Back at the sect, Li Sheng first inspected the training grounds, instructing Liu Hongying and the other outer disciples to keep an eye on everyone and not leave the mountain gate before returning to the Spirit Gathering Room to continue his cultivation.

In front of Qingling Village, the man surnamed Shi was chatting warmly with Elder Chen. "Elder Chen, I'm Shi Zhuang; we talked before at the Yue Lai building. I'll need your help from now on."

"That's right, Elder Chen, I'm Qian Fen; do you remember me?"

"Don't flatter me, as long as you follow the rules here, it will be fine. I'm only managing the village because of my granddaughter, I don't have much power."

"Oh, Elder Chen's granddaughter joined the Qingling Sect?"

"Indeed, she's an outer disciple. There are only four outer disciples in the sect, and my granddaughter is one of them, highly regarded by the sect leader and elders!"

Elder Chen appeared a bit proud when speaking of his granddaughter.

"Alright, let's set up our living quarters here. There are still some leftover materials; we can quickly make some simple shelters to settle down. I'll come by later when the village meal is ready."

"Thank you, Elder."

"Thanks for your hard work!"

"Shi Zhuang, as six-star martial artists, we have to share space with these ordinary people..." Qian Yan grumbled, displeased.

"Qian brother, under these circumstances, having a place to stay is already fortunate; don't overthink it." Shi Zhuang shrugged, turning to pick wood for the shelters.

"Shi brother, Shi brother..." Seeing Shi Zhuang ignoring him, Qian Yan felt inexplicably irritated and left in a huff.

Shi Zhuang glanced at his departing figure, thinking, here is the domain of Monster Li; elsewhere, six-star martial artists might be treated differently, but many six-star martial artists have perished here. Anyone who causes trouble here is really asking for it. He decided to keep his distance from Qian Yan to avoid being dragged into trouble.

As evening approached, dozens of simple shelters were completed. People gathered in small groups, quietly talking.

Shi Zhuang scanned the crowd seriously. "I found out during dinner that all the residents of Qingling Village are relatives of sect disciples. You all need to be smart; don't provoke them."

"Don't worry, Shi Da Ren, we're grateful to them and wouldn't dare offend."

"Shi Da Ren, I'm Wang Li, and this is my sister Wang Le. Thank you for saving our lives!"

"Wang Le, kneel." Wang Li pulled his seven- or eight-year-old sister down to bow deeply to Shi Zhuang.

"It was nothing. In this world, we all have it tough; helping when we can is enough. Get up." Shi Zhuang shook his head, lifting them up.

"Sir, will you take me as your apprentice? I want to become a martial artist to protect my sister!" Wang Li looked at him eagerly.

"I'm used to being a lone wolf; if you want to practice martial arts, you should join the Qingling Sect." Shi Zhuang shook his head, pointing him to a clear path.

"Thank you, sir!" Wang Li pulled his sister and bowed again, walking toward the last shelter.

Just then, Qian Yan stumbled out from the right-side shelter, his eyes bloodshot as he yelled, "Stop that damned noise!"

"What's wrong with Qian brother?" Shi Zhuang asked, puzzled.

Qian Yan looked around but didn't respond, turning back into the room.

"Bang!"

The door slammed shut, leaving everyone looking at each other in confusion, the previously lively atmosphere evaporating.

As night deepened, everyone, having narrowly escaped danger and busy all day, went to bed early.

In Qian Yan's room, a faint gray mist filled the air. He paced back and forth, his eyes reddening as he shouted curses.

"Damned, damned... I said stop knocking!"

"Ah! Why is there still knocking?"

"Damned, I want to kill you! Kill you!"

His hoarse shouts echoed in the room, but oddly, the surrounding people heard nothing.

"Tap... tap, tap..."

Qian Yan's footsteps grew heavy, gradually overlapping with the crisp sound.

After some time, he stopped, his face turning ashen, a strange smile creeping onto his lips, his eyes lifelessly staring ahead.

"Tap, tap..."

The crisp sound suddenly rang out, spreading toward the door.

As dawn broke outside the Spirit Gathering Room,

"Chirp, chirp!!"

Tuan Tuan urgently called out.

Li Sheng opened his eyes and stepped out of the Spirit Gathering Room.

"What happened?"

"Chirp, chirp!"

"Feeling unwell... Wait, can the array spirit get sick?" Li Sheng chuckled wryly.

"Chirp!"

"You mean something has infiltrated the grand array, but you can't find it?"

"Chirp!" Tuan Tuan nodded.

Hearing the commotion, Bai Ye and Liu Hongfeng also came out.

"Senior brother, Tuan Tuan, what's going on?"

"Something has entered the sect; Tuan Tuan sensed something was off but couldn't find it!" Li Sheng's tone darkened.

"Could it be a strange demon?" Liu Hongfeng exclaimed.

"Strange demon?"

"Yes, there are two types of monsters during a demon disaster: one is the more common tangible monsters, and the other is the strange demons... These beings are intangible and bizarre, hard to detect before they strike. You can only perceive a hint once they make a move, making them extremely difficult to deal with; only martial artists with domains can suppress and limit them."

"There's such a thing?" Bai Ye's expression shifted.

"These strange demons are quite rare; I once read in ancient texts that there are many of them in the forbidden zones of the Southern Region."

"They only appear in forbidden zones?"

"Are you kidding???"

Li Sheng began to feel uneasy; demon disasters are classified into ordinary, dangerous, city-destroying, disaster-level, and despair-level, before reaching the forbidden zones. What is a forbidden zone? Below the first-grade earthly immortal realm, anyone who enters has no chance of survival!

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In the entire Xuantian Continent, there is only the Death Mountain in the Southern Region, formed four hundred years ago. Could a new forbidden zone be about to emerge in Lingchuan Prefecture?

Seeing his junior brother's grim expression, Liu Hongfeng quickly explained, "Junior brother, don't panic; let me finish."

"Though strange demons are rare, they could emerge from disasters above disaster level; it's just that there are more in forbidden zones."

Li Sheng felt somewhat reassured.

"We need to find this thing; wait, could it be the strange demons brought by that group yesterday..."

With a direction now, Li Sheng started asking Tuan Tuan about any discoveries.

"You mean if you get close to that thing, you hear the tapping sound?"

"Chirp!"

Tuan Tuan affirmed with a nod.

"Let's go check the gathering place of that group; the strange demon must have mixed in with them."

Li Sheng's figure vanished, racing toward the mountain exit.

Bai Ye and Liu Hongfeng exchanged glances and followed.

---

In Qingling Village, just as dawn broke, many villagers were up, holding farming tools to cultivate the land and sow grain seeds.

As Li Sheng and the others arrived, everyone stepped forward to greet them.

"Elder Chen, instruct everyone to return home and not come out; a monster has mixed in."

"Monster?!" Elder Chen exclaimed, hurriedly organizing the villagers.

"Quick, go back! The sect leader has ordered not to go outside!"

Once the villagers were settled, Li Sheng led the two toward the left-side gathering area.

As they approached, a chilling sensation rose within them. The faint scent of decay made them frown.

"Shi Zhuang, Qian Yan, everyone come out!"

Li Sheng circulated his true energy, his voice booming enough for even the villagers hiding at the back to hear.

After calling three times without a response, an eerie silence enveloped the gathering area, consisting of thirty to forty shelters.

"Not good!"

Li Sheng cursed inwardly, channeling his true energy, summoning eight spirit forms to cautiously approach the nearest shelter.

Stopping a yard away, Li Sheng hesitated, then unleashed a palm strike to smash the shelter apart, revealing the scene inside.

He saw Shi Zhuang staring fixedly at a few people, a strange smile curling at his lips, sending chills down Li Sheng's spine.

"Shi Zhuang?" Li Sheng called out, but seeing he didn't respond, he picked up a fallen wooden post and hurled it at him.

"Thud!"

The post struck Shi Zhuang, who was knocked back without resistance, his body dissolving into gray mist, drifting away.

The scent of decay intensified.

The three exchanged serious glances, then dispersed to push further in according to Li Sheng's method.

Time passed slowly, and soon the three reunited in front of the last shelter.

"About a hundred people, dead without a sound..."

Li Sheng sighed and approached.

"Bang!"

The shelter shattered, revealing two small figures spinning in fear, seemingly trying to dodge something.

"Still alive?" Li Sheng's eyes lit up.

"Chirp!"

Tuan Tuan spun around excitedly, communicating with Li Sheng.

"Found the culprit?"

"Chirp!"

The white light sphere whirled and charged toward the two children.

"Bang!"

As it got within three feet of them, Tuan Tuan seemed to hit an invisible wall, bouncing back.

At the same time, a crisp sound echoed around them.

"Tap... tap tap..."

The rhythmic knocking tightened the hearts of everyone present. Li Sheng moved in an instant, rushing forward with his long sword, unleashing a powerful strike infused with nearly six hundred thousand pounds of force, creating a sharp sonic boom.

"Crack!"

A sound like shattering glass rang out.

The crisp "tap tap" became clearer, resonating in the hearts of the group.

"Chirp!"

Tuan Tuan dashed behind the two children, only to be knocked back again.

The eerie knocking sound was pushed back a few steps as well.

"Bang!"

"Bang! Bang!"

Unwilling to back down, Tuan Tuan collided with it several more times, causing the light sphere to shrink and dim slightly.

"Strange demons are intangible and formless; Tuan Tuan's array poses no threat to it. Relying solely on a spirit body collision is no match for that thing," Liu Hongfeng expressed her concern.

"Tuan Tuan, come back! Leave it to me!"

Li Sheng stepped forward, tossing the two children behind him.

His aura surged, and he channeled his vast true energy into his sword for another strike.

"Boom!"

A massive sound erupted, creating a deep pit in the ground.

"Tap... tap tap..."

The strange knocking sound gradually approached, unaffected by this terrifying blow. In fact, the powerful aura around Li Sheng seemed to slow him down.

"What a troublesome ghostly thing!" Li Sheng cursed under his breath, slowly retreating.

"Senior sister, besides the martial domain, is there no other way to deal with this thing?"

"Strange demons are quite rare; I'm not sure if there are other methods, but places with abundant spirit energy might be able to restrict them."

"Places with strong spirit energy?"

"That would only be the Spirit Gathering Room. We have to try; we can't let this thing kill recklessly. One of the special mission requirements is that disciple casualties cannot exceed half; otherwise, it will be a direct failure, and we won't be able to trigger it for ten years."

After witnessing the wonders of the black tower, Li Sheng placed great importance on special missions.

"In the entire Qingling Sect, only I can barely deal with this ghostly thing. I must enter the fray myself... to break this..."