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

Chapter 359 Mountaineering
"Fellow Daoist, are you aiming for the Eighth Ring? The entrance fee is five taels of Yin Stones per year."

The guards at the city gate first bowed and then spoke to Chu Xiu.

Chu Xiu sized up the two of them. Their auras were much stronger than those of the outermost guards, but far weaker than that of the person from the Immortal Palace.

After pondering for a moment, Chu Xiu asked, "What is the minimum time limit for entering the city? Is it one day?"

The guard paused, scrutinized Chu Xiu carefully, and seemed to understand something before asking, "Fellow Daoist, are you going to climb the Holy Mountain?"

"I just wanted to get a closer look," Chu Xiu said.

The guard bowed again: "I didn't know you were such a senior expert. My apologies. If you wish to see, I can send someone to escort you there. As long as you can withstand the onslaught of death energy, there is no need for an entrance fee."

These words startled Chu Xiu, who finally clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Then I'll have to trouble you, fellow Daoist."

But in his heart he wondered if the people here were a little too kind? No, he should say that the people here were devils.

He had many thoughts on his mind. After thinking it over, he felt that even if the other party wanted to harm him, he was capable of protecting himself. So he calmly followed the ghost soldier across the city gate.

After passing the city wall, he seemed to have merged into another world, and the concentration of death energy, as he had expected, suddenly rose to a new level.

Chu Xiu remained expressionless, his internal magical power flowing freely, thus dissolving the corrosive influence of the death aura upon him.

The ghost soldier glanced at Chu Xiu and said admiringly, "Senior's cultivation is profound, I admire you."

He led Chu Xiu deeper into the city. After entering the eighth ring, there were even fewer people in the city. Occasionally, there were penned-up animals raised with spirit herbs, all of which were of high quality. Chu Xiu was secretly shocked by what he saw.

Upon reaching the city gate of the Seventh Ring, after the ghost soldiers handed over their duties, Chu Xiu was led by the ghost soldiers of the Seventh Ring to continue deeper into the city.

The deeper one goes, the higher the concentration of death energy becomes. By the time Chu Xiu reached the inner ring, he had to use demonic energy to isolate it. The soldiers responsible for guarding the city also had soul bodies that were much higher than those in the outer ring, and they were wearing armor made of an unknown material.

By the time they reached the Third Ring Road, no buildings or spiritual plants or beasts could be seen. The world was shrouded in a hazy mist, like nuclear dust drifting after a nuclear war. By the time they reached the Second Ring Road, the dust had formed a black storm.

No soldiers dared to approach the Second Ring Road; once they arrived, only the people from the [Immortal Palace] remained.

Beside Chu Xiu was a six-meter-tall ghost of the Exorcist Clan. It was still a King-level being, but the energy intensity of its soul body was more than ten times that of an ordinary King-level being, and it was already infinitely close to a Heroic Spirit.

By cultivating the Reverse Yin-Yang Technique by transforming death energy, they can reach a power level far exceeding that of ordinary King-level beings.

Even such a powerful ghost was wrapped in heavy armor, and a large black umbrella hung above its head, seemingly some kind of prop to resist death energy, which allowed it to move around in the second ring.

Chu Xiu also broke out in a sweat, feeling the strain; the chaotic death energy was far more terrifying than he had imagined.

Finally, after passing through the last city wall, Chu Xiu saw the complete form of the sacred mountain. It was majestic and magnificent, piercing the sky. A waterfall as black as ink poured down from a height of 100,000 meters. The huge impact when it landed had created a violent storm. Just maintaining his position required a huge amount of magical power.

However, without relying on any props, he was much stronger than the people from the celestial palace beside him, and even the ghost showed an expression of admiration.

At this moment, Chu Xiu suddenly let out a soft "Eh," because he discovered that in the center of the deathly storm, there were three figures standing, and deeper inside, there seemed to be a blurry shadow rapidly climbing towards the mountaintop!
“Fellow Daoist, please wait a moment. There are fellow Daoists climbing the mountain right now,” said the ghost beside him.

Chu Xiu nodded and looked intently. In the center of this deathly storm, even though he had cultivated the Yama Scripture, he dared not easily unleash his divine sense and could only rely on his eyesight to look into the distance.

But then they saw that within the deathly waterfall cascading from the sky, there seemed to be a winding mountain path leading upwards.

"Why not climb to the summit from other directions?" Chu Xiu asked.

This path is built at a gap in the mountainside, precisely where the deathly aura is most intense.

"Fellow Daoist, you may not know this, but the space around the Holy Mountain is distorted. Only by climbing the [Ladder to Immortality] can one possibly reach the Penglai Immortal Realm," the ghost explained.

Chu Xiu narrowed his eyes and looked carefully. Sure enough, he discovered the clue. It turned out that the death energy surging out of Penglai Wonderland was originally spreading outwards, but after spreading out for a short time, it was affected by the distorted space and was forced downwards, which formed this magnificent waterfall like a pillar.

Chu Xiu was surprised, but he didn't ask any more questions. Instead, he focused on watching the figure climb.

It was a ghostly creature resembling a cheetah, clad in a metal armor. Four uniquely designed magical artifacts floated around it, emitting a faint blue aura that dissipated the surrounding deathly aura upon contact. Protected by this aura, the cheetah-like ghost leaped upwards with incredible agility, covering over ten thousand meters in the blink of an eye—about one-tenth of the distance.

"Fellow Daoist Shi, with your Azure Sun Umbrella, Immortal Lamp, and Bright Candle, you've certainly made ample preparations this time. I wonder how far you'll climb," the ghostly creature from the Immortal Palace exclaimed in admiration.

Chu Xiu was also curious. Although he couldn't use his divine sense, he could tell that the leopard was much stronger than the ghosts in the Immortal Palace beside him. It was a genuine Heroic Spirit. Of course, the rules here were different, and this ghost was probably still a King-level being. But its actual combat power was probably no less than that of an Asura with a very high rank. It could even hold its own against a real Heroic Spirit.

However, Chu Xiu soon frowned. This powerful creature, despite having so many protective items, slowed down significantly when it reached one-fifth of the way up. When it reached one-third of the way up, it could hardly move. The ghostly creature clung tightly to the rocks with its four claws, and its original ten-meter-long soul body condensed to only one meter before it could barely stabilize itself.

Chu Xiu could see clearly that the closer they got to the mountaintop, the higher the concentration of death energy became; there seemed to be an invisible pressure binding the ghost!
The celestial ghost beside him shook its head regretfully and said, "Fellow Daoist Graystone's soul body is refined, but unfortunately, his cultivation of the 'Reversing Yin and Yang Technique' is still shallow. If he wants to force his way through, it will be extremely difficult. I'm afraid even the Immortal Lords would find it hard to do."

Chu Xiu's heart skipped a beat: "This immortal lord is..."

The ghostly creature in the celestial palace paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "Any strong person who can enter Penglai Immortal Island can be given an 'Immortal Title'. Currently, there are a total of 10 people who have tried: 'One Emperor, Three Venerables, and Six Immortal Lords'."

"These ten seniors are all top-tier experts. Our Immortal Palace and even the entire Nether City operate under the governance of these ten seniors."

Chu Xiu nodded. Just then, the leopard ghost finally couldn't hold on any longer and was overturned by the huge wave of death energy. Its entire soul body shrank into a ball and rolled downwards in a sorry state.

The three guards below seemed to have anticipated this, and they stepped forward together to catch and protect the leopard.

The four whispered among themselves, seemingly trying to comfort the leopard-like ghost, before heading towards Chu Xiu's location.

Upon seeing Chu Xiu and his companion, they stopped in their tracks, cupped their hands, and said, "Greetings, fellow Daoist. You seem unfamiliar. Are you also here to climb the sacred mountain?"

Seeing everyone looking at him, Chu Xiu hesitated for a moment before asking the question he had been most eager to ask on this trip.

"That is indeed my intention, but I would like to ask you all: what exactly is this Penglai Wonderland? Is it possible to leave this world once one enters it?"

Chu Xiu's words surprised everyone. The giant, whose body seemed to be cast from red bronze, said, "The Penglai Immortal Realm, as the name suggests, is the place where immortals reside. It is said that the immortal energy there is abundant and full of vitality. It can be transformed into our cultivation without refining. It is a holy land that all cultivators dream of. Only in the Immortal Realm can the Reversal of Yin and Yang Technique be cultivated to its full potential and achieve an immortal body." "Of course, only the 'One Emperor, Three Venerables, and Six Immortal Lords' know what the Immortal Realm actually looks like."

Beside the giant, a short, winged ghost said, "When you say you're leaving this world, do you mean exploring the Three Thousand Worlds? Immortal Lord Qingxia once told me that once you enter Penglai Immortal Realm, you can travel freely to other small worlds. We were born in this world and have never thought about such things. I admire your lofty mind."

This person's soul body was not large, but it was extremely condensed, even stronger than the leopard ghost that climbed the sacred mountain. In terms of combat power, it was definitely a hero-level powerhouse.

Of course, their rank remains King-level, since these ghosts only possess such strength here; their power would be greatly diminished in the outside world. The leopard ghost also laughed, "Immortal Venerable Yunyang once brought back an ancient dragon corpse, so naturally it can travel to other worlds."

Hearing the ghosts speak, Chu Xiu breathed a sigh of relief and clasped his hands in a fist salute, saying, "In that case, I will dare to give it a try."

But as soon as he finished speaking, the three ghosts exclaimed in unison, "No!"

Chu Xiu cast a questioning look at the leopard ghost and said, "Climbing the Holy Mountain is no child's play. The Holy Mountain is extremely dangerous. Fellow Daoist, not only do you not have any magic treasures to protect you, but you don't even have a piece of Azure Sun Armor. Once you encounter the torrent of death energy, you may be in danger of losing your life."

After a pause, the leopard-like ghost swayed, its heavy armor suddenly falling off and transforming into a beam of light that hovered in front of it.

"If you don't mind, please use my armor first."

Chu Xiu was genuinely moved. Although the ghosts here were hideous and ugly, they were all kind-hearted.

After a moment's thought, he didn't stand on ceremony and took the Azure Sun Armor, examining it carefully. To his surprise, he discovered that it was actually a legendary King-rank equipment! This amazed him even more. Even though there were countless rare and precious materials here, the value of a legendary King-rank equipment must be extremely high. It was truly unbelievable that this ghost would just give it away like that.

Shaking his head, Chu Xiu pointed his finger, and instantly the Azure Sun Armor shone brightly, changing its shape to fit perfectly onto his body. Then, without further delay, Chu Xiu moved and rushed towards the summit of the Holy Mountain.

He didn't feel anything from the outside, but once he entered the winding mountain path, he realized how terrifying the deathly aura was. The deathly aura waterfall, which covered an unknown distance, crashed down in his face, truly like the Yellow River hanging upside down. Chu Xiu felt as if ten thousand tons of force were pressing down on his shoulders. The deathly aura was also omnipresent, like the most terrifying poisonous insect in the world, frantically gnawing at his deathly aura barrier.

Chu Xiu was taken aback, but he made up his mind to finish the battle quickly. His body transformed into a streak of light and rushed upwards at high speed.

At his speed, even if the sacred mountain was 100,000 meters high, it would only take him a few breaths to cover it. However, to his surprise, after only a few steps, he felt a sense of pressure coming from all directions. The faster he went, the stronger the pressure became, as if the whole world was rejecting him!

This pressure not only made his body feel heavy, but also disrupted the flow of spiritual energy within him. Even the demonic energy that had already condensed was trembling under the high pressure, as if it would decompose into pure spiritual energy at any moment!

"This sacred mountain is indeed somewhat strange."

After carefully sensing it, Chu Xiu already had a clear understanding of the situation.

If he wasn't mistaken, the more the ghosts climbing the mountain here needed to refine the corresponding magical artifacts, the deeper they cultivated the Reverse Yin and Yang Technique, and the more death energy they transformed, the less oppressive force the world exerted on them would be.

Otherwise, with their strength being so much weaker than Chu Xiu's, how could they possibly reach the top?
Knowing this, Chu Xiu stopped trying to climb higher.

He has only made it halfway up and has already used up a quarter of his magic power. The pressure on his body is getting greater and greater. If he continues to push upwards, he is confident that he will reach the top, but he will definitely suffer a great loss of energy.

Chu Xiu didn't want to rush in rashly, as he didn't know what the situation was like inside Penglai.

Thinking of this, he swayed, pretending to be unable to resist, and fell downwards.

The four ghosts below simultaneously unleashed their magical treasures to guide them.

At this moment, the four ghosts all had a look of deep shock on their faces. After protecting Chu Xiu, they clasped their fists together and said, "Fellow Daoist, your cultivation is profound. You were able to climb halfway up the mountain even without all your magic treasures. I'm afraid you will be able to reach the top in less than three hundred years."

Chu Xiu returned the greeting with a cupped hand.

The other ghosts also offered their congratulations, and the ghost from the Celestial Palace said, "I wonder what your plans are next, fellow ghost?"

Chu Xiu said, "I will forge a magical artifact and then go into seclusion to cultivate."

He wasn't just saying that to be polite. He had just discovered that although this deathly aura was special, it wasn't some extraordinary, otherworldly thing. The cultivation world was incredibly wondrous, with auras a thousand times more ferocious and dangerous than this deathly aura, and naturally, there were corresponding magical treasures for them.

He had already inherited the skill of crafting magical artifacts and possessed the talent for perfect crafting. He even spent a great deal of money to craft the superior-grade Ten Directions Netherfire Array and Four Symbols Yin-Yang Furnace, yet he had not yet begun crafting magical artifacts, which was a huge waste.

This is a good time to give it a try.

“That’s exactly right,” the other celestial ghost was pleased to hear Chu Xiu’s words. After thinking for a moment, it added, “However, high-grade magic artifacts require extremely rare materials. I wonder if you have any prepared?”

Chu Xiu shook his head, and the ghost from the Immortal Palace continued, "With your strength, fellow Daoist, I will surely be able to pass the assessment and become a 'Celestial Candidate' and enjoy the support of my Immortal Palace, once I inform the Immortal Lord. What do you think, fellow Daoist?"

Chu Xiu did not refuse, but simply said, "Then thank you very much, fellow Daoist."

If we could get help from the celestial palace, the climb would be much easier.

The decisive battle with Astrid is scheduled for six months later, and he doesn't have much time to waste here slowly collecting materials.

Moreover, he also intended to make contact with the local high-ranking figures to learn more about Penglai Wonderland.

The ghosts of the celestial palace gave him a token, instructing Chu Xiu to come to the celestial palace in the inner third ring ten days later, on which day a celestial lord would be returning to preach.

This token is a special token for the Celestial Palace. With this token, one can move freely in Youcheng without any hindrance and no longer need to worry about the city entrance fee.

Chu Xiu thanked them and accepted the gift. He then bid farewell to the ghosts and headed out of the city, intending to tell Jiang Miaoyin about the information he had obtained on this trip.

When he arrived outside the city, he saw Jiang Miaoyin standing in front of the Inheritance Immortal Stele, talking with four people.

Chu Xiu recognized the four men; they were from the Heavenly Machinery Guild. He hadn't expected them to come to Youcheng as well.

This puzzled Chu Xiu. He certainly wouldn't attribute it to a coincidence, but he wondered what conditions had to be met to be chosen by Youcheng.

On the other side, upon seeing Chu Xiu approach, the four members of the Heavenly Machinery Guild suddenly turned around and knelt down in front of him!
"Please, senior, save our lives!"

(End of this chapter)