160: A narrow escape and the "garbage" in the jade pillar.

Void Heaven Palace, Outer Hall.

This was a magnificent space large enough to accommodate ten thousand people. Thirty-six Dragon-Coiling White Jade Pillars, each three zhang in diameter and a hundred zhang tall, stood all around. Countless glowing Moonlight Stones were embedded in the vaulted ceiling, illuminating the entire hall as bright as day.

"So this is the Void Heaven Palace..."

Zhou Wannian (currently disguised as the sickly middle-aged Daoist "Han Li") shrank into an inconspicuous corner. His gaze seemed dull, but in reality, his Divine Sense had already silently covered a ten-zhang radius.

At this moment, hundreds of Core Formation Cultivators had already gathered in the hall.

The lines were clearly drawn.

On the left was a group of brightly dressed, righteous-looking Cultivators. Leading them was Fairy Yunhua of the Wanfa Sect (the one who fled in the Thunderstorm Sea Region), along with several elderly men who looked sanctimonious. This was the Righteous Path Alliance.

On the right were the people of the Demonic Path, shrouded in thick Devilish Qi and appearing in all sorts of strange forms.

In the middle were Loose Cultivators like Zhou Wannian, who had no sect or came from small factions. They were the most numerous but had the lowest status, each looking nervous and guarded against one another.

"Boom!"

Just then, a dull thud echoed from the hall's entrance.

A burst of extremely violent golden Evil Qi, like a wild beast charging into a flock of sheep, instantly sent the Core Formation Loose Cultivators near the door stumbling in all directions.

"Hahahaha! Void Heaven Palace, this old man has come again!"

A burly man wearing golden armor, with a face full of coarse flesh and a beard like steel needles, strode inside. With every step he took, the floor trembled slightly.

Behind him followed several somber-looking Demonic Cultivators.

"It's 'Savage Beard'!"

Someone cried out in alarm, "The Demonic Path's number one Body Cultivator! Peak Middle Stage Nascent Soul!"

"A Body Cultivator?"

In the corner, Zhou Wannian narrowed his eyes and sized up this Savage Beard.

"His blood and Qi are indeed vigorous; his Physical Body strength should be comparable to an eighth-rank Yao Beast (Middle Stage Nascent Soul)."

He touched the shrunken [star heavy ruler] in his sleeve and thought of his own Soul Transformation Stage Physical Body Clone, the "Star Lord."

"Compared to the Star Lord, he's just a slightly sturdier sandbag."

Zhou Wannian gave his evaluation in his heart.

Immediately following.

Another gust of cold wind blew through.

The temperature in the hall instantly dropped by over a dozen degrees, and a thin layer of frost even formed on the ground.

"Jie jie jie... Brother Man, you still love showing off as much as ever."

A cloud of black mist condensed on the other side of the hall, transforming into a withered-faced old man with sinister eyes. Standing behind him was an ugly, arrogant-looking youth.

[Ancestor Ji Yin] and his grand-disciple [Ugly Crow].

When enemies meet, their eyes blaze with hatred.

Although Zhou Wannian was wearing the formless mask, seeing this old devil still made him want to curse his ancestors for eighteen generations in his heart.

"Ji Yin, why didn't you bring that Clone of yours out?" Savage Beard mocked in a booming voice. "I heard you were crippled by a Loose Cultivator in the Outer Sea?"

"Hmph!"

Ancestor Ji Yin's face darkened, and killing intent surged in his eyes.

"That was because this old man was careless! If I encounter that person inside the palace..."

His cold gaze swept across the room like a poisonous snake, lingering particularly long on the Loose Cultivators.

"I will certainly extract his Soul and refine his spirit!"

When that gaze swept over Zhou Wannian, it paused slightly.

Zhou Wannian immediately cooperated by coughing twice and clutching his chest, looking heavily injured and on the verge of death. He even deliberately leaked a trace of disordered and weak Early Stage Core Formation aura.

"Trash."

Ancestor Ji Yin snorted coldly and bypassed him. A sickly ghost like this couldn't possibly be the mysterious powerhouse who could withstand heavenly thunder.

"Whew..."

Zhou Wannian felt relieved. This [formless mask] was truly effective, managing to hide even from the investigation of Nascent Soul Old Monsters... As time passed, more and more Nascent Soul Old Monsters arrived.

A major figure also arrived on the Righteous Path Alliance's side—Wan Tianming, a Middle Stage Nascent Soul and the Sect Leader of the Wanfa Sect.

The big shots of the Righteous and Demonic Paths began to trade verbal barbs, testing each other's strength. Meanwhile, the Loose Cultivators were like lambs to the slaughter, shrinking into corners and trembling, fearing they would be caught in the crossfire.

"Since I have nothing better to do."

Zhou Wannian leaned against a massive Dragon-Coiling White Jade Pillar, seemingly resting with his eyes closed, but in reality, he was working in secret.

Because just now, the Spirit Beast bag at his waist had moved.

The Three-Tailed Spirit Fox he had spent three million Spirit Stones on was frantically scratching the bag, emitting a sense of longing that only he could perceive.

"Hmm? Is there something inside this pillar?"

Zhou Wannian's heart stirred.

He turned slightly, using his wide robes as cover, and pressed one hand against the white jade pillar behind him.

"I dare to ask the heavens."

Inside his sleeve, the Heavenly Secret Dao Disk turned slightly.

[Divination Result: Auspicious (Dark Under the Lamp).]

[Target: Interlayer of the Dragon-Coiling White Jade Pillar.]

[Treasure: Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Milk (Three Drops). Spare energy left by ancient Cultivators to maintain the hall's Formation; due to the Formation's aging, it has leaked into this spot.]

"Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Milk?!"

Zhou Wannian's heart skipped a beat.

This was a divine object of legend where just a single drop could instantly refill one's mana! For the fierce battles ahead, this was equivalent to having three extra lives!

And... Zhou Wannian cast a subtle glance at the other thirty-five pillars around the room.

"If this one has it, then the others..."

Greed is the ladder of human progress.

Zhou Wannian looked left and right.

At this moment, the big shots of the Righteous and Demonic Paths were confronting each other in the center of the hall, drawing everyone's attention. No one noticed this sickly Daoist huddled in the corner.

"Do it."

The First-Grade Golden Core inside Zhou Wannian's body rotated, and a trace of "Star Sword Qi" with spatial attributes silently pierced into the jade pillar from his fingertip.

The spatial penetration characteristics of the taiyi star sand were utilized to the fullest at this moment.

He did not damage the exterior of the jade pillar. Instead, like performing microsurgery, he directly bypassed the layer of Restriction and reached into the internal interlayer.

His Divine Sense swept out.

Shua.

Three drops of milky-white liquid, emitting an astonishing Spiritual Qi, were instantly drawn into a jade bottle within his sleeve.

"Got it!"

Zhou Wannian was ecstatic in his heart, but his face remained half-dead. He even changed his posture, shuffling to the bottom of another pillar nearby.

"Oh... this old injury acting up again, it's truly miserable..."

While moaning and groaning, he placed his hand on the second pillar.

Suck.

Another three drops.

Then the third pillar... the fourth... just like that.

Right under the eyes of hundreds of Cultivators and over a dozen Nascent Soul Old Monsters.

A "sickly Daoist" named Han Li, like a hardworking hamster, moved along the wall from one pillar to the next.

By the time the Righteous and Demonic Paths finally finished their argument and prepared to open the passage to the next stage.

Zhou Wannian had already touched all eighteen pillars on this half of the hall.

Harvest: Forty-five drops of Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Milk!

If those Nascent Soul Old Monsters knew about this, they would probably cough up blood from anger. They were fighting tooth and nail for the void heaven cauldron, yet the first windfall upon entering had been quietly pocketed by a Loose Cultivator.

"Cough... that's about enough."

Zhou Wannian looked at the eighteen pillars on the opposite side and sighed with regret. That was the territory of the Righteous Path Alliance; it wasn't easy to go over there without being too conspicuous.

Just then.

"Weng—"

At the end of the hall, two bronze gates ten zhang high slowly opened.

A blast of bone-chilling white mist surged from behind the gates, instantly filling half the hall.

[Ghost Grievance Land].

This was the first trial leading to the Inner Hall.

"The gate is open!"

"Charge!"

The Core Formation Cultivators, who had long been unable to restrain themselves, summoned their Magic Treasures and scrambled to rush into the white mist.

"Hmph, a bunch of cannon fodder."

Ancestor Ji Yin sneered and said to Ugly Crow beside him, "Ugly child, we're leaving too. Remember, follow me closely once we're inside. There are things in this ghost mist that even I find troublesome."

"Yes, Grandfather."

The Demonic Path crowd transformed into Black Wind and swept into the ghost mist.

The Righteous Path Alliance was not to be outdone and followed closely behind.

Zhou Wannian was in no hurry to move.

He waited until most people had entered before slowly standing up and brushing the dust off his buttocks.

"Ghost Grievance Land..."

"I heard it's full of resentful Souls and vengeful ghosts, as well as a strange creature called the 'Soul-Hooking Flying Spirit' that specifically feeds on the Divine Sense of Cultivators."

Zhou Wannian touched the seventy-two [star thunder bee cloud swordss] in his sleeve.

This set of Flying Swords came with its own Evil-Warding Divine Thunder, making it the ancestor of all ghost-kind.

"Let's go, Fei Yu."

Zhou Wannian whispered to the air beside him (where Li Feiyu was hidden).

"Let's go in and... give our Flying Swords a blessing."

...Inside the ghost mist.

Vision was obstructed and Divine Sense was suppressed to its limit, only able to extend three zhang outside the body.

"Ah—!!!"

"Help! What is this thing?!"

As soon as they entered, shrill screams came from ahead.

The white mist billowed as countless translucent, hideous ghost faces rushed out, frantically biting at the entering Cultivators. Ordinary defensive Magic Treasures were useless against these ghosts because they directly attacked the Soul.

"Damn it! They are Ghost King-level resentful spirits!"

Several Early Stage Core Formation Loose Cultivators were instantly drained of their Yang Qi, falling to the ground as mummified corpses.

Zhou Wannian strolled through the white mist.

A few blind vengeful ghosts shrieked and lunged at him.

"Zi-la."

Before they could even get within one zhang of Zhou Wannian.

A layer of pale-golden electric arc mesh faintly appeared on the surface of Zhou Wannian's body.

Evil-Warding Divine Thunder.

"Zhi—!!!"

Those ghosts were like snowflakes hitting a red-hot iron plate, instantly vaporizing without even leaving a trace behind.

"Too weak."

Zhou Wannian shook his head.

Just then.

The mist ahead suddenly fluctuated violently.

"Fellow Daoist! Help! Save me!"

A blood-covered female Cultivator came running over stumbling, pursued by a giant winged ghost—a [Yaksha King].

Zhou Wannian took a closer look.

He was amused.

This female Cultivator was none other than someone he had met once before in the Thunderstorm Sea Region... Purple Spirit.

Though she too was wearing a mask to hide her true appearance, her figure and aura could not escape Zhou Wannian's Divine Sense.

"It truly is a small world."

Zhou Wannian did not act immediately but stood in place as if watching a play.

Seeing a Daoist ahead, Purple Spirit rushed toward him as if grasping at a life-saving straw.

"Fellow Daoist, be careful! This is a Late Stage Core Formation Yaksha King!"

That Yaksha King was clearly in a bloodlust. Seeing another "food" item, it let out an excited roar, and the bone fork in its hand, carrying a fishy wind, stabbed fiercely at Zhou Wannian.

"Begone."

Zhou Wannian lifted his eyelids.

A golden light flashed from his sleeve.

Xiu!

A small golden sword only an inch long flew out.

Its speed was incredibly fast.

The Yaksha King didn't even see what it was before it felt a chill between its eyebrows.

Puchi.

The small golden sword pierced through its rock-hard skull, and the attached Evil-Warding Divine Thunder instantly exploded inside its head.

Boom!

This fearsome Yaksha King didn't even have time to scream before its head exploded into a golden firework.

The corpse crashed to the ground.

Purple Spirit was stunned.

She looked at the sickly Daoist who had retracted the small sword with a calm expression, her beautiful eyes full of shock.

Instantly killing a Late Stage Core Formation ghost?

Was this really just an Early Stage Core Formation Loose Cultivator?

"Thank... thank you, Fellow Daoist, for saving my life."

Purple Spirit quickly bowed, while her mind raced to figure out this person's background.

"It was just a small matter."

Zhou Wannian glanced at her and lowered his voice, switching back to the tone he had used in the Thunderstorm Sea Region.

"However, Miss Purple Spirit."

"Next time you go out, remember to change your shoes."

"These 'Cloud-Treading Boots' are a signature item of the Wonderful Sound Sect; they are too conspicuous."

Purple Spirit's whole body jolted, and she snapped her head up.

"It's you?! Han..."

"Shh."

Zhou Wannian put a finger to his lips.

"A name is just a label."

"Since we've met, let's team up."

"Deep within this ghost mist, there are more than just ghosts."

"There are also... human disasters."

Zhou Wannian pointed toward the thicker mist ahead.

There, the cold laughter of Ancestor Ji Yin could be faintly heard.

"Good grand-disciple, go and capture all those Loose Cultivators."

"The sacrifices for this 'Blood Sacrifice to Open the Gate'... are not yet enough."

A cold glint flashed in Zhou Wannian's eyes.

"Let's go."

"Let's go and cause some trouble for this old demon."