Chapter 122: Xuan Yin Tree

More than half an hour later, Wang Changsheng could no longer see other cultivators. He released two enormous turtle puppets and had Wang Mingzhan and the others stand on their backs.

The turtle puppets were first-tier high-grade puppets. Before their departure, Wang Yaozong and Wang Changfeng had given Wang Changsheng their second-tier defensive puppets and instructed him to take four second-tier spirit talismans from the family's treasure vault for self-defense. The turtle puppets' speed was comparable to the Wind Manipulation spell, and they possessed certain defensive capabilities.

The two turtle puppets walked side by side. However, they hadn't crawled far when several white bone claws suddenly emerged from underground, snatching at the turtle puppets' limbs with lightning speed. A clang of metal-on-metal sounded, but the white bone claws only left faint white marks on the turtle puppets' limbs.

Suddenly attacked, Wang Mingzhan and the others were startled. With a muffled sound, over a dozen bone corpses drilled out from underground. Judging by their appearance, they must have been cultivators in life.

Wang Changsheng reacted the fastest. While summoning two first-tier high-grade puppet beasts, he instructed Wang Mingzhan and the others: "Don't panic. Summon your puppet beasts to eliminate these bone corpses. Try not to use spirit artifacts or talismans. Conserve your spiritual power for controlling the Blazing Fire Pendants." Controlling puppet beasts primarily consumes divine sense; spirit stones can be replaced immediately if they run out. However, if a cultivator's spiritual power is depleted, it takes time to fully recover. Their group carried two bottles of first-tier elixirs for restoring spiritual power, but no one knew what might happen next, so every bit of conserved spiritual power counted.

Wang Changsheng summoned two ape puppets, and the two ape puppets charged towards several bone corpses. The ten members, including Wang Mingzhan, each summoned a first-tier mid-grade puppet beast, forming groups of three to attack the bone corpses. Before arriving at White Dragon River, Wang Changsheng had already taught Wang Mingzhan and the others how to control puppet beasts to engage enemies. Comparatively, he was quite proficient in this area.

These bone corpses were not particularly strong; they were equivalent to cultivators in the Qi Refining stage. Their bodies, nourished by Yin energy over many years, were incredibly hard. However, two fists are no match for four hands. Under Wang Changsheng's command, over a dozen puppet beasts easily destroyed these bone corpses, acquiring thirteen spirit bones. They put away the spirit bones and puppet beasts and continued forward.

Over the next three hours, Wang Changsheng and his group encountered several more waves of bone corpse attacks. Fortunately, the bone corpses were not very strong; they dealt with them with little effort, collecting over forty spirit bones.

Two days later, Wang Changsheng and his group emerged from the plains, and a dense black forest appeared before them. The forest was filled with black trees over a dozen zhang tall, their branches bare without a single leaf.

"These are Profound Yin Trees!" Wang Changsheng frowned and commanded the two turtle puppets to stop outside the forest.

Profound Yin Wood is a Yin-attribute spiritual wood that must grow in places rich in Yin energy. Profound Yin Wood over a hundred years old is used to craft Yin-attribute spirit artifacts. Wang Changsheng summoned three blue flying daggers and fiercely struck a Profound Yin Tree. Several muffled clangs of metal-on-metal sounded, leaving only faint white marks on the Profound Yin Wood's surface.

Wang Changsheng's eyebrows furrowed. The more Yin energy Profound Yin Wood absorbs and the older it is, the harder it becomes. He didn't know how many years these Profound Yin Trees had grown; even spirit artifacts could barely damage them. They could probably even be used to forge magic treasures.

"Changshang, that Profound Yin Tree is smaller; perhaps we can take it," Wang Mingzhan said, pointing in a certain direction.

Wang Changsheng looked in the direction Wang Mingzhan was pointing and saw a Profound Yin Tree over three zhang tall. Spirit artifact-grade storage bags had a minimum capacity of three zhang and a maximum of ten zhang. The storage bag on Wang Changsheng was a legacy from his ancestors. It was a bit old, but its ten-zhang capacity meant storing this Profound Yin Tree would not be a problem. He summoned three first-tier high-grade ape puppet beasts and controlled them to dig up the over three-zhang tall Profound Yin Tree. Indeed, he intended to dig up the entire tree; the value of a living Profound Yin Tree naturally far exceeded that of a few pieces of Profound Yin Wood.

Wang Mingzhan and Wang Changge each released an ape puppet to help. With the combined efforts of five ape puppets, in less than a quarter of an hour, the Profound Yin Tree was uprooted by the ape puppet beasts and placed into Wang Changsheng's storage bag.

Wang Changsheng gazed at the seemingly endless forest and said with a frown: "With so many Profound Yin Trees here, there must be ghosts hiding. There might even be ghost generals, probably more than one. To be safe, let's fly over from high altitude!"

"Ninth Brother, didn't Senior Li say not to fly with artifacts to avoid becoming a target for ghosts?" Wang Changge hesitated slightly, asking in confusion.

"Circumstances have changed," Wang Changsheng analyzed carefully. "This forest has a large number of Profound Yin Trees, and the Yin energy is dense, making ghosts hidden within difficult to spot. If ghosts are concealed inside the Profound Yin Trees, how would we deal with them? As you just saw, spirit artifacts can't even harm these Profound Yin Trees. It's better to fly over them! Even if we're attacked by ghosts, they'll be easier to deal with."

"Changshang is right. I agree with his view," another person added. "To be safe, Changge, Changhui, get out your fire-attribute spirit artifacts and prepare for the enemy."

Wang Changsheng released the Crow Puppet and the Green Eagle Puppet, then put away the turtle puppets. With two clear calls, the Crow Puppet and Green Eagle Puppet flapped their wings almost simultaneously, rising into the air. They flew to high altitude, soaring over the forest.

They hadn't flown far when a large swathe of black shadows flew out from the forest below, rushing towards them. Moreover, hundreds of bone bees emerged from the forest, swarming Wang Changsheng and the others from different directions.

Wang Changsheng made a hand seal. The Crow Puppet opened its mouth and spewed out over a dozen foot-long crimson fire blades, while the Green Eagle Puppet spewed out dozens of green sword lights. A series of shrill screams rang out. Over a dozen ghosts had their bodies pierced by the crimson fire blades and green sword lights, transforming into over a dozen Yin beads that fell into the forest.

Hundreds of bone bees swarmed from all directions. Several larger bone bees spewed forth a stream of white flames, striking towards Wang Changsheng and his group. Wang Changsheng changed his hand signs, and the Crow Puppet and Green Eagle Puppet increased their speed, dodging the white flames. He flipped his hand and took out the Profound Ice Banner. After infusing it with spiritual power, the banner rapidly expanded in size. Wang Changsheng held the Profound Ice Banner, shaking it from side to side. The banner instantly glowed brightly, and a vast surge of biting white cold air erupted from it. Bone bees that touched the white cold air quickly had their bodies freeze over and fell from mid-air.

Wang Changge took out a red fan. On its surface was painted a cluster of crimson flames. With a fierce wave, the fan immediately emitted a brilliant red light, and several crimson fireballs flew out, smashing towards the ghosts. Wang Changhui summoned a red gourd, which spewed out a stream of crimson flames. The others were not idle either; some summoned spirit artifacts, others threw fire-attribute talismans. For a time, explosions continuously rang out, and pitiful wails of ghosts could be heard intermittently.

Wang Changsheng controlled the two puppet beasts, flying to an altitude of several hundred zhang and increasing their speed. Only then did they shake off the bone bees and ghosts.

After approximately a quarter of an hour, Wang Changsheng controlled the two second-tier puppet beasts to land on the summit of a somewhat desolate peak. "Everyone's spiritual power has been considerably depleted," Wang Changsheng instructed after putting away the two second-tier puppet beasts. "Let's rest for an hour before continuing. Use spirit stones to recover your spiritual power; don't use elixirs for now."

Wang Mingzhan and the others promptly took out their spirit stones, absorbing the spiritual energy within to restore their spiritual power. The spiritual energy in the Ghost Abyss was sparse. Cultivators who wished to restore their spiritual power relied on spirit stones and elixirs. There weren't many elixirs for restoring spiritual power, but spirit stones were relatively more abundant. This was also the primary reason Wang Changsheng had them use puppet beasts to deal with ghosts earlier.