Chapter 1377: Lingbao Hundred Ghosts Boat

No sooner had she left than a gaunt, grey-robed old man suddenly appeared on the thirty-third floor. It was Zhou Sihong's carefully cultivated doppelganger.

A phantom image of Immortal Mingshui emerged shortly after. Blue light points surged around his body, transforming into foot-long blue water blades. With a series of whistling sounds, they shot straight towards the grey-robed old man.

The grey-robed old man remained unhurried. He gently waved the white whisk in his hand, and countless threads shot out, weaving into a giant white net over ten feet wide, blocking his front.

The dense blue water blades plunged into the white net, emitting a muffled thud, and dissolved entirely into puddles of clear water.

Ripples spread through the void above Immortal Mingshui's head, and a black ghost claw, several feet in size, suddenly appeared. Its long, slender fingers seeped with a faint ghostly light, and like plucking the moon from the sea, it lunged towards Immortal Mingshui's head.

With a muffled crunch, Immortal Mingshui's head was crushed, and dissolved into flickering blue lights, vanishing.

A blue light flared in the void a dozen feet away, revealing Immortal Mingshui's figure. The previous one was clearly an illusion.

A piercing whoosh echoed as a dense barrage of fine threads shot over, while two barely visible ghostly figures lunged forward simultaneously.

Immediately, explosions continuously erupted, and surging energy waves rolled forth.

On the desolate island, Wang Changsheng was speaking with Wang Mengbin and a few others.

Wang Qingjun, Wang Qingqing, Wang Mengbin, and Wang Huaxuan had successively exited the Immortal Suppressing Pagoda. So far, Wang Qingqing and Wang Mengbin had the best results, both having passed the thirty-fourth floor. Wang Huaxuan had passed the thirty-third floor, and Wang Qingjun the thirtieth.

Currently, there was no news from Wang Qingling, Wang Qiuming, or Ye Haitang. They were likely still attempting the trials. Wang Qingshan had gone to pick them up.

A long azure rainbow appeared on the distant horizon. Soon after, the azure rainbow landed before Wang Changsheng, revealing Wang Qingshan and Wang Qiuming.

Wang Qiuming's face was bloodless, and his aura was weak. His lips were stained with some brown blood, and his chest was soaked with blood. He had nearly died attempting the trial.

Wang Changsheng frowned but said nothing. He took out a pale golden pill and handed it to Wang Qiuming, saying, "Take this pill quickly to heal your injuries! Don't leave any lingering issues."

Wang Qiuming thanked his grandfather, then found an empty spot, sat down cross-legged, and consumed the pill.

Soon after, points of golden light surged from his body, making him resemble a golden Buddha.

Wang Qingshan glanced at Ao Qing and the other demon cultivators, whose expressions were grim.

So far, most of the demon cultivators attempting the trials had perished within the Immortal Suppressing Pagoda. The highest floor reached by the surviving demon cultivators who left the pagoda was the thirty-fourth, stopping at the thirty-fifth.

The thirty-fifth floor featured the Azure Lotus Immortal Couple. Many challengers stopped at this floor. This wasn't to say the Azure Lotus Immortal Couple were invincible at the Core Formation stage; rather, to pass the thirty-fifth floor, one had to contend with Wang Qingshan, Zhou Yunxiao, and Immortal Mingshui, who acted as formidable obstacles. Passing these few stages was already incredibly difficult; trying to clear the thirty-fifth floor itself was exceptionally challenging.

Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan's ability to reach the thirty-fifth floor was significantly aided by the Thousand-Year Spirit Milk. For other challengers, unless they carried multiple bottles of Tier-3 pills to restore spiritual power, spiritual power depletion became a severe problem.

To date, three individuals had successfully passed the thirty-fifth floor, and two of them failed to pass the thirty-sixth.

On the thirty-fifth floor, Ye Haitang's brows were tightly furrowed, and her face was somewhat pale. She continuously cast incantations onto a golden formation plate, which flashed wildly without stop.

Wang Ruyan was playing a musical piece. A pale golden light barrier enveloped Wang Changsheng, as massive golden Buddhist characters struck at him.

Wang Changsheng moved his arms, striking the golden Buddhist characters with both fists, producing a series of clanging metallic sounds.

The golden Buddhist characters spun, transforming into various weapon forms—swords, spears, staves, and more—to attack Wang Changsheng.

Wang Changsheng found himself overwhelmed. Meanwhile, two shimmering golden ape puppet beasts furiously assaulted Wang Ruyan, leaving her flustered.

Ye Haitang used a formation to trap Wang Changsheng, separating him from Wang Ruyan. Wang Qiuming had also adopted this method; the difference was that Ye Haitang used a Tier-4 Buddhist formation, while Wang Qiuming used a Tier-3 one.

Ye Haitang had to defeat Wang Ruyan before Wang Changsheng broke free, or she would have no chance of victory.

Wang Ruyan's fingers rapidly swept across the zither strings, and the music grew urgent. Extremely sharp azure wind blades shot out, striking the two Tier-3 puppet beasts, and producing a series of clanging metallic sounds.

Ye Haitang wore a string of black bells on each hand. With a gentle shake, a clear ringing sound echoed. Countless black runes lit up on the surface of the bells, and a faint black sound wave surged forth.

Beneath her feet was a formation over ten feet wide. As she shook the black bells in her hands, a vast expanse of profound formation patterns lit up on the formation's surface, and the black sound wave magnified several times over.

Ye Haitang was a formation master, naturally intending to play to her strengths and avoid her weaknesses.

Wang Ruyan, fighting one against three, was struggling. Successive clear ringing sounds echoed in her ears.

Soon after, Wang Ruyan's gaze grew vacant. Seizing this opportunity, the two Tier-3 puppet beasts swung their weapons, smashing them towards Wang Ruyan.

The zither music grew fervent, and a blue sound wave swept out to meet the attack.

The two Tier-3 puppet beasts were immediately sent flying backward. However, at that moment, a black sound wave over a hundred feet long swept forth, colliding with the blue sound wave and unleashing a powerful surge of energy.

As the void rippled, a black ghost claw over ten feet in size suddenly appeared above Wang Ruyan's head and quickly slapped down.

Wang Ruyan's protective spiritual light was as flimsy as paper, shattered by the black ghost claw. The black ghost claw pierced through Wang Ruyan's chest, and she disintegrated into flickers of spiritual light, vanishing.

With Wang Ruyan defeated, Ye Haitang was free to focus her attention and deal with Wang Changsheng wholeheartedly.

With a Tier-4 formation, Tier-3 puppet beasts, and ghost path divine abilities, Wang Changsheng was utterly unable to resist.

Ten breaths later, Wang Changsheng was ensnared by a large golden net. A black ghost claw over ten feet in size suddenly appeared and pierced through his body.

Over a dozen golden jade tables suddenly appeared, each bearing a treasure.

Ye Haitang breathed a long sigh of relief. To pass this trial, she had sacrificed one Tier-3 puppet beast and a Core Formation stage talisman-soldier, and destroyed a set of Tier-3 formations.

This Tier-4 Buddhist formation had been given to her by Wang Changsheng. Had it been any other Tier-4 formation, it might not have been able to trap Wang Changsheng for so long. If she couldn't trap Wang Changsheng, she would have nearly met her end, just like Wang Qiuming.

Ye Haitang's expression flickered uncertainly. After pondering for a while, she stepped towards the golden jade tables. She had actually wanted to challenge the thirty-sixth floor, but with her Tier-4 formation damaged, she lacked significant confidence in passing it. She never fought battles she wasn't sure of.

She chose three items: a Soul Condensing spiritual item, a drop of Primal Heavy Water, and a flying spirit treasure, the Hundred Ghosts Escape Spirit Boat.

When Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan previously passed the thirty-fifth floor, they did not receive a spirit treasure. This was mainly because the items they submitted to the artifact spirit were not particularly precious. Ye Haitang, however, submitted a set of magic treasures to the artifact spirit, so her reward was naturally higher.

A burst of iridescent light flared from beneath her feet, engulfing Ye Haitang's figure. Ye Haitang vanished.

When Ye Haitang regained her senses, she suddenly found herself above a desolate island. Her spiritual sense swiftly swept across the island, detecting no other cultivators' aura. She quickly flew towards the island, intending to refine the flying spirit treasure before returning to Azure Lotus Island.