"Hehe, who knows whether our accidental arrival here is a blessing or a curse!" Jin Liu chuckled, somewhat self-deprecatingly.

"Whether it's a blessing or a curse is debatable, but this ghostly place seems to increase the restrictions on divine sense with each higher level, making one feel quite uncomfortable," Valley Master Fu frowned.

"Let's go. There's no turning back now. Since we're already here, let's explore this tower thoroughly, making the trip worthwhile," Su Anqian said calmly.

With that, she took the lead and walked forward. Jin Liu's gaze darkened slightly, and he hurriedly followed.

Valley Master Fu and the others had complex expressions, looking back at the giant stone gate, still hesitant.

"The restrictions on this stone gate are no less than a large sect's protective array, and breaking it will be no easy task. Let's look for another way out," Han Li said, offering a reminder as he passed by Valley Master Fu.

As he spoke, he hurried towards the black buildings.

Valley Master Fu and the others' faces changed repeatedly upon seeing this, and after hesitating again and again, they had no choice but to follow.

The further everyone went, the closer they got to the black buildings, the denser the Yin energy became. By the time they reached the buildings, they could even feel the air around them turning cold. Wisps of white mist escaped from the nostrils and mouths of several Golden Immortal cultivators as they breathed.

Upon arriving at the black buildings, everyone realized it was actually a dilapidated ancient temple overgrown with weeds.

The ancient temple's gate was very dilapidated. Not only were weeds growing between the bricks, but moss also covered the two wooden door panels. The two beast-headed door knockers were also covered in copper rust, hanging askew on the door.

Han Li stood outside the gate, his eyes falling on the plaque hanging above the lintel, and whispered, "Eighteen Levels..."

Looking at the three words on the plaque, everyone's expressions became strange.

"How is it Eighteen Levels? Aren't we only on the third level? How could we have reached the eighteenth level?" Valley Master Fu asked in surprise and doubt.

"Don't be alarmed. Perhaps the name of this ancient temple is just 'Eighteen Levels'," Jin Liu said with disdain.

"This place is filled with ghostly energy and doesn't seem like a safe place. I don't think we should go in," a Golden Immortal cultivator said fearfully, his voice trembling.

As soon as he finished speaking, a "creak" sounded, and the two doors of the ancient temple opened on their own.

Everyone waited for a moment, seeing no movement inside the door, and couldn't help but look at each other, somewhat at a loss.

Jin Liu and Su Anqian exchanged a glance, nodded to each other, and took the lead in walking inside.

Han Li raised an eyebrow, feeling strange in his heart, and followed inside.

Valley Master Fu and the others were heavy-hearted and had no choice but to grit their teeth and follow.

As everyone stepped into the ancient temple, another long and unpleasant "creak" sounded from behind them, and the door closed.

Han Li turned his head and saw two balls of ghostly green fire floating out from behind the door, circling around everyone and floating forward, like two guiding lanterns, suspended in front of them.

Everyone was surprised by this strange scene. After hesitating for a long time, they followed the two balls of ghostly fire and walked into the depths of the ancient temple.

Behind the door was a white square that wasn't too small. As Han Li walked onto it, he felt the ground beneath his feet was uneven, and there was a slight "creak" sound from time to time.

He looked down and realized that the ground of this white square was not paved with white stones, but with sections of white broken bones. The ground was uneven, and spots of ghostly green phosphorescence floated out from time to time.

Everyone walked carefully on it, and fortunately, there was nothing unusual along the way. Soon, everyone arrived at the Hall of Heavenly Kings.

Inside the Hall of Heavenly Kings stood two tall Heavenly King statues, dozens of feet high, almost as tall as the entire building.

Both were wearing dilapidated golden armor, one hand holding a demon-subduing pestle, and the other hand carrying a bloody human head. Unlike the faces of the Heavenly Kings in real temples, the faces of these two were ferocious, with the appearance of evil ghosts.

After passing through the Hall of Heavenly Kings, everyone arrived at an even larger square.

On both sides of this square were nine high platforms, with shadowy figures on them, and constant screams of misery could be heard.

Han Li frowned and looked towards the first high platform on the left. He saw an evil ghost with purplish-blue skin, holding a pair of black iron pliers in his hand, probing into the mouth of an old woman with white hair, clamping her tongue, and slowly pulling it out.

The old woman's face was full of pain, but she couldn't make much sound, only "woo woo" sobs.

On the first high platform on the other side, a beautiful woman was tied to a stone bed, barely covered in clothes. Two green-haired ghosts were taking turns cutting at her body with a huge pair of scissors.

The woman's cries were shrill, frightening.

Han Li looked further back and saw that each of these stone platforms had its own tragedy.

In one place, there was a huge stone mill, pushed by a powerful ghost king, grinding human limbs and bones inside. However, the person's head was intact, still howling one after another.

In another place, there was a huge iron pot on a frame, with flames burning below. The pot was filled with boiling oil, and several ghosts were carrying a terrified person, throwing him into the pot, frying him until black smoke rose and a burnt smell filled the air.

...

Han Li frowned tightly and finally understood why this place was called "Eighteen Levels."

In the mortal and spirit worlds, there were rumors that the underworld had eighteen levels of purgatory. Han Li had heard many since he was a child, so he didn't find the scene in front of him particularly bizarre, but rather more puzzled.

"What the hell is this place?" Valley Master Fu asked loudly with a solemn expression.

As soon as he finished speaking, a red light lit up in the high sky in front of the square, and ten figures slowly floated down from the air.

Han Li fixed his eyes and saw that ten ghosts wearing scarlet official robes and gold and jade belts were descending.

Some of those ghosts had bull heads and pointed horns, some had horse faces and long whiskers, and some had pointed mouths and monkey cheeks... Each one was ferocious and strange, without any human form, except for the one in the middle who had a white face and no beard, with a red rosette hanging on his chest, looking somewhat like a newly promoted scholar.

"What kind of demons are you, daring to pretend to be gods and play tricks here?" Jin Liu's eyes turned cold, and he scolded angrily.

"Bold evil prisoners, how dare you not kneel down and confess your sins when you see the Ten Kings of Hell?" The white-faced man, who looked a bit human, put one hand on his hip and pointed at everyone with the other, reprimanding them.

His voice was shrill, and coupled with his somewhat effeminate movements, he immediately ruined his original image as a scholar, looking more like a eunuch.

"Ten mere ghost generals, daring to call yourselves Yama? What a joke!" Su Anqian sneered.

"Today, you have entered this eighteen-level purgatory yourselves, so you are sentenced to endless torture, and don't even think about entering reincarnation again," the white-faced ghost general shouted angrily and flew up.

The other nine people floated up with him, their scarlet official robes billowing without wind, making a "哗啦啦" sound.

As soon as they made their move, Yin winds howled on both sides, and large swaths of black mist surged out from the ground. Countless ferocious ghosts, holding white bone weapons, rushed towards the center of the square.

Because there were too many ghosts, they crowded together as they rushed to the square, colliding with each other, trampling and squeezing each other, and the sounds of wailing and howling shook the sky.

"How... how can there be so many ghosts?" Valley Master Fu frowned.

"These are just ordinary Yin creatures, easily crushed into dust. Don't panic and mess up your formations. Those who have formations, set up formations; those who don't, defend against the enemy. Clear out these miscellaneous soldiers first, and our Tianshui Sect will deal with those ten ghost generals above," Jin Liu said in a calm voice.

With that, he waved his palm, and an Eight Treasure Exquisite Pagoda floated in the air, emitting waves of silver light.

Han Li fixed his eyes and saw waves of spatial fluctuations rippling on the pagoda, and he pondered to himself:

"A spatial immortal artifact... It's rare, but the rank is not high."

Then, he saw the light turn on successively at the door of the exquisite pagoda, and more than a dozen figures flew out from it, spinning and landing, returning to normal, and they were actually more than a dozen elders wearing Tianshui Sect attire.

The leader among them was in the early stage of the Grand Luo realm, and the rest were mostly in the late stage of the Golden Immortal realm and the peak of the Golden Immortal realm.

"Elder Lu Qiu, there are many ghost generals here, and we need your help," Jin Liu said, cupping his fist at these dozen people.

"It's okay. We voluntarily entered the Sacrifice Tower to help you at a crucial moment, so there's no need to be polite," the leading elder, with white hair and a gaunt figure, waved his hand and said.

Upon seeing this, Valley Master Fu and the others felt a little more at ease, each holding their magic weapons, ready to defend against the enemy.

Then, Jin Liu and Su Anqian looked at each other and led the dozen or so Tianshui Sect elders to fly up and rush towards the red-robed ghost generals who claimed to be the Ten Kings of Hell.

"Fellow cultivators, although these Yin energy ghosts are not highly cultivated, there are too many of them. If we disperse our strength to fight, we will all be exhausted sooner or later. Why not cast the Azure Dragon Mixed Origin Formation with me? Perhaps we can hold out until the Tianshui Sect wins and returns," Valley Master Fu said with a solemn expression after the Tianshui Sect people left.

"This Azure Dragon Mixed Origin Formation is the secret formation of your Green Rope Valley. We are not familiar with it. How can we form a formation together?" a Golden Immortal cultivator asked with a troubled expression.

"The key to forming this formation lies in a treasure. You only need to do as I say, and the formation is very simple to form," Valley Master Fu said, quickly transmitting the method of forming the Azure Dragon Mixed Origin Formation to everyone through sound transmission.

Then, he turned his wrist and raised his hand to throw a dragon-shaped jade pendant upwards, shouting:

"Form the formation!"

As soon as he finished speaking, several people immediately took action, forming a circle according to the method he said, while stepping on gang steps, pinching magic formulas, and chanting in unison.

Although Han Li also stood beside the others, he did not make any moves.

Watching the ghostly creatures surging like a tide, the others had no time to worry about him, but they all had a bit of resentment in their hearts.