Su Xi watched the one-sided crushing unfold before her, suddenly feeling a sense of incomprehension, unable to believe what she was seeing.
She was well aware of the Ghost Elder's strength, having experienced it firsthand.
She knew that even if ten of them attacked together, they would likely be instantly annihilated, with no possibility of putting up a fight.
What made it even more unbelievable was the Ghost Elder's own judgment.
After all, if the Ghost Elder truly believed he couldn't defeat the Yaksha, he would never have charged forward so recklessly.
While the Ghost Elder was indeed powerful, he was also quite cowardly.
Now, he had charged forward to no avail, only to be beaten into a pulp. This left only one possibility.
That was that he had no way of predicting these developments, or that the Yaksha's strength had surpassed his imagination, leading him to suffer such a significant loss.
Tian Gang Zhenren grabbed the Yaksha and, with a cold gaze, sternly demanded, "What exactly are you?"
He now clearly understood that the Yaksha before him was no ordinary Yaksha and that he needed to ascertain their origins.
Only if these individuals were disguised could they have so utterly crushed the Ghost Elder.
To understand who was orchestrating these plans from behind the scenes, Tian Gang Zhenren naturally wanted to figure out what had happened.
With the Yaksha captured by Tian Gang Zhenren, a cold smile crept onto his lips, his face still defiant.
"You think that by doing this, I will tell you the information you desire?"
It was laughable. He knew Tian Gang Zhenren was formidable, but he wasn't that easy to deal with.
It was impossible to defeat him so easily.
He began to emit a green light, its intense radiance blinding Su Xi. As the light receded, a terrifying aura, as if from hell itself, enveloped everyone.
The once pitch-black sky above them transformed into mushroom clouds. An icy chill, emanating from the depths of their souls, crept silently into their hearts.
Within the clouds, lightning and thunder began to churn. Every so often, a bolt of lightning struck, causing the entire earth to tremble.
The scene before them instantly made everyone feel insignificant.
The Ghost Elder looked at the unfolding spectacle with a bewildered expression.
What was happening?
This was the Pluto King's ultimate move, "Myriad Things Perish."
Yet, how could this mere Yaksha at the scene also wield such a technique?
When did ultimate moves become commonplace?
Tian Gang Zhenren, recognizing the Pluto King's ultimate move, looked at the Yaksha in his hands and his anger flared.
These beings, the Yaksha, absolutely could not be allowed to live.
Otherwise, who knew how arrogant those people would become.
"Town God!"
With a roar from Tian Gang Zhenren, the sky above immediately returned to calm, the commotion ceasing.
Looking at the situation, the Yaksha's face was filled with surprise.
He couldn't comprehend what had happened; the move he was on the verge of unleashing had been forcibly dispersed.
He felt that his strength was comparable to Tian Gang Zhenren's, and he couldn't fathom how Tian Gang Zhenren had accomplished this.
However, Tian Gang Zhenren clearly had no intention of wasting more words on the Yaksha. With a surge of strength, he directly extracted the Yaksha's soul from its body.
He knew very well that if he didn't act quickly, once the Yaksha self-destructed, there would be no possibility of capturing them.
The Yaksha's soul, now out of its body, struggled frantically in Tian Gang Zhenren's grasp, attempting to escape its predicament.
But Tian Gang Zhenren, having taken action, would not allow anyone to break free.
Otherwise, what would become of his reputation?
He looked at Su Xi not far away and instructed, "Set up some formations to block external senses."
Having captured the Yaksha, he was unable to act himself. He could only seek Su Xi's help to establish a new formation.
"Yes."
Su Xi nodded and began to set up the isolating formations.
She knew that Tian Gang Zhenren was preparing to use soul extraction, and if any secrets were uncovered, it would attract attention, preventing them from obtaining the information they sought.
She had witnessed soul restraints firsthand.
Therefore, to obtain the information she desired, she could not allow others to discover what they were doing.
Seeing that Su Xi understood such a method of isolating heavenly secrets, the Ghost Elder was utterly perplexed.
This kind of technique was not something ordinary people could execute.
Su Xi, being merely at the Nascent Soul stage, how could she achieve this?
Was this all some kind of joke?
Su Xi, unaware of the Ghost Elder's internal musings, began setting up the surrounding formations.
With the existence of the supercomputer, setting up formations was very quick, not requiring much time at all.
In the time it took for a single stick of incense to burn, she had completed all the preparations without a single flaw.
Seeing that Su Xi had indeed accomplished the task, the Ghost Elder's eyes widened.
Su Xi actually knew such heaven-defying formations, and her speed in setting them up was astonishing.
Was this some kind of elaborate prank?
For a moment, he felt a growing gap between himself and Su Xi.
Tian Gang Zhenren, seeing that everything was in place, directly used soul extraction on the Yaksha in his hands, probing for its secrets.
As the soul extraction proceeded, the Yaksha's soul in Tian Gang Zhenren's hands began to wither bit by bit, and his expression grew increasingly grim.
He hadn't expected that the Yaksha belonged to *those people*.
No wonder his strength was so formidable; the inexplicable circumstances could now be explained.
Observing the scene, Su Xi suddenly felt a pang of doubt and asked, "Ancestor, did you find out what happened?"
Her formations, while capable of blocking heavenly senses, had their limits.
As time passed, she felt her spiritual energy nearing its limit.
If she could no longer sustain it, the will of heaven would descend from outside, potentially disrupting their plan.
"Done."
Tian Gang Zhenren replied, then crushed the Yaksha in his hands into fragments, scattering its soul.
After completing this, Tian Gang Zhenren looked at Su Xi and said, "You can dismantle this formation now. We need to go somewhere immediately."
"???"
Although Su Xi didn't know what was happening, she understood that she needed to obey for now.
She didn't know what had occurred, but she knew she couldn't miss this opportunity.
However, before she could even agree, Tian Gang Zhenren waved his sleeve and whisked her away.
Su Xi felt a dizzying sensation, and then she was placed on the ground by Tian Gang Zhenren. Before her stood a majestic mountain gate.
Above the gate, several golden characters were inscribed in flowing calligraphy.
"Ghost Gate Pass!"
Upon recognizing what was written, Su Xi felt a wave of speechless exasperation.
Had they come here alive only to be led to their deaths?
Or were they voluntarily committing suicide, intending to occupy the Ghost Gate Pass to find a way to reincarnate?
She felt utterly exasperated but did nothing.
Having arrived at this place, it was best to follow the powerful figures.
Without their help, she wouldn't be able to leave. Being trapped here forever would mean losing any chance of survival.
The Ghost Elder had also not anticipated that Tian Gang Zhenren would bring them directly to the Ghost Gate Pass and could only stand by helplessly.
Despite his high cultivation, the Ghost Gate Pass was a core area of the Underworld.
Having arrived here, leaving would not be easy. After all, in the Underworld, besides the Pluto King, there were also the Ten Kings of Hell.
Each of these Yama Kings possessed a Mahayana stage cultivation.
Encountering even one would be unmanageable. If they encountered several, they would ultimately become mere ghosts.
Moreover, in the Underworld, they had the advantage of an endless supply of ghost qi, making it impossible to defend against or cope with the Yama Kings.
"What are we doing here?" Su Xi asked Tian Gang Zhenren, voicing her inner thoughts.
The pervasive ghost qi in this place was truly unsettling.
Tian Gang Zhenren looked at the scene before him and said, "We are here simply to prove one thing."
With that, he was the first to step into the Ghost Gate Pass.
Su Xi and the Ghost Elder exchanged a glance before following him in.
Now that they had arrived at this eerie, ghost-filled place, they needed to leave as soon as possible.
As they entered, they found that the scene was nothing like they had expected.
The entire Underworld, apart from its pervasive ghost qi, was devoid of any souls, not even a single ghost soldier stationed at the entrance.
Everything was as silent as the human world on a dark night, not like the netherworld.
"What's going on?" The Ghost Elder asked, utterly bewildered by the sight.
He had been to the Underworld before, but it had never been like this.
Tian Gang Zhenren looked towards the depths and said, "I believe this place has been purged."
"What?"
Su Xi and the Ghost Elder looked at Tian Gang Zhenren with expressions of disbelief.
Why would this place be purged?
The strength of the Underworld was such that even if the humans, demons, and monsters of the surface world joined forces, they could not accomplish this. Who could possess such power to eliminate so many beings in the Underworld?
Tian Gang Zhenren remained silent and continued to walk deeper into the Underworld.
Corpses.
A ground strewn with bodies.
Not only ghost soldiers, but also high-ranking ghost cultivators on duty.
After walking through all eighteen levels of hell, they hadn't encountered a single Yama King.
Everyone had vanished as if they had evaporated, not a single soul to be found.
Tian Gang Zhenren stopped, a look of confusion on his face, and said, "As I suspected, there is a major problem in the Underworld."