Mu Qing, standing atop the golden flower, slightly inclined her head at the same moment. A thick stench surged forth, and from an extreme distance on the far side of the Bone Wasteland, a roaring sound suddenly erupted, followed immediately by a surging wave of gray,阴, misty air. This gray mist stretched endlessly, its edge indistinct. Wherever it passed, the scattered bones on the ground rose up, forming skeletons of various shapes and sizes. Their eyes glowed with bright red light, fixed intently upon the six-limbed creatures from the depths of the earth. As the gray mist swiftly approached the depth-dwelling beasts, the lower-tier creatures from the depths stirred and became agitated. Han Li's expression grew slightly concerned, and he glanced toward Mu Qing. The young woman's face remained calm and composed, showing no signs of surprise—seeming entirely prepared for this development. Just as Han Li was puzzled, a low command rang out from the very end of the formation. Two streaks of blood-colored light shot forth from among the array of statues, rushing directly toward the advancing gray mist. After two sharp cracks, the blood-hued aura split into two streams of blood-misty, fragrant winds and gray vapor that collided. A continuous series of thunderous booms erupted between the winds and vapor, transforming into two towering columns of rushing air that surged skyward. As the winds and vapor intertwined, a sound of wind and thunder surged forth, sweeping in large groups of recently revived skeletons and hurling them into disintegration. Yet, the skeletons advancing from the other directions, wrapped in gray vapor, rose into the air one by one, surging upward toward the ground-level forces rushing from below. For a moment, half the sky was densely obscured by these skeletons, forming an endless, thick mass. The sheer number was overwhelming. Han Li was now genuinely startled. At that very moment, the white-haired woman at the forefront chuckled strangely, then spun around with a fluid motion, and suddenly a massive ghostly figure, hair flowing wildly, emerged from behind her, rapidly expanding to hundreds of zhang in height within moments. Suddenly, the ghostly figure opened its mouth wide, and a surge of green mist roared forth, sweeping a vast number of skeletons into its embrace. An eerie phenomenon unfolded. As the skeletons passed through the green mist, their gray vapors instantly dispersed, and they began to dissolve, falling gracefully from the sky. The green mist, once expelled, seemed endless, and within moments, it joined forces with two crimson whirlwinds, clearing the sky of countless skeletons—without requiring any further action from Mu Qing or Liu Zhu. Han Li and Jin Ling nearby heard it clearly and exchanged glances. Han Li, however, looked thoughtful, while Jin Ling's fluffy face remained expressionless. Under Liu Fu's command, the ground-deep team continued advancing. ...Two days later, above a stretch of blood-red marsh, a host of strange, uniformly crimson bats launched themselves in furious attacks against the ground-deep creatures. Once these crimson bats were torn apart or slain by the deep creatures, their fragmented bodies reassembled and restored themselves to their original form. Only through repeated destruction or fire-based spells could they be completely eliminated. When they struck the bodies of the deep creatures, they immediately began sucking out their vital essence, reducing the victims to dry, lifeless husks within just a few breaths. These bats ranged from several zhang in size to a few chi in length; among them, several of the largest were bat-bodied with human faces, exuding bright crimson beams of blood from their mouths. Any creature struck by these beams instantly turned to dust. Wei Neng's strength is such that even high-ranking immortal beasts cannot withstand a direct blow. Thus, this time not only did all the beasts launch their attacks, but the Four Great Beast Kings also summoned their divine powers, successively eliminating the human-faced blood bats. Han Li stood within a golden electric arc, and as each blood bat touched the golden light, it instantly dissolved into clumps of blood vapor, then vanished entirely. At last, he understood why the Mu Qing beauty and others so greatly admired the Divine Exorcising Thunder. Clearly, many of the spirits from the Minghe realm contained varying degrees of magical energy within them. The Divine Exorcising Thunder proved exceptionally effective against such beings. Though the blood bats were numerous, under the combined counterattacks of the Four Great Beast Kings, countless other beasts, puppets, and xuan guis, their numbers rapidly diminished, and soon became sparse. The remaining two or three human-faced bats, sensing the turning tide, emitted bursts of blood mist from their bodies and swiftly turned around to flee. They vanished with astonishing speed, reaching the far horizon in just a few flashes, then completely dissolving into nothingness with a single flick. ...Seven days later, amid a strange, bluish mist, countless black spectral figures shifted in various shapes, swirling around the mountain base of the earth-bound monster. Though they did not close in close, their eerie ghostly howls—some piercing and mournful, others soft and strange—caused the lower-tier creatures to sway, their eyes growing dim, trembling at every moment as if they might collapse. At that moment, a large black bell rose from the midst of the group, and upon resonating with a deep, dragon-like chime, half of the spectral figures dispersed and vanished; the remaining ones cried out in distress and retreated, gradually fading into the mist. ...One month later, above a dark, eerie lake, a giant with rotting green flesh spreading across his body and bearing three heads stood upon the lake's surface, wielding a massive bone staff in one hand and a purple-blooded puppet nearly as large as himself, engaged in fierce combat. Near them, countless lake spirits and earth-deep monsters were crushed into a heap. The number of earth-deep monsters present now fell short of ten thousand, and most were mid-to-high level beings. Even the eight thousand ghost soldiers and over ten thousand puppets had suffered significant losses. On a certain day a month later… Han Li raised his hand, and a flash of golden light instantly severed a cow-headed, human-bodied spirit in half. As a gray glow swept behind him, several white bone arrows flying from a certain direction vanished without a trace. Then, with the other arm pressing lightly into the air, a swirl of five-colored cold flames instantly transformed two fierce, green-faced, toothed demons that had appeared behind him into ice sculptures. At that moment, however, a sudden rushing sound broke the silence, and a powerful gust of wind surged downward from the sky. Han Li's face changed, his form briefly blurred, and then he vanished completely from his spot. A colossal spear, over ten dozen feet long, crashed down where he had stood, causing the ground nearby to flash with black light and collapse into a deep, crater-like depression. The owner of the spear, a towering green-furred one-eyed corpse, stood bewildered, gazing around in confusion. Suddenly, a flash of azure light appeared above the corpse, and Han Li materialized, extending his hand downward and palm-pressing into the air. Instantly, a small mountain of dark hue rose into existence, its body shimmering with black radiance, then swiftly expanding into a mountain towering a thousand feet high. With a tremendous roar, the black mountain not only crushed the giant corpse beneath it but also reduced all other spectral beings within a hundred zhang to fine dust. Han Li exhaled deeply, finally finding a moment to hover in the sky and survey the surroundings. Ghostly mist rolled in from all directions, thick and swirling; beyond a distance of over a thousand zhang, even with the keen eyes of a Qingming spiritual observer, the scene remained indistinct. He could only judge that many earth-deep monsters were still stubbornly resisting the ghost army's assaults, based on the occasional bursts of brilliant luminescence and the constant thunderous sounds. He had no idea where the four great demon kings had dispersed to, whether they were now completely surrounded by the ghosts of the River of the Underworld. A faint twitch of his lips, and a wry smile appeared on Han Li's face. During the previous month, though they had fought fiercely in the first十余 days, their journey had generally gone smoothly, and they had steadily progressed farther and farther. However, in the latter half of the month, as they passed through over a dozen perilous lands, no ghosts appeared at all. At several of these locations, the spirits of the fierce ghosts possessed unique powers, even making the four great demon kings hesitate, and thus they had specially prepared eight thousand ghost soldiers and over ten thousand puppets to force their way through. As for the lower-tier monsters that had fought at the front, they had already dwindled down to almost nothing. Faced with this expected development, after some discussion, the group of six—though somewhat uneasy—had naturally decided not to turn back. They had to be extra cautious and continue leading the group forward. To their surprise, once they reached this high plateau—according to Mu Qing, home to neither particularly powerful nor formidable ghost creatures—the ghost forces suddenly surged from all directions, forming an immense army so numerous that they completely blocked the sky. Under the command of over thirty fierce ghost generals whose strength rivaled that of the Xuangui stage, they released a thick layer of dense, oppressive mist, encircling the entire group and then unexpectedly breaking through their formation, scattering the entire party and forcing Han Li and the others to fight separately. At first, Han Li managed to hold off alongside Jin Ling and other nearby yuanshen ghost creatures, defending against the onslaught. Yet the mist seemed to possess some unique ghost magic—whenever they slightly stepped away from the front lines, they immediately lost their bearings within the fog. Even with Han Li’s strong spiritual awareness and the Qingming Lingmou divination ability, after half a day of intense combat, he eventually lost contact with the others. He could only faintly hear the distant clashes of battle, while waves upon waves of ghost creatures kept charging forward, fearless and relentless. Fortunately, although these spectral beings were numerous, they were at most at the Yuan Ying to Shen stage, and thus could not pose a genuine threat. After another round of fierce combat, he had temporarily eliminated all the nearby spirits and managed to rest for a while. However, based on his prior experience, soon after, fresh groups of spirits would emerge in waves, encircling him and making it impossible to gain any respite. Han Li's expression grew unsettled. Suddenly, he extended his hand downward and grasped firmly; the massive mountain peak trembled and vanished. At the same time, Han Li himself shimmered with a jade-like glow, transforming into a streak of emerald light and swiftly darting toward the area where the surrounding combat sounds were weakest. Han Li needed to first ensure his own safety before escaping from the misty region. If absolutely necessary, he would no longer hesitate regarding his concerns for the six-legged creature or the white-haired beauty; he would simply release the Ti Hun beast and force his way through the encircling spirits. Otherwise, under relentless attacks, these spectral beings might indeed be trapped and suffocated to death.