Mortal: My divine sense has mutated.

Chapter 68 Soul-Devouring Needles, Cold Li Terrace

After venturing some distance, the group finally encountered the true test of the first stage of the inner palace.

It was a large group of Core Formation puppets, each possessing the aura of a late-stage Core Formation cultivator. Their overall shape resembled some kind of ancient two-headed lizard, with dark green soul stones embedded in their chests.

It is because of the existence of these soul stones that the demonic beast essences within these ancient puppets have survived to this day, and the yin energy and death energy contained within them are the source of power for these ancient puppets.

Seeing this, Qingyi Jushi couldn't help but say, "Let's work together; it will save us some magic power and time."

The bearded man looked at the group of puppets with an arrogant expression, clearly not taking them seriously.

However, he still spoke up, "Brother Mo, what do you think?"

Chen Liang: "Leave it to me. I happen to have a magic weapon that can subdue them."

Upon hearing this, Qingyi Jushi, who was originally planning to take out his magic weapon, and Jiyin, who was using the Heavenly Capital Corpse Fire, couldn't help but turn their attention to him. Even Manhuzi looked over with curiosity.

Under the watchful eyes of the group, a streak of dark blue light shot out from Chen Liang's dantian. When this streak of light stopped in front of Chen Liang, a vertically pointing dark blue bamboo needle appeared from within it.

Before Qingyi Jushi and the others could figure out the details of this bamboo needle, Chen Liang directly activated it, causing thousands of needle shadows to fall from the sky.

After these needle shadows landed on the puppets, the puppets' bodies first stiffened abruptly, and then they fell to the ground, their long-existing demonic beast essences completely absorbed by these needle shadows.

Until all the two-headed lizard puppets that dared to approach were paralyzed on the ground, and when Chen Liang summoned back the needle shadows, Qingyi Jushi and Jiyin's expressions changed, and they almost simultaneously exclaimed in shock: "Soul-Devouring Demon Needles?"

The Soul-Devouring Needle is the most ferocious of all demonic magical artifacts.

It can become invisible, ignoring armor and protective magic treasures, and directly attack the cultivator's soul. Moreover, the more cultivators it kills, or rather, the more souls it devours, the more it will evolve on its own.

If it is further nurtured by the true essence of a cultivator, its advancement speed can completely surpass that of its master.

However, because such magical artifacts often devour the souls of living beings, they are often extremely ferocious and can easily turn against their masters, so very few people would create such magical artifacts.

Moreover, its main refining material is one of the famous demonic divine trees - Soul-Devouring Demon Bamboo. Since its brief appearance during the invasion of the demon realm tens of thousands of years ago, it has almost disappeared from the world.

The second clone also discovered several Soul-Devouring Bamboo plants in that underwater ruin. Relying on the Fire Lotus Karmic Fire, which could remove the ferocity of the Soul-Devouring Needles, he refined seven Soul-Devouring Needles as his second natal magic weapon.

Of course, this complete set of Soul-Devouring Needles has a very resounding name—Seven Deadly Needles.

Chen Liang also took a Soul-Devouring Demon Bamboo seedling, and after cultivating several mature Soul-Devouring Demon Bamboos, he refined a set of Seven Absolute Demon Needles as his fourth natal magic weapon.

The Seven Deadly Demon Needles surpass even the Three Gods White Bone Banner and the Five Sons United Demon, making it arguably the most ferocious and powerful demonic treasure.

Therefore, even a single Soul-Devouring Needle has already entered the ranks of demonic treasures.

Once a cultivator wielding such a magical artifact appears on the edge of the battlefield, even a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator would be filled with apprehension.

Because flying needles are sinister weapons that are good at sneak attacks, even a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator would suffer a significant loss of combat power if struck unexpectedly.

On the other hand, at this moment, Qingyi Jushi and Jiyin were cursing inwardly.

Judging from the bearded man's previous attitude, Chen Liang's strength was definitely not weak.

However, they still instinctively doubted Chen Liang's strength. Now, Qingyi Jushi and Jiyin felt that the barbarian had almost cost them their lives.

Regardless of anything else, just considering this one supreme demonic treasure, Barbarian Beard is clearly inferior to Chen Liang. Yet Barbarian Beard had been calling Chen Liang "brother" all along—wasn't he deliberately trying to trick them?

Barbarian Beard, who was unaware of the existence of the Soul-Devouring Needle, was now sweating profusely.

But when he thought of Chen Liang's personality, which suited him perfectly, the bearded man felt his courage return.

"Brother Mo, you can't use these flying needles to poke me when we're fighting for the Heaven-Mending Pill later. Otherwise, I'll turn on you."

Chen Liang: "Brother Man, don't worry. If I wanted to use it to poke you, or Brother Qing and my friend Jiyin, I wouldn't have taken it out at this time."

Upon hearing this, Manhuzi, Jiyin, and Qingyi Jushi all breathed a sigh of relief.

Chen Liang continued, "Alright, let's go. We'll leave these puppets to the younger generation to deal with."

Upon hearing this, the bearded man remained indifferent. However, Ji Yin's expression clearly brightened, while Qingyi Jushi looked at the puppets with some regret and heartache.

After the demonic beast essences are removed, these puppets only need to be re-infused with some demonic beast essences to become the fighting force of everyone present.

Ji Yin brought Wu Chou along, who could have easily gotten a share of the spoils. However, Qing Yi Jushi had no descendants present, so he missed this opportunity.

However, Qingyi Jushi thought for a moment and instinctively looked at Han Li, who was standing at the back of the crowd with a look of surprise on his face.

Starting from the stone hall after the second level of the outer hall, he vaguely saw his own shadow in Han Li.

After Han Li successfully passed the third trial in the outer hall and proved his character, Qingyi Jushi had the idea of ​​taking him as a disciple.

Now that Han Li can get a share of the profits from these puppets, it's even more worthwhile for him to take this disciple.

Thinking of this, a smug expression appeared on Qingyi Jushi's face.

He had already made up his mind that once the matter of retrieving the cauldron was settled, he would take Han Li under his wing so that he could also show off his power.

On the other side, the second clone looked at Xuan Gu, Wu Chou, and Han Li beside him and said, "I will take half of it, and you can divide the rest among yourselves."

Xuan Gu, Wu Chou, and Han Li all nodded in agreement upon hearing this.

So Chen Liang led the way with a Soul-Devouring Needle, while his second clone, Xuan Gu, Wu Chou, and Han Li followed behind, collecting the puppet bodies. They were all very busy.

On the second floor of the inner sanctum, the group encountered puppets of the pseudo-infant level blocking their path. Their overall appearance resembled some kind of serpent demon, or perhaps it would be more appropriate to call them Naga.

Because in addition to looking like snakes, they also have a pair of claws that hold weapons.

From here on, Chen Liang will not only eliminate these puppets, but also collect their bodies.

After all, a group of fake infant-level puppets is also a kind of Nascent Soul-level combat power.

On the third floor of the inner hall, the group encountered a series of restrictive traps. Chen Liang took out the Yuanhe Radiant Mirror to clear a path, and under the illumination of the five-colored spiritual light, these restrictive traps often vanished in an instant.

Even so, Chen Liang and his group still walked much slower than the righteous trio, because the righteous trio had the Heavenly Mechanism Instrument, which allowed them to bypass the second, third, and fourth floors of the inner hall and reach the Hanli Terrace on the fifth floor of the inner hall directly.

As Wan Tianming, Tian Wuzi, and Mu Tengzi arrived in front of Hanlitai, they turned around and looked back at the fourth and even the first half of the fifth floor of the inner hall.

It was a massive building shaped like a Rubik's Cube, filled with various mechanisms and restrictions such as escape routes and divine sense barriers. Even a team of ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators would probably need several hours to get through it.

The righteous trio, with the help of the Heavenly Mechanism Instrument, passed the test in just the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

Tian Wuzi couldn't help but ask, "Brother Wan, you said that before the Void Heaven Palace opened this time, Elder Jin Kui lent us this Creation Instrument to avoid those puppets and restrictive traps. What were his intentions?"

Wan Tianming: "That's his usual trick. His goal is to make us fight the demonic path to the death so he can reap the benefits."

Tian Wuzi: "Alas! With someone like this around, the Star Palace will probably be ruling the chaotic star sea for quite some time."

Wan Tianming: "That's not entirely true. A powerful overlord should subdue the world with force. Now, having to resort to underhanded tricks, it's already at its limit. Given time, chaos will naturally emerge."

That will be our opportunity to restore the righteous path.

Tian Wuzi nodded and said, "Brother Wan is right, let's go up to the hall."

Wan Tianming: "Wait a minute, let me prepare some gifts for those evil scoundrels."

After saying that, Wan Tianming took out four array flags and threw them in four specific directions on the Hanlitai Terrace.

As a huge light curtain enveloped the original light curtain of the entire Hanlitai, Wan Tianming, Tian Wuzi, and Mu Tengzi transformed into three streaks of light and rushed onto the Hanlitai.

Until the righteous trio entered the stone hall on the Cold Li Terrace, Mu Tengzi, who was at the back, used his spiritual power to close the stone door of the hall.