Mist Valley.

At the entrance of the wild mountain valley, the dense fog was so thick it seemed almost tangible, as if a bottle of mutton fat had been spilled here. The lush forests and towering peaks on both sides concealed a strong aura of gloom.

This place was considered one of the more notorious danger zones in the southern region. Practitioners who often lingered nearby were aware of this place, but no one knew what lay at the end of the valley.

Led by the southern and southwestern guides of the Underworld Sect, two teams of men in black silently arrived at the entrance of the valley. Each person had a dark gold token hanging from their waist, with numbers engraved on it to indicate their identity. Perhaps due to the heavy aura of death, the atmosphere was solemn and stern.

However, at the end of the team on the right, the man in black at the very back would occasionally tremble slightly, which looked somewhat eerie. Thanks to the small amplitude and the cover of his robe, this trembling was barely noticeable and did not attract the attention of his companions.

Enough is enough.

Any more trembling would be annoying.

Chu Liang was constantly suppressing the righteous impulse of the Demon Slayer with his divine sense, which was quite exhausting for him. From the outside, it looked like a slight tremble, but inside the White Tower space, the Demon Slayer was causing a ruckus. Although he understood its eagerness to slay demons and eliminate evil, he also had to consider his own strength.

The power boost of the Demon Slayer was based on his own cultivation. The last time he killed the sixth realm master, Lu, was already against the heavens. Chu Liang could clearly feel that with his current cultivation, he had almost reached his limit.

It would take a combination of the right time and place to kill a non-mainstream sixth realm master.

Facing a demonic sect like the Underworld Sect, Chu Liang felt that he might not even be able to kill a fifth realm master who was on guard, let alone two sixth realm guides here.

If you want me to stand up for justice at this time, you must want me to die.

“You can never enter the Abyss of Slumber by flying from above. You can only do so by passing through the Mist Valley.” The southern guide raised his hand to signal the team to pause, and then said, “The Mist Valley is filled with miasma, poisonous fog, Sickle Ghosts, and spirits. Everyone must be extra careful after entering.”

As he spoke, he took out a ghastly white long bone and struck it, igniting a faint green flame.

“Only by burning the bones of a Sickle Ghost with underworld fire can the mist and spirits in the fog be dispelled. Everyone, follow closely behind this underworld fire. Do not rush ahead or fall behind.” He continued, “If you get separated, you may be taken away by the spirits in the fog and remain here forever.”

“Yes!” The subordinates responded in unison.

Now he vaguely understood why even a guide with such cultivation had to find others to dare to cross this Mist Valley.

So, there’s a risk of being possessed by spirits if you’re alone?

After giving his instructions, the southern guide took the lead and stepped into the dense fog. The bone torch in his hand made a strange hissing sound as soon as it touched the fog, followed by low screams.

Chu Liang was first taken aback. What exactly was this Sickle Ghost that it was so extraordinary? Even a bone had intelligence and could scream?

But the next second, he realized that the screams were not coming from the bone, but from the fog!

Was this fog alive?!

Thinking of this, Chu Liang immediately held his breath, not daring to inhale the fog.

But seeing the people in front of him stepping into the fog one by one, disappearing as soon as they entered, it seemed that nothing was wrong, so he braced himself and went in.

As soon as he entered the fog, it felt as if he had plunged into the sea. Immediately, a rumbling sound filled his ears, like the sound of wind and thunder, along with screams and low chants. It seemed as if many people were calling out, “Come… come…”

The eerie voice was full of temptation. If it were a practitioner below the realm of divine consciousness, they might be easily seduced.

This was too strange.

What was even stranger was that everything in front of him was white, and he could no longer see anything beyond three feet, even with his divine sense fully activated. This dense fog blocked everything!

After a moment of confusion, he finally saw a flickering green flame in the distance. The southern guide’s words were true. Only the bones of the so-called “Sickle Ghost” could dispel the dense fog when burned with underworld fire.

Afraid of falling behind, Chu Liang hurriedly followed.

The team struggled to move forward in the dense fog. After a while, they had not gone far when a black shadow suddenly flashed behind them.

Chu Liang’s eyes narrowed, and he immediately turned his head to be on guard.

“It’s a Sickle Ghost.” Luo Yao used a voice transmission technique to softly say, “You can’t make a move, I’ll cover the rear.”

As she spoke, she pushed Chu Liang’s back, urging him to catch up with the people in front, while she became the last one in the team.

The reason she said he couldn’t make a move was because Chu Liang and Pǔ Shàn didn’t have any divine abilities that were similar to those of the Underworld Sect. If they made a move, they might expose their identities.

Luo Yao’s ghost-controlling technique was similar to the Underworld Sect’s soul-driving technique. In this environment where visibility was limited, it could be used to deceive others.

Chu Liang was slightly moved. He moved forward and heard Pǔ Shàn’s incessant chatter.

“Oh? Hero Chu, you’re here.” Seeing that the person behind him had changed, Pǔ Shàn turned his head and used a voice transmission technique to chat privately, “Just now, you didn’t hear me. I was telling Miss Luo about the origin of the Sickle Ghost. Our Buddhist scriptures have records. The Sickle Ghost is a ghost that escaped from hell after being subjected to bone extraction punishment. It uses its undecayed bones to reconstruct its body…”

Chu Liang sighed inwardly.

He now had reason to suspect that Luo Yao’s decision to go to the back was only partly out of concern for him. The other part… was probably because she didn’t want to continue whispering with Pǔ Shàn.

Listening to his endless chatter, Chu Liang suddenly had a thought. If Lin Bei and Pǔ Shàn were put together to chat, which of these two chatterboxes would tire first?

Just as he was thinking, he suddenly heard a dull roar from behind. The sound was greatly blocked by the dense fog, and if it weren’t for the close proximity, he would hardly have noticed.

“Roar——”

Behind Luo Yao’s figure, a tall shadow suddenly rose!

This shadow was mostly human-like, but it also stood like a mantis with two huge blades. When it fully emerged, it turned out to be a body made entirely of white bones!The figure below was no different from a skeleton, only much larger, with two arms raised high, each wielding a bone blade as tall as a man! Outside the skeletal frame, it seemed to be shrouded in a layer of gloomy soul shadow.

Sickle Ghost?

Another ghost entity.

Chu Liang’s favorite ghost, the Human-faced Ghoul, was also a ghost entity, which was an extremely rare occurrence. And the bony body of this Sickle Ghost seemed to be in the same category.

Luo Yao reacted swiftly. As soon as the Sickle Ghost appeared, she had already drawn up a spell, a black ghost hand emerged from behind her, grabbing the skeletal body of the Sickle Ghost and suddenly exerting force.

Crackling—

With a crisp sound, the Sickle Ghost was crushed by this palm!

Chu Liang’s eyebrows twitched. He could tell that the realm of this Sickle Ghost was probably equivalent to a third realm cultivator. Its main strengths should lie in speed, attack power, and the hardness of its skeletal body.

But in front of Luo Yao, none of these advantages could be brought into play, and it was easily killed by the young girl.

This only proved that Luo Yao was strong, not that the Sickle Ghost was weak. If he had to deal with it himself, it would definitely take some effort.

“Hmm?” The guide at the front of the southern route stopped, causing the entire team to halt.

Although the battle just now happened quickly, it still caught the attention of the guide. He turned his head and looked towards the end of the team.

The spirits of Chu Liang and the others tightened simultaneously, not knowing if he had noticed anything.

Then, they saw the guide of the southern route turn around, holding the bone torch and walking to the end of the team, looking at the remaining bones of the Sickle Ghost on the ground.

“Very good.” He praised Luo Yao.

Then he ordered, “Collect these Sickle Ghost bones. We will rely on them to travel later. If the Nether Fire is about to burn out, let the Earth Fiend of the southern route lead his subordinates, the Soul Arresters, to hunt the Sickle Ghosts in turns.”

Through this journey, everyone understood that the bones of the Sickle Ghosts were like firewood in this fog, extremely important.

And hunting Sickle Ghosts in the fog was a dangerous task. He let his own Earth Fiends go first, clearly showing sincerity to the guide of the southwest route.

Pǔ Shàn was quite resentful about this, “If you want to show sincerity, why don’t you go yourself? What’s the deal with sending your subordinates to take risks?”

Chu Liang smiled and transmitted his voice, “It’s good for us to leave the team to do things, it’s convenient to make a move.”

“I know, I just wanted to scold him a bit.” Pǔ Shàn nodded.

“…” He just ignored him.

After about half an hour, the guide of the southern route waved his hand again, and the team stopped again.

He directed everyone to form a circle, all under the light of the bone torch, and then said, “The Earth Fiends of the southern route, each lead your subordinates to hunt the Sickle Ghosts, each team takes two residual bones. After the first residual bone burns out, regardless of whether there is any gain, you must return to the team.”

The remaining Sickle Ghost bones were not many, only some stock in his hand and the two that had just attacked the team. They didn’t know how long they would have to walk in this foggy valley, they couldn’t wait for the bone torch to burn out before starting to hunt.

“Yes!”

The three Earth Fiends of the southern route each took their orders, leading their subordinates to leave in teams. And Chu Liang’s team, of course, was among them.

The Earth Fiend held a bone torch and walked at the front, followed by the three of them, calculating the distance from the main team and when to make a move.

This Earth Fiend was their first target to be eliminated after entering the valley. Now was the perfect time to make a move.

Just as the three of them were silently waiting for the opportunity, the Earth Fiend in front suddenly stopped, standing still with his back to them.

“What’s wrong?” Pǔ Shàn asked.

Time was pressing, they should be looking for Sickle Ghosts urgently, his sudden stop seemed a bit strange.

They saw the Earth Fiend turn around, his gaze under the black robe seemed to coldly scan their faces, and then he said ominously, “There is a traitor among us.”

What?!

Hearing this, Chu Liang was slightly surprised.

Only one?