I saved the entire sect by playing idly by letting things fall apart.

"We can each take one. Isn't the Ghost King going to choose a powerful vessel? Then we should definitely act as weak as possible." Ye Qiao tossed the pills to the others. "Let's see who can survive the longest, or rather, who can't hold back any longer."

It's all about raising gu; all they need to do is lie low for as long as possible and nurture Xiaoqi.

So for the next two weeks, the six of them not only had to kill monsters, but they also had to act in plays.

The ghost cultivator stared blankly at the group of people, who were coughing for a long time, as if they would all die at any moment. He fell into a long silence.

Qi Lu clutched his chest and kindly offered the ghost cultivator a few pills: "Good brother, would you like some?"

In terms of strength, none of the group present could defeat this ghost cultivator, but the ghost cultivator had been fooled into joining them, instinctively trying to be like them, afraid of being abandoned for not fitting in.

So he nodded and joined in.

The demons were dealt with with remarkable ease, and the mist that was released to devour people was all swallowed by Xiaoqi. In other words, the Ghost King's actions, which were as fierce as a tiger, were ultimately in vain for half a month.

He also had his doubts and tried to observe this group of people secretly, hoping to see if there were any powerful cultivators suitable as vessels.

As it turned out, this group of people looked sickly and didn't seem like powerful cultivators at all.

The Ghost King decided to speed up the release of mist to kill them and wait for the next batch of cultivators to arrive. Unexpectedly, half a month passed, and on a whim, he took a look at the Gu worms he was raising and found that the group of people were still alive and well.

The Ghost King couldn't help but suspect that these people were putting on an act against him.

After pondering for a moment, he decided to send his underlings to investigate the strength of this group of cultivators. If they were too weak, he would simply assimilate them all to avoid any unforeseen complications.

……

After entering the Ghost King Tower, the Wenjian Sect encountered no major obstacles in the first ten levels. Their mustard seed bags were filled with many rare and precious treasures. This smooth process made people a little uneasy.

The disappearance of that group of talisman cultivators forced them to be more vigilant and observe their surroundings. The eleventh floor was completely dark, with no light at all. Their vision was obscured by darkness, and they could only explore by relying on their divine sense. Zhu You tentatively lit a spiritual fire, but unsurprisingly, it was completely extinguished in the end.

Ye Qinghan drew his sword, sweeping away the struggling creatures that tried to approach. With a single strike, he decapitated these mindless black puppets, coldly saying, "Puppets?"

"No."

Zhu You said gravely, "They are living dead."

"There are quite a few." Chu Xingzhi walked ahead to clear the way. Not only did he realize this, but Zhu You's expression also became slightly solemn.

The first ten floors were completely harmless, but after the eleventh floor, it seemed to make no attempt to hide its malice, and all sorts of dangers followed one after another.

All he could see was darkness. Unidentified objects silently emerged from all around, gradually approaching. They all seemed to be pulling Chu Xingzhi tightly with silk threads. He froze, and subconsciously used Cun Xue to cut the dense black threads.

Not only him, but the other four were also entangled.

It's like a cocoon trying to wrap people up inside.

If you are really wrapped up inside, will you still be a human when you come out?

They all realized this at the same time, and their struggle became even more frantic.

Ye Qinghan took a deep breath, activated his Icebound Domain, and the instant the frost froze, it was as if a blade had cleanly severed the silk threads binding his junior brothers and sisters. "Run!"

At this point, the only option is to continue.

The twelfth floor.

The Luoshui Sword snapped the puppet in half, and the domain was activated to shatter the black cocoons. Countless insects seemed to be constantly approaching them. Spiritual fire could not be lit here, so it was all about observation and reaction speed. Almost every level had all kinds of creatures, and none of them were ever heard of.

If Ye Qinghan were alone, reaching the eighteenth floor wouldn't take much time at all.

The problem is that he has four junior brothers and sisters behind him.

It is undoubtedly very difficult to manage one to support four.

The Ghost King secretly observed the group and finally chose Ye Qinghan. If he could reach the eighteenth floor, he would consider using him as his vessel. Ye Qinghan, completely unaware that he had been targeted, finally caught his breath after descending to the sixteenth floor.

"The sixteenth floor..."

What is it this time?

Ye Qinghan dared not let his guard down. This kind of thing was very troublesome. Once entangled, unless he frequently activated his domain, he would only be left here to wait for death.

He won't be attacked.

However, the other four, lacking a domain and with inadequate evasion skills, are easily caught off guard.

The sixteenth floor seemed much milder than the others, at least on the surface. Zhu You could feel a series of sharp, piercing sounds coming from beside her ears. She covered her head and groaned in pain.

Noticing that their junior sister was upset, the group paused slightly, helped her up, and asked, "What's wrong?"

Zhu You blinked, the emptiness in her eyes fading slightly. "Have you ever heard of phantom ghosts that feed on human emotions?"

"They are a very troublesome type of people; they will target the person who is most vulnerable in their heart to provoke them."

"Then, by getting closer and closer to that person, you drive them into madness and assimilate them."

Zhu You finally understood where those living dead came from. She covered her forehead, expressionless. "You guys go first. It seems the person they found is me."

Chu Xingzhi, Ye Qinghan, and several other senior brothers were all more resilient than her. Zhu You cultivated the path of passion, which, in theory, should not be easily trapped in illusions, since those who cultivate the path of passion are generally cunning.

But precisely because of this, it's easy to get entangled.

She could only manage a wry smile; she never expected to be entangled in this situation by such a reason.

As soon as Zhu You closed her eyes, she could hear countless voices echoing in her ears. She barely managed to control her movement to draw her sword, not wanting to engage in a battle of wits with thin air.

The longer you stay, the higher the chance of being assimilated. Zhu You looked at the others and urged, "You guys leave first, I'll figure something out myself."

No one moved. Ye Qinghan silently looked at her. "I'll stay."

"The Phantom Demons target the easiest targets, right?" He remembered this; the elder had mentioned it in class. The boy's voice remained clear and cold as he lowered his eyes. "Just deliberately leave a few openings so they can shift their focus, right?"

Zhu You was taken aback. "Senior Brother?"

She said expressionlessly, "You've heard the elders say that unless you can break through the illusionary ghosts quickly enough, being assimilated is only a matter of time."

The sixteenth floor is simply unsolvable; whoever gets entangled there can only accept their bad luck. No... if Ye Qiao were here, perhaps she would have a solution.

Looking at the black patterns that had spread across Zhu You's body, Chu Xingzhi took a deep breath. "Stop dawdling, I'll do it."

"I am the Way of the Heart, more suitable than you."

Ask your heart, inquire into your own heart.

Unlike the Path of Ruthlessness, which is easily overwhelmed by so many illusory ghosts, the Path of Inquiry into the Heart is truly a path only those with a pure and clear mind are worthy of cultivating.

Cun Xue gently approached him, emitting specks of white light. He pressed his hand on the spirit sword at his waist. "I'll stay here. You go first."

Chu Xingzhi is more suited to the sixteenth level than them. At least the Dao of Inquiry is not easy to shake the righteousness in one's heart. Compared to other unstable Daos, he is more resilient. Those phantom ghosts also have a rather wicked sense of humor. They like to destroy the beliefs of these clean and pure people.

Seeing Chu Xingzhi say this, they laughed and immediately started pestering him.

Dealing with phantom ghosts can be easy or not; a pure heart can break them, as long as the soul is not polluted or assimilated.

Chu Xingzhi watched as the black gas on his hands spread, gave a wry smile, and patted her head.

"Perhaps there's an exit on the eighteenth floor."

"You can come find me then."

Zhu You was overwhelmed by fear and tried to persuade him, "No, you can't turn back in Ghost King Tower. Everyone only has one chance to go from the first floor to the eighteenth floor."

"Wait for me." She tried hard to hold back her tears. "I can break this too."

She doesn't need her senior brother to pave the way for her.

They all knew perfectly well that those who were left behind would probably be stuck on the sixteenth floor forever.

"It's not that scary, is it?" Chu Xingzhi muttered, wiping away her tears. "I will try my best not to be interfered with. I cultivate the Dao of Inquiry of the Heart. If I can't even get through this, what kind of Dao am I cultivating?"

He finally understood why the elders sighed and lamented to them from time to time; it seemed that they really had never experienced any hardship.

Chu Xingzhi perked up, his eyes brightening slightly. "Senior Brother, would you say I protected you this time?"

The senior brother was the goal he used to strive to catch up with. This sentence was not to prove anything. Chu Xingzhi just wanted to tell the other party that the junior brother who often looked up to him could now stand on his own.

Ye Qinghan gave a soft "hmm" and took the emotionally distraught Zhu You away. "Wait for us."

The boy exuded a chilling aura and continued descending expressionlessly to the eighteenth floor. He wanted to see just what kind of monsters and demons were inside.

Almost before the Sword Inquiry Sect continued its journey, Mu Chongxi, having figured out the details of the Ghost King Tower, dragged Zhou Xingyun along and charged in. This time, the two sword cultivators didn't bring Xue Yu, since alchemists weren't allowed inside the Ghost King Tower.

They came after the Sword Inquiry Sect.

The first sixteen floors were almost completely cleared out by the Sword Inquiry Sect, so they got a good deal.

They successfully chased the enemy all the way to the seventeenth floor, where they saw the Sword Inquiry Sect fighting wits and courage against those unknown creatures. Mu Chongxi waved his hand and asked Chaoxi to go and help. Chaoxi Sword was of the fire element, and it was not an ordinary spiritual fire. It shone brightly on the seventeenth floor underground.

Upon seeing the light source, Zhu You and the others instinctively looked up, almost thinking that Chu Xingzhi had come out.

Upon catching a glimpse of the Changming Sect's robes, they all fell silent again.