"Eh, what happened to that ghost? Did you repel it?" Yan Sijing had recovered by now, looking around in some panic.

"Don't worry, that ghost has been subdued by me," Yuan Ming said, continuing to fly forward.

Yan Sijing was slightly taken aback, her expression somewhat complex as she watched Yuan Ming's retreating figure and followed as well.

Not long after the two had left, a transparent figure materialized in the void about a dozen zhang away—it was the black-robed person from before.

This individual did not exude a trace of aura. Previously, both Yuan Ming and Yan Sijing's divine senses had swept over this spot but failed to detect this person's presence.

The black-robed person watched Yuan Ming's retreating figure, eyes shimmering with brilliance under the dark cloth, and then vanished in a flash.

On their subsequent journey, Yuan Ming and company encountered more ghosts, including some powerful ones in the Core Formation Stage as well as hordes of those in the Foundation Establishment and Qi Refinement Stages.

However, no matter the ghost, they all had no power to resist against Yuan Ming, either being swept away by an ethereal image of a scroll or being directly slain by the Soul Destroying Sword.

Yan Sijing rarely took action along the way, her thoughts becoming increasingly heavy.

The strength displayed by Yuan Ming repeatedly exceeded her expectations, almost beyond what a Core Formation cultivator should possess, and it seemed he had not yet exerted his full strength.

"Yuan Ming is just an envoy of the Nether Moon God, yet he possesses such strength. Perhaps the Nether Moon God he serves may truly be able to contend with Thunderbolt Ancestor," Yan Sijing speculated secretly.

Although she had promised Yuan Ming to believe in the Nether Moon God, she still had many doubts about the god's strength before.

Now witnessing Yuan Ming's astonishing combat abilities, she began to genuinely revere the Nether Moon God.

At this moment, the Ghost Miasma suddenly thinned, and the valley finally ended.

The view ahead opened up, the ground covered with sand and black stones, seemingly an endless Gobi Desert. A few green grass and leaves sprouted from the cracks in the rocks, adding a bit of vitality to this place.

The sky was also gray-black, conveying a sense of vastness.

However, on this desolate desert stood a gray-black city with walls as high as twenty or thirty zhang, extending far in all directions, occupying no less an area than Little Lake City or Wangyue City.

The city gate faced the canyon, with three large characters "Yin Capital City" inscribed on it, full of dynamic flourishes.

Possibly due to a lack of maintenance over many years, many parts of Yin Capital City were already collapsed and damaged, with cracks in the three big characters above the gate as well, and the two large doors battered by years of wind and rain.

Through the half-fallen gate, one could see the insides streets equally dilapidated, devoid of any human traces.

"Have we passed the valley's test? What's up with this city?" Yan Sijing subconsciously looked to Yuan Ming for guidance.

"I don't know, but if we want to continue exploring the Immortal Mansion, we'll have to enter the city," Yuan Ming stated calmly.

"Why?" Yan Sijing asked, puzzled.

Yuan Ming pointed to the right, where a small stele stood behind several rugged boulders, inscribed with a line of small characters:

Within Yin Capital City, between Yin and Yang, secret treasure awaits those destined!

"Fellow Daoist Yuan is observant. The other three sentences are easy to understand, but what does 'between Yin and Yang' mean?" Yan Sijing examined the small characters on the stele.

Yuan Ming was also pondering the meaning of these sentences but had not reached any conclusion yet.

"Regardless, we need to enter the city to find out. I am ready to go in for a look, what are your plans, Fellow Daoist Yan?" he asked.

"Since Fellow Daoist Yuan is interested, this young lady naturally will accompany," Yan Sijing responded after a brief contemplation.

Yuan Ming had promised to employ the power of the Nether Moon God to eliminate Thunderbolt Ancestor. If she were to stop here, she would be unable to verify the truth. Moreover, although the wilderness seemed tranquil, who could know if there were other dangers?

Yuan Ming did not say much more and took the lead by squeezing through the cracks in the gate without damaging it. Yan Sijing also followed suit and entered.

...

Meanwhile.

In a snowy and icy land, the Thunderbolt Ancestor moved rapidly with a Core Formation female cultivator.

One after another, luminescent blue fox-like monsters emerged from the snow below, lunging at the Thunderbolt Ancestor and his companion.

The Thunderbolt Ancestor, without looking aside, emitted bolts of Purple Thunder from the indigo robe he wore, piercing through the blue fox monsters effortlessly, turning them into charred corpses.

Shortly afterwards, the ice and snow ahead rapidly melted away, and verdant, lush forests grew id fueling in its place. A gray, towering city stood there—it was also called Yin Capital City.

What's more, the state of collapse and dilapidation at the city walls and gate matched exactly the Yin Capital City that Yuan Ming and company had encountered in the desert.

"Ancestor, there's a stele here." The Core Formation female cultivator pointed to a nearby jungle where a stele stood, inscribed with the same words as the one near Yuan Ming and his companion.

"Secret treasure! Hahahaha, the treasures are finally starting to appear." The Thunderbolt Ancestor's eyes revealed a look of greed. Just as he was about to leap into the city, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"You go in first," he said to the Core Formation female cultivator.

The female cultivator understood that the Thunderbolt Ancestor wanted her to check the path ahead. Although she cursed him in her heart, she dared not disobey and, conjuring her magic treasure for protection, went into the city ahead.

As the Thunderbolt Ancestor watched her, confirming she was not in immediate danger, he was about to follow, but the female cultivator inside the city suddenly vanished into thin air.

The Thunderbolt Ancestor was startled; he had been using his divine sense to lock onto the Core Formation female cultivator but could not discern how she had disappeared.

The gloomy city gate seemed like an unfathomable giant maw, devouring all who dared to enter.

Thunderbolt Ancestor's heart secretly trembled, and after his expression underwent several changes from cloudy to clear, he still chose to move forward and enter the city.

...

Wan Qi Hong traversed the Flame Mountain Range, where there were no attacks by demon beasts. However, the scorching high temperatures in the air could ignite everything, and many rocks melted into magma.

As Wan Qi Hong traveled through, his body shimmered with a faint golden light, completely insulating him from the searing heat, unaffected in the slightest.

The Flame Mountain Range soon came to an end, with a hilly area appearing in front, where a towering city, also Yin Capital City, stood, the situation identical to what Yuan Ming and Thunderbolt Ancestor had encountered.

When Wan Qi Hong saw the stele near the city gate, his expression barely changed; after pausing briefly, he directly flew into the city gate, smashing the ruined gate to pieces.

...

Su Zimo, accompanied by a golden-haired, blue-eyed young man, passed through a forest filled with toxic poison miasma, and a Yin Capital City appeared in front of them too.

...

Upon entering Yin Capital City, both Yuan Ming and Yan Sijing's expressions changed.

The entire city was shrouded in an invisible force, severely impacting their Divine Sense, which could only extend a few yards from their bodies.

Not only that, but this invisible force was also coupled with a peculiar Forbidden Space Power.

Yan Sijing conjured a gourd Magic Artifact, attempting to soar into the sky, only to immediately feel an overwhelming pressure descending from above. The higher she flew, the greater the pressure became.

Even with Yan Sijing's Core Formation Stage strength, she could only ascend thirty feet before she could no longer bear it and was pressed down.

"It seems the master of the Immortal Mansion doesn't want us flying high and overlooking the entire city," Yan Sijing exhaled softly and said.

Yuan Ming's mind stirred as he attempted to release his first soul from his body to see if it could ascend into the sky.

However, the city's invisible restrictions greatly affected the Divine Soul Power, and the soul splitting, being formed of Soul Power, was likewise unable to leave his body.

His heart sank; if Divine Sense couldn't leave the body and soul splitting was the same, then the soul crows were out of the question.

So, his most powerful Illusion Technique was almost rendered useless.

Yuan Ming was somewhat unwilling to give up; he tried to activate the Night Parade of Hundred Demons, and a red ghost creature with the head of a human and the body of a bird appeared out of thin air. It was another Core Formation Stage ghost creature he had just subdued in the valley, very similar to the legendary Gu Huoniao.

As soon as the Gu Huoniao appeared, it immediately spread its wings and flew towards the sky without using any mana.

Yuan Ming wanted to see if the city's invisible restrictions would be triggered without the use of mana.

However, as soon as the Gu Huoniao rose thirty feet, it too was battered back down by a powerful force.

Yuan Ming furrowed his brows and propelled the Soul Destroying Sword forward, flying a distance without feeling any pressure.

"It seems lateral flying is unimpeded," he breathed a sigh of relief.

Magic Treasures could fly laterally, and normal combat wasn't affected, so the situation wasn't entirely hopeless.

"No matter what, let's first explore every part of the city to see if we can find that so-called secret treasure," Yuan Ming retracted the Soul Destroying Sword and proceeded forward.

He didn't recall the Gu Huoniao to the Night Parade of Hundred Demons, letting it fly half a yard above his head.

Yan Sijing activated her Magic Treasure for protection, walking side by side with Yuan Ming.

The two quickly walked through several streets without detecting anything unusual. Yan Sijing, attentive to detail, entered the buildings along the streets to search several times, but still came up empty-handed.

The city truly seemed to be just an ordinary one, with bricks and tiles made of mundane materials, not containing any hint of Spiritual Power.

"Yin Capital City is quite large, and with our Divine Sense unable to spread out, searching like this will take who knows how long to cover everything. Let's search separately," Yuan Ming suggested.

"This... the city looks peaceful for now, but who knows if there's any danger. It's better to stick together, we can just search slowly," Yan Sijing hesitated.

"Alright, I'll let a few ghosts go to search first," Yuan Ming nodded, sent the Gu Huoniao ahead, and released Fang Youting, Heavenly Ghost Wanderer, and several other ghosts in different directions.

"Fellow Daoist Yuan excels at rearing ghosts? These few Yin Ghosts all have Core Formation Stage strength. In Zhao Country's Immortal Cultivation World, there are sects proficient in rearing ghosts, but they only rear Qi Refinement and Foundation Establishment Stage little ghosts, far inferior to Fellow Daoist Yuan. I'm truly impressed," Yan Sijing said half-flatteringly, half-probingly.

Yuan Ming smiled noncommittally, just as he was about to say something else, his expression suddenly darkened.

"What's wrong?" Yan Sijing quickly asked, noticing his change in demeanor.

"The ghosts have suddenly vanished," Yuan Ming said gravely, heading in the direction Heavenly Ghost Wanderer had taken.

Yan Sijing hurriedly followed.

The two quickly turned a corner and a broad street appeared before them. Based on Yuan Ming's last sense, Heavenly Ghost Wanderer had flown here before suddenly vanishing.

Yuan Ming arrived at the last known position of Heavenly Ghost Wanderer and examined the area carefully but found nothing.

His expression grew solemn. The Heavenly Ghost Wanderer had been absorbing Ghost Miasma along the way, and its strength had largely recovered. If he were to face it in combat, it would not be easy to win, yet it disappeared without a trace.

What troubled him even more was that the other ghost slaves had also disappeared in the same silent fashion, a feat not even Nascent Soul cultivators might achieve.

This was truly too eerie!

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