Invincible Dad-Chapter 498 Earth Has the Key_1

Chapter 498: Chapter 498 Earth Has the Key_1
SWOOSH!
Qian Xiao’s scalp went numb with shock. Following Xu Yiyi’s gaze, he saw that a yellow river had appeared out of nowhere, winding its way through the abandoned resort. Ghostly blue sand flowed along the riverbed, and its banks were lined with enchanting, blood-red flowers of an unknown species. The sight was breathtakingly beautiful.
The scenery was, admittedly, quite beautiful. If he had seen it on television or in a magazine, Qian Xiao would have been gushing with praise, clamoring to visit with his boss lady.
But for such a river and an old man to suddenly appear in an abandoned resort out in the wilds... and on top of that, Xu Lai had just said they were looking for the Netherworld...
The realization scared Qian Xiao half to death!
He could no longer remain calm. He threw himself onto Xu Lai’s legs again, wailing, "I’m still a child! Don’t take me away!"
Xu Lai frowned. Qian Xiao and Yiyi could both see it, but he... could not.
The scenery before his eyes remained unchanged. He couldn’t even sense the slightest fluctuation of universal laws.
"What else do you see?" Xu Lai asked.
Qian Xiao and Xu Yiyi didn’t answer. The two children gradually fell into a trance, the light fading from their eyes. They hopped down from Xu Lai and began to walk stiffly toward some unknown destination, just like puppets.
Xu Lai didn’t know that in the Netherworld River, an old boatman was beckoning incessantly to Yiyi and Qian Xiao. But how could he possibly let his daughter be taken away by some unknown existence?
He stomped his foot fiercely.
The ground didn’t ripple in the slightest, not even a tremor. In the minds of Yiyi and Qian Xiao, however, it felt as if the earth had shattered and the mountains had crumbled. The psychic shock snapped them back to their senses. When they saw one of their feet was already stepping into the Netherworld, they yelped in fright and scrambled back to Xu Lai’s side. Each hugged one of his legs, trembling violently.
"Daddy, we almost fell in!"
"Uncle Xu, the old man isn’t smiling anymore. He’s staring at us..."
"Do you really think that just because you don’t appear before me, I can’t see you?" Xu Lai sneered.
He was in the Emperor Realm, the most powerful being in the Universe—bar none!
He bit his fingertip. Two ordinary-looking drops of blood appeared. One merged into the space between Yiyi’s eyebrows, and the other did the same for Qian Xiao. An invisible, blood-red barrier instantly enveloped them.
A single drop of blood from an Immortal Venerable could collapse a star, while a drop from an Emperor Realm expert was enough to destroy an entire star system. It was an unparalleled treasure! To use it merely for protection was extravagant overkill.
Of course, the two drops of blood served another purpose. As they were absorbed into Yiyi and Qian Xiao, a faint golden light shimmered in Xu Lai’s deep eyes. He could now temporarily see what they saw.
And so, Xu Lai saw it: the Netherworld River, a place that, according to ancient records, had only appeared once before. No one knew its source, and no one knew its destination. Other Shore Flowers swayed on its banks while blue sand drifted along its bottom. It was like a scene from a celestial paradise.
"Come... come... come..."
Although the boatman was no longer smiling, he continued to gesture to Xu Yiyi and Qian Xiao, trying to entice them into the Netherworld. But it was useless. Under the protection of an Emperor Realm expert’s blood, ordinary mind control was completely ineffective.
Xu Lai reached out, aiming to grab the old boatman.
Surprise flashed across the old man’s face. He hadn’t expected this man to be able to see the Netherworld. But he wasn’t overly shocked and countered with a palm strike of his own.
BOOM!
A terrifying crash echoed through the air. Yet the Netherworld River, over a thousand feet wide and of unknown length, did not stir in the slightest. Its surface remained perfectly calm.
BANG—
The small boat beneath the old man, however, was jolted to a stop for a moment.
Xu Lai was taken aback. A strike containing twenty percent of his Emperor Realm power had been blocked?
The old boatman was equally stunned. Although his palm strike had been casual, it still contained fifty percent of his power. An ordinary expert of the Immortal Venerable Realm would have been hard-pressed to face it.
Could this man be...
"You are a Great Emperor of this age!" the old man exclaimed, a frown creasing his face as he realized the truth. There was no surprise or panic in his expression; he stated it as if discussing some trivial, unrelated matter.
And to him, it was just a trivial matter. His eyes even filled with a hint of mockery and pity. "So, you are the Emperor of this epoch. One hundred thousand years old... still quite young."
"You are not one of the dead," Xu Lai stated, his frown deepening. "How can you remain in the Netherworld?"
"Hehehehe," the old man suddenly burst into wild laughter. "Not everyone in the Netherworld is dead, and not everyone outside it is alive. Have you ever wondered why so many Great Emperors, throughout the ages, journeyed to the Samsara Sea on the brink of death?"
"What are you getting at?" Xu Lai stared intently at the old man, who wore a conical bamboo hat and held a pole. His tone grew icy.
"I’m not getting at anything," the old man chuckled. "Life and death are a cycle. I truly look forward to the day you learn the truth."
"What in the world are you rambling about?" Qian Xiao piped up bravely from behind Xu Lai. "Laughing so creepily, anyone can tell you’re no good!"
The old man paused. Then he said calmly, "You’re right, I am not a good person. Across this vast land, how many can say with a clear conscience that they are? Can you?"
This question was directed at Xu Lai.
Xu Lai fell silent. There were no perfect people in this world, nor were there truly good people in the absolute sense.
The old boatman continued, "I am merely an old man who guides talented children onto the correct path. Earth holds a key, but it can only be used for one person."
With that, the old man pointed at Xu Yiyi. "You. Come with me. A great destiny awaits you. A future where you might achieve immortality is not impossible."
"Scram," was Xu Lai’s only reply.
From the moment he and his daughter had been reunited, no one could ever take her away from him.
"Do you really think being in the Emperor Realm makes you invincible?" a cryptic smile played on the old man’s lips.
"You’re welcome to try." Xu Lai’s expression was calm, but his words exploded like thunder in the old man’s heart.
After a moment’s hesitation, the old man pursed his lips. "Fine, fine. The Netherworld Road has enough prodigies as it is; we can do without one more. Is this your daughter?"
Xu Yiyi peeked out timidly from behind Xu Lai.
"An Emperor with a child, and in the very epoch the Netherworld opens... You really are unlucky." The old man smacked his lips, his expression growing more pitiful. "I can choose not to take your daughter, but you cannot protect her."
"When the Netherworld Road opens, it is a path paved with endless corpses. You are truly unfortunate," the old man repeated.
Xu Lai stared at him coldly. "Do you work for the Nine Kings’ Palace?"
Hearing a name he hadn’t heard in a long time, the old man smacked his lips again. "So those old geezers from the Nine Kings’ Palace are still around. To stay alive, they’ve become neither human nor ghost. How pathetic." He quickly laughed at his own expense. "Heh, but am I any different? I became a lapdog to survive, but they are not worthy of being compared to me."
"I don’t care whose lapdog you are," Qian Xiao interjected boldly. "But if you dare lay a hand on Sister Yiyi, I’ll never let you get away with it!"
"And what’s your name?" the old man asked, tilting his head.
"..."
Qian Xiao shrank back in fear, but he quickly puffed out his chest again. "What, you want my name? You got a problem with me? Fine, come and kill me if you’ve got the guts! My name is Haohao!"