Chapter 1064: Ninth Level

VIP Volume 6: Spirit Treasures of Heavenly Reach - A Mortal's Cultivation Journey

Having previously been swallowed by a spatial rift, Han Li, though still uneasy, did not panic. Empowered by a Spirit-Descent Talisman, his magic power had reached the peak of the Nascent Soul mid-stage. He immediately channeled a furious amount of spiritual energy into his Primordial Qi Shield, transforming it into a dazzling silver light.

The rift was so vast that as long as he wasn't grazed by its edges, the power of his Primordial Qi Shield should protect him for a while. Han Li could only think this with trepidation.

The darkness lasted only an instant. After a moment of dizziness, his eyes brightened, and he found himself in a void.

Fortunately, Han Li, having experienced this before, instantly regained his composure. He quickly looked around vigilantly, and his heart was startled by what he saw.

“The ninth level!” Han Li muttered instantly, barely needing to confirm it.

This was clearly another self-contained space, with an empty area several miles wide in the center. All around, yellow mist swirled ceaselessly, making the place dim and unclear, its true expanse unknown.

Beneath him, however, stood a massive altar, over a hundred zhang tall, wide at the base and narrow at the top, shaped like a four-sided trapezoid. It was constructed from flawless white jade, appearing exceptionally grand and exquisite.

Surrounding it was a super formation of towering stone pillars, encircling the altar. Each pillar glowed brightly, seemingly in an activated state. At the very top of the altar stood a colossal twin-headed wolf, the size of a small mountain. One of its black heads was spewing boundless dark energy, fiercely confronting several opponents suspended in the nearby air.

These opponents were precisely the cultivators and demonic beasts who had vanished from the eighth level. Not only was Hua Tianqi, the Demonic Concubine Longmeng, there, her palms dancing as she conjured milky-white giant hands to smash into the dark energy, but also Elder Ye, the Ten-Thousand-Year Corpse Bear, the Silver-Winged Yaksha, and others were all present. The only one missing was the big-headed monster from the Jia family.

What surprised Han Li, however, was that a human cultivator was also by the wolf's side, operating a glittering silver shuttle to assist the colossal wolf. This person was none other than the beautiful woman from the Immortal Transformation Sect. At this moment, her face was shrouded in black energy, and her eyes were blank. She commanded her treasure to relentlessly fight Madam Mu, who was furious. It was as if her true nature had been lost.

As for the others, they were each unleashing their divine abilities, desperately attacking the giant wolf before them. Above the wolf, yellow winds swirled, concealing a dark black flood dragon that spewed black wind, resisting a giant silver lotus and eight illusory beast projections.

The silver lotus, suspended motionless in the air, glowed dazzlingly bright. Countless Buddhist scriptures and Sanskrit characters continuously floated down from its petals, forming palm-sized talismans. Each talisman, upon colliding with the black wind spewed by the flood dragon, would detonate with a roar, scattering the seemingly fierce black wind.

“Black Wind Flag, Eight Spirit Ruler!” Han Li instantly recognized these two Spirit Treasures of Heavenly Reach. At the same time, he was greatly surprised by the situation of the two women from the Immortal Transformation Sect.

Gui Ling had previously informed him that the two women seemed to be setting up some sort of formation underground, appearing to have some scheme. If he hadn't been in a hurry to escape the black teleportation array back then, he would surely have secretly followed them to investigate. But now, one of them seemed to have been ensnared by the ancient Devil Ancestor.

What astonished Han Li even more was that the giant wolf, despite facing so many opponents, still held a significant advantage, forcing its adversaries to retreat step by step, unable to get close to the altar.

The dark energy spewed from the giant wolf's mouth was oily and viscous, like liquid. Except for the Ten-Thousand-Year Corpse Bear, which wildly hacked and slashed through the dark energy with its blood-bladed weapon, all other cultivators and demonic beasts protected their bodies with their treasures, seemingly not daring to let their artifacts touch the black energy, nor daring to launch long-range attacks through it. They merely relied on various spells and ranged attacks to continuously disperse the approaching black energy.

As a result, they were naturally constrained and at a great disadvantage.

If it weren't for Hua Tianqi and the Corpse Bear taking the brunt of the giant wolf's attacks, and the silver lotus formed by the Eight Spirit Ruler above diverting much of the wolf's attention (requiring the wolf to occasionally spew black energy to support the black flood dragon), the group of cultivators and demonic beasts would likely have been unable to sustain the fight much longer.

After all, the Silver-Winged Yaksha's Soul-Slaying Threads and the golden waves spewed by the Lion-Bird Beast seemed to have no effect whatsoever on this dark devil energy.

However, Han Li's gaze flickered, and he noticed something peculiar.

The twin-headed giant wolf seemed unable to leave the altar and fight in the air. It merely guarded the top of the altar, not moving a single step away. This made Han Li feel a sense of surprise.

Just then, a voice filled with shock and anger came from nearby. “No, the seal has indeed been opened. How could this ancient devil possess the artifact to open this seal?”

Han Li was startled and looked in the direction of the voice. He saw Xuan Qingzi about twenty zhang away, staring at a spot on the altar and crying out. Beside him, True Person Qimiao also had a gloomy expression.

Han Li then realized that not only these two, but also Lin Yinping, the Rhinoceros Peacock, Gui Ling, and the humanoid puppet had appeared in the ninth level space, all seemingly unharmed, whether far or near.

It seemed that the spatial shattering just now was no accident, but rather triggered some restriction, instantly teleporting everyone from the previous level to this one.

However, Lin Yinping's beautiful face was a bit pale, indicating that the recent anomaly had still startled her considerably.

Han Li's gaze merely swept past before immediately settling on the spot on the altar that Xuan Qingzi and True Person Qimiao were staring at. After a closer look, Han Li couldn't help but let out a soft exclamation of surprise.

Behind the giant wolf, there were two grey, unremarkable stone tablets.

However, upon seeing these two stone tablets, a hint of surprise appeared on Han Li's face. A familiar sensation immediately brought the name "Roaring Spirit Soft Jade," a rare material, to his mind. He had seen similar stone tablets beneath the Ten-Thousand-Zhang Devil Abyss in Tiannan. However, the tablet he saw that day had been shattered into several pieces. These two, however, were perfectly intact. One of them even had a jade-green seal partially embedded within it, causing the tablet to emit a faint black glow and tremble slightly.

Han Li's expression shifted as he noticed that the spiritual light emanating from the stone tablet resonated with the formation surrounding the altar, seemingly acting as the formation's core. And the giant wolf appeared to be guarding this very stone tablet, which explained why it remained so close to the altar.

Han Li stared blankly at the stone tablets, his mind momentarily a little confused.

“Xuan Qingzi, Brother Qimiao, you've arrived at the perfect time. This ancient Devil Ancestor is currently unsealing the restrictions on this altar, and something seems to be suppressed beneath it. Although we don't know what it is, we absolutely cannot let this demonic entity succeed!” Madam Mu exclaimed with delight upon seeing Xuan Qingzi, Han Li, and the others appear.

“I have already seen it. Fellow Daoist Xuan Qing, let us make our move quickly; the situation does not look good,” True Person Qimiao said, his face as grim as water. After calling out to Xuan Qingzi, he immediately flicked his sleeve.

Instantly, spiritual light flickered within his sleeve, and seven treasures—including a saber, a sword, a bead, and a mirror—simultaneously shot forth. Among them, a bronze mirror was precisely the Wonderful Sound Treasure Mirror that Lin Yinping had once borrowed.

These were the Seven True Treasures with which the middle-aged scholar had shaken the Great Jin, transforming into seven clusters of unusual light that shot towards the giant wolf below.

Xuan Qingzi, with a sigh, dared not delay. He reached into his sleeve with one hand and directly drew out a sheathed yellow ancient sword. The moment the sword left its sheath, it appeared dull and ancient, seemingly utterly devoid of luster. But as the old Daoist priest opened his mouth and spat a ball of vital blood onto the sword, it instantly seemed to awaken.

A dragon's roar, soaring straight to the heavens, erupted, and the sword body became dazzlingly bright. The old Daoist priest formed a hand seal with one hand, then solemnly pointed two fingers at the sword body, and lightly waved it downwards.

A massive sword qi, over ten zhang long, suddenly shot from the ancient sword, like a sky-supporting divine sword, striking down with astonishing momentum.

Before the deep-yellow sword qi, as thick as a bowl, even landed, a thunderous roar erupted. Where it passed, even the vast sky seemed to be cleaved in two, leaving a long white sword mark.

The giant wolf, an embodiment of the Primordial Fiend Ancestor, had naturally noticed Han Li and the others the moment they appeared. Seeing this astonishing scene, a sinister glint flashed in the wolf demon's eyes. It immediately shivered, and a layer of black energy rapidly ascended from its four claws on the altar, then quickly vanished into its body. Almost simultaneously, the wolf opened its massive mouth and spewed a large amount of viscous, liquid-like black energy into the air.

“Be careful! This demonic energy is extremely potent. Do not let your true artifacts be tainted by it, or they will immediately be demonized and lose their divine abilities!” Madam Mu suddenly shouted a warning.

At this point, the seven clusters of unusual light and the gigantic sword qi were just about to collide head-on with the demonic energy.

The middle-aged scholar's expression changed upon hearing this. Without hesitation, he made a grasping motion towards his treasures in the air.

Immediately, the seven clusters of unusual light halted just before contact, then linked together, releasing waves of colorful spiritual light that swept towards the demonic energy once more.

However, at this moment, the gigantic sword qi had already struck the demonic energy.

Sword light and black energy intertwined, emitting an earth-shattering roar. Countless yellow lights exploded and scattered within the black energy, piercing the demonic energy sphere full of holes. Subsequently, True Person Qimiao's Seven Treasures' spiritual aura also swept in, seemingly capable of instantly dispersing the demonic energy and then directly striking the giant wolf below.

But with a few "poof" sounds, the twin-headed giant wolf below unceremoniously spat out several more bursts of black energy. Immediately, the black demonic energy surged, engulfing all the yellow light and spiritual aura. After flickering wildly for a few moments, the spiritual lights vanished without a trace, falling silent.

Seeing this from the air, the old Daoist priest's heart tightened. He hastily formed a hand seal with one hand, wanting to activate the sword qi below, but there was no reaction whatsoever; it seemed to have truly vanished into thin air.

At this, the old Daoist priest's face subtly changed.

At this moment, the black energy below surged mercilessly towards everyone in the air, overwhelming everything with an extraordinarily vast momentum. Even Han Li and the others were caught in the attack. Seeing the unfavorable situation, True Person Qimiao hastily formed a hand seal and recalled his Seven Treasures. Xuan Qingzi, however, continuously slashed with his ancient sword, finally managing to temporarily block the surging demonic energy in front of him with a curtain of yellow sword light.

But he immediately turned to the scholar and said grimly, “Brother Qimiao, it seems ordinary treasures cannot deal with this devil. Quickly use that treasure. The unsealing of this seal still seems to require some time; we cannot delay any longer. I will protect you while you do so!”

“Understood. Thank you, Brother Xuan Qing.” True Person Qimiao did not hesitate either. He immediately nodded in agreement, then slapped his storage pouch. Instantly, white light flashed, and several palm-sized, emerald green rings appeared in his hand.

Meanwhile, Han Li also released dozens of golden flying swords, which transformed into a curtain of sword shadows. Before the demonic energy could approach, golden arcs flashed wildly, and thunderous roars erupted, scattering all the demonic energy until it vanished.

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