First Battle, Dark Spirit Ascension Platform Martial Arts Tournament

Yun Ze looked at the old man before him with a grim expression. Dozens of corpses had already gathered in front of the old man; it was a mystery how so many terrifying skeletons had appeared in the Heaven Dou Cemetery.

These corpses all retained the cultivation they had in life, and strange spirit rings, adorned with flesh and eyes, appeared around them one after another.

The only question was whether they could still unleash spirit skills. If they could, the mere fluctuation of spirit power from so many people unleashing skills at once would likely shatter the entire tavern.

Yun Ze pondered this in his heart, then swung the Heaven-Surpassing Spear, being the first to hack one of the nearby three-ringed corpses into pieces.

After being hacked into pieces, the recovery speed of these corpses seemed to be suppressed. Yun Ze realized this at that moment and immediately closed his eyes.

The colors and shapes of his surroundings seemed to have nothing to do with him anymore; all he cared about was the sensation of the space around him.

After discarding his vision, Yun Ze could clearly feel that the number of skeletons had plummeted.

Moreover, those so-called spirit corpses covered in eyes and flesh had all vanished completely.

This confirmed Yun Ze's conjecture: the old man was using an extremely realistic form of illusion.

Furthermore, this type of illusion was such that the more you believed in it, the more real it became; if you stopped looking at it, it would simply disappear on its own.

It could be described as extremely sinister.

After closing his eyes, Yun Ze did not lose his vision entirely; instead, by using his spiritual power to probe, he felt the situation around him even more clearly.

With both spears in his hands, he spun them just a few times without even needing to unleash a spirit skill, slaughtering all the corpses blocking his path.

The man clearly had not expected Lin Ze to grasp the key to the illusion so quickly and immediately retreated. Yun Ze raised his hand and released the Spear of Fate's Judgment.

The golden, profound edge bypassed all obstacles and firmly pinned itself into the old man's back.

The next moment, the old man spat out a mouthful of blood. Yun Ze lifted his spear upward, and the tip sliced through the old man's body like a hot knife through butter.

He retracted the spear without any resistance, and the old man split apart to both sides like a sliced apple.

Yun Ze panted, as the previous movements had clearly taken a significant toll on him.

He reached into the storage soul tool in his pocket to retrieve his Soul Guidance Communicator, took a photo, and then began to rummage through the old man's belongings.

Although the old man looked ragged and impoverished, he actually possessed a pocket-watch-shaped storage soul tool.

The casing of the soul tool was inlaid with gold, clearly a valuable treasure, though it was hard to say if it had been obtained legitimately.

Regardless of its origin, once it was in Yun Ze's hands, it was legitimate.

After all, Yun Ze's family had been in the business of suppressing bandits for generations, so it was perfectly normal to acquire some items in the process.

Yun Ze examined the pocket-watch-shaped storage soul tool and pressed the button on top.

The hands of the watch ticked gently. Yun Ze reached out and tapped the face, and the next moment, brilliance flashed from the center of the clock where his fingertip touched.

Item after item poured out.

These were all of the old man's collections.

However, they were basically just corpses and materials for refining corpses into puppets. Yun Ze was completely clueless about such things.

He simply lit a fire and burned everything; Shrek had no use for such things anyway.

After burning the batch of materials for refining corpse puppets, Yun Ze saw something wrapped inside that looked like parchment.

Curious, he picked it up and opened it, only to discover it was a promotional poster for the Holy Spirit Cult.

The general message was that within the Spirit Pagoda of Tianlin City, a dedicated Spirit Life Platform had been opened specifically for Evil Soul Masters—that is, those holding this parchment.

Entering that Spirit Life Platform would reveal a space different from the conventional ones.

This Spirit Life Platform, filled with undead creatures, was also referred to by them as the Dark Spirit Martial Arena.

The main point of this parchment advertisement, however, was something else.

The current leader of the Holy Spirit Cult was spearheading a martial arts tournament within this Dark Spirit Martial Arena, exclusive to the Dark Spirit Platform.

Judging by the tournament format, it was a competition similar to a battle royale for those holding the parchment who entered the Spirit Life Platform.

The final winner could obtain a special spirit soul bestowed by the Demon Emperor.

Based on Yun Ze's speculation, the ultimate winner of this competition would most likely be used as cannon fodder in the operation to bomb Shrek.

After all, according to the original records, activating those two Level 12 Fixed Soul Guidance Shells had consumed quite a few Evil Soul Masters as resources.

The greatest attraction of this matter for Yun Ze was the Dark Spirit Platform itself.

Although the Dark Spirit Platform had a dark name, it was essentially no different from a regular Spirit Life Platform; fighting inside could still help spirit souls gain years of cultivation.

Moreover, because it was a special area allocated to the Holy Spirit Cult by the Spirit Pagoda, it would not be monitored by the Spirit Pagoda.

As for the possibility of the Holy Spirit Cult monitoring him, it wasn't impossible, but as long as he didn't expose his Heaven-Propping Spear martial soul too much, it shouldn't be a major issue. After all, although this was nominally a tournament project led by the Demon Emperor, it was unlikely the Demon Emperor would personally manage the details of a tournament at Yun Ze's level.

Yun Ze prepared to visit this Dark Spirit Platform at his next stop. Even if he didn't participate in the tournament, using the platform to level up his spirit souls later would be beneficial.

Having made up his mind, he waited to see Wu Zhangkong the next day to tell him, and then he could make a quick exit.

Early the next morning, Yun Ze went to the Heaven Dou Cemetery and was slightly surprised to see that Wu Zhangkong had actually kept watch there all night.

Wu Zhangkong did not seem to have deliberately used his spiritual power to resist the feeling of fatigue. His eye sockets were slightly sunken, and he was clearly in a state of sleep-deprived delirium.

"No need to keep watch anymore. I've already killed the grave robber. Here is the photo."

Yun Ze took out his Soul Guidance Communicator and said this to Wu Zhangkong.

Wu Zhangkong's expression shifted slightly, and he immediately stood up to speak.

"I never expected you would actually be able to pull it off."

Yun Ze tilted his head up at this moment, speaking to Wu Zhangkong with a hint of smugness.

"Have you ever heard the saying that a tiger father produces no dog for a son?"

Wu Zhangkong smiled with relief, then continued.

"The waves of the Yangtze River push the ones ahead, leaving the old waves to die on the shore; you lot truly have more edge than we did back in our day."

Yun Ze patted Wu Zhangkong on the shoulder, then turned around to say.

"Alright, I'm off to the next stop on my journey. Remember what I told you—it's best to go find your teacher sooner rather than later. Don't let the old man keep worrying about this..."