The only relief for Yuan Ming was that the marks of the Ghost Slaves such as the Heavenly Ghost Wanderer were still present in the Night Parade of Hundred Demons, indicating that the ghosts hadn't been killed but were somehow restrained.

"This Yin Capital City is truly bizarre, and continuing to search may lead to more strange encounters. Why don't we retreat for now and see if others will come looking for us, and then explore together?" Yan Sijing's complexion wasn't looking good as she suggested.

Yuan Ming weighed the options briefly in his mind before finally nodding in agreement.

The two retraced their steps, running towards the city gates.

However, after walking through several blocks, not to mention reaching the gate, the tall city walls were still in the distance, not appearing any closer.

Yan Sijing's complexion turned slightly pale, and it was obvious that the scene before her exceeded her understanding. Had Yuan Ming not been by her side, she might have collapsed mentally.

"What's happening? Could it be that I'm under some illusion?" Yuan Ming pinched his fingers to cast a Soul-shocking Secret Technique.

With his current level of Soul Power, the effect of casting the Soul-shocking Secret Technique was incomparable to before. His Soul Pill and the Divine Soul within violently trembled, yet the surroundings remained unchanged, without any difference.

This meant that he probably hadn't fallen under any illusion, nor was he in any sort of illusionary realm.

This was odd.

Yuan Ming looked around briefly, then instead of continuing along the street, he levitated and flew low towards the city walls.

The houses below rapidly receded, and after flying for about a quarter of an hour, the tall city wall was still in the distance with no sense of it getting closer.

Yuan Ming stopped his tunneling light, stood in place, and fell silent.

Although he didn't know the specifics of the weirdness in Yin Capital City, he obviously had fallen into some special type of illusion.

But what kind of illusion was it? Even with his current proficiency in Illusion Techniques, he couldn't detect the slightest clue.

Just at that moment, Yan Sijing caught up from behind, landed beside him, and said with a bitter voice, "Fellow Daoist Yuan, it seems we have both fallen victim to the enemy's tricks. I fear it's difficult to leave this place today."

"Indeed," Yuan Ming said without turning his head, as suddenly a streak of black sword light shot out from under his rib, piercing through Yan Sijing's chest.

Yan Sijing was sent flying, crashing into a nearby wall, her face filled with shock and anger.

"Yuan Ming, what are you doing?"

Yuan Ming's expression was emotionless; his arm trembled slightly.

The Soul Destroying Sword swept out horizontally, and Yan Sijing's head flew off in a flash, yet no blood spurted out.

Yan Sijing's body suddenly split open, turning into a large cloud of Blood Mist, instantly engulfing an area of tens of feet.

Yuan Ming was also enveloped by the Blood Mist, his eyes painfully hot, unable to see anything.

A Blood Shadow shot out from the Blood Mist, heading straight for Yuan Ming.

Before the Blood Shadow even arrived, Yuan Ming's Essence Blood began to boil, nearly bursting out of his body to merge into the Blood Shadow.

Suddenly, several Purple-black Vines shot out from his Spiritual Beast Bag around his waist, piercing into the Blood Shadow, and Hua Zhi's figure also appeared from the Spiritual Beast Bag.

The Purple-black Vines quickly withered, as if the nutrients inside were being drained by the Blood Shadow, but they managed to entangle the Blood Shadow, stopping its advance.

Vajra also flew out of another Spiritual Beast Bag, simultaneously clapping his hands while still in mid-air.

The air in front of the Blood Shadow exploded repeatedly, generating powerful airwaves that sent the Blood Shadow flying backward.

Yuan Ming flew out from the Blood Mist, activating the Curse Rune inside the Soul Destroying Sword, sending a force of Curse Power breaking through the air and infiltrating into the Blood Shadow.

The Blood Shadow emitted a piercing scream, flying back as bursts of Blood Light spread out, seeming to suffer extreme damage, frantically fleeing into the distance, and disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Yuan Ming infused Mana into his eyes, and his vision slowly recovered; he looked in the direction the Blood Shadow had fled, pondering.

"Master, how did you know that Yan Sijing just now wasn't real? I can devour others' Mana and demon energy, and am very sensitive to auras, but I didn't notice anything wrong with that Yan Sijing," Hua Zhi asked curiously.

"Yan Sijing has my Second Split Soul inside her, but the aura of that Yan Sijing just now, although convincing, lacked the Split Soul, so I instantly recognized it," Yuan Ming said softly.

"I see, but what exactly is going on with this Yin Capital City? Those ghosts of yours have disappeared, and now Yan Sijing is also nowhere to be seen; don't tell me, in a while, both I and that stinky monkey will disappear into thin air," Hua Zhi said worriedly.

"That won't happen," Yuan Ming assured her.

"Why not?" This time, it was Vajra who was curious.

"Both the Ghost Slaves and Yan Sijing disappeared only after moving a certain distance away from me. As long as you don't stray too far from me, you should be fine," Yuan Ming explained.

"It does seem to be the case," Hua Zhi recalled the recent situation and said.

"Moreover, my Ghost Slaves and Yan Sijing haven't actually disappeared. I can sense that the Second Split Soul is not too far from me, indicating Yan Sijing is still within Yin Capital City, just invisible to us. The same probably applies to those Ghost Slaves," Yuan Ming said, closing his eyes.

Currently, Yan Sijing was wandering down a street, her face full of panic, pale as paper.

Just as Yuan Ming flew off into the distance, she was a step too late in following; by the time she looked up, Yuan Ming had already vanished.

Without Yuan Ming by her side, panic had already overwhelmed Yan Sijing's heart.

However, having faced dangers recently, her temperament had been tempered, and she hadn't truly collapsed but instead forced herself to calm down and ventured forward alone.

...

A woman in a green robe was sprinting down a street, none other than the Core Formation stage female cultivator accompanying Thunderbolt Ancestor.

Her face etched with panic, she occasionally glanced back as if something terrifying was chasing her.

The street quickly came to an end, a large building loomed ahead, appearing to be a garden. Through the gate, one could see the dense forest inside.

Overjoyed, the woman in green practiced the wood attribute cultivation method and had a secret technique that allowed her to conceal her tracks amidst the dense forests, so she immediately darted into it.

This indeed was a garden, filled with pavilions, towers, small bridges, and flowing water. However, due to years of neglect, it was overgrown with weeds, and the wood attribute spiritual power was exceptionally vigorous.

The woman in green felt slightly relieved and immediately headed towards a colorful garden.

Just at that moment, the flowers in the garden suddenly twisted, all turning towards the woman in green. From within the blossoms, pairs of blood-red eyes emerged, staring intently at her.

The woman in green was terrified, she took out a green feather fan and waved it fiercely.

A gust of green wind swept across, mixed with large and small wind blades; in the blink of an eye, it sliced the surrounding flowers into pieces, wiping them out completely.

However, before she could catch her breath, she felt the solid ground beneath her feet become loose, and her legs quickly sank into the ground.

Greatly alarmed, the woman in green immediately tried to leap into the air, but her legs were firmly gripped by the ground, an astonishing suction force emanating from below.

With a scream, her whole body was instantly swallowed by the ground.

The ground undulated for a moment, as if chewing on something, and soon returned to calm.

A bunch of plants rapidly grew, and within a few breaths, they formed a lush garden once again.

...

At this moment, Wan Qi Hong stood in front of a large mansion with a darkly hued façade, its door adorned with a dusty plaque bearing the words "City Lord Mansion."

A fleeting smile crossed his expressionless face. With a flick of his finger, a beam of golden light hit the door, which was already rotten, immediately blasting it to pieces.

He stepped inside, but the next moment, he found himself in the middle of the street, several meters away.

Wan Qi Hong was slightly taken aback, then he spat out a beam of golden light, wrapping around his body as he soared over the walls of the City Lord Mansion and flew directly inside.

Yet, as the golden light flashed through the center of the street, Wan Qi Hong's figure once again appeared out of thin air.

"Spatial displacement restriction?" Wan Qi Hong frowned, pondering how to break the restriction.

Just then, a blood-colored ghost shadow slowly appeared behind Wan Qi Hong, who, despite his cultivation, was completely unaware of it.

The blood-colored ghost shadow slowly opened its mouth, revealing sharp and ferocious fangs, and viciously bit towards Wan Qi Hong's neck.

...

In a deserted residential area of Yin Capital City, a man in white from Guiyuan Sect was manipulating a Purple Wheel Treasure, spewing a column of scorching purple flame towards an old well.

The mouth of the well flickered with a faint white light, forming a white screen that made the already pale face of the man appear even paler; through the screen, one could clearly see a bright blue light floating at the bottom of the well.

Under the impact of the purple flame column, the white screen trembled violently and quickly thinned, shattering in moments.

The man in white retracted his Purple Wheel Treasure and released a red light to retrieve the blue light from the bottom of the well.

The blue light quickly extinguished, revealing a translucent blue treasure bead emanating astonishing spiritual energy waves.

"What a treasure!" The man in white greedily caressed the bead, unwilling to let it go.

"Is that so? Since you think so, why don't you get closer and acquainted with this bead?" A mocking voice sounded.

The translucent blue bead suddenly turned blood red and transformed into a mist of blood, disappearing instantly as it merged into the body of the man in white, too quick for the eyes to follow.

The man in white's body rapidly shriveled, his face showing an expression of immense terror.

A few breaths later, the man in white had turned into a desiccated husk, falling to the ground.

All his flesh had disappeared from the husk, leaving only a layer of shriveled dead skin clinging to the skeletal frame, even the bones were covered in cracks, seemingly drained of all moisture.

"Such little Qi-Blood, truly unsatisfying," the voice sounded again from the blood-colored orb as it flew out from the corpse of the man in white, seemingly unsatisfied.

"Oh, what rich Qi-Blood, this must belong to someone with an Innate Body engaging in Body Cultivation!" the Blood Pearl suddenly shifted direction and shot off towards a new target.

...

"What do we do next? Continue searching?" Hua Zhi looked towards Yuan Ming and asked.

"I have a better idea, it might work, follow me," Yuan Ming dashed towards a distant white mansion.

According to the sensations from his second split soul, Yan Sijing was currently within this white mansion. However, no matter how he searched, he could not detect any trace of Yan Sijing, evidently, her presence had been concealed by the illusion technique restrictions within the city.

Similarly, for Yan Sijing who was just a wall away and not too far from Yuan Ming, his existence was also concealed.

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