Immortality Cultivation

Chapter 235: Shifting the Blame East

Fang Hao felt his blood run cold.

Just moments after rejoicing at finding the core of the War Heaven Clan ruins, he was blocked at the entrance by an old ghost in the Nascent Soul Stage—and not just any ghost, but a veteran of the Netherworld Sect, known for being the most ruthless and skilled at manipulating souls!

What kind of Luck was this?

The gray-robed Cultivator stood at the stone entrance, seemingly blending into the surrounding shadows.

Only the two pale green ghost fires beneath his hood, like the tongues of venomous snakes, remained fixed on Fang Hao—or more accurately, locked onto the star evolution plate in his hand and the battle heaven axe fragments faintly radiating heat from his embrace.

"Kid, you’re not slow to react."

The gray-robed Cultivator’s voice sounded like rusty metal scraping, dry and grating, filled with the playfulness of a cat toying with a mouse.

"To be able to get here and obtain the battle heaven axe fragments and the star evolution plate, it seems you have some Luck. Pity, your Luck ends here. Hand over the items, and I, Ghost Bone Superior, will grant you a quick death, sparing you some suffering when I extract your soul and refine your spirit."

Ghost Bone Superior!

Fang Hao had heard this name before; he was a Middle Nascent Soul Stage Elder of the Netherworld Sect who had been famous for many years, renowned throughout the Western Region for his ruthlessness and mastery of corpse refining and soul extraction techniques.

To think he had also entered this Secret Realm and followed him here without making a sound!

And Sun Tianqi’s chest wound, which contained Netherworld ghost Qi—that was likely this man’s "masterpiece"!

It seemed the Sun Family’s exploration of these ruins had attracted this wolf.

Fang Hao’s mind spun rapidly.

Fight him head-on? That would be suicide.

The opponent was in the Middle Nascent Soul Stage; crushing him, a Late Golden Core Stage Cultivator, would be no different than crushing an ant.

Flee? Behind him was a terrifying Restriction capable of grinding a Golden Core to dust, and the only exit was blocked by this old ghost.

What could he do?

"Senior, you’re joking."

Fang Hao forced himself to calm down, squeezing out a smile that looked worse than crying.

While subtly tucking the star evolution plate and fragments further into his embrace, he slowly retreated toward the edge of the central platform’s Restriction.

"This Junior accidentally wandered into this place, unaware it was your territory. Since you desire these items, I am naturally willing to offer them up. However..."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the stone box, remnant incense, and scroll on the high platform, his face showing just the right amount of greed and hesitation.

"It seems there are great treasures here. Wouldn’t you, Senior, prefer to take the treasures first before dealing with a trivial matter like me?"

He wanted to divert the calamity, drawing Ghost Bone Superior’s attention to the Restriction and treasures on the platform, hoping he might find a sliver of survival in the chaos, or perhaps... use the Restriction to trick this old ghost!

Ghost Bone Superior let out a strange, night-owl-like laugh: "Heh heh heh... kid, you’re quite sharp. Trying to use the Restriction here to deal with me? Or are you just trying to stall for time?"

His greenish gaze swept across the platform, a flash of fervor in his eyes, but mostly disdain.

"The Restrictions of this ’War Heaven Hall’ are indeed formidable, but unfortunately, since I was able to enter, I naturally have a way to deal with them. As for you... I’d better deal with you first so I can take the treasures with peace of mind."

Before the words even faded, without moving his body, he simply raised his right hand, withered like a chicken claw, and grabbed at Fang Hao from a distance!

In an instant, Fang Hao felt the surrounding air freeze and turn ice-cold!

Five pitch-black ghost claw phantoms, formed from pure Netherworld ghost Qi with nails as sharp as blades, appeared out of thin air around his body, sealing off all avenues of escape from every direction.

Carrying a bone-chilling cold and a strange, soul-snatching suction force, they slashed fiercely toward his head, limbs, and Dantian!

The speed was unimaginably fast!

A strike from a Nascent Soul Cultivator was truly earth-shattering!

The mere power and spatial lockdown contained in this casual grab made Fang Hao feel as if he were trapped in a quagmire, his movements several times slower than usual, and even the circulation of his spiritual power became difficult.

"empty clarity mirror!"

At this life-or-death moment, Fang Hao roared.

The empty clarity mirror, which he had been clutching in his left hand, erupted with brilliance.

The surface of the mirror rippled like water, aimed directly at the incoming ghost claws and the solidified space around him!

Hum—!

The mirror’s light distorted, causing a minuscule disturbance in space.

The trajectories of the five ghost claw phantoms shifted and stalled for a split second!

The locking force also loosened just a fraction!

That was the gap!

Fang Hao pushed his Divine Spirit Steps and Shrinking the Ground to an Inch to their absolute limits, his form moving like a phantom as he forcibly squeezed through the gap between two of the ghost claws!

At the same time, he used all his strength to hurl the three battle heaven axe fragments from his embrace toward the empty stone box at the center of the platform!

If you want to force my hand, then we’ll all go down together!

Let’s see if this Restriction reacts to the fragments!

"Eh? A spatial Magic Treasure?"

Ghost Bone Superior gave a light exclamation, clearly not expecting that a mere Golden Core Cultivator like Fang Hao would possess a spatial Magic Treasure capable of interfering with his Spell, not to mention such strange movement techniques.

But he didn’t care; no matter how much an ant struggled, it was still just an ant.

Just as he was about to strike again, he saw Fang Hao throw the three fragments toward the platform.

"You’re courting death!"

The green fires in Ghost Bone Superior’s eyes jumped.

He had gone to great lengths to follow the Sun Family precisely for the battle heaven axe fragments and the Legacy here; how could he allow Fang Hao to ruin it?

His figure flickered, and he unexpectedly abandoned his attack on Fang Hao, transforming into a faint gray shadow that arrived before the fragments, reaching out to grab the three pieces flying toward the stone box!

His speed was far beyond what Fang Hao had imagined!

Just as his ghost claw was about to snatch the fragments!

At that very moment, a sudden change occurred!

The three fragments seemed to be summoned by something; their speed suddenly increased.

Like swallows returning to their forest, they landed with pinpoint precision into the indentations of the empty stone box on the platform!

The three fragments fit perfectly into the three corner positions of the indentation, seamless and tight!

Hum—!!!

The moment the fragments entered the box, the entire giant statue shook violently!

The statue’s hollow eyes erupted with two blinding golden beams of light that shot straight to the dome!

The dark golden Formation patterns on the floor, like a lit fuse, instantly ignited, bursting with dazzling dark golden light!

A terrifying force field, ten or a hundred times stronger than before, exploded outward with the platform as its center!

This force field was no longer silent; it carried a roar like a primordial behemoth awakening!

The dark golden light, like a tangible ocean wave, swept out in all directions!

Wherever it passed, space itself emitted an unbearable "creaking" sound!

The first to bear the brunt was Ghost Bone Superior!

His ghost claw, reaching for the fragments, was violently struck by this sudden, wildly raging dark golden force field!

Boom!!!

Ghost Bone Superior let out a muffled groan.

The gray shadow he had projected shattered like foam, and his entire body, as if struck by an invisible, ten-thousand-jin giant hammer, flew backward, slamming hard against the dark golden wall dozens of zhang away!

The wall flashed with light, bouncing him back to the ground, where he spat out a large mouthful of dark red blood thick with potent ghost Qi!

His gray robe was instantly torn to shreds, revealing his skeletal, withered body underneath, and his aura fluctuated violently—he was clearly severely injured!

As for Fang Hao, because he had been prepared, the moment he threw the fragments, he had already retreated desperately while holding the empty clarity mirror in front of him.

The mirror’s light distorted space, weakening the impact.

Even so, he was still caught by the aftermath of the force field.

Like being hit by a charging rhinoceros, his chest felt tight, a sweetness rose in his throat, and he spat out a small mouthful of blood.

His body was thrown backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily onto the edge of the hall, far from the platform.

His entire body ached as if his bones had fallen apart, and his internal organs were churning.

But he couldn’t care about the pain; he immediately struggled to stand up and looked toward the platform.

He saw that with the platform as the center, a dark golden light barrier with a diameter of twenty zhang had already formed, enclosing the platform and the lower half of the giant statue.

On the surface of the barrier, countless ancient runes flowed, emanating a heart-palpitating aura of destruction.

Ghost Bone Superior was blocked outside the barrier, clutching his chest, looking at the barrier with a mix of shock and rage, his eyes filled with disbelief.

And on the platform, after the fragments fell into the stone box, the remnant incense that had been burning quietly—the faint spark at the tip of the incense suddenly jumped, and the flame brightened significantly!

At the same time, the ancient scroll that had been half-unrolled moved without wind, slowly... fully unfurling!

An even more vast and desolate ancient consciousness, as if carrying the history of the world’s inception and the wars of ten thousand clans, mixed with a faint, strange fragrance, radiated from the fully unfurled scroll and the burning remnant incense, permeating the entire hall.

The star evolution plate in Fang Hao’s hand also erupted with unprecedented, brilliant starlight at this moment, its needle spinning wildly before finally pointing at the fully unfurled scroll!

The next stage of the ruins, or rather, the true test of the Legacy, seemed to have been... triggered by the return of the three fragments?!

And he and Ghost Bone Superior, one inside the light barrier at the edge and the other outside, were both trapped in this ancient "War Heaven Hall" by the sudden, drastic change!

The situation had become even more complex and dangerous.