319: Ghost creatures

After successfully repairing the Seal and curbing the crisis of the remnant soul of the demon god's revival, the Guardian Alliance was in no hurry to leave the Abyss of the Illusory Sea. They knew well that although the immediate crisis had been temporarily resolved, this mysterious land might still hide other key clues regarding the Dark Forces. If they could dig deeper, they might be able to respond more proactively to various threats that could appear in the future.

Xiao Xing paced around the stone platform, carefully examining the newly repaired sealing runes, thinking to himself: 'This remnant soul of the demon god could bewitch so many people and almost break through the Seal after so many long years; there must be secrets behind it that we don't yet know. Everyone, search this island carefully again to see if there's any missed information.'

The group took their orders and dispersed, searching every corner of the island. Ji Ziyue walked toward the craggy rocks and cast a detection spell. The magical glimmer threaded through the rocks like silk, attempting to find any hidden secret rooms or passages. Yin Ping led a team deep into the areas on the edge of the island where strange plants grew, parting the dense foliage to check for any special marks or items buried underneath.

Before long, a Guardian shouted from beneath a hidden cliff wall: 'Come quickly, there are strange patterns here!' Hearing this, everyone gathered quickly. They saw the cliff wall covered in ancient murals. Although eroded by time and somewhat blurry, the general outlines were still visible.

The murals depicted the thrilling Great War of ancient times, with scenes of several heroes joining forces to fight the Demon God appearing lifelike. The heroes cast various powerful spells, light and darkness intertwining and colliding. The Demon God was massive, surrounded by a thick dark power as if it wanted to swallow the entire world. Looking further, there was the scene of the heroes successfully sealing the Demon God, but in the corner of the image, there was a faint figure that seemed to be watching everything in secret. That figure emitted a different kind of aura, unlike the Demon God's pure darkness, yet it held a strange sense of mystery.

'Who is this Mysterious Person? Could it be that since then, there has already been a hidden hand plotting to break the Seal?' Ji Ziyue said with a frown.

Xiao Xing nodded, his expression solemn: 'It's highly likely. It seems the conspiracy behind this is far more complex than we imagined. Everyone, record these murals; we'll study them properly when we get back.'

Just as the Guardians were busy recording the content of the murals, the island suddenly began to vibrate slightly. Small cracks appeared on the ground, as if something was waking up and churning underground.

'Not good, there might be other developments. Everyone, be careful!' Xiao Xing shouted. Everyone immediately became alert, weapons and magic ready.

Ghost-like creatures emerged from those cracks. They emitted a cold aura and let out bursts of piercing shrieks as they lunged toward the Guardians. These Ghostly creatures had illusory forms; ordinary weapon attacks had little effect on them, often passing right through their bodies without causing substantial damage.

'Try using light magic! They are dark evil beings; the power of light should be able to restrain them!' Ji Ziyue reminded them loudly.

Thus, the Guardians cast light magic one after another. Beams of holy light shone onto the Ghostly creatures. Upon touching the light, those creatures let out painful roars, their forms becoming illusory and slowly dissipating into the air.

However, these Ghostly creatures were numerous. As soon as one wave was destroyed, another surged from the ground. The Guardians gradually found it difficult, and their magic consumption grew larger and larger.

Seeing this situation, Yin Ping came up with a plan: 'Xiao Xing, let's concentrate our power in one spot to open a gap and retreat to the shore first! Tangling with them here is not the way!'

Xiao Xing agreed with the proposal and immediately directed everyone to gather together, jointly releasing a powerful attack in one direction. They forcibly blasted open a path, and while fending off the pursuit of the Ghostly creatures, they ran toward the ships by the sea.

After finally boarding the ships and sailing a distance away from the island, those Ghostly creatures seemed to be under some kind of restriction and no longer pursued. They only circled above the island, letting out unwilling shrieks.

The Guardians finally breathed a sigh of relief and began their return journey. Along the way, everyone discussed the murals on the cliff wall and the sudden appearance of the Ghostly creatures, their doubts growing heavier.

After returning to the Alliance Headquarters, they immediately summoned all members, shared what they had seen and heard in the Abyss of the Illusory Sea in detail, and displayed the recorded mural content for everyone to analyze.

Several sages in the Alliance sat together and studied the murals for a long time. One elder slowly spoke: 'Judging from the mysterious figure on these murals, it's very likely that in ancient times, besides the Demon God, there was another hidden force coveting the continent. They might have been waiting for an opportunity, using the remnant soul of the demon god to disrupt the situation for their own gain. And those Ghostly creatures might have been one of the backup measures they left behind to stop us from repairing the Seal or investigating further.'

'Then what should we do now? Continue investigating this Mysterious Force? But we know almost nothing about them at the moment,' a young Guardian asked.

Xiao Xing said with a firm gaze: 'Of course we must investigate. Although the clues are limited now, as long as there's a sliver of possibility, we cannot let this hidden threat continue to lurk. We can start from the era when this Mysterious Force might have existed and look for any abnormal events or suspicious characters and organizations on the continent during that time.'

Thus, the Guardian Alliance began a new round of busy work. They split into several groups; some went to various ancient magic academies to consult historical archives, while others visited long-lived races that had experienced vast stretches of time, such as the Elf Clan and Dragon Clan, to ask about various rumors from ancient times.

In the process of checking the magic academy archives, one group accidentally discovered an ancient book covered in dust in a corner. The book recorded a Mysterious Cult that had once appeared briefly on the continent. This cult acted extremely secretly; they preached a strange doctrine that seemed to worship darkness and chaos, and they often moved near various Demon God sealing sites. However, for some reason, they suddenly vanished later on.

'Could this cult be the Mysterious Force we're looking for?' the group members thought excitedly and rushed to bring this news back to the Alliance Headquarters.

After hearing this, Xiao Xing and the others felt this was likely the key. Following the clues mentioned in the ancient book about the locations where the cult had been active, they set out on the investigation trail once again.

They came to an abandoned ancient castle that had once been a cult stronghold. The castle was gloomy and dilapidated, with an aura of decay everywhere. Stepping into the castle, it was filled with dust and spiderwebs, and some strange symbols remained on the walls, which were actually somewhat similar to the runes seen previously at the dark stronghold.

The Guardians explored the castle cautiously, searching floor by floor, not missing any corner. Finally, in the castle's underground secret chamber, they found some letters and notes that recorded some of the cult's plans and secrets. It turned out that this cult had always plotted to use the Demon God's power to rule the continent. They secretly collected various dark powers, cultivated their own forces, and had been looking for a way to break the Demon God's Seal. That series of arrangements in the Abyss of the Illusory Sea was one of the results of their years of plotting.

‘It seems we are getting closer to the truth. As long as we follow these clues and continue the investigation, we will surely be able to completely eradicate this Mysterious Force and let the continent truly restore its peace,’ Xiao Xing said in a firm tone while looking at the letters in his hand.

However, what they didn't know was that while they were making discoveries in the castle, that Mysterious Force had also detected the Guardian Alliance's actions. An even more intense struggle between good and evil was about to begin on the continent.