Zhang Ling's eyes flickered as he realized that the gray airflow he had glimpsed earlier seemed to be the Soul-Stealing Wind.
"Hurry, the bridge is disappearing."
At that moment, he heard screams from those lagging behind. Two of them instantly overtook him, running ahead.
Zhang Ling swept his divine sense and noticed that where the moonlight faded on a section of the stone bridge behind him, the bridge also disappeared. He didn't dare to delay and instantly increased his speed, catching up with the people in front.
As soon as his feet touched the opposite bank, a scream followed closely behind. "Griffin Old Ghost, you…"
This sudden commotion immediately attracted the attention of everyone who had just come off the bridge.
Zhang Ling turned his head and saw five or six Nascent Soul cultivators behind him, landing safely not far from him.
But at this moment, there was still one cultivator on the bridge, chasing after them unhurriedly.
He was very familiar with the last person, Griffin Old Ghost, from their nine-member team. This person also landed safely not far in front of him and quickly turned back to look at the stone bridge behind him.
At this moment, most of the stone bridge had disappeared, but not completely. With everyone's strength, they could easily walk over.
But outside the stone bridge, in the air on the right, there was a cultivator spinning in place. It was a yellow-faced middle-aged man wearing a yellow robe.
"What's going on? How could Fellow Daoist Zhou be caught in the Soul-Stealing Wind? Griffin, what did you do?" Elder Tian's face immediately turned gloomy as he questioned Griffin Old Ghost with a glare.
"Elder Tian, what are you saying? How would I know about Fellow Daoist Zhou's situation? It looks like Fellow Daoist Zhou just slipped," Griffin Old Ghost snorted expressionlessly.
Hearing this, Third Elder Qin's face also darkened. "Slipped? Zhou Dao has a Nascent Soul Initial Stage Peak cultivation; how could he slip?"
"What do you two elders mean? Do you think I harmed Fellow Daoist Zhou?" Griffin Old Ghost's face also darkened.
"Look, Fellow Daoist Zhou's Nascent Soul has emerged!" At this moment, an unknown cultivator shouted.
Everyone saw the blue light flashing on Zhou Dao's body, which was shaking in mid-air, and a one-inch-sized blue Nascent Soul emerged from the top of his head. It transformed into a blue light, used teleportation, and flew towards them extremely quickly.
In an instant, it crossed a distance of thirty to forty zhang. Just as it was about to reach the opposite bank, Fellow Daoist Zhou's Nascent Soul suddenly stopped its escape. The Nascent Soul's spiritual body became much dimmer, like the previous green hummingbird, and began to spin inexplicably in the air.
It seemed to have lost control.
Seeing this, Elder Tian quickly raised his hand and cast a scarlet spiritual light, which transformed into a spiritual light hand, instantly grabbing Fellow Daoist Zhou's Nascent Soul and forcibly pulling the person's Nascent Soul over.
Fellow Daoist Zhou's Nascent Soul was only a few zhang away from them. Although it was trapped by the Soul-Stealing Wind, Elder Tian still provided assistance and rescued it.
"Fellow Daoist Zhou, how are you?"
The scarlet spiritual light dissipated, and Fellow Daoist Zhou's Nascent Soul floated in front of Elder Tian, seemingly unharmed. But Fellow Daoist Zhou did not answer Elder Tian's question.
Elder Tian asked again, but still no answer. Then he discovered that Fellow Daoist Zhou's Nascent Soul looked unharmed, but his little face was dull, and his eyes were empty. The Nascent Soul's spiritual body was constantly releasing spiritual power and was slowly dissipating.
Others also noticed this scene, and their expressions became astonished.
"His divine soul has been caught by the Soul-Stealing Wind and dissipated in an instant. This Nascent Soul will disintegrate on its own in a short while. Even a True Immortal can't save him," Sect Leader Yan's expressionless voice came over.
A Nascent Soul cultivator fell strangely in front of everyone.
Everyone fell silent, and many felt a sense of shared grief.
In a short while, Fellow Daoist Zhou's Nascent Soul had shrunk by more than half, and the spiritual body had become blurred, about to disintegrate.
Although a cultivator's Nascent Soul is not a Nascent Divinity, the divine soul is hidden within it. Once the divine soul dissipates, the Nascent Soul's spiritual body loses its spirituality and becomes an empty shell of condensed spiritual power.
This scene showed the power of the Soul-Stealing Wind. It instantly blew away the divine soul of a Nascent Soul cultivator.
It seemed that not even a remnant soul was left. If even a tiny bit of remnant soul were left, the Nascent Soul would not disintegrate immediately. It might even have the ability to seize a body or give birth to new intelligence.
Only when the divine soul completely dissipates will the Nascent Soul disintegrate immediately.
"Alright, fellow Daoists. We are not far from the summit. We will soon reach the summit and see the Underworld Palace and the Ghost Peach Tree," Sect Leader Yan glanced at everyone and urged them, walking forward without hesitation.
The other old monsters sighed a few times or laughed coldly without caring and immediately left.
"Alas, I didn't expect Fellow Daoist Zhou to fall like this."
Elder Tian's hand flashed with spiritual light, and Fellow Daoist Zhou's Nascent Soul, which had already dissipated for the most part, was unknowingly extinguished by him, turning into specks of blue light that scattered everywhere. Only a small blue sword was left, which was Fellow Daoist Zhou's natal magic weapon.
Third Elder Qin glanced at Griffin Old Ghost. "If this matter is related to you, the Myriad Dharma Sect of Fellow Daoist Zhou is not to be trifled with. I will inform several fellow Daoists of the Myriad Dharma Sect about this matter."
Hearing this, a cold light flashed in Griffin Old Ghost's eyes. He snorted and left.
"I heard that the Myriad Dharma Sect and the Corpse Gu Sect have had a thousand years of grudges and are very incompatible. I didn't expect this old ghost to dare to settle personal grudges at a time like this when we are jointly fighting against the alien demon race. I'm afraid our Immortal City will not be able to explain this to the Myriad Dharma Sect," Third Elder Tian and Elder Qin looked at each other and shook their heads.
"Who would have expected that we would be drawn into this place? Not to mention what the Ghost King Sect cultivators are planning, if there really is a spiritual fruit that increases lifespan on the summit, the following will not be peaceful. These old monsters are probably already thinking differently; we must also be careful," Third Elder Qin looked at the people leaving one after another, with a complicated expression in his eyes.
The group followed the Ghost King Sect cultivators forward again, this time they were more careful.
Even the cultivators on the same side kept a distance from each other, and the cultivators next to them were more or less wary.
Especially the human race cultivators, who originally belonged to various sects. Some of the old monsters had some private grudges. If it weren't for dealing with the alien demon race war, it would be difficult for these cultivators to gather together.
Now, forced by the situation, they temporarily joined forces.
If they were outside, there would still be the reputation of the Twelve Immortal Cities deterring them, and these old monsters would be much more honest. Now that they are in this strange place, the constraints are smaller.
Although there is a Hundred Flowers Old Demon at the head, the Hundred Flowers Old Demon is not an elder of the Twelve Immortal Cities. These twenty Nascent Soul old monsters mostly belong to forces near the Twelve Immortal Cities
and have nothing to do with the Hundred Flowers Old Demon. The Hundred Flowers Old Demon doesn't seem like someone who would care about such things. So they seem to have the most Nascent Soul old monsters on their side, but there are also the most contradictions.
Unlike the alien demon race's Nascent Soul old monsters, who are truly led by High Priest Luo Ming.
The next journey was much smoother and there were no dangers.
The group followed the Ghost King Sect cultivators, first passing through a large black cave, which contained a large group of blood bat demons. Although there were many, they were easily killed after the Nascent Soul cultivators took action.
In the cave, they also harvested a lot of low and mid-grade Yin Spirit Stones.
After exiting the cave, they entered an area of strange rocks. Gale-force winds swirled everywhere. Countless pieces of earth and stone flew all over the sky.
It was easy to get lost in it, but under the leadership of the Ghost King Sect, they safely broke through in just half an hour.
Thus, everyone finally reached a height of 80,000 zhang. Here, the ghost fog in front had dissipated. It was no longer gray, but a white, snowy ice surface.
In the wind and snow, they could see countless thick shadows standing in the middle. The shapes of these shadows were very strange, some were straight, and some were twisted like giant snakes.
These shadows were very thick, blocking a lot of sight. However, in the sense of divine consciousness, these shadows were continuous and endless, and some places seemed to be blocked.
Looking up, the top of the head was dark and no moonlight could be seen. It seemed that there was still a ghost fog shrouded.
However, this area did not appear dim, because these unclear giant shadows had many crooked lines or curved cyan fluorescent lights, like some kind of strange spiritual patterns constantly flashing, illuminating the surrounding environment.
The crowd walked in it, still all the way up.
"Hey, these huge shadows seem to be tree trunks, so huge."
"Indeed, they are tree trunks, could this be the Ghost Peach Tree."
After walking for a while, some sharp-eyed monks suddenly discovered that the huge shadows had many uneven tree marks on them, and the spiritual light that illuminated the environment came from these cracks.
These cracks were very irregular, looking like broken stones at first glance. But on closer inspection, many wood grain features could be found on these cracks on the black shadow.
It's just that some of them seem to have been petrified, and they are gray-black and not obvious.
"Everyone has discovered that these huge shadows are the roots of the Ghost Peach Tree." At this time, Sect Leader Yan also smiled and said.
With the affirmation of this great monk, everyone showed surprised expressions more or less.
"The roots are so huge, it seems that this spiritual tree stretches for at least a thousand miles. Is the top of this giant mountain covered by these roots?"
"I can sense a stronger Yin evil energy from these roots, and the special wood spiritual power that I sensed before. If the Ghost Peach Wood is really so huge, it is a giant spiritual wood in itself."
"We are in the winding of these roots and cannot see its full picture. If we don't fly to the clouds, it will be difficult to see the full picture of the Ghost Peach Wood."
Everyone talked about it, and at the same time, they released powerful divine senses to scan around. Seeing the Ghost Peach Wood meant that they might soon see the spiritual fruit that increases lifespan.
Zhang Ling was no exception, and his divine sense scanned left and right. Several Nascent Soul monks of the Ghost King Sect also showed excitement.
Only Sect Leader Yan's eyes flashed with blood, and he laughed silently.
The crowd shuttled through the huge roots.
This area was covered by tree roots, and there was no way to go in some places. They could only detour or fly through the gaps between the tree roots.
Of course, some monks tried to forcibly break through these roots and wanted to cross them horizontally.
But after doing it, they found that these roots were not only huge, but also as solid as a rock. With their Nascent Soul strength, it was difficult to break through.
Of course, it can be broken through if you have to, but it is not worth the loss. It is time-consuming and labor-intensive, and it is better to find a gap to pass through easily. Only when they occasionally encounter a dead end will they join forces to break through a section of the passage.
After walking for half an hour, the surrounding tree roots finally became sparse. Soon after, the front suddenly opened up, and they had walked out of the range covered by the tree roots.
But the scenery in front of them surprised everyone even more.
They appeared on a cliff and had reached the top of the mountain. In front of them was a strong gale, and the sound of the wind was mixed with a ghost fog, constantly raging.
The environment was extremely harsh, and they could hear a rustling sound. The sound was continuous, but they couldn't see the thing that made the sound. It seemed to come from all directions.
Occasionally, they could see a small amount of moonlight passing through the clouds above their heads and scattering down, illuminating some huge shadows.
Those shadows were no longer huge tree roots, but many stone pillars, tiles, and other building ruins. Especially in the distance, they could vaguely see a tall palace with red light, looming in the fog. It was a palace complex with a very wide coverage area.
What surprised everyone was not the ruins-like palace complex, but the occasional arc of light, either black or white, that appeared in the air.
"Space cracks, so dense." A black-faced man called out with a pale face.
That's right, the arcs of light in the air are space cracks, some are still, and some suddenly flash and disappear.
Zhang Ling also frowned. He didn't expect to encounter such dense space cracks again. At first glance, he didn't know how many there were, blocking everyone's way.
"Fellow Daoist Yan, bringing us into this kind of place, do you want to be detrimental to us?" An old man of the alien demon race asked with an ugly face.
"I knew early on that this group of guys couldn't be relied on."
Many people's faces darkened. Space cracks are not easy to break through. Especially in the area in front, there are still wandering space cracks. If a Nascent Soul monk is careless, he may lose his life in it.
"Why, are you afraid, fellow Daoists? The palace in the distance is the Underworld Palace. As long as you pass through this space crack and reach the Underworld Palace, the many treasures inside are waiting for you. Any fellow Daoists who don't want to go can go down the mountain by themselves now," Sect Leader Yan stared coldly at the palace with red light in the distance without looking back.
Hearing that the palace was the Underworld Palace, the eyes of the people who had just questioned him also flashed with greed, and they stretched their necks to look over there.
Zhang Ling kept observing the surrounding situation. The area they were in now was already the top of the mountain. In addition to the surrounding building ruins, they could see some old pits, cracks on the ground, etc., which were all obvious traces of fighting.
It must have been a great battle here. I wonder if it was 10,000 years ago, when True Person Shenguang followed the group of Ghost King Sect monks.
He also glanced at the palace in the distance. In terms of straight-line distance, their current location is more than a hundred miles away from there.
