Night fell, and Ling Tian came alone to the back mountain of Seimei Shrine. The crowds of tourists from the day were gone, and the entire Seimei Shrine had become quiet.
The path leading to the back mountain was lined with very primitive streetlights on both sides. These streetlights were not powered by electricity but by lamp oil.
At night, the oil lamps were lit, appearing exceptionally eerie, like will-o'-the-wisps. No one would willingly come here in the dead of night.
Ling Tian swaggered in, unconcerned about being seen, as he was using an invisibility charm.
He observed for a while and indeed found something. The path to the back mountain was not just lined with these primitive streetlights.
Amidst the flickering lamplight, there were also some swaying lights. Ordinary people couldn't distinguish these lights from the primitive streetlights.
However, Ling Tian, with his Heavenly Eye ability, immediately recognized what they were.
This type of entity was described in the book "Night Parade of a Hundred Demons" – they were lantern ghosts.
Lantern ghosts typically appeared at night, preferring to hang from trees. They resembled red, glowing lanterns and often pursued night travelers passing through forests.
Wild lantern ghosts were said to chase pedestrians, feeding on their bone marrow and blood. However, the lantern ghosts at Seimei Shrine were shikigami that had been subdued and tamed by onmyoji.
These creatures were perfect for guarding the premises at night. They drifted here at night, mingling with the primitive streetlights, making it difficult for intruders to distinguish them. Once an intruder was detected, the lantern ghosts would attack and sound the alarm.
Ling Tian couldn't help but marvel. As the saying goes, a starved camel is still bigger than a horse. Although Seimei Shrine had suffered heavy losses on Jigoku Tengoku Island, they still possessed a thousand years of heritage, having been the pinnacle of Japan's spiritual world for centuries.
At the headquarters of Seimei Shrine, there were indeed many valuable assets. This was their foundation!
Ling Tian continued along the path towards the back mountain. With his Heavenly Eye ability activated, he saw the terrain ahead suddenly fluctuate.
He immediately understood that it was a large illusion array. The existence of this illusion caused people walking here to involuntarily deviate in their perception.
No matter how they wandered, they would eventually end up on a small path that would lead them back to the front of Seimei Shrine.
But none of this affected Ling Tian. He could clearly see a fork in the road beside the small path!
And here, several lantern ghosts were circling and hovering.
Ling Tian didn't hesitate and turned directly onto that small path!
Meanwhile, in the White Fox Palace, an elder in his sixties opened his eyes. His gaze was sharp, emitting a brilliant light outwards.
Despite being over sixty, this person looked like a man in his forties externally.
For cultivators, achieving a degree of rejuvenation was not impossible once they reached a certain level.
This person's identity was not simple. He was the eighteenth-generation descendant of Abe no Seimei, Abe Daishi, also a very powerful onmyoji. However, he had been engrossed in cultivation and unwilling to be disturbed by worldly affairs, which was why he hadn't contended for the position of White Fox Palace Master.
But now, the younger generation and elites of the White Fox Palace had been annihilated on Jigoku Tengoku Island, forcing this old man to emerge and temporarily assume the role of White Fox Palace Master.
The back mountain of the White Fox Palace was no ordinary place. It was the true location of the White Fox Palace. For a thousand years, successive White Fox Palace Masters had not relaxed in its construction. To protect the White Fox Palace, they had set up numerous barriers and formations here.
The control over these formations rested solely with the White Fox Palace Master.
Although Ling Tian's invisibility charm could shield him from external detection, he had entered the range of the opponent's barrier, causing energy fluctuations that alerted Abe Daishi!
A cold smile appeared on Abe Daishi's lips. Over the past thousand years, many people had trespassed into the territory of the White Fox Palace. These individuals, while perhaps possessing some skill, had all met their demise!
It was likely that anyone who could detect the barrier outside the White Fox Palace and evade the lantern ghosts' detection possessed some capabilities, but that was all!
Because within the outermost illusion array was a second barrier, the Ghost Realm Barrier!
This barrier was no simple matter. Its actual area was much larger than what was displayed on maps. It was, in fact, a miniature world similar to Ling Tian's Spiritual Realm space.
However, the location of this space was fixed and could not be moved. Its internal area was also far less vast than the Spiritual Realm space.
Ling Tian could sense that this space was extraordinary, and within it, a large amount of Yin energy permeated the air, so dense that it obscured vision.
Even within the embrace of this Yin energy, Ling Tian's spiritual perception range had significantly shrunk.
This was not surprising, as these onmyoji dealt with shikigami all day, and most of these shikigami were demons and monsters. This Yin energy was a great tonic for demons and monsters!
Suddenly, Ling Tian detected dozens of light spots converging on him from all directions.
Ling Tian immediately activated his Heavenly Eye ability and discovered that what was converging on him were more than ten lantern ghosts.
And these lantern ghosts seemed different from those outside the barrier; they were much larger, with two fist-sized fireballs swirling around each one!
A cold smile flickered across Ling Tian's lips: "Quite interesting!"
These lantern ghosts quickly surrounded Ling Tian. They maintained a distance of five to six meters from him, emitting energy fluctuations.
Ling Tian could feel these energy fluctuations, which were a form of deterrence. If an ordinary person were subjected to these energy fluctuations, they would likely feel immediate fear.
The combined deterrence emanating from these ten-plus lantern ghosts would be unbearable for an ordinary person, possibly even causing them to die of fright on the spot!
In other words, this was a soul attack! However, this level of soul attack was no different from a tickle to Ling Tian.
Ling Tian's soul was now exceptionally powerful, especially after acquiring the Soul Refining Furnace. His soul had undergone numerous refinements, particularly recently, after he refined the soul of the demon Ibaraki Doji. A large amount of soul power was absorbed by Ling Tian's soul, directly leading to the birth of his Nascent Soul!
A few minor lantern ghosts and their level of mental attack were truly insignificant!
Although these lantern ghosts lacked self-awareness, they possessed combat instincts. Discovering that Ling Tian was not frightened, these monsters became enraged!