Chapter 840: Swallowing the Infant

"Excellent! Excellent. Although this demonized body is inferior to my true form, the fact that you survived my attack suggests you are not a low-level cultivator. I shall now offer your blood as a sacrifice!" "Nangong Hou" said in a sinister tone.

The black mist on his face grew three points thicker, and his silver-white eyes, cold as ice, stared fixedly at the old man. A chill surged through the old man's heart.

With his words spoken, "Nangong Hou" moved, leaving a trail of phantom afterimages as he lunged at the old man, clearly unwilling to waste any more time.

The old man, surnamed Lu, was terrified. He tried to break free from the stone wall, but there was no time. The opponent was too fast, almost instantly appearing before him like a ghost, a black-mist-shrouded claw thrusting directly towards the old man's head.

The old man was in a desperate hurry. Gritting his teeth, a white light flashed across his body, and he channeled all his magic power into the fiery red gauze.

Instantly, the fiery red light screen in front of him surged, increasing in height by half a foot. The black claw plunged downwards under "Nangong Hou's" expressionless gaze.

A strange "hiss" sound echoed. The light screen was dazzling. As the old man held his breath in apprehension, the ghostly claw, after penetrating about a foot into the light screen, finally stopped.

Seeing this, the old man breathed a huge sigh of relief, the color returning slightly to his face. Spiritual light flashed on his body again, and he prepared to use his protective spiritual light to break out from the hard, iron-like forbidden stone wall.

Opposite him, "Nangong Hou's" lips curled slightly into a sneer.

A loud bang resounded as Nangong Hou swung his other arm, striking the red light screen.

The spiritual light that the old man had just released outside his body suddenly scattered by more than half, for some unknown reason, after a single tremor.

The old man was stunned. Before he could understand his opponent's intention, Nangong Hou abruptly pulled back the arm that was embedded in the light screen, then swiftly struck again with the same lightning-fast punch.

The light screen vibrated once more, and the old man's remaining protective spiritual light was completely dispersed by this blow. At the same time, his body sank several inches deeper into the stone wall.

"Not good!"

Upon seeing this, the old man, surnamed Lu, finally remembered something. His face changed dramatically. He hastily shook the white magic flag in his hand, intending to activate the treasure.

But "Nangong Hou" swung both fists, calmly delivering punch after punch. He gave the old man no chance to activate his magic flag. Each punch precisely scattered the spiritual energy that the old man had just infused halfway into the flag, and his strikes became faster and more powerful. A continuous booming sound filled the air.

In his horror, the old man tried to cast other secret techniques, but his magic power was similarly dispersed halfway through channeling. He simply couldn't gather any spiritual energy.

As a result, Lu Weiying, despite possessing immense magic power and divine abilities, was trapped alive within the stone wall, unable to exert even a fraction of his strength. He could only watch helplessly as the red light screen in front of him gradually thinned and faded, despair etched on his face.

The old man's face turned horrifyingly pale. After another cold gaze exchanged with "Nangong Hou's" silver eyes, a shiver ran down his spine.

Undoubtedly, if this continued, his treasure would shatter, and he would be crushed into a pulp.

Thinking this, the old man gritted his teeth. He suddenly let out a loud shout. White glowing mist flashed above his head, and a Nascent Soul, strikingly similar in appearance to the old man, suddenly materialized above his crown. This Nascent Soul looked somewhat panicked, but its hands firmly clutched a small blue sword.

Almost simultaneously, a cracking sound came from the light screen formed by the ancient treasure, the Haoyang Gauze.

The Nascent Soul's last shred of hesitation vanished without a trace. It suddenly stamped its foot, and the Nascent Soul instantly disappeared from its spot, reappearing directly at the entrance the next moment. The Nascent Soul then prepared to escape into the passage by controlling the sword, fleeing for its life.

But at this very moment, a bizarre scene unfolded.

"Nangong Hou" still had his back to the entrance, seemingly unreactive, but his back robe instantly burst open, revealing his spine and a ghostly face identical to the Blood Curse Gate. Its eyes were tightly closed, yet it looked incredibly real.

This ghostly face suddenly opened its eyes, revealing the same silver-white pupils. At the same time, it opened its mouth, and a purple shadow flashed, as if something was ejected from it.

At this point, the old man's Nascent Soul had just thrown out the flying sword in its embrace, preparing to merge with this innate magical treasure and desperately flee, when it seemed to hear a whooshing sound. Then, it felt a heat in its brain, and something shot out from between its eyebrows, extending a considerable length.

The Nascent Soul stared blankly at the long, strip-like object between its eyes. Moments later, a sharp scream escaped it, and then it instantly lost all strength, falling from the air to the ground, where it lay motionless.

At this moment, if there were other cultivators nearby, they would have seen a thumb-thick, purple, long, strip-like object extending from the ghost face's mouth, reaching to the back of the Nascent Soul's head, then piercing through its eyebrows and protruding about a foot.

It looked like the ghost face's tongue. But its extraordinary length was utterly bizarre.

Seeing the Nascent Soul fall to the ground, the ghost face grinned ferociously. Its long tongue retracted, and its mouth opened wide, instantly engulfing the old man's Nascent Soul. After a few chews, it swallowed it whole. Only then did the ghost face slowly close its eyes, a look of satisfaction on its face. At this point, "Nangong Hou" finally turned around. He expressionlessly looked at the ownerless blue small sword, and a fierce glint flashed in his eyes. With a backhand grab, he instantly tore out the old man's heart. Then, with a gentle squeeze, the heart disintegrated into a mist of blood.

The life force of the physical body instantly ceased.

After completing all of this, "Nangong Hou" expressionlessly scanned the area, then transformed into a ball of black mist and flew into the passage.

A moment later, he appeared at the bottom of the water pool. He looked up at the unmanned spell formations, a sneer on his face, then directly flew upwards towards the surface of the pool.

Within the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, "Nangong Hou's" figure appeared on a certain stone mountain, floating a hundred feet above its peak, surveying his surroundings.

Flying so high naturally triggered the restrictions of the Demonfall Valley. Countless streaks of blood-red lightning continuously descended from the sky, all aimed at him.

However, before these lightning bolts could approach within a dozen feet of "Nangong Hou," they all abruptly veered off course, circumventing him. This left him untouched and as steady as a mountain amidst the numerous lightning and thunder.

"Nangong Hou" observed the surroundings for a long time before finally discerning his direction. He then narrowed his eyes, gazing in a certain direction, silver light flickering in his pupils.

Suddenly, his figure transformed into a streak of black mist and shot through the air. Soon, he vanished without a trace into the distant horizon.

Meanwhile, in the basin, Ghost Spirit Sect Master Wei Wuya and others were battling by the altar, looking up at the almost endless staircase with expressions of amazement.

They should have arrived much earlier, but about ten miles from the altar, a large-scale restriction appeared. This restriction had to be broken before they could proceed.

This delay naturally took up most of another day. Only then did their group reach the altar.

Now that they were closer, they could see clearly that although the altar appeared incredibly grand and massive, it was unclear how long it had been built. Not only were the steps covered with various weeds, but some parts had already begun to show signs of weathering and decay.

"Let's go! Once we reach the top of the altar, we'll find traces of the Spirit Illusion Garden and figure out a way to enter. According to the remnant soul, the entrance to the Spirit Illusion Garden is right here," the Ghost Spirit Sect Master urged after meticulously examining the area for a long time. Then, he took a few steps forward and was the first to step onto the altar.

However, the Ghost Spirit Sect Master immediately cursed loudly again, causing the others to momentarily freeze.

"Everyone, be careful! There are other restrictions on these stairs. It seems climbing to the top of the altar won't be easy." Looking at the almost endless staircase above, the Ghost Spirit Sect Master, enveloped in yellow spiritual light, said through gritted teeth.

Upon hearing this, Wei Wuya's brows furrowed slightly.

Although he didn't care about restrictions, this meant their journey to the top of the altar would be further delayed. This left Wei Wuya feeling quite helpless.

Indeed, it wasn't just Wei Wuya; the expressions of the others weren't much better. After learning of the Spirit Illusion Garden's existence, their minds had long been focused on it, and they were greatly impatient with the various restrictions that had recently appeared.

"Let's go!" Wang Tiangu sighed and followed suit, stepping onto the stairs. A yellow light flashed nearby, and he suddenly felt his body sink, his shoulders instantly weighing a thousand pounds.

At this point, the rest also stepped onto the stairs, encountering the same situation. Among them, Wei Wuya's figure remained motionless, appearing completely unconcerned. However, the three Core Formation disciples of the Ghost Spirit Sect trembled a few times, their faces turning pale.

The group slowly began to climb towards the top of the altar.

"Is this the Spirit Candle Fruit?" Han Li murmured, standing in an oasis concealed by restrictions, looking at a green lake in front of him.

Outside the restrictions stretched an endless expanse of earthy yellow, a vast desert spanning tens of thousands of miles.

"Yes, it's definitely this fruit. Both its appearance and the description in the records confirm it's this spiritual item!" Zi Ling said with a hint of excitement, standing about a dozen feet to Han Li's side, her bright eyes sparkling as she stared unblinkingly at the green lake ahead.

A hundred feet in front of them, in the middle of the lake, was a small patch of muddy ground exposed above the water, where a lush, emerald-green spiritual herb grew.

This herb was several feet tall, covered in thumb-sized, oval leaves. At its very top, four peculiar fruits grew solitarily.

These fruits were entirely fiery red, narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, with a faint red glow emanating from their tips, closely resembling a red candle lit on a candlestick. They also emitted a strong medicinal fragrance.

Han Li was equally certain that this was the Spirit Candle Fruit. Hearing Zi Ling's confirmation, he simply smiled faintly. "I'll go now and pluck this fruit. Better to do it before things get complicated." Zi Ling took a deep breath, twisted her delicate waist, and suggested to Han Li.