394: Dare not ascend

Their movements appeared stiff and sluggish, but their speed was extremely swift, like a phantom flash, even faster than they were in life.

Swish! Swish!

In a short moment, hundreds of living dead and spirits charged towards Wu Ning.

Their faces were hideous, belonging to various races, and their forms were bizarre and varied.

Many of the living dead were missing arms and legs, their bodies covered in countless gruesome wounds, bloody and terrifying.

The spirits were even worse; many of them had only half a head, dangling from their necks, their chests wide open, internal organs exposed, and intestines dragging on the ground, looking extremely horrifying.

Wu Ning couldn't help but frown; although he wasn't afraid of their strength, seeing them inevitably caused a slight discomfort.

Boom!

In an instant, all the living dead and spirits that charged over turned into dust.

“Ho ho!!”

But the next moment, large numbers of living dead and spirits surged from afar like a tide, seemingly endless.

Wu Ning did not entangle with them, directly instructing Ink Treasure to guide him to Daoist Gu Jun's location, then flashed and disappeared.

Deep within the Sea of the Dead.

The eerie aura here was even more potent and terrifying, almost congealing into substance, like a black mist pervading and shrouding the entire depths of the Sea of the Dead.

Even Dominator Realm experts would be affected.

The spirits here were also more terrifying; there would even be Daoist Realm living dead, Evil Spirits, or spirits appearing.

Following Ink Treasure's guidance, Wu Ning flashed before a massive cave.

This cave emitted an extremely terrifying and eerie aura; it was dim and profound, immensely vast, like a celestial chasm.

“Master, that Daoist Gu Jun is inside this cave,” Ink Treasure said.

Wu Ning nodded slightly, casually glanced around, then flew directly inside, utterly uninhibited.

The space within the cave was extremely vast, a shadowy expanse filled with countless ghostly figures, like a Nine Nether Hell.

Wu Ning frowned, releasing his Divine Thought, and quickly discovered Daoist Gu Jun's figure.

He was currently at the center of the cave, seemingly having just slain a Daoist Realm living dead, and was in the process of devouring and refining its residual Origin power.

This old fellow also mastered the Dao of Devouring.

Swish!

Wu Ning directly flashed and appeared before him, not concealing his tracks.

“Who?”

Daoist Gu Jun was immediately startled, instantly discarding the broken corpse in his hand and flying into the air.

“Daoist Gu Jun of Black Hell?” Wu Ning casually sized him up.

“Who are you?!”

Daoist Gu Jun was greatly alarmed, instantly summoning his Dao weapon as if facing a formidable enemy.

“The one who will kill you.”

Boom!

Wu Ning's expression was calm, giving him no chance to resist, directly grabbing him and throwing him into the Cosmic Prison to strip his Origin power.

Thus, Black Hell, which had once shaken the Taichu Ancient Realm for countless years, was annihilated by Wu Ning.

Only some small fry remained, but they were rootless duckweed, unable to form a climate.

Wu Ning was too lazy to pursue those small fries; it would be beneath the dignity of a Celestial Sovereign grandmaster.

Instead of bothering with those small fries, it was better to think about how to deal with the forces behind Black Hell.

At its Peak, Black Hell only had three Dominators, yet it repeatedly acted against the Disciples and successors of various super-forces without any scruples, and was able to persist for countless years without being destroyed.

Besides its own secretive and deeply hidden whereabouts, it was also due to the support of a super-force behind the scenes.

And the super-force behind that was also not simple…

Thinking of this, Wu Ning's eyes darkened slightly; there would be a day of reckoning sooner or later.

After dealing with Daoist Gu Jun, Wu Ning flew out of the cave and continued flying towards the core depths of the Sea of the Dead.

This Sea of the Dead was so strange and extraordinary, existing for endless years; it was definitely an excellent sign-in location.

Since he had come, he naturally wouldn't miss it.

Passing through the eerie black mist and over the boundless sea of corpses, Wu Ning saw the figures of several Dominator Realm experts and also conveniently picked up some high-quality Heaven And Earth Treasure.

Those Dominator Realm experts must have been in the depths of the Sea of the Dead for quite some time; their eyes glowed red, and they were significantly affected by the eerie power.

Their temperaments had become extremely volatile, practically biting anyone they saw.

Wu Ning merely flew over their heads, and they all charged at him with red eyes, as if they had seen their wife-stealing enemy.

Bang!

Bang!

Wu Ning was naturally not polite, giving each of them a slap and sending them all flying.

Out of mercy, considering their impaired consciousness, he spared their lives, only knocking them half-dead.

After those old fellows were severely injured, they instantly sobered up and fled in terror towards the outside of the Sea of the Dead.

Wu Ning could be considered to have saved their lives.

Hiding his merits and fame, he continued to fly towards the core depths of the Sea of the Dead.

Whoosh!

At a certain moment, just as he was about to reach the core depths, Wu Ning suddenly stopped.

His gaze looked towards the core depths, and a hint of solemnity appeared in his eyes.

He actually felt a trace of trepidation from it.

This indicated that there was definitely a terrifying Forbidden Existence in the core depths of the Sea of the Dead capable of threatening him.

“Little Black, check for me, what exactly is in the core of this Sea of the Dead?”

“Master, it is an Evil Spirit race spirit that has awakened its consciousness, and has already Cultivated to the Celestial Sovereign Realm; it is currently in slumber, preparing to accumulate power for Ascension to the Dominator Realm.”

Ink Treasure quickly replied.

“Ascension to the Dominator Realm?”

Wu Ning frowned; it wasn't strange for spirits to awaken consciousness through Opportunity, nor was it strange for them to Cultivate to the Celestial Sovereign Realm over long ages.

But this was the third existence he had encountered that had fallen into slumber, preparing to advance to the Dominator Realm.

That ancient divine demon on Buzhou Divine Mountain.

That Celestial Sovereign Realm fire demon in the Endless Fire Domain of Tianyan Sacred Realm.

And this Celestial Sovereign Realm spirit.

An inexplicable sense of strangeness arose in his heart.

Although advancing to the Dominator Realm was extremely difficult, it wasn't particularly strange that some ancient existences would fall into slumber, preparing to accumulate power for advancement.

But an inexplicable sense of strangeness just arose in his heart.

It was like… some kind of premonition in the dark.

Wu Ning's heart slightly chilled, “Little Black, can you find out how many beings are currently in slumber preparing to advance to the Dominator Realm, and if there is any conspiracy behind this?”

This time, Ink Treasure took a long time to reply:

“Master, besides some powerful forces with Dominators in charge that I dared not investigate deeply, otherwise I would easily be detected, in the rest of the Myriad Realms, I found a total of twenty-seven existences that match your description.”

“As for whether there is any conspiracy behind this…”

“I only found that most of the existences you mentioned have been in slumber for a very long time, twelve of them have been in slumber for over ten ancient epochs, the longest one for fourteen ancient epochs.”

“Over such a long period, not a single one of them has successfully Ascended.”

“It's as if…”

At this point, Ink Treasure seemed to hesitate.

“They don't dare to Ascend!” Wu Ning interjected.

“Yes, Master, that's what I mean.”

A chill rose in Wu Ning's heart, instantly spreading throughout his body, his hands and feet becoming ice-cold.

So many ancient existences had fallen into slumber, not daring to Ascend for over ten ancient epochs; what were they wary of?

Was there some great horror in Ascending to the Dominator Realm?

Even Ink Treasure couldn't find out, and he hadn't seen a single word about it in the vast library of the God Race, which showed that there was definitely a monstrous conspiracy hidden within.