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

Chapter 344 Deep into the Forge
"Da da da."

Light footsteps echoed in the deep cave. The three of them cautiously ventured forward, observing their surroundings as they made their way forward.

All three were extremely cautious, as they were about to approach the killer's lair, and none of them knew when they would be attacked.

Even Chu Xiu, in his current state, is not confident that he can withstand the terrifying talent of that SSS.

Therefore, he also extended his divine sense to the maximum extent, investigating the surrounding environment without missing any corner.

The three of them continued walking for about ten more minutes when Chu Xiu suddenly seemed to have discovered something, and his expression changed.

"Brother Qin, what's wrong?"

Zhao Jie inquired.

Chu Xiu did not answer, but looked ahead with a solemn expression.

Not long after, when the three of them turned a corner, the other two understood why Chu Xiu had such a strange expression.

At the very depths of this dark passage stood a colossal altar!

The altar was very simple, seemingly hastily pieced together from bones and remains. But what made the three of them frown was that, right in the middle of the end, hung upside down a skinned human figure!
The man's skin had been completely peeled off, revealing rotting muscle fibers and pale, broken bones everywhere. It seemed he had suffered immense torment before his death, and an indescribable stench filled the air.

"This is."

Jiang Miaoyin was the first to change her expression.

Even though she was a seasoned Awakened One, far bolder than the average person, she couldn't help but feel nauseous at this moment.

Chu Xiu looked at the skinned figure, sensed it carefully, and then realized something.

This is the corpse of a fallen hero.

If he wasn't mistaken, the person who died so tragically was most likely Zhang Changchuan, the nephew of the Divine Might Taoist.

Back then, the murderer disguised himself as Zhang Changchuan, and even Shenwei Daoren didn't see through it, so he was ambushed and seriously injured.

This clearly shows that this person possesses a very sinister secret technique: by wearing someone else's skin, he can drastically change his own aura.

Of course, this does not mean that the killer's disguise was perfect. In addition to the fact that the secret technique was very wonderful, another reason why he was able to deceive Shenwei Daoren was that using reconnaissance skills to investigate others was a very impolite and taboo thing.

For Awakened Ones, especially high-level Awakened Ones, intelligence is very important. Having information about the enemy allows them to formulate targeted strategies. For example, if Chu Xiu, who had not yet cultivated the "Soul-Slaying Yama Scripture," exposed the weakness of his divine soul, then the enemy would not need to confront his demigod body head-on. Using a Heroic Spirit-level soul technique would be enough to give him a headache.

Therefore, they usually just sense the other party's aura briefly and then stop.

Chu Xiu never uses his divine sense to penetrate into other people's bodies, otherwise, if others sense it, it could very likely cause an unnecessary dispute.

This is also why Chu Xiu has been able to hide until now. Otherwise, with his previous Qi Concealment Technique and the Concealment Blessing of the General Rank, how could he have fooled the Heavenly King Demigod?
Even the Sun King must have discovered something during their first meeting using a kind of "spiritual perception" before testing Chu Xiu during their second meeting.

However, he was merely luring Chu Xiu to actively confront and expose himself. If Chu Xiu had been able to withstand the resistance of his divine and demonic foundation at that time, the Sun King probably wouldn't have investigated further.

While Chu Xiu was pondering, Zhao Jie stepped forward, took down Zhang Changchuan's body, and carefully put it away.

"This is a sacrifice for the extraterrestrial demons." Looking at the tragic scene before him, Zhao Jie sighed softly.

Chu Xiu had also heard about this.

He had seen the relationship between the Extreme Path and the Extraterrestrial Demons in a confidential internal document.

Although the extraterrestrial demons are not true gods, most of them consider themselves gods. Their relationship with the extreme paths is more like that of subordinates than that of evil gods and believers.

In order to gain power, the most common method for those who follow the extreme paths, besides completing tasks assigned by the extraterrestrial demons, is to perform "sacrifice".

"Different extraterrestrial demons have different methods of sacrifice. If I'm not mistaken, the extraterrestrial demon that the murderer sacrificed should be the so-called 'God of Suffering'."

"The God of Suffering?" Chu Xiu's heart stirred.

“Yes,” Zhao Jie nodded. “The God of Pain absorbs the power of pain, and His followers please Him by engaging in self-mutilation. The corpse before us has suffered inhuman torture, so it must be a ritual of the God of Pain.”

Chu Xiu naturally knew this; he had dealt with this extraterrestrial demon during his first advancement trial.

At this moment, Jiang Miaoyin asked, "Heroic spirits can easily seal off their own senses, so they naturally cannot feel pain. Is this ritual still useful?"

Zhao Jie said, "Since there are methods to seal off perception, there must also be methods to unseal it."

After saying this, Jiang Miaoyin sighed softly, her expression dim, and she said no more.

She asked this question hoping that this heroic spirit could suffer less before he died, but Zhao Jie's answer disappointed her.

Zhao Jie also saw this and comforted him, saying, "Brother Changchuan is a man who hates evil and would never allow himself to be used by others. I just used my past eye to take a look. Although it was not clear because several months have passed, I can roughly tell that Brother Changchuan destroyed his own soul and did not let the ritual continue. I suppose he did not suffer too much."

After she finished speaking, Jiang Miaoyin's expression softened a bit, but the murderous intent in her eyes towards the killer intensified considerably.

Chu Xiu, however, was concerned about something else: "In that case, will the murderer still be able to receive the blessing reward from the extraterrestrial demons?"

Zhao Jie said regretfully, "It's a pity. It's highly likely that it's possible. The ritual of suffering is just a means of pleasing people. Its real value is still killing a heroic spirit."

"That's troublesome," Chu Xiu muttered to himself.

He didn't say much, and the other two understood what he meant.

The killer has accumulated quite a few more "victories" in Pengcheng, and the extraterrestrial demons, in order to protect this "sharp weapon," will certainly not let the killer die easily.

In this way, it's unknown how much his strength will increase.

Even Chu Xiu felt a little uneasy.

Zhao Jie looked at the two of them, pondered for a moment, and said, "Brother Qin, there's no need to worry. With our talents complementing each other, even if we encounter a demigod, we'll still have a fighting chance, let alone a murderer that I can control."

Jiang Miaoyin also said, "That's right, my cursed spirit has almost recovered and can also be of help."

The four families are closely related, and she and Zhang Changchuan have known each other since childhood. They are close friends, if not intimate confidants. Seeing her friend in such a miserable state, she was furious.

After pondering for a while, Chu Xiu nodded and said no more.

He has two trump cards to protect him, so naturally he is not afraid of the murderer.

Next, Zhao Jie opened the dark red pupils on his forehead and began to replay the past scenes. After a while, he opened his eyes and sneered, "This guy is quite clever. He sensed the spatial fluctuations in the distance being triggered and immediately ran away."

As he spoke, Zhao Jie stood up and went to a stone wall at the bottom of the cave entrance. He made a hand seal and released several beams of spiritual light. Immediately, the stone wall became illusory, revealing a passage leading to a deeper part of the cave.

"Walk."

Chu Xiu summoned Garuda, and the three of them immediately rushed down the passage to catch up.

The passage was clearly built later, leading to the outside world. The three chased for only a few dozen seconds before leaving the passage and arriving at the main road, which led in all directions.

Zhao Jie scanned the area and quickly identified one of the roads.

This was a road leading deeper into the area. The three chased after him for a while, only to find that the killer had changed his route again, seemingly trying to shake them off by taking a series of detours.

"Innocent."

Zhao Jie sneered disdainfully. The murderer's tricks were useless against the supernatural power that allowed him to see through the past.

Unfortunately, Zhao Jie's talent ultimately needed time to be fully utilized, which prevented Garuda from flying at full speed. The murderer, who had become a Heroic Spirit, was also quite fast, and the three of them were unable to catch up.

After chasing for more than ten minutes, the other party seemed to realize this as well. They stopped taking detours, suddenly entered a downward passage, and greatly increased their speed!

This passage, though called a channel, is more accurately described as a bottomless abyss. With a diameter of over two thousand meters, it resembles a hollow giant rod leading to the deepest part of the furnace.

As the group continued their pursuit, they felt the Yin energy around them growing increasingly dense. After chasing for about half an hour, the concentration of Yin energy was approaching the outer layer of the Twilight Realm!

This made all three of them look rather unpleasant.

They seemed to know the killer's destination.

"That beast is really insane," Zhao Jie cursed.

Chu Xiu's expression was also somewhat solemn.

The killer's path was unwavering, heading straight for the very bottom of the furnace!

Although the Hundred Ghosts Furnace has a complex and intricate terrain, it is shaped like a furnace. This means that finding a blessed land where yin energy gathers is difficult, but getting to the bottom of the furnace is very simple! You don't even need to find a suitable path; just go down and you will naturally reach the bottom of the furnace!
And the bottom of the furnace is also the place where the world's largest gathering of yin energy gathers!

Everyone knows this, but many explorers still venture into the cities of the Ghost Exorcists, searching for those so-called blessed lands, precisely because the bottom of the furnace is extremely dangerous!
"Two thousand years ago, a heroic ghost dwelled there! And several heroic spirits perished there!"

"Two thousand years have passed. Without the consumption of the Ghost Exorcist Clan, a large amount of Yin energy has been continuously sinking to the bottom. The number of heroic spirits and ghosts that have grown is definitely not just one. It would not be surprising if even a demigod appeared!"

Although Chu Xiu can now fight against demigods, he is not so arrogant as to think that he has the ability to fight against demigods and ghosts here.

Let alone demigods and ghosts, even heroic spirits and ghosts—thinking of that colossal ghost in the Twilight Realm—Chu Xiu had no confidence in defeating it.

The Yin energy environment at the very bottom of the furnace is ten or even a hundred times more terrifying than the Twilight Realm! Under such circumstances, Chu Xiu's physical combat power would be greatly weakened, and he would have to rely on ghosts.

But how could his newly created ghost kings possibly be a match for someone who has absorbed two thousand years of yin energy?

Not to mention, in such an environment filled with yin energy, it's not impossible for these ghost kings to temporarily devour their masters!

So even though he knew that the greatest opportunity lay there, he hesitated to go and explore it.

All three looked grim, but they couldn't give up now, so they had no choice but to grit their teeth and continue chasing after them.

"Trying to shake us off with the ghosts here? Ha, better not get eaten by them first!" Zhao Jie sneered, the blood on his forehead growing even brighter.

The three dared not go to the bottom of the furnace, but they also didn't believe the killer would dare! It was nothing more than a game for cowards.

They chased each other for almost another hour, and by this time the concentration of Yin energy around them had even surpassed that of the inner layer of the Twilight Realm!
Chu Xiu felt alright. Firstly, his physique was amazing, and secondly, after his soul transformed, his resistance to yin energy had also increased considerably.

However, the other two were already pale and bluish-purple. Jiang Miaoyin was only a King-level expert, while Zhao Jie had to devote a lot of his mind to activating his Past and Future Eyes and had no time to resist the Yin energy.

More importantly, Garuda couldn't hold on any longer!
The movements of the refined corpse became noticeably slower. Even though Jiang Miaoyin had taken out the candle-fire magic artifact, a steady stream of yin energy continued to seep into its body.

It was only after Zhao Jie also used a prop to resist the Yin energy that they barely managed to hold on.

After chasing for another ten minutes or so, when their props were teetering on the brink of collapse and even Chu Xiu felt a chill, he finally couldn't help but ask, "Brother Zhao, are you sure we're heading in the right direction?"

"The items you two carry to resist Yin energy are of high quality. Even if that murderer possesses a higher-grade item, he would still need to expend energy to refine it. How could he have chased for so long without catching up?"

"Is it possible that he used some means to deceive Brother Zhao's vision of the past and future?" Chu Xiu asked.

Zhao Jie shook his head: "Absolutely impossible."

He paused for a moment, then said, "We are now less than three minutes away from him. If it weren't for the extremely dense Yin energy here, Brother Qin, you would have already sensed him."

Hearing Zhao Jie say this, Chu Xiu didn't ask any more questions. He simply let out a soft shout, and a large amount of demonic energy surged out of his body to help the other two resist the yin energy.

With the help of demonic energy, Garuda's speed suddenly increased by a level, but in such dense yin energy, forcibly breaking through a passage, Chu Xiu's mana was also consumed at an extremely fast rate!
But as long as we can catch up with the killer quickly, it's all worth it!
And under his influence, the distance between the three and the killer continued to shrink!
Three minutes, two minutes, one minute!

"It's right ahead, very close!" Zhao Jie suddenly opened his eyes and shouted loudly.

Chu Xiu also mustered his spirits and forcibly mobilized his divine sense to penetrate the Yin energy that was almost solidifying in the vicinity, trying his best to capture the traces of the murderer!
However, due to the obstruction of the Yin energy, even if he extended his divine sense to its limit, the coverage area was less than a kilometer! He still couldn't catch a glimpse of the murderer!
Suddenly, Chu Xiu's expression changed drastically. He sensed an object rapidly approaching the three of them from below!

Chu Xiu's face lit up with joy, but this joy lasted for less than a fraction of a second before turning into great shock!
"not good!"

Chu Xiu reacted extremely quickly, injecting divine and demonic power into Garuda's body, causing its speed to surge briefly. It suddenly veered to the side, and in the next instant, a huge tentacle almost grazed Garuda's wing!

The tentacles were incredibly large, with a diameter of over 300 meters and an unknown length. They were pitch black, and even from a distance, Chu Xiu and the other two could feel the intense, chilling aura emanating from them!
This chilling aura is no ordinary yin energy, but rather a freezing divine power condensed after countless refinements. Even a wisp of its overflowing aura is enough to freeze a low-level awakened being to death!
And from the depths of the abyss, where the tentacles came from, rose an aura of malice, so immense it was beyond comprehension!

In an instant, a single word flashed through the minds of all three.

Heroic spirits and ghosts!

"The killer is down there, he's charging at that guy!" Zhao Jie roared.

Upon hearing this, Chu Xiu clicked his tongue lightly and growled, "Get out of the way!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a large amount of demonic energy surged out. Chu Xiu stood on Garuda's head, and with a flick of his wrist, the heavy sword Chiwen was already in his hand!

(End of this chapter)