Chapter 1237: Fierce Battle with Ghost Spirit

Lan Yan stood beside Han Li, looking at the surrounding void frozen in place, naturally filled with shock.

But at this moment, Han Li's brows were tightly furrowed. He raised his hand and swung his sword, slashing forward.

A thunderous boom erupted.

A golden lightning pillar burst forth, blasting a massive passage dozens of zhang in diameter through the trapped ghostly beings.

Through the hollow passage, Han Li could directly see the enormous ghost face on the wall.

He hadn't seen it clearly in the haste earlier, but now he noticed the ghost face's peculiarity.

Its features were very similar to a human's, but its wide-open mouth was exaggerated to the point where the entire face was squeezed together, making it look somewhat like a demon beast.

On its head was a strange crown, with beaded curtains hanging front and back, resembling the imperial crown of a mortal dynasty, exuding a somber majesty.

Within its bloody mouth, two rows of gleaming white teeth were visible, with four sharp canine teeth on the upper and lower jaws.

Between the gaps of those canine teeth, faint golden lights could be seen flickering.

Han Li was slightly surprised. Focusing his gaze, he discovered that those golden lights were actually golden miniature swords, still shimmering with golden lightning—they were unmistakably his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords.

With a thought, he took a step outward, his form flickering as he shot through the hollow passage, darting straight toward the enormous ghost face.

"Hehe... I've been waiting for you." At that moment, a chilling, sinister sneer suddenly came from outside the formation.

Ghost Spirit's two arms shot out, his ten fingers swiftly forming hand seals, which he struck into the formation.

In an instant, all the ghostly beings trapped within Han Li's domain moved simultaneously.

The ghosts around the hollow passage immediately pressed inward, and Han Li found himself surrounded by a tide of ghosts.

"Get lost..."

Han Li bellowed, swinging his sword like a windmill. Golden electric arcs shot out from it, and any ghost that approached was instantly reduced to green smoke, unable to hinder him in the slightest.

Just as he was about to break through the ghost tide, the ghosts ahead suddenly scattered on their own.

Han Li inwardly cried out, "Not good," but it was too late.

A crimson long tongue shot out from the parted ghost tide, heading straight for him.

Han Li reacted swiftly. As he halted, his sword thrust out, condensing a golden lightning bolt aimed directly at the tongue.

But the next moment, a scene that astonished even him unfolded.

A pattern of golden lightning veins lit up on the crimson tongue, and a massive lightning pillar burst forth in opposition, shattering Han Li's lightning sword light and striking him.

Han Li's entire body went numb, even the flow of his immortal spiritual power became sluggish, forcing him to stop his forward charge.

"This is..." he thought in shock.

What the tongue had just released was none other than his own Evil-Repelling Divine Lightning, though its power was diminished, it was still formidable.

Before he could figure it out, the crimson tongue shot out again like a venomous snake, this time not releasing lightning but wrapping around him.

Han Li tapped his toe and leaped backward, only to crash into a circle of yin spirits and ghosts.

Though these ghosts had low cultivation, their sheer numbers were overwhelming. Even with his golden lightning protection, Han Li found them extremely troublesome.

After a moment's hesitation, he waved his hand, and a silver light door appeared before him.

As soon as the light door emerged, the surrounding ghosts paused for a moment, then madly rushed into it, instantly flooding the entire door.

"A cave heaven treasure! Good lad, you even have such a rare treasure. Haha... let my little ghosts occupy it first, then I'll formally take over." Ghost Spirit exclaimed in delight.

But before he could finish celebrating, the ghosts that had rushed into the light door began frantically fleeing out, as if they had seen something terrifying.

However, the silver light door was narrow, making entry and exit difficult. In an instant, thousands of ghosts were stuck there, unable to move in or out, and wails of ghosts continuously came from within the door.

Before long, the ghostly cries gradually subsided. The ghosts blocking the entrance finally scattered, forming a fan-shaped empty space around the door, trembling and afraid to approach.

Then, a figure flickered within the light door, and a pale-faced girl in a green dress stepped out.

"This is..." Ghost Spirit frowned in surprise upon seeing Weeping Soul.

"Burp..."

As soon as she appeared, the girl let out an unladylike burp, then looked at Han Li with some embarrassment.

"Weeping Soul, this fellow also cultivates the ghost path, but he's somewhat unusual. I wanted to figure it out before calling you out, but now I can't afford to wait." Han Li said with a hint of a smile.

"Leave it to me." Weeping Soul chuckled.

With that, she turned her gaze to the countless ghosts ahead, her cold eyes slowly sweeping over them as if counting her rations.

"Roar..."

With a furious roar, black light rapidly swirled over her body. Her eyes turned blood-red, and her form swelled rapidly, soon transforming into a black giant ape over a hundred zhang tall.

Its pitch-black fur stood on end like steel needles, a strange horn grew from its head, fangs bared, and a third blood-red demon eye split open on its forehead. Behind it, three black bone spikes protruded, exuding a chilling yin aura.

Under its roar, all the ghosts were terrified and retreated.

"Punishment Beast, it's actually a Punishment Beast..." Ghost Spirit's expression changed as he cried out.

But his tone was urgent, his eyes wide, his face full of excitement—it was hard to tell whether it was surprise or fear.

Lan Yan in the distance was even more terrified. She had always seen Weeping Soul as a young girl, quiet and seemingly harmless. Who would have thought that her true form would be so terrifying?

With such a feast before her, Weeping Soul, now in her Punishment Beast true form, wasted no time. She wrinkled her nose, and large swaths of multicolored light shot out, causing countless ghosts to instantly dissolve into smoke and be sucked into her belly.

The entire stone chamber was filled with the wailing of ten thousand ghosts, their howls shaking the heavens.

Seeing this, Ghost Spirit curled his lips into a sinister smile, his eyes curving upward.

For some reason, Han Li's heart leaped with unease. He immediately sent a voice transmission to Weeping Soul: "I feel something's off. Be careful."

Before Weeping Soul could reply, Ghost Spirit, who was outside the formation, suddenly dispersed into ghost mist and vanished.

Han Li's sense of alertness surged.

Suddenly, the stone chamber floor shook violently, and rings of blood light emerged from the ground, casting a bloody glow all around.

When Han Li looked around again, he found that the scenery had changed. The stone walls and crystal pillars were gone, and they had been unknowingly transported to another space.

Weeping Soul also let out a light snort, as the ghosts that were her food had also disappeared.

This space had no north-south orientation, no objects, only a blood-red void.

Lan Yan had already rushed over, panic-stricken, to Han Li's side.

"It is said that the Envoy Ghost Spirit has mastered his domain to the level of天人合一. This is likely his domain space, known as the 'Ghost Realm,'" Lan Yan warned.

"Hmph, a traitor indeed. I'll make an example of you first." A voice of anger drifted from somewhere.

Han Li's eyes flickered with purple light as he looked around, but he couldn't find any trace of Ghost Spirit.

"Watch out..."

At that moment, he suddenly frowned, grabbed Lan Yan's shoulder, and pulled her toward him.

Where Lan Yan had been standing, a circle of light rippled on the ground, and a blood-red vortex emerged. Countless blood-drenched ghost arms reached out from it, clawing at the air.

Han Li slashed his sword, sending a surge of golden lightning into the blood-red vortex.

The vortex splashed with blood light and then vanished.

Just then, the sky above them darkened, as if a shadow had fallen.

Han Li looked up and saw a mountain-like giant figure standing nearby, raising a huge foot to stomp on them.

The figure wore a black official robe embroidered with dragons and phoenixes, was extremely stout, and had a hideous face. On its head was a crown with beaded curtains, resembling the one from the earlier Ten Thousand Immortals Trapping Formation.

In one hand, it held a thick black book; in the other, a vermilion brush, looking exactly like a Judge of the Underworld.

Han Li could even clearly see ring-shaped runes glowing on the bottom of its huge official boots, which were actually inscribed with formations.

"Could this be the domain spirit?" Han Li thought to himself as he dodged to the side.

Though Weeping Soul had manifested her true form, she was much smaller than this suddenly appearing ghost judge.

But since it was of the ghost path, Weeping Soul felt no fear—she naturally had an advantage over it. So, the bone spikes on her back lit up with white light and shot straight toward the judge's boot sole.

"No..." Han Li's expression changed drastically as he shouted.

But it was too late. Weeping Soul's spikes had already struck the formation on the judge's boot sole.

Rings of blood light burst forth from the boot sole, forming walls of blood light that pressed down. The terrifying force was so immense that it forced Weeping Soul to crouch down, kneeling.

Seeing this, Han Li flickered to rush to her aid, but the judge's head twisted at an unnatural angle, and it opened its bloody mouth expressionlessly.

The python-like long tongue shot out like an arrow, straight toward him.

Its speed was like lightning, heading straight for his forehead.

Before the tongue arrived, a stench that made one's soul tremble assaulted his nostrils.