Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

After the countdown ended, Yan Yu led the team into the Mysterious Realm.

Within the realm of Fengdu, the visibility had dropped even further compared to the outside—the outside was a bit like black smoke and haze blocking out the sky, but inside it was simply deep into the night. Only the moonlight above could faintly illuminate the outlines of the nearby mountain peaks.

At this moment, the team seemed to be in a mountain ravine with unclimbable cliffs on both sides, almost perpendicular to the ground at 90 degrees.

Of course, they could climb up using the Cloud Ascension Technique, but most likely they would encounter an air wall... Although the Mysterious Realm was created for various purposes, it certainly did not include letting outsiders play sandbox games. A path that's clearly not meant to be taken, forcing your way through would not reveal any map easter eggs.

Looking further ahead, the mountain path snaked upward, gradually fading into the night and becoming indiscernible.

"It seems they have not passed through here," Su Yunjin said, holding a flashlight and shining it on the ground, suddenly speaking. "Look, if they had passed by, there would be footprints on the ground."

Everyone looked down to see that their path was not the stone slab steps commonly found in scenic areas, but a somewhat moist and muddy dirt road.

Even someone as light and supple as Su Yunjin would leave shallow impressions when stepping on it. Zhou Hongyu's team included a muscular man like Qin Meng, so not leaving footprints was impossible.

"Could it be that to avoid leaving footprints, the entire team used the Cloud Ascension Technique to fly over?" Lin Ning pondered and asked, "Is that a possibility?"

"If that's the case, it would be great," Chen Lingyun said with a smile. "Depleting their True Yuan in advance would make our fight a lot easier."

"No matter whether there's an ambush ahead or not, let's just brace ourselves," Yan Yu said in conclusion.

He was about to lead the team forward when he noticed Chen Lingyun staring silently behind them.

"What's wrong?" Yan Yu asked.

"Is there a pond over there?" Chen Lingyun asked him in return.

Yan Yu used his flashlight to illuminate the end of the road, which appeared black and murky under the light—not like a pond, but rather like a patch of rotten mud.

"Let's go over and have a look," he said. "Quickly, let's not waste too much time."

The group immediately turned around and after walking a few dozen steps, they quickly arrived at the edge of the muddy ground. They saw an area dense with reeds and a shallow, stagnant pool that smelled awful.

Further away was a small temple, looking like a local land deity shrine, but instead of housing just one mud statue, there were five.

Yan Yu took a closer look and exclaimed:

"Hey, Chen Lingyun, you've struck it lucky."

"What's that?" Chen Lingyun asked with a smile.

"It looks like the Five Directions Deities," Lin Ning said nervously. "My dad said if you come across them on the road, don't worship them or make any wishes carelessly. If they grant your wish and you forget to repay your vow, they will come to collect your life... "

Before she could finish, five streams of black smoke drifted out from the reeds, transforming into five ghastly, green-faced fiends hovering in the air, each about two meters tall, and bellowed in a fierce voice:

"Having beheld deities, why do you not kneel!"

Chen Lingyun looked at Yan Yu, who stepped forward and said with a smile:

"One who attains Dao becomes a deity, one who loses offerings becomes a ghost. There's no incense or votive offerings in this Mysterious Realm, no faithful believers' prayers—I think you're less like deities and more like ghosts."

"Impudent!" the five fiends shouted in unison, and they transformed into weapons—sword, spear, staff, axe, and hammer, ferociously lunging at Yan Yu and the others.

Before they could get close, two streaks of sword light charged at them.

One was mysterious yellow, the Huang Tingjian, and the other was verdant green, the Green Bamboo Sword, each piercing through the fiends wielding the sword and spear, who didn't even manage to block, their forms quickly fading away.

Chen Lingyun seized the opportunity to activate her Soul Summoning Banner, quickly capturing the two spirits within it, thinking to herself whether these ghosts were a bit too weak?

Before she could figure it out, the Demonic Sect Enchantress's Yin Wind Sword struck from the side, effortlessly dispatching one fiend and passing through another. Without further thought, Chen Lingyun hastily collected the falling spirits as well.

Only the one with the axe remained, landing on the ground bewildered. Seeing that in the blink of an eye only he was left, he threw his axe to the ground and shouted:

"Fine, fine, fine, come on then, make it quick!"

Even Chen Lingyun couldn't maintain her composure at this point, as she let out a laugh and stared coldly and disdainfully at Yan Yu. The implication couldn't be more clear:

Just like this, as weak as a chicken, you think you're fit to be my Servant Envoy?

Yan Yu, however, didn't argue but instead turned to the evil ghost and asked:

"Are you a soul practicing Daoism, or a demonic beast that has gained sentience?"

The evil ghost replied with a bitter smile:

"This place is a Mysterious Realm of the netherworld; where would there be demonic beasts? Any creature with flesh and blood would have long been devoured by a myriad of ghosts. We died too early, at least four or five thousand years ago, and our specific names have been forgotten. Now, we are nothing but solitary and wild ghosts, with very little magical power remaining in us.

Daoist master, do as you please."

"Then there's no issue," Yan Yu nodded and turned to explain to Chen Lingyun, "Among the numbers of Heaven, twelve is the number, and five represents the Yang within Yin. In ancient times, if solitary and wild ghosts, by some stroke of fate, gathered in a group of five, they had the chance to cultivate using Yin energy, becoming the 'Five Ghosts'."

"The Five Ghosts could cultivate for good or evildo. Those who cultivate for good feed on human offerings and repay with wealth, harnessing the power of wishes to enhance themselves, becoming 'Five Manifest Gods'. However, if driven by evil cultivators to steal wealth, or even to take human lives, they become 'Five Lesser Demons'."

"Additionally, there are 'False Five Manifest Gods'. Due to the widespread worship of the 'Five Manifest Gods' in the ancient South, some animal spirits and monsters falsely claim their name. They also group in fives, bringing calamity to the common people, debauching men's wives and daughters... Such beings need not be spared; encountering them, it's straight to the killing."

"We've never done such things!" The ghost, upon hearing the phrase "need not be spared," hurriedly transformed into the form of a young girl and, weeping, cried out her grievances, "We are just solitary and wild ghosts without physical bodies; how can gender be ascribed to us? To be female or male as desired, why bother harming innocent women, stirring up resentment among the people?

We might as well be female ghosts, seducing traveling scholars. How much Yang energy we desire, we have, and he won't even think to report us to the authorities, happy as can be..."

"That's enough, stop." Chen Lingyun spoke indifferently, and the evil ghost immediately fell silent.

After a short contemplation, she summoned the Soul Summoning Banner and captured the last evil ghost as well.

"We've wasted a few minutes here; we'll need to speed up from now on." Yan Yu nodded, and turned to leave.

Everyone hurried to keep up with his pace. Moments later, Chen Lingyun quickened her steps, coming up beside Yan Yu and asking in a lowered voice:

"When you said they 'could take a life,' what did you mean exactly?"

"Slashing people with blades and swords," Yan Yu replied. "Didn't you see just now?"

"Just that?" Chen Lingyun raised her eyebrows.

"The esteemed Princess Jiang Hai, is this the extent of your wit?" Yan Yu mocked her ruthlessly, "True, just slashing people with blades isn't impressive. But the strength of the Five Ghosts is their unpredictability, with Invisibility Technique, with Wall-Penetration Technique. Do you understand now?"

If it were someone as pure-minded as Lin Ning, she likely wouldn't understand what he meant. But how dirty were Chen Lingyun's thoughts? She immediately grasped the true utility of the Five Ghosts.

Like using Wall-Penetration Technique to hide within mountain walls, inside tree trunks, even under the ground, then waiting for an enemy to pass by to spring out, strike from behind with a blade, and then disappear using invisibility...

Perfect, I like it.

With this in mind, Chen Lingyun again asked with a smile:

"These Five Ghosts are a bit weak now, disabled by a stab from an Immortal Sword, instantly losing their combat strength. Is there a way to enhance their defenses?"

"Even if there were better ways to refine them, you think I would know?" Yan Yu replied with a sneer, "Do I look like someone who plays with such vile things as ghosts? I am a righteous and upright Cultivator!"

Chen Lingyun, not minding being put down, merely smiled and said:

"So the answer is yes, right?"

"Yes." Yan Yu didn't play coy and frankly said, "But there's no need to. Understand?"

Chen Lingyun instantly got it and said:

"Because the greatest advantage of ghosts lies in their unpredictability. Rather than improving their defense, it's better to enhance their concealment."

"See." Yan Yu clapped his hands in appreciation, "I always knew your crafty and cunning nature made you a natural at dealing with ghosts!"