Chapter 431

Suddenly, a small gourd flew out from the ruins, spewing forth rolling demonic clouds; within the clouds appeared a colossal divine form, roaring in fury, swinging two fists as large as mountains, relentlessly hammering the ruined shrine.

Each punch struck, causing the earth to tremble and mountains to shake.

Yet at that moment, a crescent moon rose from within the shrine, curved like a hook and tinged with blood, blocking the giant divine form; after being struck hundreds of times by the fists, the crescent moon shattered instantly.

A man in black robes emerged from beneath the shrine, gazing at the shattered crescent with a cold sneer. He cradled the gourd, its tiny mouth connected to a demonic cloud hovering midair, vast as a mountain—its power astonishing!

Si Princess Qingcheng glanced once and identified: "This is a disciple of the Ghost Wail Sect, a minor demonic sect. I wonder what danger he encountered in this shrine that he's even used his ghost treasure! My father said this sect is half-human, half-ghost, extremely sinister—they forge their life-soul into a human-ghost at the Jin Dan realm, and at the Yin Spirit realm, they sacrifice to evil deities, using the evil deity they worship—Heaven-Abandoned Ghost—to recover their earth-soul, then refining the earth-soul with ten thousand ghosts into an earth-ghost. At the Yang Spirit realm, they refine their heaven-soul into a heaven-ghost; finally, uniting all three ghosts, they forge a ghost immortal with their own demonic body!"

"Their disciples' abilities are exceedingly strange—they claim to use their own body as a tomb, suppressing the three ghosts. Even after death, they can use their immortal demonic body as a womb to forge a ghost treasure, extending the lifespan of a powerful ghost through it."

Brother Qian Chen's eyes flickered as he smiled: "That gourd is indeed a headless corpse. It seems the powerful ghost was extremely thin before—so even after being refined into a gourd, it remains slender."

Si Princess Qingcheng stared at the black-skinned gourd with its elongated mouth in the black-robed man's hand, recoiling in disgust: "Disgusting. Legend says this sect has corpse-guardians—all true disciples—who cultivate alongside their predecessors who transformed into powerful ghosts and sealed themselves within ghost treasures to extend their lives. With these ghost treasures, they can summon the Yin Spirit or Earth Ghost within, allowing a Jin Dan cultivator to rival a Yin Spirit—extremely dangerous to provoke."

"My father specifically warned me to be wary of such people—and now I've actually seen one!"

"The Ghost Wail Sect's cultivation is bizarre—they transform into ghosts to extend life, requiring ghost treasures refined from flesh to maintain their sanity. Summoning a predecessor's powerful ghost must come at a great cost!" Brother Qian Chen exposed the hidden danger.

Si Princess Qingcheng nodded: "Each summoning drains their own yang lifespan. These corpse-guardians claim to cultivate alongside their predecessors, but in truth, they're bait for feeding the powerful ghosts—their yang lifespan is entirely consumed to sustain them! If they're clever, they'll secretly sabotage the powerful ghosts within their ghost treasures, or turn them into nourishment for their own cultivation, or find ways to refine them into true magic treasures. Once such a person subdues their own ghost treasure, they become a true disciple of the Ghost Wail Sect—extremely terrifying. But if they cannot control the powerful ghost within their treasure, their yang lifespan will nourish the ghost treasure, prolonging the ghost's yin lifespan…"

"My father gave me a special spirit talisman specifically to counter the Ghost Wail Sect's ghost treasures!" Si Princess Qingcheng eagerly said: "Brother, shall I…?"

Brother Qian Chen merely smiled: "Don't rush to act. There's more than one Ghost Wail Sect disciple in this shrine—and this shrine isn't as simple as it seems."

He pulled out the secret map given by Wang Wang Zhiyuan, flipping through it rapidly, searching for the shrine's origins. Si Princess Qingcheng tiptoed beside him, peering over. Soon, Brother Qian Chen found a painted scroll copied from a mural, depicting a temple strikingly similar to the one before them.

Above the shrine were only three ancient talisman characters inscribed!

Brother Qian Chen closed the scroll and smiled faintly: "So that's it."

"What? Brother… what does it say?" Si Princess Qingcheng stretched her neck, curious.

"Three characters…" Brother Qian Chen tucked away the scroll, speaking slowly: "Altar of Sacrifice."

"Altar of Sacrifice?" Si Princess Qingcheng felt a strange familiarity, then recalled: "Isn't the Altar of Sacrifice where one hires deities in the Luo Tian world? I've read in Luo Tian Daoist texts that citizens of the Immortal Qin could offer their devotion and incense as tribute at the Altar of Sacrifice to summon deities to act on their behalf. At its peak, it was said Luo Tian boasted eight million deities—you could summon deities to refine elixirs, forge artifacts, heal illnesses, duel, even assist in childbirth with the Xiahuo Bird, and clean toilets with Zi Gu Shen."

Si Princess Qingcheng spoke enthusiastically: "I've seen recorded shadows of Daoist texts in the Langhuan Pavilion—when Immortal Qin sorcerers forged magic treasures, they summoned many deities to assist. Records even say that when forging Luo Tian Immortal Treasures, the Chi Jin realm split open to yield divine tin; the Ruo Ye River dried up to yield chaotic copper; the Rain Master poured water, the Thunder Duke struck the bellows; the Ying Long carried the furnace, the Heavenly Emperor gifted charcoal; Tai Yi descended to observe, and heavenly essence rained down—all summoned by the Immortal Qin."

Brother Qian Chen listened to the Immortal Qin's enslavement of artificial deities, his expression turning strange. He murmured: "No wonder the Immortal Qin was destroyed."

"Creating artificial deities was already taboo. To enslave them like this—how could the ancient divine path endure it? Even the most merciful deity has wrath… I know little of that great war, but judging from the shattered state of the Luo Tian Immortal Treasures, they certainly provoked universal outrage. So if any remnants of the Immortal Qin show their faces…"

At this thought, even Brother Qian Chen shuddered involuntarily!

In his memory, he knew far more about the primordial age than the current Daoist sects did—countless names, all mighty divine path cultivators.

Before Tai Shang attained the Dao, there were the Minggu Era and the Taigu Era; the Minggu Era was too remote—we only know that the final Divine-Demon War shattered the Chaos Realm and gave rise to Yu Jiuyou; the Taigu Era included the Epoch of the Five Emperors, the Epoch of the Five Emperors, and the Epoch of the Emperor's Fall! Then came the Taigu Chaos, known as the Luangu Era, until Tai Shang attained the Dao, mended the heavens, founded the Xiao Xie Xuan Men, and stabilized the great order of the myriad worlds, ushering in the Ancient Era…

"Yet in any of these eras—including the current Immortal Dao Epoch—countless divine path masters emerged. The divine path's foundation is so deep that even the combined strength of all Immortal Dao sects, orthodox and heretical, might not match it! Today, let alone the Daoist sects—even if you added up all the Dao Jun and Dao Zun among all Immortal cultivators, you still wouldn't have as many survivors as from just three divine path eras!"

"If not for the Three Dao Ancestors of Xiao Xie Xuan Men suppressing the myriad worlds, plus the Buddha Ancestor of Buddhism, the Two Demon Ancestors of the Demon Path, the Ancestor of Earth Immortals, the Ancestor of Scatter Immortals, and the Ancestor of the Demon Race—all these patriarchs holding down the tide—today might not even be called the Immortal Dao cultivation epoch! Even so, after Taigu, the divine path still produced nine Heavenly Emperors, with the number of patriarch-level figures unmatched by any other path…"

"What audacity did the Immortal Qin possess to dare enslave all the deities?"

"Forget it—these are all later matters! My origin is Daoist, and I have no connection to the Immortal Qin. No matter how big their troubles, as long as I'm protected by Tai Shang Dao Ancestor, they're none of my concern!" Brother Qian Chen returned the secret map to his magic treasure pouch and said to Si Princess Qingcheng: "This Altar of Sacrifice was likely where the Immortal Qin forged virtual deities. But judging by the shrine's condition, it's extremely damaged… I wonder how much of its former power remains."

"Forging virtual deities!" Si Princess Qingcheng found it hard to believe, her heart pounding: "The Immortal Qin was truly terrifying!"

Gong

From within the shrine, a massive, dark-glowing bell suddenly rose, booming violently.

The bell's surface was carved with ten thousand ghosts; its sound echoed like the wailing of ghosts and the howling of spirits. Merely hearing it drained one's lifespan. To Brother Qian Chen's ears, the bell's sound was the cry of a powerful ghost nearly at ghost-immortal level, sealed within the bell—even the non-core areas of this shrine were beyond the reach of a Core Formation True Person… Thus, this bell-ghost-treasure was no ordinary artifact.

This terrifying bell sound sent waves of destructive energy surging outward, obliterating everything—even further destroying many relics within the shrine, causing numerous broken walls and pillars to collapse.

"Another ghost treasure!" Brother Qian Chen murmured: "And one sealed with a master-level powerful ghost…"

Though the shrine's ruins were shattered, their essence was originally from the Wu Chu legacy, later modified by three Fangxian sorcerers. Its core—the Altar of Sacrifice—was even the central structure built by sorcerers for Luo Tian Immortal Treasures. Even a Nascent Soul True Immortal might not have destroyed it. It was only because the Luo Tian Immortal Treasure, in horror, turned demonic that this place was ruined. Even the non-core areas of this shrine were beyond the reach of a Core Formation True Person… Thus, this bell-ghost-treasure was no ordinary artifact.

Yet these Ghost Wail Sect true disciples were acting with excessive arrogance.

Brother Qian Chen knew that when he arrived, Zhu Zhu Jiuyin had specifically warned him: this place still held many remnants of the ancient demonic calamity—reckless actions would surely bring consequences!

There were nine Altars of Sacrifice in this area; only one retained half its power, and this one was nearly completely destroyed. These secrets were told to Brother Qian Chen by Zhu Zhu Jiuyin himself—there was no falsehood.

"It seems the Ghost Wail Sect isn't here for the first time!" Si Princess Qingcheng watched the black-robed men move with familiarity, frowning inwardly: "When did these demons infiltrate Jin Ling Cave Heaven?"

"Let's not alert them. We'll sneak in quietly—they'll lead the way for us."

Brother Qian Chen signaled Si Princess Qingcheng to open her umbrella. The Heaven-Roaming Umbrella released heavy energy, shielding her from the bell's ghostly cries. Meanwhile, Brother Qian Chen strolled calmly through the waves of destruction stirred by the bell's sound, utterly unfazed. The two slipped closer; protected by the bell's deathly sound, the Ghost Wail Sect true disciples never imagined anyone could approach—and they easily infiltrated the shrine.

At this moment, the black-robed man holding the gourd-ghost-treasure was pinned midair by a silk thread stuck to his forehead. Tiny hissing sounds echoed through the shrine's great hall—threads of silk brushed past his body, weaving into a net that trapped him.

A strange woman with eight spider legs and a beautiful upper body, her bare chest exposed, walked gracefully upon the silk threads. Her lips parted slightly, revealing bright teeth; her pink tongue curled and twined around them, exuding endless allure.

Her abdomen's silk gently descended, dipping into the gourd-ghost-treasure in the black-robed man's hand.

"What demon are you, to disrespect the Ghost Wail Sect?" a Ghost Wail Sect true disciple barked angrily.

"I'm no demon!" the spider-woman laughed sweetly: "You've intruded into my domain… you must give me children! Hehe…"

The trapped black-robed man swallowed hard. Si Princess Qingcheng, who had secretly followed Brother Qian Chen, wrinkled her nose—this demoness had no shame!

"I recall spiders have a habit of eating their mates after mating, right?"

Brother Qian Chen's expression turned strange as the spider-woman lifted her back, pulling the silk from the gourd-ghost-treasure and dragging out the powerful ghost. The once mountain-sized divine form was now a small blue-skinned ghost, no bigger than a three-year-old child, bound by the giant spider-woman. She opened her mouth, revealing two fangs, sinking into the ghost's body and sucking. In an instant, the powerful ghost visibly withered…

At that moment, the black-robed man, who had moments ago been half-entranced, trembled violently, shivering beneath the spider-woman's fangs…

Moments later, the spider-woman tossed aside the ghost-skin, covering her mouth as she laughed: "I am Luo… the Spider Goddess!"