Swordholder

"Walk!"

Chen Yuan spoke in a low voice, his figure disappearing from the spot, flying westward and plunging into the night.

Zhu Xin smiled and said, "Oh, you've got guts. But with just a surge of courage, it's hard to survive to the end."

After saying that, she flashed away and followed Chen Yuan.

Li Wei and Nuomi naturally followed closely behind.

Zhong Yue, Wang Hu, Li Taiyi, and Gu Chen exchanged glances, grinned, and followed suit.

As they disappeared into the darkness, the surrounding air instantly turned icy, causing everyone to shiver involuntarily.

Chen Yuan raised his arm and looked at the icy feeling coming from it. It felt as if someone was gently stroking his skin with something furry, itchy and with a slight prickling sensation.

Soon, this feeling spread throughout my body, down to my soul, as if freezing my soul and making my body numb.

Chen Yuan's gaze sharpened, and he immediately increased his body temperature and cultivation to resist the invasion of these strange and evil forces.

He breathed a sigh of relief when warmth returned to his body and looked at the people on the side.

Li Wei, Zhong Yue, and the others all circulated their cultivation to resist the evil forces lurking throughout their bodies. Only after their condition improved did they breathe a sigh of relief.

But all I could see was darkness. Apart from the vast, boundless mountains and forests, where was there any night city?

Chen Yuan looked at Zhu Xin to one side.

"Don't rush, keep flying."

Zhu Xin parted her red lips slightly and said softly.

Even she became serious.

The group had no choice but to continue flying.

But they soon realized something was wrong.

Night City is not far from West Frontier City, less than a hundred miles away.

"This should be it."

Not long after, Zhu Xin led Chen Yuan and the others to a hilltop.

Before Chen Yuan and the others could ask any questions, she took out three incense sticks, each over a meter long, along with some paper money and other paper money.

Chen Yuan, Li Wei, and the others stared at her in shock.

"Sister Xin, why do you carry these things with you all the time?"

Li Wei spoke in surprise.

Zhu Xin didn't look at Li Wei. She used her magic to light incense and candles, then stuck them in the ground. She then lit paper money and said, "In this environment, it's normal to have some of these things for self-defense when you're out and about."

Li Wei's eyes lit up.

At the same time, as Zhu Xin threw large amounts of paper money into the fire, the fragrance of three long incense sticks rose and swirled in the air before them, drifting leisurely towards the mountains and forests ahead.

Zhu Xin half-squatted by the fire, her fair, jade-like fingers forming a hand seal, and she softly chanted a short incantation.

"Cigarettes connect with the underworld, paper fires illuminate the netherworld."

"Open my dark eyes, and I will not wander in the underworld."

"Through these ashes, we can see that city mound."

"Those in the realms of humans and ghosts, merely observe, do not seek!"

······

As Zhu Xin murmured her words, the paper money in front of her crackled and burned, with sparks flying in the wind.

Chen Yuan and the others held their breath, looking around warily.

"To observe without seeking in the realms of humans and ghosts? Doesn't that mean just watching without taking anything in?"

Li Wei muttered under his breath, "But we need to go in."

Chen Yuan reminded him, "Let's find Night City first."

Li Wei nodded.

Whew~~~~

Just then, a cold wind suddenly arose throughout the world.

The cold wind howled, growing increasingly violent, causing the three long incense sticks to sway constantly, and also making Chen Yuan and the others' robes flutter loudly. The chilling aura surrounding them grew heavier and more damp.

Chen Yuan circulated the Golden Crow True Fire within himself, instantly dispelling the chilling atmosphere.

"Don't use your Chen family's Golden Crow True Yang Flame; it will attract a lot of evil spirits!"

Zhu Xin immediately reminded him.

Chen Yuan narrowed his eyes and immediately put away the Golden Crow True Yang Flame, relying on his physical body to resist the cold.

The Golden Crow's flames are extremely yang and powerful. In this yin and evil place, they are undoubtedly like the bright moon in the night, attracting a lot of attention.

Li Wei, Nuomi, and the others did the same; instead of unleashing their Heavenly Light power to resist, they relied on the Blood Fiend Spiritual Power within their bodies to resist this sinister force.

Soon, a grayish-white patch appeared on the leaves and grass all around—that was frost.

Along with the cold wind came a thick fog.

The thick fog was so heavy that it was impossible to see with the naked eye, given the darkness of the sky and earth.

However, everyone was at the Purple Mansion Realm, and they could perceive all of this using their powerful spiritual senses.

Especially when tiny lights appeared ahead, like fireflies in the dark.

Gradually, these lights grew larger and larger, piercing through the thick night fog and illuminating the surrounding mountains and forests.

Chen Yuan and the others' pupils contracted as they stared in shock ahead.

Amidst the mountains and forests ahead, a massive city appeared out of nowhere.

The city walls are dark blue-black, exuding antiquity and vicissitude, as if they slowly emerged from time and appeared out of place in this era.

The city walls were covered with scarlet lanterns, giving them a gloomy and eerie feel.

Looking around, all the buildings in the city were covered with red lanterns.

At first, the city was deathly silent, without a sound or any sign of life.

As Zhu Xin used a mysterious technique that Chen Yuan and the others couldn't see, gradually, sounds began to emerge. At first, they were just a cacophony of whispers, but eventually, they coalesced into a towering wave.

Not only that, but a buzzing sound also came from the city, which was the huge roar of the formation that shook the heavens and the earth.

"This is Night City, also known as Ghost City. It is a border city of the Dark Night Netherworld Kingdom, specifically keeping an eye on the border of the Great Xiang Empire. Most of the dead are dragged here."

Zhu Xin stopped her spell, came to Chen Yuan's side, and whispered, "If it's a corpse, it will be refined into a corpse soldier; if it's a ghost, it will be refined into a ghost soldier."

Upon hearing this, Chen Yuan and the others' pupils contracted, and they stared intently at Night City ahead once more.

In the blink of an eye, countless figures emerged from the ancient city, densely packed and numerous, each with a distinct appearance.

Some were headless, with their remaining bodies floating in mid-air.

Some have no hands or feet, only a head with loose hair, flying back and forth in mid-air.

More often, there were beasts, some tall like mountains, others slender like snakes... all sorts of strange creatures running back and forth inside, emitting sharp hisses, like a chaotic dance of demons.

"The teleportation array is over there!"

Chen Yuan's powerful spiritual sense spread out like a tide, covering most of the city in front of him, and soon he saw a huge black wooden door in the center of the city.

The wooden door was probably hundreds of meters tall, its surface rotten, stained with blood, and shrouded in thick black mist.

Countless ghostly figures stood around the decaying black wooden door.

These ghostly figures, densely packed, hovered in mid-air, emitting hissing sounds. Strange power emanated from them, helping the wooden door to open.

The opening of the wooden door seemed to consume an extreme amount of energy; as it vibrated with a buzzing sound, it exuded a terrifying destructive force, causing many ghostly figures to collapse.

Upon seeing this, the ghostly figures immediately let out sharp shrieks, each one transforming into black mist that continued to swirl around the wooden door, making it even more sturdy.

Through the open wooden door, one can clearly see that the other side of the door leads directly to the outside of the Western Frontier City.

Chen Yuan took a deep breath, held it, and continued to spread his powerful spiritual sense to perceive everything around the wooden door.

On the ground in front of the wooden door, the corpses were neatly arranged, their expressions wooden, eerie, and sinister.

They entered the wooden door in an orderly fashion and were transported to the outside of Xijiang City.

Besides the towering, decaying wooden gate in the city center, deeper within the city, there are many more ancient buildings, appearing and disappearing, with only a black outline.

Chen Yuan sensed that there seemed to be an even more powerful aura and pressure there.

That is undoubtedly a being at the Purple Mansion level.

Boom!

Just then, thunder suddenly roared endlessly in the surrounding void.

Chen Yuan and the others immediately looked up and discovered that a tremendous battle was taking place there.

Many cultivators who had transformed into humanoid beast heads appeared and fought against the ghostly figures in the air.

"Those are probably also the Wuxiang Guards, Law Enforcement Guards, or even disciples of certain families who want to enter Night City, destroy the wooden door teleportation array, and ruin the city's resources!"

Zhong Yue spoke in shock.

The others were all visibly shocked.

The task of destroying the teleportation array and the coffin-raising mission likely attracted countless powerful cultivators besides them.

"They actually forced their way in?"

Li Wei spoke in shock.

"No, they didn't force their way in; they were simply discovered."

Zhu Xin said in a low voice.