Chapter 256: Elder Saves Life, Dark Tiger Bureau Shattered

“So many people!”

Truthfully, after activating the Void Escape Talisman and suddenly appearing outside, under the gaze of thousands, his heart couldn't help but tremble. It felt like he had just escaped a tiger's den only to fall into a wolf's lair.

He instinctively scanned his surroundings.

When he saw the blood mist continuously gathering around Ghost Mountain, the dispersing dark clouds in the sky, and the scenes formed after the collapsed "mountain" formation further deteriorated, he could generally guess what was happening.

“What a bunch of persistent nuisances!”

He muttered to himself.

Wang Yu's gaze involuntarily shifted to the group from Yellow Springs Sect. With the help of the Earth-Net Ghost Mask, it was almost impossible for anyone below the Nascent Soul stage to discern his true identity.

After a moment of stunned silence, the cultivators in the area finally reacted.

“He came out of Ghost Mountain?”

“He's so heavily injured; could he have discovered something?”

“Maybe he's a spy sent by the Sacred Sect or Yellow Springs Sect?”

“Hey, hey, hey... they're getting closer.”

“I feel like he just escaped from some secret realm. That wisp of silver light must symbolize spatial power, right?”

“Don't pretend to understand if you don't. That's a trace of a Void Escape Talisman, you idiot.”

“No... you!”

The cultivators buzzed with discussion, but only the people from the Heretic Spirit Blood Sect and Yellow Springs Sect paused for a moment before approaching.

Both sides, by unspoken agreement, chose to surround Wang Yu.

In the silence and strange atmosphere, a peculiar aura of conflict quickly began to form.

The Sacred Sect's unknown Core Formation peak expert, who was also the leader of this exploration and one of the ten inner elders of Gu Poison Peak, spoke first.

“Young friend, do you know the truth behind the anomaly in Ghost Mountain?”

Wang Yu's eyes narrowed under his mask. He replied politely,

“Senior of the Sacred Sect, I was ambushed by enemies outside the Heavenly Demon Bone Forest. After activating the Void Escape Talisman, I barely managed to escape, only to find myself surrounded by all of you here.

“I am severely injured and urgently need a place to go into seclusion. Might I ask, seniors...”

“Hmph!”

Before he could finish, a cold snort was directed at Wang Yu.

The aura of a Core Formation cultivator pressed down on him. Honestly, he felt almost nothing, but he had to pretend to be affected.

He knelt on one knee in mid-air, appearing speechless.

From the Sacred Sect's team, another withered old woman, a mid-stage Core Formation cultivator, stepped forward.

“Young man, you refuse to listen to reason! If you dare to lie again, I'll slap you to death!”

“Hehe—”

“Senior, why do you say that?”

Wang Yu stared at the old woman, a fake smile on his face. The killing intent in his heart gradually boiled, and he instinctively narrowed his eyes to hide any emotions they might reveal.

“If I say you're lying, then you're lying. Why should I explain anything to an ant like you? Slap him!”

Spiritual energy condensed, forming a large hand that squeezed towards Wang Yu. Wang Yu swiftly ascended, and his spiritual sense transformed into countless steel needles to counteract it.

This was one of the advanced spiritual sense application techniques he had obtained from the Heavenly Soul Scripture Repository.

Simply put, if he could master all these techniques, he would be a true soul cultivator, capable of fighting against peers using only his spiritual sense.

He hadn't had long to learn these techniques, only studying one or two, but this old woman had also attacked casually, simply mistaking him for a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The moment his spiritual sense power was exposed, it immediately drew others' vigilance.

“That's Core Formation spiritual sense?”

“Fellow cultivator, why are you deliberately concealing your cultivation? If you don't tell us the information about Ghost Mountain, don't blame me, Fang, for performing a soul search!”

These words were spoken by the Sacred Sect's Core Formation peak expert.

Wang Yu couldn't help but scoff. Red Kite was still Red Kite; this familiar scent remained. He had been around Long Yiran for too long, almost twisting his own personality.

“Ultimately, his Dao Heart is not firm enough...”

Sighing inwardly, Wang Yu revealed a strange smile, though no one could see it due to his mask.

Taking a deep breath and feeling his true essence almost fully recovered, Wang Yu clasped his hands together.

The phantom of the Yellow Springs' torrent appeared behind him, and a colossal murky yellow hand pressed down towards the old woman who had spoken rudely earlier.

At this, not only did the Sacred Sect members' expressions change.

The Yellow Springs Sect, who had been silent due to their weaker strength, also drastically changed their expressions.

“Is that a true disciple of our sect? Who could it be...”

“You're from the Yellow Springs Sect!!!”

“—Alright, alright.”

“Today, we'll settle this.”

Seeing the Sacred Sect's Core Formation cultivators about to attack, Wang Yu flew back smoothly, slipping into the Yellow Springs Sect's formation. He deliberately kept his voice low, yet ensured the Sacred Sect members could still hear him.

“Elders of the sect, this disciple has been ordered by the Cursed Ghost Devil Lord to investigate the truth behind the anomaly in Ghost Mountain.

“By chance, I discovered a spatial secret realm within Ghost Mountain, containing a Ten-Thousand-Year Medicinal King! Please quickly inform the Nascent Soul Ancestors and dispatch troops!”

The Yellow Springs Sect's Core Formation cultivators collectively froze, then showed expressions of pleasant surprise. This true legacy divine ability could only be cultivated by those who practiced the 'Yellow Springs Netherworld Scripture'.

In other words, Wang Yu had already proven his identity.

Seeing the Sacred Sect's Core Formation cultivators about to surround them, they immediately cast a spell to conjure a manifestation of the Yellow Springs River from spiritual energy, protecting Wang Yu, and quickly asked,

“Do you have proof?”

Wang Yu ran his hand over his abdomen, where he had taken a punch from the Blood Demon Ginseng, leaving a trace of its aura. He then extracted this essence for the Yellow Springs Sect's Core Formation cultivators to sense.

The other party immediately became confident. “Indeed, it's a Ten-Thousand-Year Medicinal King. I once observed it from afar in the Yellow Springs Medicinal Garden. There's no mistake.”

Upon hearing this, the other Core Formation cultivators also showed joy; this was a great merit!

The Heavenly Demon Bone Forest was ownerless land; anyone could explore it, and treasures naturally went to the strongest. Moreover, it was located exactly at the border between the two sects, so contention was inevitable.

“Although the Medicinal King isn't good at fighting, it possesses at least Fourth Tier strength. No wonder you're so heavily injured. Step back; leave this to us.”

“Yes—”

The situation was tense; even these few sentences caused a delay, and there was no time to ask Wang Yu for his name.

Loud rumbling explosions continuously erupted as the Sacred Sect's Core Formation cultivators had already begun bombarding the Yellow Springs River.

He flipped his palm, took out a handful of top-grade spirit pills, and swallowed them whole.

Wang Yu's figure continued to gradually disappear as his Invisibility Art took effect. Although this second-tier low-grade spell was quickly falling behind his progress in strength, its effect of concealing his presence was still highly effective.

Combined with the Earth-Net Ghost Mask and the Breathless Charm secret technique, the moment the battle began, he quietly vanished from the center of the battlefield, taking advantage of everyone's attention being drawn away.

Given a little time, once he truly moved away from the center of the conflict, as long as he wasn't caught by area-of-effect attacks, he would be halfway safe.

The two strongest factions clashed.

The Yellow Springs Sect members could allow Wang Yu to disappear.

But the Sacred Sect members wouldn't. The mid-stage Core Formation old woman, who had been staring at him intently, immediately spoke in a shrill voice,

“All Sacred Sect City Lords, heed my command: seize that furtive ant!”

Damn it!

If his identity couldn't be exposed, he truly wanted to rip off his mask and slap that old hag a few times. The Heavenly Soul Sect ruins contained too many secrets.

Especially after the Blood Demon's power was exposed within, the Heretic Spirit Blood Sect would definitely go all out to seize it. After all, the Blood Demon Hall lineage cultivated the 'Dharma' passed down by the Blood Demon.

The two had deep ties, and they absolutely wouldn't let go of this opportunity. If the Yellow Springs Sect were to contend, it would only lead to a massacre on a larger scale than the dispute over Chasing Moon Province.

In that case, the relationship with the Three Young Masters of Heretic Spirit would become somewhat unreliable, and he couldn't even allow Jin Miaoshan to guess the truth.

Wang Yu's identity absolutely could not be revealed in the Heavenly Demon Bone Forest, otherwise Jin Miaoshan would surely figure it out.

When those City Lords stared at him, he knew his escape plan had failed. He immediately prepared to use another Void Escape Talisman to get away from the dense crowd first.

Just then, a familiar rumble of thunder suddenly echoed in the sky. Both sides' Core Formation cultivators halted their intense clashes, and Wang Yu also relaxed his movements, looking up at the firmament.

Black lightning suddenly erupted, forming an ocean of electricity in mid-air. The endlessly rising blood mist from the ground surged powerfully, colliding with the lightning as if without end.

The blood mist was no match for the lightning, but it had the advantage of infinite numbers.

The Underworld Tiger Lightning, which had unleashed all its power in one burst, was incredibly potent but lacked sustainability. After forcefully splitting several Ghost Mountains, the dark clouds in the sky completely dispersed.

The phantom of an ancient architectural complex appeared, seemingly across space, distantly visible to the cultivators present.

“This—”

“It truly is a secret realm!”

“Hahahahaha, we're rich, we're rich! Fortunately, I've been guarding this place all along. Everyone knows that the first exploration of a secret realm often yields the most abundant harvest.”

“I'll take your auspicious words, brother. I, Li, see your strength is considerable; how about we cooperate in the exploration?”

“I'll consider it.”

Rogue cultivators and third-rate forces were overjoyed, believing that a great opportunity was at hand.

Wang Yu, however, also breathed a sigh of relief. He had thought the Underworld Tiger Formation was activated by Long Yiran, and he wondered how she was doing.

Then, he witnessed an even stranger sight: the phantom in the sky, though seemingly close, was actually like a mirage—visible but untouchable.

Normally, one would need to search for the secret realm's entrance.

However, the Underworld Tiger Formation had completely exhausted its power and vanished between heaven and earth, meaning its spatial seal on the secret realm had also ended.

Tens of thousands of years ago, the fate of this space was to disappear into nothingness. But today, tens of thousands of years later, without the influence of the Blood Demon's true form, it seemed to reappear as if from ancient times.

It 'grew' out of thin air.

Ghost Mountain was completely torn apart, space began to expand, and sections of land 'squeezed out' from nothingness, with ancient architectural ruins replacing the location of Ghost Mountain.

What everyone first sensed was the aura of a super spiritual vein.

Wang Yu's expression was grim. He understood clearly: big trouble!

This was not just about the significance of a Fifth Tier spiritual vein; the legacy of an ancient overlord was also a major highlight. Not to mention the Heretic Spirit Blood Sect and Yellow Springs Sect, even the Underworld Mountain Sect in the southernmost part of Red Kite would be moved.

And the most troublesome thing...

Just as everyone was overjoyed, it suddenly descended.

“Oong!!!”

The Blood Demon Ginseng, Blood Demon Fleeceflower, and Blood Demon Ganoderma Equine.

The moment the three Nascent Soul Medicinal Kings descended, the endless blood mist found its masters. They transformed into countless blood beasts, accompanying blood corpses and blood corpse giants.

They charged towards the living beings in this world, their numbers endless, stretching beyond sight.

Furthermore, a Sky-Reaching Demonic Sunflower stood here, appearing to connect heaven and earth. Its late Fourth Tier aura could crush Qi Refining rogue cultivators to death.

This was the fundamental difference brought by a higher level of life.

The cultivators of the Sacred Sect and Yellow Springs Sect were even more terrified; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they were scared senseless.