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

Chapter 356 Bottom of the Furnace
This ghost had a long horn on its forehead, a burly build, bulging muscles, and a fierce face. The moment it appeared, the ghosts in Chu Xiu's spirit flesh storage pouch seemed to sense a threat and raised their heads warily.

Chu Xiu's eyes lit up slightly: "This curse spirit is of a very high grade. Was it made from the soul of a Horned Demon Warrior?"

"Senior, you could even tell that!" Jiang Miaoyin exclaimed in surprise, her mouth agape. Then she laughed and said, "Besides a Horned Demon General, it has also fused with a large number of other souls!"

"Actually, I had been working on this cursed spirit for a while, but I only recently completed the initial stage of its refinement."

Even with Jiang Miaoyin's SS-level talent, it would be very difficult to refine such a powerful creature.

She said with some relief, "The battle of Pengcheng produced a large number of high-level souls, which brought down the price of souls. Otherwise, the clan would probably not have been willing to part with them."

“Even so, this must cost a lot,” Chu Xiu said.

This is the soul of a demigod.

Chu Xiu's words seemed to remind Jiang Miaoyin of something: "That's right. In the past, the elders of the clan would never have given me so many resources, let alone bestowed the [Red Lotus Sun-Chasing Bow] upon me."

"But recently, for some reason, they seem to have suddenly become very generous, not just a little more generous, but doubled or even tenfold!"

As Jiang Miaoyin spoke, she looked at Chu Xiu with a curious gaze.

With her quick wit, she could naturally guess what was going on.

The clan elders' sudden generosity could only be because of Chu Xiu!
This sparked immense curiosity within her: who exactly was this senior? He was classified as a top secret by the Investigation Bureau! And a powerful figure in her clan had bestowed upon him a vast amount of resources simply because they were exploring the same instance!

"The Heavenly King's son? Surely that's not something to be kept a secret so tightly!"

"Besides, the Heavenly King's structure has only been established for twenty-one years. Even the Long-lived King, who has the most offspring, has an eldest son who is only thirty-three years old. The senior should not be that young."

"Besides, our Jiang family is one of the four great families. We don't need to shamelessly fawn over any prince's offspring."

"Could it be some old monster who has lived from the dark and turbulent era to the present day?"

Jiang Miaoyin thought this was very likely. Twenty-one years ago, the Eight Heavenly Kings dominated the world, but that didn't mean that all the other strong people of the same era had died. Although they couldn't monopolize resources and their development speed was not as fast as the Heavenly Kings, if they could have continued to explore the abyss until now, their strength must also be very strong.

Some, by sheer luck, were even able to exchange a few blows with the Eight Heavenly Kings.

She felt that although Chu Xiu's direct combat strength was not that strong, his supernatural abilities and secret techniques were endless, definitely at the level of a strong demigod, which was in line with the characteristics of the old monster.

Given that these old monsters may possess many secrets, it's not surprising that the Bureau of Investigation pays special attention to them.

"However, Senior Qin is a man of great righteousness, which is not like the style of people from the Dark Ages."

Jiang Miaoyin had thought about it for a long time before coming, but she couldn't come up with a suitable answer. Her curiosity had reached its peak.

But in the end, I refrained from asking.

She still has some sense of propriety.

He only stole a few glances at Chu Xiu from time to time.

This amused Chu Xiu, who could roughly guess what Jiang Miaoyin was thinking.

If this woman knew that he was only in his early twenties, I wonder how shocked she would be.

"Let's go," Chu Xiu said, raising his hand to summon Garuda.

He has finished repairing the divine bird.

The two stood on Garuda's back, and the latter gently flapped its wings, traversing a distance of several thousand meters and rushing into the deep abyss below.

Instantly, a strong, eerie wind swept up from the bottom of the furnace.

Jiang Miaoyin took out the [Red Lotus Sun-Chasing Bow], which immediately dispelled the surrounding yin energy.

Chu Xiu glanced at her and said, "The power of this bow diminishes with each use, so you should preserve it carefully."

As soon as he finished speaking, Chu Xiu pointed his finger, and instantly the surrounding Yin energy seemed to be under some kind of command, automatically spreading outwards.

This made Jiang Miaoyin feel a little numb.

What? Senior Qin has a new supernatural power again!
Is it reasonable that he becomes stronger every time we meet, as if he has been reborn?
"No, no, how could someone level up so quickly? It must be some kind of prop or equipment that Senior Qin specially prepared for this trip."

Jiang Miaoyin thought to herself.

Chu Xiu would not explain without reason. He looked down into the pit, but the unknown ghost was no longer there.

With a thought, he unleashed his divine sense.

Previously, due to the extremely high concentration of Yin energy in this place, Chu Xiu's divine sense could not extend very far.

But now, after the transformation of his soul, his adaptability to Yin energy has greatly increased, several times greater than before. Even heroic spirits skilled in reconnaissance are no match for him here.

However, the spirit was no longer there. It seemed that the spirit had some connection with the God of Pain and had only helped him ambush Chu Xiu.

Chu Xiu was not discouraged. He used his divine sense to guide Garuda to descend into the deeper depths.

"Susu-"

A series of sharp, cold winds swept upwards from below, whistling past Chu Xiu's ears. However, these winds, powerful enough to cut through steel, automatically deflected to the sides as they approached him, as if an invisible shield were protecting him.

The further down he went, the fiercer the yin wind became. It wasn't until even Chu Xiu couldn't completely block out the yin energy that his divine sense detected a stretch of land extending into the distance.

"Finally, we've reached the bottom."

Chu Xiu breathed a sigh of relief. He silently estimated that they were now about 30,000 miles underground.

"This world is truly vast and boundless."

Thirty thousand miles underground, the yin energy descended from "Taiyin" over thousands of years has settled here, and a layer of slippery water vapor has even formed on the ground. Chu Xiu knew that this was not water, but yin energy that had been condensed to the extreme and even liquefied.

"This is just a random place. Once I find those places where the yin energy settles, it is said that the settled yin energy can even condense into lakes."

"There is also a chance that [One Element Heavy Water] will be born in the center of the lake."

The yin energy condensed into liquid is valuable enough, but the primordial heavy water is priceless. It is a top-grade refining material that does not even need to be refined; simply throwing it out has immense power.

The information given to Chu Xiu by the domain spirits recorded eight holy lands and seventy-two blessed lands, all of which were places where yin energy descended.

The difference is that only the sunken area at the bottom of this furnace can become a sacred place, and the concentration of yin energy in the sacred place is something that the blessed land simply cannot compare to.

"Who knows how many powerful ghosts will be born in such a place."

"If I were to consume the resources of a holy land, my ghost army could probably double in size."

Chu Xiu opened the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, and under the Ghost King's divine power, a large amount of Yin energy was immediately absorbed, nourishing the ghosts inside.

Nourished by the almost endless Yin energy, even without devouring souls, Chu Xiu's ghost army would see a significant improvement simply by staying here for three to five years.

Of course, Chu Xiu would not be satisfied with this.

He unleashed his divine sense, guiding Garuda to explore into the distance.

On the vast, desolate land, there was no trace of any living creature, only swirling and drifting clouds of yin energy.

Ordinary heroic spirits, under such circumstances, would not be able to detect anything beyond a mile, and would likely find little to no results even after searching for over a month. However, Chu Xiu expanded his divine sense, taking in the entire terrain within a ten-mile radius.

Even so, it is still very difficult to fully explore the bottom of this furnace.

Fortunately, Chu Xiu didn't need to pay attention to this. He only needed to keep moving towards the lower terrain. The location of the holy land could be strange and varied, but the location with the densest Yin energy, which was the location of the Heroic Ghost King, was undoubtedly the deepest part of the entire furnace, which was also the center of the furnace.

Other explorers couldn't afford to offend the ruler of this world, but Chu Xiu had the strength. All his previous preparations were for the purpose of slaying the ruler's ghost!

The two left the rock face and headed towards the central area.

Suddenly, Chu Xiu's expression changed as he saw a five-meter-tall giant walking across the wilderness.

The surrounding yin energy surged towards it, and from a distance, it looked like a giant tornado.

“Even a random ghost is a King-level being!” Chu Xiu’s eyes lit up. He adjusted his direction and flew towards the giant. The giant sensed his approach and turned around, but before it could do anything, it was shattered by a sword aura.

[Slaying a creature grants +47 experience points]

[Item Obtained: 1179 Causality Points]

Chu Xiu raised his hand and put the giant's soul into his storage bag, then continued searching forward.

Unfortunately, his luck wasn't so good this time. He flew for three hours straight without encountering any living creatures.

The concentration of yin energy here is too high. Even ghosts cannot survive if their level is not high enough. Only powerful creatures can survive, and how could there be many of these creatures?

Chu Xiu wasn't anxious; he knew this was the norm for exploring the abyss.

But just then, he suddenly let out a soft "Eh," as if he had seen something strange, and a look of surprise appeared on his face.

"Senior, what's wrong?"

Jiang Miaoyin, who was standing nearby, noticed that Chu Xiu was acting strangely.

Chu Xiu did not reply, but instead injected a wisp of divine and demonic power into Garuda's body, which immediately increased its speed considerably. Before long, four black dots appeared at the edge of their vision.

It was a small team of three men and one woman, the four of them huddled around a lit candle, moving slowly forward in the eerie wind.

Upon seeing the four people, Jiang Miaoyin also showed a surprised expression: "It's them! What are they doing here?"

Chu Xiu recognized the four men; they were the same four members of the Heavenly Machinery Guild he had met once before!

Chu Xiu hadn't expected that the four of them would be so bold as to come to the bottom of the furnace. Although these four were all top-tier kings, and together they could even barely hold off heroic spirits, coming to the bottom of the furnace was tantamount to courting death.

Putting everything else aside, the yin energy here alone is enough to overwhelm these four people! Even if they had items to counteract the yin energy, they would probably die from its corrosive effects within two or three days!

After a moment's hesitation, Chu Xiu moved and appeared in front of the four people, only to find that their faces were deathly pale, clearly indicating that they were in extremely poor condition.

When they saw Chu Xiu, their eyes lit up, and they quickly stepped forward to bow: "Senior Qin! I never expected to meet you here!"

Chu Xiu didn't reply, but instead looked the four of them up and down, his brows furrowing more and more deeply.

Only after the four men gave him strange looks did Chu Xiu ask, "How did you end up here?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Lengqiang, the leader of the four, immediately said hatefully, "They're all those damned murderers!"

Then, he recounted in detail what had happened to the four of them.

It turned out that after parting ways with Chu Xiu that day, the four of them went to another city and were fortunate enough to learn about a blessed land.

However, a Heroic Spirit was also present when the information was being gathered.

Fortunately, the heroic spirit had a good relationship with the families behind the four, so it did not make things difficult for them. Instead, it offered to explore together. Although the four were unwilling to share their opportunity with others, the other party, being a heroic spirit, would certainly not give up easily. Moreover, the location of this blessed land was quite deep, so the four agreed to be on the safe side.

Afterwards, the five of them successfully arrived near the blessed land.

But to their surprise, they were attacked by a powerful heroic spirit. The spirit was no match for them and could only hurriedly lead the four of them to escape. After finally getting away, they encountered a murderer who had been lying in ambush and used his abnormal talent to kill the heroic spirit.

"Fortunately, the killer's target was only heroic spirits. The four of us escaped by sheer luck, but we were trapped deep inside the furnace. With those heroic spirits guarding it, we dared not continue exploring. We didn't even dare to return the way we came. We had to find another way out."

"But the yin energy here is dense and the terrain is complex. In addition, we have lost the protection of the heroic spirits. It is not that we can hardly move an inch, but we are moving very slowly. That is why we have been walking for so long but have not yet reached the upper level."

Their words elicited a strange expression from Jiang Miaoyin, who remained silent, only glancing at Chu Xiu.

The latter, however, remained calm and asked, "Where is that blessed land located? Could you please tell me?"

After saying that, Chen Lengqiang hesitated, while Shen Tianxie's face darkened and he said, "This is an opportunity we've worked hard for. Senior, do you really want to snatch it away? Isn't that a bit too domineering?"

Although he was the fourth son, the Shen family was a powerful family, only slightly weaker than the four major families. He himself was an extremely rare mechanic, so the guild named him after him. He had a smooth career and developed a proud and arrogant personality.

Previously, Chu Xiu had stolen their map, which had already displeased Shen Tianxie. He immediately reported the matter to his family. Now that the family knew about it, if Chu Xiu were to forcefully take action again, even if he was strong enough to kill all four of them in an instant, the Shen family would still investigate him.

This gave Shen Tianxie some confidence, and seeing that Chu Xiu still wanted to seize the opportunity, he couldn't help but speak up.

Chen Lengqiang pulled him behind him, clasped his hands and said, "The four of us only want to get out of danger. If you can protect us and help us reach the upper part of the furnace, we will naturally give you this opportunity. Otherwise, please forgive us for being unable to comply."

After saying that, the four of them huddled together, forming a defensive formation.

This time, however, Chu Xiu did not use force. He simply looked at the four of them again and nodded, saying, "Then let's do it this way. Give me your opportunities, and I'll send you out."

Chen Lengqiang was taken aback, seemingly not expecting Chu Xiu to agree so readily. After hesitating for a moment, he threw out an object and said, "This junior believes that senior is a person who keeps his promises. The location of that blessed land is recorded on this map."

"However, due to geological changes over the past two thousand years, our predecessors will have to put in a lot of effort to find it."

Chu Xiu nodded. The Furnace World is 30,000 miles deep, and the pressure inside the rock walls is incredibly high. The internal geological changes are very frequent, and after two thousand years, there will indeed be great changes.

However, even so, Chu Xiu's divine sense now encompassed a ten-mile radius. As long as one was determined to search, one could always find similarities and then compare them to find the location of the blessed land.

Chu Xiu was delighted to have acquired such a blessed land and turned to Jiang Miaoyin, saying, "Let's go."

Having said that, he was about to control Garuda to leave.

Jiang Miaoyin glanced at the four people, seemingly wanting to say something, but in the end she silently jumped onto Garuda.

This scene enraged all four of them. Chen Lengqiang roared, "How can you break your promise, senior?"

Chu Xiu said calmly, "Why should I say more to a dead man?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Lengqiang's expression darkened further. With a "whoosh," the silver light on his arm transformed into a spear: "Fine! Let's see what tricks you have up your sleeve that you dare to disregard my brothers!"

The other three also drew their weapons. Shen Tianxie said coldly, "Brother, I knew this person was up to no good. Let's settle this with our skills! All four of us have our clan's trump cards. It's hard to say who will emerge victorious!"

Looking at the four people glaring at him angrily, Chu Xiu shook his head and said, "It's not that I want to kill you, but that you are already dead."

"You don't even know you're dead?"

After he finished speaking, the room fell silent. All four of them stood there, stunned. Chen Lengqiang asked blankly, "What nonsense are you talking about?"

Chu Xiu sighed, reached out and grabbed. The move was so fast that Chen Lengqiang had no time to react before his chest was torn open and his heart was pulled out by Chu Xiu.

However, he could not feel any pain. Looking down, he saw that the heart in Chu Xiu's hand was gray and stiff, with no sign of life.
(End of this chapter)