“Look, that’s Fubo Mountain!”

High above, Qingyue held tightly to a feather on the Ghost Eagle King’s head with one hand, while pointing toward the dark peak thousands of meters ahead with the other, shouting excitedly.

“Indeed!” An unconcealed joy flickered across Nie Kong’s brow as well.

When accounted for, it had been four days since they left the Ghost Realm.

In that span, Nie Kong had fought ten battles, raided one super-tier Sect, and four high-tier Sects, accumulating vast quantities of medicinal herbs and Nether Pills. Three Ninth-Tier powerhouses had perished by his hand, along with the Ghost Eagle King, Qingyue, and Qingyou; nearly twenty Eighth-Tier experts had also fallen!

Nie Kong found this somewhat frustrating.

The Nether Soil was an exceedingly bizarre place; the entire sky seemed sealed by some kind of canopy. Even the Ghost Eagle King could only ascend to about a thousand meters. Any higher, and the oppressive weight descending from above would force them into suffocation. In the whole of the Nether Soil, perhaps only powerhouses like the Grand Evolution Spirit Venerable and Zhan Xinzi, along with a select few at the peak of the Ninth Tier, could disregard that pervasive pressure.

Most crucially, the thousand-meter ceiling made it exceedingly difficult for Nie Kong to truly conceal his movements. A moment’s lapse, and they would surely be discovered by the Black Spirit Masters on the ground. Under these constraints, Nie Kong had no choice but to constantly alter his direction of travel—sometimes heading north, sometimes turning south—lest someone lay in wait ahead to ambush them.

Thus, Nie Kong took nearly twice the necessary time to reach this vicinity.

Now that Fubo Mountain was close at hand, the ‘God-Slaying Cave’ was naturally no longer distant. At the Ghost Eagle King’s speed, they would reach it soon. Once inside the ‘God-Slaying Cave,’ no matter how chaotic the Nether Soil became, it would pose little threat to Nie Kong’s safety.

Besides, whether chaos would even erupt was questionable.

These past few days, although Nie Kong had been constantly traveling, he was not entirely ignorant of the events unfolding in the Nether Soil. That strange spectacle that had appeared in the sky around noon—Nie Kong himself had witnessed the soaring crimson light, recognizing it as originating from Zhan Xinzi. The owners of the other six auras were likely old masters who had suppressed their cultivation at the peak of the Ninth Tier for many years.

The news that spread afterward confirmed this deduction.

Mo Huang, the ‘Pill King’ of the Heaven-Fleeing Sect; Jing Ji, the Island Master of Killing Life Island; Hua Ruxian, the former Sect Master of the Void Cloud Sect… these figures, though perhaps slightly below Zhan Xinzi before his breakthrough, were all Ninth-Tier peak experts who possessed the strength to challenge the Spirit Venerable realm long ago.

In just a few short days, three individuals were reported to have successfully achieved the Spirit Venerable realm, making four including Zhan Xinzi.

If the Grand Evolution Spirit Venerable’s power had not waned, Zhan Xinzi and the others would struggle to threaten her. But the times had changed. Zhan Xinzi’s faction held the numerical advantage in Spirit Venerables, whereas the Grand Evolution had been a Spirit Venerable for millennia; even if she couldn't win, she surely possessed many life-saving divine abilities. The confrontation would likely result in a tentative stalemate.

In the end, the result would probably be a delicate balance maintained for the time being.

Of course, these were not matters for Nie Kong to fret over just yet.

“Hoo!”

The Ghost Eagle King swept its wings across the void, soaring over the dense forest several miles to the right of Fubo Mountain, quickly leaving the dark mountain range behind them.

He had been worried these past few days. Although he had deliberately veered his course—sometimes south, sometimes north, sometimes doubling back—his general direction had been eastward. If a perceptive individual had noticed this pattern, they could have deduced his likely trajectory and gathered forces to intercept him along his path. Fubo Mountain, being his first potential stop, was high on that list.

Now that they had safely passed the Fubo Mountain area, Nie Kong couldn't help but breathe a silent sigh of relief. If there were no ambushes around Fubo Mountain, there should be no danger remaining behind them. After all, the ‘God-Slaying Cave’ was considered a place of certain death by the inhabitants of the Nether Soil; who would expect him to head there?

“Ghost, faster!”

Squinting at the faint black mist on the horizon, Nie Kong couldn't resist patting the Ghost Eagle King’s back, the charming, delicate face of Hua Mei flashing in his mind—he was growing impatient.

“Big Brother, watch this.”

The Ghost Eagle King chuckled, and the frequency of its wing beats suddenly accelerated. When passing Fubo Mountain, it had deliberately slowed down to avoid unexpected trouble. Now, unleashing its full strength, it streaked across the distance like a bolt of black light, covering several miles in the blink of an eye.

Familiar terrain rushed beneath them, and the pillar of black mist where the distant sky met the earth grew steadily clearer.

Finally, the edge of the dense forest was clearly in sight. Beyond lay the barren expanse of Gobi desert. When Nie Kong first arrived in the Nether Soil, it had taken him about an hour and a half to traverse that desert. Now, carried by the Ghost Eagle King, he estimated fifteen minutes would suffice.

“Almost there! Almost there…”

The closer Nie Kong got to the ‘God-Slaying Cave,’ the more anxious he became, wishing the Ghost Eagle King could deposit him outside the entrance instantly. But just as the Ghost Eagle King was about to fly over the dense forest, a wave of ominous feeling suddenly washed over Nie Kong. Instinctively, he lowered his gaze.

“Someone!”

Nie Kong’s expression shifted abruptly, the two words bursting from his lips. Since merging the cultivation of his main body and his avatar, Nie Kong’s perception of life force had reached a terrifying degree. In an instant, he detected two abnormally massive concentrations of life force hidden within the forest below. But why would anyone be concealed in this spot?

“Swoosh!” Almost simultaneously, a thumb-thick black gleam shot out from the dense woods, rocketing toward them. The sharp whistling sound was deafening, seeming capable of piercing eardrums. What was even more shocking was that the death energy contained within the black gleam was condensed to an extreme, as if perpetually poised on the verge of explosion.

“Screech!”

The Ghost Eagle King reacted instantly, letting out a piercing cry, its body suddenly halting in mid-air, rearing straight up.

The next instant, the black gleam zipped past the Ghost Eagle King’s neck, whipping off a large swath of feathers that fluttered down in the air, caught in the stream of energy generated by the projectile.

“Thwack!” The second black gleam followed immediately after.

The Ghost Eagle King had no time for anger, tucking Nie Kong tightly as it rolled through the air, narrowly dodging the second shot. But before it could regain stable posture, a third black gleam erupted from the forest, striking toward the Ghost Eagle King’s abdomen like swift lightning, its sharp edge seemingly capable of piercing all obstruction.

“Ghost, down!” Nie Kong, his face grim, hissed the command without pausing to consider why those people were present. If they remained exposed in the high air, not only would it be hard for them to advance, but they would simply become easy targets for the archer below.

The moment the words left his mouth, Nie Kong flickered, maneuvering directly beneath the Ghost Eagle King. His body expanded rapidly, and his right palm, as large as a cattail fan, shot out toward the black gleam with blinding speed. The Ghost Eagle King, eyes burning fiercely, dove toward the source of the black gleam like a thunderbolt.

“Boom!” The black projectile shot forward, but the death energy contained within the black gleam suddenly shattered upon contact with Nie Kong’s right palm. For a moment, the space spanning several meters surged with violent kinetic energy. Nie Kong’s palm vibrated painfully, and the black gleam revealed its true form: a black arrow.

“Swish! Swish!”

Two more black gleams shot out simultaneously from the forest. One arrow aimed directly for the Ghost Eagle King’s neck, while the other streaked toward Nie Kong’s head, its speed as fast as a shooting star. In an instant, the arrowhead was less than ten meters from Nie Kong. Nie Kong remained calm; a purple light flashed between his brows, and the Luo Illusionary Spirit Incense manifested instantly. Its dense roots, stems, and leaves wove together, forming a thick purple wall directly in front of Nie Kong.

“Bang!”

An instant later, the black gleam embedded itself in the purple wall and exploded violently.

The branches and leaves were heavily pulverized. After absorbing the impact of the kinetic force, the purple wall was reduced to a mere thin layer. Nie Kong, without hesitation, plummeted downward like a celestial stone, his massive body accelerating rapidly. At this moment, the Ghost Eagle King had also successfully evaded the arrow attack, although a large patch of feathers had been scraped from its neck, its speed remained unaffected, and the distance to the forest rapidly halved.

“Swish! Swish! Swish…”

Six black gleams appeared in quick succession, like a string of pearls, shooting toward the Ghost Eagle King.

The Ghost Eagle King’s eyes were so red they looked ready to bleed. Despite its massive bulk, its evasive maneuvers were surprisingly agile and fluid. The black gleams scraped past its body, but just as it dodged the sixth arrow, that projectile unexpectedly split in two.

“Cry!”

One arrow grazed past the Ghost Eagle King’s left wing, while the other drilled into its abdomen like a venomous serpent. Six muffled explosions erupted, mixing blood, flesh, and feathers into a chaotic spectacle in the air. Seeing this, Nie Kong’s pupils constricted, his body enveloped in an incredibly dense shade of inky green aura.

“Screech!”

A sharp cry of pain! The Ghost Eagle King plunged into the dense woods. Instantly, a gale whipped through the trees, kicking up sand and stones, the massive wings shattering vegetation as it moved.

“Swish! Swish!”

Then, two figures burst out from the forest and appeared upon the bare expanse of the Gobi.

Both wore black robes. One man appeared to be in his fifties, the other quite young, looking barely twenty, with an ordinary face but hair as white as snow. He carried a great black bow, and a quiver of menacing, cold-shining black arrows hung from his waist.

“One Eighth-Tier, one Ninth-Tier!” Qingyue’s voice sounded abruptly. Nie Kong’s eyes flashed, and his descent quickened. In moments, the distance between him and the ground narrowed to about ten meters.

“Flower Shadow Dazzle!”

Nie Kong commanded mentally. Xiangxiang, who had retreated into the Spirit God Acupoint, rapidly twisted its roots and tendrils, causing massive flowers to flash into existence from the void. In an instant, a space spanning tens of meters was completely covered by layers upon layers of floral shadows, enveloping the forms of the two men entirely.

“Thud!”

The moment Nie Kong’s two feet heavily impacted the ground, the mass of flowers exploded like a fuse being lit, unleashing turbulent kinetic energy in every direction. Nie Kong, however, did not halt his steps. He raised his massive fist and drove it into the churning, inky green light.

A sharp cry of pain rang out as the man holding the large black bow was thrown backward. Before he could land, however, the pursuing Ghost Eagle King clamped down on him with both talons.

“Die for this old!”

The Ghost Eagle King opened its sharp beak, letting out a furious shriek. With a sudden pull, the man’s body tore in half, spraying gore. Arrows and internal organs scattered across the ground. The Ghost Eagle King showed no pause, diving headfirst into the dissipating inky green aura…