94: Chapter 94 Ghosts and Demons

A circular hall with a diameter of about ten zhang suddenly appeared before them.

Several night-luminescent pearls were embedded across the walls, their light intertwining.

It illuminated the hall as bright as day, revealing every detail in the corners.

In the very center, a lidless stone coffin sat quietly; there was nothing else in the hall.

Around the stone coffin, green mist rose in wisps and threads, coiling and intertwining.

It obscured parts of the stone coffin tightly, then slowly dissipated, shrouding the coffin like a light veil.

Yun Song stared intently at the green mist coiling around the stone coffin, and a strange feeling suddenly arose in his heart.

The wispy, thread-like form of this green mist was surprisingly similar to what he had seen on the roof last night.

His pupils constricted involuntarily, and a thought flashed through his mind like lightning.

"Could it be... could this be the vital essence absorbed by the Ghost Demon?"

Su Qinghan's expression turned grave in an instant; she knew the situation was critical and could not afford the slightest delay.

She immediately reached into her Storage Pouch and took out small flags in five colors: yellow, red, black, green, and white.

She had just taken two steps when Yu Yang lunged forward and blocked her path.

Yu Yang's face was filled with urgency, sweat the size of beans rolling down his forehead, his voice trembling slightly from anxiety.

"Senior... Senior Sister, we agreed we were just here to investigate! Why are you preparing to attack?"

Su Qinghan acted as if she hadn't heard him; she sidestepped Yu Yang and resolutely continued walking.

Yu Yang was sweating from anxiety, "Senior Sister, let's retreat first! We haven't figured out the Ghost Demon's methods yet."

"It wouldn't be too late to return to the Sect to find some elders to help before coming back! Please don't be impulsive; if something goes wrong, we... we... sigh!"

Seeing that Su Qinghan was ignoring him, Yu Yang hurried over to Gu Licheng and Yun Song.

His face was full of worry and anxiety, his eyes darting between the two of them as he spoke rapidly.

"You two, quickly persuade Senior Sister! This Ghost Demon clearly isn't simple."

"With our level of cultivation, acting rashly will surely lead to death if we provoke the Ghost Demon!"

"You don't want to lose your lives here because of a moment of impulse, do you?"

He paused, swallowed, and continued with an earnest look in his eyes.

"Our path of cultivation is still long; it's not worth risking our lives on something so uncertain."

"You two, hurry and join me in persuading Senior Sister; don't let her act impulsively!"

Yun Song frowned slightly, shifting his gaze from Su Qinghan to Yu Yang.

"Senior Brother Yu, on the way here you kept saying that Opportunity is obtained through experience, yet why are you more impatient than me? I understand your worry, but since Senior Sister is so determined, she must have a plan."

"We came here precisely for this matter; if we retreat now, it will be hard to show our faces in the future."

Gu Licheng's expression was cold and stern; he kept his hand on his sword hilt, looked at Yu Yang, and said slowly.

"We know you have everyone's best interests at heart. In cultivation, opportunities and risks coexist; being able to handle the Ghost Demon ourselves is a rare training experience."

"Senior Sister acts with prudence; since she has decided, she must have considered it."

Yu Yang was so angry his face turned beet red; he pointed at Yun Song and Gu Licheng, his lips trembling.

"Did I say that? Why can't you two understand? What are we seeking in our path of cultivation?"

"Isn't it just to live a long life and seek that glimmer of Opportunity for immortality?"

"The Ghost Demon is so strange, we have no idea what its true strength is right now."

"If we just rush in like this, if something goes wrong, we're all done for!"

"Why must you insist on risking your lives for the sake of so-called face?"

"Sigh!"

After saying this, he stomped his foot heavily, turned around, and continued muttering under his breath.

He pretended to be sulking and ignored the two of them.

Su Qinghan was focused, circling along the walls of the hall.

Every few steps, she would stop and choose a spot.

She would crouch down slightly and forcefully insert the small flag in her hand into the ground.

After the small flag stood firmly, she embedded a Spirit Stone into the groove specially reserved at the base of the flagstaff.

Once everything was arranged, she took a palm-sized jade stone from her Storage Pouch again.

Its surface was carved with winding, mysterious, and strange runes.

Suddenly, blue and red light surged from her hand as she tapped the jade stone.

In an instant, the jade stone seemed to come alive, and the light spread out.

At the same time, the yellow, red, black, green, and white flags distributed around the hall seemed to be drawn by some mysterious power, slowly lighting up.

The five colors of light intertwined and wrapped around each other, moving at high speed from the edge of the hall toward the center where the stone coffin was located.

It completely covered the entire hall, creating an isolated and closed space cut off from the world.

After finishing all this, a trace of satisfaction finally appeared on Su Qinghan's tense face.

She turned to look at the three and said slowly, "The formation I have set up is called the Five-Light Demon-Trapping Formation; this way, we can prevent the Ghost Demon from escaping."

Seeing this, Yun Song couldn't help but feel nervous and hurriedly asked.

"Senior Sister, doesn't this mean we are trapped inside along with it?"

Su Qinghan did not answer but took out three yellow jade stones from her Storage Pouch.

"With these jade tokens, we can enter and exit this formation at any time."

"Later, if we encounter an emergency, such as insufficient Spiritual Power, we can go outside the formation to recover."

Suddenly, the Ghost Demon in the stone coffin seemed to sense something amiss.

The green mist all around rapidly retracted into the stone coffin at a speed visible to the naked eye.

When the green mist completely dissipated, a man in a black robe appeared, holding a pitch-black longsword.

He drifted slowly up from the coffin, radiating a thick Evil Qi from his whole body.

"Hmph, a few brats in the Qi Refinement Stage dare to come here and act wild? You are simply overestimating your own capabilities."

"Very well, since you've delivered yourselves to my doorstep, you've saved me the trouble of going out to seek Cultivators."

"Once I drain you dry, my cultivation will surely rise to the next level."

After saying this, he waved his right hand gently, and a layer of black gale protective barrier instantly appeared around him, wrapping him tightly in the center.

Yun Song's heart trembled; he unconsciously took a step back and tightened his grip on the mining hoe.

Yu Yang was quite frightened and involuntarily took two steps back.

Su Qinghan, however, remained calm; in an instant, a small blue umbrella appeared in her left hand.

After she channeled her Spiritual Power into it, the small umbrella emitted a faint blue and red light, shrouding her entire body.

Her expression was as calm as water; she swung her right hand, which held her longsword, forward.

A crescent-shaped Spiritual Power Blade, alternating between blue and red, flew out from the sword.

When the Spiritual Power Blade touched the gale protective barrier, a strange scene occurred.

It was as if it had fallen into a bottomless quagmire, its speed suddenly slowing down.

It was devoured bit by bit by the black gale and gradually dissolved until it disappeared without a trace.

Seeing this, Su Qinghan's delicate brows furrowed slightly, and a flash of gravity crossed her eyes.

She knew deep down that the black fog gale before her was by no means an ordinary object.

The next steps would likely be far more difficult than she had anticipated.

Seeing this, Gu Licheng swung his silver sword, and a golden crescent-shaped Spiritual Power Blade whistled out, only to meet the same fate—like a clay ox entering the sea.

The man in the black robe laughed twice, "Hahaha, with such meager Dao skills, you will definitely become my meal today."

After speaking, he gently swung his black sword several times, releasing four spherical black mists from the blade, which shot toward the four people with a sinister aura.

"Bang!"

With a muffled sound, the first one smashed against Su Qinghan's blue umbrella.

While the remaining three seemed to have their own targets, striking at the other three people.

The spherical black mist, like a heavy hammer, slammed fiercely against the canopy of the umbrella Su Qinghan had opened.

The spherical black mist rolled and rubbed against the umbrella surface like a living thing, viscous black Qi seeping toward the umbrella surface with a corrosive, burning sensation.

Su Qinghan pressed her left hand against the umbrella handle, continuously channeling her Spiritual Power.

A pale blue halo spread from the umbrella ribs, sizzling upon contact with the black mist.

The umbrella surface, like a small boat tossing in black waves, finally managed to endure until the spherical black mist dissipated.