Stepping on the demon door, the witch becomes the strongest

Chapter 560: The Valkyrie's Testament
Lin Ning and Xie Ruoxi passed through the woods and came to a valley.

I saw a blue fire floating in the air in the valley, and many ragged figures gathered in a circle, whispering to each other, and sighs could be heard from time to time.

Xie Ruoxi immediately became nervous and asked Lin Ning via voice transmission:

"Kill?"

"Wait a minute." Lin Ning said, "They look like they can communicate."

"Being able to communicate doesn't necessarily mean they're good people." Xie Ruoxi said firmly, "Look at how tattered they are, they must be bad people."

"Ruoxi," Lin Ning said earnestly, "Just because someone looks ugly doesn't mean they're necessarily a bad person. Anyway, you stay here first. Let me go over and try it out first."

She walked towards the center of the valley, and Xie Ruoxi, without saying a word, first inserted the Tianyuan Sword in front of her as a shield, then simultaneously grasped the lightning with both hands, ready to launch:

"Excuse me..." Lin Ning had just walked out when she saw those ragged figures quickly turn around, horrified:

"Who?"

"She carries a sword!"

"It's the Ghost Mother's paper sword soldier!"

Without a word, everyone quickly cast various spells to attack. Some blew up a dark wind, some shot out black light, some sprayed poisonous water, and some simply pounced on the ground, transforming into a huge black dog and rushing towards Lin Ning.

Lin Ning didn't expect that just by carrying a flying sword, she would directly provoke the hatred of these people. She quickly retreated using the magic of speed and quickly made a sword gesture with her right hand.

The Green Bamboo Sword flew out from the sword case and slashed in the air, instantly slashing out three sword energies, which suddenly attacked and killed the one blowing the dark wind and spraying the poisonous water. Only the one emitting the black light reacted faster, quickly stopped casting the spell, rolled on the ground, and escaped the disaster in a miserable way.

The ghostly black dog continued to charge, its body swelling until it reached the chest of a grown man. If it had tackled him, he would have been unable to escape. Fortunately, Lin Ning reacted quickly. He quickly executed a sword technique with his left hand and drew out the Danyan Sword. He used the White Crane Spreads Wings move to cut the vicious dog, but it opened its mouth and bit him, then tilted its head and flung him four or five meters away.

Before Lin Ning could revert to her Green Bamboo Sword for defense, a flash of lightning shot out from behind. The vicious dog opened its mouth to bite again, but was instantly blown to pieces, leaving no trace of its body.

Yu Shu Lei is good at defeating evil spirits, is it just a name?

In a flash, the enemies were slain one after another, leaving only the guy who had been rolling around earlier to escape. Seeing that he was the only one left alive, he quickly knelt on the ground and shouted:
"Mighty One, spare my life..."

Before he finished speaking, another bolt of lightning flew out and smashed his body into pieces.

Lin Ning was startled at first, then said in frustration:

"Ruoxi, you acted too quickly! You could have spared his life and found out more about the situation!"

Xie Ruoxi was also speechless, and after a while she said:

"I always use two hands to set off grenades, so I don't have time to check whether I hit the target... And why is my aim so good this time?"

"Forget it." Lin Ning was not the kind of person who liked to dwell on wrong questions after the test, so she could only go over to check the scene.

If someone is hit by Xie Ruoxi's Jade Pivot Thunder, even if it just grazes the arm or hits the head, the damage will quickly spread throughout the body, and the person will eventually explode and die. There will be no such thing as disability.

As for the two corpses that were struck by Lin Ning's sword energy, after scanning them with spiritual sense for a moment, it was discovered that they were not entities, but ghosts - similar to the five ghosts driven by Ling Yun.

Then there were the things they shouted about "Ghost Mother" and "Paper Sword Soldiers". Although it was very worrying, there were no survivors now, so there was naturally no way to inquire further.

"Very good." Lin Ning sighed and said, "We killed four enemies, but we still know nothing about this secret realm, let alone where the captain and the others went."

"At least we know that the enemies here are mainly ghosts." Xie Ruoxi said awkwardly.

"You knew that from the moment you entered the secret realm!" Lin Ning shouted.

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As Yan Yu and Li Minghu left the East District, the number of paper figures behind them dwindled. Instead, they were replaced by many black-clad evil spirits on the roadside. Their faces were hideous and ferocious. When they saw the two, they didn't speak, but simply stared at them sinisterly.

"Some ghosts are following us. I guess they will attack us when their numbers become large enough." Li Minghu reminded through voice transmission.

"See if I can get rid of it." Yan Yu replied.

"We're still heading northwest," Li Minghu said. "Now it's best to turn southwest... cough, cough cough cough!"

She suddenly started coughing violently.

"Are you okay?" Yan Yu asked.

"It's okay." Li Minghu spat on the ground, with many bloodstains visible in his saliva. "I can still hold on."

"Don't force yourself." Yan Yu said, "The erosion of Yin Qi is troublesome... I'll carry you, hurry up."

"Okay." Li Minghu didn't hesitate and quickly put his arms around his neck.

Yan Yu lifted her up and felt that the Valkyrie's body was unusually light, probably less than 50 kilograms. Fortunately, the plump and soft touch was not compromised too much.

He performed the Fenyun Bagua Step, and his speed suddenly exploded. He quickly stepped onto the house next to him and ran towards the southwest.

The black-clad demons below immediately rushed towards him along the street like a pot of boiling water. Yan Yu was leaping across the rooftop when he suddenly heard Li Minghu shout:

"careful!"

Yan Yu quickly tilted his head in mid-air, spun around in an instant, and stomped his feet, his body suddenly sinking downwards. Countless black air currents swept over him, bringing with them an extremely low whistling sound.

Innuendo.

He had seen this move before in his past life: he remembered a certain folk cultivator using a spirit-calling banner to tame a demonic creature, known as "蜮," with strength comparable to that of a Transformation Palace. It was dark in appearance, its features barely visible, and it could fire black wind and sand at bullet-like speed. Any contact with it would cause complete necrosis, and even a mere scrape of skin would render it incurable, rendering it hopeless.

At this time, behind Yan Yu and Li Minghu were at least seven or eight toads. They spread their arms with wide sleeves and glided through the air like hawks, continuously shooting out dense black sand vortexes.

Being besieged by seven or eight Huafu-level ghosts at the same time, even though Yan Yu was very good at leaping and moving with the Fenyun Bagua Step, he had to use all his strength at this time. He kept moving left and right, up and down, and changed direction immediately after each step, dodging all the countless tail attacks that locked onto his back, and almost every time he was caught in the critical moment.

Such exquisite and graceful movements do look beautiful like flowing water, but if it were seen from his first-person perspective, he would be driven to vomit by the constantly changing high-frequency acceleration.

Li Minghu had long been paying attention to Yan Yu's "lightning body movement" and had practiced it specifically to improve her mobility. However, her method of "accelerating in the air and stopping suddenly in the clouds" was undoubtedly defeated by Yan Yu's Fenyun Bagua footwork - because the frequency and rhythm of his changes of direction were simply too fast!
The Valkyrie even had a strong feeling of dizziness. She gritted her teeth to hold back the nausea in her stomach and simply closed her eyes completely, not looking at the surrounding scene that was changing so rapidly that it was disgusting. She just focused on feeling Yan Yu's movement.

She quickly sensed that Yan Yu was dodging more to the left than jumping up, sinking, and moving to the right, and the sound of the attack from behind was also biased towards the right.

Silently calculating the relative positions of both parties, Li Minghu suddenly clamped Yan Yu's waist with his legs to stabilize his body. He took the opportunity to free his hands and made a sword move!

Unable to see clearly with his eyes and unable to lock his spiritual consciousness, he relied entirely on calculations in his mind, and the Sky Flash Sword shot out in a specific direction!
The first sword shot missed and quickly flew back to the sword master. Li Minghu was not discouraged and shot the second sword again, a white rainbow piercing the sun!
Hit! The heavy force from the sword made her realize that her Sky Flash Sword had most likely intercepted the opponent's Black Wind Sand Scroll. She immediately recalled it to her side again, and based on this hit, she further corrected the estimated position in her mind.

The third sword, out!
A ghost flying lower was unable to dodge and was pierced through by the Sky-Shan Sword, and immediately fell down.

"No way!" Yan Yu finally exclaimed, "You can hit this?"

"It's just good luck, cough cough." Li Minghu coughed a few times and said with difficulty, "These ghosts... have no intelligence and can't hide."

"That's pretty impressive too." Yan Yu expressed his complete admiration.

He was well aware of how exaggerated the Fenyun Bagua Step was when fully deployed. Honestly, no matter who was on his back, he would be victorious if he could avoid vomiting.

Before, Xie Ruoxi had also served as a mobile artillery turret on his back, but she did it with her eyes closed and moved forward, and Yan Yu had to aim all by himself. This was naturally very different from Li Minghu's ability to shoot from behind and penetrate the enemy from a distance.

You're worthy of being called a Valkyrie! In my past life, I was even better than you in the fighting style you devised, and in this life, you've been able to quickly adapt to my style. We're a perfect match made in heaven!
Yan Yu was thinking this in his heart when he suddenly heard someone shouting:
"Come here quickly!"

He quickly swept his spiritual sense and leaped into the courtyard in front and jumped into a dry well.

The ghosts arrived soon after, but their vision was blocked by the courtyard wall and they did not see the two people fall into the well, so they patrolled and searched nearby.

When Yan Yu fell into the well, he found that the person who had reminded him before was a ragged little girl.

"Are you okay?" the little girl asked Yan Yu.

"It's okay, thanks for the reminder." Yan Yu turned his head and looked around.

Below the bottom of the well is a space washed out by groundwater. It looks extremely vast, and there are obvious upstream and downstream river channels.

On both sides of the river, there are many civilian ghosts sitting, some wearing ancient loose cloth, some wearing modern shirts and T-shirts, some are middle-aged people, and some are old men.

Okay, this explains why there was no one on the streets when we first entered the town.

They're all hiding here!
Yan Yu pondered for a while, then heard Li Minghu say:
"With so many people taking refuge here, there must be an organizer. Find him and ask him about the situation in the Nine Netherworld Palace."

"That's what I thought." Yan Yu said immediately.

What is tacit understanding? This is tacit understanding! The Valkyrie is as meticulous as a hair, and the mind is like a certain Yan!
"Little friend," Yan Yu asked the little girl's soul beside him, "Who is in charge of things here?"

The little girl blinked, then turned and led the way.

The deeper you go into the river, the worse the lighting becomes and the heavier the yin energy becomes. However, for ghosts, unlike mortals, these uncomfortable shortcomings become advantages, so dim places are mostly for the elderly.

In the deepest corner, the two met the leader of these civilian ghosts - an old man dressed in ancient clothes.

"Are you monks from outside?" asked the old man.

"Are there local cultivators here?" Yan Yu asked in surprise.

"Of course," the old man said, "The Nine Netherworld is the borderland between yin and yang. Any cultivator who has lost their physical body for various reasons and wishes to embark on the path of ghost cultivation will consider residing in the Nine Netherworld to avoid being burned by the sun's true fire. Some cultivators who manipulate ghosts even raise their ghosts here to absorb the yin energy of this place."

"So you are also a ghost cultivator." Yan Yu said.

The old man just smiled and did not answer the question, then said:

"During the era of Dharma extinction, this place was isolated from the outside world, and no outsiders have come in for a long time."

"There was a ghost cultivator named 'Xue Ren', skilled in the art of controlling ghosts. He called himself the 'Nine Nether Ghost King' and commanded countless vicious spirits and evil ghosts, making him a tyrant in this world. He once married another ghost cultivator named 'Yin Rou'. It is said that she was originally from the Emei Sword Sect, but later defected and had her body severed by pursuers, falling into the ghost world. This woman is skilled in the art of controlling swords and paper figurines. She called herself the 'Ghost Mother of the Nether Sword' and her strength was comparable to Xue Ren's."

"These two were originally husband and wife, but later developed a rift for some reason, turning into enemies. Each of them wishes to kill the other in order to dominate this Nine Netherworld. Xue Ren resides in the north, and Yin Rou resides in the east. They often send their soldiers to fight each other, or come to sweep and capture wandering souls like us to expand their power."

"We have no choice but to hide underground and wait for the Ghost King and Ghost Mother to decide the outcome before making any plans."

The old man described the situation of the Nine Netherworld in just a few words.

To the north lay the territory of Ghost King Xue Ren, and to the east lay the territory of Ghost Mother Yin Rou. These two great factions attacked each other, and those third parties unwilling to join either, whether they were ghost cultivators or mortal souls, could only hide underground to the west of the town, struggling to survive.

"How strong are the Ghost King and Ghost Mother?" Yan Yu asked again.

"Neither of them has formed a ghost pill yet." The old man replied, "Otherwise, the winner would have been decided long ago."

Ghost cultivators can also form elixirs, but without a physical body, it is extremely difficult to do so. Even if they succeed, it will definitely be of a low grade. There are few Yang Gods, and all are Yin scum.

These two bosses have not yet formed ghost pills, and have been practicing in the Nine Netherworld Palace for so many years, so it is likely that they have reached the great perfection of the Palace Transformation Stage.

"May I ask, sir?" Yan Yu continued, "Does this Nine Netherworld Palace have a central authority?"

"Of course there is," the old man said. "There used to be a judge's mansion in the north of the town. It was the residence of the Yin spirit who was in charge of the Nine Netherworld. There was a small bell in the mansion. When it was rung, the underworld would open up and one could return to the world. Now I'm afraid it's in Xue Ren's hands."

"I understand, thank you for letting me know." Yan Yu said.

He turned around and wanted to leave, but he heard the old man say behind him:
"If it's impossible, there's no need to force it. The Ghost King and Ghost Mother regard each other as mortal enemies. Who knows, one day they might end up in a fight to the point of mutual destruction. We still have a chance."

In response, Yan Yu just smiled and said nothing.

When he came outside, he saw Li Minghu chatting with the ghost of the little girl.

"This child is a modern person. Her parents are working away from home and weren't in the village when the incident happened." The Valkyrie sent a voice message and sighed, "As a result, the daughter was dragged into this place, her body corroded and necrotized by the Yin Qi, and she became a ghost... I wonder how sad her parents must be."

"There are some things that there really is no way to fix." Yan Yu also comforted her.

"Once we control the core of the secret realm, they can leave here and reincarnate in the underworld." Li Minghu continued, "I plan to let them say some last words and give them to their relatives after they get out."

"Okay, but do you have a pen and paper?"

"I can write it down on my phone." Li Minghu took out his phone, turned on the screen, and forced a smile. "It's okay, it still works here."

She clicked on her memo and swiped her fingers quickly. But Yan Yu's sharp eyes quickly noticed the names of the documents that had just been crossed out at the top of her memo: "Written to A Jiang," "Written to Dad," and "Written to Mom."

Was this the Valkyrie's own suicide note? If she had died on the battlefield that day, and her phone had been given to her family as a legacy, would they have been able to read it?

Yan Yu felt a little bit sorry for her, but when he thought about the fact that there was no letter "written to Yan Yu", he suddenly felt sad.

There is still a long way to go.

(End of this chapter)