Chapter 46

Inside the valley, the great battle had reached a white-hot intensity.

The Profound Nether Sect Elder, Old Ghost Youku, held a white bone banner. As he shook it, ten thousand ghosts wailed, yin winds howled in rage, and pitch-black nether ghost claws tore through the air, covering the sky and earth as they descended upon the monster race leader, Xikui, with a vicious aura that corroded the soul.

Xikui displayed the peerlessly tyrannical physical body and strength of the monster race. He roared repeatedly, his surging monster energy manifesting as solid, blue-black armor that struck against the nether ghost claws, producing the sound of clashing metal. His fists and kicks possessed the power to split mountains and shatter rocks; every strike was heavy and forceful, forcing Old Ghost Youku to manipulate the fierce ghosts and vengeful spirits to constantly deflect and entangle him, temporarily avoiding the brunt of his attacks.

The disciples and monster soldiers under both sides were also locked in a melee. Nether ghost fire, yin thunder talismans, and the sharp claws and innate divine abilities of the monster race collided violently. Spiritual light flashed, screams were constant, and in an instant, several people (and monsters) perished. Blood and death energy mingled, staining the valley in a ghastly hue.

Lin Xuan remained hidden atop a giant boulder. He pushed his Turtle Breathing Technique and Shadow Concealment Art to the limit, his breathing and heartbeat nearly coming to a halt, while his Eye of Truth calmly observed every detail of the battlefield.

He was waiting, waiting for the perfect moment.

"System, continuously scan the stability of the spatial entrance and the energy flow of those rune stone pillars," Lin Xuan commanded in his mind.

[Ding! Continuous scanning in progress... The spatial entrance is in an unstable state with violent energy fluctuations; the risk of forced entry is extremely high. The energy of the rune stone pillars is being eroded by the aftermath of the battle, and some nodes have already suffered damage. Estimated time until complete failure: approximately one stick of incense.]

One stick of incense! Lin Xuan narrowed his eyes. This meant that either these two groups would decide the victor within that time, or the ruin entrance might be completely sealed or collapse due to the destruction of the pillars!

Just then, the situation on the battlefield changed!

Seeing that he could not win after a prolonged assault, a flash of ruthlessness appeared in Old Ghost Youku’s eyes. He bit the tip of his tongue and sprayed a mouthful of essence blood onto the white bone banner!

"Nether Blood Sacrifice, Ten Thousand Ghosts Return to One!"

The blood light on the white bone banner flared brilliantly. The countless fierce ghosts and vengeful spirits on the banner seemed stimulated, letting out even more shrill shrieks as they began to devour and merge with one another! In the blink of an eye, a giant ghost king phantom, three zhang tall with a blurred face, formed from the condensation of countless vengeful spirits and radiating fluctuations at the peak of the Golden Core realm, roared into existence!

The ghost king phantom struck down with a palm, accompanied by miserable yin winds and eerie ghost energy; its power far exceeded what it had been before!

Xikui’s expression changed drastically. He let out a wild roar, revealing a portion of his true form. His body expanded, his skin turned into thick, blue-black hide, and the single horn on his forehead flashed with thunder light, drawing upon a sliver of the world’s thunder power as he slammed into the ghost king’s giant palm!

Boom—!!!

This collision far surpassed any that had come before!

A violent energy storm swept through the entire valley, the ground cracked, and shattered stones flew everywhere! Those few rune stone pillars, already in a precarious state, emitted "crack" sounds under the terrifying impact, and fissures rapidly spread across their surfaces!

Pfft!

Xikui was sent flying, spitting blood from his mouth; he had clearly suffered significant internal injuries. As for the few monster race members behind him, they were struck by the energy shockwave and were either killed or wounded!

Old Ghost Youku did not fare well either. Forcing the secret technique had turned his face deathly pale, his aura withered significantly, and the ghost king phantom became much more translucent.

Both sides were defeated and injured!

This is the moment!

A brilliant light exploded in Lin Xuan’s eyes! He had been waiting for this very instant when both sides had exhausted their trump cards and their strength was waning!

"Earth-Shrinking Step!" He erupted with full power!

His figure leaped down from the giant boulder as if teleporting. His target was not the crumbling spatial entrance, nor the forces of either side, but rather—the white bone banner in Old Ghost Youku’s hand, which had dimmed slightly after the secret technique, and the bulging storage bag at his waist!

"How dare you, junior!!" Old Ghost Youku was the first to react, shocked and furious. He had not expected a third party to be hiding nearby! He wanted to manipulate the ghost king phantom to intercept, but the phantom had just undergone a hard collision and its reaction was a split-second too slow!

As for the heavily injured Xikui, he could only watch helplessly.

Lin Xuan’s speed reached its limit! Chaotic spiritual power wrapped around his palm, ignoring the nether ghost energy that automatically protected the white bone banner. He grabbed the banner pole, and at the same time, his other hand reached out like lightning, snatching Old Ghost Youku’s storage bag!

"Let go!"

Old Ghost Youku’s eyes were about to split, and he frantically channeled his spiritual power to try and reclaim it. But after succeeding, Lin Xuan did not stop for a moment. He activated "Earth-Shrinking Step" again, his figure retreating like a ghost while he threw the snatched white bone banner and storage bag directly into the system space (the dust ring might be marked, so the system space was safer)!

"Bastard! Leave it behind!" Old Ghost Youku was so angry he nearly vomited blood. Ignoring his injuries, he drove the remaining ghost king phantom to claw at Lin Xuan’s back!

However, it was as if Lin Xuan had eyes in the back of his head. His figure twisted strangely in mid-air, narrowly avoiding the angry strike, while he backhandedly threw three third-tier top-grade "Exploding Flame Talismans" obtained from the system shop!

Boom, boom, boom!

Three massive fireballs exploded in front of Old Ghost Youku and the ghost king phantom. Although the scorching heat wave did not cause much damage, it successfully hindered their pursuit!

Taking advantage of this gap, Lin Xuan had already landed near the spatial entrance like a flying bird.

At this moment, because the pillars were damaged, the fluctuations at the entrance were even more violent, and tiny spatial rifts were even beginning to appear at the edges!

"Stop him!" Old Ghost Youku roared.

Xikui also forced a breath of energy and threw a punch through the air!

Ahead lay spatial turbulence, and behind were the angry strikes of two late-stage Golden Core powerhouses!

In this critical moment, Lin Xuan’s eyes were incomparably calm. He pushed his Eye of Truth to the limit, instantly capturing a relatively stable, fleeting node within the violent fluctuations!

That’s it!

He did not hesitate, sacrificing the Profound Turtle Shield to protect his back. His internal Chaotic Golden Core spun frantically, channeling all his spiritual power into defense and a final dash as he slammed headlong into the chosen node!

Swish!

The moment his figure vanished into the spatial entrance, Old Ghost Youku’s ghost claw and Xikui’s fist energy arrived simultaneously!

Bang!

The Profound Turtle Shield let out a mournful cry and flew back with dimmed light, which Lin Xuan took back in passing. Most of the attack power was twisted and absorbed by the unstable entrance, which only accelerated its collapse!

"No!!!" Old Ghost Youku watched as Lin Xuan disappeared, but he dared not approach the entrance that could collapse completely at any moment, letting out a roar of frustration.

Xikui’s face was also livid; the cooked duck had flown away, and he had suffered heavy losses!

Rumble...

Under their furious gazes, the spatial entrance underwent a series of violent distortions before finally collapsing with a bang, turning into a tiny black dot and then disappearing completely, leaving behind only a few shattered stone pillars and a ruined valley.

Inside the valley, only the remnants of the Profound Nether Sect and the monster race remained, staring at each other with an awkward and heavy atmosphere. After fighting to the death, they had ended up working for someone else’s benefit!

A sense of spinning and spatial tearing arrived. Even with the protection of his Chaotic spiritual power and the Profound Turtle Shield, Lin Xuan felt as if his internal organs had been displaced.

It was unknown how much time had passed before this discomfort suddenly vanished.

Thump!

He fell heavily onto the hard ground.

Ignoring the soreness throughout his body, Lin Xuan immediately sprang up, holding the Profound Heavy Ruler in his hand as he vigilantly scanned his surroundings.

This appeared to be the interior of a massive underground palace. The light was dim, with only some glowing gems embedded in the walls providing faint illumination. The air was cold and dry, permeated with an ancient, decaying scent. Spiritual energy was exceptionally thin, replaced instead by a more pure, yet more deathly, nether energy.

He was currently standing at the entrance of a wide corridor, with a hard stone wall behind him and no exit. Clearly, the spatial entrance was one-way, or rather, it had already closed completely.

"Finally made it in..." Lin Xuan let out a sigh of relief, then felt a lingering fear. It had been extremely dangerous just now; a moment slower and he would have either been killed by the attacks or torn apart by the spatial turbulence.

He checked himself immediately; aside from excessive spiritual power consumption and some minor concussive injuries, he was fine. The Profound Turtle Shield was damaged and needed to be nurtured and repaired.

Next, he immediately checked his harvest.

His consciousness sank into the system space, where the white bone banner and Old Ghost Youku’s storage bag lay quietly.

He looked at the white bone banner first.

[Nether Ten Thousand Ghost Banner (Damaged)]: Fourth-tier low-grade magic treasure (originally fourth-tier mid-grade, damaged due to forced blood sacrifice). Can command ten thousand ghosts and set up a Nether Ghost Domain. Contains a weak ghost king remnant thought. Status: Artifact spirit is dormant; requires a large amount of nether death energy and living souls to recover.

"Good stuff! It’s a pity it’s of the nether attribute, which doesn’t match my cultivation technique, and it’s too eye-catching," Lin Xuan thought to himself. However, using it for research, ambushing people at critical moments, or having the system recycle it were all good options.

He then looked at the storage bag. He wiped away the faint spiritual sense imprint on it (Old Ghost Youku was heavily injured, so the imprint was unstable) and probed inside with his spiritual sense.

There were quite a few things inside! Nearly ten thousand mid-grade spirit stones, various nether-attribute materials, elixirs, jade slips, and a few decent nether magic tools. What made Lin Xuan’s heart race the most was that inside a jade box covered in sealing talismans, he sensed a familiar and pure energy fluctuation!

Opening the jade box, he found a fist-sized, irregular crystal that was dark red all over, like congealed blood. Inside, it seemed as if blood was slowly flowing, radiating astonishing nether death energy and blood-vitality!

[Nether Blood Core Fragment]: Fifth-tier material. A part of a complete Nether Blood Core after it was shattered. Contains extremely pure nether origin and vast blood-vitality. Can be used to cultivate special techniques, refine high-tier demonic treasures, or serve as the core for certain evil arrays. Warning: Contains residual evil thoughts; absorbing it directly carries the risk of being possessed or having one’s soul polluted.

"It’s actually a Nether Blood Core fragment!" Lin Xuan was both shocked and delighted. The value of this item far exceeded that of the white bone banner! Although dangerous, if used properly, whether it was for the system to absorb or to refine treasures like an external avatar, it was a priceless treasure! No wonder Old Ghost Youku treasured it so much!

"This job was worth it!" A satisfied smile appeared on Lin Xuan’s face. Although it was risky, the harvest was huge.

He carefully put away the blood core fragment and cast his gaze toward the deep, dark corridor ahead.

The top priority was to explore this ruin, find a way out, and see if there were any other secrets hidden here related to the "Sacred Object."

He took an elixir, adjusted his breathing slightly, and then, holding the Profound Heavy Ruler, cautiously stepped into the dim corridor.

The ancient ruin had been silent for unknown years; today, it welcomed its first uninvited guest.

(End of Chapter 46)

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