"What is the Rhythm Staff?"
At this point, Ming Qi and the others were not far from Yu Quanzhen. Although still farther away than the other mercenaries, they could still see Yu Quanzhen summon another magical weapon, which looked like a staff.
Just then, the mysterious figure who had been hiding behind the scenes suddenly spoke, and Ming Qi learned the name of the staff in Yu Quanzhen's hand.
"The Rhythm Staff is a magical weapon as powerful as the Time Hourglass. It's probably also a top-grade celestial artifact. It's said to be a relic of the ancient God of Sound, and it possesses unexpected magical uses."
The Di Kui Demon Fox seemed to know a lot, and at this moment, he revealed the origins of the Rhythm Staff.
"I wonder where this person has been? He actually possesses two celestial artifacts at the same time. It's incredible."
Clearly, Yu Quanzhen's hidden talents were quite impressive, and even the Di Kui Demon Fox was a little shocked.
"What exactly does this Rhythm Staff do? Can it resist attacks from ghostly creatures?"
Ming Qi was a little skeptical. Ghostly creatures' attacks were like mercury, penetrating every pore. If he didn't possess a special method to counter them, he'd probably be in danger in this dense forest of magic.
"I don't know about that. I've only occasionally heard of the Rhythm Staff."
At this moment, in the distance, Yu Quanzhen summoned the Heavenly Artifact Rhythm Staff, then activated a golden hourglass to levitate beside him. Then, with both hands, he channeled streams of Martial King True Essence, wrapping the mercury-colored staff around him.
As Yu Quanzhen cast his spell, silver ripples rippled from the Rhythm Staff. The ripples produced an effect similar to Ming Qi's own technique. Within the swirling silver ripples, countless ghostly creatures darted about!
"What is this!"
The mercenaries, unaware of ghost creatures, were instantly shocked to see so many hideous and terrifying monsters scurrying around them.
Some even began to panic.
"Don't panic!"
Seeing some of the lesser-cultivated mercenaries begin to stir restlessly again, Yu Quanzhen suddenly shouted coldly. But in that instant, several more were completely possessed by the ghost creatures. Their bodies, stiff and uncontrollable, began to sway, undergoing strange transformations as they drifted towards the surrounding open space.
After possession, the next step is assimilation. This is when the ghost creature reassembles the occupied body according to the instinctive memories deep within its soul. Once this combination is successful, it possesses immense power.
Yu Quanzhen, fully aware of this, immediately pulled out a hand and waved it casually. A brilliant stream of Martial King True Energy flew out, transforming into a sword blade in the air and slashing out.
Chi~~
The sharp sound of breaking through the air had barely elapsed before the possessed entity had even gotten far when it was completely shattered by Yu Quanzhen's sword energy, reducing it to a pool of blood and flesh.
Seeing this scene, all the cultivators felt a chill run down their spines, their faces etched with fear, as if they would be the ones to be slain without warning.
However, once Yu Quanzhen truly unleashed the Rhythm Staff, the effect was immediate.
It was clear that any of the dark creatures that rushed in, once within the range of the silver ripples, were involuntarily swept along by them, unable to advance further, and even retreating and escaping was impossible.
"Keep going!"
Having now controlled the frenzied ghostly creatures, Yu Quanzhen shouted expressionlessly, continuing his advance into the depths of the Magic Forest.
With Yu Quanzhen leading the charge, the other monks and mercenaries followed closely behind. Even if they wanted to retreat, they couldn't. Once they left the protection of Yu Quanzhen's Rhythm Staff, they would be instantly devoured by the ghostly creatures, their fate sealed.
As for Ming Qi, while entering the range of Yu Quanzhen's Rhythm Staff would protect them from the ghostly creatures' attacks, Ming Qi, through his own methods, could gather vast amounts of energy. Therefore, he didn't follow the others into Yu Quanzhen's protective zone. Instead, he relied on his own strength to protect a few of his companions and followed behind the group, frantically gathering energy as he advanced.
Without the ghostly creatures' attacks, the group's advance immediately accelerated.
"Have you been to that place?"
The voice rang out again, clearly referring to Yu Quanzhen. So far, the only thing holding the mysterious mastermind's attention was the Rhythm Staff in Yu Quanzhen's hand.
Yu Quanzhen clearly had no interest in answering the question and simply continued forward.
"Hmph, I know even without you telling me that you must have been there. Otherwise, how could the Rhythm Staff be in your hands? But that's irrelevant. You can't escape this forest, even if you brought so many offerings today!"
The mysterious figure behind the scenes spoke to himself, yet showed no sign of reappearing. His voice was erratic, making it impossible to determine his exact location.
Now, his voice seemed to be the only one echoing through the empty Magic Forest.
The Magic Forest was vast, and the journey was immense. Exiting it quickly was impossible. Judging from the current situation, the appearance of ghostly creatures was far from the only method of attack. Clearly, someone had already established numerous obstacles in this dangerous forest to prevent anyone from traversing it.
After walking about ten miles, the forest began to tremble again. The ghostly creatures, which had been gradually dispersing, rushed towards the crowd again, desperately charging forward, even scrambling to reach the rhythmic range of the Rhythm Staff, like fearless warriors.
Ming Qi was suddenly overwhelmed. The ghostly creatures rushed towards them in a dense swarm. Although Ming Qi's skills had reached a high level, and his speed in capturing and refining ghosts had greatly increased, he was still unable to cope.
"How can there be so many ghosts in here!"
Ming Qi had hoped to capture more ghosts, but now he felt that there were simply too many, and it was becoming difficult to deal with them.
"It's probably the influence of the demonic bloodline, but now that I have enough energy, I don't have to worry about running out. I'll be out to help you right away."
With that, the Wuxiang Boy, who had been hiding in the Supreme Diagram, flew out. His small figure, propelled by his wings, soared through the air, his hands continuously flapping strange hand seals. Once these hand seals left Wuxiang Boy's hands, they rapidly expanded and pressed down upon the swarm of ghostly creatures. Once caught by the shadows of the hand seals, the ghosts were quickly captured and refined, even faster than Ming Qi's refining speed.
"Haha, this is truly a rare tonic!"
Seeing the immense power pouring in, Wuxiang Boy cried out in excitement.
However, compared to Ming Qi and Wu Xiang Tong Zi, who were busily engaged, the other girls, along with Da Bai, who couldn't bear to be left out, were now completely reduced to spectators. They had no room to intervene and simply stood there watching. After all, without specialized skills, they couldn't even see the shadows of the ghostly creatures, let alone capture them.
Thankfully, the girls were very measured and didn't bother Ming Qi and Wu Xiang Tong Zi at this moment. They simply moved quietly beside them, observing the surroundings.
"Look what that is!"
Just as Ming Qi and Wu Xiang Tong Zi were channeling vast amounts of pure energy into the Supreme Diagram, Mo Changli suddenly called out.
Ming Qi's hands remained still, his eyes scanning the surroundings, and he became instantly alert.
In the surrounding space, where nothing could be seen before, countless strange patterns suddenly appeared, appearing pale against the pitch-black night. Upon closer examination, Ming Qi was shocked to discover that they were the outlines of tigers and wolves.
"What's going on?"
Ming Qi was momentarily confused by this strange sight.
He could see the outlines of tigers and wolves growing denser and denser, moving in a regular pattern toward everyone, seemingly intent on encircling them.
"I don't know what it is, but I have a bad feeling."
Wu Xiang Tongzi was naturally not omniscient. Seeing these things, he had no idea what was going to happen. However, he possessed a keen sense, sensing a growing threat from the surrounding space.
"It could be dangerous."
Wu Xiang Tongzi expressed his opinion.
"If there's danger, then we must retreat immediately!"
Ming Qi was straightforward. Since even Wu Xiang Tongzi sensed danger, it must be a powerful enemy approaching, or perhaps something drastically changed. In that case, they couldn't stay here any longer.
"No hurry, I'll wait and see."
Wu Xiang Tongzi seemed to have a plan at this point, and was no longer in a hurry to act. But just as he finished speaking, he heard a clear explosion nearby, followed by a second, and then a series of explosions that suddenly merged into one.
Looking around again, he saw that the outlines he had originally drawn, resembling tigers and wolves, were shattering one by one!
"So that's it!"
Ming Qi was the first to understand.
Those tiger- and wolf-like outlines were merely another form of the ghost creatures, and the explosions were the result of the explosion of these ghost creatures in their abnormal state!
"The explosion of the ghost creatures will produce a massive energy shockwave. Move!"
Ming Qi didn't dare hesitate any longer. If the ghost creatures abandoned everything and launched an attack, it would inevitably result in a complete destruction of both sides. It was impossible to confront them head-on.
"Go! It's too late! Come in!"
The Wuxiang boy shouted, transforming into a brilliant red light and merging into the Supreme Diagram. Instantly, the Supreme Diagram grew to the size of a house!
"Divine Map Space!" Ming Qi's soul suddenly moved, and he immediately understood, and immediately jumped in first.