Chapter 9: Trapped in the Devil's Sea

  Dark winds howled, and the eerie atmosphere was tense. Liu Xingyuan's group of five people finally broke out of the encirclement of countless ghosts under Jian Wucheng's full-force opening road, and entered the Ghost Domain. As soon as they broke out of the encirclement, Liu Xingyuan loudly said: "Everyone leave here first, wait until we shake off these ghosts before making plans. Wucheng opens the way, randomly find a direction, take everyone away from here first, hurry up."

  Jian Wuchen led the way, his Tianling Sword flashing with dazzling five-colored light as he slashed and killed the ghostly creatures with ease. Behind him, Leng Jia Hao, Bi Tian, Du Li, and Liu Xinghun followed closely, their four swords shining with brilliant colors as they defended against the ghostly attacks while keeping pace with Jian Wuchen's escape. After a brief moment of about an incense stick's worth of time, the five finally managed to shake off the ghostly creatures after killing countless numbers of them.

  After a brief rest, Jian Wuchen asked, "Master Uncle, what should we do now? This place is dark and eerie, without even a single blade of grass or tree. We can't tell which direction to go in. How are we supposed to find the Ghost King's City?"

  Liu Xing Hun heard the words, quietly pondered for a moment, and then said: "We've never been here before, no one knows where this Ghost King City is. Now we can only take it one step at a time, walking and searching as we go. If we encounter a lone yin soul ghost, we can try to force an answer out of it, that way we'll know the whereabouts of Ghost King City. For now, let's just pick a direction and head straight, see what luck brings us. Let's go!" After finishing speaking, he mounted his sword and disappeared into thin air like a whirlwind.

  Along the way, the five members of Liu Xingyun did not encounter any lone ghosts, but instead encountered the ghost domain's army three times and had intense conflicts with them. In the three confrontations, the five people relied on their high cultivation to break through and leave, but they consumed a large amount of true yuan, leaving each person extremely exhausted.

  On a small hill, the five of them stopped to rest. Leng Jia Hao's expression changed slightly as he said: "Master Uncle, this place is quite strange, the recovery of our true yuan is abnormally slow, at least twice as slow compared to the human world. If we enter the Ghost King City later and encounter many ghostly creatures, it will be very disadvantageous for us."

  Liu Xing's expression turned solemn, and he glanced at the four of them before speaking in a low tone: "What Jia Hao said, I've already sensed. This is the Ghost Domain, a realm belonging to ghostly creatures, suitable for their cultivation. Since we're here, we'll be restricted by the conditions of this place, which will greatly impact our spellcasting and true yuan recovery. However, this is also a form of training. As long as everyone works together in harmony, I believe we can complete our mission. For now, let's focus on recovering our true yuan as quickly as possible. The situation here is unpredictable, and who knows when we'll encounter those troops again."

  Jian Wuchen looked at everyone and said, "Everyone rest here for a while, I'll go ahead and check if there's any movement." After finishing speaking, his sword flashed out, and he flew forward quickly. Half an hour later, Jian Wuchen arrived at a seaside location and quietly stopped.

  Looking at the rolling giant waves, roaring and flying, countless sprays burst in mid-air, like black lotus flowers, with a unique beauty. The black seawater reflected the dark sky, making it look like a piece of black jade, painted with countless scenery. Jian Wucheng looked at the sea surface with some surprise, unexpectedly finding that the seawater here was actually black, truly strange. Raising his head to gaze afar, a stretch of black waves appeared under the dark sky, looking ominous and eerie.

  After a while, Jian Wucheng shook his head and was about to leave. But at this moment, on the endless sea surface, an island suddenly appeared out of thin air, sometimes visible and sometimes invisible, very mysterious. Jian Wucheng inadvertently took a glance, and his whole body froze. Looking at the island that was vaguely visible in the huge waves, Jian Wucheng muttered to himself: "This Ghost Domain is so strange, how did an island suddenly appear there? Could it be that the most mysterious Ghost King City of the Ghost Domain is located on it?" As he spoke and thought, Jian Wucheng felt more and more likely, and a joyful feeling rose in his heart.

  With a triumphant smile, Jian Wucheng returned to the side of Liu Xinghun and the others. After glancing at the four of them, Jian Wucheng spoke up, "Master Uncle, I discovered a large black sea ahead, with an extremely mysterious island in it that appears and disappears from time to time. I reckon that the Ghost King's Castle is very likely located on that island. Let's go take a look now."

  Liu Xinghun and the other three people heard this, and their eyes all showed a hint of excitement. Liu Xinghun said: "Wu Chen's guess is also possible, let's go take a look, anyway we don't have any leads now. Alright, everyone let's go, Wu Chen will lead the way." After finishing speaking, he brought the other three people and followed behind Jian Wuchen, flying away on their swords.

  Half an hour later, the five of them arrived at the edge of the black sea and stopped on top of a towering boulder. Looking out at the black ocean, each person's eyes were filled with astonishment, as if they had never thought that the ghost domain's ocean would be black. Gazing out at the distance, Swordless Dust was paying attention to the islands that appeared and disappeared from time to time. Beside him, the other four people were staring at the huge waves in the sea.

  Suddenly, a black island appeared in Jian Wucheng's eyes. The island was like a ship, rising and falling with the huge waves, sometimes visible and sometimes invisible. Looking closely, the island seemed to be separated by a long distance, giving people a feeling of being unable to see it clearly. Glancing at the people around him, Jian Wucheng said: "Everyone take a closer look, in front of us on the vast ocean, there is an island that appears and disappears from time to time. It looks like a small mountain, rising and falling with the waves."

  Liu Xinghun, Bi Tian, Du Li, and Leng Jiahao looked at each other, their eyes revealing a hint of surprise. Bi Tian said: "This island looks very far away, seemingly in the middle of the ocean, but why does it give people a feeling that's somewhat vague, like clouds and mist? Will the legendary Ghost Domain Ghost King City be on top of it?"

  Leng Jia Hao gazed at the undulating small island, speculatively saying: "I think this isn't necessarily true. But we also don't know where that Ghost King City is right now, so we can go take a look. At least it's still a hope, what does everyone think?"

  Everyone's eyes were focused on Liu Xinghun's face at this moment, and they all wanted to know what he thought. After glancing at the four of them, Liu Xinghun said: "Jiahao is right, we don't have much time here anyway, now that there's nowhere else to go, let's just go up there and take a look, it might be worth something."

  Duli Jing stood by, and suddenly asked a question: "I wonder how Cang Yue and the others are doing now. Are they having the same experience as us, or is it different?" Ah, this was something everyone wanted to know, but no one knew.

  Jian Wuchen's expression seemed to have thought of something, his face slightly cold. Looking at the island, Jian Wuchen said: "Alright, since we've decided, let's set off." This place can't distinguish between day and night, nor does it care what time it is, let's go." As soon as he finished speaking, the Tianling Divine Sword shone brightly, supporting his body, rapidly shooting towards the island. With this move, the others also followed closely behind, and in an instant, the five figures disappeared into the distance.

  Flying in mid-air, looking at the vast ocean below, each of the five people had different feelings. Liu Xing Hun carefully gazed at the island in the center of the sea and asked Jian Wu Chen softly: "Wu Chen, do you have any feeling now? Why do I have a bad omen at this time? It seems that the closer we get to the island, the stronger the feeling is. This is really strange."

  Jian Wuchen looked at him and swept his gaze over the other three, saying in a low voice: "Actually, I have that feeling too. I don't know why, but just as I flew out, that feeling suddenly appeared, making me very worried about what might happen ahead." Liu Xinghun heard this and glanced at the other three, just about to speak, when a sudden scene interrupted his words.

  In the distance, the calm sea surface suddenly appeared a column of water without warning, shooting up into the sky. The column was over ten zhang in diameter, with countless waves spinning rapidly at its top, looking strange and mysterious. The speed of the column's ascent was astonishing, and in just a short while, it had already pierced the sky and disappeared from view. Around the column, a black gas was rapidly gathering, quickly forming a black dragon-shaped air belt that surrounded the column, dancing unceasingly.

  Looking at the strange water pillar, Liu Xingyun's expression changed slightly as he shouted: "Everyone be careful, stop advancing immediately. Let's observe the situation first, this place is extremely mysterious and we can't be reckless, lest an accident occurs."

  As soon as the words fell, Jian Wuchen said: "Everyone look back, there is also a water pillar appearing over there, what a strange thing." Everyone looked back and indeed, behind them, another identical water pillar appeared, with a black dragon-shaped air belt swirling around it.

  Bi Tian looked at the water pillar, his expression shocked and said: "Are we trapped in some mysterious region? Otherwise, why would such strange things appear?" Du Li said: "I think, we may have triggered some formation, or intruded into a special domain."

  "Everyone, calm down. Let's observe the situation for now and see what happens next before making a decision. With our strength, even if we get trapped in the formation, I believe we can still break through it. We need to have confidence in this."

  Around, after the appearance of two water columns in front and back, the third water column finally appeared. Only to see the left sea surface waves rolling, a water column sandwiched with a dark red gas, rotating and rising. The flying dark red gas was like a blood dragon, surrounding the black water column, madly rotating. When the water column on the left rose to a certain height, another water column appeared on the right side of the water surface, also with dark red gas, very dazzling. Four water columns formed a square, just surrounding Swordless Dust and five people in the middle.

  Looking at the eerie water pillar, all five of them had a very uneasy feeling in their hearts, slowly rising. The four water pillars around them contained an extremely strong eerie aura, carrying an incomparably evil and sinister air, slowly forming a black misty veil that surrounded the five of them. A faintly gloomy chill spread throughout the veil, beginning to close in on the five people including Liu Xingyun.

  Looking at the four people, Liu Xing's voice sank: "This ghost-like sea is very strange, full of strange things. Now it seems that we are in a predicament and must leave here immediately. The longer we stay here, the more unfavorable it will be for us. Everyone may have felt it, the breath around us has started to rotate, and the gloomy pressure is gradually increasing."

  Jian Wuchen nodded and said, "Master Shu is right, we can't stay here any longer. Looking at the situation, I feel more and more that there's something hidden on that island. Now let's break through and head to that island in a roundabout way. We must investigate what secrets are hidden there." As soon as he finished speaking, the divine sword shone brightly, and a powerful aura suddenly burst forth.

  He glanced at the four of them, and with a wave of his sword, the divine sword transformed into a five-colored divine dragon, shooting towards the weak spot between the two water pillars. From afar, it looked like a ten-zhang-long five-colored divine dragon, roaring towards the sky, carrying an overwhelming aura, attacking the black misty veil. The light flickered, and the black misty veil was as strong as a wave, layer upon layer, fully defending against the attack of the five-colored divine dragon. A magnificent scene unfolded in mid-air, presenting itself above the Ghost Sea.

  Jian Wuchen's expression changed slightly, unable to believe that the mask was so resilient. With a loud explosion, Jian Wuchen's entire body shone with a dazzling light, and his aura burst forth in a powerful and overbearing manner, making him appear like a war god, majestic and extraordinary. The divine sword Tianling rapidly rotated, and the dazzling five-colored light slowly converged into a strong beam of light, which once again attacked the middle position of the two water pillars.

  On the side, Liu Xinghun and three others were all focused on watching Jian Wucheng, waiting for his outcome. Everyone in their hearts understood that among the five people, Jian Wucheng and Liu Xinghun had the highest cultivation. The difference was that Jian Wucheng had the Tianjian Institute's mountain-guarding treasure, the Tianling Divine Sword, in hand, which was where he was stronger than others. Since entering the Ghost Domain, almost every time, it was his attack power that was the strongest.

  Looking at the black fog, a black light was flowing. Clusters of black ripples slowly formed a dark red and black dragon on the fog, fully resisting Swordless Dust's strong attack. Different colors brought different attributes, each offsetting each other. At the same time as Swordless Dust's full-force attack, the four water pillars were also undergoing strange changes.

  Only the four rotating light dragons were seen, which were two black and two dark red, distributed in pairs at an angle. The high-speed rotation of the light dragons made the four water pillars also have obvious colors, and from a distance, they looked like a cross-shaped intersection, very mysterious. As the four light dragons accelerated their rotation, the surrounding black fog also slowly spread a layer of dark red gas, making it look even more eerie and strange.

  Just as everyone's attention was focused on Jian Wucheng, the entire water column enclosure began to stir. The sea surface slowly rippled, and a strange scene appeared beneath the feet of the five people. Seven whirlpools of varying sizes emerged on the water's surface, arranged in an extremely unusual pattern. As the whirlpools rotated, they set the seawater in motion, gradually revealing a shocking and soul-stirring image that quietly materialized before them.

  Only the seven whirlpools were visible, forming a head with eyes, ears, mouth and nose. From above, it looked like a ghostly face, with its big mouth open as if to devour people, quietly staring at the five people above. The two rotating eyes had two swirling black lights, flashing with an eerie evil light, seemingly coldly smiling at their prey.

  Without warning, Bi Tian lowered his head and looked at the extremely eerie face, suddenly feeling a strong sense of unease in his heart, with fear spreading from the bottom. He glanced at the people beside him, seeing that they hadn't noticed the face, Bi Tian's expression shocked as he said: "Everyone should take a look below us, perhaps we've already fallen into an extremely dangerous situation."

  Three people looked at him with uncomprehending eyes. Du Li first lowered his head to take a look, and suddenly couldn't help but exclaim in shock. Immediately afterwards, Liu Xinghun and Leng Jiahao also took a look, their faces changing color, extremely shocked. Raising their heads, the four of them exchanged a glance, Liu Xinghun said in shock: "How can this be? What kind of place is this? Why are there such strange things happening? This mask looks exactly like a ghost face, especially those eyes, just like they're alive, staring at us with an ominous gaze. Adding to that the strange seal around us, we must now use all our strength and think of a way to escape from here immediately."

  Bi Tian's expression changed to one of shock and fear as he said, "Looking at Wu Chen's situation, this mysterious sea area has a very strong barrier surrounding it. It's likely that trying to rush out will be difficult. And those ghostly faces below are terrifying, the seawater is pitch black, who knows what other unknown things might be hidden inside. Our only hope now is to rise upwards, hoping to escape this layer of barriers."

  Leng Jia Hao said, "Looking at these four water pillars, it's extremely likely that they are the key to this formation's boundary. If we want to leave from above, it's probably impossible. The only possibility is to force our way through. As long as we can destroy one of the water pillars, we can leave this place. Now the crucial point is that these four water pillars all have those glowing dragons swirling around and guarding them, making it very difficult for us to break through."

  While the four were discussing, a strong attraction suddenly appeared in the entire boundary without warning, and the bodies of the four were pulled down. Four cries of surprise came, Liu Xingyun exclaimed: "Everyone be careful, rush up with all your might, you must not fall, or it's over." At the same time, his whole body burst into light, and he rushed up with all his might, wielding his sword. On the side, Leng Jia Hao, Bi Tian, and Du Li also exerted their utmost efforts to rush upwards.

  A strong attraction, like an invisible net, tightly pulled the four people down. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't escape that powerful suction, and they were mutually opposed to each other. On the water's surface, a ghostly face opened its huge mouth, and the rapidly rotating whirlpool produced a tremendous pulling force. At this moment, Jian Wucheng, who was attacking, also stumbled slightly, and the strong suction pulled him down. Jian Wucheng couldn't help but look down, and his heart was shocked beyond measure; an ominous feeling spread across the bottom of his heart.

  With a loud whoosh, Jian Wucheng suddenly withdrew his attack and appeared beside Liu Xinghun in an instant. Looking at the four people struggling to climb up, Jian Wucheng shouted: "Everyone hold on, I'll go see if I can stop this powerful gravitational force!" After finishing speaking, he flipped upside down, grasped the hilt of his sword with both hands, and started spinning violently. As he spun, the Tianling Divine Sword suddenly let out a long dragon's roar, a dazzling five-colored light burst forth in the form of a beam of light, carrying Jian Wucheng's body towards the rotating giant mouth, unleashing a powerful strike.

  Only a fleeting glimmer of light was seen, a dazzling beam of light that struck the rotating whirlpool from top to bottom. In an instant, only a colorful glow was seen on the water's surface, and the entire mysterious waters were filled with layers of colorful light. A massive shockwave, accompanied by huge waves, instantly dispersed the rotating whirlpool, and the powerful suction force also suddenly disappeared. Jian Wucheng's body shone with colorful light, slowly rising to the same height as Liu Xinghun, softly saying: "Alright, it's temporarily safe now. Let's continue to attack this mysterious seal together, to speed up and increase our chances of success."

  Liu Xinghun said, "Wu Chen is right, now is the crucial moment. For our long-term plan, let's work together. I believe that with the power of us five, we should be able to break through this strange barrier. Come on, everyone get ready." After finishing speaking, he and the other four people each stood in a different direction, preparing to join forces for a single strike.

  In the mysterious boundary, five people each emitted different colored lights. The five clusters of light slowly connected into a line and began to rotate from slow to fast. Above the rotating five clusters of light, the Tianling Sword's spirit light flickered, and the strong, dazzling five-colored light was gradually intensifying. As the five people rotated faster, the five different colored lights instantly merged into one piece, completely obscuring their figures. Only a huge ball of light could be seen, flashing with various colors, rotating rapidly.

  In the sky, the Tianling Divine Sword suddenly burst out a dazzling five-colored light pillar, piercing through the universe. The rotating divine sword above the huge light ball, fluctuated from time to time, and every time it rose, the light became stronger. At this moment, the four water pillars around also began to change. Suddenly, the four light dragons stopped spinning and appeared above the light ball, instantly merging into a giant light dragon, accompanied by a roar, charging towards the Tianling Divine Sword.

  A dazzling flash of light, a rotating ball of light suddenly shot out a five-colored beam, hitting the Tianling Divine Sword. In an instant, the Tianling Divine Sword shook violently, and a loud sword hum echoed through the sky. The powerful beam of light suddenly increased by five times, automatically attacking the Light Dragon. The Tianling Divine Sword transformed into a five-colored divine dragon, proudly roaring as it charged towards the Light Dragon. Two dazzling dragon-shaped beams of light clashed in mid-air, rolling and stretching endlessly.

  A deafening roar accompanied by piercing explosions, a powerful shockwave shook the surrounding barriers violently. The five-colored divine dragon and the light dragon entwined in mid-air for a while, finally, after their confrontation, the light's radiance dimmed and it returned to its original form, falling down. Meanwhile, the light dragon also weakened, split into four, each returning to the top of the four water pillars.

  The rotating light sphere stopped, and the five people's faces turned slightly pale as they separated. After glancing around, Liu Xingyun's face was heavy with worry as he said: "This is really strange, we've actually encountered such a powerful mysterious barrier. Now that we're temporarily trapped, does anyone have any ideas? Don't hesitate to speak up, let's discuss everything. Time is pressing, please think of a solution quickly."

  Jian Wucheng's face turned solemn as he said, "From my two attacks just now, I can sense that the ghostly aura in this area is extremely dense and the entire sea surface is pitch black. This mysterious barrier is likely to be connected with the ocean itself. The seawater here may contain a large amount of yin evil ghost energy, which has a certain restraining effect on us. To break through this barrier, I'm afraid brute force won't work."

  Bì Tiān sank into thought for a moment, his gaze sweeping across the sea surface. His eyes suddenly revealed an extremely terrified expression as he looked at everyone. "Everyone take a look at the sea surface," Bì Tiān said. "This place is indeed a hellhole. Just a little while ago that ghostly thing revived again. If we keep staying here, we'll be exhausted to death. Now we must deal with that ghostly thing below while thinking of a countermeasure; otherwise, we're likely to perish in this place."

  Looking down, the seawater had calmed down again, and those seven whirlpools reappeared before the eyes of the five people. At this time, that mysterious ghost face was showing a gloomy smile there. The hearts of the five were uneasy, and their eyes all revealed a terrified color. Even someone as proud as Jian Wucheng had concern flashing in his eyes at this moment.