Chapter 191: Probe

191. Chapter 191: Probe

The ruin is not large; there are only about ten halls and pavilions, visible to the eye all the way to the end.

It hardly resembles a sect's dwelling; it seems more like a place where a single cultivator trains alone.

After countless millennia of change, this cave dwelling has been explored by an unknown number of later seekers; its ruins are broken, towers collapsed, and weeds overrun.

But judging by the architectural style, it is most likely the dwelling of a female cultivator.

Inside, there is virtually no chance left; not to mention Pill or Magic Treasure, even the scripture vault has long been looted, and the spiritual fields have even had their soil excavated and taken away.

Outside, towering ancient trees block the sky, preventing sunlight from reaching the ground, yet occasionally birds and beasts dart about, and one can hear strange sounds and the rustle of wind through leaves…

But within the ruin, there is dead silence; no living creature can be sensed, not even the sound of wind.

Some skeletal frames, long weathered down to bones, lie scattered on the ground—a place utterly abandoned.

"How did those three Foundation Establishment cultivators dare to explore such a place back then? Weren't they afraid?"

Gu Zongyuan couldn't help muttering.

Xiao Zhangqing, cautiously observing his surroundings, said, "If you didn't know a terrifying demonic spirit lurked here, would you consider this merely gloomy atmosphere a great threat to Foundation Establishment cultivators? Not even Qi Refining cultivators would be unafraid."

"Um…"

Gu Zongyuan thought about it and found it reasonable.

Under normal circumstances, such a silent ruin would not frighten a cultivator at all.

He now feels a chill down his spine, merely because he knows in advance that a powerful terrifying demonic spirit resides here.

The three arrived at a spot that resembled an altar.

On the altar stood a massive stone coffin, its surface covered with intricate, profound runes.

The material of the stone coffin is unknown, extremely hard; the area around the altar bears many battle scars—pits, severe damage—but the coffin remains as pristine as ever.

Its indestructible, inauspicious material has led countless later explorers to strip away any obtainable treasure, yet the coffin has stayed untouched on the platform.

The three formed a triangular stance; Xiao Zhangqing retrieved a fist-sized bell from his satchel, and as he infused it with mana, the bell began to shake, ringing ding-dong.

Buzz! The bell's tone, imbued with a strange power, resonated with the stone coffin on the altar.

Moments later, a white-clothed female corpse appeared within the stone coffin.

The moment the corpse emerged, the ruin's evil aura and gloom intensified more than tenfold! Xiao Zhangqing and his companions felt a sudden heat in their chests; the Demon-breaking Talisman they had prepared encountered the strong evil qi and automatically activated.

After the Demon-breaking Talisman ignited, a "holy" and "warm" force enveloped the three, temporarily repelling the evil qi.

"She's about to awaken; everyone be careful."

Xiao Zhangqing said in a low voice.

As Xiao Zhangqing's words fell, the white-clothed female demonic spirit slowly rose from the stone coffin, but she faced away from the three, obscuring her features and expression.

Yet the next moment, the white-clothed female demonic spirit began singing, still with her back to the three.

Her song was melodious and graceful, yet tinged with melancholy, evoking a sorrowful yearning that made listeners eager to hear it endlessly.

The voice seemed to carry immense magical power; even the Foundation Establishment Realm songstress famed in Character: Liyang Immortal City paled in comparison to this white-clothed female demonic spirit's vocal prowess.

In a daze, one gets the illusion that this white-clothed female demonic spirit is not a demon at all, but a serene female immortal, stirring affection.

Fortunately, all three possessed at least Nascent Soul level Soul Transformation, allowing them to steady their minds and repel the song's bizarre power without being affected.

It is unclear whether the white-clothed female demonic spirit, accustomed to being fed by the shady Third Young Master, simply ceased singing and revealed a fierce "devouring" desire.

She made no movement, yet Xiao Zhangqing and the others could clearly sense her emotion: she was "hungry" and needed nourishment.

The method of nourishment was the cultivators' essence blood and Soul Transformation.

Since Xiao Zhangqing and his companions had no essence blood or Soul Transformation to offer, the spirit naturally set its sights on the three living humans.

"Want to eat us? Then take a shot at me first!"

Gu Zongyuan, unable to stay calm, summoned his life-born artifact, spewing a mana fire dragon that lunged toward the white-clothed female demonic spirit on the altar.

He dared not rashly swing the life-born artifact outright, lest an accident occur and it become tainted with the spirit's power.

Even so, this move certainly reached the early Nascent Soul stage, enough to threaten the life of the Fake Core True Person, and its momentum was quite formidable.

Yet when this mana fire dragon struck the white-clothed female demonic spirit, it was as if a red‑hot branding iron fell into icy water, emitting only a wisp of smoke before vanishing instantly.

The white-clothed female demonic spirit sustained no injury; not even her clothing or hair showed any damage.

Gu Zongyuan, refusing to believe the spirit, reasoned that his fire‑based technique should counter such gloomy entities, and thus launched several successive attacks.

The result was no difference at all.

The white-clothed female demonic spirit made no defensive move, still facing away from the three, allowing Gu Zongyuan to keep attacking; she merely kept projecting hunger, urging Xiao Zhangqing and the others to offer themselves to her.

"Is it really that sinister?" Gu Zongyuan swallowed, halting his actions.

His successive attacks had no effect on the white-clothed female demonic spirit; on the contrary, he began to feel unable to endure.

His inability to endure wasn't due to the mana cost of the moves, but an inexplicable mental fatigue! It felt as if… the attacks that missed the white-clothed female demonic spirit partially rebounded onto him? Of course.

The lethality of his attacks certainly didn't hit himself, yet the situation was bizarre, as if there was some "exchange" with the female spirit? "I'll give it a try."

Nearby, Su Wushuang channeled mana; under her abundant mana, the surrounding temperature suddenly dropped, cold air coalesced into arrows that rained toward the white-clothed female demonic spirit.

It must be said that Su Wushuang's attack was quite formidable, ranking as upper‑mid level for a mid‑Nascent Soul cultivator. The crackling ice arrows struck the hard altar—its material unknown—leaving numerous small pits despite the altar not collapsing.

One should note that this altar has withstood countless millennia without breaking, and past battles left few marks.

This shows that Su Wushuang's strength surpasses that of all previous treasure‑seeking cultivators who entered this ruin.

Yet even these attacks on the female spirit yielded little effect. Thick black vapors rose from her body; no matter how many or how strong the ice arrows, they seemed to strike cotton. Not a Magic Treasure shielded her; instead, the bizarre, evil‑laden black mist acted as a more sophisticated counter beyond mere mana. This strange black mist differs from mana itself.

To give an imperfect analogy, the white-clothed female demonic spirit feels like a mortal using martial arts against a cultivator—a mana "dimensional reduction" against internal force! Of course, enough strong mortals could still harm a Qi Refining cultivator.

Although Su Wushuang's attacks were completely extinguished by the black mist, the mist itself waned slightly, and the three distinctly sensed a reduction in the surrounding demonic energy.

However, the decrease was minimal; killing or even seriously wounding it remained far beyond reach, essentially negligible.

The assault lasted half a incense stick's burn time; Su Wushuang exhausted her techniques, finally summoning her life-born artifact Snow Lotus, yet the result remained unsatisfactory.

Instead, she too experienced the same situation as Gu Zongyuan; her own emotions unintentionally fell under the spirit's influence, her mind seeming to be marked and gradually entangled, spawning various negative feelings.

But as a Golden Core cultivator, the golden core in her body circulates, her magical power surges, and she can gradually dispel this negative emotion.

If a Foundation Establishment cultivator gets entangled with this strange negative emotion, nothing may happen at first, but after returning they will likely be plagued by nightmares day and night, gradually go mad, die untimely, and even those nearby may suffer misfortune.

"No. With my strength, I cannot completely eradicate it," Su Wushuang shook his head and stopped.

Her attack, unlike Gu Zongyuan's, does have a slight effect on the White-clothed Female Evil Spirit, though only a minor one. Yet even over ten or twenty years, gradually accumulating, it still cannot achieve any real result; it cannot kill the White-clothed Female Evil Spirit, nor can it prevent its revival.

Moreover, during a prolonged assault, she herself may be increasingly affected by the evil spirit's negative emotion, unable to dispel it in time, and will collapse first.

There was no other choice; Gu Zongyuan and Su Wushuang both turned their gazes to Xiao Zhangqing, the final hope now resting on him.

"I'll give it a try too."

Since he's here, Xiao Zhangqing is certainly going to try.

Although he harbors no hope and does not think he can kill or seal this evil spirit, he must experience it himself.

"Go!"

Xiao Zhangqing commanded the nearby puppet to swoop toward the female evil spirit on the altar.

However, this evil spirit was no longer the second‑tier puppet used earlier as a scout and cannon fodder, but the third‑tier inferior puppet he originally forged.

Puppets differ from cultivators; they have no soul, and Xiao Zhangqing surmised that, first, they would at least not be affected by the evil spirit's most chilling tactics—'possession' and 'negative emotion.' Thus, one of the spirit's strangest methods loses its effect on a puppet.

Secondly, the puppet is fearless of death, can fight at close range, and, like a Body Cultivator, can search up close for any weakness in the Evil Cultivator.

Buzz! Blade qi slices the air.

The puppet wielded a silver long sword Magic Treasure; this long sword Magic Treasure was originally the prized Magic Treasure of the Song family, one of the ten great clans of Character: Liyang Immortal City, and its power was impressive.

Now, as the third‑tier puppet swung it, the killing power surpassed even that displayed by the young master of the Song family back then.

The silver blade flash fell first, much like the earlier attacks of Gu Zongyuan and Su Wushuang; the black mist surrounding the White-clothed Female Evil Spirit seemed to be the nemesis of all magical attacks—no matter how strong or what element, it could dissolve and annihilate them all.

This scene was not unexpected.

Immediately, the puppet leapt onto the altar, not only to activate the Magic Treasure's power but also to slash the evil spirit with the treasure itself.

If an ordinary Golden Core cultivator, they would not dare do this unless absolutely forced.

Because if one is not a Body Cultivator, close‑quarters combat is weaker than using magical power to drive a Magic Treasure; moreover, if one's primary Magic Treasure is destroyed, the user will suffer a severe backlash.

Only a Body Cultivator or a puppet can employ this fighting method.

Heh heh heh! The silver long sword slashed wildly; the puppet's left hand burst forth golden light, forming concentric ripples, and a punch erupted with mountain‑crushing force.

Blade and fist converged, plunging straight into the black mist of the White-clothed Female Evil Spirit, like a torrent‑turning, sea‑ripping flood dragon.

"Even this has no effect?"

Xiao Zhangqing and the two others stared at the altar and saw that the White-clothed Female Evil Spirit at that moment became faint and translucent, turning invisible.

It seemed like an intangible object, or rather it turned directly into black mist, flowing like water, making blade and fist unable to actually strike it.

"No, there is effect..."

Soon Xiao Zhangqing noticed that the black mist's rate of dissipation accelerated, becoming several times faster than the rate consumed by Su Wushuang's attack earlier.

This indicated that the third‑tier puppet could indeed 'wound' it.

But such damage comes at a great cost.

The black mist was barely diminished, yet the third‑tier puppet and the long sword Magic Treasure's vigor plummeted at a visibly rapid pace.

In no time, the long sword Magic Treasure's glow had dimmed, and the puppet's fist power clearly waned.

Continuing further would be pointless, so Xiao Zhangqing immediately ordered the puppet to retreat.

"The Magic Treasure's spirit has vanished outright, its core body is damaged… many of the puppet's components are broken…"

Xiao Zhangqing examined it and couldn't help feeling a pang of sorrow.

This third‑tier silver long sword Magic Treasure is essentially useless now; even if repaired, its power won't return to its peak, and its value has plummeted.

This third‑tier puppet is in roughly the same condition. (End of chapter)