74: Jiang Qiuhe

Xu Qi'an's figure was like lightning. Relying on the Qi Concealment Incantation to hide his aura, he quickly arrived at the third floor.

He had also explored the second floor. Most of the specters were comparable to the Foundation Establishment Stage, and there were also many specters comparable to the Qi Refining Peak.

Upon reaching the third floor, the number of low-level specters was significantly less, but there were still many specters at the Core Formation Stage. Xu Qi'an's spiritual sense detected no fewer than ten of them.

The further down one went, the fewer specters there were, but their strength was generally very high.

However, Xu Qi'an was fortunate that he had not encountered a Ghost King at the Nascent Soul Stage yet.

Otherwise, it would be very difficult for him to retreat safely.

Next, Xu Qi'an took out the jade token that Jiang Qiuhe had left for the Jiang Family from his storage bag.

When he left, Jiang Li had given him this item to facilitate his search for Jiang Qiuhe's location.

Xu Qi'an then swept his spiritual sense, sensing the aura Jiang Qiuhe had left in the jade token and the aura related to Jiang Qiuhe on the third floor.

This comparison indeed led him to a discovery.

Following this aura, he searched for Jiang Qiuhe's location and then arrived at a cave entrance.

Jiang Qiuhe's aura was emanating from this cave entrance.

Outside this cave entrance, there were actually several specters at the Core Formation Stage lingering around.

Among them, there was even a specter comparable to the Core Formation Late Stage!

Around the cave entrance, a Formation seemed to have been set up, isolating those specters outside.

"Could Jiang Qiuhe be here?"

Xu Qi'an pondered for a moment and decided to go and see.

"It's just right to test the degree of control that the Soul Seal has over these specters."

After saying that, he arrived near the cave entrance.

He formed hand seals, directly locking his spiritual sense onto all the specters near the cave dwelling.

Before these specters could sense anything, Xu Qi'an used the Soul Seal and struck their cores. The cores trembled slightly, then returned to normal.

Immediately, Xu Qi'an discovered that he had established a connection with these specters.

It was an absolute hierarchical relationship of subordination.

Moreover, the depth of this Soul Seal's effect was even more profound than on Cultivators.

"As expected, the Soul Character Incantation is more effective on soul-type creatures!"

In just this short moment, Xu Qi'an had gained control of several specters at the Core Formation Stage.

If the City Lord of Soul Repair City saw this scene, he would probably be so envious his teeth would itch.

For Cultivators who primarily cultivated the soul path, if they could control one specter at the Core Formation Stage, they would probably wake up laughing. Yet, this kid had controlled several in one go!

As he established a connection with the specters, Xu Qi'an also discovered some of their recent memories.

And in the memories of these specters, there were indeed clues related to Jiang Qiuhe.

In the specters' memories, a female Cultivator was chased here by several Cultivators and then pursued into the cave dwelling within.

"Hmm?"

"Could that woman be Jiang Qiuhe?"

"However, looking at the specters' memories, Jiang Qiuhe seems to have been chased here by someone. I don't know when that happened."

"Let's go in and take a look first!"

Xu Qi'an arrived at the Formation outside the cave dwelling and began to examine it.

He extended his hand and found that it passed directly through.

The specters nearby, seeing this scene, showed expressions of panic.

In an instant, Xu Qi'an understood.

This Formation seemed to only allow Cultivators to enter.

He immediately told these specters to stay here and then entered the Formation himself.

As soon as Xu Qi'an stepped into the Formation, he realized that this so-called cave dwelling was actually a realm of its own!

Inside this cave dwelling was actually a quiet room with access in all directions.

There were a total of four doors inside.

Not only that, there seemed to be signs of a struggle around the quiet room.

Xu Qi'an continued to check the aura emanating from Jiang Qiuhe, and it finally settled on the fourth door.

Before going in, he first activated dozens of third-tier, super-grade defensive Talismans as a precaution.

Only after being fully prepared did he step into the fourth doorway.

After the fourth door was a long corridor.

However, Xu Qi'an only walked for a short while before seeing a faint light on the other side.

Xu Qi'an walked out and was surprised to find himself in a square.

The surroundings of the square were pitch black. Only in front of the square were there steps, and on the high platform above, rays of light flashed.

Not only that, sounds of explosions and a woman's angry shouts could be heard.

Xu Qi'an immediately released his spiritual sense widely and probed forward. As expected, he found several figures.

A middle-aged Cultivator at the Core Formation Late Stage, along with three other Core Formation Stage Cultivators, were besieging a female Cultivator inside the Formation.

And the face of that female Cultivator was exactly the same as Jiang Qiuhe!

On the high platform.

These Core Formation Stage Cultivators were in a stalemate.

Gui Yanbo sneered, "Jiang Qiuhe, hand over the ghost king key, and we can spare your life!"

"Hmph! Fellow Daoist, are you perhaps joking? I obtained this ghost king key after countless hardships. Why should I give it to you?"

Although Jiang Qiuhe's face was full of anger, she had already become uneasy in her heart.

She had been trapped here for several days. If she hadn't known about the Formation here...

She would probably have been killed by those Core Formation Stage Cultivators from Gui Xing Country outside long ago.

And the Core Formation Late Stage Cultivator leading Gui Xing Country was precisely the Country Lord of Gui Xing Country. She only had a cultivation base at the third level of Core Formation, so she had no chance of winning at all.

Not to mention that Gui Yanbo had also brought several other Core Formation Stage Cultivators.

"I had originally planned to return to Yue Country to see my clansmen after obtaining the Ghost King's secret treasure... What a pity..."

Jiang Qiuhe sighed.

She had been away from her Family for decades, wandering among several major countries for a long time, and finally arrived at the Soul Repair Country. Afterward, she entered the Spiritual Cry Abyss and unexpectedly obtained the inheritance of a Core Formation Stage Cultivator and successfully formed her core.

Later, she obtained clues about the Ghost King's secret treasure and spent decades finally obtaining the core of the Ghost King's secret treasure—the ghost king key!

Although it was called the Ghost King's secret treasure, it was more accurately a Nascent Soul secret treasure.

Back then, when the two sects clashed, many Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators died. Some Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators left behind their legacies just before dying, waiting for fated people in later generations.

Although those Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators had died, some had turned into specters, eventually becoming Ghost Kings comparable to the Nascent Soul Stage. This is why they became the Ghost King's secret treasure mentioned by Gui Xing Country.

She had always been alone since coming here. Who would have thought that her secret would be discovered?

Jiang Qiuhe had already made the worst-case scenario plan. If she died, she would never leave the ghost king key to Gui Xing Country and the others.

She would self-detonate along with the ghost king key!

She immediately sighed and took out a jade token. This jade token happened to be a pair with the one from the Jiang Family.

"It's a pity, I ultimately couldn't fulfill my promise..."

Although Jiang Qiuhe sent a message to the other side of the jade token, she didn't hold much hope in her heart.

When she left Yue Country, Yue Country only had one Floating Cloud True Person.

Even if he came, what could he do?

But Jiang Qiuhe still, as if possessed, sent the plea for help. As for the reason, she herself didn't want to end things like this.

She still wanted to climb the Great Dao!

Achieve Nascent Soul!

See the scenery ahead!

Just as Jiang Anhe was sighing, he suddenly noticed a male figure walking up the steps and directly arriving at the square.

He exuded a cultivation base at the Early Stage of Core Formation, yet his expression was calm, and his eyes held a smile.

Immediately, she heard a sentence.

"Are you Fellow Daoist Jiang Qiuhe? I am Xu Qi'an from Yue Country, specifically here to save you."