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

Chapter 358 Reversing Yin and Yang Technique
The mountain was majestic and extraordinary, unlike anything that should exist in the human world. It resembled a fairy mountain from a myth, and was incredibly high, reaching straight into the clouds. Even with Chu Xiu's eyesight, he could not see the end of it.

Only the distant sky could be vaguely seen, as if there was a huge, dark vortex, and the mountain seemed to lead all the way into the vortex.

This gave him a sense of disbelief. He hadn't even noticed when this enormous thing had appeared. The mountain stood silently in the distance, as if it had existed since time immemorial, a mountain whose movement could not be moved even an inch by the power of heaven and earth.

What's even stranger is that the monkey appeared in the distance as soon as he and the monkey started talking about the mountain.

Chu Xiu and Jiang Miaoyin looked solemn, while the ape's eyes shone with wild joy: "Fellow Daoist! This is the Holy Mountain, and the Nether City is at its foot. Let's go quickly!"

Chu Xiu hesitated for a moment and asked, "If we arrive late, will the sacred mountain disappear?"

The ape-like ghost gave him a strange look: "What are you saying, fellow Daoist? The Holy Mountain doesn't have legs, how could it have run away for no reason?"

He ignored Chu Xiu after speaking and hurriedly led the giant and the bronze bull toward the distant mountains.

The monkey ghost's words left Chu Xiu even more confused. If the Holy Mountain were to disappear, that would be understandable, as it would probably be due to some kind of extremely mysterious spatial magic that would allow him to move such a large mountain without noticing. But if it wasn't a spatial magic, how did the mountain appear?
Or is this ghost also ignorant and just spouting nonsense?

A thousand thoughts flashed through Chu Xiu's mind, but his feet did not slow down. He drove Garuda toward the distant mountains.

For now, the only option is to go and see that secluded city.

Chu Xiu hung behind the ape-like ghost, and before long, a magnificent city nestled at the foot of the mountain appeared before him.

Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that this towering mountain range, resembling a colossal wall reaching to the heavens, had a passageway split in the middle, as if a gap had been carved out by a giant axe that split the heavens and the earth.

At the deepest part of the gap, countless wisps of dark mist descended like a waterfall from the sky.

Along the waterfall, there are city walls built from the inside out, which is where Youcheng is located.

As the group approached, they discovered that there were many ghosts sitting cross-legged outside the city wall, meditating. There were at least tens of thousands of them, most of them were of the fierce and general ranks. However, they did not appear to be as dazed as the ghost-driving giant and the bronze bull. Instead, they all seemed to have gained sentience.

There was one place where the most ghosts were gathered, but it was a huge stone tablet.

The ape-like ghost's eyes lit up, and it exclaimed with delight, "It's the Immortal Inheritance Stele!"

It turned to Chu Xiu and clasped its hands in greeting: "Fellow Daoist, I will go and study the Immortal Stele first. We will meet again in the future if fate allows."

After saying that, he hurriedly ran to the big rock and examined it carefully.

Although the demon-exorcising giant and the bronze bull were not yet sentient, they seemed to be attracted by some mysterious force and sat down in front of the large rock.

Chu Xiu and Jiang Miaoyin also stepped forward. The latter examined it carefully for a long time and whispered, "There isn't a single word on this big rock. Senior, can you figure it out?"

She stopped abruptly halfway through her sentence, surprised to find Chu Xiu standing motionless beside her, seemingly mesmerized.

Jiang Miaoyin didn't dare to disturb him, and just waited quietly to the side. After more than two hours, Chu Xiu finally withdrew his gaze.

"Senior, how was it?" Jiang Miaoyin asked expectantly.

“There is indeed something strange about this,” Chu Xiu said.

Just now, as he focused his gaze on the large rock, he felt as if his mind was being drawn into the rock by an invisible force, instantly entering a mysterious state where many thoughts arose within him.

Each of these thoughts is an inspiration that one cannot obtain in daily life. One of the biggest drawbacks of cultivating with causal points is that although those skills and supernatural powers are actually cultivated by your own body and can be used without any hindrance, the process has been skipped, and the understanding is greatly reduced.

Just like learning a sword technique, the process of practicing is far more than just mastering the sword moves; it also allows one to gradually comprehend the way of the sword and the ultimate principles of martial arts.

Those sword masters are versatile; they can discern the essence of even spear and knife techniques, and may even create their own sword techniques. While they may not necessarily be more refined than their predecessors, they certainly possess their own unique strengths.

However, if you cultivate using causal points, it's like learning skills in a game. You can use the moves skillfully, but if you want to apply them to other situations and have your own ideas, that's just wishful thinking.

The thoughts that just came to mind seem to be the countless inspirations that naturally arise during this practice!
Strangely, after two hours of observation, Chu Xiu could only let those thoughts wander through his mind, yet he couldn't grasp any of them.

After trying it out, he stopped worrying about it, since it didn't really have much impact on Chu Xiu.

He wasn't practicing martial arts, but rather supernatural powers and immortal techniques. Once he mastered them, that was that. They were enough for him in battle. Why did he need so much comprehension? He wasn't so presumptuous as to attempt to create his own skills.

Of course, absorbing all those inspirations would definitely benefit him, but Chu Xiu wasn't in the mood to study them right now.

"Let's go into town and take a look."

With that, he strode toward the city gate.

The city gate was a hundred meters high, made entirely of an unknown refined iron, and gleamed with a chilling light. It was truly imposing. Inside the gate, a spiritual energy barrier could be vaguely seen. Two ghostly creatures guarded the entrance, both of whom were generals.

Upon seeing Chu Xiu and Jiang Miaoyin approaching, one of the ghosts said, "The entrance fee is two taels of Yin Stones per year. How long do you two wish to stay in the city?"

Chu Xiu asked, "What is this Yin Stone?"

The ghost sized him up and said, "So you are a 'newborn.' You have already awakened your intelligence so soon after your birth. You must have been an extraordinary person in your past life. Your future achievements are limitless."

Chu Xiu was surprised to hear the ghost praising him. Ghosts were ferocious. Not to mention the Ghost King, even the weakest Yin Ghost under his command dared to devour its master when it was first created. They were bloodthirsty and brutal, and killing and eating their own kind was commonplace. The Ten Thousand Ghosts Raising Gu Method took advantage of this.

But the ghosts he encountered along the way were all very polite, which was rather strange.

Jiang Miaoyin was the same; she had probably never seen such a polite ghost before.

Chu Xiu cupped his hands in greeting: "Fellow Daoist, you flatter me."

The ghost raised its hand in return and then continued, "Yin energy transforms into water and then into stone. So-called Yin stone is formed by the accumulation of Yin energy. If you do not have Yin stone, Yin water or other things containing Yin energy will also work."

Chu Xiu thought for a moment, then flipped his wrist, and a withered weed appeared in his hand.

The ghost took it and ran into the city, seemingly to consult someone. After a few breaths, it floated back and said, "A three-hundred-year-old gray stone grass can stay in the city for one hundred and seventeen days."

Upon hearing this, Chu Xiu was surprised again.

He had previously explored this world of the Hundred Ghosts Furnace, and in addition to slaying ghosts, he had also collected a lot of rare and precious materials.

Although most of them were converted into Huaxia currency to build civilization, some were left behind that were not easy to sell.

This gray stone grass would be worth at least 50 million Chinese yuan outside, is it only enough to stay in this city for a little over 100 days?

However, upon closer examination, the Yin energy at the bottom of this Hundred Ghosts Furnace has been accumulating for millions of years, making it many times denser than the outside world, and naturally containing countless extraordinary items.

Thinking of this, Chu Xiu felt a surge of excitement, but then he realized that if he couldn't escape, what good would all the treasures do? He immediately shook his head and said to the ghost, "I'll stay for seventeen days." The ghost soldier at the door took a token, sent a beam of spiritual light into it, and then handed it back to Chu Xiu, saying, "With this token, you can enter the city. Fellow Daoist, you can go and take a look at the 'Immortal Palace' first."

Chu Xiu accepted the thanks and stepped inside. The spiritual energy barrier there absorbed him like a mother accepting her child.

Suddenly, a wide street came into view, with stalls lining both sides, each with a ghostly creature of various shapes sitting in front of it.

These ghosts didn't shout or call out; they just sat there, cultivating their inner energy, as if they didn't care at all whether their goods could be sold.

At the end of the street, there was another new city wall, and wisps of dark, unidentified gas were drifting down from above it.

Chu Xiu carefully sensed it and discovered that the strange gas was a mysterious power he had never seen before. After sensing it for a while, he suddenly realized what it meant.

If he was not mistaken, that eerie black aura was the force that eroded their bodies, bringing them back to life.

However, outside the city, the black aura was too thin and mixed with the yin energy, so Chu Xiu couldn't sense it. But once inside the city, the concentration increased by more than a hundred times.
Jiang Miaoyin's expression changed, and the energy within her body surged around her, forming an isolation shield that blocked the black energy.

Even so, wisps of black energy still managed to intrude, but Chu Xiu waved his hand, forming a barrier with demonic energy to completely block it.

Jiang Miaoyin breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank you, senior."

Chu Xiu did not reply, but carefully observed his surroundings. He was somewhat shocked to discover that the ghosts in the city were actually absorbing the black energy to cultivate!
Surprisingly, the black mist seemed to have no effect on these ghosts. They absorbed it into their bodies and, with the help of a strange technique, rapidly condensed their own souls.

"So this black mist has such an effect. No wonder the entrance fee to the city is so high."

Chu Xiu thought to himself as he continued walking forward, glancing casually at the stalls on both sides. To his surprise, he was shocked to discover that every single item on the roadside was an extremely rare and precious spiritual object, something that could only be born in places with extremely dense Yin energy!
"Just as I expected, this place is full of rare and precious natural treasures!"

"And this seems to be just the outermost layer."

Furthermore, these ghosts are not of high rank; the highest rank is King, and not even the special King rank of super-large ghosts, but just ordinary King rank, with most of them being General rank.

Thinking of this, Chu Xiu's heart burned even hotter. With his strength, slaughtering an entire city would be nothing more than a thought away.

Jiang Miaoyin's eyes also flickered.

However, both of them suppressed the idea, as finding a way out was the priority.

The two continued walking forward and discovered that there weren't many tall buildings or pagodas in the city. There were only a few scattered houses for people to live in. Ghosts of different races and ranks mostly sat on the ground, living together peacefully without arguing. This amazed them more and more as they looked at it.

Further on, one sees vast fields of cultivated spiritual herbs and beasts, but has no idea where to find the celestial palace.

Chu Xiu thought for a moment and asked a ghost. He originally planned to offer some items as a reward, but the ghost was very friendly and gave him directions before Chu Xiu could even make a promise.

After walking for a while, they finally saw a tall building. It was a pagoda a hundred meters high, standing alone in an open space. A tall ghost from the Ghost Exorcist Clan stood at the entrance. Its aura was extraordinary. Although it had not reached the level of a Heroic Spirit, it was several times more refined than that of an ordinary King.

Chu Xiu stepped forward, clasped his hands in greeting, and asked, "Is this a celestial palace?"

For some reason, after arriving in this strange city, Chu Xiu inexplicably felt that he had become much calmer and more polite in his words.

The giant returned the greeting with clasped hands and asked, "Are you a fellow Daoist from the 'New Life'?"

Chu Xiu nodded.

The giant chuckled and said, "Fellow Daoist, your body is already so refined even in your new life, you must have been an extraordinary person in your past life."

He then looked at Jiang Miaoyin and said, "This fellow Daoist is also extraordinary."

These words were exactly the same as those of the city gate guards.

After saying this, the giant took out a small lamp from his waist and said, "This is called the 'Homecoming Lamp.' Light this lamp, close your eyes, take a hundred steps back, open your eyes, and turn around to return to Youcheng."

He then pointed behind him: "Within the Immortal Palace, you can post tasks, exchange items, redeem Yin Stones, purchase equipment, and make friends with fellow cultivators. There are instructions within the building."

Then, pointing to the city wall, he said, "The Nether City is divided into nine levels. The number of Yin Stones required to enter each level increases. Once you enter the innermost level, you can climb the Holy Mountain. Once you reach the top, you can enter the Penglai Wonderland."

This giant clearly did this kind of introduction often, explaining the necessary information in just a few words.

Chu Xiu pondered for a moment, then asked, "On my way here, I saw everyone using the black energy within the city to cultivate, but I don't know what that black energy is, what kind of cultivation techniques they practice, or how they can completely leave this place?"

After he finished speaking, the giant was slightly taken aback and said in surprise, "You haven't heard the voice of inheritance? How strange."

However, it seemed to be simple-minded and did not suspect anything, saying, "That black energy is 'chaotic death energy'. By observing the inheritance immortal stele, one can comprehend the 'reverse yin and reverse yang technique' within ten years at most. Its effect is to transform 'death energy' into 'life energy'."

"Fellow Daoist must have been too impatient, entering the city before carefully examining the Inheritance Immortal Stele."

"As for how to leave this place, if you mean Youcheng, then after leaving the city and walking for a while, you will be randomly teleported to another space. But if you mean leaving this Hundred Ghosts Furnace, then the only way is to climb the Holy Mountain and enter the Immortal Realm. There has never been an exception in thousands of years."

"Although entering the Immortal Realm is something everyone pursues, I advise you not to continue forward. With each layer of the city wall you pass, the concentration of 'chaotic death energy' will increase dramatically. When you reach the foot of the Holy Mountain, it's like a waterfall of 'death energy' rushing down. Without cultivating the 'Reversing Yin and Yang Technique' to a certain level, it's impossible to even get close, let alone enter the Penglai Immortal Realm."

"Fellow Daoists, you should return first and observe the Inheritance Immortal Stele."

The giant's words made Chu Xiu frown slightly. He hadn't gleaned any cultivation techniques from that strange boulder; he only felt countless thoughts popping into his mind, and he couldn't discern any mystery from Jiang Miaoyin either.

Suddenly, a thought struck him: Could it be that only the dead can comprehend this technique?

Chu Xiu naturally had no interest in this technique, but according to the giant, the only way out was to climb the sacred mountain. Even Chu Xiu was not confident in resisting the terrifying death energy that poured down like a waterfall.

On the other side, seeing Chu Xiu's solemn expression, the giant suddenly slapped his forehead and said, "I understand. Did you two use up all your Yin items when you left the city, which is why you are unwilling to leave now?"

Without waiting for Chu Xiu's reply, the giant chuckled and took out a few stones, saying, "These few Yin stones weigh about two ounces. Fellow Daoist, please take them and use them first."

Chu Xiu stared at the crystal-clear stone in the giant's hand and fell silent for a moment.

If you weren't like this, how could I possibly kill you?
After hesitating for a moment, Chu Xiu accepted it and cupped his hands, saying, "Thank you, fellow Daoist."

The giant waved his hand and said no, his face beaming with joy, as if he had obtained the Yin Stone for no reason.

Chu Xiu walked back for a while, and after he could no longer see the giant in the distance, he circled around again and headed towards the inner city.

He planned to go to the Holy Mountain first to see if he could withstand the eerie death aura. He had to try first.

As for Jiang Miaoyin, unable to withstand the deathly aura and unwilling to be a burden to Chu Xiu, she left the city first, wanting to find out the function of the Inheritance Immortal Stele for him.

(End of this chapter)