Translator: CinderTL
Staring at the tightly shut door, Xue Cangqiong turned to Gou Jun beside him and asked, "Why did you let that kid enter the Soul Hall alone? What if there are treasures inside? Wouldn't they all fall into his hands?"
Gou Jun replied, "I'm not sure if there are any treasures in this hall. But I do know that it's extremely dangerous. Three hundred years ago, I was chased by ghosts and had no choice but to flee into this hall in search of a chance to survive. The Yin Energy inside was incredibly dense, severely suppressing my Divine Sense. Even with my cultivation at the late Nascent Soul stage, I could only sense within a range of about ten zhang."
"The moment I stepped into the hall, I felt a sudden sense of dread, as if something immensely sinister was watching me from the shadows. At that time, I was desperate to escape and had no other option but to force my way in. Fortunately, I was lucky. The direction I randomly chose happened to lead me to a Teleportation Array in the southwest corner of the hall. Through it, I managed to escape."
"With that kid scouting the way for us, we can roughly gauge the strength of the dangers inside and formulate a plan to deal with them."
After hearing Gou Jun's explanation, the group fell silent and focused on dealing with the ghosts gradually surrounding them.
...
The moment the door closed behind him, Song Wen's heart tightened, and an inexplicable fear began to spread within him.
He quickly released his Divine Sense, trying to locate the source of this unease.
However, his Divine Sense could only perceive up to fifteen zhang around him. Within this range, aside from the dense Yin Energy, there was nothing else.
Without hesitation, Song Wen activated the Breaking Dark Technique.
In an instant, his Divine Sense condensed into a thread, extending up to two hundred zhang.
The thread of Divine Sense swept through the hall, but aside from the Yin Energy and Ghost Qi, Song Wen found nothing. Yet, the sense of dread in his heart remained.
After a moment of thought, Song Wen slapped the Spirit Beast Pouch at his waist.
The Nether Fox suddenly appeared.
"Where is this?" the Nether Fox's voice echoed in Song Wen's mind.
"Can you feel an inexplicable sense of unease?" Song Wen didn't answer the Nether Fox's question but instead asked his own.
"Unease?"
The Nether Fox's pitch-black eyes scanned the dark hall, a hint of confusion in its gaze.
"No, I don't feel any discomfort or threat."
"How can that be?" Song Wen frowned slightly and continued, "Can you sense if there are any ghosts in this hall?"
"The Yin Energy and Ghost Qi here are too dense, distorting perception. Even you, a Nascent Soul cultivator, can't sense anything here. Why would you think a third-tier demon beast like me could?" the Nether Fox replied.
"In the Misty Ghost Realm, weren't you able to sense Resentful Spirits from a great distance?" Song Wen asked.
The Nether Fox said, "First, resentment is not the same as ghosts. Second, the 'Ghost Mist' in the Misty Ghost Realm isn't Ghost Qi either. Moreover, even the term 'Ghost Mist' is just what you humans call it. We, the Nether Fox clan, refer to it as Primordial Qi."
"Primordial Qi?" Song Wen instinctively asked.
"Yes, Primordial Qi! The Qi of origin," the Nether Fox replied.
At this moment, Song Wen had no interest in delving deeper into the terminology of "Ghost Mist."
The fact that the Nether Fox couldn't sense any ghosts left him slightly disappointed.
"Go deeper into the hall and see if there's anything unusual," Song Wen instructed.
Nether Fox immediately bristled, "There's something here that even you fear, and you want me to investigate? Are you trying to get me killed? With my third-tier strength, I'd probably be killed by the ghost before I even see it. You might as well leave me here to cover your retreat."
Song Wen glanced at Nether Fox, knowing full well that its so-called 'covering the retreat' was because this was the entrance to the hall, and it could escape at the first sign of danger.
However, what it said wasn't entirely without merit.
Relying on it to uncover the source of the unease in his heart was probably impossible.
But with Gou Jun guarding the entrance and the Teleportation Array located deep within the hall, Song Wen had nowhere to run.
Song Wen said, "You stay here and guard the entrance. I'll go deeper into the hall to investigate. If I call out for you to escape, you must open the hall door immediately and flee."
Nether Fox gave Song Wen a strange look, seemingly puzzled as to why this person was suddenly being so kind.
Song Wen wasn't being kind at all.
He needed someone to open the hall door for him.
When he was outside the hall, Song Wen had carefully observed that the hall was no more than four hundred zhang in depth and three hundred zhang in width.
This meant that as long as he ventured two hundred zhang into the hall, he could encompass the entire hall within his Divine Sense.
If he encountered an insurmountable danger, with the combination of the Breaking Dark Technique and the Life Substitution Art, Song Wen could instantly escape to the hall entrance. As long as the door was open, he could make his getaway immediately.
"I didn't expect you to be such a good person. Don't worry, if you die inside the hall, I'll find a way to collect your body. Even if I can't find your body, I'll erect a cenotaph for you," Nether Fox said.
Song Wen glared fiercely at Nether Fox.
Then, he slowly began to walk deeper into the hall.
Song Wen continuously activated the Breaking Dark Technique, his Divine Sense threads sweeping through the hall.
However, there was no trace of any ghosts in the hall, not even a first-tier ghost.
When Song Wen had ventured a hundred zhang into the hall, he suddenly noticed a stone platform ahead of him.
On the platform lay a wooden box.
The box was two chi in length and width, entirely black, seemingly made from some special spiritual wood. The surface of the box was engraved with intricate runes.
Song Wen didn't recognize these runes, so he couldn't determine their purpose.
However, the moment he saw the box, Song Wen was certain that the sense of unease he felt originated from it, as if something terrifying was sealed inside.
"Could this box contain some kind of malevolent entity?" Song Wen thought to himself.
Song Wen stood still for a moment, then with a flip of his hand, the Shadow Gu appeared in his palm.
After a moment of hesitation, he put the Shadow Gu away.
At the moment, he only had this one Shadow Gu, and he might still need it later. He couldn't risk it now.
As for the other Shadow Gu, he had left it outside the Divine Blood Hall.
Song Wen glanced back toward the entrance. Nether Fox was standing at the door, its dark eyes constantly shifting, as if it would flee at the slightest disturbance.
Then, Song Wen remembered he had another spirit beast.
The Toxic Flood Dragon!
With a thought, the several zhang-long Toxic Flood Dragon suddenly appeared.
The Toxic Flood Dragon seemed extremely repulsed by the dense Ghost Qi in the surroundings, its voice tinged with fear as it asked.
"Where... where is this?"
"Two hundred zhang ahead of me, there is a wooden box. Go and open it," Song Wen's cold voice rang out.
"Why don't you do it yourself?" the Toxic Flood Dragon questioned.
"Either you go and open the box now, or I will kill you right here," Song Wen said sternly.
The way he was pressuring the Toxic Flood Dragon was no different from how Gou Jun had forced him into the Soul Hall.
(End of the Chapter)
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