Chapter 94

In the bowl-shaped valley, numerous gullies crisscrossed, their lines resembling spiritual threads that sketched a flame pattern on the stone ground of the valley.

A layer of soft soil covered the gullies, beneath which a faint luster glimmered, as if it were some special crystal.

In the sky above the valley, clusters of basin-like black clouds gathered, numbering nearly a hundred, darkly overshadowing the sky.

These were all the divided souls of the Soul Devouring Beast.

At this moment, the divided souls of the Soul Devouring Beast, like thick black clouds, blocked the light, and those black clouds were slowly pressing down.

Previously, there were always ghost birds active above Qin Lie and the others, and Liang Zhong could rely on the ghost birds to clearly grasp the movements and precise locations of everyone in the stone forest.

However, now above their heads, apart from the divided souls of the Soul Devouring Beast, there were no other birds.

— Not a single ghost bird dared to circle above the valley where the Soul Devouring Beast was.

From the cave entrance in the valley, roars of the Soul Devouring Beast's main body echoed, shaking the surrounding stone pillars and almost causing the valley to collapse.

Xie Jingxuan no longer held her hook scythe. She dismounted the Profound Nether Beast and moved swiftly through the valley like a black phantom.

One by one, the spirit-gathering talismans personally refined by Qin Lie were pressed onto the stone pillars in the valley. As new spirit-gathering talismans were added, the concentration of heaven and earth spirit energy in the valley became increasingly dense.

Ban Hong and the martial artists of the Senluo Hall left their unicorn horses outside, holding exquisite spirit weapons, their expressions solemn, ready to engage in battle at any moment.

"Come down," Liang Zhong lightly shouted, leading the way off the Profound Nether Beast, his face grave as he walked toward Ban Hong's group.

In front of him, there were intersecting gullies, and the crystals beneath the soft soil seemed to be gradually glowing.

Qin Lie and Gao Yu also dismounted cautiously. As soon as they landed, the Profound Nether Beast retreated to a corner outside the valley, standing together with another Profound Nether Beast and the unicorn horses.

"When the Soul Devouring Beast advances in rank, it often seeks a cold place. That cave entrance is a direct connection to a cold spring underground. To deal with this Soul Devouring Beast, we locked onto this cold spring half a year ago."

Liang Zhong's brows furrowed as he continued, "The Soul Devouring Beast fears two things: thunder and fire. Both can truly kill the Soul Devouring Beast."

"Thunder power is generally hard to harness and not easy to invoke. Therefore, we centered our efforts on this cold spring and set up an 'Eight Extremes Fire Array.' Abundant spirit energy can maximize the power of the 'Eight Extremes Fire Array,' so we bought a large number of spirit-gathering talismans from Li's shop, hoping to increase the fire to its maximum..."

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

As Liang Zhong spoke, cold winds blew from the cave in the valley, spreading out and gradually making the valley cold and icy.

A sense of oppression, chaos, depression, and madness quietly filled every corner of the valley, affecting everyone standing inside.

Qin Lie, Gao Yu, and even Ban Hong and the other Senluo Hall warriors showed slight changes in their expressions, as if a hint of evil thoughts sprouted in their eyes.

"Stay calm!" Liang Zhong shouted coldly.

Everyone's eyes focused, and they all looked at him, revealing surprised expressions.

"The Soul Devouring Beast's advancement requires it to absorb all the divided souls it has released. Those active divided souls have devoured and consumed the souls of many martial artists and spirit beasts, which carry a lot of negative emotions such as resentment, fear, irritability, and madness."

Liang Zhong looked up at the sky, "Before advancing, it needs to clear out these impurities from the divided souls, and then it will absorb them. Pay attention; you will see layers of hard-to-detect cold currents above. These currents have a purifying effect. As the divided souls of the Soul Devouring Beast sink, passing through these cold currents, they can purify part of the negative emotions."

Qin Lie quickly looked up and focused, discovering that indeed, about ten meters above his head, there were layers of wave-like patterns like sea waves.

As the black cloud-like divided souls of the Soul Devouring Beast slowly sank, they would pass through these cold currents.

During this process, wisps of gray smoke would drift away from the divided souls of the Soul Devouring Beast.

These gray substances, once separated from the divided souls, would spread out, reaching every corner of the valley, carrying intense negative fluctuations that could affect the martial artists' true hearts.

"The impurities being purified, the chaotic memories, and various complex and mad emotions will increase, spreading to every corner of the valley, gradually eroding your willpower," Liang Zhong lowered his head, frowning at Qin Lie and Gao Yu, "You two have the lowest realms and are most susceptible to being eroded. Therefore, the first thing you need to face is your true hearts. Remember, you must guard your true hearts and not be influenced by these negative emotions. Otherwise, you will not only be useless but also become a burden to us!"

"Understood," Qin Lie and Gao Yu said in unison.

At this moment, Xie Jingxuan had already placed all the spirit-gathering talismans, and the spirit energy in the valley had become increasingly dense.

"I will activate the 'Eight Extremes Fire Array.' Prepare to protect me from the attacks of the evil souls!" Like a wisp of ghostly light, she suddenly appeared beside Liang Zhong, sitting down by a gully at the feet of everyone.

A crimson flame suddenly lit up on her crystal-clear finger, and upon closer inspection, it came from a small piece of jade the size of a finger.

The jade was like red jade, bright and pure, with a cluster of crimson flames seemingly sealed inside.

The flame came from the flame inside the jade, initially very small but gradually growing larger.

A fist-sized flame first formed inside the jade and immediately flew out, fluttering like a firebird, landing in the gully before her.

"Boom!"

The gully suddenly burst into flames, the scorching heat rising to the sky, turning the gully into a raging fire dragon in an instant!

The gully, about ten meters long and as wide as an arm, was now ablaze, crackling and burning, instantly dispelling the cold atmosphere in the valley.

Qin Lie moved closer and saw that beneath the soil of the gully, there was a layer of Sunlight Stones!

This was a second-grade mystic-level spirit material, one level higher than fire crystals, and one of the essential fire sources for refining mystic-level spirit weapons.

The flames of the Sunlight Stones could melt even the hardest mystic-level iron stones into molten liquid, creating a terrifying high temperature.

Once ignited, if not specially stimulated to release the fire within the Sunlight Stones, they could burn for several days and nights.

The gully, about ten meters long, was covered with a layer of Sunlight Stones, a grand gesture that left Qin Lie in awe.

"Protect me!"

Xie Jingxuan lightly shouted, then closed her eyes, focusing her strength to activate the flame inside the jade, using this specialized flame to ignite the Sunlight Stones in more gullies.

As the Sunlight Stones in one gully ignited, forming a fire dragon, the cold air in the valley was suppressed.

In the cave, the Soul Devouring Beast, sensing the changes in the valley, immediately roared loudly, and a series of evil and cold consciousnesses suddenly rose from the cave entrance.

In the sky, the divided souls of the Soul Devouring Beast suddenly became agitated.

Ten or so divided souls did not undergo a new purification but suddenly condensed together, transforming into a green-faced, fanged, one-eyed evil ghost.

The various negative fluctuations in the valley suddenly converged into an evil mental consciousness, carried by the one-eyed evil ghost, aiming at Xie Jingxuan's head, and fiercely attacked from the sky.

The cold and evil terror spread like a tidal wave, as if to directly annihilate the weak.

Qin Lie and Gao Yu, standing in place, felt as if they were being attacked by demons and ghosts from all directions, as if they were trapped deep in hell, being slowly devoured by countless demons and ghosts...

In their perception, their arms, legs, and even their hearts were being torn apart and eaten by those demons and ghosts, mixed with blood and flesh.

This was an indescribable great terror, capable of instantly destroying a person, leaving them unable to recover for the rest of their lives.

This was the Soul Devouring Beast's soul tremor, specifically targeting the soul and destroying the true heart!

At this moment, Qin Lie could no longer see anyone else, only feeling that in this terrifying netherworld, his body was incomplete, being torn apart and devoured by demons and ghosts.

"No!"

He screamed in a frenzy, using all his strength to shout, trying to escape this terrifying place, trying to leave this endless hell.

Countless demons and evil ghosts, in rolling blood and piled corpses, grinned ferociously and continued to charge toward him...

He became the delicious prey coveted by the demons in this evil world.

"No!" He roared madly, his consciousness gradually becoming blurred, increasingly influenced.

Just as he was about to completely fall, a cool sensation slowly emerged from his brow...

In the endless evil world, a light suddenly appeared before his eyes. That cool light seemed to purify all evil and illuminate all filth.

This vast world of rolling blood and countless corpses and demons, because of this light, suddenly shattered!

Like a shattered mirror, the terrifying scenes in his mind became fragmented, the scenes that had penetrated his soul and mind melted away like snow.

He returned to the real world.

He finally saw the people beside him.

In the valley, numerous fierce and evil ghosts howled and charged toward him.

Liang Zhong and the martial artists of the Senluo Hall were waving their exquisite spirit weapons, forming layers of splendid and beautiful light shields to block the evil ghosts formed by the divided souls of the Soul Devouring Beast.

They were fully focused, their expressions extremely grave.

Gao Yu was shouting loudly beside him, his expression alternating between ferocity and extreme fear.

— He had yet to escape the influence of the Soul Devouring Beast's evil consciousness.

Xie Jingxuan, with her eyes closed, focused her energy to activate the flame inside the jade, continuously forming flames that flew out and landed in other gullies, igniting the Sunlight Stones and forming new fire dragons.

At this moment, seven fire dragons had already formed in the valley, the intense flames illuminating the surrounding stone pillars, turning them red.

The originally ordinary stone pillars, after being roasted by the flames, revealed many red spirit patterns, which resonated with the flames, becoming lively, making the stone pillars seem to slowly burn...

The Eight Extremes Fire Array seemed to be gradually taking shape.

...

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