One person: Orochi, starting with Feng Baobao's Eight Heroes.

The one wearing Qing Dynasty official robes has withered into a mummy.

Wearing a cotton-padded jacket or a priest's robe is relatively novel.

There were also several bodies that looked intact, but their eyes were empty, as if their souls had been taken away.

"Completely annihilated, soul and spirit..."

Chen Qi knelt down in front of a corpse dressed in priest's robes and lightly touched its brow with his fingertips.

"It was the work of the Monkey King."

Just then, a sharp shriek suddenly rang in his mind.

It was a distress signal from the restless mind, stronger and more urgent than ever before.

"Hang in there, I'm coming."

Chen Qi responded in a low voice, looking around to find the best spot to enter the interior.

To save the ape, one must enter the inner realm.

Practitioners usually meditate and allow their consciousness to leave the body and enter the inner world, but the current environment is dangerous and the physical body is too dangerous to be protected.

Another method is to directly enter the inner realm in one's true form, but this requires concealing one's divine secrets, otherwise one will suffer a strong backlash.

Chen Qi took out seven copper coins from his pocket and set up a seven-star array around the alloy coffin.

He then bit his fingertip and drew a blood talisman on his forehead.

"Heaven and earth are boundless, and the universe borrows their laws."

He chanted a spell in a low voice, and the copper coin began to vibrate.

"With my lifeblood, I obscure the secrets of heaven."

As the incantation was completed, the copper coins floated up and arranged in the shape of the Big Dipper in the air.

Chen Qi stepped into the formation.

In an instant, the surrounding scenery began to distort, the walls of the Yin Palace rippled, and the coffins and corpses became blurry silhouettes.

"Heart Monkey, I'm here."

Chen Qi closed his eyes, feeling the connection deep within his soul, letting the power of his inner vision engulf him.

When Chen Qi opened his eyes again, he found himself in a strange space.

The sky was blood red; there was neither sun nor moon, only a constantly writhing dark cloud.

The ground was covered with bones, and mournful howls echoed from afar.

"The real body! This way!"

The voice of the restless monkey came from afar, filled with unprecedented panic.

Chen Qi looked in the direction of the sound and saw a figure several hundred meters away, who looked exactly like him but was covered in golden hair, fighting with something.

That must be the Mind Monkey, but at this moment its golden light has dimmed considerably, and its movements appear sluggish.

Just as Chen Qi was about to rush there, the ground suddenly shook violently.

Countless white bones combined to form a giant arm that reached out from the ground and grabbed at his ankle.

At the same time, in the blood-red sky, the dark cloud condensed into a huge human face (of the King's Zhao), emitting a deafening roar.

"A mere illusion dares to stop me?"

Chen Qi sneered and formed a hand seal.

"break!"

A golden light burst forth from his body, shattering the skeletal arms that passed through it.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Chen Qi leaped up and, in a few bounds, arrived near Xin Yuan.

Only then did he realize that what was battling the Mind Monkey was a mass of pitch-black mist, within which countless painful and distorted human faces could be vaguely seen.

"Be careful, main body!"

The monkey-like mind roared.

"It can devour spirits!"

Before he finished speaking, a wisp of black mist suddenly split off and rushed towards Chen Qi.

Chapter 246 Deliberate Cultivation

Chen Qi neither dodged nor flinched, letting the black mist envelop him.

A piercing laugh echoed from within the mist, as countless icy hands tried to tear his soul apart.

"Is that all you have?"

Chen Qi's voice came from the black mist, eerily calm.

"Disperse!"

With a deafening roar, the black mist was blasted into pieces by a golden light.

Chen Qi stood unharmed, a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"What the hell is this?"

He questioned the monkey in his mind, while cautiously observing the black mist that was re-condensing.

"do not know!"

Heart Monkey jumped to Chen Qi's side, panting heavily.

"I came in to investigate and found it was devouring the spirits of the dead, so I tried to stop it, but..."

"In the end, we got trapped by it."

Chen Qi replied, his brows furrowed.

"This isn't an ordinary evil spirit; it gives me the feeling of..."

"It's like it was deliberately cultivated."

The monkey took over the conversation, its golden hair standing on end.

"It is growing stronger with each spirit it devours."

The black mist condensed again, this time twice the size of the previous one, and the number of faces in the mist also increased significantly.

It emitted a chilling buzz as it slowly approached the two.

"Time is running out."

Chen Qi said in a deep voice.

"I'll cover you, you go back to your physical body first."

"how about you?"

The restless monkey asked urgently.

"I have my own way."

Chen Qi quickly formed hand seals.

"The profound origin of heaven and earth, the root of all vital energy..."

As the incantation was recited, Chen Qi was enveloped in a dazzling golden light.

The black mist seemed to be enraged, letting out a piercing shriek as it lunged forward.

"go!"

Chen Qi shouted and slapped Xin Yuan on the back.

The figure of the Monkey King instantly transformed into a golden light and disappeared into the blood-red sky.

The black mist completely enveloped Chen Qi, and countless human faces opened their blood-red mouths, trying to tear him apart and devour him.

However, at that moment, a cold smile appeared on Chen Qi's lips.

"Got you."

He spoke softly, then suddenly reached into the depths of the black mist and precisely grasped a distinctive human face.

This face is clearer than the others, and its expression is more ferocious.

"what--!"

The captured person let out a shrill scream, and the entire black mist trembled violently.

"It really is you, Shanqi."

Chen Qi said coldly.

"To refine oneself into a Soul-Devouring Fiend, that's truly ruthless."

The face twisted and deformed, gradually revealing an aged appearance.

"Chen...Qi...you ruined...my plans..."

"Save it."

Chen Qi increased the pressure on his hand, and the golden light scorched the human face.

"Tell me, did you bring the Japanese pirates here? What do they want?"

Shanqi's face was contorted in pain, but suddenly he revealed a strange smile.

"They (agdj)...wanted...immortality...but what I gave them...was...a curse...hahaha..."

The laughter abruptly stopped, and the face turned to ashes in the golden light.

The entire black mist collapsed instantly, and countless devoured undead turned into specks of white light that rose into the sky.

The inner world began to collapse, cracks appeared in the blood-red sky, and the land of white bones collapsed into an abyss.

Chen Qi knew he had to leave immediately, otherwise his true form would also be affected.

"The Seven Stars guide the way, the soul returns to its rightful place!"

He made hand gestures and chanted incantations, and his body gradually became transparent.

Before disappearing completely, Chen Qi took one last look at this collapsing world and muttered to himself thoughtfully.

"Immortality...a curse...what exactly did the Japanese pirates find here?"

Chen Qi closed his eyes, and the scene of the attack by Shanqi appeared in his mind.

Those scenes, like frozen black and white photographs, kept flashing back in the depths of his consciousness.

He noticed a detail he had never paid attention to before.

The instant Shanqi made his move, a barely perceptible crack seemed to appear in the air and vanish in an instant.

"I see..."

Chen Qi was startled, and his breathing became rapid involuntarily.

He realized that there was a rift between the spiritual world and the material world that was difficult for ordinary people to perceive.

These cracks are like wormholes connecting two dimensions, and are one of the legendary Eight Wonders.

The Great Luo Cave Observation may be about freely traversing between reality and illusion through these cracks.

"The Call of the Monkey King..."

Chen Qi muttered to himself, suddenly remembering the voice that kept echoing deep within his consciousness.

That voice was like a lighthouse in the night, perhaps serving as a landmark during time travel.

He calmed his mind and began to sense the location of the "National Preceptor" Mind Monkey.

Strangely, even though I clearly felt that the restless mind was right beside me, it was as if there was an invisible barrier between us.

It's like standing in front of a mirror; you can almost touch it, but you can never truly touch your reflection.

Chapter 247 The Line of Cause and Effect