Chapter 129: Demons and Monsters Gather
Hum— Though doubts lingered in his heart, the sword qi at his fingertips never ceased.
Song Yan’s sword light traced streaks of white through the depths of the Infinite Hells.
Every strike precisely slew the vengeful ghosts that lunged at him.
Yet it was futile.
After those ghostly apparitions dissipated, more twisted figures crawled out from the ink-black ground.
Endless.
“Old Song! These things can’t be killed at all!”
Li Qingfeng shouted, “We have to get out of here!”
Get out of here.
Song Yan knew that well enough.
The question was how to leave.
They were both Qi Refining Stage cultivators, unable to fly through the air.
Escape talismans and spirit charms had all been tried, but none worked here at all.
The hellscape reflection beneath their feet kept reaching out hands, dragging them downward…
What would happen if they were dragged down?
No one knew.
Li Qingfeng’s appearance at the moment was quite distinctive—a large black iron pot inverted over his head, the inscriptions on its bottom glowing faint gold, barely resisting the corrosive demonic whispers all around.
At the same time, he waved the kitchen cleaver in his hand, shattering any evil ghosts that drew near.
But perhaps because he was wielding two magical artifacts at once, Li Qingfeng’s qi was somewhat unstable.
As he slashed repeatedly with his blade, in the instant his spiritual energy faltered—that moment when old force had spent itself and new force had yet to arise—the demonic claw extending from the hellscape reflection beneath his feet suddenly lurched downward, yanking Li Qingfeng’s body down.
It had almost sunk his legs below the ink-black surface!
“Old Song!”
The crisis of life and death filled him with panic.
Hiss.
Several streaks of sword qi surged forth, swirling around Li Qingfeng’s body and severing the hands reaching out from the ink-black surface one by one.
Song Yan seized the moment, grabbed his back, and hauled him out.
“Thanks, thanks.”
Li Qingfeng was still shaken with lingering fear. The moment he finished thanking Old Song, he was already cursing: “Damn it…”
“Whew—”
That brush with the gates of hell had genuinely terrified him.
There was no time for them to catch their breath.
The two watched each other’s backs, slowly “shuffling” their way out of Shigu Ping.
Every step was an arduous struggle.
Out of the corner of his eye, he glimpsed that in the distance, Shen Huai of the Profound Abyss Sect was desperately holding on alongside her fellow sect member, a male cultivator named Ji Chuanqiao.
Under the control of the hand seals Shen Huai was forming, several copper coins flickered with spiritual light.
They actually formed a simple spirit array, hovering beside the two of them.
However, it was clear that the two of them were also struggling to keep it up.
The spiritual light on the copper coins was dimming at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Until, in a single instant, it suddenly dissipated and returned to Shen Huai’s hands.
“Ah—”
A piercing scream came from behind Shen Huai.
Ji Chuanqiao was simultaneously tackled by three vengeful ghosts, his protective spirit robe torn to shreds and scattered like tissue paper.
Countless black hands reached out from the ink-black surface and clung to his legs.
“Senior Sister Shen!”
Ji Chuanqiao cried out in panic, desperately calling for help, his legs unable to move, able only to wave his hands, trying to reach Shen Huai.
But Shen Huai merely raised her cold eyes, gave him a single glance, and stepped to the side.
Putting some distance between them.
“Senior Sister Shen…”
Ji Chuanqiao’s expression turned to frantic terror as he kept shouting: “Senior Sister Shen!”
“Shen Huai! You treacherous woman!”
“How can you just watch me die! You…”
The black hands grew more and more numerous, densely packed, completely engulfing him.
As for Shen Huai, she did not even turn her head to look back once.
She simply walked away from Shigu Ping with an expressionless face.
Behind her, Ji Chuanqiao’s figure had already been completely dragged into the hellscape reflection by the black hands.
In the span of a single blink, a skeletal corpse slowly floated back up.
The bones trembled slightly, then scattered in the wind, rolling toward the center of Shigu Ping.
…
The edge of the Infinite Hells.
Liu Ciming put away the communication talisman in his hand, his expression somewhat dark.
Several dark figures tore through the air and arrived—they were Foundation Establishment Stage demonic cultivators, led by Zheng Daming and Fuming of the Underworld Springs Path.
“Brother Liu, what impressive methods!”
Zheng Daming was somewhat portly, his eyes narrowing when he smiled.
He glanced toward the mountain of white bones at the heart of the hellscape: “To kill a single Qi Refining Stage cultivator, and yet you’ve stirred up such a commotion.”
“Save the sarcasm.”
Liu Ciming’s face darkened as he spoke in a low voice: “I’ve figured it out. That Hellscape Manifestation Painting is the ink treasure of a Spirit Transformation cultivator.”
“What?”
Zheng Daming exclaimed in shock, and even the silent Fuming beside him showed a look of surprise.
“It’s too late for anything now. That bastard Jin Tianya long ago refined his soul into the painting. Now he’s desperate and wants to escalate things.”
He glanced sideways toward the Six Great Sects in the distance.
The Underworld Springs Path could see them, and naturally they could see the demonic cultivators of the Underworld Springs Path as well.
The sound of something cutting through the air came as over a dozen Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Six Great Sects arrived together.
Leading them was Elder Fu Xiao, holding a jade ruyi scepter that pulsed with spiritual light.
She glared at them furiously: “Thieves of the Underworld Springs Path! It really was you causing all this!”
Liu Ciming had his own grievances but could not speak them.
But now was not the time to argue with these so-called righteous cultivators anyway.
Just as the two sides were on the verge of drawing swords and striking, a roar came from the direction of Corpse Bone Abyss.
Demonic shadows flickered, tearing through the air and approaching.
“Hahahaha…”
A burst of rough, hearty laughter rang out as the demonic ape Hu Rifei, leading a group of demon cultivators from Corpse Bone Abyss, also arrived outside the Infinite Hells.
“Brother Liu, you’ve been so secretive and evasive all these days—I thought you had something truly shameful to hide.”
The demonic ape Hu Rifei taunted: “How did things end up like this?”
He patted Liu Ciming on the shoulder: “Don’t worry, brother.”
“We’re still allies.”
“As long as you’re willing to share a piece of the pie with my brothers and sisters of Corpse Bone Abyss…”
“I, Old Hu, certainly won’t let those empty-headed people meddle.”
Though he spoke to Liu Ciming, his gaze was directed at the cultivators of the Six Sects beside them.
The elders of the Six Sects couldn’t help but feel their hearts sink.
If it were only the demonic cultivators of the Underworld Springs Path, then with the dozen or so Foundation Establishment cultivators present, they could still wipe them out at some cost.
But with the demons of Corpse Bone Abyss joining in, the situation became far more complicated.
The cultivators of the Six Sects also knew that the two factions of Corpse Bone Abyss and the Underworld Springs Path were not genuinely united.
But facing the Six Great Sects, a temporary alliance to resist them was still highly likely.
Elder Fu Xiao let her jade ruyi hang slightly and exchanged a glance with Xu Ziqing.
Xu Ziqing immediately understood.
The three forces immediately formed a delicate balance.
Among all the elders, only Shen Yu remained silent, his eyes flickering.
He had long known the whereabouts of this Hellscape Manifestation Painting and had rushed from the Profound Abyss Sect to Changping for that reason.
But the current scene had also caught him somewhat off guard.
He looked toward the center of Shigu Ping from afar and saw that beneath the hellscape phantom, white bones were piled into a mountain.
Yet the mastermind behind all of this had not moved even an inch from beginning to end.
“Now that the ink treasure has lost control, is that figure atop the bone mountain the spirit within the painting?”
If he could refine it himself, wouldn’t that be equivalent to possessing this treasure?
He glanced sideways at the elders of the Six Sects beside him, as well as the demons of Corpse Bone Abyss and the Underworld Springs Path.
In terms of spiritual energy cultivation, he feared that only the leading demonic cultivator of the Underworld Springs Path and Elder Fu could rival him here.
Plus he held a secret spirit-refining treasure in his hands…
He hesitated no more.
He immediately surged the spiritual energy throughout his body and plunged into the reflection of the Infinite Hells.