Chapter 100 The Secret of Zhou Tian
Li Yu looked at Zhou Tian, feeling very surprised.
A year ago, judging from the strength of those ghost spirits, Zhou Tian's cultivation level was no more than the fourth level of Qi Refining. Only a year had passed, so no matter how strong he was, he couldn't be much stronger.
But at this moment, from what Li Yu could see with the Qi-gazing technique, the five spiritual veins of this person were flashing with brilliant five-colored light from beginning to end.
He has reached the peak of the ninth level of Qi Refining with the Five Spiritual Veins. Judging from his magic power alone, he is even stronger than Li Yu.
Li Yu knew better than anyone that he could achieve his current level of cultivation in just one year because of a combination of various factors. He was originally from Kunlun, which was famous for its alchemy. In the past year, he inherited Elder Sun's legacy, participated in various competitions and trials, completed various tasks, and had the help of the demon girl, the headmaster, and the Xuanzhen Patriarch...
The combination of so many factors has led to his current level of cultivation.
Even so, his strength growth rate is not as fast as Zhou Tian's?
This person must have encountered some great opportunity during this year.
While Li Yu was observing Zhou Tian, Zhou Tian was also observing Li Yu.
From the sword just now, he could sense that the opponent's strength, even if not as good as his, was not far behind, and was stronger than anyone he met here.
This also means that his soul is extremely powerful.
As long as he could kill him and control his soul, he would soon have a ghost spirit with a soul strength comparable to that of a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator.
Zhou Tian's mind moved , and he immediately drove several ghosts to fly towards Li Yu.
The seven ghost spirits that flew towards Li Yu all had soul fluctuations at the peak of the ninth level of Qi Refining. It was unknown how many disciples of both the righteous and evil sects had died at his hands. These ghost spirits were newly formed and did not have any complicated spells. Their greatest use was to possess people.
They can severely damage the soul of a cultivator , squeeze the soul out of the body, and form a consciousnessless ghost, just like the corpses Li Yu had seen before.
Disciples from all factions can defend themselves against spells, but they are helpless against this type of attack. This is also the headache for the disciples of the Soul Refining Sect.
The seven ghosts sank into Li Yu's body one by one, like a stone sinking into the sea, and there was no news of them ever since.
The expression on the young Taoist's face froze. He instantly retreated several feet and looked at Li Yu in surprise.
With so many ghost spirits, even the souls in the foundation-building stage could be temporarily suppressed, but they disappeared the moment they possessed Li Yu. He had never encountered such a situation before.
His expression changed several times, and Zhou Tian decisively put away all the spirits and ghosts, turned around and fled into the depths of the fog.
There is something strange about this person, he can't see through him, so it's better to avoid him for the time being.
Li Yu did not chase after him. He was not afraid of Zhou Tian. He was worried that if he left, the insidious and cunning man would sneak back and then the three sisters from Emei Sect would be in danger.
Based on Li Yu's understanding of Zhou Tian, this old villain is capable of doing such a thing.
At this moment, Zhou Tian, who had already escaped for several miles, found that the man did not chase him. He thought that this guy was so cautious. He was still thinking that after the man caught up with him, he would quietly go back and attack him by surprise. But now he had to give up this idea.
"Brother Li!"
The crisis was resolved, and the three girls happily ran to Li Yu. The other two Emei female practitioners also breathed a sigh of relief and clasped their fists to thank Li Yu.
Li Yu looked at the three Zhao sisters and asked, "Why are you here?"
Zhao Xiner stuck out her tongue and said, "We came here to gain some experience, but we didn't expect that evil villain would be so powerful..."
These days, they have taken a lot of Tongmai Pills, and their strength has improved significantly compared to the first time they met Li Yu. They are all at the eighth level of Qi Refining. With the protection of two senior sisters who are at the peak of the ninth level of Qi Refining, they are basically absolutely safe in the first-level secret realm.
But they didn't expect that Zhou Tian himself was extremely powerful and could control so many ghosts. If Senior Brother Li hadn't appeared in time, they would have once again encountered a life-and-death crisis...
Zhao Xiner grabbed Li Yu's arm with some fear and said, "Brother Li, you saved us again. When we leave here, you can go back to Emei with us. I will ask Master to prepare a generous thank-you gift for you..."
After meeting the three Emei sisters, in order to prevent Zhou Tian's sneak attack, Li Yu had no choice but to take them with him.
On the way, Li Yu kept thinking in his heart what kind of opportunities Zhou Tian had encountered in the past year.
He has the heaven-defying alchemy furnace on him, so as long as he has spiritual medicine, he can improve his cultivation. Could it be that Zhou Tian also has a treasure? Otherwise, it would be impossible for him to possess the strength to reach the peak of Qi Refining with Five Spiritual Veins.
You need to be extra careful when dealing with people who have this kind of opportunity.
As time passed, disciples from some sects in the Thousand Poison Cave had already discovered something was wrong.
Although Zhou Tian was not found, they discovered many bodies. Among these bodies, there were disciples of the righteous path and those of the evil path. They had all died not long ago, and most of them died peacefully. It was obvious that they died from the soul magic of the Soul Refining Sect.
Among those corpses, there were many geniuses from both the righteous and evil paths who had reached the peak of the ninth level of Qi Refining. Even they had fallen. It was obvious that Zhou Tian from the Soul Refining Sect was not that powerful.
At this time, most people have already started to back out.
Although the fifty Tongmai Pills are valuable, you have to be alive to get them.
Their strength is not as good as those corpses found. If they don't leave, they will be the next to die here.
For a moment, everyone began to retreat in an orderly manner towards the entrance of the Thousand Poison Cave. However, in order to hunt down Zhou Tian, they had already gone deep into the depths of the Thousand Poison Cave. It would take a long time to return to the entrance. If they encountered monsters on the way, it would also delay them for a certain amount of time.
Two pairs of He Huan Sect disciples were on their way to retreat. They had just teamed up to kill two giant poisonous spiders when a figure emerged from the mist, sneered at them and said, "My head is worth fifty Tongmai Pills. Don't you want it?"
The target of this hunt showed up on its own initiative, but the two pairs of disciples from the He Huan Sect showed no joy at all. One of the male disciples said in a trembling voice, "Fellow Daoist Zhou, you misunderstood. We are here to explore, not to hunt you down..."
The young Taoist smiled and asked, "Really?"
The four of them nodded immediately: "Yes, we are really here to explore!"
The young Taoist shrugged and said, "It doesn't matter. No matter what you are here for, since you are here, don't leave..."
After a moment, as the four shadows sank into the body, the figure of the young Taoist priest once again disappeared in the mist.
When they realized that someone was secretly ambushing the retreating disciples from various sects, everyone became even more afraid to act rashly, and the disciples from various sects began to consciously walk together.
Several disciples from Kunlun, Huashan, Tianyin Sect, Tianji Sect, as well as several weaker independent cultivators, temporarily formed an alliance and retreated together towards the entrance of the secret realm.
There was a surge of fog ahead, and everyone's heart immediately grew tense.
Soon, four figures walked out of the mist. They were wearing the same clothes and had a yin-yang fish symbol on their chests. This symbol was unique to the Tiandao Sect.
Seeing that it was a disciple of Tiandao Sect, everyone felt relieved.
The Tiandao Sect has a very transcendent status in the righteous path, and this transcendent status is brought about by their absolute strength.
In such a dangerous place, the several geniuses of Tiandao Sect can undoubtedly bring them the ultimate sense of security.
More than a dozen disciples from various righteous sects did not retreat, but surrounded the four people from the Tiandao Sect and continued to search for Zhou Tian in the Thousand Poison Cave. Those disciples from the Tiandao Sect also displayed the demeanor of the largest sect in the righteous path and were willing to provide shelter to the disciples of various sects.
While everyone was complimenting the Tiandao Sect disciples, some people also spoke out to remind them.
" Brothers, be careful. The demon from the Soul Refining Sect is very powerful. Many people have already fallen victim to his murderous hands."
"Yes, he also has the ability to capture souls. Anyone who dies in his hands becomes his ghost."
"The more people he kills, the stronger he becomes..."
…
The four people from the Tiandao Sect did not take these reminders to heart.
Although the four of them did not cultivate the five spiritual veins, they had all cultivated three spiritual veins, and were at the peak of the three spiritual veins. Their magic power was extremely profound, and coupled with the protective magic weapons and talismans, let alone the mere Qi Refining Stage disciples, even if they were in the early stage of Foundation Establishment, if they met them, there would be no return.
A young man from the Tiandao Sect said proudly, "Don't worry. If that demon dares to show up, he will be dead. Don't stay too far away. Be careful of being ambushed by him."
Everyone secretly sighed in their hearts, saying that they were worthy of being disciples of Tiandao Sect, their confidence was different from those of smaller sects.
Even the geniuses from the Kunlun, Huashan, and Tianyin sects developed a very complicated mentality. The people from the Tiandao Sect were a bit domineering on weekdays, but they could really be relied upon at critical moments.
This diluted some of their negative impressions of the Tiandao Sect.
The Thousand Poison Cave is actually not very big, but it is filled with poisonous fog and miasma, and you can't see very far. The consciousness of a cultivator in the Qi Refining Stage cannot leave the body too far, but fortunately, it is the same for everyone, and the demon does not know their location.
A dozen people were separated from each other by several feet, spreading out their spiritual sense and searching inch by inch. The area covered was not small. As long as there was any life nearby, it would be detected by them.
In this way, only half an hour later, a disciple said, "We found him!"
I saw a figure sitting cross-legged on a huge rock by the stream not far ahead.
A disciple of the Tiandao Sect threw out a talisman, and suddenly a strong wind blew up, dispersing the poisonous fog in the area and revealing the figure sitting on the boulder more clearly.
The man was wearing a green Taoist robe. Although there was still some distance between them, it was not difficult to see that he was Zhou Tian, the disciple of the Soul Refining Sect who was being rewarded by the Tiandao Sect.
But at this moment, his face was dark blue, his expression was ferocious, and there was a wisp of smoke lingering around his body.
Someone in the crowd immediately shouted, "He's been poisoned!"
No one was surprised by this result. In the Thousand Poison Cave, poisonous gas was everywhere. Even cultivators needed mana and detoxification pills to resist it. Within a few hours of coming in, the pills were almost used up, and their mana was exhausted several times. They had to rely on recovery pills. This demon had been here for several days, and his mana and pills must have been exhausted. He could no longer resist the poisonous fog and miasma.
The four Tiandao Sect disciples were the first to react and acted the fastest.
Almost at the same time, the four of them, with their magic power surging, rushed towards the figure on the boulder.
There is only one head, whoever gets it first gets it. At this moment, they have gone from being fellow disciples to competitors.
As for the disciples from other sects, they all stood where they were. Although it seemed that Zhou Tian had obviously been poisoned and had no power to resist, they had no chance of making a move in front of the disciples of Tiandao Sect.
What's more, the other person just protected their safety. Wouldn't it be ungrateful to snatch the reward from others at this time?
However, just as such thoughts emerged in their minds, the next moment, the figures of the four Tiandao Sect disciples disappeared mysteriously.
Not only the four disciples of Tiandao Sect, but Zhou Tian was also missing.
A thick black fog appeared within a range of ten feet ahead. From within the fog came the sounds of ghosts crying and wolves howling. Countless souls were tumbling in the black shadows. A Huashan Sect disciple in the crowd changed his expression greatly and shouted in shock, "It's the Ten Thousand Souls Formation. Everyone, retreat quickly!"
His face was pale at this moment, and even his voice was trembling.
The Ten Thousand Souls Formation is an extremely vicious formation of the evil path.
Unlike the Five Ghosts Soul-Capture Formation, as long as the five ghosts are carefully cultivated, they can use the power of the Five Elements to exert extremely strong power.
The power of the Ten Thousand Souls Formation is related to the number of souls. The more ghosts there are and the stronger they are, the more powerful the Ten Thousand Souls Formation will be. And there is no upper limit. A long time ago, there were often evil cultivators who massacred cities and destroyed countries just to collect souls and form the Ten Thousand Souls Formation...
Even the demons cannot tolerate such a bloody and brutal method of gathering souls. Thousands of years ago, the Soul Refining Sect banned its disciples from practicing this extremely vicious formation. Once discovered, they would be killed immediately.
Although the Ten Thousand Souls Formation in front of him is not as exaggerated as ten thousand souls, the number is also not small. Moreover, many of the ghosts among them are the souls of immortal cultivators after death, and their strength is thousands of times greater than that of mortal souls. No wonder so many people in the Thousand Poison Cave died at his hands. I don’t know whether the four disciples of Tiandao Sect can break it.
There is no point thinking about these things now, because Zhou Tian is already walking towards them.
At this moment, the black aura on Zhou Tian's face had long disappeared. Obviously, everything that had just happened was just an act, just to make everyone relax their vigilance and allow those Tiandao Sect disciples to enter the formation.
This person not only possesses extremely strong strength, but is also so insidious and cunning.
There are countless spirits and ghosts surrounding him, and they may form a formation of ten thousand souls.
The Huashan Sect disciple immediately sacrificed a group of formation flags, and after activating them, a protective shield emitting a faint light was formed, covering everyone. Then, above the formation, clouds of fire gathered in the sky and formed a huge flaming palm, pressing down towards the shield.
The flame and the shield collided, and although there was no sound, the shield formed by the formation shook violently and became dim at a speed visible to the naked eye, and it was possible to collapse at any time.
This attack made everyone change color.
The Huashan Sect disciple immediately said to everyone, "I can't hold out for long alone. Everyone, use your magic power to maintain the formation."
Upon hearing this, everyone immediately input their magic power into the shield. The shield suddenly glowed brightly and soon became solid again.
But everyone's heart was not let go.
Zhou Tian stood outside the formation. He did not continue to attack, nor did he command the ghosts to attack. He obviously wanted to wait until their magic power was exhausted so that he could get rid of them without any effort.
Maintaining this formation consumes a lot of mana. If they really wait until that time, their mana will be exhausted and they will have no power to resist.
Judging from the power of Zhou Tian’s casual attack just now, even if they removed the formation and gave it a go, they would not be a match for Zhou Tian and his ghost spirits. Now all their hopes rested on the four Tiandao Sect disciples.
If those geniuses of the Tiandao Sect could have broken the Ten Thousand Souls Formation earlier, there would still be a chance of saving them.
If not, then today, all of them will die here.
The young Taoist priest was waiting calmly outside the formation. The black fog was rolling around, and it was obvious that a great battle was going on inside.
Four disciples of Tiandao Sect were trapped in the Ten Thousand Souls Formation. They heard the constant crying of ghosts, which made them extremely irritated. Even their spellcasting speed slowed down a lot. This sound was not a real sound, but it directly penetrated their souls and could not be blocked.
In just a moment, the three of them felt dizzy and the circulation of their magic power was not as smooth as before.
Fortunately, the immortal clothes they were wearing were of high quality, so these ghosts and spirits could not break through them for the time being.
When facing ghosts and the like, the most effective method is, of course, thunder magic, but thunder magic can only be practiced after entering the foundation-building stage. The only spells they can rely on are fire spells. Although fire magic is not as effective as thunder magic in restraining spirits, it is the only spell that can cause damage to them.
But they obviously still underestimated these ghosts. Some of the low-level spirits disappeared into smoke under the scorching flames, but the spirits transformed from the souls of the cultivators were not afraid at all. Some ghosts could even absorb their magic fire, and their aura became even stronger, and they turned around to attack them. As the situation gradually became unfavorable for them.
Especially the strong fluctuation of magic power that came from outside just now, which was not weaker than those geniuses in the sect who cultivated the five spiritual veins. Once this person entered the formation, they would probably have to stay here today.
As soon as they had this thought, a powerful aura entered the formation.
Several seemingly small fireballs attacked a disciple of the Tiandao Sect. Before they could get close to him, they exploded. Although his protective fairy clothes helped him block the attack, they immediately became dim and could not withstand the second attack.
As Zhou Tian entered the formation, more ghost spirits poured into the formation. The ghost cries in their ears became more miserable. This sound was accompanied by a soul attack. The trembling of the four people's souls could no longer be suppressed. If this continued, they might not even be able to cast spells.
"No, we can't go on like this!"
"Break the formation with all your strength!"
After communicating with each other, the four of them threw out handfuls of talismans. Although these talismans were all first-level, their power was top-level among the first-level. In an instant, several gaps were blown in the black fog. The four of them flashed and finally escaped from the Ten Thousand Souls Formation.
When the disciples from various sects in another formation saw this, they were immediately shocked.
"Out!"
“They’re coming out!”
"As expected of the Tiandao Sect's genius, even the Ten Thousand Souls Formation can't trap them..."
It was not until this moment that they breathed a sigh of relief. As long as the four people from the Tiandao Sect could break the Ten Thousand Souls Formation, they would have hope.
But the next moment, everyone in the formation was dumbfounded.
The four people from the Tiandao Sect took out a talisman at the same time and stuck it on their bodies. Then they sped up so fast that they almost left afterimages and disappeared from everyone's sight in an instant.
This scene made the disciples from various sects stand there in a daze, their minds going blank.
The genius of Tiandao Sect... abandoned them and ran away?
At this moment, not only the disciples from various sects, but even Zhou Tian was stunned for a moment.
He subconsciously wanted to chase them, but gave up after only a few feet. The four people had talismans stuck on their bodies that could increase their speed dramatically, so it was impossible for him to catch up.
Regardless of the strength of these disciples from major sects, one cannot help but admire their ability to save their lives.
At this time, the four figures had already escaped ten miles away. There was a space rift in front of them. Seeing that no one was following them, they breathed a sigh of relief. One of them said angrily, "Who collected the information? Who said that his strength is only at the fourth level of Qi Refining? He is the fourth level of Qi Refining?"
Zhou Tian himself has the strength of the peak of Qi Refining with five spiritual veins. Coupled with those ghost spirits with strange methods, they may have the strength of Qi Refining at the 400th level. It is for this reason that after breaking the formation, the four of them turned around and fled without any hesitation.
Otherwise, they would still be here today.
Practicing is not easy, they are not so stupid as to sacrifice their lives for others.
If they were outside, they would have high-level talismans to use and would naturally not be afraid of this person. However, in this level of cave heaven, those things could not be used. This demon monster fled to the Thousand Poison Cave probably just to limit the use of high-level talismans and magic weapons.
At this time, a younger disciple asked, "But if we abandon them like this, will it affect the reputation of the Tiandao Sect?"
The older disciple smiled coldly and said, "That only requires them to come out alive..."
Thinking of Zhou Tian’s brutality, the dozen or so disciples from various sects present at the scene would probably become his ghosts, and naturally no one would know about their shameful act.
As long as the strong men of the sect are guarding outside, Zhou Tian’s magic power will be exhausted within a month, and he will be poisoned to death in the Thousand Poison Cave, and there will be no evidence.
Several people agreed with each other and then came out from the space crack.
Several foundation-building elders from the Tiandao Sect immediately came over and asked, "My fellow disciples, how is it going? Did you kill that demon?"
A Tiandao Sect disciple cleared his throat and said, "The strength of that demon was seriously underestimated. He has reached the peak of Qi Refining with five spiritual veins, and with the help of countless powerful spirit ghosts, he started a killing spree in there. Although we seriously injured him and rescued many disciples from various sects, we were unable to keep him. I'm afraid the sect will have to send more core disciples..."
Upon hearing about the incident in the Thousand Poison Cave, the Foundation Establishment Stage elders from various sects were greatly shocked and immediately took out their sound transmission tools to inform the sect.
Afterwards, they also expressed their gratitude to the four Tiandao Sect disciples. The four said that the disciples of the Righteous Path were one family, and this was what they should do, showing the demeanor of disciples of a large sect...
At the same time, in the Thousand Poison Cave.
The disciples of various sects within the formation all showed despair on their faces.
Even the four people from the Tiandao Sect ran away. When their magic power is exhausted and the formation disappears, that will be the end of their death.
A disciple of the Tianji Sect gritted his teeth and said, "There are so many of us, why don't we just fight him!"
The Huashan Sect disciple maintained the formation and said helplessly, "It's useless. Once we are trapped in the Ten Thousand Souls Formation, we will all die. If we hold on for a while, there may still be hope..."
His words did not inspire hope in the crowd.
Even the people from the Tiandao Sect abandoned them and fled. Who else could save them?
Time passed slowly, and the young Taoist in the formation was not in a hurry at all. The mana and elixirs of everyone in the formation were being consumed rapidly, and they could not hold on for much longer.
At a certain moment, there was another wave of fluctuations in the fog ahead.
Several figures walked out of the fog.
Several righteous disciples in the formation immediately shouted, "The demon is here, you are no match for him, leave!"
They are already doomed, so save as many as you can.
Even if the people who come are from the demonic path, reminding them to escape is better than letting them die at Zhou Tian's hands and become his ghost spirits, increasing his strength.
But Zhou Tian obviously did not give those people a chance. He flashed and flew towards the newly appeared people.
Halfway through the flight, he stopped there again.
He looked at a handsome young man not far away and did not take any action.
At this time, everyone in the formation also saw clearly who was coming. They were several beautiful women.
"It's an Emei disciple!"
"It's over. It looks like they can't escape the murderous hands."
Everyone looked regretful, except for two Kunlun disciples who revealed expressions of ecstasy after seeing a certain figure clearly.
"It's Senior Brother Li!"
"Senior Brother Li is here too!"
"We are saved now!"
The appearance of that man instantly filled their hearts with a sense of security. The name ranked second on the trial monument represented a trust that could not be replaced by anyone else.
The disciples of other sects had more or less heard of Li Yu's name, but even several people from the Tiandao Sect fled in panic. Unlike the Kunlun disciples, they did not have enough confidence in whether Li Yu could defeat Zhou Tian.
Finally finding Zhou Tian, Li Yu asked the five women of Emei Sect to form a formation to protect themselves in case Zhou Tian made a sneak attack. The space ring flashed, and the middle-grade flying sword appeared in his hand.
Facing Li Yu, Zhou Tian did not dare to be careless. Countless soul shadows turned into endless black mist, pouring out of his body and instantly submerging Li Yu.
He killed many immortal cultivators and monsters here, collected their souls and formed the Ten Thousand Souls Formation. Even those in the Foundation Establishment Stage would be trapped to death.
Although this kid is a bit weird, he should not be able to break his Ten Thousand Souls Formation.
In the black fog, there was a surge and waves of magical power were heard.
Li Yu stood where he was, facing the countless soul shadows that pounced on him. He did not dodge or evade, and even took the initiative to greet them. He spoke while absorbing the energy.
