The eerie laughter rose from the altar, sometimes high-pitched, sometimes low.
This continued for an unknown duration, until the altar was enveloped in a layer of black and red light, then with a bang, it transformed into countless streams of light.
Amidst the flashing spiritual light, a demon with a blue face and fangs, over ten zhang tall, emerged from the altar. The demon was not corporeal, but its aura was astonishing, letting out several silent roars.
An invisible wave of air instantly swept across the surroundings.
Apart from the young man on the altar who remained unmoved, the remaining old man in linen clothes was blasted away by several zhang.
Despite being a Core Formation expert, the old man's internal energy circulated automatically, creating a layer of light around his body for protection.
However, he paid no attention to this, his withered yellow face filled with joy.
As soon as the demon appeared, a pair of enormous ghostly claws instantly reached out, grabbing at the void. With a tearing sound, the surrounding space twisted and split open like a scroll.
For a time, the sky was filled with light, and gusts of yin wind raged. After a few breaths, the light and the demon dissipated, and countless points of light scattered.
On the altar appeared a giant gate, seven or eight zhang tall and three zhang wide. At the same time, the copper bells flashed, hanging around the giant gate, constantly ringing.
The surface of the gate was carved with a huge one-horned demon head, taking up almost half of the gate's surface, lifelike, ferocious, and evil.
"The Ghost Gate is open."
The old man below twitched his eyes and muttered. He lifted his foot and walked towards the altar.
But suddenly, a wisp of black gas floated out from his body, turning into a black skull face, and struck a nearby rock.
With a loud bang, a section of the mountain wall over ten zhang to the left was attacked, and a large amount of rubble fell.
A blue shadow flickered, appearing in the mid-air not far away. A flash of spiritual light dissipated, revealing a blue-clothed woman with a light veil over her face.
"How long have you been following us, fellow cultivator?" The old man in linen clothes looked at the female cultivator, his face gloomy, and asked with a cold sneer.
"You are not Otherworld Demons." A crisp and melodious voice came from the female cultivator, instead questioning the other party.
"Haha, Otherworld Demons? It seems you are reinforcements sent by the Immortal City." A murderous intent flashed in the old man's eyes. As he spoke, he opened his mouth and spat.
A small blood-colored skull flew out, spinning around and spraying out a ball of emerald green yin fire, attacking the female cultivator.
"Since you have come here, don't even think about leaving." The old man in linen clothes smiled sinisterly, black gas surging around him, and his aura suddenly burst forth.
"Mid-stage Core Formation."
The blue-clothed female cultivator was also a Core Formation cultivator, naturally always on guard. A blue jade pendant she had been holding flashed, releasing a blue light shield.
The next moment, the emerald green yin fire shot onto the light shield, making a muffled sound. The blue-clothed female cultivator groaned. Both she and the shield were blasted back several zhang.
Although she was not injured, she knew the strength of her opponent.
As the woman retreated, a black jade hairpin on her head flashed, appearing in her hand.
Then it grew larger, turning into a jade brush about a foot long. Blue light flickered on it, and her white jade-like right hand grabbed the jade brush.
With a flurry of movements, she drew three spiritual light talismans in mid-air.
These light talismans flashed, turning into a rain of ice thorns attacking the old man.
At this moment, the old man also flew into mid-air, the blood skull in front of him flashed with spiritual light, and he spat out a large amount of emerald green yin fire. He made a hand seal and uttered the word 'go'.
A light chirping sound came from the yin fire, and emerald green fire crows shot out one after another. In the blink of an eye, there were hundreds of them, attacking the female cultivator.
The female cultivator flashed with spiritual light, and the jade brush in her hand waved, creating a huge blue spiritual talisman, which transformed into a blue water dragon.
The water dragon flashed, instantly scattering a large number of fire crows. Seeing this, the old man "hmph"ed and dared not be careless. He patted a black leather bag on his waist, and a white shadow suddenly shot out, disappearing in a flash.
Seeing this, the female cultivator, who was controlling the water dragon, frowned and pointed at the jade pendant in front of her, and the treasure shone brightly. A thick light curtain wrapped around her.
As soon as she finished these actions, a white shadow flashed beside her, and a humanoid skeleton holding a red long spear stabbed straight at her.
With a tearing sound, the female cultivator was blasted back several zhang. Seeing this, the female cultivator knew that she was no match for the old man in a head-on confrontation.
A flash of spiritual light appeared in her hand, and two blue spiritual talismans attached to her feet. Then, her figure flickered, turning into a blue light and soaring into the sky.
Seeing this, the old man in linen clothes first glanced at the young man on the altar, then glanced at the bronze coffin. His figure, wrapped in a layer of black gas, chased after the female cultivator.
"Little Ten, this woman has Core Formation cultivation, we can't let her leave. I'll go kill her, you take the Ghost King Coffin and open the Palace of Longevity."
The young man frowned as he watched all this, and the old man's voice rang in his ears.
"Yes."
The young man responded with a solemn expression, looked at the empty altar around him, and lightly shouted.
"Five Ghost Children."
Then the red umbrella flew up from the ground, and with a 'pop', it opened. Five child-like ghost shadows squeezed underneath.
As soon as these ghost shadows appeared, they laughed and played under the red umbrella.
"Little things, you're not listening again."
Seeing this, the young man's face darkened. He pointed at the Ghost Seal, and dozens of yin winds shot out from it, instantly condensing into a dark ghost hand, which grabbed the red umbrella.
"If you don't listen again, I'll feed you to the Ghost King inside."
Hearing this, the five ghost shadows showed fear. They immediately went to the bronze coffin.
Facing the giant coffin that was extremely disproportionate to their size, the five ghost children suddenly let out a ghostly laughter.
A pale-faced, fat-headed little ghost took a breath, and his body swelled, instantly transforming into a one-zhang-tall one-horned demon.
Then, he opened his mouth wide and spewed out a ball of yin wind, instantly enveloping the bronze coffin, floating into the air.
Seeing this, the other four ghost heads also transformed into demon forms. These demons carried the coffin and followed the young man into the Ghost Gate.
Instantly, only the giant Ghost Gate was left standing alone on the altar, flashing with eerie blood light.
……
Meanwhile, Zhang Ling was still in the palace restriction, staring at the only motionless humanoid stone statue, deep in thought.
He had carefully examined the palace and found no formation eye. But when he re-examined this statue, he suddenly felt a sense of familiarity.
Then he noticed that the mask worn by the statue seemed to have been seen somewhere before. Zhang Ling patted his storage bag and took out a bronze mask.
This mask was exactly the same as the one on the statue's face. He had obtained this mask from a female cultivator he killed in Burning Flame Valley.
He had studied it before, but without any results, only knowing that it could devour a cultivator's divine sense, but he had never found a way to use it. It had been placed in his storage bag.
Could it be that the female cultivator had something to do with this place? But this place is deep underground in Azure Moon Lake, far from Burning Flame Valley. How could a Qi Refining cultivator run so far?
That female cultivator probably has nothing to do with this place. After all, this place looks like an ancient ruin. It seems she must have obtained it unintentionally. This kind of thing is very common in the cultivation world.
Some cultivators may have this kind of ancient thing passed down from ancient times.
Most of these antiques are relics of ancient cultivators from long ago, and 90% of them have no research value.
But there are still some things that even high-level cultivators can't see the origin of. The bronze mask in his hand is one of these things.
Could it be related to this place?
……
