Volume 4 Chapter 86

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Volume 4 Chapter 86: Peril

"This is my gift to all of you, ‘Night of Nothingness’."

As the sinister voice faded, the once bright and sunny sky suddenly turned pitch black, engulfing everything in darkness.

If it were just that, it would be fine. After all, as cultivators, especially those like Xu Qingfan or Ninglingzi at the Condensed Core Stage, they rarely rely on their eyes to discern targets. Instead, they primarily depend on Divine Sense, which allows them to vividly understand their surroundings for hundreds of feet in their minds.

But now, after "Night of Nothingness" appeared, Xu Qingfan and the others were not only unable to see, but even their Divine Sense was greatly suppressed. They could barely distinguish anything beyond a few feet around them, and those in the Lingji Stage were probably in an even worse situation.

So when "Night of Nothingness" emerged, although Xu Qingfan couldn’t see the expressions on the others’ faces, he could easily imagine their panic.

As everyone was at a loss, it was Ninglingzi who first regained composure and shouted, "Everyone gather in the center to prevent enemy attacks."

Even though Xu Qingfan was right next to Ninglingzi, when he heard Ninglingzi’s voice, it seemed to drift away, as if it was coming from a great distance. Moreover, Xu Qingfan distinctly remembered Ninglingzi being on his left before the darkness descended, but now the voice seemed to be coming from far to his right.

It seems that in this "Desolate Night," not only vision and Divine Sense but even sound is restrained.

In such a situation, even a cultivator can’t help but feel a sense of disorientation.

Indeed, as Ninglingzi finished speaking, it had the opposite effect; Xu Qingfan not only failed to sense someone approaching, but many Lingji Stage cultivators, under the feeling of disorientation in time and space, actually strayed further from the main group.

But at that moment, Chou Xuan, beside Xu Qingfan, suddenly shouted, "Taoist friends to the south, be careful!"

Before Chou Xuan’s voice had faded, three cries of agony echoed. It was three Lingji Stage cultivators from the team who had just wandered further due to Ninglingzi’s misleading voice and were killed by the sinister cultivators hidden in the darkness.

Although the shouts sounded so fleeting, the cries of anguish were so clear, it felt as if the massacre was happening right beside them, sending a chill through everyone’s hearts.

Faced with such a situation, Xu Qingfan no longer cared about possibly exposing Chou Xuan’s identity and simply asked loudly, "Taoist friend Chou, can you still use your ‘Great Method of Heaven and Earth’ under these circumstances?"

Unable to determine Chou Xuan’s location, Xu Qingfan could only shout his inquiry.

Chou Xuan replied, "Yes, the ‘Great Method of Heaven and Earth’ is not affected by this illusion. However, its detection range has been compressed to just over three hundred feet."

Xu Qingfan let out a cold snort and flipped his right hand, pulling out the "Earth Mirror" from his sleeve. With all his Spirit Qi, the mirror suddenly emitted a misty clear light, and the darkness in the "Night of Nothingness," under this clear light, was even partially dispelled.

After the "Earth Mirror" combined with the "Evil Exorcising Pearl," it not only detected things but also gained the ability to dispel illusions. However, the "Desolate Night," although an illusion of sorts, was so advanced that the "Earth Mirror" couldn’t easily dispel it.

As the clear light from the "Earth Mirror" shone down, some of the darkness from the "Desolate Night" was scattered, allowing everyone to barely see. However, since the "Earth Mirror" could only cast light in one direction, when Xu Qingfan aimed its light in another direction, the previously illuminated area would be quickly swallowed by darkness again.

Xu Qingfan called out, "Friend Chou, point out where our allies are."

Hearing Xu Qingfan’s request, Chou Xuan immediately identified the positions of their allies who had been briefly revealed in the darkness and relayed them to Xu Qingfan.

In this way, with Chou Xuan indicating the positions and Xu Qingfan guiding with the "Earth Mirror’s" clear light, although they were within the "Night of Nothingness," they managed to gather Master Guanghui, Hu Ming, Xiao Bieshan, and two unknown cultivators of the Lingji Stage with Xu Qingfan. Then, Xu Qingfan suspended the "Earth Mirror" above everyone’s heads so they could just barely see their surroundings.

Despite their efforts, three other Lingji Stage cultivators were still killed while Xu Qingfan and Chou Xuan tried to guide them. One even perished right before their eyes. At that moment, following Chou Xuan’s guidance, Xu Qingfan used the "Earth Mirror" to shine light to show the cultivator their position. But as the cultivator groped their way closer, over ten blood-red vines suddenly pierced his body from the darkness. Screaming in agony, the cultivator was horrifically reduced to just bones wrapped in skin as the blood and flesh seemed to be drained away. Even in the clear light, everyone could see the blood-red vines pulsating as they consumed the cultivator’s flesh, leaving them with chills but unable to act due to the surrounding darkness and fear of becoming separated again. They could only watch helplessly as the person before them was drained to death.

Previously, under the light, they had faintly seen six other skeletal remains, similar to the cultivator who had been killed before them, with all their flesh missing. Even in death, they were left as mere skin and bones, the skin blue-tinted, eyes bulging outward, making for a particularly horrifying scene.

Thinking about the gruesome deaths of these people, even Xu Qingfan felt a tightening in his heart. What kind of monster could be hiding atop "Ningyun Mountain"?

While Xu Qingfan was pondering their next move, a chill suddenly swept over his heart.

When arriving at "Ningyun Mountain," Xu Qingfan, Chou Xuan, and the team led by Ninglingzi consisted of sixteen cultivators in total, including six Condensed Core Stage cultivators and ten Lingji Stage cultivators.

Later, under Ninglingzi’s instructions, two Lingji Stage cultivators stayed outside "Ningyun Mountain," leaving eight Lingji Stage cultivators to enter the mountain. Everyone witnessed one Lingji Stage cultivator being killed. Although the others might not have noticed, Xu Qingfan, due to using "Earth Mirror" to reunite everyone, paid particular attention to the scene illuminated by the Earth Mirror’s clear light dispelling the darkness. He distinctly remembered seeing six skeletal remains, with one cultivator reduced to bare bones, not even skin remaining.

This meant that after entering the mountain, seven of the eight Lingji Stage cultivators died in a very short time, leaving only one.

But this wasn’t the cause of the chill in Xu Qingfan’s heart; he was alarmed because, besides the other five Condensed Core Stage cultivators, there were two Lingji Stage cultivators beside him!

Xu Qingfan suddenly recalled the corpse that had been stripped of its skin!

Almost simultaneously with Xu Qingfan’s realization, Chou Xuan, using the "Great Method of Heaven and Earth" to remain vigilant of the surroundings, also noticed something unusual. Through his Divine Sense detection, he realized the group should only have six people left, including himself, yet he observed seven people around him.

"Be careful!"

Xu Qingfan and Chou Xuan shouted almost at the same time.

But just as Chou Xuan shouted, one of the Lingji Stage cultivators beside him suddenly opened their mouth wide as if startled by Chou Xuan’s sudden outcry.

But in the next moment, something truly terrifying happened: the cultivator’s opened mouth suddenly sprouted dozens of blood-red vines from his rows of teeth, striking at Chou Xuan like lightning.

Chou Xuan had already been on high alert, but the Lingji Stage cultivator was too close, and the attack was too swift. Although he managed to dodge partially, the right side of his body was still pierced by the blood-red vines, and everyone watched as his body rapidly shriveled.

Xu Qingfan, who had already sensed something was amiss, reacted the fastest. With a cold hum, he waved his hands, and a massive Phoenix Spirit Fire burned toward the blood-red vines piercing Chou Xuan. The others were not far behind; apart from the remaining Lingji Stage cultivator, they each quickly launched their powers against either the vines or the cultivator himself, just a moment slower than Xu Qingfan.

Although Chou Xuan couldn’t avoid the Lingji Stage cultivator’s sudden attack due to proximity, that cultivator couldn’t escape Xu Qingfan and the others’ counterattack either. Their assaults hit him in an instant, and the cultivator howled in pain. The dozen blood-red vines snapped, and his body exploded violently.

But just when everyone thought they had defeated their opponent, they discovered that what had exploded was merely an outer layer of skin, precisely the skin of the formerly skeletal Lingji Stage cultivator!

While everyone was still in shock, the figure swiftly moved and disappeared into the darkness once more.

Before he vanished, everyone finally saw his true appearance. He had long, messy hair cascading down, a thin, lanky figure draped in white clothes. His skin was a deep blue-green, and his eyes glowed with a bloody light, as if he wasn’t human at all.

It was apparent that the creature had also been hurt by their attack, as blue liquid, which seemed to be its blood, continuously seeped from its body.

Seeing this scene, everyone felt increasingly tense.

Once the creature melted back into the darkness, a terrifying laugh echoed, like the cry of a night owl, followed by a deep, raspy voice as if it hadn’t spoken in ages.

"Hehe… Indeed, the blood and flesh of a Condensed Core Stage cultivator are much more delicious!"

Hearing the creature’s voice, it seemed to treat everyone as its meal!

But Xu Qingfan couldn’t afford to be angry at this moment; he quickly knelt down to check on Chou Xuan’s condition.

To be honest, Chou Xuan was heavily injured because of being dragged into this by Xu Qingfan. If Xu Qingfan hadn’t been forced to mention that Chou Xuan’s "Great Method of Heaven and Earth" could detect the darkness of "Night of Nothingness," the creature wouldn’t have attacked Chou Xuan first!

After examining Chou Xuan’s state, Xu Qingfan sighed in relief. Thanks to the timely rescue, Chou Xuan avoided a fatal blow. Though the creature had drained much of his blood and flesh, it hadn’t harmed his vital core. Unfortunately, losing so much blood and flesh at once had caused him to faint.

Upon realizing the situation, Xu Qingfan acted without hesitation. He quickly pulled the dozens of broken, blood-red vines from Chou Xuan’s body and channeled his "Flourish Qi" into Chou Xuan.

"Flourish Qi," with a life force even richer than Wood-type Spirit Qi, also carried a rare purity. As Xu Qingfan continued to infuse it, Chou Xuan’s shriveled right side gradually became fuller, and his once pale face slowly regained some color.

Seeing this scene, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. After all, Chou Xuan wasn’t just a comrade; his unique ability to detect within the "Night of Nothingness" was one of their hopes for survival.

Just as Xu Qingfan was doing his best to heal Chou Xuan, the eerie voice that first echoed in the endless darkness of the "Night of Nothingness" sounded again.

"Number Three, how did you get hurt? Didn’t you say that your ‘Skin Painting Technique’ would never be uncovered? You went to such lengths for a bit of flesh and blood; I really don’t know what you were thinking."

"I… I’m hungry. The flesh and blood of a high-level cultivator, delicious!" said the voice of the monster from before.

The eerie voice snorted coldly and said, "You better not eat those Condensed Core Stage cultivators. Remember, Number Two said he wants their corpses. If he finds out you ate his materials, I won’t be able to help you if he gets mad."

"Hungry… delicious."

The monster mumbled a few more words but said nothing further, clearly very afraid of Number Two.

Listening to the conversation, Xu Qingfan and the others were both shocked and angry. They never thought these people would consider them food and materials. But the conversation did reveal useful information—first, there are at least three evil cultivators here, and the other two are stronger than the monster. Second, the monster was seriously injured by everyone’s counterattack.

Just as everyone was contemplating a strategy, Ninglingzi, who had been silent since his loud proclamation, suddenly radiated a strong surge of Spirit Qi. Then he shouted, "Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, source to unity, gather the essence of Spirit Qi from heaven and earth, create a god descending to the world!"

As he spoke, Ninglingzi threw out two talismans. The talismans flew out of Ninglingzi’s hands and immediately shone brightly, dispelling much of the darkness from the "Night of Nothingness."

Seeing the situation turn unfavorable, Ninglingzi activated the two secret treasures bestowed by the masters ahead of time.