Chen Jiuyang said, "After I let go, my Dao force can only suppress it for three breaths."
Qi Wushuang's face twitched slightly and said, "That's enough."
"After going out, immediately fly north towards the City of Ten Thousand Ghosts."
"Alright."
The moment the words fell, Chen Jiuyang and the other three immediately flew out of the small wooden house, left the market, and flew north at the fastest speed.
After the four left.
"My eyes are gone, can you lend me your eyes?" the old man holding the lantern asked in a hoarse voice.
...
"Swish swish swish!"
A vast mist surged, thick as a sea of clouds, spreading wantonly, obscuring vision, and even eroding the flesh, as if to freeze the martial furnace.
Qi Wushuang said solemnly, "This is the outer perimeter of the City of Ten Thousand Ghosts. You must not expose your martial furnace or reveal any signs of life, otherwise you will be devoured by the ten thousand ghosts and perish here."
"Seal your life force, conceal your aura."
The moment Qi Wushuang's voice fell, strangely shaped creatures suddenly appeared ahead, seeming like demons, ghosts, and humans, exuding a strong aura of Dao force.
Chen Jiuyang and the other two immediately restrained their auras to the extreme. In the time it took to draw a breath, the dense white mist surged, making their limbs ice-cold, and frost formed on their heads and hands.
Drip, drip, drip...
Something like ghostly energy emanated from them, dripping continuously.
Then, a ghost wind swept through, separating Chen Jiuyang and Luo Xingchen into one team, and Bai Riyue and Qi Wushuang into another. The two teams were blown apart, losing sight of each other.
An eerie, dead silence surrounded them.
Chen Jiuyang and Luo Xingchen exchanged glances, remained silent, and continued forward.
After walking for about half a day.
The dense, extremely ferocious ghostly energy surged to the sky, like a stormy sea, surging and powerful.
Then, the thick white mist gradually dispersed.
A massive ancient city appeared before the two.
It seemed to bear the words 'Fengdu'.
After the dense fog dissipated, the two showed expressions of horror.
The ground was covered with eerie white bones, hand bones, leg bones, skull bones...
They were scattered everywhere, a scene that appeared somewhat terrifying.
The experts who could enter here were at least at the starting level of Martial Saints and Kings, or even Quasi-Emperors.
In the outside world, they would be overlords of their respective regions, yet they had perished silently in this Dao fruit secret realm. How could this not cause horror?
At this moment, the bodies of the two were chilled to the extreme, like ferocious ghostly creatures.
Qi Wushuang's words were indeed effective.
Then, both of them showed expressions of joy.
Chen Jiuyang felt the Dao force within him being attracted to a certain place within the city, urging him to go there.
"The first step to activating the Dao fruit is indeed here."
But soon, Chen Jiuyang realized, how to activate the Dao fruit, and whether another person was needed for help?
Suppressing this thought for the moment, the two walked side by side into this City of Ten Thousand Ghosts.
Ghostly energy billowed, and various ferocious ghosts appeared here.
"This is..."
Chen Jiuyang's heart trembled. The ghosts before him were not just ghosts. In Chen Jiuyang's perception of Dao force, each ghost was a Dao fruit!
"What's going on? Are Dao fruits ghosts, or are ghosts Dao fruits?"
Chen Jiuyang couldn't help but transmit his voice to Luo Xingchen, "Fellow Daoist Luo, do you know how to activate the Dao fruit?"
Luo Xingchen's expression was solemn, and she replied, "I don't know either, but the Dao fruit in my body is pulling me. Perhaps it's better to investigate first."
Chen Jiuyang slowly nodded, "You and I will go together. Let's go and see. The direction of the pull within my body is to the south, about ten kilometers away, which should be at the southernmost part of this City of Ten Thousand Ghosts."
Luo Xingchen replied, "My direction of pull is not far ahead."
Chen Jiuyang said, "Then let's go and see Fellow Daoist Luo's pull first, and investigate what's going on."
The surrounding ghosts exuded ferocious auras, and numerous gazes swept back and forth over Chen Jiuyang and Luo Xingchen. Although they did not make a move, the ill intentions could be felt.
Without needing any reminder, both of them slowed down, extremely vigilant, not daring to be careless in the slightest.
After walking for about half an hour, the two arrived in front of a small house. Various auspicious patterns were pasted on the door, but within the small house, a ferocious and overwhelming ghostly energy could be felt.
Luo Xingchen carefully observed the various auspicious patterns on the door, her expression slightly changed. She transmitted her voice to Chen Jiuyang and said, "Brother Chen, I roughly know how to activate the first step of my Dao fruit."
"How?" Chen Jiuyang also looked intently at the auspicious patterns, but could not discern anything.
"A ritual," Luo Xingchen said. "Brother Chen, please watch from the side."
Then, Luo Xingchen pushed open the door and walked inside.
In the small house, a ferocious and terrifying little girl holding a doll looked at Luo Xingchen's arrival. The originally ferocious expression on her face immediately softened a little.
At this moment, a thread flew out from Luo Xingchen's body, entwining around her and the ferocious little ghost girl. She asked, "Where is it?"
The ferocious and terrifying little girl's lips curved into a sinister arc, "Buried ten li outside the city, where the white deer are."
Luo Xingchen nodded slowly and said, "Alright, I'll go get it now."
...
Chen Jiuyang waited outside the door for a moment, then saw Luo Xingchen walk out from inside.
"How?" Chen Jiuyang asked.
"Brother Chen, I roughly know how to activate the first step of my Dao fruit."
"How?" Chen Jiuyang asked again.
"A ritual," Luo Xingchen said. "Brother Chen, please watch from the side."
Then, she walked into the small house again.
Chen Jiuyang frowned slightly. He watched her walk in, and then walk out again.
"Brother Chen, I roughly know how to activate the first step of my Dao fruit," Luo Xingchen gazed at the patterns on the door.
Chen Jiuyang's expression changed slightly. Something was wrong.
"A ritual," Luo Xingchen said. "Brother Chen, please watch from the side."
This time, Chen Jiuyang did not let Luo Xingchen go in again. Instead, he grabbed her and asked with a grave expression, "Do you really not feel anything?"
Luo Xingchen looked at him with confusion, "Feel what?"
A sense of foreboding surged in Chen Jiuyang's heart. He replied, "You've already gone in three times."
"How is that possible?" Luo Xingchen frowned, but seeing Chen Jiuyang's expression, it didn't seem like he was lying.
She knocked on the door and said, "Where is the item? I'll go get it for you."
A moment later, a ferocious little girl's voice came from the courtyard, "Buried ten li outside the city, where the white deer are."
Luo Xingchen said, "Alright, I'll go get it for you now."
After speaking, she looked at Chen Jiuyang and said, "Brother Chen, shall we go together?"
Chen Jiuyang was still trying to figure things out. He nodded and said, "Alright."
Immediately, he and Luo Xingchen left and walked towards the outside of the city.
...
In the courtyard.
"No!!!"
"No!!!"
Luo Xingchen looked through the crack in the door, her eyes filled with despair and terror, and shouted.
Inside the house, the ferocious little girl was nowhere to be seen.
In her eyes, Chen Jiuyang was slowly leaving with the ferocious and terrifying little girl.
She, however, could not open the door. She suddenly turned around, and in the courtyard, there was another Luo Xingchen exactly like her.