In the blink of an eye, the wind pressure within the ghostly mist intensified.
The howling of the wind grew incessant, with flashes of green luminescence transforming into vast swathes of wind blades that swept across the area.
Simultaneously, deafening rumbles of thunder echoed as the churning ghostly mist above gradually turned blood-red, swirling into a colossal crimson vortex that generated a terrifying suction force.
Zhang Ling instantly felt himself caught in the midst of bizarrely contrasting hot and cold air currents, constantly being pulled in different directions, while countless wind blades, though invisible, crashed against his layers of defense.
Meanwhile, the Sect Master of the Yama Sect and the white-haired elder, unaffected by the ghostly winds, transformed into two streaks of black light and plunged into the blood-red vortex above, disappearing from sight.
Before him stretched a vista of blood-red currents and eerie green wind blades, as if he were caught in the gales of the heavens and earth.
Zhang Ling's expression turned grave; he couldn't fathom what the two Grand Cultivators of the Ghost King Sect were up to. Conjuring this ghostly wind didn't seem to be for attacking them.
Within this strange wind, his divine sense was suppressed even further. Once extended beyond his body, it would be scattered by the powerful wind pressure after only fifty or sixty feet, allowing him to observe only a chaotic blur.
He could sense that Miss Ruolan was nearby just moments ago, but now he couldn't detect her at all.
As the blood-red vortex in the sky continued to spin, faster and faster, it transformed into a massive blood-colored tornado connecting the heavens and the earth.
Zhang Ling's face shifted slightly. Naturally, he dared not remain in place and quickly executed two consecutive Thunder Escape techniques, retreating hundreds of feet backward to escape the center of the wind pressure.
He watched as the blood-colored tornado continued to expand, now spanning a hundred feet in width.
Suddenly, Zhang Ling sensed something. He saw a green shadow whipping toward his feet.
With a sway of his body, he dodged the attack. A glance revealed that the green light was a long, slender willow branch.
It was one of the ghostly willow trees that grew in the plaza earlier.
Listening intently, Zhang Ling immediately sensed a constant crackling sound amid the howling wind.
Looking around, he saw more than a dozen long willow branches flailing wildly.
Zhang Ling's expression darkened as he shot backward, flying another three or four hundred feet outward. Suddenly, his eyes lit up; he had actually escaped the range of the ghostly mist.
He had been trapped in the ghostly mist conjured by the Ghost King Banner just moments ago, yet now he had escaped so easily. He found it hard to believe.
He quickly looked around to confirm that he had indeed left the ghostly mist, and only then did Zhang Ling breathe a sigh of relief.
However, the solemn expression on his face did not dissipate. There was no way that Yama Sect Master would let them off so easily.
At this moment, Zhang Ling noticed that he was right at the edge of the square. At the center of the square, the massive Ghost King Banner swayed continuously within the blood-red wind vortex.
The wind vortex was still spinning rapidly, but strangely, it encompassed the entire square and was no longer expanding.
"Fellow Daoist Zhang, you're out too." Suddenly, a voice came from nearby.
Zhang Ling turned his head and saw a streak of blue light flying to a spot not far in front of him; it was Dongfang Ya.
The woman's clothes were tattered, and her hair was disheveled. Her two jade-like arms were exposed, with a blood-red claw mark on one of them. She seemed to have gone through a battle as well.
Zhang Ling gave a smile and nodded as a greeting before turning his gaze back to observe his surroundings.
Immediately afterward, he noticed five or six more auras on his left and right. To the distant left, Fellow Daoist Shi, with a pale face, also flew out of the wind vortex. The heavily bearded alien demon also appeared not far away.
At the same time, a male and a female cultivator flew out of the wind vortex. They were also two Nascent Soul cultivators.
The male wore a yellow Daoist robe and had a square face, but he was covered in blood, and one of his arms was missing. The female also wore a yellow Daoist robe, panting heavily, with a broken cyan longsword floating in front of her. Both of them had weak auras, indicating that they were seriously injured.
Zhang Ling glanced at the man and woman, recognizing them as elders from the righteous Qingguang Sect. Not long ago, when the group split up, these two were in another team.
"Oh, why is Fellow Daoist Lan here as well?"
At this moment, Dongfang Ya looked to the right and noticed a woman in green.
She was first startled by the aura emanating from the woman in green, sensing that she was also a Grand Cultivator. Then, when her eyes fell on the woman's face, Dongfang Ya revealed a surprised expression.
Miss Ruolan did not speak, only glancing at Dongfang Ya. Her gaze lingered on Zhang Ling for a moment longer.
"Fellow Daoist Zhang, why is Fellow Daoist Lan here as well?" Dongfang Ya pursed her lips and asked softly.
"I don't know either why Miss Ruolan is here," Zhang Ling replied casually.
Having escaped the ghostly mist, the suppression of his divine sense had lessened considerably. As his divine sense spread out, Zhang Ling sensed the auras of Senior Brother Tianfeng and the others.
Senior Brother Tianfeng, Old Huo, the Puppet Spirit Old Monster, and several other cultivators were on the opposite side of the square.
However, Elder Qin, the Sword-Bearing Elder, and Madam Scorpion were nowhere to be seen. Thinking about it, these individuals were likely dead.
Suddenly, a rumble of thunder came from the sky, followed by a series of whooshing sounds, attracting everyone's attention.
The leaves and branches of the ghost peach trees that had been covering the sky above were now swaying wildly, like countless writhing giant snakes in the sky.
Accompanied by the falling of countless leaves, many branches collided with the spatial rifts in the sky, being cut into pieces of wood that flew everywhere.
Zhang Ling and the others' expressions changed, unsure of what was happening.
The Yellow Canopy spun overhead, deflecting some of the falling pieces of wood and leaves.
Dongfang Ya, not far from him, also threw out a three-colored jade talisman, creating a blue water shield to protect her entire body.
The others naturally dodged the falling leaves and branches as well.
This scene occurred suddenly, but after a dozen breaths, the leaves and branches above, like a reversed black tide, rapidly contracted toward the tree trunk area they had passed through when they came up.
In the blink of an eye, there were no more leaves or branches overhead, and it was brightly lit. They could clearly see three red moons in the sky, emitting an eerie blood-red moonlight.
At the same time, a loud noise came from the rapidly flowing ghostly mist on the square. Immediately afterward, Zhang Ling felt a tremor beneath his feet.
The entire palace shook violently. Zhang Ling's eyebrows twitched, and he quickly flew into the air. The other cultivators did the same, all leaving the ground.
Looking around, Zhang Ling noticed that there was a windless zone at the center of the rapidly flowing ghostly mist, forming an open space.
A huge object rose from that area: an altar made entirely of skulls and bones, as tall as thirty or forty feet.
Sect Master Yan, the white-haired elder, the red-umbrella youth, Ghost Mother, and two other Ghost King Sect elders were gathered on the altar.
But there was also a fat cultivator among the Ghost King Sect cultivators: it was Old Devil Gryphon.
This surprised Zhang Ling for a moment, but after scanning with his divine sense, he noticed that Old Devil Gryphon's aura seemed somewhat different.
Suddenly, Old Devil Gryphon seemed to sense something, glancing at him with a sneer.
Making eye contact with this person, Zhang Ling noticed that Old Devil Gryphon's gaze was very different from before. Thinking about it, he had a guess.
To a large extent, Old Devil Gryphon was no longer himself; he had probably been possessed.
At this moment, Zhang Ling also noticed that on the white bone altar, there was a pitch-black object: a huge bronze coffin.
This scene instantly overlapped with another scene in his mind. He couldn't help but glance at Dongfang Ya beside him.
Just as Dongfang Ya's gaze also looked over, Dongfang Ya pursed her lips and whispered, "It's very similar to what happened in that place back then."
The scene before them was exactly the same as what had happened in that Ghost King Sect ruin back then.
It was just that back then, there were only Dongfang Ya and another Golden Core cultivator.
But now, there were more than a dozen Nascent Soul old monsters on the edge of the square.
"What exactly is the Ghost King Sect doing? Are they going to great lengths to hunt us down just to build this white bone altar?" Fellow Daoist Shi, who was far away and had a violent temper, roared angrily. With a flash of golden light in his hand, he directly swung out two huge golden fists. The fist shadows cut through the air, directly striking towards the white bone altar.
However, this attack only flew forward twenty or thirty feet before being blocked by the strong winds formed by the blood-red ghostly mist on the square.
Zhang Ling's mind stirred, and a cyan-golden longsword appeared in his hand. He also unleashed several sword lights, but they were instantly scattered by a mass of blood-colored wind pressure.
It was impossible to attack the white bone altar.
At this moment, with a few more loud bangs, Senior Brother Tianfeng and the others on the opposite side of the square tested the situation, creating some attacks, but they also did not have any effect.
"Haha, fellow Daoists, don't bother. After today, my Ghost King Sect will surely surpass you. What Twelve Immortal Cities, righteous and demonic paths, Demon Soul Hall? If you don't submit, my Ghost King Sect will surely flatten you and unify the Northern Origin Cultivation World."
Seeing everyone's attacks, Old Devil Gryphon suddenly laughed wildly, laughing as if he had lost his mind.
"Hmph, Old Devil Gryphon, you are a traitor. You ambushed this old man just now, and now you are boasting shamelessly. If you have the ability, come out and have a great battle with this old man!" Immediately afterward, another stern shout came.
Zhang Ling turned his gaze and saw that the owner of the voice was an old man. It was a hunchbacked old man, an alien demon, who was staying not far from Tianfeng Old Ancestor on the opposite side of the square.
The hunchbacked old man's demonic energy surged wildly. A dark blue light wheel floated in front of him, and he stepped on a black flood dragon with a single horn on its head, spitting out black demonic light. He glared fiercely at Old Devil Gryphon. He was also an old monster in the middle stage of the Nascent Soul realm.
"Hehe, Fellow Daoist Jiaomo, it's your luck that I didn't kill you just now. I will definitely let you taste the pain of soul extraction and refinement later," Old Devil Gryphon glanced at the hunchbacked old man with disdain, sneering.
This angered the hunchbacked old man, and the black demonic energy on his body instantly rose by three points. With a loud bang, the dark blue light wheel instantly turned into a ten-foot-wide blue giant wheel, slashing towards Old Devil Gryphon with the sound of breaking through the air.
"Looking for death." Old Devil Gryphon's face darkened, and he instantly flew up from the white bone altar, seemingly intending to accept the challenge.
A fierce light appeared in the hunchbacked old man's eyes. He had been ambushed by this Old Devil Gryphon in the ghostly mist just now due to carelessness, and he had almost fallen.
But when it came to a real battle, he was not afraid of Old Devil Gryphon.
With a thought, the blue light wheel that had shot out flickered in the air like a phantom, instantly turning into thirty or forty huge light circles, slashing fiercely towards Old Devil Gryphon.
Old Devil Gryphon sneered, not flying out of the blood-red ghostly mist at all. He suddenly stopped in mid-air.
A cold light flashed in the hunchbacked old man's eyes. Although he felt a trace of inappropriateness, the attack had already been launched. Naturally, it was impossible to take it back halfway.
Urging the magic formula in his hand, those huge light wheels slashed over even faster.
However, when those huge blue light wheels approached Old Devil Gryphon at a distance of twenty or thirty feet, streaks of green light flashed out from the blood-red ghostly mist flowing on the square.
Looking closely, there were countless dense streaks, all of them being the willow branches of the ghost willow trees.
Countless willow branches, with great force, slammed against those light wheels with a bang, and those seemingly extraordinary blue light wheels were instantly shattered into pieces.
The hunchbacked old man's face darkened, and he quickly controlled the blue light wheel body to fly back.
"It's over." Old Devil Gryphon threw out two black-qi-entwined soul-chaining locks, instantly entangling the light wheel.
Countless willow branches struck the light wheel, and the blue light wheel rotated rapidly, although it cut off many willow branches.
But more willow branches, more willow branches came striking, and these willow branches were extraordinary. After only two or three breaths, the electric light wheel magic weapon was smashed into pieces.
The hunchbacked old man trembled all over, and his face immediately turned three points paler. Although the blue light wheel was not his natal magic weapon, it was also a treasure that he often nourished with his mind.
It was destroyed in an instant, which affected his mind to a certain extent.
Seeing this scene, everyone's faces also turned ugly. With their knowledge and experience, they could immediately judge that it would be difficult for them to break through this ghostly mist and attack the people of the Ghost King Sect even if they joined forces.
At this time, a cyan light rose from the white bone altar. The light wrapped around a cyan ancient mirror, which was covered in rust and looked unremarkable.
The cyan ancient mirror rose to a height of a hundred feet, and Sect Master Yan opened his mouth and spat out a large mass of essence blood, turning it into streaks of blood-colored runes that were shot into the ancient mirror.
Instantly, the ancient mirror rotated rapidly, shooting out a dazzling cyan light, straight into the sky. This light directly passed through the spatial rift two or three hundred feet above, disappearing into the high sky.
But after waiting for a few breaths, nothing happened. Just as Zhang Ling was waiting, puzzled.
Zhang Ling suddenly noticed that the three blood moons in the sky were also rotating strangely, and he couldn't help but be stunned.
Then, he discovered that the brightest blood moon was constantly growing larger.
He couldn't help but narrow his eyes slightly, thinking that he had seen it wrong. Looking closely again, the blood moon was indeed growing larger.
But it was not really growing larger, but the blood-colored moonlight that was being cast down was being gathered by a cyan light circle.
It looked as if the light circle was imprisoning the moonlight inside, being constantly pulled down. This made it seem from below as if the blood moon was growing larger.
Zhang Ling looked left and right, and sure enough, he discovered that as the blood-colored moonlight was imprisoned by the cyan light circle, the blood-colored moonlight that was scattered around was indeed becoming fainter.
Only within the scope of the square, especially near the white bone altar, was the blood-colored moonlight becoming brighter and brighter.
