Lao Qin and the other spirit guards arrived with a large group of ghost kings. When they saw the gate to the Yellow Spring Marsh wide open, they realized that Lao Cai and his group had taken the wrong path. With no choice, they decided to follow through and headed together toward the Yellow Spring Marsh. The marsh was filled with toxic fumes, and everything was covered in a dull gray haze. Black mud bubbled with gas, and not a trace of life could be seen as far as the eye could reach.
“Lao Cai, I think we might have come to the wrong place,” someone said.
Shui Miao’s spiritual perception extended outward, but all he could sense were toxic gases, yin energy, and numerous unknown entities hidden beneath the marsh.
Lao Cai also felt something was off, so he stopped. By this time, everyone was deep within the marsh. Looking around, Lao Cai suddenly produced an iron chain from his sleeve. He threw the chain into the marsh and pulled hard, dragging out a hideous green-fanged ghost. As soon as it surfaced, the creature opened its blood-red eyes and screamed wildly, clearly furious at being disturbed.
The Green-Faced Fanged Ghost!
Shui Miao immediately recognized it. He had seen these creatures before and had even considered using them to organize other spirits. But due to constant distractions, he had even forgotten about the five little spirit apprentices.
“So this is where the Green-Faced Fanged Ghosts escaped from!”
Lao Cai was seeing these creatures for the first time and immediately pulled out a soul-collecting bag, sealing the fanged ghost inside.
However, the scream of the Green-Faced Fanged Ghost had awakened many other creatures lurking deep within the marsh for miles around. One after another, they emerged from underground. Alongside the fanged ghosts came many bizarre spirits—some were shadow-like phantoms, others were enormous, bloated figures with bulging eyes, completely naked, resembling human-sized pig demons. Countless other forms emerged, a dark, oppressive mass slowly advancing toward them.
Although these spirits were numerous, they were not particularly strong.
Lao Cai and his group were unafraid. They fanned out into eight directions to protect Shui Miao in the center and began cutting down the spirits without mercy.
Killing spirits was nothing more than a bit of physical exertion for the spirit guards. They could even extract essence from the spirits, making it a highly profitable endeavor.
Shui Miao, protected in the center, observed how the spirit guards fought and picked up a few techniques.
But not long after, Shui Miao sensed through his spiritual perception that something powerful was rapidly rising from over a thousand meters below the marsh. Compared to the Green-Faced Fanged Ghost, the yin energy it radiated was like comparing an elephant to a mouse.
“Bad! There’s a huge monster coming up from below! More than half of these spirits can’t even use wind techniques. Everyone, fly up into the air!”
Lao Cai had also sensed the approaching threat and shouted urgently to warn the others.
Shui Miao heard the wind whistling as the spirit guards quickly soared into the sky.
Damn! What about me? I can’t use wind techniques either!
Shui Miao felt frustrated immediately.
Without the spirit guards blocking the way, the horde of spirits surged forward like a flood and instantly engulfed Shui Miao.
“Oops! How could I forget about Brother Shui Miao?”
Realizing that no spirits were chasing them, Lao Cai looked back and felt a sudden pang of anxiety.
But the next moment, he saw a massive surge of black energy erupting from where Shui Miao had stood. It spread outward, covering an area with a diameter of dozens of meters. The spirits within were instantly turned into black mist, which continued to spread in all directions, consuming more and more spirits. Anything touched by the black mist—spirits or even the marsh itself—was instantly transformed into vapor!
This was the Soul Devouring Power!
Shui Miao had mastered the first stage of the Black Hole technique. With a casual use of his Soul Devouring Power, he instantly destroyed hundreds of spirits. Aside from being shocked, Shui Miao felt a sense of exhilaration, as if he were a dragon soaring through the sky. With a mere thought, he directed his Soul Devouring Power to expand the area of effect to a radius of a hundred meters.
“City God, this Brother Shui Miao is truly a hidden powerhouse! What kind of technique is this? At this rate, he could single-handedly wipe out the entire Yellow Spring Sect!” One of the senior spirit guards, witnessing how Shui Miao devoured spirits like a whale gulping seawater, couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of fear.
Lao Cai watched with shining eyes and laughed heartily, “Haha! Brother Shui Miao’s technique is truly divine. With his help, we’re bound to succeed in this mission!”
In truth, even Lao Cai didn’t know exactly what kind of technique this was.
“What a rush!”
As Shui Miao unleashed his Soul Devouring Power, absorbing countless spirits rushing toward him, he felt his cultivation power continuously increasing. Absorbing these spirits was even more exhilarating than consuming pills. This reminded him of Ye Xian, who had told him that he grew stronger by devouring spirits. Shui Miao began to wonder if, in a past life, he had been just like Ye Xian, since he too could grow stronger by consuming spirits.
“Roar!”
Suddenly, the mysterious entity from deep underground burst forth. It was the size of a small hill, with a grayish body. It was a terrifying demon ape. It grabbed Shui Miao in one motion and tossed him straight into its mouth, swallowing him whole.
“Ahh!”
The spirit guards were all shocked at the sight.
Demon apes were extremely dangerous creatures. Normally, ten spirit guards would struggle to defeat a single one. They usually appeared in the jungle regions of the Asura Realm and occasionally in remote parts of the Netherworld, but encountering one on the Yellow Spring Road was unheard of.
The demon ape was incredibly fast, aggressive, and bloodthirsty.
After swallowing Shui Miao, it immediately leaped into the air and swatted two spirit guards floating above, sending them crashing down. Then it charged toward the others, ready to devour them. But just as it took a few steps forward, it suddenly stopped. It looked down at its chest, where a black spot had appeared. The spot grew larger and larger until, in the blink of an eye, it pierced completely through its chest.
“Roar!”
The demon ape clenched its fists and pounded its chest violently, roaring toward the sky. This time, its roar lacked its usual ferocity and instead carried a note of despair.
“Whoosh!”
With a sudden gust of wind, Shui Miao unleashed his Soul Devouring Power, enveloping the entire demon ape. Using his power, he corroded, refined, and absorbed it. It didn’t take long before he retracted all his power, and the demon ape was completely devoured. As Shui Miao focused, he suddenly discovered that some of the demon ape’s memories had entered his mind. Hidden deep beneath the Yellow Spring Marsh was a massive secret!
“Lao Cai, don’t wait for me. I’m going underground to kill more demon apes. I’ll catch up later.”
With an excuse, Shui Miao didn’t wait for Lao Cai’s response. He immediately focused his mind, his soul diving deep into the underground marsh…
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