttered. "I mean, it was a smooth journey."

Tyler shot her a look. "Would you rather have something go wrong?"

Mathilda crossed her arms but said nothing. The fortress stood before them, ancient and foreboding. The obsidian ground beneath them seemed to absorb sound, making their footsteps unnaturally loud. The massive doors of the fortress were broken, hanging off rusted hinges, as if something had forcefully torn them open. Strange symbols were carved into the walls, glowing faintly.

One of the grandmasters stepped forward, examining the symbols. "This writing... it’s probably an ancient script from another world."

"Yeah... and we don’t have a translator," Mathilda pointed out.

"Oh, wait a minute," Tyler said, pulling out a crystal. It gleamed, untouched by the Abyss’s corrosive energy.

Mathilda watched as Tyler scanned the symbols. "Are you recording it?"

Tyler nodded. "This is a profound imagery stone. Far better than a high-resolution video camera."

After capturing the script, he stored the stone in his storage device.

"Actually, we do have a good translator. We can bring this to her after leaving the Abyss." Tyler turned back toward the fortress entrance, where a faint shimmering indicated a spatial crack leading to the next layer of the Abyss.

"Seriously, this floor was too easy," Mathilda said, her fingers twitching as if she were waiting for something to go wrong.

Tyler shrugged. "Maybe all our bad luck was used up when we got trapped in the Village of Vale."

Astrid shuddered at the memory. "Let’s hope so."

Without further delay, the group stepped into the spatial passage and vanished.

Far from the spatial crack, the desert remained eerily still. However, in the distance, something stirred.

Two small houses stood in the middle of the desert—temporary shelters Tyler had created during their journey. The structures, though simple, were reinforced with arrays and should have been safe from the Abyss’s influence.

The sand around them began to shift unnaturally. At first, it moved in small ripples, then in waves, before rising like a massive tide.

A colossal form took shape—a giant, slime-like creature, its body made entirely of Abyssal sand. It towered over the temporary houses, its grotesque form shifting as if it had no definite shape.

Then, without warning, it opened a massive maw and swallowed the structures whole.

The buildings vanished into the creature’s depths, as if they had never existed. A moment later, the monstrous entity crumbled back into the desert, returning to mere grains of sand.

Silence fell once more.

The creature just woke up after the Group left. Talk about Luck.

┉┈ ◈ ◉ ◈ ┈┉

Apollo stood with his arms crossed, clad in his golden armor, radiating an aura of authority. His sharp eyes followed the movement of the half-eagle, half-humanoid creature flapping its enormous wings before him.

"You know where this lady is?" Apollo asked, his tone casual as he flipped his palm, projecting a shimmering image of Astrid in the air.

The eagle-headed creature studied the projection for a moment before shaking its head.

"Tsk... Useless." Apollo clicked his tongue in irritation. "Get out of my sight. If you find her, inform me immediately."

The humanoid bird nodded and took off into the crimson-hued sky, vanishing beyond the ruined towers of the city.

Apollo turned his gaze to the surroundings. This Abyss floor resembled an ancient medieval city—stone streets, towering buildings with gothic architecture, and eerie silence. However, despite its realistic appearance, he knew better than to trust what his eyes perceived.

A heavy set of footsteps echoed from behind.

"Bring the Phantasm Defibrillator!" a deep voice roared.

A massive eight-foot-tall giant, his body covered in dark tattoos, strode toward Apollo. His presence alone was enough to make the slaves around him tremble.

"Don’t shout near my ear," Apollo said with mild annoyance.

"Sorry, Leader." The giant grinned, his tusks protruding slightly as he turned away.

A group of slaves struggled to drag a massive device into the center of the city. The Phantasm Defibrillator. Unlike the medieval surroundings, this device was futuristic—crafted from an unknown metallic alloy, pulsing with ethereal energy.

A fox-eared woman emerged from the shadows and approached the device. Her furred tail flicked behind her as she placed a hand on the controls.

"Activating the device," she said softly.

The moment she did, an unnatural glow spread outward, consuming the entire cityscape.

A deep hum reverberated through the air.

A powerful suction force emerged from the device, and suddenly, the entire city trembled as if it were alive. The once-solid buildings flickered, turning translucent. The very ground beneath them rippled like the surface of a disturbed pond.

The city let out a low, eerie groan.

The illusion fought against the defibrillator, as if resisting its fate. But the device was relentless. Bit by bit, the towering structures dissolved, sucked into the machine like water being absorbed into a sponge.

Minutes passed, then an hour.

A sudden blur shot through the air.

Apollo’s eyes narrowed as he caught sight of a small, imp-like creature bolting away at breakneck speed. Its body was a grotesque mix of shadows and mist, its eyes glowing with fear.

"A Nightmare Imp." Apollo smirked.

Without hesitation, he disappeared from his spot, reappearing right in the imp’s path. The creature let out a shriek, trying to change direction, but it was too late.

Apollo’s hand snapped forward, grabbing it by the neck.

The imp squirmed, its tiny claws scratching at his gauntlet, but it was powerless against his strength.

"There are always creatures like you," Apollo muttered, observing the imp’s writhing form. "Making fake illusions of places and luring Abyss travelers to their doom."

The imp let out a desperate cry.

Apollo ignored it and reached into his storage ring, pulling out a golden cage. With a flick of his fingers, he tossed the imp inside and locked it.

The imp clawed at the bars, hissing and wailing.

Apollo chuckled, shaking the cage slightly. "Well, at least you’ll sell for a fortune. I wonder if God Finger is real...? All I get is Creatures like you. Huh"