Reincarnation Immortal Venerable: Starting from the Ninety-Nineth Incarnation

The wind swirled the ashes of paper money onto the edges of my shoes. The musty smell of decaying leaves was mixed with a faint trace of blood. It wasn't pungent, but it felt like a fine needle piercing my nostrils, making me more uneasy than the usual stench.

Li Yanzhou raised his hand and gestured, his voice extremely low: "Hurry up, don't alert anyone."

Zhang Hao and Wang Lei exchanged a glance, quickly pulled out their battle flags, and used the shadows of the desolate grave to move around.

The patterns of the Demon-Trapping Array gleamed with a barely perceptible gray light in the darkness, like a quietly unfolding net that encircled the entire mass grave, making it difficult for even a bird to fly out.

Lin Wan'er held the illumination talisman and the warning talisman in her hands. Her back was already damp with cold sweat. She had gone on training trips with the sect before, but she had never set foot in such a cold and gloomy place.

Moonlight filtered through the bare branches, casting shadows on the grave mound. At first glance, it looked like rows of people standing with their backs bent. Her heart tightened, and she unconsciously shrank closer to Su Qingyao.

Su Qingyao pressed down on her wrist, holding a few strands of demon-repelling talismans in her palm. Her divine sense spread out like fine gauze. "Don't be afraid, I'm watching the surroundings." She reassured her, but her eyes dared not relax for a moment.

The demonic energy in this mass grave was several times stronger than when they explored it during the day. The sweet and alluring scent was exactly the same kind they had been searching for during the day.

Shi Dazhuang stood like an iron tower behind Li Yanzhou, his round eyes gleaming, his muscles taut and his fists clenched so tightly they cracked slightly. He muttered to himself, "Dazhuang will protect you and keep bad guys from touching you." His honest tone softened the tension somewhat.

"Senior Brother Li, the formation is complete." Zhang Hao ran back, slightly out of breath, his eyes filled with tension. "All exits are sealed off."

Li Yanzhou nodded slightly and waved to the crowd, urging them to stay closer: "Stay close to me. Once inside, don't look around, don't run around, and don't separate. If you encounter any problems, form a defensive formation to protect yourselves, and prioritize protecting Wan'er and Qingyao."

Everyone responded in unison, gripping their magical implements tightly.

Lin Wan'er crushed half of the illumination talisman, and the pale white light only dared to illuminate a few steps in front of her feet, not daring to shine deeper.

The group stepped into the mass grave through the withered weeds, the cracking sound particularly jarring in the deathly silence of the night.

Desolate graves stand side by side, broken tombstones leaning into the earth, and white bones scattered among the grass, gleaming coldly white in the moonlight.

The chill in the air grew heavier, black powder clung to my trouser legs, and a sweet, demonic aura mixed with a fishy smell seeped into my throat. The grass and trees beneath my feet were all withered and blackened by the fumes, turning to ash at the slightest touch.

After walking for about half an incense stick's time, the group suddenly stopped.

At the deepest part of the mass grave, there was a huge, deep pit, its walls rough and cracked, and the bottom was dark and bottomless.

The sweet, cloying demonic energy and black powder were so thick here that they seemed impossible to separate, and a nauseating, fishy smell rose from the bottom of the pit, making people wince.

"This is it." Li Yanzhou picked up a pinch of black powder, sniffed it lightly, and his expression turned serious. "The missing people are all eventually brought here."

Before she could finish speaking, the warning talisman in Lin Wan'er's hand suddenly burst into a blinding red light!

"Something's coming!" she exclaimed in surprise, and hurriedly backed away.

A large number of dark shadows suddenly emerged from the darkness.

It wasn't an ethereal mist, but rather hunched figures, their bodies shrouded in thick black demonic energy, their hair plastered to their faces, revealing only a pair of scarlet eyes. They staggered forward with a frenzied energy, howling and lunging at each other.

"What is this?!" Zhang Hao swung his sword at the foremost black figure, but the blade felt like it was hitting rotten wood. The black figure felt no pain, and its withered black fingernails scratched at his arm.

Zhang Hao dodged hastily, but his forearm was still slashed open, and demonic energy seeped in through the wound. The bone-chilling cold instantly spread throughout his body, as if his blood was about to be frozen and drained away.

He groaned, his face turning deathly pale.

"Zhang Hao!" Wang Lei swung his sword to block another dark figure, the sword piercing the other's shoulder, but the dark figure only turned its head, its scarlet eyes fixed on him, and continued to pounce and bite.

Li Yanzhou felt a chill run down his spine, instantly seeing through the deception: "They are cultivators controlled by demonic energy! They've been bewitched and turned into puppets, specifically for people to absorb their life force to temper their bodies!"

No wonder all the missing persons disappeared without a trace; they weren't killed, but turned into these inhuman, ghostly forms.

"Back off! Don't get scratched! The demonic energy will drain your life force!"

Li Yanzhou no longer held back, his spiritual energy surged dramatically, and he activated the "Dust Boat Technique" at full power. Chaotic energy disguised itself as spiritual energy and surged out from his body, transforming into a layer of warm light shield, instantly forcing back some of the surrounding cold demonic energy.

He flashed to Zhang Hao's side, placed his palm on Zhang Hao's shoulder, and channeled chaotic energy into his meridians, enveloping the invading demonic energy. With a soft hissing sound, the demonic energy was gradually forced out of his body.

"Bear with it."

Zhang Hao gritted his teeth and nodded, cold sweat sliding down his forehead. He felt the chill dissipate and his blood and qi gradually stabilize.

Su Qingyao immediately pulled out healing pills and spirit-clearing pills, giving one to Zhang Hao and tossing one to Wang Lei and Lin Wan'er: "Suck it! The spirit-clearing pill protects your meridians, don't let demonic energy get in!"

The two quickly caught the pills and put them in their mouths. Back to back, they swung their swords to defend themselves, but the puppets were oblivious to pain and did not retreat. Even when they struck vital points, the puppets only paused for a moment. For a time, the group was entangled and could not move an inch.

Shi Dazhuang roared and slammed his fist into the chest of the nearest puppet.

With a muffled thud, the puppet was blasted away, crashing into a grave and breaking its ribs, but it still twitched on the ground, trying to get up.

"Dazhuang, knock them back! Don't kill them!" Li Yanzhou shouted a reminder while purifying the demonic energy on the puppets.

He discovered that the chaotic energy could not only dispel demonic energy, but also briefly awaken the consciousness of puppets. The figures that were touched would have a glimmer of clarity in their scarlet eyes.

With the cleansing effect of the chaotic energy, everyone quickly regained their footing.

Li Yanzhou moved among the puppets, his palms emitting chaotic energy. One by one, the puppets broke free from the demonic control, collapsing to the ground unconscious. Fortunately, they were still alive, but the demonic energy had penetrated their bodies too deeply.

In a short while, most of the puppets that had surrounded them had been cleared out, and the remaining few were subdued by Zhang Hao and Wang Lei.

Just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief, heavy footsteps suddenly came from the bottom of the pit, accompanied by heavy breathing and a sinister laugh, as they slowly floated up.

"You've got some skill, managing to break my puppet formation." The voice was hoarse and rough, filled with undisguised greed. "Perfect, your blood and energy are much purer than those trash, just what I need to help me break through to the next realm."

Li Yanzhou's face darkened, and he locked his divine sense firmly onto the bottom of the pit.

The moonlight shone down, revealing a burly figure climbing step by step, surrounded by demonic energy. He dragged a blood-soaked cultivator in his arms, whose aura was weak, clearly indicating that his life force had just been drained. Behind him stood several unpurified puppets, numbly following along.

No need to guess, this is the demonic cultivator hiding behind the scenes.

Just as Li Yanzhou was about to make a move, his gaze suddenly sharpened. On the other person's neck, a black mark was wriggling slightly, as if something alive was hiding under the skin.

What alarmed him even more was that from the depths of the pit came a series of faint footsteps, dense and numerous, rapidly approaching the pit opening.