Devour

Chapter 268 The Right Path

Cheng Bai used his spiritual eyes to take a closer look and noticed that what was condensed in Lu Xiaoxi's dantian was a round and natural inner elixir without any edges or corners, which was different from the common polyhedron. The technique was exactly the same as Yang Kaiping's at the beginning, so he asked curiously: "Does the Dingling Clan have the inheritance of the Multi-Leaf Divine Technique?"

Lu Xiaoxi said: "My tribe mainly practices external skills, and we don't have such a profound internal skill inheritance. To be honest, the Dingling tribe is a vassal race of the Xuanyuan tribe, and the continent we live in is their vassal. I went through hardships in the Xuanyuan tribe's temple and obtained the Multi-Leaf Divine Skill. It was not easy to come by."

"I see. The Multi-leaf Divine Art is inherited by the Xuanyuan clan. I think they are a powerful and extraordinary clan."

Cheng Bai pondered secretly, put aside all distracting thoughts, and calmed down to practice the Six Paths of Supremacy, hoping to absorb the vitality of heaven and earth into his body. However, when he practiced the skill, he couldn't help but be shocked.

The dark wind was everywhere all around, and it was hard to sense any trace of the vitality of heaven and earth.

Not only that, the entire Jianmu tree was in a state of panic. Every bit of true energy that made up its trunk was on the verge of being drawn to a sword, and it was stretched tense from top to bottom, as if it was facing a terrifying natural enemy.

"The Dark Wind is completely different from the type of heaven and earth energy that can be absorbed by the Six Paths Unique Technique. Doesn't that mean I can't practice normally?"

Cheng Bai was surprised, and after thinking for a while, he took out a Yunzhen Lianxin Pill from the Sumeru mustard seed, crushed the wax shell, and used his internal energy to release the medicinal power. Suddenly, the small area was filled with rich vitality.

Others were worried that the dark wind blocked the flow of heaven and earth's vital energy, making it difficult to practice. With the help of this elixir, everyone present immediately achieved success and made rapid progress.

Especially for Gou Yifan, it was quite risky to disperse his inner elixir and reconstruct it. Any carelessness might lead to the loss of most of his cultivation. Faced with this dilemma, he was so anxious that he broke out in a cold sweat.

Fortunately, his thick earth spirit body is known for its stability, and the pagoda purple energy is a steady and unparalleled righteous divine skill. With the help of Yun Zhen's heart-refining pill's vitality, he only consumed a part of his true essence and successfully reached the initial inner elixir state of the heavenly realm. The first level of the pagoda has been completed, and he will surely be able to break through the existing bottleneck in the future.

Everyone gradually calmed down, closed their eyes and meditated, spending the night in silence.

The dark wind came quickly and went away quickly. After six hours, it disappeared without a trace, as if it had never appeared.

The earth did not seem to have been ravaged by a storm, but rather was caressed by the invisible hand of death. All living things could not escape the disaster, and everything returned to dust, leaving only a desert.

The columns of smoke from the Steel City rose into the sky again, and thick smoke filled the sky. It now seemed to be a protective umbrella for life, no longer dull and ugly, but a symbol of hope.

Cheng Bai put away the Four Symbols Cauldron and Miao Yuan's corpse. Gou Yifan was reluctant to leave, but he didn't say it out loud.

Five people formed a temporary team.

Cheng Bai, the leader of the team, said with a firm look, "Next we should go to the second level of the Jiaoshi Mountains. Heilong, have you found out the way?"

Hei Long said, "Your Majesty, I have found more than one way. If you want to be simple and direct, you can go to the abyss where the smoke column rises to the sky in the city and jump into the lower level. But the risk is very high. Unless you have achieved sainthood in the flesh, you must not take risks easily. The safe way is to find the maze-like Netherworld Cave in various places in the Iron City and go down, and you can successfully reach the Jiaoshi Mountains."

Cheng Bai pondered and said, "In that case, it is impossible for the candidates to go to the lower levels. When the dark wind blows, they must hide in the city in time. Even if they are sages and immortals, unless they are familiar with the road and are fast enough, they will have a chance to travel to the ninth level of the abyss during the day to explore."

Lu Xiaoxi's injuries have improved, and he can barely walk. He smiled and said, "Brother Baidi has the immortal corpse. Doesn't that mean we have a great opportunity to explore the depths of the secret realm?"

Gou Yifan's eyes flickered, and he smiled, "We have followed the right person. As far as I know, the best candidates for the examination can only reach the third layer of the floating ice sea. In addition to being unable to resist the rampant ghosts, monsters and insects, it is also because they cannot resist the nether wind. Brother Bai, with the immortal corpse, will surely win the battle and occupy an excellent resource advantage."

Hei Long said: "The path in the maze cave is the simplest, but you need to find a suitable guide to know how to get there."

Cheng Bai said: "There is a good candidate who can definitely take us there."

After finding Chu Mingtang, Ju Gong once again acted as a guide and readily agreed, "Master, don't worry. I am very familiar with the road to the Jiaoshi Mountains. Please follow me."

The Green-Faced Ghost accepted the job and led everyone across the city, crossing mountains and ridges, until they came to a strange rock that looked like a tree root. He looked up and shouted, "Gatekeeper Ghost, open the door quickly. There are six of us who want to go down."

The huge rock was more than a hundred meters high, and the roots wrapped around it began to move and spread apart, revealing a huge ghost face, like a withered old man on his twilight years, with his body above the chest exposed above the ground, and the many roots were his hair and beard.

"Six... The toll is sixty taels of black gold. Pay it first." The gatekeeper raised one of his beards and stretched it out to the crowd, hooking it like a little finger.

Ju Gong smiled and said, "The road is rough, and the master needs to pay for my travel expenses."

Cheng Bai reached into his wallet, took out a black gold ingot and placed it at the end of his beard.

The gatekeeper ghost smiled widely, hid the gold ingot in his ear hole, and the long beard on his chin parted to the side one by one, revealing a huge dark hole in his chest. He said happily: "The fastest way to get to the Jiaoshi Mountains is through my stomach, you guys should hurry over."

Gou Yifan was secretly frightened, and whispered to Cheng Baidao: "If it passes through the body of a ghost and swallows us, it will be very bad."

Cheng Bai sensed the power of all things, judged the strength of the gatekeeper ghost, and comforted him, "No, don't worry."

Ju Gong took the lead and walked into the cave. He held up his own moonstone lantern to illuminate the cave and said earnestly, "Master, don't worry. The place guarded by the gatekeeper is the safest and most reliable. But when I come back, I will have to pay for the trip. Please give me more money."

Cheng Bai said: "Lead the way well, and there will be a special reward."

The stairs in the cave are wide, spiraling down layer by layer to an unknown depth. Without lights, you can hardly see your hand in front of you.

……

A peaceful deal was completed in the Blood Demon Palace.

Wu Qiubai inspected the red-faced ghost army in front of him. With a sharp glance, he knew that the number was correct, but they looked a little weird. Not only were they of varying heights, weights, and quality, some were limping, some were staggering, and some were dumbfounded.

Cai Youling frowned slightly and asked, "Wu Hou, what do you think of them?"

Wu Qiubai twisted his beard, thinking, and said softly: "It can barely be used."

Gao Xu laughed hissingly, "Your Highness, your opinion is great! This is the most elite ghost army in the Nine-Layered Abyss. They will be invincible in battle! With such a large army under your control, what more could you ask for?"

Cai Youling was silent for a moment, then nodded and said, "Thank you for your help, Lord."

Wu Qiubai urged in a low voice: "There is no time to lose the opportunity. You should lead the ghost army and rush there immediately! I heard that a candidate alarmed it yesterday."

Cai Youling said goodbye, "Thank you for taking the trouble to recruit soldiers. If you need anything, I will bother you again in the future."

Gao Xu watched the two men take the red-faced ghost away, and laughed so hard that he couldn't straighten his back for a long time: "Hiss, hiss, what a broken legion, the fighting power is not even as good as the white-faced ghost... No, it's even worse than the big-headed ghost."

No matter how small it was, it was still a legion after all. The daily patrol ghost officer who was responsible for monitoring the whereabouts of outsiders discovered that the march was abnormal and ran to report: "The Cai family ghost team left the city at the fastest speed and headed for the wilderness area south of the Iron City."

Gao Xu was laughing happily when his face suddenly froze. He walked around the palace a few times and said in surprise, "The south of the city is where the poisonous insects of hell are. Wu Qiubai just said that the examinees...hiss...wait a minute, only a group of rookies went there to mine yesterday and angered the insect mother. It seems that someone was reported dead, right? They recruited a few big-headed ghosts, which is just a trivial matter."

He walked around the palace several times, and the more he thought about it, the more puzzled he became: "Wu Qiubai is so famous, he shouldn't suffer a loss so easily. The Cai family's prince paid a high price for a group of useless soldiers. What exactly does he want to do? Could it be... Could it be that they have other plans?"

The Blood Demon hurriedly summoned several of his trusted ghost patrolmen and ordered them, "Go and keep an eye on the movements of the troops taken away by the Cai family's prince. Watch from a distance and report back immediately if there is any movement."

After a long time, the first day patrol came to report: "Prince Cai and Master Wu led the ghost army to stay near the nest of the poisonous insects in hell and found a stone tablet that was a thousand meters high and had never been seen before."

Gao Xu sneered and said, "The bureaucrats of the Emperor Yan Dynasty have gone mad. Do they want to go to war with the Insect Mother just to dig up a stone tablet? Even the ghosts don't dare to provoke the insects casually. Are they looking for death?"