The stairs leading to the basement were pitch black, obscuring everything.
Unexpectedly, there wasn't even a sound from below.
This was highly abnormal. The surrounding spiritual energy of heaven and earth was extremely chaotic, and the building itself contained a large amount of Yin Sha. Yet, it was so peaceful down here. This simply wasn't right!
Ling Tian inserted the demon-subduing pestle at his waist, rapidly formed hand seals with both hands, circulating true essence within his body, and chanted incantations.
After a few seconds, he joined the middle and index fingers of both hands, palm facing outward, and concentrated the energy at his brow.
At this moment, a large amount of true essence within his body was also gathered here.
"Heavenly Eye, open!"
This was a Daoist immortal technique, the Heavenly Eye Art, inherited from his eldest master, Celestial Master Xian Yuan!
Compared to the Heavenly Eye Talisman he had used on Wang Kai earlier, this Heavenly Eye Art was an enhanced version, not only lasting longer but also producing better results.
Using the Heavenly Eye Art allowed one to see as clearly as in broad daylight, even in the complete absence of light.
With this thought, Ling Tian injected his true essence into the talisman in his right hand. The talisman instantly ignited, turning into a palm-sized fireball.
Ling Tian raised his hand, and the fireball slowly drifted down the steps.
Next, Ling Tian took out another fire talisman and followed the small fireball down the stairs.
The small fireball drifted down, its light illuminating the passage. Ling Tian cautiously followed behind.
This small fireball was for scouting. If there was any danger, it would detonate the explosive fire talisman, at least serving as a warning.
To Ling Tian's surprise, the small fireball continued to float downwards. He followed it down more than ten meters underground, but nothing happened along the way.
However, when he reached the bottom of the steps, the fireball suddenly extinguished!
Ling Tian was greatly alarmed. He knew that the ignited explosive fire talisman contained immense energy.
If it wasn't detonated, this small fireball could last for over an hour.
Yet, in just a few dozen seconds, the explosive fire talisman had extinguished. Ling Tian could feel that the energy within the talisman had been completely depleted.
Just then, with a click, Ling Tian quickly turned to look. The iron gate at the top of the stairs had inexplicably closed on its own!
Almost simultaneously, a large amount of black mist surged out from the entire basement space, and gusts of Yin wind began to blow.
Ling Tian's hair stood on end.
"Heh heh, it's been over ten years, and finally, someone has come! I can finally leave this cursed place!"
Ling Tian forced himself to remain calm and looked in the direction of the voice.
The basement was vast, with a high ceiling, measuring over 5 meters from floor to ceiling. The entire basement covered an area of over 300 square meters.
In the center of the basement was a hall covering over 100 square meters. Dozens of concrete pillars stood around the hall.
These pillars were adorned with exquisite marble decorations and inlaid gold carvings.
And at this moment, in a corner of the hall, there was a fireplace. In front of the fireplace was a large sofa, and on the sofa sat a figure!
This person was not tall, appearing to be around 1.7 meters. He wore a Daoist robe and had a short haircut, looking to be in his early fifties.
He sat there, his eyes fixed on Ling Tian, his gaze filled with greed.
Ling Tian's pupils contracted sharply because he noticed that the color of this person's robe, as well as the color of his skin, was a grayish-blue!
It was a color like that emitted by a dead person's face when illuminated by a blue light.
Ling Tian immediately realized that this was not a human at all, but a vengeful spirit, a vengeful spirit so powerful that it had almost condensed into a physical form.
Moreover, Ling Tian remembered who this person was, as he had seen relevant information just yesterday, namely the information about the people who had died in this house.
One of the mages who died in this house had a photograph that looked exactly like this person.
"You are Daoist Master Hu!" Ling Tian asked.
"Heh heh, I never imagined that after so many years, someone would still remember me!
You were able to break the Yin Sha formation outside and kill those vengeful spirits, which shows you are very powerful.
Very good, only such a body is worthy of this old man!"
Upon hearing Daoist Master Hu's words, Ling Tian's expression became even more solemn. He could feel that the person before him was an extremely dangerous individual.
Even though, theoretically, this guy had been dead for over a decade!
Ling Tian had heard from his master about what was happening here.
From birth, growth, aging, to death, not only does the human body gradually weaken and eventually perish, but the human soul also undergoes this developmental process.
When a person dies of old age, their remaining soul energy is not much.
However, if a person dies suddenly in their prime, their soul energy is much greater than that of those who die of old age.
Logically, death is like a lamp going out, and once dead, it's the end of everything. But this is not absolute. If the deceased was a cultivator who had reached a certain level, their soul energy after death would be much stronger than that of ordinary people, and it would not dissipate immediately. Furthermore, this soul would carry a large amount of memories from the deceased's life.
If, at this time, there happened to be a magical artifact that could replenish the soul's energy, or if the soul was in a place with abundant spiritual energy, this soul energy would not dissipate, and the deceased person would survive in another form.
The strange Daoist Master Hu before him was likely in this situation.
He was originally a powerful cultivator, with very condensed soul energy, and had died in his prime.
What's more, the place where he died was filled with spiritual energy of heaven and earth, as well as Yin Sha energy. Therefore, Daoist Master Hu had now become a powerful vengeful spirit with self-awareness!
However, a mystery still lingered in Ling Tian's mind: why would such a powerful being die here!
But now was not the time to ponder this question, because it was obvious that the person before him intended to possess him.
In other words, this guy wanted to destroy Ling Tian's soul and take over Ling Tian's body, so he could continue to live in this world using Ling Tian's body!
Of course, a body obtained through possession could not exert its full strength, and the time it could be used was limited. But for a vengeful spirit who had been confined in this dark underground for over a decade, it was still immensely attractive.
"Senior, I can tell that you are very powerful!"
"Heh heh, boy, you have good eyesight and a sweet tongue, but since you've come here, just be my prey, heh heh..." The vengeful spirit, Daoist Master Hu, let out a sinister laugh.
"That's easy to say, but I have a question I'd like to ask you!"