"Hehe, I don't know if it's a blessing or a curse for us to come here by accident!" Jin Liu chuckled and said in a self-deprecating manner.
"Let's not talk about whether it's a blessing or a curse. It seems that the higher the level, the stronger the restriction on the divine consciousness. It's not very comfortable," Valley Master Fu said with a frown.
"Let's go.
There's no turning back. Since we're here, let's explore this tower together. It's not a wasted trip, "Su Xiaqian said calmly.
After saying that, she walked forward first. Jin Liu's eyes darkened and he hurriedly followed.
Valley Master Fu and the others had complicated expressions. They looked at the huge stone door behind them and seemed to be hesitant.
"The restriction on this stone door is not inferior to the sect protection array of a large sect. It's not easy to break it. Let's find another way out," Han Li reminded Valley Master Fu as he passed by.
As he spoke, he also rushed towards the black building.
Valley Master Fu and the others saw this and their expressions changed again. After hesitating for a while, they could only follow.
As they moved forward, the closer they got to the black building, the denser the Yin Qi became. When they were almost in front of the building, they even felt the temperature of the surrounding air become colder. Several Golden Immortal itinerant cultivators had white mist coming out of their nostrils and mouths as they breathed.
When they got close to the black building, they realized that it was actually an ancient temple with weeds growing all over it.
The gate of the ancient temple was very dilapidated. Not only were weeds growing in between the cracks of the brick walls, even the two wooden doors were covered with moss. The two beast head knockers were also covered with rust and hung askew on the door.
Han Li stood outside the mountain gate and his eyes fell on the horizontal board hanging above the lintel. He said softly, "Eighteen levels …"
Looking at the three words on the horizontal board, everyone's expression became strange.
"Why is it eighteen levels?
Didn't we just enter the third level? How did we get to the eighteenth level? "Valley Master Fu said in surprise.
"Don't make a fuss. Maybe this ancient temple is called 'eighteen levels'," Jin Liu said in disdain.
"This place is filled with Ghost Qi. I'm afraid it's not a good place. I think it's better if we don't go in," a Golden Immortal rogue cultivator said with a trembling voice with a fearful expression.
As soon as his voice fell, a creaking sound rang out. The two doors of the ancient temple opened on their own.
Everyone waited for a moment, yet when they saw that there was no movement from within, they couldn't help but look at each other in dismay. They were at a loss for what to do.
Jin Liu and Su Aiqian looked at each other, nodded at each other, and walked through the door.
Han Li's eyebrows twitched. He felt that it was strange and followed them in.
Valley Master Fu and the rest had a heavy heart and could only bite the bullet and follow them in.
Everyone stepped into the ancient temple. Behind them, there was another long and unpleasant creaking sound. The door was closed.
Han Li turned his head and saw two balls of dark green ghostly flames floating out from behind the door. They circled around the group and leisurely floated forward, as if they were two lanterns leading the way.
Everyone was surprised by the strange scene in front of them. After hesitating for a long time, they followed the two balls of ghostly fire and walked into the depths of the ancient temple.
Behind the door was a not too small white square. When Han Li walked on it, he felt that the ground under his feet was uneven and there was a slight creaking sound from time to time.
He looked down and found that the ground of this white square was not paved with white stones, but with pieces of white broken bones. Not only was the ground uneven, there were also specks of ghostly green flames floating out from time to time.
Everyone carefully walked on it. Fortunately, there was nothing strange along the way. Everyone soon arrived at the Heavenly King Hall.
Inside the Heavenly King Hall, there were two statues of Heavenly Kings that were almost as tall as the whole house.
Both of them were wearing broken golden armors. One of them was holding a Demon Subduing Pestle, and the other was holding a bloody human head. Different from the real Heavenly Kings in the temple, these two statues looked ferocious and looked like evil spirits.
After passing through the Heavenly King Hall, everyone came to an even larger square.
There were nine high platforms built on both sides of the square. There were many figures on them, and miserable cries could be heard from time to time.
Han Li frowned and turned his gaze to the first platform on the left. There, he saw a purple-skinned evil ghost holding a pair of black pincers in his hand. He was currently inserting a pair of black pincers into the mouth of a white-haired old woman, clamping down on her tongue and slowly pulling it out.
The old woman's face was filled with pain, but she couldn't make much sound. She could only whimper.
On the first high platform on the other side, there was a beautiful woman who was tied to a stone bed with no clothes covering her body. Two green-haired evil spirits were holding a pair of huge scissors and cutting at her body.
The woman's cries were mournful and frightening.
Han Li continued to look behind him, only to discover that all of the stone platforms were in dire straits.
In one of them, there was a huge stone mill being pushed by a powerful Ghost King. It was grinding human limbs and bones, but the head of the man was still intact, and he was still wailing in pain.
In another place, there was a huge iron pot with flames curling around it. The pot was boiling with oil, and beside it, several evil spirits carried a terrified person and threw him into the pot. Black smoke rose from the explosion, and the smell of burnt flesh was incomparably strong.
…
Han Li frowned. He finally understood why this place was called the "Eighteenth Level".
In the mortal world and the Spiritual Realm, there were rumors that the Netherworld had eighteen levels of purgatory. Han Li had heard a lot of it since he was young, so he didn't find the scene in front of him strange, but he was a little more confused.
"What the hell is this place?" Valley Master Fu's expression was solemn as he asked loudly.
As soon as he finished speaking, there was a flash of red light in the sky in front of the square. Ten figures slowly floated down from the sky.
Han Li focused his gaze to discover that there were 10 ghostly beings in crimson official robes with golden and jade belts around their waists.
Those ghosts were either born with bull heads and sharp horns, horse faces and long beards, or protruding mouths and monkey cheeks … All of them were ferocious and strange, and none of them had a human shape. Only one in the middle had a pale face and a red flower hanging in front of his chest. He looked a little like a scholar who had just been promoted.
"What kind of demons are you? How dare you pretend to be mysterious and mystifying here?" Jin Liu's gaze turned cold as he shouted angrily.
"How dare you evil prisoners not kneel and admit your guilt after seeing the ten Yama Kings?" The pale-faced man who looked a little like a human reprimanded with one hand on his waist and the other pointing at the crowd.
His voice was shrill, and coupled with his somewhat feminine movements, it immediately destroyed his original scholarly image. He looked a little like a eunuch who was neither Yin nor Yang.
"Ten mere Ghost Generals dare to call themselves Yama Kings?
What a joke! "Su Liqian sneered and said.
"Today, you entered the Eighteen Levels of Purgatory of your own accord. You shall be sentenced to endless punishment. Don't even think about entering the cycle of reincarnation." The white-faced Ghost General shouted angrily and flew up.
The other nine people floated up with him. Their scarlet official robes fluttered even though there was no wind.
As soon as they made their move, cold winds howled on both sides. Large swathes of black fog surged out of the ground. Countless ferocious-looking evil ghosts wielding white bone weapons pounced towards the center of the square.
Because there were too many evil ghosts, they were already crowded together when they rushed to the square. They collided with each other, trampled on each other, and the howls of ghosts were earth-shattering.
"How … how can there be so many ghosts?" Valley Master Fu frowned.
"It's just some ordinary otherworldly items that can be easily crushed into ashes. Everyone, don't panic and mess up your formation. If there's a formation, we'll set up a formation. If there's no formation, we'll defend against the enemy. Let's get rid of these small fries first. The Heavenly Water Sect will deal with the ten Ghost Generals above," Jin Liu said loudly with a calm expression.
As soon as he finished speaking, he waved his palm and an Eight Treasures Exquisite Pagoda appeared in the air. Its surface emitted bursts of silver light.
Han Li fixed his eyes on it and saw waves of spatial ripples spreading out from the pagoda. He muttered to himself,
"A spatial immortal artifact … It's rare, but its grade is not high."
Immediately after, the entrance of the Linglong Treasure Pagoda lit up one after another, and a dozen figures flew out from it. They spun around and landed on the ground, returning to normal. It was a dozen elders dressed in the Heavenly Water Sect's uniform.
Among them, the leader was an Early-stage Primordial Unity, while the rest were mostly Late-stage Golden Immortals and Peak Golden Immortals.
"Elder Lu Qiu, there are many Ghost Generals here. We'll have to trouble you to help us," Jin Liu said as he cupped his fists at the dozen of people.
"It's fine. We willingly entered the Sacrifice Pagoda so that we can lend you a hand at the crucial moment. Therefore, there's no need to stand on ceremony." The white-haired, skinny elder waved his hand and said.
Valley Master Fu and the others calmed down a little when they saw this. They held their magic weapons and prepared to fight the enemy.
Then, Jin Liu and Su Lai Qian looked at each other and led more than ten elders of the Heavenly Water Sect to fly up and pounce on the red-robed Ghost General who called himself the Ten Kings of Hell.
"Fellow Daoists, although the cultivation of these Ghost Generals is not high, there are too many of them. If we fight separately, we'll be exhausted sooner or later.
Why don't we use the Green Dragon Chaos Formation with me? Maybe we can hold on until the Heavenly Water Sect returns victorious, "Valley Master Fu shouted after the people of the Heavenly Water Sect left.
"This Green Dragon Chaos Formation is a secret formation of your Qingsuo Valley. We're not familiar with it. How can we form the formation together?" A Golden Immortal Rogue Cultivator asked with a troubled look.
"The key to forming this formation is a treasure. You just need to do it according to the method I said. It's very simple."
Valley Master Fu said and quickly taught the formation method of the Green Dragon Chaos Formation to everyone through telepathy.
Then, he turned his wrist, raised his hand and threw a dragon-shaped Jade Amulet up, and shouted,
He shouted, "Formation!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the few of them immediately took action. They formed a circle according to the method he said. At the same time, they used the Astral Steps and formed a seal with their hands. Their mouths also started chanting.
Although Han Li stood beside them, he did not make any move.
Seeing the Ghost Generals surging towards them like a tide, they had no time to argue with him. They just felt a little resentful.