Chapter 1874: Nine Demon World

"An altar?" Wang Qingshan frowned. He had only read about altars in ancient texts; this was his first time seeing one in person.

This altar was protected by a restriction, clearly left behind by someone.

"If it's for communicating with the Upper Realm, that would be wonderful," Bai Linger said with some excitement. If she could communicate with powerful beings from the Upper Realm, learn secret techniques, or receive spiritual elixirs, she might be able to advance to the Soul Transformation stage.

Wang Qingshan's heart stirred. He swung his right hand towards the nine-colored light barrier. A large swath of green sword energy shot out, striking the barrier repeatedly with muffled thuds, but the nine-colored light barrier remained motionless.

Bai Linger raised her hand, and a golden light flew out. It was a pale golden seal. The golden seal glowed with dazzling golden light, its size rapidly increasing to that of a small hill before it smashed down towards the nine-colored light barrier.

The nine-colored light barrier immediately sagged inward, but all the runes on its surface brightened intensely, then it instantly returned to normal, bouncing the giant golden seal back.

A flicker of surprise appeared in Wang Qingshan's eyes. He opened his mouth, and the Azure Lotus Karmic Fire flew out, landing on the nine-colored light barrier. The surrounding temperature abruptly rose.

Time passed slowly. The nine-colored light barrier twisted and deformed violently, and all its runes brightened intensely. After fifteen minutes, the nine-colored light barrier became translucent, appearing as if it could shatter at any moment.

Wang Qingshan formed a sword art. The nine Azure Glaze Swords instantly merged into a single colossal, misty green sword, which slashed down onto the nine-colored light barrier. The nine-colored light barrier shattered like a bubble, vanishing without a trace.

Wang Qingshan released an ape puppet beast, which entered the valley. It circled the area, finding nothing unusual. The Stone Spirit then strode into the valley, without triggering any restrictions, and approached the altar.

On the altar was a formation array over a hundred zhang wide. The array was covered with intricate patterns and had hundreds of uniformly sized indentations. Each indentation contained a grayish-white stone, evidently a spirit stone depleted of its spiritual energy.

Wang Qingshan manipulated the ape puppet beast to walk onto the formation array, and there was still nothing unusual.

"Let's replace them with new spirit stones and see if we can communicate with the Upper Realm," Bai Linger said, eager to try. She quickly stepped forward, took out over a hundred mid-grade spirit stones, replaced the depleted ones, and cast a magical incantation.

The formation array began to shake slightly, and the patterns on its surface brightened instantly. After a moment, the patterns dimmed, and the array stopped shaking.

Wang Qingshan scanned it with his gaze and frowned. "Mid-grade spirit stones can't activate this array. Let's try high-grade spirit stones."

They had gathered many valuable items in the Thousand Gourd Realm, but high-grade spirit stones were scarce. The two of them managed to gather fifteen high-grade spirit stones. Other than these fifteen, the rest were mid-grade spirit stones.

This time, the formation array began to shake again, and the massive statue seemed to come alive, glowing with spiritual light. An astonishing spiritual pressure soared into the sky, and the statue's eyes lit up brightly, as if it had awakened, chattering something unintelligible.

Wang Qingshan frowned; he couldn't understand what the statue was saying.

Bai Linger's expression was excited. She communicated with the statue in an obscure and difficult-to-understand language.

"The Ancient Demon Realm! This is an altar set up by a powerful being from the Ancient Demon Realm, Fellow Daoist Wang. It says it can take us to the Ancient Demon Realm," Bai Linger said with some excitement.

"The Ancient Demon Realm?" Wang Qingshan's face was full of doubt. He had read about the Ancient Demon Realm in ancient texts, which stated it was entirely ruled by demon beasts, but the details were not elaborated upon.

"Why would there be an altar set up by the Ancient Demon Realm here? Don't trust it. Be careful, or you might end up sold and still helping count the money," Wang Qingshan said indifferently. Unsolicited generosity usually implies malice or theft. Were the powerful beings of the Ancient Demon Realm truly that kind?

Bai Linger chattered with the statue, and what they discussed was unclear. After a while, Bai Linger said to Wang Qingshan, "It says that the Ancient Demon Realm was ordered to search for something, so they sent people to other realms and set up altars for convenient communication. No one has activated this altar for over twenty thousand years, so it can probably only be used once or twice. We have a maximum of two chances. It's also unsure about the situation here. If we don't go, we might be trapped here forever."

"I have no interest in going to the Ancient Demon Realm. If you're not afraid of being deceived, then listen to it and go to the Ancient Demon Realm," Wang Qingshan said coldly. Even if it were about communicating with the Upper Realm, let alone the Ancient Demon Realm, Wang Qingshan would not rashly trust the other party. The statue wasn't wrong either; ancient altars had existed for many years, and even with spirit stone activation, they could only be used a few times. Even spiritual treasures would become unusable if stored for too long.

"If you're not going, then I'm not going either," Bai Linger said. After a few more words with the statue, its spiritual light suddenly dimmed, and the formation array returned to normal. She examined it carefully and found that the recent communication had consumed a significant portion of the spirit stones' energy.

"Why aren't you going? You're a demon beast; going to the Ancient Demon Realm would be a good thing for you!" Wang Qingshan asked, puzzled.

"Who knows if what it says is true or false? Let's forget it for now! We should search more carefully and see if there are other ways out," Bai Linger said dismissively.

Wang Qingshan pondered for a moment, then set up two protective formations around the altar. The two of them jumped onto the Stone Spirit's shoulders, and the Stone Spirit strode outside.

The Ancient Demon Realm, more precisely known as the Nine Demon Realm, was named for its nine powerful demon clans.

The Celestial Fox Mountain Range, located in the southwestern part of the Ancient Demon Realm, stretched for millions of miles. Its spiritual energy was abundant, and it enjoyed perpetual spring-like weather. Many spiritual foxes could be seen roaming here. This was the lair of the Nine-Tailed Celestial Foxes, a prominent clan among the Nine Demon Realms.

Celestial Fox Valley, situated northwest of the Celestial Fox Mountain Range, was a forbidden area for the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox clan. Only a select few elders were permitted to enter or exit.

Within the valley stood a magnificent white palace. On its plaque, the three characters "Celestial Fox Hall" were written in bold, flowing calligraphy.

Inside the hall, a plump young woman in a white dress sat on the main seat, holding a shimmering white magic disk. The young woman had beautiful features, skin as fair as snow, and eyes like tranquil water.

"The Eastern Glazed Realm, Celestial Fox clan... Isn't that the realm where Lord Celestial Wolf originated from? Is there any other evidence that she came from the Eastern Glazed Realm?" the young woman in white asked, her voice heavy.

"Right, she mentioned the Four Seasons Sword Master. That shouldn't be fake," a respectful male voice came from the white magic disk.

"The Four Seasons Sword Master! That's a master on par with Lord Celestial Wolf. But they both disappeared. I wonder if they ascended to the Celestial Demon Realm," the young woman in white mused.

"Indeed! Lord Celestial Wolf was unrivaled throughout the Nine Demon Realms, and the Four Seasons Sword Master had few rivals in multiple realms. Our Nine Demon Realm is a direct subordinate realm of the Celestial Demon Realm, so given their divine abilities, they likely went to the Celestial Demon Realm."

The young woman in white pondered for a moment, then instructed, "The Celestial Fox clan is considered a branch of our Nine-Tailed Celestial Foxes. If conditions permit, bring her over. As for that human sword cultivator, disregard him."

"Yes, Ancestor."