The entrance to the Bottomless Pit was covered by a large amount of thorny vines. From the outside, it was impossible to see that a cave was hidden there, plunging into darkness straight down into the depths underground.
Hu Wen waited nearby together with two fox demons that were barely maintaining humanoid form.
After a moment, the soil split apart, and a bloated skin-flaying rat demon burrowed up to the surface.
Hu Wen let out a breath of relief and hurriedly asked, "Jinmao, what's the situation in the Bottomless Pit?"
Jinmao laughed awkwardly and shook his head, saying, "How would I dare dig into the cave? Just getting close, you can feel that soul-grabbing aura. If you get tainted by it, I'm afraid... tsk tsk tsk."
Hu Wen's face darkened, and just as he was about to say something, Jinmao quickly explained, "But I've figured out Old Toad's position. It should be not very far from the cave entrance."
"That's good. I accepted a mission in the Immortal's Dream. If we can investigate some clues in the Bottomless Pit, the demon immortal will surely give a generous reward."
Although Wuwei City had already been completely sealed off, considering that demon beasts were still outside the city, Ren Qing used missions in exchange for some useful information.
After all, it was like getting something for nothing.
Hu Wen, however, felt that he could take this opportunity to curry favor with the demon immortal, and a trace of fanaticism involuntarily appeared in his eyes.
"Let's wait for the rest of our fellow dao companions. With just a few of us, it's still a bit forced."
Jinmao wore a bitter expression and did not respond.
He felt that among the so-called fellow dao companions, it would already be good if a few came to the Bottomless Pit. Most of them were greedy for life and afraid of death.
The group of demons waited for a long time.
The result was indeed as Jinmao expected. Only a tiger demon named Zhang Yi came. The latter had only come because his territory was less than half a day's distance from this place.
Zhang Yi mastered the immortal method Eyeless Method, and his entire body was covered with eyes.
As soon as he arrived in front of the Bottomless Pit, he immediately realized that including himself there were only six demon beasts, and instantly felt that he had been tricked badly by Hu Wen.
Hu Wen cursed inwardly as well.
A few days ago, when discussing matters in the demon market, a full hundred demon beasts had agreed to come, yet all of them had chosen to retreat at the last moment.
They were probably frightened out of their wits by that kind of bizarre aura.
The Bottomless Pit could already be considered a not-small force in Jingzhou, but in just a single night, nearly a thousand demon beasts inside had been almost completely wiped out.
But if Hu Wen himself retreated, it would be one thing for the demon sect to exist in name only; he feared that the demon immortal would be angered, leading to the complete destruction of his immortal path.
Zhang Yi hurriedly spoke up, "Sect Master, if the Bottomless Pit is enough to threaten my life, I won't choose to risk myself."
Hu Wen said, "Don't worry, I've already made preparations."
"This black aura is called heavenly demon aura. You can see it too. In the Immortal's Dream, there's also a similar place, nothing to fear."
"If we complete the demon immortal's mission through this, we might even be able to enter under their sect."
The breathing of the other demon beasts grew increasingly heavy. Just the words "demon immortal" alone made them feel like moths drawn to a flame.
Hu Wen took out human-skin dao robes from his bosom and handed them to them.
"These are immortal artifacts. I had the half-demons in the demon market help find an immortal to refine them. They can resist the erosion of heavenly demon aura."
He could not help but feel some pain at the cost, and as he donned the dao robe, he came to the front of the cave.
Zhang Yi and Jinmao exchanged a glance. Seeing Hu Wen so resolute, they also calmed down and put on the dao robes, following behind.
Although the dao robes looked unremarkable on the outside, they indeed could isolate demon aura.
Hu Wen brushed aside the thorny vines at the cave entrance. The revealed tunnel was so dark that one could not see one's hand in front of one's face, and faint gusts of yin wind could be heard coming from within.
"Let's go."
Hu Wen glanced at the two fox demons. The two demons did not hesitate and proactively walked at the front, helping them encounter danger in advance.
Such behavior was extremely common among demon beasts. The law of the jungle was survival of the fittest.
As soon as they entered the Bottomless Pit, they felt a faint demonic aura in the surroundings, and the air was also mixed with a thick stench of blood.
Zhang Yi swallowed and could not help muttering to himself, "I really shouldn't have come..."
The sound echoed within the Bottomless Pit, becoming more and more twisted. After a few breaths, it was like the wailing of wronged souls, making one's hair stand on end.
Hu Wen's heart pounded wildly, and he immediately made a gesture for silence.
Seeing this, Jinmao deliberately or unintentionally fell to the back of the group. He looked honest on the outside, but in fact was ready at any moment to cast a technique to flee.
But out of reverence for the demon immortal, they did not want to give up. Even if they could not find Old Toad, bringing back something to prove that he was already dead would be fine.
Instead, their walking speed increased quite a bit.
After more than half an hour, they finally arrived at the depths of the Bottomless Pit.
Under normal circumstances, this place would be shrouded in extremely dense demon aura, and since toads were semi-aquatic demon beasts, the humidity and temperature would be even more yin-cold than near a water source.
But now, inside the Bottomless Pit, only heavenly demon aura remained.
The tunnel branched. Jinmao took the initiative to guide them in the direction. As they walked, there was not even a trace of light left inside the tunnel.
The yin wind blowing head-on pierced into the heart and spleen, and within it were grains of ice slag, drilling deep into their bones and flesh.
"Hunger..."
The leading fox demon suddenly let out a muffled groan, then immediately lost all movement.
Hu Wen inwardly cursed his luck and hurriedly lit a torch. Under the bright light, everything inside the tunnel came into view.
"Mother of- demon immortal above."
Zhang Yi could not help but cry out in alarm, and Jinmao retreated several steps in succession.
They saw that the surface of the stone walls was densely covered with severed limbs, embedded within the stone walls in an extremely bizarre manner.
After looking a few more times, one would discover that the stone walls seemed to be composed of some kind of liquid.
The broken limbs flowed wantonly within the rock, as if the Bottomless Pit itself were formed from viscous liquid, making their spines go cold.
Jinmao staggered, and his right hand subconsciously pressed against the stone wall.
The tactile sensation of the stone wall was indeed rock, although its form changed with every breath.
But just as Jinmao withdrew his arm, a rotting怪 hand suddenly extended from within the stone wall and directly grabbed him, pulling him inward.
"Help, help..."
Jinmao's face turned deathly pale, as if he had seen the great terror between life and death.
However, as he exerted force, he directly tore the weird hand off. Fresh blood sprayed along the stone wall, the stench of blood reaching a nose-stinging degree.
Jinmao flung the weird hand away, looking at the few demons in front of him in shock and uncertainty.
"Shh..."
Hu Wen signaled him to absolutely not speak, then brought the torch closer to the stone wall.
Of the two fox demons he had brought, one had already been swallowed by the stone wall, with flowing rock covering its entire body.
Because Jinmao had made noise, the severed limbs on the surrounding stone walls all gathered over, wanting to pull him inside.
Jinmao's pupils shrank.
A few days ago, he had come to the Bottomless Pit. At that time, it was absolutely not this terrifying.
Heavenly demon aura was more bizarre than imagined. Not only could it fundamentally transform living beings into strange black-furred monsters, it could also affect the environment.
Forming... a human hell!!!
Jinmao scrambled to his feet in panic, then turned and headed toward the cave entrance.
One movement set everything in motion. Seeing this, Zhang Yi could not help but feel the urge to retreat as well.
Hu Wen could not help but shout sternly, "Jinmao, you'd better think it through. In a place like this, if you get separated, you won't even know how you die."
As soon as he made a sound, the severed limbs swam closer like fish.
"Demon immortal above..."
Jinmao's footsteps halted. The panic in his eyes sharply decreased, then his back was drenched in cold sweat. This ghostly place was affecting his mental clarity.
Hu Wen narrowed his eyes and said, "My lord demon immortal is everywhere, and will surely lead us out of this predicament."
The frustration in Zhang Yi's heart had nowhere to vent, and he could not help but repeatedly punch the stone wall with his fists, sending severed limbs splattering all over the ground.
Hu Wen continued, "Have you noticed? This place is gradually becoming... how should I put it, perfected?"
He brought the torch close to an arm extending from the stone wall.
The high temperature quickly made the exposed skin of the arm sizzle, scorch marks appearing, and a faint aroma of roasted flesh spreading.
But within just these few breaths, the arm had already adapted to the high temperature of the flames.
What made them deeply apprehensive was that the newly grown severed limbs were also different, with black long hair covering the surface of the skin.
"Let's go. First head to where Old Toad is hiding."
Hu Wen's words calmed them down. If it really did not work, they could go to the Immortal's Dream to seek help. After all, heavenly demon aura was likewise a method mastered by the demon immortal.
The four demons continued deeper inside.
As they drew closer to their destination, the heavenly demon aura in the air had already become visible to the naked eye.
They finally arrived at a narrow karst cave entrance. Only the dripping sound of water could be heard, and there was no way to detect any demon beast aura.
Hu Wen lit another torch, then threw it into the karst cave.
The cave was illuminated, appearing extremely cluttered inside. However, in the farthest corner, there was indeed a squatting figure.
Around the figure were heaps of demon beast corpses piled like mountains, and formation patterns were carved on the ground, looking very much like a sacrificial altar for summoning the demon immortal to descend.
Hu Wen called out, "Old Toad?"
The figure turned its head.
The other party's appearance was similar to a half-human, half-toad, its entire body covered in pustules oozing pus. However, its head was somewhat similar to a rabbit's, especially the large protruding buck teeth in its mouth.
"Old Toad?"
Hu Wen asked again, but the latter still did not respond.
Even Zhang Yi could see that something was wrong. He grabbed Hu Wen's arm, signaling him to stay a bit farther away from that toad demon's figure.
"You've come..."
The toad demon muttered, moving stiffly as it walked over.
As it walked, it tore at its own skin, peeling it off bit by bit. What was revealed was not flesh and blood like Jinmao's, but instead transformed into a strange goat covered in black fur.
Baa...
The scene before the four demons' eyes became blurry. The winding, twisting tunnels grew ever more distorted, as if they were a vortex leading to the abyss.
Hu Wen barely managed to take out a black pill the size of a soybean and hurriedly threw it at his feet.
The black pill visibly grew into a mushroom about two meters tall, isolating the heavenly demon aura outside. The black goat also did not make any rash moves, merely standing at a distance and watching.
They thus recovered their sanity. Hu Wen shook his head and said, "This is a magic artifact I purchased. It should have been refined using immortal seeds."
"Protecting us for a short time won't be difficult..."
Now they could only hope that they could contact the demon immortal through the Immortal's Dream. Otherwise, the consequences of staying in the Bottomless Pit for a long time were self-evident.
Before Hu Wen could finish speaking, hundreds of toad demons walked out from the stone walls. They shed their skins and transformed into black goats one after another.
Heavenly demon aura seemed like a living thing, forming a tornado that surrounded the giant mushroom.
The four demons were submerged by the heavenly demon aura. Only their shrill, despairing screams could be heard, until even the sounds no longer came through.
"Demon immortal, save me..."