Gentlemen, it's time to enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Chapter 332 Hungry Ghost
The world seemed to have withered, and everything in sight had become ruins.

Chen Ye and his group came to find the remnants of the Nirvana Sect, not to dig up graves.

Since there are so many monsters below, we should investigate them first. Perhaps these monsters are actually disciples of the Nirvana Sect in disguise?

Qu Heng also thought it made sense, but he didn't move. Instead, he waved his hand downwards.

Several red-banded snakes emerged from the ground, each biting a monster and binding it tightly before flying into the sky.

Qu Heng advised, "Why risk your life? It's better to be brought up than to go down yourself."

Chen Ye nodded; in times like these, his master was the most experienced.

Just as the red-banded snakes were about to fly into the air, they suddenly convulsed and then fell from the sky.

Qu Heng frowned and said, "This is bad. This thing is quite powerful. It even bit my Red-banded Snake to death."

The red-banded serpent has a tough bone armor that ordinary flying swords can hardly damage it.

But these red-banded snakes clearly injected venom into the monster's body first, yet the monster was unaffected and instead bit the snakes, tearing their skin and flesh, while struggling.

The red-banded snake fell along with the monster, immediately attracting the attention of the other monsters.

Chen Ye looked closely and finally got a clear look at the appearance of these monsters.

These monsters varied in size, some as large as elephants, others as small as dogs.

Without exception, they were all emaciated, with jagged joints protruding from their hunched backs, and bluish-gray skin clinging tightly to their bones, as if there were no flesh and blood between the skin and bones.

But their abdomens were strangely swollen, creating a morbid contrast with their thin limbs, and their bellies were covered with spiderweb-like purplish-black blood vessels.

Most horrifying of all was its gaping maw, splitting to the roots of its ears, with rotten green saliva dripping from between its jagged fangs. These fangs could pierce through the bony armor of the red-banded snake and easily tear flesh apart.

As soon as the red-banded serpent's corpse fell into the ruins, the stench of blood exploded like a signal, causing the surrounding monsters to turn their heads.

Suddenly, ghostly green flames ignited in the deep-set eye sockets of the monsters. Their hunched backs straightened like springs, and their jagged joints cracked and popped. The monsters charged wildly toward the corpse of the red-banded serpent, their previous slow, clumsy movements gone.

The fangs cut into the snake carcass like guillotines, and the putrid green saliva mixed with fresh blood to form a foul-smelling slime.

These monsters devoured the flesh and blood of the red-banded snakes, swallowing even the bones in the blink of an eye. But more monsters pounced from all directions. Unable to even snatch the bones, they set their sights on the bloodstains left on their own kind, tearing open their blood-stained flesh and swallowing it whole.

The monster's body seemed to have no blood, only an oily, slimy substance that stank rotten.

These monsters kill each other, just for the fresh taste of blood.

The sounds of flesh and bone being torn apart rose and fell. Every time a monster's mutilated body fell, more withered claws would vie to dig into its abdomen, even licking away the blood-stained clods of earth.

And whenever a monster eats until its belly is round and full, its already swollen belly will burst open, and a new monster will emerge from it.

Chen Ye frowned as he watched the monsters fight and devour each other until the bloodstains left by the red snakes completely disappeared. Then the monsters dispersed and returned to their previous slow, wriggling state.

Chen Ye and the other two were deeply shocked.

These monsters were truly terrifying, like ghosts crawling in hell, not allowing any life to exist in this place.

Chen Ye said to the two of them, "These...look like hungry ghosts..."

"Hungry ghosts?" Qu Heng pondered for a moment, then said, "That's a fitting description. Judging from their appearance, they are indeed tormented by hunger and have completely lost their minds. I'm afraid even their souls are twisted, making them impossible to communicate with or obtain any information from." Chen Ye, however, said, "It's not a description; it's something I read in ancient books. Those who committed sins in life become hungry ghosts after death, forever suffering from unbearable hunger and thirst. Perhaps the Nirvana Sect turned this blessed land into the realm of hungry ghosts."

Could it be that the monk Jinming of the Nirvana Sect used two magical treasures to buy himself a few months in order to turn this blessed land into a realm of hungry ghosts?
But what's the point of that?
Chen Ye had an urge to leave immediately.

Since this small world doesn't have the Six Paths of Reincarnation, Chen Ye thought about creating one himself.

But it's unclear whether this Hungry Ghost Realm was created by the Nirvana Sect or whether this blessed land was originally part of the Hungry Ghost Realm.

Chen Ye said to Qu Heng, "This place is not suitable for us to stay for long, Master. I'm afraid we won't find any living people from the Nirvana Sect here."

Qu Heng said, "Not necessarily. Although I said that monk Jinming was a good-for-nothing, he was still a Void Returning Realm cultivator. It's impossible for him to just die so quietly. Anyway, these hungry ghosts don't look like they can fly, so we can just circle around in the sky a few times. If we turn back now, wouldn't that be a waste of our energy?"

This is the difference in personality between Chen Ye and Qu Heng. Chen Ye still wants to seek stability, while Qu Heng likes to take risks.

At this moment, Mo Ci, who had been silent all along, said, "The three of us combined are considered to be among the best in the mortal world. If we don't even dare to take a walk around here, we would be too cowardly."

Qu Heng said smugly, "Two to one, let's go, let's go to the highest point first. According to the habits of those bald monks, Monk Jinming will definitely stay on the highest peak."

Chen Ye couldn't persuade the two of them, so he had no choice but to follow Qu Heng and fly forward.

To be on the safe side, Chen Ye also activated the Eight-Nine Arcane Technique, transforming into the form of a dragon.

This stance not only makes you stronger, but also more resistant to blows.

As we flew, the world remained the same, with ruins and collapsed temples and Buddha statues everywhere.

The same goes for the hungry ghosts; they are found everywhere, large and small.

Chen Ye finally understood why there wasn't a single patch of green to be seen in these mountains. They had probably been devoured by these hungry ghosts, leaving only a lifeless landscape and endless torment from hunger and thirst.

This Wanfo Mountain seemed to be a truly desolate hell. As the three of them flew along, the only things they saw that could still move were those hideous hungry ghosts.

There wasn't even a breeze in this place.

Even though Chen Ye and his two companions stirred up the air currents in the sky, the commotion didn't spread far before it subsided again, like stagnant water that couldn't ripple. The world seemed to reject any change.

After flying dozens of miles over mountains and valleys, a change finally appeared before us: a majestic mountain that seemed to reach the sky.

Qu Heng pointed to the high mountain in front of him and said, "This should be the place. According to normal orientation, this should be the core of the entire secret realm's earth veins, but now we can't sense any spiritual energy in this world. I'm just guessing."

Mo Ci volunteered, "I'll go take a look first."

Mo Ci transformed into golden light and flew towards the mountaintop, but as soon as he got close, he seemed to be blocked by something.

Like a moth drawn to an electric grid, endless lightning flashed from the mountaintop, outlining the shape of a giant lotus flower.

The thunderous roar roused the lifeless world, causing the swarming demons to raise their heads and gaze towards the mountain peak.

Mo Ci quickly turned back. Fortunately, the glow of the Seven Treasures Umbrella protected him, so he was not injured. He just grimaced and cursed, "Damn it, that's insidious. There was nothing in the sky until I crashed into it and realized there was a barrier."

Chen Ye watched the slowly dissipating lotus of lightning and asked Qu Heng, "Grandmaster guessed correctly, this is indeed the place, but should we force our way in?"

(End of this chapter)