Chapter 845: Demonic Body

As soon as the ghostly figure enveloped in black energy darted into the passage, it spontaneously burst with a "poof," dissipating into a wisp of dark energy and vanishing without a trace.

Wang Tiangu, whose mind was linked to the ghostly figure, instantly paled, having suffered a significant setback.

"What's going on? Does this passage have some other mechanism?" Wang Tiangu demanded of the scholar, a mix of shock and anger in his voice.

"Do you think the entrance to the Spirit-Misty Garden is an ordinary passage? Even a formless specter like a Ghost King or a fierce ghoul would have its soul shattered upon entering this passage, let alone an unformed ghostly figure. Even I need to possess the scroll to enter this space. In any case, the entrance is now open. Whether or not you choose to enter is no longer my concern." By this point, the scholar appeared calm and composed. After speaking calmly, he transformed into a ball of green light and flew into the scroll that had been suspended in mid-air.

Wang Tiangu's face instantly darkened upon hearing this. From the scholar's words, it seemed that formless entities like demons and ghosts could not directly enter the passage. He and the Ghost Spirit Sect Master exchanged glances, both showing surprise.

"I have already used my spiritual sense to probe the other side of the passage. Although it's extremely blurry due to the spatial rift, it is undoubtedly some unknown space. I don't have the patience to hesitate here and risk further complications with the passage. I'll go first." After a brief moment of consideration, Wei Wuya said this directly. Then, ignoring the two, he transformed into a streak of green light and shot towards the passage.

Upon seeing this, the Ghost Spirit Sect Master's expression subtly changed.

"You three stay here. Junior Brother Wang, there's no need for us to be overly cautious. Let's go together. For the sake of the Spirit-Misty Garden, a little risk is worth it. Besides, I've placed a Soul-Shocking Curse on that spirit; it probably won't dare to play any tricks." As the Ghost Spirit Sect Master gave his instructions, he coldly scrutinized the scroll hovering before him, noting no unusual occurrences. His eyes flickered a few times.

He reached out and, with an ethereal grasp, pulled the scroll into his hand. He then tucked the scroll into his large sleeve, and he and Wang Tiangu transformed into two startling rainbows, shooting towards the passage.

It was rumored that the Spirit-Misty Garden was teeming with natural spiritual herbs. If they arrived too late and fell behind Wei Wuya, their loss would be significant.

Thus, the figures of Wei Wuya and the two others vanished in a flash at the entrance of the black passage, one after another, directly passing through the spatial barrier into another space.

"This is definitely not the Spirit-Misty Garden!" The person who spoke these words was none other than Wei Wuya, the first to emerge from the passage.

He was surveying this unfamiliar place, his face clouded with gloom.

This was a space devoid of color, save for various shades of gray. Looking up, there were low, dark stone piles everywhere. At heights of several tens of meters, one could still see gray mist. However, a sweep of Wei Wuya's spiritual sense revealed an area spanning over ten miles around them.

To claim that this place was the legendary Spirit-Misty Garden, where spiritual energy was several times that of the human realm and rare spiritual herbs and flowers grew everywhere, would be unbelievable. Not only Wei Wuya, but even the Ghost Spirit Sect Master and Wang Tiangu, who had just emerged from the passage, would not believe it for a moment.

However, as soon as the two appeared here and surveyed their surroundings, their expressions became peculiar. They showed a mixture of seven parts anger and three parts surprise.

This made Wei Wuya, who glanced back at them, a little stunned. His vigilance immediately heightened.

He had initially expected that upon seeing this place was not the legendary Spirit-Misty Garden, their expressions would turn extremely grim. He even thought they would immediately summon the separated consciousness of Elder Cang Kun from the scroll and interrogate him.

"Junior Brother, do you feel it? The demonic energy here is at least twice as strong as in our human realm. If I fight someone here, the power of my demonic arts will increase by 30%." After a moment of silence, the Ghost Spirit Sect Master finally spoke.

"Senior Brother, I practice the same demonic art as you; how could I not feel it? If we were to cultivate here, we would likely have a great chance of breaking through our current bottleneck and reaching the next realm." Wang Tiangu's eyes flickered as he spoke with a similarly complex expression.

"Fellow Daoists, shouldn't you summon that fellow out and question him thoroughly? Don't tell me I went to all this trouble just to come to a place like this." Wei Wuya watched for a while, finding no immediate answers. He then stamped his foot on the broken stones beneath him, his face icy as he spoke coldly to Wang Tiangu and the other.

"Naturally. If he can't give us three a good reason, I will personally make him taste the pain of soul refinement." Upon hearing Wei Wuya's words, the Ghost Spirit Sect Master's anger, fueled by the spirit's deception, flared up, and he replied with a ferocious expression.

He then threw the scroll he held onto the ground. He was about to unroll it to summon the separated consciousness of Elder Cang Kun.

But before the Ghost Spirit Sect Master could cast his spell, a spiritual light flashed on the scroll, and a ball of green light suddenly shot out from it. Wang Tiangu, standing nearby, reacted quickly, throwing out a backhand grab. A black light-hand, about a foot in size, reached out to seize it.

However, this green light mass seemed to have already planned everything. Its escape speed instantly doubled, and it miraculously broke free from the illusory black hand, piercing through the air and fleeing into the distance.

Wei Wuya, maintaining his composure and status, watched calmly without making a move. The Ghost Spirit Sect Master, witnessing this scene, was furious.

With a flip of his palm, the blood-red token appeared in his hand. A fierce expression flashed across his face, and he raised the token, shaking it vigorously towards the direction where the green light had fled. Immediately, blood-red rays shot out from the token, and almost simultaneously, the green light mass in the distance faltered, swaying several times in the air.

Just as a look of delight appeared on the Ghost Spirit Sect Master's face, the green light mass suddenly stabilized. It then shot off again, moving a third faster than before, swiftly transforming into a tiny speck of light in the blink of an eye.

This not only stunned the Ghost Spirit Sect Master, but Wei Wuya and the other two nearby were also dumbfounded.

"I didn't see that wrong, did I? The Soul-Shocking Curse cast by the Ghost Spirit Sect Master actually had no effect on a wisp of spirit. This is rather interesting. I'll go capture this fellow and see what kind of schemes he's up to." Wei Wuya suddenly said with a cold smile. Then, his figure flickered, transforming into a green rainbow, and he pierced through the air in pursuit.

"Sect Master, you..." Wang Tiangu finally recovered from his astonishment and couldn't help but open his mouth, wanting to ask something.

"You saw the punishment the Soul-Shocking Curse inflicted on him just now, didn't you? He was indeed afflicted by the secret curse earlier. As for why it's not working now, I'm equally intrigued. Let's go. We'll pursue him too. I, the Sect Master, also want to see what scheme he has in mind by leading us here." The Ghost Spirit Sect Master said, his face emanating malevolent energy and his eyes flashing with fierce light. Then, he too transformed into a startling rainbow and shot forth.

In such a vast space, he had no fear of the opponent escaping anywhere.

Wang Tiangu let out a bitter laugh, having no choice but to take to the air and chase closely.

Not long after, the two found Wei Wuya, who had stopped his escape light, somewhere near the center of this space. The spirit from the scroll had now transformed back into the scholar, standing opposite Wei Wuya and confronting him, seemingly without a trace of fear on his face. This surprised the two of them. However, when Wang Tiangu and the other looked about ten meters behind the scholar, they were startled once more.

They saw a colossal demonic creature, approximately thirty meters tall, standing motionless within a crystal-like fiery red crystal block amidst the faint mist.

This demonic creature had two heads and four arms, a single horn on its forehead, and its entire body was covered in black, gleaming scales. Its face was ferociously grim, with exposed fangs, making it utterly terrifying.

"What is this? Such dense demonic energy!" Wang Tiangu's heart pounded, and he cried out involuntarily.

He was not surprised by the demonic creature's massive size and ferocity, but rather by the intense demonic energy permeating its vicinity, which was several times denser than elsewhere, and subtly carried an aura that sent shivers down one's spine.

"Let's go down first. Let's hear what he has to say." The Ghost Spirit Sect Master was also greatly wary of the sealed demonic creature, but after a moment of hesitation, he lightly descended with Wang Tiangu, landing beside Wei Wuya.

After all, with this late-Nascent Soul stage grand cultivator present, he didn't need to worry too much.

"Both fellow Daoists have arrived, excellent. It saves me from wasting any more words." Seeing the Ghost Spirit Sect Master and the other arrive, the scholar, instead of showing fear, smiled.

"You've led us here. State your purpose." The Ghost Spirit Sect Master spoke calmly, but after observing the other for a few moments, he was greatly shocked.

Because the blood-red runes on the scholar opposite him were still flowing and flickering, clearly indicating that the Soul-Shocking Curse was still active. Moreover, the scholar's exposed skin was visibly twitching and throbbing with the flickering runes, yet his face was radiant with a spring-like breeze, showing no trace of pain. Furthermore, his ghostly body was unusually solid, with no signs of dissipating.

"Brother Wei might not say it, but Sect Master Wang and the other fellow Daoist practice demonic arts passed down from ancient times. Don't you feel that the demonic energy here is vastly different from that in the human realm?" The content of the scholar's opening statement took all three by surprise.

"So what? Are you going to tell me this is the Spirit-Misty Garden?" Wang Tiangu said impassively.

"Hehe, the Spirit-Misty Garden! This might be it, or it might not be." The scholar said leisurely.

"What do you mean by that? Are you still trying to trick us at this point?" Wang Tiangu's face turned icy.

"Do you truly believe that ancient cultivators would leave places teeming with spiritual herbs and dense spiritual energy to your descendants? Many years ago, there might indeed have been places like the Spirit-Misty Garden, and perhaps more than one. But now, all of them have had their spiritual herbs harvested clean and were destroyed in the conflicts of ancient cultivators. This place could very well be a discarded Spirit-Misty Garden. However, currently, it is merely another spatial rift at the boundary between the Human Realm and our Saint Realm." The scholar said unhurriedly, a peculiar smile on his face.

"Saint Realm? You are an ancient devil!" Wei Wuya, who had initially been calm, immediately cried out in alarm upon hearing the scholar's last words. At the same time, he hastily formed a hand seal, and rolling green poisonous mist surged from his body, engulfing him.