An invasion from the Abyss? I, a demonic cultivator, laughed.

Chapter 260 Heroic Spirits and Ghosts
A cold, damp wind howled through the dark, shadowless cracks.

It's getting colder and colder.

Chu Xiu discovered that, in this abyss, it seemed that in addition to depth, the movement of the horizontal plane also affected the concentration of Yin energy.

They hadn't continued descending, but just as they approached the spot where the bell rang, the concentration of yin energy began to rise sharply.

even
Chu Xiu's divine sense detected several ghostly creatures clinging to the nearby stone wall, curiously observing Chu Xiu and his companion.

It seems that this land has been devoid of living beings for far too long.

Chu Xiu was also scanning the other party with his divine sense. Any one of these creatures had reached the general level. Moreover, unlike ordinary ghosts, they had lived in places with dense yin energy for a long time and had condensed into a substantial soul body with pure yin energy. They looked no different from normal creatures.

Chu Xiu flicked his finger, and instantly several spears made of demonic energy shot out towards the ghosts.

But to his surprise, after he launched his attack, the ghosts howled together, and the surrounding yin energy changed with their howls, as if forming brick walls, which greatly slowed down the speed of the demonic spear.

"Hey, senior, these ghosts seem to have increased in strength quite a bit in this yin energy environment," Jiang Miaoyin said in surprise.

Chu Xiu nodded. This special environment has allowed the creatures living here to master unique survival skills. With the help of Yin energy, their combat power has increased at least threefold.

Unfortunately, even thirty times the strength wouldn't be enough to stop Chu Xiu.

With another wave of his hand, the demonic spear pierced through the curious ghosts without any suspense. After their physical bodies were shattered, their souls naturally dissipated, and the ghosts under Chu Xiu's command swarmed forward and quickly devoured them.

The cores of those ghosts had their consciousness erased and were absorbed into the Soul Banner. The souls here are of very high quality, and they will have no problem advancing to become Ghost Generals in the future.

After clearing out a few more curious ghosts, the two suddenly stopped, their eyes darting around as if they had seen something.

“Senior, it seems we’ve found the source of the bell’s sound,” Jiang Miaoyin said.

"Ah."

Chu Xiu looked ahead, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

Less than three kilometers away, the stone walls on both sides suddenly narrowed, forming a narrow gap that looked like a thin line from a distance.

However, even though it's called a thin line, it's only relative to the massive stone wall; its width is still over a hundred meters.

And within this thin line lies a gigantic ghost.

The ghost was reduced to its upper body; all its flesh and blood had been corroded away by the yin energy, leaving only a huge, pale skeleton. Its ribs were embedded in the stone walls on both sides, firmly holding its body between the cracks.

It has existed here for an unknown amount of time, so long that the bones are covered with a layer of viscous substance that resembles both moss and silt—a substance of yin energy that has condensed over time.

Its head was designed as a sophisticated instrument, with its eyeballs rotating on a predetermined track. When they slid to the bridge of its nose, the eyeballs would strike the nasal bone, producing a powerful sound like a grand bell.

The sound contained a mysterious power, capable of traveling extremely far. Moreover, the skull used to guide the direction of the blessed land was accurately pointed at the huge ghost, clearly indicating that its ability to guide the direction came from this.

Above the skull of that enormous monster, several symbols were carved by human hands.

“It’s the Twilight Realm.” Jiang Miaoyin narrowed her eyes.

"The Land of Inheritance is a place where cultivators of the Exorcist Civilization can select and capture suitable ghosts. It is artificially divided into two areas, inner and outer, and this dividing line is called the Twilight Realm."

"Within the Twilight Realm, the concentration of Yin energy will surge, and even more powerful and brutal ghosts will appear."

"Hmm, let me see. According to the records, the outer area seems to be mostly filled with warrior and ferocious ghosts, with very few generals, but the inner layer may contain kings!"

"But all we've encountered along the way are generals. Based on that, it wouldn't be surprising if a heroic ghost were to be nurtured in the inner layer."

Chu Xiu was somewhat surprised: "How do you know everything?"

Jiang Miaoyin smiled smugly: "In our clan, there are special advisors who collect and analyze all kinds of intelligence. Sometimes, a very ordinary mural can reveal a lot of information."

"Don't be fooled by the fact that it's only been a few days; we've already deciphered 30% of the Exorcist civilization's writing system!"

"Isn't that amazing? How about it, senior? Would you like to consider becoming a guest elder of our Jiang family? All these services are provided free of charge, and not only that, there's also a considerable amount of offerings every year!"

Chu Xiu smiled but did not answer. He simply led Jiang Miaoyin through the Twilight Realm and headed deeper into the area.

However, he had a vague sense of unease. This enormous ghost was clearly a landmark used by the Ghost Exorcist civilization to mark its location in the past. Judging from its intricate structure, it should have been prone to malfunctions. But why was it still functioning after two thousand years?
Moreover, his ribs were covered with sediment formed from yin energy, but his head, which was used to make sounds, was completely free of it, as if it had been regularly maintained and cleaned.

But he didn't think much of it and just kept moving forward.

After passing through the crevice, an even deeper pit appeared before me, like discovering an even deeper trench in the depths of the ocean. The dense, impenetrable darkness instilled an instinctive fear.

Chu Xiu dispersed his divine sense and cautiously descended.

The inner area was vast and boundless, and Chu Xiu's divine sense could not reach its end at all. It was like a dark and lifeless valley. As the two of them descended, the concentration of yin energy increased sharply. Even with the cold-proof props from the Jiang family, the two of them still felt a chill.

Finally, after several more minutes, the two reached the bottom.

At this moment, the concentration of Yin energy here is a thousand times that of the outside world, and it has even turned into a light mist. Here, Chu Xiu's divine sense can only extend up to five hundred meters. He never thought that Yin energy could be so dense.

Chu Xiu thought for a moment, then simply raised his hand and released the ghosts from his soul banner. As soon as these ghosts appeared, they greedily absorbed the surrounding yin energy as if they were fish in water, and their soul bodies visibly became more solid.

This made Chu Xiu sigh, "The Hundred Ghosts Furnace World truly lives up to its reputation as a paradise for ghosts."

Under such a concentration of yin energy, if Chu Xiu lets the ghosts in the Soul Banner roam freely for three years, their average level will rise by at least four or five levels.

Chu Xiu nurtured the ghosts while exploring the inner layers. In less than a quarter of an hour, he had acquired two more materials and four general-level ghosts.

"Those 250 billion were well spent," Chu Xiu thought to himself with satisfaction.

Of course, the place of inheritance isn't easy to find. Chu Xiu also had some luck involved; those two heroic spirits explored it even earlier than him, yet they still hadn't found the place of inheritance. This incident also made Chu Xiu realize the importance of a team and intelligence. Without Jiang Miaoyin, if he had been wandering around aimlessly like a headless fly, his gains would have been greatly reduced.

Just as Chu Xiu was pondering, he suddenly felt a gust of cold wind blow on his face. This was not unusual, as the deep valley was filled with dense yin energy, and countless irregular air currents intertwined and entangled, forming a complex flow.

But to Chu Xiu's surprise, the gust of cold wind did not disappear as quickly as usual; on the contrary, it became increasingly intense.

It was as if there was a force pushing these air currents in front of you.

Chu Xiu realized something and quickly put away all the ghosts and took Jiang Miaoyin to a corner. After a while, the cold wind not only did not weaken, but became stronger and stronger!
In the distance, a series of sounds, like ancient horns, echoed. The sound was mixed with the eerie wind, like a raging storm roaring and howling, sending chills down one's spine.

After waiting for a while, an incredibly large creature appeared before them.

It hovered in mid-air, like a whale swimming in the air, but it was thousands or even tens of thousands of times larger than a whale. Even the Heavenly Dragon that Chu Xiu had seen in the old trials could not compare to it!

The two hid under a protruding rock, only able to see the colossal object filling their entire field of vision as it swam through the air. They concealed their presence as if waiting for a luxury ferry weighing tens of thousands of tons to pass by.

Five minutes passed before the enormous figure disappeared from their sight.

"It must be at least twenty kilometers long, right?" Jiang Miaoyin clicked her tongue in amazement. "I didn't expect I was right. This must be a [Heroic Spirit] ghost!"

"No," Chu Xiu shook his head unexpectedly, "[Heroic Spirit] level ghosts are called Ghost Kings. It is extremely difficult for a ghost to advance to the Ghost King level. If it were possible to advance simply by accumulating Yin energy, then the Ghost Exorcist civilization would not have failed to cultivate a single Ghost King in all these years."

"Even if there are truly [Heroic Spirit] level ghosts, they would be located within the Nine Holy Lands."

"The reason this ghost is so large is simply because its soul has grown and expanded, and is not limited by biological structure."

"Is that so?" Jiang Miaoyin scratched her head. "So that guy is just chubby?"

"It's not quite bloated," Chu Xiu chuckled. "It's just that his rank is still King. In a real fight, he might not be weaker than an ordinary hero, especially in a large-scale battlefield where he would be far more useful than an ordinary hero."

"I have encountered such an opponent before. Although he was only a King-level opponent, it was almost impossible to defeat him head-on."

Chu Xiu thought of the Earth Dragon and the Heavenly Dragon. With the former, his True Demon Blade of Judgment could only leave a wound that was almost negligible due to its enormous size. The latter forced him to self-destruct almost all the ghosts before he could barely stop it.

In reality, Chu Xiu had only destroyed the Celestial's control. If he wanted to kill the fully-formed Heavenly Dragon, even if his ghost army were three times larger, it might not be enough.

Enemies of that caliber are truly worthy of being called "Heroic Spirits."

"Then what should we do now, senior?" Jiang Miaoyin asked.

Chu Xiu thought for a moment and said, "The strength of the ghosts in this inner area has exceeded my expectations. I don't know what changes will occur if we fight here. Let's sweep up the resources in the outer area first."

“Great!” Jiang Miaoyin’s eyes lit up. “Then, senior, what about my suggestion earlier?”

“I’ll keep everything I find, and you can split the rest 20/80,” Chu Xiu said.

"Wow!" Jiang Miaoyin's eyes lit up even more, and she exclaimed sweetly, "Thank you, senior!"

The 20/80 split may seem harsh, but it was actually an incredible stroke of luck. Without Chu Xiu's protection, Jiang Miaoyin would never have dared to venture deep into the land of inheritance.

Although the ratio was roughly the same when she cooperated with other heroic spirits, Jiang Miaoyin knew that it was because Chu Xiu was giving her a 20% share out of consideration for her family, which far exceeded her expectations.

She winked playfully: "It seems that although you are usually aloof, you still cherish old friendships."

Chu Xiu waved his hand: "It's just to finish exploring this place as soon as possible. Just don't slack off."

This enormous blessed land of inheritance is at least twenty or thirty kilometers deep, and combined with its area, it forms an absurdly large three-dimensional space, not to mention that Chu Xiu's divine sense is suppressed here.

It would probably take him more than half a year to completely search this area by himself.

Chu Xiu's reply made Jiang Miaoyin smile and say, "Don't worry, Senior is so kind to me, I will do my best to live up to your kindness."

Chu Xiu felt that the woman seemed to be intentionally saying something ambiguous and suggestive, but he could only wave his hand helplessly. He then summoned the ghost within the Soul Banner, formulated a general plan, and began searching along the stone wall.

Jiang Miaoyin sat on one of Chu Xiu's refined corpses, with the mother body of the Shinagami floating above her head, and countless offspring Shinagami constantly emerging and swimming in all directions.

However, it was obvious that the high concentration of Yin energy also had a great impact on Setsunagi's movements. They had only been separated from their mother for a short time when their speed slowed down significantly, and their bodies were visibly covered with a layer of ice crystals. These crystals spread into Setsunagi's jelly-like body, as if they would freeze it completely in no time.

Jiang Miaoyin let out a low shout, and countless inscriptions appeared on her fair skin, drifting towards the surrounding instantaneous creatures. With the blessing of the inscriptions, their bodies rapidly changed. Their bodies were no longer as transparent as jelly, but instead, a layer of skin that could isolate yin energy quickly grew on their surface. A little fire also lit up inside their bodies, and from a distance, they looked like Kongming lanterns floating in the air.

Even more astonishingly, the changes in Setsuna continued. In just a quarter of an hour, not only did its skin become thicker, but it even developed almost soul-like wings that absorbed yin energy as a source of mobility!

"Impressive." Even Chu Xiu couldn't help but praise it.

However, unleashing such a powerful divine ability was clearly not an easy task for Jiang Miaoyin. At this moment, her face was pale, her breath was much weaker, and she was cowering, looking pitiful.

Chu Xiu thought for a moment, then waved her hand, and demonic energy formed a barrier around her, further isolating her from the surrounding yin energy.

"Thank you, senior," Jiang Miaoyin said, a hint of smug satisfaction flashing in her eyes.

Chu Xiu didn't pay any attention, but simply directed his ghosts to scatter and focus on searching the surrounding area.

The two then explored the blessed land with peace of mind, making new discoveries almost every day.

Materials, ghosts, and even the corpses of exorcists buried here two thousand years ago, along with their damaged props and equipment.

While Chu Xiu was exploring, he was also able to let the ghosts absorb Yin energy to cultivate. Although the speed of normal cultivation was definitely much slower than devouring souls, it was still a considerable improvement over time.

And so, Chu Xiu enjoyed a rare period of leisure and reflection, and three months passed in the blink of an eye as he focused on exploration and cultivation.

(End of this chapter)