Chapter 82

Chen Hai has been studying the way the Raksha clan gathers in the Blood Cloud Wasteland.

The lowest-level Warrior Rank Raksha demons are the most numerous and easiest to control, seemingly able to be directly subdued by the demonic aura of higher-ranking Blood Refiners. However, Raksha demons of the Guard Rank and above have a stronger will to kill, making them harder to subdue directly.

However, with the Raksha demon population numbering in the tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands, and led by Blood Refiners of the General or Marquis Rank, the order within these groups was established in such a short time and is extremely strict, indicating a rigorous control system. Chen Hai couldn't help but think about soul control.

The Soul Servitude Technique is not a particularly advanced spell, but as a dark art, it is strictly prohibited in Yanzhou.

Even so, noble families openly use the Soul Servitude Technique to control powerful demonic savages or beasts they capture; they can even refine the souls of demonic savages and beasts through secret soul-refining techniques, turning them into puppet-like entities.

The Raksha Blood Refinement Secret Technique, in addition to being able to directly devour flesh and essence to enhance oneself, also has the innate ability to control others' souls.

However, the soul of this Raksha demon is extremely strong, even stronger than Chen Hai's own. It would not be easy for Chen Hai to forcibly control its soul, and there is a risk of backlash. But now that it has submitted voluntarily and offered its soul, it will be much easier.

As the Raksha demons in the Blood Cloud Wasteland gradually devolve into bloody battles between large and small groups, Chen Hai, unable to integrate into these groups, can only survive in remote areas, making life extremely difficult, let alone approaching the Temple Valley. He thought that perhaps he should start recruiting some Raksha followers in the Blood Cloud Wasteland.

Chen Hai opened his blood-red demonic eyes and stared at the Raksha demon, which was left with only a thread of life force, and said, "Offer your soul!"

This Raksha demon had already been devoured of its flesh and essence by Chen Hai, leaving only a thread of life force. At this point, it had to further divide its soul to be controlled by Chen Hai, which would further weaken its strength. But if it wanted to survive and become a blood slave, it had to offer part of its soul.

The soul offered by the Raksha demon, like a wisp of spiritual fire, was absorbed into Chen Hai's sea of consciousness, which resembled a blood-red sky.

After refining this wisp of soul fire, the Raksha demonic visage in his sea of consciousness became more solid, and the demonic aura became stronger. The effect was more significant than cultivating various true intentions, and he could directly sense the soul fluctuations of the Raksha demon in front of him.

Chen Hai didn't expect the Raksha Blood Refinement Secret Technique to be able to strengthen in this way. It seemed that in the future, he should subdue a few more blood slaves and demonic slaves. Not only would he no longer have to fight alone, but the strength of his puppet avatars would also be enhanced.

However, Chen Hai would not do so without limits. Absorbing too many foreign souls might lead to backlash.

In the sea of consciousness that resembled a blood-red sky, the Raksha demonic visage gradually faded. Chen Hai noticed that the blood scales on his body had become more vibrant and vivid, as if the blood was about to drip. He decided that devouring the flesh and essence of this level of Raksha demon would significantly enhance his puppet avatar.

Chen Hai had stayed in the rift for too long. He picked up the weak Raksha blood slave and fled to a cave dozens of miles away to hide. Only then did he have the leisure to question its background.

"What is your name?"

"I should have a name, but my memories of my past life are shattered. I can only vaguely remember a desolate land where various clans fought incessantly, and I died in a fierce battle. As for my name in my past life, I can't remember it. Here, names have no meaning; whatever the Demon Lord calls me, that is my name." The blood slave, having just submitted, dared not hide anything from Chen Hai, but it truly didn't know its name from its past life.

Hearing the Raksha blood slave speak the Raksha language with great difficulty, Chen Hai guessed that it hadn't communicated much with its kind after resurrection. It had managed to subdue a few Warrior Rank Raksha demons as followers, but ultimately fell into his hands.

However, after a conversation in the awkward Raksha language, Chen Hai found that although the blood slave's memories of its past life were fragmented, its knowledge and speech were quite remarkable, unlike the low-level Raksha demons who only knew how to kill. Moreover, it had already awakened its Blood Refinement talent. Chen Hai guessed that it might have been an upper-class noble among the Raksha demons in its past life.

Seeing that the blood slave's flesh had almost been completely drained by his Blood Refinement Secret Technique, and its scaly skin was cut with dozens of wounds, revealing blackish-blue bones like withered tree roots, Chen Hai said, "You will be called Yao Laogen from now on."

"Yao Laogen?" The blood slave didn't particularly like or dislike the name. To it, it was just a title, a code name. It looked at Chen Hai with defiant blood-red eyes and asked, "Does the Demon Lord have a name?"

"My name?" Chen Hai pondered for a moment. He thought that since he had taken over Yao Xing's body, if he were to gather a Raksha clan in the Blood Cloud Wasteland, he might give Yao Xing a name. But he didn't want to tell Yao Laogen yet. Waving his battle spear, he said, "Go out and hunt a few demons to restore your strength, and bring back a few followers. Don't come to disturb my cultivation unless necessary..."

"Yes, Demon Lord!" Yao Laogen, who didn't even have the strength to stand, struggled to crawl out of the cave, not daring to question Chen Hai's orders.

Yao Laogen still retained an independent consciousness and was defiant, with the potential for backlash. After Yao Laogen crawled out of the rift, Chen Hai chose another hiding place nearby to prevent any unforeseen events and then cut off his soul connection with the Blood Cloud Wasteland.

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Chen Hai's soul consciousness returned to the snake den palace isolated by the spiritual spring water. Using the faint light from a night pearl, he lit a pine resin torch and inserted it into a crevice. The previous torch had long burned out.

During the intense battle with the blood slave that lasted for several days, Chen Hai honed the Ten Steps Water-Cutting Slash to a higher level through this most intense and dangerous method. Through the Ten Steps Water-Cutting Slash, he gained precise control over the hundred bones' essence energy circulating in the five main meridians: the Foot-Shaoyang, Hand-Shaoyang, Foot-Mingyang, Hand-Mingyang, and Foot-Jueyang.

It was also the dawn, when the yang energy was just beginning to rise. Chen Hai decisively took out several spiritual pills to replenish the hundred bones' essence energy in his body. Standing on a cliff that protruded from the water, he made a spear with his hand and took a step, causing the hundred bones' essence energy to boil and surge into the spiritual meridians.

One step, one slash; nine steps, nine slashes. On the tenth step, the Shattered True Intention transformed into a wisp of vast, desolate energy that merged into Chen Hai's finger, which resembled a sharp spear. However, Chen Hai did not slash out the tenth time. Instead, he transformed this slash, infused with the Shattered True Intention, into an incredibly sharp mental image, suddenly drawing it into his chest.

The spear intent was incredibly sharp, like a bolt of lightning tearing through the dim, chaotic area where the spiritual meridians intersected.

Chen Hai didn't need to use inner vision to know that the vast hundred bones' essence energy was surging into the mystic acupoint. Because he had held back the final slash, the vast essence energy was surging and pounding in the mystic acupoint, unable to be released. If he couldn't successfully use the spear intent to stir up the vast hundred bones' essence energy into a vortex, the uncontrolled essence energy would tear his internal organs to shreds.

The dim, chaotic area where the spiritual meridians intersected was split open by the fierce spear intent, which transformed into a purple lightning spear, piercing through the void and the eternal chaos, illuminating the surging hundred bones' essence energy like a raging flood.

The hundred bones' essence energy was quickly drawn to the center where the purple lightning spear was located, surging and pounding.

Chen Hai had not yet formally opened his ancestral acupoint and could not maintain the image of the purple lightning spear for long. The image of the purple lightning spear could be said to be born and die instantly. But even in this instant, he successfully stirred the hundred bones' essence energy into a vortex, preventing it from dispersing and impacting his internal organs.

At this moment, Chen Hai had fallen into the water from the cliff, floating like a boat, sitting in a strange posture in the water, unmoving despite the surging currents. Opening his mouth, he inhaled and exhaled the spiritual energy in the cave like a giant whale, emitting a clear and resonant howl.

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Although Chen Qing hadn't seen Chen Hai, she had been staying in the Medicine Garden for the past few days. Hearing the mountain-shaking howl from the snake den palace, she and Su Ziling were sitting cross-legged on a jade bed, cultivating their true essence.

Chen Qing was greatly alarmed, confirming that the howl came from deep within the snake den, even though it was transmitted through rock layers and water, it was still very clear.

She didn't know what was causing such a commotion underground. She and Su Ziling flew out of the window and saw that many people in the Medicine Garden had been startled and were coming out in their nightclothes.

The water in the spirit pool of the snake den was churning like it was boiling, and the spiritual energy in the valley was being mysteriously drawn back into the spirit pool, as if it was gathering deep within the snake den.

The entrance to the snake den was located in the eastern garden.

Chen Qing and Su Ziling flew over, and Wu Meng and Zhou Jun were guarding the shore of the spirit pool, preventing Chen Su and others from diving in to investigate.

"Lord Younger is cultivating in the palace. We are forbidden to disturb him unless there is an emergency," Wu Meng, standing like a wooden stake, holding a spirit-patterned sword, said to Chen Qing.

"Lord Younger has been cultivating in the snake den for four days and four nights. If something goes wrong or he suffers a spiritual breakdown, how can we face Lord?" Chen Su, who didn't care if Chen Hai suffered a spiritual breakdown, wanted to see for himself how Chen Hai's cultivation could cause such a commotion, so he could report the details to his young master.

"It looks like a spiritual breakdown. Even if it were the opening of a spirit sea, it wouldn't cause such a commotion!" Su Ziling said, her beautiful eyes filled with doubt as she stared at the turbid surface of the spirit pool. She couldn't figure out what was happening to Chen Hai, and because of this, she wanted to dive in and see for herself.

Chen Qing was also uncertain. She didn't like Chen Hai, and even thought of driving him away if she had the chance, but as his cousin, she didn't want to see him die in the snake den. Frowning, she said to Wu Meng, "Let's go and see."

Zhou Jingyuan, Ge Tong, and others also rushed over, equally uncertain. They knew that Chen Hai's cultivation methods were unconventional, but the current phenomenon was far from normal.

As more people gathered and the howling and the spiritual energy retraction continued, Wu Meng and Zhou Jun found it hard to insist on their stance. In the end, Chen Qing took the lead, and she, Su Ziling, Wu Meng, Zhou Jun, Ge Tong, and Chen Su dived into the water to investigate the snake den palace.