Translator: CinderTL
After an unknown amount of time, Yang Yu, who was in the midst of meditating, was disturbed by Gou Jun's voice.
"Fellow Daoist Yang Yu, it's time to act."
Yang Yu ended his meditation, stood up, and turned to look down the mountain.
He saw that Song Wen was now only ten zhang away from the top of the stone steps.
Yang Yu raised his hand and pointed into the air, summoning a stone sphere several zhang in size.
He was using a low-level earth-based spell.
Thus, the stone sphere was made of ordinary rock.
With a thought from Yang Yu, the stone sphere suddenly accelerated, rushing toward the stone steps.
However, as soon as the stone sphere entered the air above the steps, it abruptly plummeted downward.
"Boom!"
A deafening crash echoed.
The stone sphere smashed onto the last step, instantly shattering into a pile of fine powder.
The Gravity Restriction on the steps was too powerful; ordinary stone couldn't withstand such immense pressure.
Yet, the stone steps themselves remained completely unharmed, not even a single scratch.
The loud commotion naturally caught Song Wen's attention.
He glanced upward and saw Gou Jun and Yang Yu both staring at him with cold indifference.
Not far from them on the steps, the pile of powder remained intact.
Due to the Gravity Restriction, not a speck of dust was stirred.
Song Wen's heart tightened. Things were unfolding as he had anticipated—Yang Yu and Gou Jun clearly didn't want anyone else to lay claim to the treasures on Divine Blood Peak.
However, Divine Blood Peak held the Corpse King's Rebirth Art, and no matter what, Song Wen had to try to reach it.
Song Wen didn't stop his movements, continuing to climb upward with great difficulty.
"It seems ordinary methods can't withstand the Gravity Restriction. Fellow Daoist Gou Jun, do you have a way to drive them back?" Yang Yu asked.
Gou Jun knew that Yang Yu wasn't without means to deal with Song Wen and the others; he simply didn't want to waste too much Spiritual Power on this matter.
Gou Jun didn't expose Yang Yu's reluctance. Instead, he waved his hand, and nine iron pellets the size of a thumb appeared.
The pellets expanded rapidly in the wind, transforming into nine massive iron spheres several zhang in size.
"This is a mid-grade Mystic Treasure I used before I formed my Nascent Soul. It doesn't have many transformations, but it excels in weight and durability. I believe this treasure will be enough to drive them back."
Although Gou Jun spoke as if his intention was merely to repel Song Wen and the others, it was clear he had more in mind.
If the iron spheres rolled down the steps, the Gravity Restriction would make them as heavy as a thousand jun.
Even a slight touch would result in severe injury or death.
Moreover, the diameter of the iron spheres was nearly seven to eight zhang, while the steps were only five zhang wide. With cliffs on either side, there was nowhere to hide.
It was evident that Gou Jun intended to kill Song Wen and the others.
With a wave of his hand, Gou Jun set one of the iron spheres in motion, sending it floating toward the top of the steps.
"Boom!"
Accompanied by an earth-shaking roar, the iron sphere slammed heavily onto the steps and began rolling downward.
Faced with this sudden turn of events, Song Wen remained calm, showing no trace of panic. He had heard every word of Gou Jun and Yang Yu's conversation and was fully prepared for their attack.
Song Wen immediately deactivated the Undying True Corpse Transformation, and his body quickly returned to its normal size.
Then, without offering any resistance, he allowed the iron sphere to roll over him.
In an instant, Song Wen's body shattered like a piece of cheap pottery, breaking into a pile of mangled flesh.
The iron ball, having crushed Song Wen, slightly changed its direction.
A small deviation can lead to a huge mistake.
The iron ball rolled down the steps, traveling several miles before completely veering off the staircase and plummeting into the abyss beside it.
On the other side!
Gou Jun noticed that after Song Wen's death, not a single drop of scarlet blood had spilled. Instead, there was only a pool of black liquid as dark as ink.
"Could it be due to the technique Yin Shuo cultivated, which transforms one into a three-zhang tall zombie? Has his body completely turned into that of a zombie, indistinguishable from one?"
Gou Jun didn't dwell on it. Suddenly, a chain appeared in his hand, slithering like a long snake down the stone steps, aiming to capture Song Wen's soul and his storage ring.
However, just as the chain was about to reach the pile of mangled flesh left by Song Wen, it suddenly stopped.
There was no storage ring in the pile of flesh, nor was there any trace of a soul.
"What's going on? Could it be that Yin Shuo isn't dead?"
At that moment, Gou Jun suddenly sensed a violent surge of spiritual power behind him.
Without a second thought, he hurled the chain in his hand fiercely toward the source of the disturbance.
Simultaneously, he moved sideways, instantly shifting several zhang away.
"Boom!"
The chain collided with a massive blood-colored tentacle.
Although Gou Jun's spiritual power hadn't fully recovered, and he had acted hastily, Song Wen's condition was also extremely poor. Despite having the advantage of a sneak attack, he failed to gain the upper hand.
The chain and the tentacle clashed evenly, both retreating in defeat.
Seeing the crisis averted, Gou Jun's anger flared.
How dare Yin Shuo, a mere early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, attack him?
He turned his head, searching for Song Wen's figure.
There, Song Wen suddenly appeared in the center of the plaza. Having failed in his sneak attack, he was now fleeing toward the cave on the opposite side of the plaza.
However, his condition was dire, and his speed was far from his usual pace, not even reaching a tenth of it.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Gou Jun moved swiftly, chasing after him.
At the same time, he swung the chain, which rapidly extended like a venomous snake hunting its prey, closing in on Song Wen.
Realizing he couldn't escape the chain's pursuit, Song Wen suddenly produced an azure talisman in his hand.
The talisman shattered, and a gust of azure wind enveloped Song Wen.
In an instant, Song Wen's speed increased dramatically, and he arrived at the cave entrance in the blink of an eye.
Song Wen quickly glanced at the three large characters inscribed above the cave entrance: "Primordial Origin Cave." Without hesitation, he charged straight into the cave.
At the cave entrance, a barrier of restrictions formed, but it wasn't designed to block intruders. Instead, it was meant to confine something within the cave, preventing it from escaping.
Song Wen's figure flashed, easily passing through the barrier and disappearing into the pitch-black cave.
Gou Jun's expression turned cold. Yin Shuo had actually evaded his attack.
Seeing Song Wen flee into the Primordial Origin Cave, a cold smile appeared on Gou Jun's lips.
"Seeking your own death!"
Gou Jun, hot on Song Wen's heels, also stepped through the barrier at the cave entrance.
His vision was suddenly plunged into darkness as an extremely dense black mist rushed toward him.
The black mist, like a starving beast, surged and writhed, seeping into every part of his body.
"Just as the ancient texts described, this cave is filled with the ghost mist unique to the Misty Ghost Realm. This ghost mist can ignore a cultivator's cultivation level, corrupting both their body and soul, turning them into mindless resentful spirits. Fortunately, I came prepared," Gou Jun thought to himself.
(End of the Chapter)
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