Chapter 1498: 冥灵之晶

**Volume 9: The Hundred Races of the Spirit Realm**

The silver threads were, of course, the Nether River strange fish that Han Li had initially encountered.

These fish, slender as needles, were ineffective against high-level demonic creatures, but they posed a fatal threat to many lower-level ones unable to unleash protective spiritual light. In a brief moment, hundreds of demonic creatures that had rushed into the passage first were riddled with holes, their bodies perforated, and they collapsed and died.

The demonic creatures surging in from behind were startled. However, many of them quickly activated protective spiritual light on their bodies, and the Xuan Devils and puppets on both sides immediately swung their weapons, blocking most of the silver threads.

The silver threads continued to shoot out from the black light curtain, an endless stream.

Meanwhile, the lower-level demonic creatures that had entered the passage, urged on by a blood-robed figure's long roar, frantically scurried towards the other end of the passage. Even lower-level demonic creatures, when flying at full speed, exhibited astonishing speeds.

Demonic energy surged, and many creatures had already traversed nearly half the passage when, suddenly, an anomaly occurred! Black shadows emerged from the surrounding black light curtain, and strange cries echoed from all directions.

Black, bizarrely shaped entities began to strangely squeeze out of the light curtain. Some of these shadows opened their mouths and spat out streams of white water arrows; others pounced, revealing mouths full of fangs, and tangled with the demonic creatures, tearing at each other.

Any demonic creature struck by a water arrow stiffened and fell dead. Even those with protective spiritual light seemed unable to resist the arrows' invasion; black energy instantly appeared on their bodies, though they managed to persist for a few more steps. As for the demonic creatures caught in a struggle with the black shadows, once bitten, they struggled only a few times before their souls dissipated and their corpses instantly dissolved into putrid water.

These black shadows possessed a potent poison in their mouths! "These are Yin Ghosts!"

Han Li's eyes flickered with blue light as he observed everything from afar, a hint of surprise in his heart. With his spirit eyes, he could clearly see them. These black shadows were distinctively countless grotesque corpses of living beings, but now they had all transformed into mindless ghost-like entities, similar to zombies, frantically rushing towards the living demonic creatures, completely ignoring the puppets and ghost soldiers on either side.

Of course, the tens of thousands of low-level demonic creatures were not entirely defenseless. Caught off guard at first, they either spat out fireballs or unleashed wind blades and other spells from their claws, attacking the Yin Ghosts in a dense barrage. However, to the surprise of the demonic creatures, any spell that struck these Yin Ghosts simply flashed and disappeared into their bodies, having no effect whatsoever!

This instantly plunged all the demonic creatures into panic.

"Fools! Yin Ghosts cannot leave the Nether River's range for too long. If you can escape the passage, you'll be safe!" Six-Legs' cold voice suddenly boomed back and forth through the passage, making the ears of all demonic creatures buzz.

At once, the lower-level demonic creatures suddenly realized. They immediately ceased to bother with the Yin Ghosts' attacks, focusing solely on desperately fleeing towards the other end of the passage.

The distance of over ten thousand feet was but a few blinks for some extremely fast creatures, who dashed through. The remaining demonic creatures, though suffering heavy losses from the attacks of the strange fish and Yin Ghosts under the cover of the puppets and Xuan Devils, were fortunate that the sheer number of low-level demonic creatures was too great. Only a fifth of those who entered the passage truly perished.

And the subsequent low-level demonic hordes, forcibly urged on by the high-level demonic creatures, still surged forward like a tide. The scent of blood permeated the entire passage.

Outside, Mu Qing, the beautiful woman, and others watched the situation in the passage, their faces showing solemnity. Yet, no one offered to help, as if waiting for something.

Just as Han Li frowned, secretly pondering their intentions, a huge black shadow descended over a section of the passage. A violent tremor ran through the air, and the typically stable black light curtain began to shake. With several loud "thump" sounds, several enormous tentacles, like giant pythons, broke through the light curtain and plunged into the passage. With a mere sweep, they wrapped around over a dozen demonic creatures that were too slow to evade, pulling them like lightning into the Nether River outside the light curtain.

After a dozen screams, those demonic creatures seemed to be swallowed by the giant black shadow, and then the colossal tentacles reappeared in the passage. This immediately threw the nearby low-level demonic creatures into chaos!

"It's here. Act!"

Several demon kings rejoiced simultaneously upon seeing the tentacles appear. Six-Legs let out a decisive roar without hesitation. Instantly, the two blood-robed figures, Six-Legs, Mu Qing, the beautiful woman, and the other four, all flashed with spiritual light and vanished from their original positions. The next moment, their figures strangely reappeared in the section of the passage where the tentacles had emerged.

Among them, Mu Qing and the other three simultaneously grasped at the void with one hand. Four massive, differently colored light hands immediately materialized out of thin air. After a flash, they each seized a giant tentacle and pulled downwards simultaneously. With four Reincarnation Stage cultivators acting at once, even a mountain of ten thousand blades would likely be lifted. After a strange roar and a loud "thump," the owner of the tentacles was forcibly dragged from the light curtain into the passage by the four immense forces.

It was a huge, pale white fleshy orb! It had no nose or eyes, only a monstrous mouth that occupied nearly half its body. On the upper part of the fleshy orb were seven or eight long tentacles, most of which were caught by the light hands and unable to move an inch, while the remaining few writhed wildly above the orb, directly smashing down towards the demon kings.

A cold snort! A misty white sword light emerged from the void. With a flash of black light, it cleaved the giant fleshy orb in half. A figure shot out like a wisp of smoke, and with a flicker, retrieved something from inside the orb, then revealed his form as his spiritual light subsided. It was Six-Legs, who had not acted until now. In his single hand, he held a milky white crystal, egg-sized and shimmering.

"The Nether Spirit Crystal is finally mine. With this item, passing that barrier later will be much easier," Six-Legs remarked, examining the object in his hand and nodding in satisfaction.

The beautiful woman, Mu Qing, and others also showed expressions of relief upon seeing the crystal obtained so smoothly.

"Heh heh, there's only one Nether River Spirit residing in a single location within the Nether River waters. Such a large disturbance couldn't possibly fail to attract this thing. Even if it possesses some powerful abilities, how could it withstand our combined attack?" one of the blood-robed figures chuckled strangely.

Indeed! Their combined effort just now might have seemed simple, but it was the result of several prior rehearsals, allowing them to so easily slay this formidable Nether River Spirit.

"Since the item is in hand, we should also quickly pass through this place. This time, only Yin Ghosts appeared; we didn't encounter the other powerful ghost creatures we met last time, which is fortunate," Mu Qing said calmly, sweeping her sleeve to unleash a green light that instantly pulverized several Yin Ghosts rushing towards her.

The others had no objections. They immediately transformed into streaks of dazzling light, soaring through the air towards the other side of the passage. At this moment, on the other end of the black passage, the high-level demonic creatures, awaiting Six-Legs' and the others' orders, began to fly into the passage, activating their escape lights. Han Li and the Golden Ape followed the other demonic creatures, also entering.

For high-level beings like Han Li, the attacks of the strange fish and Yin Ghosts were naturally nothing to fear. Moreover, their escape speed was incomparable to that of low-level demonic creatures. In just a short while, they safely passed through the passage and emerged into a vast, boundless space.

Low-level demonic creatures continued to pour out from this side of the passage in an endless stream. After a full meal's worth of time, tens of thousands of demonic creatures, silver-armored Xuan Devils, and puppets had finally all passed through the black passage. The Yin Ghosts and puppets were mostly unharmed, suffering almost no damage. However, the low-level demonic creatures were not only fewer in number, but many of those that emerged were also covered in wounds. Fortunately, demonic creatures generally possess astonishing recovery abilities, so there was no need for excessive concern.

Six-Legs and the others paid no heed to this, instead gathering to discuss something. Han Li floated in the air, his gaze flickering as he surveyed his surroundings. He was currently several thousand feet above the ground. Looking around, the ground below was entirely black, sandy soil, sparsely covered with a few inches of black and yellow grass, appearing extremely desolate. Above them, a misty white sky formed by the Nether River waters seemed to envelop the entire land.

"Proceed according to the original plan. The Yin-armored Xuan Devils in front, puppets covering the rear." After the demon kings finished their discussion and determined the general location, Six-Legs flew over and issued the command. Immediately, everyone scattered and formed several teams, then majestically advanced in a certain direction.

Han Li and the Golden Ape still stood behind Mu Qing. Mu Qing, the woman, stood gracefully on a gigantic golden flower, leading a group of high-level demonic creatures, overseeing the center of the formation. Six-Legs and the beautiful woman led eight thousand ghost soldiers, chilling winds swirling around them, at the front, while the two blood-robed figures naturally commanded the puppets at the rear. The entire formation, like a massive black dragon, flew forward rapidly, quickly leaving the passage exit far behind and out of sight.

Several hours later, the entire formation flew out of this black sand land. What appeared before them made Han Li gasp.

Bleached bones, stretching as far as the eye could see! In the direction the formation was moving, a plain covered in various bones emerged. These bones varied in size, clearly belonging to different living beings. Some were piled high, forming mounds, while others were stained with age, appearing ancient. And a faint stench of decay wafted from the depths of the bone plain, making one even more uneasy.

But the formation only paused briefly before, led by Six-Legs and the white-haired beautiful woman, it delved into the bone land. They penetrated over ten miles in one go, but all that met the eye was still a vast expanse of white, and the foul odor grew increasingly pungent.

Han Li had long since used his protective spiritual light to isolate himself from the scent, but his gaze constantly shifted left and right, with blue light flickering in the depths of his pupils. Although his divine sense was still greatly suppressed in this place, with his Bright Clarity Spirit Eye ability, he could easily see everything in the far distance.

Suddenly, Han Li's calm expression tightened, and he let out a low cry.