Chapter 495: Hundred Ghosts Night Parade

On the Ancient Huang Quan Path, deep in a mountain hollow filled with grey fog, Hua Changxi hid among dozens of fierce ghosts and thousands of lonely spirits and wild ghosts. It was not until the figures of the Lord of Huang Quan and the Ghost King had completely disappeared, and a quarter of an hour had passed, that she held her breath and carefully stepped out of the hollow.

Hua Changxi slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air, steadying her mind.

That woman in red was actually the wife of the Lord of Huang Quan, and what's more, it was only an avatar.

An avatar with strength comparable to the peak of the Spirit Platform realm—her true body... must have definitely stepped into the Soul Concentration realm.

"Soul Concentration realm..."

Hua Changxi's eyes flickered, and she raised her hand to rub her swollen and painful head. At the thought that she still hadn't opened her Spirit Platform, a sense of anxiety surged in her heart.

Before the Nascent Soul realm, practitioners could fight relying solely on spiritual power. But once they stepped into the Spirit Platform realm, fighting required the coordination of spiritual power and soul power.

She had been unable to open her Spirit Platform for a long time. Relying only on her Nascent Soul realm cultivation and her formidable physical body, she wasn't afraid of opponents in the Spirit Platform realm, but she had to be careful against powerhouses in the Soul Concentration realm and above.

At this time, the lack of soul power would become her fatal shortcoming. A moment of carelessness could lead to heavy injury or even being killed in return.

Just like just now, the divine sense scans from the Ghost King and the Lord of Huang Quan shook her sea of consciousness, causing her brain's operation to stutter.

A long time ago, she had heard that the Nine Nether began spiritual energy recovery earlier than the human world.

Now, she had only descended to the Nine Nether for the fourth time, and she had already encountered three Soul Concentration realm powerhouses...

With a grave mood, Hua Changxi continued to approach the giant fortress ahead.

Because of the Ghost King's appearance, she knew that the giant fortress should be the central city of the Ghost Clan—the Ghost Realm Fortress.

According to common sense, the Ghost Realm Fortress should be built before the Ghost Domain Forbidden Land to guard the forbidden land, so if she wanted to leave the Ghost Domain, she had to pass through the Ghost Realm Fortress.

At the same time, dozens of miles away, the figures of Chu Junyi and the other four appeared out of thin air on the Ancient Huang Quan Path.

"That really scared me just now. It's a good thing the Boss reacted quickly, otherwise, we definitely would have been discovered." Meng Yuchuan patted his chest, exhaling a long breath of turbid air, still feeling lingering fear.

Chu Junyi put away the black array disc in his hand, his gaze locked gravely on the Ghost Realm Fortress ahead: "After this incident, the Ghost Realm Fortress will surely strengthen its guard. I'm afraid it won't be peaceful after we sneak in."

Ye Jingzhou frowned, worried: "I heard earlier that the Lord of Huang Quan had already broken through the Soul Concentration realm and stepped into the Out-of-Body realm. From the pressure felt just now, and his dominance over the Ghost King, I'm afraid the rumors are true."

"Not just him." Sheng Pengyun continued in a deep voice, "And that Lady Bian Hua, she was already able to condense an avatar..."

"The art of avatars is something that can only be practiced after stepping into the Out-of-Body realm."

After hearing this, Meng Yuchuan was shocked: "No way, doesn't this mean that the Lord of Huang Quan and Lady Bian Hua, the couple, are both Out-of-Body realm powerhouses?"

"Not necessarily."

Chu Junyi interrupted: "One can only condense an avatar after stepping into the Out-of-Body realm; that only applies to the human and demon races."

"For some tribes in the Nine Nether, as long as the primordial spirit is strong enough, one can also condense an avatar in the Soul Concentration realm."

He paused and analyzed: "The avatar that fought us just now had strength no higher than the peak of the Spirit Platform realm. If her true body were really in the Out-of-Body realm, the avatar's strength wouldn't be so weak. In my opinion, her true body's cultivation should stop at the Soul Concentration realm."

After hearing this, Meng Yuchuan clicked his tongue: "Even if it's the Soul Concentration realm, it's still an absolute powerhouse... It seems the situation in the Nine Nether is three times more dangerous than in the human world."

Chu Junyi looked at this dim world, his eyes flickering: "It's not three times more dangerous, but ten thousand times more dangerous. The Nine Nether is inherently a hotbed of chaos and slaughter. Here, there is only—the law of the jungle."

After a moment of silence, Chu Junyi spoke again: "Let's go, continue on our way."

The five of them immediately moved like ghosts, quickly shuttling along the Ancient Huang Quan Path.

"Boss, I always feel that the Ghost Clan member from before was a bit strange."

"Yeah, even the Ghost King is somewhat wary of the Lord of Huang Quan, yet it directly killed Lady Bian Hua's avatar. Isn't this intensifying the conflict between the Ghost Clan and the Huang Quan faction?"

"The Nine Nether is the same as the human world. With the progress of spiritual energy recovery, all sorts of monsters and demons are coming out. The internal strife of the Ghost Clan will only become more intense and chaotic."

"But having said that, the more chaotic the various tribes of the Nine Nether are, the more peaceful the Nine Passes of the Demon Prison will be. If that Ghost Clan member really triggers a chaotic battle between the Ghost Clan and the Huang Quan faction, it would actually be helping us."

Speeding all the way, Hua Changxi finally arrived at the end of the Ancient Huang Quan Path.

After the Huang Quan river broke its flow, the road ahead was not as desolate and deathly still as she had expected; instead, it was even more "lively," and even the ghost energy in the air was thicker.

This scene was simply like walking out of a desolate mountainous area and entering a "bustling" downtown.

Hua Changxi sneaked carefully. On the Ancient Huang Quan Path, those wandering were just mindless lonely spirits and wild ghosts; but after walking out of the Ancient Huang Quan Path, the figures of the Ghost Clan suddenly became dense, and their cultivation auras were far superior to the former.

Looking around, deep in the gloomy fog, there were rows upon rows of ghost villages and ghost towns, with dots of ghost fire, resembling human cities.

Hua Changxi was holding her breath, peeking at the distant ghost villages and towns.

Suddenly, a ghost village in the distance was brightly lit with ghost fire, and immediately after, a high-pitched, ear-piercing suona sound cut through the sky like a sharp sword, piercing the eardrums!

Once the suona sounded, it seemed to trigger some kind of switch, and the sound of gongs, drums, and cymbals followed, playing a strange and sinister piece of music with a very netherworld character.

With the rise of the music, the grey fog lingering over that ghost village began to churn. The next moment, a procession holding white bone lanterns slowly walked out from deep within the ghost village.

To Hua Changxi's surprise, those ghosts were not the mindless dead souls with ferocious faces and only capable of roaring as she had imagined. On the contrary, the procession was strictly disciplined and orderly.

The front row consisted of ghost soldiers clad in heavy black iron armor, walking steadily with a menacing aura; the middle section consisted of dancing ghost maidens dressed in neon feather garments, their feet not touching the ground as they floated along, scattering dots of phosphorescence as they danced, beautiful and tragically enchanting; the rear was guarded by ghost soldiers riding black skeleton horses and holding black banners, with cold winds blowing.

And in the center of this star-studded procession was a scarlet sedan chair.

The sedan was made of unknown black wood, wrapped in eye-catching bright red curtains, and in the paper lanterns hanging at the four corners, oil-green ghost fire flickered in the wind, making a strange "clucking" sound.

As the cold wind blew, the sedan curtain lifted slightly, and a flash of dazzling red caught Hua Changxi's gaze.

She saw a female ghost in red sitting in the sedan.

The female ghost in red's makeup was as exquisite as a living person, her features as beautiful as a painting, but her eyes were hollow and deep, exuding a deathly and sinister chill.

A faint, elusive smile hung on the corner of her mouth, her expression lazy. Amidst the earth-shaking suona music, she was like a queen patrolling her territory, exuding a suffocating, bewitching allure. ===== CHAPTER 496 =====