Chapter 2594: Clues

Out of caution, they did not leave the temporary space.

"There's a Soul Integration stage ghostly creature here; we'll have to take a detour," Wang Ruyan suggested.

Wang Changsheng nodded. They had stayed in the temporary space for over half a month and hadn't seen the Soul Integration stage ghostly creature return.

"I'll go out first to check the situation, my lady. You stay here for now," Wang Changsheng instructed. The void rippled, revealing an opening several zhang wide, and Wang Changsheng flew out.

He fully extended his divine sense and didn't detect any ghostly creatures.

He nodded towards the void. Only then did Wang Ruyan and the Rift-Splitting Beast emerge from the temporary space. Out of caution, Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan used Earth Escape to leave the area.

At a steep black mountain peak, Buddhist chants resonated. A colossal golden Buddha statue appeared high in the sky, and a gigantic golden wooden fish floated aloft. A magnified golden alms bowl floated in the sky. The golden alms bowl emitted a golden glow, enveloping a delicate-featured young woman in a black dress. The young woman shrieked repeatedly, and wisps of black smoke rose from her body.

Master Miaode stood on the mountaintop, his palms pressed together, holding a string of golden Buddhist beads. Buddhist chants continuously resounded. As time passed, the young woman in black could not escape. She eventually transformed into a black Yin bead.

"Amitabha! May the Buddha have mercy!"

The illusory Buddha statue above Master Miaode's head dissipated. He formed a hand seal, and the golden alms bowl and the golden wooden fish dimmed, returned to their original size, and flew into his sleeve, vanishing. Master Miaode flicked his sleeve. The Yin bead flew towards him, landing in his hand. He transformed into a golden streak of light and vanished into the horizon.

In an open area, a handsome young man in red and a graceful young woman in white were fiercely battling ghostly creatures. A colossal skeleton, over a hundred zhang tall, wielded a white bone spear; with each swing, it unleashed a vast expanse of white ghost fire. A massive bone eagle, wreathed in black mist, circled erratically overhead. A small-mountain-sized black toad spewed forth black sound waves, all directed towards them.

Both the young man in red and the young woman in white were Void Refinement cultivators. However, their attacks were insufficient to kill the three Void Refinement stage ghostly creatures.

"Rong-mei, I'll cover you. Hurry and go," the young man in red urged, his expression resolute.

"No, Feng-ge, if we live, we live together; if we die, we die together," the young woman in white declared resolutely.

A wave of white ghost fire surged towards them, and the temperature plummeted. The young man in red flicked his wrist. His red flying sword unleashed a vast expanse of reddish sword qi, destroying the incoming white ghost fire. However, a black sound wave swept over, and all the dense sword qi dispersed. The black sound wave struck the young man's protective spiritual light. The young man in red was sent flying backward, spitting out a large mouthful of blood.

The massive bone eagle suddenly appeared above the young woman in white's head. Its sharp talons pierced her protective spiritual light. The young woman in white swung a white short ruler, blocking the talons. However, she was also sent flying by the immense force, landing heavily on the ground and spitting out a large mouthful of blood.

The giant skeleton charged forward, waving its white bone spear, and unleashed a vast expanse of white ghost fire directly at them. The black toad leaped up and pounced, and the massive bone eagle swooped down from high above. Both individuals showed expressions of despair. These three ghostly creatures were attached to corpses and demonic beasts; even supreme spirit treasures would find it hard to kill them. The ghost fire they exhaled also had the effect of defiling treasures.

Just then, a resounding zither melody rang out. A wave of shimmering blue sound swept over, shattering the white ghost fire. As it passed over the white bone spear, the spear immediately broke into pieces. A golden light flashed. A magnified golden bell appeared above the massive bone eagle's head, its surface bearing several lifelike Buddha statues. These Buddha statues seemed to come alive, reciting Buddhist scriptures, with continuous chants resonating. The colossal golden bell descended, enveloping the massive bone eagle. It landed on the ground, creating a massive crater.

Two golden lights flew over. They were, surprisingly, two Soul-Devouring Golden Cicadas. They emitted excited chirping sounds. Two golden lights shot up into the sky, and two colossal illusory golden cicadas appeared high above. Each illusory golden cicada spewed forth a stream of golden flames, directly towards the black toad and the giant skeleton. They attempted to evade, but tens of thousands of yellow earthen ropes burst from the ground, entangling their bodies. Simultaneously, a powerful gravitational force emerged from the ground, distorting the very void.

The black toad and the giant skeleton, their bodies now weighing tens of millions of catties, could not evade. The golden flames landed on them, engulfing their bodies. Buddhist chants resonated continuously, and the colossal golden bell vibrated incessantly. A green light and a gray light flew out from the black toad and the giant skeleton respectively. The Buddha statues on the surface of the golden bell glowed brightly, and Buddhist chants reverberated across a hundred thousand li. The green and gray lights slowed down. Innumerable thin golden lights shot towards them, piercing through the green and gray lights, and dragged them into the mouths of the two Soul-Devouring Golden Cicadas.

Two streaks of light flew in from a distance. Soon after, they landed on the ground; it was Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan.

"My name is Chen Yan. Many thanks to you two fellow Daoists for saving us," the young man in red stated his name, expressing his gratitude.

"It was merely a small effort. Fellow Daoist Chen, you're too polite. By the way, do you know where there might be spirit water with Yin-cold attributes?" Wang Changsheng asked casually. He didn't directly mention Underworld River Water, not because he didn't want to, but because he was worried Chen Yan might deceive him. If Chen Yan just randomly told them a place, claiming it had Underworld River Water, they couldn't just go there, could they?

"Spirit water with Yin-cold attributes? We found a cave that has Yin-cold spirit water, but it's guarded by two top-grade Level 6 Profound Yin Bats, and our strength isn't enough. There's also a pool of water with a type of Yin-cold spirit water, but it's guarded by a Level 7 Jade-Eyed Golden Toad. And there's this other place..." Chen Yan took out a piece of beast hide, on which several locations were marked. The Demonic Heavens Cave has many types of Yin-cold spirit water. He didn't know which type of spirit water Wang Changsheng was looking for, so he just told Wang Changsheng all the places he knew that had Yin-cold spirit water. If it weren't for Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan, they would probably have perished.

"Many thanks, Fellow Daoist Chen." Wang Changsheng thanked him and took the beast hide.

"It was nothing. We are injured and likely won't be able to assist you," Chen Yan said cautiously. One must always be wary of others; he certainly didn't want to be cannon fodder. The other party's strength was too great, and they possessed Buddhist treasures. If they were to find anything rare, for the sake of secrecy, they might very well resort to lethal force to silence them. Therefore, Chen Yan could only subtly inform Wang Changsheng that they couldn't lead the way.

"Then be extra careful. There's a Soul Integration stage ghostly creature here; if we hadn't been fast enough, we would also have lost our lives." Wang Changsheng told Chen Yan the location where they encountered the ghostly creature, advising Chen Yan to be cautious.

"Many thanks. As long as green mountains remain and green waters flow, we shall meet again if fate wills it." Chen Yan expressed his gratitude and left with his Dao companion.

Wang Ruyan withdrew her hand seal. The colossal golden bell flew up, and the massive bone eagle disintegrated into numerous white bones, revealing a black Yin bead. Her Soul-Devouring Golden Cicada flew over, emitting a stream of golden glow, and collected the black Yin bead.

"Let's go! Let's go search. Hopefully, we can find what we're looking for." Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan put away their Soul-Devouring Golden Cicadas. They flew towards the northwest and vanished into the horizon.