Chapter 2654: Ghost Cloud Spider

The yin energy here was quite dense, and faint wails and howls of ghosts could be heard. The stone figure in the spirit beast bracelet grew restless, and Wang Qingshan dared not be careless.

"Fellow Daoist Wang," Lan Fukong warned, "let's be careful. The deeper we go into the Myriad Spirits Abyss, the denser the yin energy becomes. Those ghostly creatures are skilled in concealment techniques; they are elusive. I suffered a great loss last time."

Lan Fukong's expression was grave. His confidence had grown significantly after he made a large fortune on his first visit to the Myriad Spirits Abyss. The Lan family currently had four Void Refinement cultivators, and Lan Fukong had contributed significantly to this achievement. During his second visit to the Myriad Spirits Abyss, he brought two Void Refinement clan members to search for treasures. They only ventured into the outer areas but were attacked by high-level ghostly creatures; two clan members were injured, and they fought desperately to break through the encirclement.

On their way to escape, they unexpectedly discovered several twenty-thousand-year-old Nine-Leaf Golden Sandalwood plants. However, a mid-tier Rank Six Phantasmal Cloud Spider was guarding them, preventing them from harvesting. After leaving the Myriad Spirits Abyss, Lan Fukong proactively sought out Wang Qingshan. He offered this intelligence in exchange for a bottle of Azure Marrow Pills to heal his clan members. It wasn't that Lan Fukong couldn't acquire Azure Marrow Pills himself; rather, he valued the Zhenhai Palace backing the Wang family and wished to use this opportunity to build a good relationship with them.

"Be careful, don't be careless," Wang Qingshan instructed. "Zongque, use the Ghost-Guiding Compass to lead the way."

Before Wang Changsheng went into seclusion, he entrusted the Ghost-Guiding Compass to Wang Qingcheng. He told him to store it in the family's treasure vault, as having the Ghost-Guiding Compass would make capturing ghostly creatures more convenient. The Myriad Spirits Abyss contained many high-level ghostly creatures, so the Ghost-Guiding Compass would prove useful here.

Wang Zongque nodded. He took out the Ghost-Guiding Compass, cast a spell into it, and its pointer spun rapidly before finally settling and pointing towards the Myriad Spirits Abyss.

Lan Fukong conjured a constantly shimmering three-colored orb. He cast a spell into it, and after the orb circled him once, it transformed into a three-colored light barrier, enveloping his entire body. Wang Qingshan and the other three applied several layers of defense to themselves. With a flick of their fingers, the azure dragon boat flew towards the Myriad Spirits Abyss.

The Myriad Spirits Abyss was an underground chasm. The deeper one went into it, the denser the yin energy became. The place was pitch black, but Wang Qingshan and the other three only needed to cast an 'Eye of Spirit' technique to clearly see their surroundings. Along the way, they encountered numerous low-level ghostly creatures. Wang Mengbin casually released a few lightning orbs, eliminating them. Lightning-type spells possessed immense destructive power, and these low-level ghostly creatures couldn't withstand them at all.

Half a day later, they emerged in a dense black forest. The ground was uneven and pitted. The air was filled with the stench of decay. The thick yin energy imposed certain restrictions on divine sense here, and even the 'Eye of Spirit' technique couldn't see very far.

The Ghost-Guiding Compass suddenly emitted a piercing sound, and its pointer spun rapidly. Lan Fukong's expression tightened, his face filled with vigilance. He fully extended his divine sense but found no ghostly creatures.

Wang Mengbin let out a cold snort. He cast a spell, and a world-shaking thunderous roar echoed from high in the sky. A thundercloud, a hundred *li* wide, suddenly appeared high above, churning violently and continuously expanding, while thick silver lightning bolts simultaneously struck down.

A green light appeared in a certain part of the void. It was a fierce ghost with a green face and fangs, its aura slightly weaker than theirs, not far from the Void Refinement stage. The fierce ghost spewed out a hazy gray hurricane, shattering more than a dozen incoming silver lightning bolts. A silver light flashed, and a silver lightning bolt as thick as a millstone appeared out of thin air, striking the fierce ghost. The fierce ghost let out a mournful shriek, engulfed by the dazzling lightning. The thundercloud churned violently, and tens of thousands of silver lightning bolts poured down, submerging an area spanning dozens of *li*.

After a while, the lightning dissipated, leaving a massive, smoke-emitting pit on the ground. With a single hand gesture, Wang Mengbin summoned a grayish-green orb that flew out from the massive pit and landed in his hand.

Lan Fukong swallowed, his face full of flattery. He praised, "Fellow Daoist Wang, your mastery of dao is profound. To eliminate this ghostly creature so effortlessly... If it were me, I wouldn't have been able to deal with it so easily."

"Fellow Daoist Lan, you are too modest," Wang Mengbin replied. Wang Mengbin's tone was flat, and he seemed unwilling to say more. A few words of flattery from Lan Fukong would have been enough, but his continuous praises along the way had practically given Wang Mengbin calluses on his ears.

Wang Qingshan said nothing as the four of them walked towards the black forest, disappearing into it.

Seven days later, they appeared outside a narrow, black valley. The soil was black, and some black stones were scattered on the ground. The valley was filled with a large amount of black mist, preventing the 'Eye of Spirit' technique from clearly discerning the situation inside.

"Fellow Daoist Wang, this is the place," Lan Fukong said, his expression grave.

Wang Zongque took out a crimson orb, cast a spell into it, and the orb glowed with a dazzling red light. "There are indeed several twenty-thousand-year-old Nine-Leaf Golden Sandalwood plants inside the valley," Wang Zongque said with a hint of doubt, "but I don't see the Phantasmal Cloud Spider."

"That Phantasmal Cloud Spider is skilled in concealment techniques," Lan Fukong explained. "Your treasure might not be able to detect it. We stumbled upon this place by mistake back then and were almost killed by that Phantasmal Cloud Spider."

Wang Qingshan frowned and slashed his right hand towards the ground. A green light flashed, and a hazy green sword energy shot forth, striking the ground. With a loud bang, the ground ripped open, and a massive, entirely black spider emerged from underground. It had eight scythe-like sharp claws, a small head, and a swollen abdomen resembling a gourd. Its eyes were grayish-green, and a pair of fangs protruded.

"Oh no, it's that Phantasmal Cloud Spider!" Lan Fukong warned, his expression grave. "The venomous fire it spews is extremely potent."

The Phantasmal Cloud Spider let out a sharp, piercing hiss, causing Wang Qingshan and the other three to feel their qi and blood surge within them. A gigantic illusory spider appeared high in the sky. As soon as it materialized, it opened its mouth and spewed out a stream of gray flames directly towards them. The illusory spider's claws crossed and swiped at the void, sending dense gray lights shooting out, which blurred and vanished.

Ripples appeared in the void before Wang Qingshan and the other three. The dense gray lights reappeared, striking their protective spiritual barriers one after another, creating a series of dull thuds. The gray flames landed on their protective spiritual barriers, causing them to flicker incessantly and their light to dim. After a series of "whoosh" sounds, dense gray spider silk shot towards them. Like countless gray flying swords, they struck their protective spiritual barriers one after another, creating a series of dull thuds.

The gray spider silk suddenly twisted, coiling around all four of them and pulling them towards the Phantasmal Cloud Spider. Lan Fukong paled in shock. He conjured a shimmering azure flying knife and slashed it onto the gray spider silk, producing a "clanging" sound of metal striking metal. Wang Zongque wielded a red-glowing feather fan, sweeping out a wave of crimson flames. However, when the flames landed on the spider silk, it remained unharmed. Wang Qingshan opened his mouth and spewed out a wave of cyan-gold flames. They swept out and landed on the gray spider silk, causing it to instantly snap.

A loud thunderous roar came from high in the sky as a silver lightning bolt, as thick as a water vat, tore through the sky and struck towards the Phantasmal Cloud Spider. The illusory spider spewed a sheet of gray light to meet the silver lightning bolt. However, the gray light, like thin paper, was torn apart, and the silver lightning then struck the illusory spider. The Phantasmal Cloud Spider let out a mournful shriek, its body trembling slightly. A deafening thunderclap rang out as tens of thousands of silver lightning bolts tore through the sky. Like a silver celestial river, they descended from the heavens, illuminating an area of ten thousand *li*.