CHAPTER 364: CHAPTER 349: GOLDEN CORE GHOST GENERAL [1ST UPDATE, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE]

Corpse Demon, Evil Ghost, Bone Demon!

The demonic entities in the "Demon-Sealing Cave" mainly consist of these three.

Among them, the Corpse Demon possesses a formidable physical body with immense strength and is the most numerous.

The Evil Ghost can gather and disperse without a trace, excelling at concealing its form, making it the hardest to deal with among the three.

The Bone Demon is cunning and treacherous, possessing the strongest individual power and the most bizarre divine techniques among the three.

After Zhouyang had stayed in the "Demon-Sealing Cave" for about ten days, he had encountered all these demonic entities.

Meanwhile, the various demonic entities that had died by his hand totaled more than fifty, including seven Tier Four demons.

Defeating these demonic entities yielded mostly no gains, as most of them were directly refined to dust by his Vermilion Bird Fire.

However, some of them, upon death, left behind items worth mentioning.

For instance, the Corpse Pearl condensed by the Corpse Demon, the "Ghost Tear Stone" left behind after refining an Evil Ghost, and the Bone Essence Pearl cultivated by the Bone Demon.

The "Ghost Tear Stone" can only possibly be produced by refining a Tier Four Evil Ghost; this treasure, once purified through Secret Technique to remove the grudges of the Evil Ghost, becomes a supreme treasure for cultivators to enhance their divine sense.

The "Bone Essence Pearl" is even more extraordinary; it is the essence of the Bone Demon, made from an extremely hard material, and upon refining the demonic qi inside, becomes an excellent artifact refining material.

After slaying many demonic entities along the way, he finally reached the far northwest end of the Demon Realm Grotto Heaven, beneath a peak towering a thousand feet high.

This peak bordered the land of the Demon Realm Grotto Heaven on one side, facing the endless Chaos Void on the other; it was truly the grotto heaven’s end, the end of the heavens.

"Such thick ghostly mist!"

"Is there a Golden Core Stage Ghost General residing on this mountain?"

Below the peak, Zhouyang looked up at the peak mostly shrouded by gray-black ghostly mist, his expression incredibly grave.

There must be Golden Core Stage demonic entities in the "Demon-Sealing Cave"!

Otherwise, the Profound Yang Immortal Sect wouldn’t continuously station several Golden Core Stage cultivators here.

And Golden Core Stage demonic entities, regardless of type, have intelligence comparable to ordinary humans, knowing how to avoid being hunted by human cultivators, and rarely appear in front of people.

Zhouyang had not revealed his trump card, the "Qianyang True Fire," for fear of attracting an attack from a Golden Core Stage demonic entity once he exposed this divine technique.

But now, looking at the mist-covered mountain ahead, and recalling the Ghost Luo Banner demon artifact entrusted to him by Elder Guo outside the "Demon-Sealing Cave" on behalf of Master Cyan Yang, he seemed to understand something.

They wanted him to clear this ghostly domain!

"Elder Qingyang regards me too highly!"

"Even if the Qianyang True Fire best suppresses Ghostly Demon Cultivators, I am, after all, only at mid-stage Purple Mansion cultivation; it would be good enough to remain undefeated before a Golden Core Stage Ghost Cultivator, so how can I clear this ghostly domain?"

"This is putting me on the spot!"

Zhouyang looked bitterly at the ghost-mist-covered peak ahead, feeling speechless inside.

Admittedly, after understanding the situation of the "Demon-Sealing Cave," he was never worried about this trip.

Because, facing him who mastered the "Qianyang True Fire," even a Golden Core Stage demonic entity would be restricted when confronting him, being able to exert only half of its full power would be very good.

So here, although not moving about with complete freedom, his life would absolutely not be threatened.

But he never intended to confront Tier Five demonic entities with his current cultivation in the "Demon-Sealing Cave," let alone sweep away and exterminate them!

Events of the Purple Mansion vs Golden Core battle have occurred in the cultivation realm.

But every such battle comes with rare and incopyible elements.

For instance, a genius array master once used the carelessness of a Golden Core Stage cultivator to lure him into a Tier Five array to ensnare and kill him.

To achieve this, not only must the target Golden Core Stage cultivator be ignorant of arrays, but he must also be mentally careless, charging in without noticing the array.

Or, like a genius beast tamer who contracted a Tier Five demon beast, then used the beast’s power to contend with a Golden Core Stage cultivator.

Or, like Zhouyang, mastering a divine technique that targets and suppresses certain types of Golden Core Stage cultivators, then battling in specific environments where the Golden Core Stage cultivator cannot fully exert his abilities.

In short, such Purple Mansion vs Golden Core battles, spanning realms, are exceedingly rare and perilous in the cultivation realm.

After all, Golden Core Stage cultivators are Golden Core Stage cultivators; they can withstand multiple attacks from Purple Mansion Stage cultivators without dying, but a Purple Mansion Stage cultivator, if struck once by them, would be crippled if not killed.

Therefore, unless forced by circumstances, no Purple Mansion Stage cultivator would risk engaging in magical combat with a Golden Core Stage cultivator.

Zhouyang carefully contemplated the situation he was facing and immediately realized that in the vast expanse of the "Sealed Demon Cave," it was unrealistic for him to annihilate a Golden Core Stage Ghost General.

Even if the Golden Core Stage Ghost General feared his mastery of the "Qianyang True Flame" and couldn’t defeat him, escaping would be an easy task, and Zhouyang was simply powerless to stop it.

"Elder Qingyang wouldn’t be unaware of this situation, so why would he give me such a nearly impossible task?"

Zhouyang furrowed his brow, sensing that things weren’t so simple.

There must be something he hadn’t figured out yet.

So he patted his Storage Bag and took out the "Ghost Luo Banner," a Demon Artifact given to him by Elder Guo.

This "Ghost Luo Banner" was a Tier Five Demon Artifact, and as soon as Zhouyang took it out, the demonic energy in the surrounding world automatically surged towards it. It was unclear whether the artifact sensed the pure external demonic energy and actively absorbed it or if the demonic energy was drawn by the artifact and nourished it.

Either way, this wasn’t a good thing for Zhouyang.

"This artifact must be the Ghostly Demon Cultivator’s Magical Artifact used for housing and nurturing the Ghost Slaves they refined. With its Tier Five Demon Artifact rank, it could hold even a Ghost Slave at the Golden Core Stage!"

"Did Master Cyan Yang want me to plant it on top of the Ghostly Mist Peak as bait to lure out the Golden Core Stage Ghost Cultivator inside?"

Zhouyang looked at the black banner in his hand and analyzed it with his Artifact Refiner’s perspective.

The Magical Artifacts used by cultivators and the Demon Artifacts used by demon cultivators differed only in the power they held; their refinement methods weren’t significantly different.

So even though he had never refined a Demon Artifact, it didn’t stop him from identifying and judging its purpose and function.

"Wait, planting it on the peak, planting it on the peak... Of course, why am I thinking about killing the Golden Core Stage Ghost Cultivator inside? I just need to temporarily repel it, preventing it from interfering with me planting this artifact at the summit to complete the task!"

His hand trembled, and he broke into a sudden realization, finally understanding what he had previously missed.

A Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator like Master Cyan Yang would indeed not set up an impossible task, only testing if the task executor could understand his intention.

This was also a small test.

Zhouyang guessed that Master Cyan Yang wanted to use this to remind him not to act impulsively, encouraging him to think more.

"It seems that this fiasco over jealousy indeed dissatisfied Elder Qingyang!"

"To him, such affairs arising from vying for the favor of a woman and leading to a big fight must appear trivial and silly!"

After figuring everything out, Zhouyang couldn’t help but smile wryly, having nothing more to say.

He knew that Master Cyan Yang had never married or had children, dedicating his entire life to the path of cultivation, so matters of romance between men and women were probably the most boring to him.

So Master Cyan Yang must not understand the things a man does to defend his dignity.

He wouldn’t blame Master Cyan Yang for this because, practically speaking, he indeed might have caused a fuss over nothing by bothering him about such trivial matters.

Now that he understood the correct way to complete the task, he should proceed to finish it.

He inserted the "Ghost Luo Banner" at his waist and flew towards the fog-covered peak using Sword Control.

Ooooo—

Before getting close to the Ghostly Mist Peak, a howling sound emanated from within the ghostly fog, signaling that the ghost entities inside had detected an approaching living person.

Zhouyang paid no heed to this sound, his whole body lighting up with golden light as he charged straight into the ghost fog.

Unlike water vapor, the ghost fog was a form of spiritual power. Therefore, upon entering the fog, his body was unaffected, though terrifying images of corpse mountains and blood seas and grimacing ghosts inexplicably appeared in his mind.

If mortals or Qi Cultivation Stage Cultivators with unsteady wills ventured into the ghost fog, they would be ensnared by the Ghostly Illusion Realm, potentially leading to a frightful death.

After they died, their corpses would be devoured by the ghosts in the realm, turning to bones and ashes.

Meanwhile, their souls would transform into new ghost entities within the realm, either devoured by stronger ghosts or lying in wait to prey on others.

But Zhouyang wasn’t someone with a frail will; faced with the Ghostly Illusion Realm in his mind, he roared thunderously like the burst of spring thunder, "Begone!"

Instantly, the Ghostly Illusion Realm dissipated, revealing the true form of the peak.

On this peak, besides the perpetual black soil and stones of the Demon Realm Grotto Heaven, there was a bit more other-worldly color.

That was bones—human bones, demon beast bones, and bones of unknown creatures, scattered in piles across the peak.

On these bone piles, pale ghostly flames quietly burned, creating a chilling and eerie atmosphere.

"So many bones, this must mean there are not only ghosts but also Bone Demons here. Hopefully, there won’t appear those Bone Generals who can rival Golden Core Stage cultivators!"

Zhouyang frowned deeply at the bones on the peak, eyes filled with intense concern.