Chapter 69

From the dark, deep cave entrance, a sharp and flat voice came: "Xiao Qi, you are the smartest, so this task will be given to you. Go and eliminate the enemy who has invaded."

"Yes, Master," the handsome young man replied without a moment's hesitation, bowing respectfully.

"Go."

As soon as the words were spoken, the iron plates on the ground rotated, sealing the passage tightly. At this moment, the six men and women finally breathed a sigh of relief. Even though they were the closest disciples, they always felt a sense of fear when facing their master, for any disciple who dared to offend him had been tortured to death and would never be reborn.

"I wonder what kind of magical treasure the Master is refining," a girl in purple said softly. "From start to finish, including those tortured to death in other places, hundreds of innate spirits have been tortured to death, and countless ordinary mortals have been tortured to death. The Master also said that once the magical treasure is refined, even if he encounters a True Man of Ten Thousand Phenomena, he will not be afraid. I really don't know what kind of magical treasure it is."

"It must be a terrifying magical treasure."

"Now that the Master's magical treasure is only a half-finished product, he already doesn't take the Purple Mansion cultivators of the Yan Mountain tribes seriously. Once it is truly refined..." The six men and women whispered, their curiosity about the mysterious magical treasure their Master was refining was at its peak, but unfortunately, the Master had always been in a secret room deep in the mountain, prohibiting anyone from entering.

Even after the passage was closed, not a single sound could be heard from inside.

"Whoosh!"

A vague and fierce ghost soul detached from the body of a bound innate spirit, emitting a silent scream. The vague ghost soul penetrated the mountain rock and headed toward the secret room deep in the mountain. This scene made the six men and women's hearts tighten; only true fierce ghosts could be seen by them.

"Another fierce ghost!"

The six men and women recalled how their second senior brother, who had once offended the Master, was tortured to death and turned into a fierce ghost, which was then absorbed. Clearly, he would never be reborn.

"Xiao Qi, why haven't you gone to deal with the enemy in the formation yet?" the senior brothers and sisters urged.

"What's the rush?" The handsome young man immediately strode out.

...

Black mist spread, and the handsome young man moved quietly, the black mist parting to make way for him.

In his left hand, a talisman appeared out of nowhere, with strange runes carved on its vein-like patterns. In his right hand, a duster appeared out of nowhere.

"Go." The handsome young man waved the duster, and immediately, hundreds of white threads turned into dozens of feet long, enveloping Ji Ning, who was sitting cross-legged.

Ji Ning, who was sitting cross-legged, suddenly sensed something and looked up.

The sky was filled with white threads enveloping him.

"Break." Ji Ning softly commanded, and the water and fire lotus leaves around him grew much larger. As the two large layers of lotus leaves rotated, the invading white threads were entangled and could not approach Ji Ning.

"Controlling water and fire?" The handsome young man's pupils instantly constricted. "It seems he is an innate spirit who has practiced the divine and demonic body. This is a bit troublesome. I thought I could take him down directly with the duster, but it seems that won't work." The hundreds of white threads quickly retracted and disappeared, and a long whip appeared in his right hand.

"You have invaded my formation, yet you do not reveal your name." The handsome young man shouted.

Ji Ning had already stood up and looked at the handsome young man. "This is the border between the Ji and Tumu territories, but you don't look like you're from either. What is your origin?"

"Scaring you to death." The handsome young man snorted.

"Try it and see if you can scare me to death." Ji Ning held his sword in both hands.

"Watch the whip." The handsome young man did not respond, clearly not wanting to reveal his origin. He directly drew out a whip, and the black whip sliced through the air, rapidly extending. When it reached Ji Ning's head, the tip of the whip transformed into a black snake head, which bit directly at Ji Ning.

Ji Ning just watched as the black whip broke through a layer of fire lotus leaves and was then blocked by the water lotus leaves.

"What kind of technique are those water and fire lotus leaves?" The handsome young man was not a previous spirit beast; he immediately recognized that Ji Ning was a divine and demonic body practitioner who controlled water and fire, but he did not understand the meaning behind Ji Ning's technique.

Whoosh!

Ji Ning, who had been calmly watching the whip, suddenly used the Wind Wing Escape technique, leaping toward the handsome young man with astonishing speed. As he transformed into a green smoke and leaped out, he used the Drip Water Through Stone technique with his North Sea Sword, aiming for the handsome young man's head.

"Troublesome, run!" The handsome young man suddenly activated the talisman in his left hand, which turned into a hazy shadow and merged into his body, making him disappear.

Whoosh, Ji Ning appeared where the handsome young man had been standing, frowning. "Escape technique? It must be through the talisman. A Qi Practitioner who is an innate spirit to have an escape talisman, it seems the Purple Mansion cultivator behind him favors him."

Talismans also have different levels.

Like the Swift Travel Talisman, Light Body Talisman, Vajra Talisman, and Great Strength Talisman, these are the most basic. The escape talisman is considered more advanced. Talismans like the 'Ten Thousand Miles Without a Trace' are extremely precious and cannot be bought. Unfortunately, Ji Ning did not have such a talisman with him, and even if he did, he could not directly reach the mountain's core due to the maze's influence. Of course, he could use it to escape, but he did not have it with him.

"Even though I have an escape talisman, I cannot escape in this maze because the five elements are activated, and I cannot 'escape'." Ji Ning was very clear about this, having studied formations for a long time and gaining considerable insight.

He also understood the large formation that trapped him.

With the five elements activated, escape is impossible unless the master of the formation deliberately helps. Unfortunately, the master of the formation wishes for his death and would never help him.

...

The handsome young man rushed into the mountain's belly.

"Xiao Qi is back."

"Junior Brother, did you kill the enemy?"

"Junior Brother, you must have captured him easily." The senior brothers and sisters, seeing the handsome young man's appearance, already knew he had failed and began to tease him.

The handsome young man, however, said, "Senior Brothers and Sisters, you don't know how powerful the enemy is. If I had been a bit slower, I might have lost my life."

"Really that powerful?"

"Does he have powerful magical treasures?" The other five men and women were surprised, knowing the strength of their junior brother.

The handsome young man said, "He is like our Senior Brother, practicing both body and Qi. He is an innate spirit in divine and demonic body cultivation. He appeared in front of me in an instant, and fortunately, I had the escape talisman ready, which allowed me to escape by a hair. Just his speed alone is probably at the innate perfection level of divine and demonic body cultivation."

"Ah."

"Innate perfection in divine and demonic body cultivation?"

"How did such a powerful person suddenly appear?" The other five senior brothers and sisters were shocked.

The handsome young man sighed, "It seems only Senior Brother can handle this. Senior Brother has already reached the innate perfection level in both Qi and body cultivation and has many magical treasures and strange items. Most of the innate spirits in the Yan Mountain have been captured by Senior Brother."

"Who is talking about me?" a deep voice sounded.

The six men and women turned to see a man in a black robe with disheveled hair walking in from the large cave entrance in the mountain's belly. The cold aura he exuded was identical to their Master's. The man was carrying a large bag, which he casually threw to the ground, revealing some legs and feet.

"Senior Brother." The six men and women all respectfully greeted him. They knew very well how powerful their Senior Brother was. Their Master had been on the run, but Senior Brother had once fought a Purple Mansion cultivator one-on-one and managed to escape with his life.

"I went to the Kou territory and captured these three innate spirits. I have already destroyed their dantians, bind them up." The man in the black robe ordered.

Servants immediately rushed forward, dragging out the three bound people from the bag, one woman and two men, the woman being particularly alluring, but all were unconscious.

"The beautiful Kou Hua was also captured."

"Three more."

"From the Kou family."

The bound innate spirits from the Ji, Tumu, and Bianhe families in the Yan Mountain all glanced at them, and the man in the black robe's face turned fierce, his pupils glowing green. "Torture them until they go mad! Torture them to death! I see they still have the leisure to look at these three people. If any of them do not become a fierce ghost, I will make you all into fierce ghosts!"

"Yes, yes, yes." The servants were all terrified and then pounced, using every means to torture the bound innate spirits whose dantians had been destroyed.

Seeing Senior Brother's anger, the other six men and women were also startled.

The man in the black robe turned to his fellow disciples, "What were you talking about just now?"