Chapter 480: Nether Skin, The Gathering of Demons

In fact, the three-layered barrier method set up by Master Jiuyun was naturally a combined, relay-style system, capable of being mutually compatible and integrated.

First was the Grievance Bone, which tormented intruders with unbearable grievances; even if they could endure or hold out, they would surely be extremely haggard, their minds inevitably shaken violently, and at this moment, having the Hell Illustration shroud them could be called a sure-kill.

Even if there were some contingency and someone could break through or withstand the Hell Illustration, they would certainly be in a state of mental exhaustion and trance, and at this time, it would be the turn of the Nether Skin to make its appearance.

As the name suggests, the Nether Skin has a close, positive correlation with the Nether! Its origin is even greater and more peculiar; after all, what is the Nether? Simply understood, it is the dark and deep place, also referred to as the final destination for the death of all living beings.

In their respective civilizations and cultures, all living beings have coincidentally given birth to such a place that leads to the same destination despite different paths, appearing different but being essentially the same, because death is the greatest fear and the end of finite life; at the same time, the more one pursues the Dao of longevity, the more one resists death, and thus, even if the living do not actually enter the Nether, the lore of the Nether flourishes endlessly.

In other words, in reality, no one has ever actually entered the Nether.

This is normal, because the dead do not jump around and talk.

Of course, if one has become an immortal, that is another matter.

In short, mundane living beings basically rely on guessing regarding the Nether, inferring from related curiosities such as Hell Flowers, and among these, there is a hypothesis that the Nether is actually an unimaginable negative beast that corresponds to the positive world of life and longevity.

It is immeasurably large, and no one knows where it is actually located; it only silently shoulders the living world of the living, and is responsible for the cleansing and reincarnation of the dead.

And the Nether Skin is a piece of molted skin from this negative beast, and subsequently, an ancient eccentric deduced a succession technique based on it, which is to use this negative beast skin as a door, placing it in the deep soil to simulate the Nether, making it a Nether Gate; once a person steps into it, they fall into the Nether, immediately losing their lifespan and Dao, never to return to the world of the living.

That ancient eccentric had a great spirit of experimentation; after leaving behind notes for future generations to study, he went to try it himself, and then, there was no then; he vanished from the human world, and the one hundred and eight life lamps he left behind extinguished simultaneously; it can be said he truly achieved his wish, dying as thoroughly as one could die.

When Du En first saw this ancient rumor, he just found it quite marvelous.

And now, Master Jiuyun, not knowing where he obtained the inheritance and the Nether Skin, was actually able to reproduce this succession technique; placing it as the final link, as long as the intruder passed through the first two rings and was ravaged, stepping into the dark pit unknowingly would be equivalent to pushing open the gate to fall into the Nether.

A sure-kill, a true sure-kill!

I am afraid only a True Monarch of the Integration Stage with a Dao Body of Combined Transformation could rely on the uniqueness of the Dao Body to try and see if they could get stuck there, but once they fall in completely, even a Supreme would be unable to solve the problem of the constraint of heavenly lifespan, so the True Monarchs would likely also die and lose their Dao, unavoidable!

"However, the solution looks quite simple; either bypass it directly, or clear away the soil and dark pits surrounding it so that it does not meet the prerequisite conditions."

As for how Du En knows this? It is, of course, the result obtained through practical verification right now.

The ancient eccentric who once deduced the technique was unable to return to explain the solution, and there has been no word of anyone else being able to set up such a method since.

"Looking at it this way, it makes sense, because it is truly somewhat of a 'chicken rib'; of course, if used by surprise, I fear even True Monarchs might be finished, if not dead then heavily wounded; I must say, it really is a thing with a subtle positioning."

Muttering this, Du En raised his hand, thought for a moment, then lowered his hand, rummaged through his belongings, found a few ordinary magical artifacts, used his hands to bend them into a pair of tongs, and only then reached over to clamp that piece of skin, then proceeded to do the same, carefully folding it and packing it into a box.

Although there might be some hidden traps on it, the value of the Nether Skin is extremely high, as it can be said to lead directly to the Nether, so it is still worth taking some risks.

After finishing this, he continued forward.

There were no more obstacles ahead, allowing him to successfully step into that dark passage.

His figure flickered again, and he had already arrived at the end of the dark passage, where he finally caught up with Master Jiuyun.

However, only the other party was here, standing alone in this vast underground cavern that exuded a greenish-gray color, while Zhu Yi and Bai Ji were completely nowhere to be seen.

Clearly, taking advantage of the triple barriers and other obstructive means just now, he had still succeeded in something, but since he had not yet fully accomplished his goal, he was still caught up to by Du En.

"I didn't expect you to come so quickly!"

Master Jiuyun's eyeballs were bloodshot, and when he spoke, saliva was splattering; the situation seemed somewhat wrong.

Facing such nonsense, Du En simply lunged forward and punched him.

"Don't be in such a hurry, hehehe!"

Master Jiuyun laughed strangely, his figure swaying left and right at the moment of being hit, dividing and splitting, and one after another, sneaky figures immediately filled all directions.

"Good, good, good!"

"Now that everything is obtained, transcendence and ascension are imminent!"

"Hahaha! This is the Transformation of Spirit, this is great magical power!"

These demonic and evil cultivator figures were all arrogant and manic with joy, waves of magical power erupted suddenly, surprisingly all possessing the dazzling cultivation of the Transformation of Spirit, and being here seemed to have received some kind of blessing, their auras appearing faint and indistinct, making it difficult to judge their specific talent and realm.

But at the very least, they should be at the level of a genius or strong genius, right?

Just as he was thinking this, Du En originally wanted to retract his fist out of caution, and then at this instant, the Master Jiuyun in front of him actually took the initiative to meet him, moving very fast, so he was punched through; however, naturally, he did not die, and Du En immediately sensed that the tactile sensation was wrong, almost like punching through air.

Discovering the anomaly, just as he was about to unleash his moves, at this same instant, the attacks of the other demonic and evil cultivators had already arrived.

"ROAR!!!"

One person suddenly tore off his mask, revealing a coarse and vicious face, and then a roar erupted from his throat, forming a tangible impact that surged over.

Soul-Startling Demonic Sound!

Profound-Grade Dao Technique!

As expected, there are extra conveniences here...

Du En remained calm, silently judging; his Sacred Body was already warming up, and in fact, he was not afraid of this level of sound attack at all.

"Freeze!"

Another evil cultivator shouted urgently to cast a spell, not afraid of being affected by his accomplices, and at this moment, he recited a spell quickly, pinched a seal and pointed, and a spot of oily green light flashed and vanished.

It was actually a curse? Du En only felt his body's magical power sink into an inexplicable and invisible quagmire, burdened by a vicious curse lock; it should have only been an attack at the level of a strong genius, but it had an extra bonus here, directly amplified to the point where even he was significantly affected.

"It's not over yet! Come, come, come, my darlings, go!"

Another demonic cultivator laughed strangely, threw out a yellow-skinned gourd, and as soon as the stopper was opened, it buzzed, and a group of glowing red mosquitoes flew out.

"Life-Devouring Flame Mosquitoes! Good, good, good, old ghost, you are holding nothing back, I cannot fall behind you! Array rise, let this guy see my 'Ancient Evil Demonic Body Spirit-Devouring Array' derived from the Ancient Sect of Heavenly Demons!"

Accompanied by a sound of ghosts crying and wolves howling, one after another, human pillars refined from living people, with their faces hanging on the outside and looking desperate and painful, were thrown out, instantly landing around Du En, and then a trembling and fearful aura erupted, and one legendary Heavenly Demon after another was about to squeeze out from within.

"Jiejiejie!"

"Gagaga!"

"It's not over, it's not over! Come, come, come, Great Commander of the Eight Directions and Four Seas, True General of the Five Sicknesses and Six Plagues, this disciple opens the altar to perform rituals today, I invite you to possess me, I invite you to possess me!!!"

There were even more strange and bizarre attacks, each one being able to pose a threat to Du En under the amplification of this place, and now they were all used at once, forming a trend of drowning and overwhelming him.

And the strange thing was that they did not interfere with or affect each other, but instead faintly intertwined, about to form a more terrifying small world of demons and evil, to ruthlessly suppress and obliterate him!

He naturally could not sit and wait for death, but at this moment, the Master Jiuyun in front of him was also chanting.

"By the decree of the Nine Heavens Profound Cloud Divine Lord, now you are summoned, manifest your might and law, descend to this place, execute my strong enemy, there must be no mistakes, there must be no mistakes, act as fast as the law, hurry!"

With a 'bang', Master Jiuyun's whole body exploded and shattered, turning into layers of filthy clouds like sticky mud, which suddenly wrapped around him, and at the same time, a simulated human face resembling him, both majestic and sinister, both high and profound yet fallen, wearing cloud-patterned armor and holding a Wu hook, invisibly hooked Du En within the clouds.

Their movements and reactions suddenly ceased, sinking into a bizarre state, as if the clouds of the Nine Heavens were all gathered here, transforming into heavy shackles, and they themselves were the condemned prisoners of divine punishment, facing execution and tribulation under the verdict of the Divine Lord! "Cackle, cackle, cackle! We have thirty people in total, each with our own signature skills; how can you fight us, huh?!"

Seeing this, those who had not yet attacked laughed wildly, then waved their hands, and thirty-six Mother-Child Poison Darts appeared, most adept at ruining a person's body, spirit, and magic power, and were ruthlessly unleashed, instantly transforming into a ferocious poisonous flood dragon that roared as it charged out.

Others said nothing, merely silently deploying one hundred and eight Ten Thousand Soul Banners, a technique extremely classical yet highly effective, with vengeful spirits roaring and charging out one by one, each possessing the strength of the Deity Transformation stage, likely refined and tortured into existence from those vengeful spirits within the back planes.

There were others as well, such as Gu, Shaman, Invocation, Nuo, Red Sorrow, Lust, Zombie, and so on, totaling thirty types of methods; at this point, it could be said that all the demons had arrived, and everything imaginable and unimaginable had surfaced.

In such a situation, Du En appeared to be facing certain death, clearly unable to turn the tide.

All the demonic and evil cultivators stared at him with ferocious, unblinking eyes, wanting to see how this dignified, heaven-proud great cultivator would meet his miserable end! Yet, before being submerged, his face remained entirely calm, as if the one about to die were not himself.

"Not good!?"

Jiuyun Shangren was the first to notice that something was wrong, but it was already too late; right at the entrance of the secret passage, ten thousand Grade Five top-tier magical artifacts suddenly came rushing in, just like a school of sardines crowding into a narrow tin, and then.

"Explode."

Du En's voice rang out faintly behind the magical artifacts, like a death-summoning demonic sound.

Then, a flash of explosive light.

Silent and soundless, a self-detonation that even erased the sound itself made its appearance once more.

The fierce shockwave rushed out of the conduit, directly tearing an abyss-like void of over ten thousand zhang in this direction of the secret passage, and then the rock and soil layers began to collapse and sink, the rumbling sound constant and unending.

Only that blue-gray cave remained unchanged, clearly a quite unique node; relying solely on the power of the Deity Transformation stage—no, it should be said, the Void Refinement stage—it was simply impossible to disintegrate it.

"Your vitality is quite tenacious."

Du En said this, standing proudly in the underground void, the rumbling collapse behind him suddenly ceasing.

He was venting his magic power, he was controlling his magical artifacts, one by one, a million in number, arranged in sequence; the sharp spiritual light they spat out tore the underground void deeper and wider, until it presented a spherical hollow domain.

Only that central cave could still maintain its physical form at this moment, remaining suspended and fixed; the large swarm of magical artifacts swimming through in single file attempted to open another entrance, but after tapping and striking, they found none, and could only linger at the prey's door like a pack of hungry wolves.

Jiuyun Shangren and his group were, as Du En had said, indeed quite tenacious; half of them had just been blown to death, yet the other half had used their companions as cushions and actually suffered no real damage, maintaining their state quite well.

But at this moment, their expressions also changed rapidly, looking extremely unsightly.

Because from their perspective, they only saw Grade Five top-tier magical artifacts that could be called treasures, truly radiating treasure light, brilliant as stars, visible but unattainable.

Du En stood proudly in the midst of it all, like the stars surrounding the moon, set off by countless treasure lights, appearing exceptionally majestic and divine; at this moment, he seemed like a monarch looking down upon ants, his calm gaze merely surveying the lowly people destined to be sanctioned by him.

Such precious magical artifacts, such dazzling divinity...

"Damn it, how could there be so many top-tier magical artifacts!?"

"Fake, it must be fake!"

"Right! A trick of the eye! This is a trick of the eye!"

Some demonic cultivators spoke incoherently, their eyes miserable and fearful, and in their panic, they actually chose to rush out of the passage.

The leader was that guy who had unleashed the Soul-Startling Demonic Sound, straining his throat to continue shouting.

Clang, clang, clang! Faster than his voice were the magical artifacts that had long been impatient; one by one, the artifacts erupted with clanging, sharp sounds, fiercely pouncing on him, piercing his body with ten thousand swords on the spot, then continuing to pounce, pouncing until he was reduced to fine mince.

"Does the enhancement weaken as long as one leaves that cave?"

Du En judged the situation calmly, his control of the artifacts not yet ceasing; the artifacts that had finished mincing the man swarmed forward again, biting onto the others who had suddenly realized the truth and wanted to turn back.

"Ahhh! Die for me! This is the Absolute Curse! An evil curse of shared life and death, ah?!!"

Shared life and death, an old trick.

Let's see whose tolerance is higher.

Du En remained completely unshaken, obliterating it; it was actually quite extraordinary, capable of damaging his own origin and causing cracks to appear.

He silently recovered from the cracks in his origin, the process lasting less than a single breath before it had healed as before.

The Evil Curse Master naturally followed in the footsteps of the mince.

Next was the demonic cultivator who had released the Life-Devouring Flame Mosquitoes.

(End of chapter)