“You must be the military advisor, hehe!”
Lao Cai, a seasoned ghost soldier, was smooth and cunning. From Sima Zongheng’s attire and demeanor, he deduced Sima’s identity. “Sir, I’m newly transferred here, and this brother here is also new. Everyone else has already gone to the marshes. We were worried, so we came back to check if anyone was left behind.”
“Yeah, exactly!”
Shui Miao quickly nodded in agreement.
Sima Zongheng felt a vague unease and had no mood to chat with these two ghost soldiers. Besides, he didn’t believe anyone could have infiltrated the inner sanctum so soon. “Forget it, just go.”
Shui Miao and Lao Cai exhaled in relief and immediately bowed as they left.
Ghost generals were fierce and straightforward, never bowing or flattering.
Seeing Shui Miao and Lao Cai act so subservient, Sima frowned again. “Hey, you two, show me your identification tokens.”
“Quick, run first!” Lao Cai’s heart sank, and he shoved Shui Miao while drawing his curved blade and charging at Sima Zongheng. Sima was startled but quickly activated his dark energy, forming chains that bound Lao Cai.
Seeing this, Shui Miao immediately activated his soul-devouring power and charged at Sima as well.
“You must be the Grand Strategist, hehe!”
Old Cai, being a cunning and experienced ghost envoy, deduced from Sima Zongheng’s attire that he was a strategist. “Sir, we’re newly transferred here, and this brother is too. Everyone has gone to the swamp, but we were worried, so we decided to patrol around and see if anyone was left behind.”
“Yeah, yeah!” Shuimiao quickly nodded in agreement.
Sima Zongheng felt a vague unease and had no patience to chat with the two ghost generals. Besides, he didn’t believe enemies could have infiltrated the rear hall so early. “Forget it, just go.”
Shuimiao and Old Cai breathed a sigh of relief, immediately bowing and scraping before making their exit.
Ghost generals were known for their combativeness and straightforwardness—they never bowed and scraped. Seeing Shuimiao and Old Cai behave this way, Sima Zongheng frowned again. “Hey, you two, show me your identity tokens.”
“Bro, run first!”
Old Cai’s heart sank, and he quickly shoved Shuimiao aside before drawing his curved blade and charging at Sima Zongheng. Startled, Sima Zongheng immediately summoned dark energy, transforming it into chains that bound Old Cai.
Seeing this, Shuimiao quickly channeled his soul-devouring power and also charged at Sima Zongheng.
“Something’s off!” Sensing the unusual aura from Shuimiao, Sima Zongheng swiftly abandoned Old Cai, flashed behind Shuimiao, and grabbed a trace of his energy before retreating to the side. After sniffing the soul-devouring energy in his hand, Sima Zongheng’s expression froze instantly. “Impossible… This can’t be! Could the legend be true? Who are you? Don’t tell me you’re the Black Nether God!?”
Sima Zongheng stared intently at Shuimiao.
Shuimiao quickly moved to Old Cai’s side, using his soul-devouring power to dissolve and absorb the chains binding him.
“You can actually dissolve my dark energy!” Sima Zongheng grew even more terrified.
Shuimiao looked up at Sima Zongheng and reverted to his original form, saying bluntly, “You’re right. My past life was indeed the Black Nether God. If you’ve heard any legends, you can tell me now. If you’re willing to pledge loyalty to me, I might consider taking you in—as long as you kneel and kowtow.”
Shuimiao was bluffing with all his courage.
But he was also very curious: What legend could make such a powerful expert so terrified?
Old Cai quickly played along, adding, “Yes! He is our Lord Black Nether God. Given your strength, if you’re willing to assist our lord, he will surely reward you handsomely. The wise submit to circumstances—you’re surrounded. Also, Ye Xian is one of us.”
In his panic, Old Cai dragged Ye Xian into the matter.
When his life was on the line, why worry about anything else?
Old Cai was gambling, hoping this expert might be on Ye Xian’s side.
Shuimiao’s heart stirred, and he added, “Ye Xian is the stand-in for the Yellow Spring Patriarch. As the strategist, you must know this, right?”
“…”
Hearing this, Sima Zongheng staggered back a few steps, leaning against the wall to steady himself. He muttered to himself, “Was I tricked by him? I thought he was just helping me deal with Zhuge Abacus… It’s over! I’m finished! I’ve fallen into his scheme. He must have destroyed my life talisman—no wonder I’ve been so restless. What do I do now? Once the patriarch emerges, he’ll surely kill me!”
Hearing Sima Zongheng’s muttering, Old Cai’s heart leaped, and he quickly said, “What’s there to fear? Our Lord Black Nether God is the true ruler. As long as you follow our lord—”
“Silence!”
Sima Zongheng roared, cutting off Old Cai. Agitated, he exclaimed, “You’re all liars! Ye Xian is a liar, that legend is fake, and you’re all deceivers! What Black Nether God? That’s just Ye Xian’s excuse! Expecting me, Sima Zongheng, to kneel and kowtow to a mere ant like you? You’re dreaming! Wait—I can kill you, take your memories, and hide in the Raksha Realm to cultivate slowly. Once I master the Soul-Devouring Art and the Black Hole Domain…”
“Hahaha…”
Shuimiao suddenly laughed, interrupting Sima Zongheng. “Senior Sima, if you say we’re liars, why would you believe in the Soul-Devouring Power and the Black Hole Domain? Isn’t that contradictory?”
“Easy! Once I kill you and take your memories, the truth will be revealed!” Sima Zongheng’s eyes narrowed, and his expression turned icy. He summoned rolling dark energy, enveloping Shuimiao and Old Cai, then retracted the black mist, pulling both of them into his bamboo staff.
“Where is this place?”
Shuimiao felt dizzy and disoriented, finding himself in an entirely white space—above, below, and all around. It was stifling and hot, like being trapped in a steamer, and the discomfort grew increasingly unbearable.
Old Cai crouched down, sniffed the ground, and said nervously, “We must be inside a top-tier netherworld artifact. At this rate, our souls will soon melt, our dark energy will dissolve, and all that will remain is a trace of our spiritual essence for him to devour and steal our memories. Brother, we must act quickly. Use that black energy to try and corrode this artifact.”
“Alright!”
Shuimiao immediately channeled his soul-devouring power, devouring all the energy within the white space.
※※※
Front Hall of the Yellow Spring Sect
A crowd had gathered from who knows where, growing larger and larger. Together, they scattered the wild ghost camp and flooded into the central and rear halls like a tidal wave. Ye Xian, disguised as a ghost envoy, mingled among them. He had originally intended to use the chaos to have Sima Zongheng killed but was surprised to find that Sima Zongheng had disappeared.
Thus, ghost envoys, ghost kings, and various netherworld factions—all with conflicting allegiances but united by their desire to seize the Nine Cauldrons Alchemy Furnace—worked together to open the massive stone door of the rear hall.
Once the door opened, they saw a enormous square stone chamber.
In the center of the chamber was a semi-transparent, circular purple lightning sphere. A naked man was enveloped in purple lightning, and behind the sphere stood a massive purple alchemy furnace—the Nine Cauldrons Alchemy Furnace.
At the sight, Ye Xian couldn’t help but gasp.
While others didn’t recognize the purple lightning sphere, Ye Xian knew exactly what it was. Once, when the Yellow Spring Patriarch was away, he had sneaked into the treasure vault and read a manual on the Thunder Soul.
The so-called Thunder Soul manual described the fusion of the soul and lightning. Once successful, the soul would become a Thunder Soul body.
A Thunder Soul body could freely traverse the Three Realms, completely unafraid of heavenly thunder punishment.
However, to cultivate a Thunder Soul body, one must first discard all dark energy.
Ye Xian only knew that the Yellow Spring Patriarch had challenged the Netherworld God, suffered severe injuries, and returned to seclusion. He didn’t know that the patriarch had intentionally used the Netherworld God to dissipate his dark energy so he could focus entirely on cultivating the Thunder Soul body.
Most importantly, after successfully cultivating the Thunder Soul body, one needed to kill vast numbers of ghosts and absorb their spiritual essence to maintain the body’s stability.
In other words, the Yellow Spring Patriarch was about to slaughter countless ghosts!
If he failed to absorb any spiritual essence, the Thunder Soul body would wither and dissipate on its own.
“Run!”
“Everyone, get out of here! The Yellow Spring Patriarch has cultivated the Thunder Soul body. He’s about to awaken, and when he does, you’ll all die!”
In his panic, Ye Xian shouted, trying to warn everyone to leave.
But everyone had eyes only for the Nine Cauldrons Alchemy Furnace!
“Damn it, shut your noise.”
A gigantic ghost king swung his arm and sent Ye Xian flying…
Sima Zongheng stared intently at Shui Miao.
Meanwhile, Shui Miao quickly approached Lao Cai and used his soul-devouring power to dissolve the chains binding him.
“You can actually neutralize my dark energy!” Sima became increasingly alarmed.
“You must be the Grand Strategist, hehe!”
Old Cai, being a cunning and experienced ghost envoy, deduced from Sima Zongheng’s attire that he was a strategist. “Sir, we’re newly assigned here, and this brother is too. Everyone else has headed to the marsh, but we were worried, so we decided to check around and see if anyone was left behind.”
“Yes, yes!” Shuimiao quickly nodded in agreement.
Sima Zongheng felt a faint unease and had no patience to chat with the two ghost generals. Besides, he didn’t believe enemies could have infiltrated the rear hall so early. “Forget it, just go.”
Shuimiao and Old Cai breathed a sigh of relief, immediately bowing and scraping as they hurried away.
Ghost generals were known for their combativeness and straightforwardness—they never bowed and scraped like that.
Seeing Shuimiao and Old Cai behave this way, Sima Zongheng frowned again. “Hey, you two, show me your identity tokens.”
“Bro, run first!”
Old Cai’s heart sank, and he quickly shoved Shuimiao aside before drawing his curved blade and charging at Sima Zongheng. Startled, Sima Zongheng immediately summoned dark energy, transforming it into chains that bound Old Cai.
Seeing this, Shuimiao quickly channeled his soul-devouring power and also charged at Sima Zongheng.
“Something’s off!” Sensing the unusual aura from Shuimiao, Sima Zongheng immediately released Old Cai, flashed behind Shuimiao, and snatched a trace of his energy before retreating to the side. He sniffed the soul-devouring energy in his hand, and his expression froze instantly. “Impossible… this can’t be! Could the legend be true? Who are you? Don’t tell me you’re the Black Nether God!?”
Sima Zongheng stared intently at Shuimiao.
Shuimiao quickly moved to Old Cai’s side and used his soul-devouring power to dissolve the chains binding him.
“You can actually dissolve my dark energy!” Sima Zongheng grew even more terrified.
Shuimiao looked up at Sima Zongheng and reverted to his original form, speaking bluntly, “You’re right. My past life was indeed the Black Nether God. If you’ve heard any legends, you can tell me now. If you’re willing to pledge loyalty to me, I might consider taking you in—as long as you kneel and kowtow.”
Shuimiao was bluffing with all his courage.
But he was also very curious: What legend could make such a powerful expert so terrified?
Old Cai quickly played along, “Yes! He is our Lord Black Nether God. You seem quite capable—if you’re willing to serve our lord, he will surely reward you well. A wise man knows when to yield. You’re surrounded, and besides, Ye Xian is also one of us.”
In his panic, Old Cai even dragged Ye Xian into the matter.
When his life was on the line, why worry about anything else?
Old Cai was taking a gamble—what if this expert was actually on Ye Xian’s side?
Shuimiao’s mind raced, and he added, “Ye Xian is the stand-in for the Yellow Springs Patriarch. As the strategist, you must know that, right?”
“…”
Hearing this, Sima Zongheng staggered back a few steps, leaning against the wall to steady himself. He muttered to himself, “Was I tricked by him? I thought he was just helping me deal with Zhuge Abacus… It’s over! I’m finished! I’m part of his scheme too. He must have destroyed my life talisman—no wonder I’ve been so uneasy. What do I do now? Once the patriarch emerges, he’ll surely kill me!”
Hearing Sima Zongheng’s muttering, Old Cai seized the opportunity and said, “What are you afraid of? Our Lord Black Nether God is the true ruler. As long as you follow him—”
“Silence!”
Sima Zongheng roared, cutting off Old Cai. Agitated, he yelled, “You’re all liars! Ye Xian is a liar, that legend is fake, and you’re all deceivers! What Black Nether God? That’s just Ye Xian’s excuse! Expecting me, Sima Zongheng, to kneel and kowtow to a mere ant like you? You’re dreaming! Wait—I can kill you, take your memories, and hide in the Rakshasa Realm to cultivate slowly. Once I master the Soul-Devouring Art and the Black Hole Domain…”
“Hahaha…”
Shuimiao suddenly burst into laughter, interrupting Sima Zongheng. “Senior Sima, if you say we’re liars, why would you believe in the Soul-Devouring Power and the Black Hole Domain? Isn’t that contradictory?”
“Easy! I’ll just kill you and take your memories. Then I’ll know the truth!” Sima Zongheng’s eyes narrowed, and his expression turned cold. He summoned rolling dark energy, enveloping Shuimiao and Old Cai before retracting the black mist, pulling both of them into his bamboo staff.
“Where is this place?”
Shuimiao felt dizzy and disoriented, only to find himself in an entirely white space—above, below, and all around. It was stifling and hot, like being trapped in a steamer, and the discomfort grew steadily worse.
Old Cai crouched down, sniffed the ground, and said nervously, “We must be inside a top-tier netherworld artifact. At this rate, our souls will soon melt, our dark energy will dissolve, and all that will remain is a trace of our spiritual essence for him to devour and steal our memories. Brother, we must act quickly. Use that black energy to try and corrode this artifact.”
“Alright!”
Shuimiao immediately channeled his soul-devouring power, devouring all the energy within the white space.
※※※
**Main Hall of the Yellow Springs Sect**
A crowd had gathered from who knows where, growing larger and larger. Together, they scattered the wild ghost camp and flooded into the central and rear halls like a tidal wave. Ye Xian, disguised as a ghost envoy, was mixed in among them. He had originally intended to use the chaos to have Sima Zongheng killed but was surprised to find that Sima Zongheng had disappeared.
Thus, ghost envoys, ghost kings, and various netherworld factions—all with conflicting allegiances but united in their desire to seize the Nine Cauldrons Pill Furnace—worked together to open the massive stone door of the rear hall.
As the door opened, everyone saw a enormous square stone chamber.
In the center of the chamber was a semi-transparent, circular purple lightning sphere. A naked man was enveloped in purple lightning, and behind the sphere stood a massive purple pill furnace—the Nine Cauldrons Pill Furnace.
At the sight, Ye Xian couldn’t help but gasp.
While others didn’t recognize the purple lightning sphere, Ye Xian knew exactly what it was. Once, when the Yellow Springs Patriarch was away, he had sneaked into the treasure vault and read a manual on the Thunder Soul.
The so-called Thunder Soul manual described the fusion of the soul and lightning. Once successful, the soul would become a Thunder Soul body.
A Thunder Soul body could freely traverse the Three Realms, completely unafraid of heavenly thunder punishments.
But to cultivate a Thunder Soul body, one first had to discard all dark energy.
Ye Xian only knew that the Yellow Springs Patriarch had challenged the Netherworld God, suffered severe injuries, and returned to seclusion. He didn’t realize that the patriarch had intentionally used the Netherworld God to dissipate his dark energy so he could focus entirely on cultivating the Thunder Soul body.
Most importantly, after successfully cultivating the Thunder Soul body, one needed to kill vast numbers of ghosts and absorb their spiritual essence to maintain the body’s stability.
In other words, the Yellow Springs Patriarch was about to slaughter countless ghosts!
If he failed to absorb any spiritual essence, the Thunder Soul body would wither and dissipate on its own.
“Run!”
“Everyone, get out of here! The Yellow Springs Patriarch has cultivated the Thunder Soul body. He’s about to awaken, and when he does, you’ll all die!”
In his panic, Ye Xian shouted, trying to warn everyone to leave.
But everyone’s eyes were fixed solely on the Nine Cauldrons Pill Furnace!
“Damn it, shut your noise!”
A gigantic ghost king swung his arm and sent Ye Xian flying.
Shui Miao was bluffing, trying to hold his ground.
But Shui Miao was also very curious—what legend had caused this powerful figure such fear?
“You must be the Grand Strategist, hehe!”
Old Cai, being a cunning and experienced ghost envoy, deduced from Sima Zongheng’s attire that he was a strategist. “Sir, we’re newly assigned, and this brother here is also new. Everyone has gone to the swamp, but we were worried, so we decided to check around and see if anyone was left behind.”
“Yes, yes!” Shuimiao quickly nodded in agreement.
Sima Zongheng felt a vague sense of unease and had no patience to chat with the two ghost generals. Besides, he didn’t believe enemies could have infiltrated the rear hall so early. “Forget it, just go.”
Shuimiao and Old Cai breathed a sigh of relief, immediately bowing and scraping as they hurried away.
Ghost generals were known for their combativeness and straightforwardness—they never bowed and scraped. Seeing Shuimiao and Old Cai behave this way, Sima Zongheng frowned again. “Hey, you two, show me your identity tokens.”
“Brother, run first!”
Old Cai’s heart sank, and he quickly pushed Shuimiao aside before drawing his curved blade and charging at Sima Zongheng. Startled, Sima Zongheng immediately summoned dark energy, transforming it into chains that bound Old Cai.
Seeing this, Shuimiao quickly activated his soul-devouring power and also charged at Sima Zongheng.
“Something’s strange!” Sensing the unusual aura from Shuimiao, Sima Zongheng immediately released Old Cai and flashed behind Shuimiao, grabbing a trace of his energy before retreating to the side. He sniffed the soul-devouring energy in his hand, and his expression instantly froze. “Impossible… this can’t be! Could the legend be true? Who are you? Don’t tell me you’re the Black Nether God!?”
Sima Zongheng stared intently at Shuimiao.
Shuimiao quickly moved to Old Cai’s side and used his soul-devouring power to dissolve the chains binding him.
“You can actually dissolve my dark energy!” Sima Zongheng grew even more terrified.
Shuimiao looked up at Sima Zongheng and transformed back into his original form, speaking without any courtesy, “You’re right. My previous life was indeed the Black Nether God. If you’ve heard any legends, you can tell me now. If you’re willing to pledge loyalty to me, I might consider taking you in—as long as you kneel and kowtow.”
Shuimiao was bluffing with all his courage.
But he was also very curious: What legend could make such a powerful expert so terrified?
Old Cai quickly played along, “That’s right! He is our Lord Black Nether God. Given your strength, if you’re willing to serve our lord, he will surely reward you handsomely. The wise submit to circumstances—you’re surrounded. Also, Ye Xian is one of us.”
In his panic, Old Cai even dragged Ye Xian into the matter.
When his life was on the line, why worry about anything else?
Old Cai was gambling, hoping this expert might be on Ye Xian’s side.
Shuimiao’s mind raced, and he added, “Ye Xian is the stand-in for the Yellow Spring Patriarch. As the strategist, you must know this, right?”
“…”
Hearing this, Sima Zongheng staggered back a few steps, leaning against the wall to steady himself. He muttered to himself, “Was I tricked by him? I thought he was just helping me deal with Zhuge Abacus… It’s over! I’m finished! I’m part of his scheme too. He must have destroyed my life talisman—no wonder I’ve been so restless. What do I do now? Once the patriarch emerges, he’ll surely kill me!”
Hearing Sima Zongheng’s muttering, Old Cai seized the opportunity and said, “What are you afraid of? Our Lord Black Nether God is the true ruler. As long as you follow him—”
“Silence!”
Sima Zongheng roared, cutting off Old Cai’s words. Agitated, he exclaimed, “You’re all liars! Ye Xian is a liar, that legend is fake, and you’re all deceivers! What Black Nether God? That’s just Ye Xian’s excuse! Expecting me, Sima Zongheng, to kneel and kowtow to a mere ant like you? You’re dreaming! Wait—I can kill you, take your memories, and hide in the Raksha Realm to cultivate slowly. Once I master the Soul-Devouring Art and the Black Hole Domain…”
“Hahaha…”
Shuimiao suddenly burst into laughter, interrupting Sima Zongheng. “Senior Sima, if you say we’re liars, why would you believe in the Soul-Devouring Power and the Black Hole Domain? Isn’t that contradictory?”
“Easy! Once I kill you and take your memories, the truth will be mine!” Sima Zongheng’s eyes narrowed, and his expression turned icy. He summoned rolling dark energy, enveloping Shuimiao and Old Cai, then retracted the black mist, pulling both of them into his bamboo staff.
“Where is this place?”
Shuimiao felt dizzy and disoriented, only to find himself in an entirely white space—above, below, and all around. It was stifling and hot, like being trapped in a steamer, and the discomfort grew increasingly unbearable.
Old Cai crouched down, sniffed the ground, and said nervously, “We must be inside a top-tier netherworld artifact. At this rate, our souls will soon melt, our dark energy will dissolve, and all that will remain is a trace of our primordial spirit for him to devour and steal our memories. Brother, we must act quickly. Use that black energy to try and corrode this artifact.”
“Alright!”
Shuimiao immediately activated his soul-devouring power, devouring all the energy within the white space.
※※※
Front Hall of the Yellow Spring Sect
A crowd had gathered from who knows where, growing larger and larger. Together, they scattered the wild ghost camp and flooded into the central and rear halls like a tidal wave. Ye Xian, disguised as a ghost envoy, mingled among them. He had originally intended to use the chaos to eliminate Sima Zongheng but was surprised to find that Sima Zongheng had disappeared.
Thus, ghost envoys, ghost kings, and various netherworld factions—all with mixed allegiances and united by their desire to seize the Nine Cauldrons Alchemy Furnace—worked together to open the massive stone door of the rear hall.
As the door opened, everyone saw a enormous square stone chamber.
In the center of the chamber was a semi-transparent, circular purple lightning sphere. A naked man was enveloped in purple lightning, and behind the sphere stood a massive purple alchemy furnace—the Nine Cauldrons Alchemy Furnace.
At the sight, Ye Xian couldn’t help but gasp.
While others didn’t recognize the purple lightning sphere, Ye Xian knew exactly what it was. Once, when the Yellow Spring Patriarch was away, he had sneaked into the treasure vault and read a manual on the Thunder Soul.
The so-called Thunder Soul manual described the fusion of the soul and lightning. Once successful, the soul would become a Thunder Soul body.
A Thunder Soul body could freely traverse the Three Realms, completely unafraid of lightning punishment.
However, to cultivate a Thunder Soul body, one must first discard all dark energy.
Ye Xian only knew that the Yellow Spring Patriarch had challenged the Netherworld God, suffered severe injuries, and returned to seclusion. He had no idea that the patriarch had intentionally used the Netherworld God to dissipate his dark energy so he could focus entirely on cultivating the Thunder Soul body.
Most importantly, after successfully cultivating the Thunder Soul body, one needed to kill a large number of ghosts and absorb their primordial spirits to maintain the body’s stability.
In other words, the Yellow Spring Patriarch was about to slaughter countless ghosts!
If he failed to absorb any primordial spirits, the Thunder Soul body would wither and dissipate on its own.
“Run!”
“Everyone, get out of here! The Yellow Spring Patriarch has cultivated the Thunder Soul body. He’s about to awaken, and when he does, you’ll all die!”
In his panic, Ye Xian shouted, urging everyone to flee.
But everyone’s eyes were fixed solely on the Nine Cauldrons Alchemy Furnace!
“Damn it, shut up!”
A gigantic ghost king swung his arm and sent Ye Xian flying.
In his panic, Lao Cai dragged Ye Xian into the mix.
When their own lives were at stake, who had time to worry about others?
Lao Cai was taking a gamble—what if this powerful figure was actually on Ye Xian’s side?
“You must be the Grand Strategist, hehe!”
Old Cai, being a cunning and experienced ghost envoy, deduced from Sima Zongheng’s attire that he was a strategist. “Sir, I’m newly transferred here, and this brother is too. Everyone has gone to the marsh, but we were worried, so we decided to check around and see if anyone was left behind.”
“Yeah, yeah!” Shuimiao quickly nodded in agreement.
Sima Zongheng felt a vague unease and had no interest in chatting with the two ghost generals. Besides, he didn’t believe enemies could have infiltrated the rear hall so early. “Forget it, just go.”
Shuimiao and Old Cai breathed a sigh of relief, immediately bowing and scraping as they hurried away.
Ghost generals were known for their combativeness and straightforwardness—they never bowed and scraped like that.
Seeing Shuimiao and Old Cai behave this way, Sima Zongheng frowned again. “Hey, you two, show me your identity tokens.”
“Bro, run first!”
Old Cai’s heart sank, and he quickly pushed Shuimiao aside before drawing his curved blade and charging at Sima Zongheng. Startled, Sima Zongheng immediately summoned dark energy, transforming it into chains that bound Old Cai.
Seeing this, Shuimiao quickly channeled his soul-devouring power and also charged at Sima Zongheng.
“Something’s off!” Sensing the unusual aura from Shuimiao, Sima Zongheng immediately released Old Cai and flashed behind Shuimiao, grabbing a trace of his energy before retreating to the side. He sniffed the soul-devouring energy in his hand, and his expression froze instantly. “Impossible… this can’t be! Could the legend be true? Who are you? Don’t tell me you’re the Black Nether God!?”
Sima Zongheng stared intently at Shuimiao.
Shuimiao quickly moved to Old Cai’s side and used his soul-devouring power to dissolve the chains binding him.
“You can actually dissolve my dark energy!” Sima Zongheng grew even more terrified.
Shuimiao looked up at Sima Zongheng and transformed back into his original form, speaking bluntly, “You’re right. My previous incarnation was indeed the Black Nether God. If you’ve heard any legends, you can tell me now. If you’re willing to pledge loyalty to me, I might consider taking you in—as long as you kneel and kowtow.”
Shuimiao was bluffing with all his courage.
But he was also very curious: What legend could make such a powerful expert so terrified?
Old Cai quickly played along, “Yes! He is our Lord Black Nether God. Given your strength, if you’re willing to serve our lord, he will surely reward you generously. The wise submit to circumstances—you’re surrounded. Also, Ye Xian is one of us.”
In his panic, Old Cai even dragged Ye Xian into the matter.
When his life was on the line, why worry about anything else?
Old Cai was taking a gamble—what if this expert was actually on Ye Xian’s side?
Shuimiao’s mind raced, and he added, “Ye Xian is the stand-in for the Netherworld Ancestor. As the strategist, you must know this, right?”
“…”
Hearing this, Sima Zongheng staggered back a few steps, leaning against the wall to steady himself. He muttered to himself, “Was I tricked by him? I thought he was just helping me deal with Zhuge Abacus… It’s over! I’m finished! I’m part of his scheme too. He must have destroyed my life talisman—no wonder I’ve been so restless. What do I do now? Once the Ancestor emerges, he’ll surely kill me!”
Hearing Sima Zongheng’s muttering, Old Cai seized the opportunity and said, “What are you afraid of? Our Lord Black Nether God is the true ruler. As long as you follow him—”
“Silence!”
Sima Zongheng roared, cutting off Old Cai. Agitated, he exclaimed, “You’re all liars! Ye Xian is a liar, that legend is fake, and all of you are deceivers! What Black Nether God? That’s just Ye Xian’s excuse! Expecting me, Sima Zongheng, to kneel and kowtow to a mere ant like you? You’re delusional! Wait—I can kill you, take your memories, and hide in the Rakshasa Realm to cultivate slowly. Once I master the Soul-Devouring Art and the Black Hole Domain…”
“Hahaha…”
Shuimiao suddenly burst into laughter, interrupting Sima Zongheng. “Senior Sima, if you say we’re liars, why would you believe in the Soul-Devouring Power and the Black Hole Domain? Isn’t that contradictory?”
“Easy! Once I kill you and take your memories, the truth will be revealed!” Sima Zongheng’s eyes gleamed, and his expression turned icy. He summoned rolling dark energy, enveloping Shuimiao and Old Cai before retracting the black mist, pulling both of them into his bamboo staff.
“Where is this place?”
Shuimiao felt dizzy and disoriented, only to find himself in an entirely white space—above, below, and all around. It was stifling and hot, like being trapped in a steamer, and the discomfort grew steadily worse.
Old Cai crouched down, sniffed the ground, and said nervously, “We’re likely inside a top-tier Nether Realm artifact. At this rate, our souls will soon melt, our dark energy will dissolve, and all that will remain is a trace of our spiritual essence for him to devour and steal our memories. Brother, we must act quickly. Use that black energy to try and corrode this artifact.”
“Alright!”
Shuimiao immediately channeled his soul-devouring power, devouring all the energy within the white space.
※※※
**Front Hall of the Netherworld Sect**
Forces gathered from unknown origins grew larger and larger, scattering the wild ghost camp and flooding into the central and rear halls like a tidal wave. Ye Xian, disguised as a ghost envoy, mingled among them. He had originally intended to use the chaos to eliminate Sima Zongheng but was surprised to find that Sima Zongheng had disappeared.
Thus, a motley crew of ghost envoys, ghost kings, and various Nether Realm factions—all vying for the Nine Cauldrons Alchemy Furnace—joined forces to open the massive stone door of the rear hall.
Once the door opened, they saw a enormous square stone chamber.
In the center of the chamber was a semi-transparent, circular purple lightning sphere. A naked man was enveloped in purple lightning, and behind the sphere stood a massive purple alchemy furnace—the Nine Cauldrons Alchemy Furnace.
At the sight, Ye Xian gasped in shock.
While others might not recognize the purple lightning sphere, Ye Xian knew exactly what it was. Once, when the Netherworld Ancestor was away, he had sneaked into the treasure vault and read a manual on Thunder Soul cultivation.
The so-called Thunder Soul manual detailed the fusion of the soul with lightning. Once successful, the soul would become a Thunder Soul entity.
A Thunder Soul entity could freely traverse the Three Realms, completely unafraid of heavenly thunder punishment.
However, to cultivate a Thunder Soul body, one must first discard all dark energy.
Ye Xian only knew that the Netherworld Ancestor had challenged the Netherworld Deity, suffered severe injuries, and returned to seclusion. He had no idea that the Ancestor had intentionally used the Deity’s power to dissipate his dark energy so he could focus entirely on cultivating the Thunder Soul body.
Most importantly, after successfully cultivating the Thunder Soul body, one needed to kill a vast number of ghosts and absorb their spiritual essence to maintain the body’s stability.
In other words, the Netherworld Ancestor was about to slaughter countless ghosts!
If he failed to absorb any spiritual essence, the Thunder Soul body would wither and dissipate on its own.
“Run!”
“Everyone, get out of here! The Netherworld Ancestor has cultivated the Thunder Soul body. He’s about to awaken, and when he does, all of you will die!”
In his panic, Ye Xian shouted, urging everyone to flee.
But everyone’s eyes were fixed solely on the Nine Cauldrons Alchemy Furnace!
“Damn it, shut up!”
A gigantic ghost king swung his arm and sent Ye Xian flying.
…
Hearing these words, Sima Zongheng took a few dazed steps backward, leaning against a corner to steady himself. He muttered, “Could it be that I’ve been tricked? I thought he was just helping me against Zhuge Abacus… It’s over! I’m doomed! I must be part of his plan too. He must have destroyed my life talisman already. No wonder I’ve been so restless lately. What should I do now? When the Ancestor comes out of seclusion, he’ll definitely kill me!”
“You must be the Grand Strategist, hehe!”
Old Cai, being a cunning and experienced ghost envoy, deduced from Sima Zongheng’s attire that he was a strategist. “Sir, we’re newly assigned, and this brother here is also new. Everyone has gone to the marsh, but we were worried, so we decided to patrol around and see if anyone was left behind.”
“Yes, yes!”
Shui Miao quickly nodded in agreement.
Sima Zongheng felt a vague sense of unease and had no patience to chat with the two ghost generals. Besides, he didn’t believe enemies could have broken into the rear hall so early. “Forget it, just go.”
Shui Miao and Old Cai breathed a sigh of relief, immediately bowing and scraping as they hurried away.
Ghost generals were known for their combativeness and straightforwardness—they never bowed and scraped like that. Seeing Shui Miao and Old Cai behave this way, Sima Zongheng frowned again. “Hey, you two, show me your identity tokens.”
“Bro, run first!”
Old Cai’s heart sank, and he quickly pushed Shui Miao aside before drawing his curved blade and charging at Sima Zongheng. Startled, Sima Zongheng immediately channeled his Yin energy, transforming it into chains that bound Old Cai.
Seeing this, Shui Miao quickly activated his Soul-Devouring Power and also charged at Sima Zongheng.
“Something’s off!” Sensing the unusual aura from Shui Miao, Sima Zongheng immediately released Old Cai, flashed behind Shui Miao, and grabbed a trace of his energy before retreating to the side. He sniffed the Soul-Devouring Energy in his hand, and his expression froze instantly. “Impossible… This can’t be! Could the legend be true? Who are you? Don’t tell me you’re the Black Nether God!”
Sima Zongheng stared intently at Shui Miao.
Shui Miao quickly moved to Old Cai’s side and used his Soul-Devouring Power to dissolve the chains binding him.
“You can actually dissolve my Yin energy!” Sima Zongheng grew even more terrified.
Shui Miao looked up at Sima Zongheng and transformed back into his original form. Without holding back, he said, “You’re right. My previous life was indeed the Black Nether God. If you’ve heard any legends, you can tell me now. If you’re willing to pledge your loyalty to me, I might consider taking you under my wing—provided you kneel and kowtow.”
Shui Miao was bluffing with all his courage.
But he was also very curious: What legend could make such a powerful expert so terrified?
Old Cai quickly played along, saying, “Yes! He is our Lord Black Nether God. Seeing that you’re quite powerful, if you’re willing to assist our lord, he will surely reward you handsomely. The wise submit to circumstances—you’re surrounded. Also, Ye Xian is one of us too.”
In his panic, Old Cai even dragged Ye Xian into the matter.
When his own life was at stake, why worry about anything else?
Old Cai was gambling, hoping that this expert might be on Ye Xian’s side.
Shui Miao’s heart stirred, and he added, “Ye Xian is the stand-in for the Yellow Springs Patriarch. As the strategist, you must know this, right?”
“…”
Hearing this, Sima Zongheng staggered backward, leaning against the wall to steady himself. He muttered to himself, “Was I tricked by him? I thought he was just helping me deal with Zhuge Abacus… It’s over! I’m finished! I’m part of his scheme too. He must have destroyed my life talisman. No wonder I’ve been so restless. What do I do now? Once the patriarch emerges from seclusion, he’ll surely kill me!”
Hearing Sima Zongheng’s muttering, Old Cai’s heart stirred, and he quickly said, “What are you afraid of? Our Lord Black Nether God is the true ruler. As long as you follow our lord—”
“Silence!”
Sima Zongheng roared, cutting off Old Cai’s words. Agitated, he said, “You’re all liars! Ye Xian is a liar, that legend is fake, and you’re all deceivers! What Black Nether God? That’s just Ye Xian’s excuse! Expecting me, Sima Zongheng, to kneel and kowtow to a mere ant like you? You’re dreaming! Wait—I can kill you, take your memories, and hide in the Raksha Realm to cultivate slowly. Once I master the Soul-Devouring Art and the Black Hole Domain…”
“Hahaha…”
Shui Miao suddenly laughed, interrupting Sima Zongheng. “Senior Sima, if you say we’re liars, then why would you believe in the Soul-Devouring Power and the Black Hole Domain? Isn’t that contradictory?”
“Easy! Once I kill you and take your memories, the truth will be revealed!” Sima Zongheng’s eyes narrowed, and his expression turned cold. He summoned rolling Yin energy, surrounding Shui Miao and Old Cai, then retracted the dark energy, pulling both of them into his bamboo staff.
“Where is this place?”
Shui Miao felt dizzy and disoriented, only to find himself in an entirely white space—above, below, and all around. It was stifling and hot, like being trapped in a steamer, and the discomfort grew increasingly unbearable.
Old Cai crouched down, sniffed the ground, and said nervously, “We must be inside a top-tier Nether Artifact. At this rate, our souls will soon melt, our Yin energy will dissolve, and all that will remain is a trace of our primordial spirit for him to devour and extract our memories. Brother, we must act quickly. Use that black energy to try and corrode this Nether Artifact.”
“Alright!”
Shui Miao immediately activated his Soul-Devouring Power, devouring all the energy within the white space.
※※※
Front Hall of the Yellow Springs Sect
From unknown origins, a growing crowd had gathered. Together, they scattered the Wild Ghost Battalion and flooded into the central and rear halls like a tidal wave. Ye Xian, disguised as a ghost envoy, mingled among them. He had originally intended to use the chaos to eliminate Sima Zongheng but was surprised to find that Sima Zongheng had disappeared.
Thus, a motley crew of ghost envoys, ghost kings, and various Netherworld factions—all vying for the Nine Cauldrons Alchemy Furnace—joined forces to open the massive stone door of the rear hall.
Once the door opened, they saw a enormous square stone chamber.
In the center of the chamber was a semi-transparent, circular purple lightning sphere. A naked man was enveloped in purple lightning, and behind the sphere stood a massive purple alchemy furnace—the Nine Cauldrons Alchemy Furnace.
At the sight, Ye Xian couldn’t help but gasp.
While others might not recognize the purple lightning sphere, Ye Xian knew exactly what it was. Once, when the Yellow Springs Patriarch was away, he had sneaked into the treasure vault and read a manual on the Thunder Soul.
The so-called Thunder Soul manual described the fusion of the soul and lightning. Once successful, the soul would become a Thunder Soul Body.
A Thunder Soul Body could freely traverse the Three Realms, completely unafraid of heavenly thunder punishment.
However, to cultivate a Thunder Soul Body, one must first discard all Yin energy.
Ye Xian only knew that the Yellow Springs Patriarch had challenged the Netherworld God, suffered severe injuries, and returned to seclude himself. He had no idea that the patriarch had intentionally used the Netherworld God to dissipate his Yin energy so he could focus entirely on cultivating the Thunder Soul Body.
Most importantly, after successfully cultivating the Thunder Soul Body, one needed to kill a vast number of ghosts and absorb their primordial spirits to sustain the soul body’s normal function.
In other words, the Yellow Springs Patriarch was about to slaughter countless ghosts!
If he failed to absorb any primordial spirits, the Thunder Soul Body would wither and dissipate on its own.
“Run!”
“Everyone, get out of here! The Yellow Springs Patriarch has cultivated the Thunder Soul Body! He’s about to awaken, and when he does, you’ll all die!”
In his panic, Ye Xian shouted, urging everyone to flee.
But everyone had eyes only for the Nine Cauldrons Alchemy Furnace!
“Damn it, so noisy.”
A massive ghost king swung his arm and sent Ye Xian flying.
“Silence!”
“You must be the Grand Strategist, hehe!”
Old Cai, being a cunning and experienced ghost envoy, deduced from Sima Zongheng’s attire that he was a strategist. “Sir, we’re newly transferred here, and this brother is too. Everyone has gone to the swamp, but we were worried, so we decided to patrol around and see if anyone was left behind.”
“Yeah, yeah!” Shui Miao quickly nodded in agreement.
Sima Zongheng felt a vague sense of unease and had no patience to chat with the two ghost generals. Besides, he didn’t believe enemies could have infiltrated the rear hall so early. “Forget it, just go.”
Shui Miao and Old Cai breathed a sigh of relief, immediately bowing and scraping as they prepared to leave.
Ghost generals were known for their combativeness and straightforwardness—they never bowed and scraped like this.
Seeing Shui Miao and Old Cai behave this way, Sima Zongheng frowned again. “Hey, you two, show me your identity tokens.”
“Bro, run first!”
Old Cai’s heart sank, and he quickly pushed Shui Miao aside before drawing his curved blade and charging at Sima Zongheng. Startled, Sima Zongheng immediately summoned dark energy, transforming it into chains that bound Old Cai.
Seeing this, Shui Miao quickly activated his soul-devouring power and also charged at Sima Zongheng.
“Something’s off!” Sensing the unusual aura from Shui Miao, Sima Zongheng immediately abandoned Old Cai, flashed behind Shui Miao, and grabbed a trace of his energy before retreating to the side. After sniffing the soul-devouring energy in his hand, Sima Zongheng’s expression froze instantly. “Impossible! This can’t be! Could the legend be true? Who are you? Don’t tell me you’re the Black Nether God!?”
Sima Zongheng stared intently at Shui Miao.
Shui Miao quickly moved to Old Cai’s side and used his soul-devouring power to dissolve the chains binding him.
“You can actually dissolve my dark energy!” Sima Zongheng grew even more terrified.
Shui Miao looked up at Sima Zongheng and transformed back to his original form, saying without any courtesy, “You’re right. My previous incarnation was the Black Nether God. If you’ve heard any legends, you can tell me now. If you’re willing to follow me, just kneel and kowtow, and I might consider it.”
Shui Miao was bluffing with all his courage.
But he was also very curious—what legend could make such a powerful expert so terrified?
Old Cai quickly played along, adding, “Yes! He is our Lord Black Nether God. Given your strength, if you’re willing to assist our lord, he will surely reward you handsomely. A wise man knows when to yield. You’re surrounded, and besides, Ye Xian is also one of us.”
In his panic, Old Cai even dragged Ye Xian into the matter.
When his life was at stake, why worry about anything else?
Old Cai was gambling—what if this expert was on Ye Xian’s side?
Shui Miao’s heart stirred, and he added, “Ye Xian is the stand-in for the Yellow Spring Patriarch. As the strategist, you must know this, right?”
“…”
Hearing this, Sima Zongheng staggered back a few steps, leaning against the wall to steady himself. He muttered to himself, “Was I tricked by him? I thought he was just helping me deal with Zhuge Abacus… It’s over! I’m finished! I’m part of his scheme too. He must have destroyed my life talisman. No wonder I’ve been so restless. What do I do now? Once the patriarch emerges, he’ll surely kill me!”
Hearing Sima Zongheng’s muttering, Old Cai’s heart stirred, and he quickly said, “What are you afraid of? Our Lord Black Nether God is the true ruler. As long as you follow our lord—”
“Silence!”
Sima Zongheng roared, cutting off Old Cai’s words. Agitated, he said, “You’re all liars! Ye Xian is a liar, that legend is fake, and you’re all deceivers! What Black Nether God? That’s just Ye Xian’s excuse! Expecting me, Sima Zongheng, to kneel and kowtow to a mere ant like you? You’re dreaming! Wait—I can kill you, take your memories, and hide in the Rakshasa Realm to cultivate slowly. Once I master the Soul-Devouring Art and the Black Hole Domain…”
“Hahaha…”
Shui Miao suddenly laughed, interrupting Sima Zongheng. “Senior Sima, if you say we’re liars, why would you believe in the Soul-Devouring Power and the Black Hole Domain? Isn’t that contradictory?”
“That’s easy! Once I kill you and take your memories, the truth will be revealed!” Sima Zongheng’s eyes narrowed, and his expression turned cold. He summoned rolling dark energy, surrounding Shui Miao and Old Cai, then retracted the black mist, pulling both of them into his bamboo staff.
“Where is this place?”
Shui Miao felt dizzy and disoriented, only to find himself in an entirely white space—above, below, and all around. It was stifling and hot, like being trapped in a steamer, and the discomfort grew increasingly unbearable.
Old Cai crouched down, sniffed the ground, and said nervously, “We must be inside a top-tier netherworld artifact. At this rate, our souls will soon melt, our dark energy will dissolve, and all that will remain is a trace of our primordial spirit for him to devour and extract our memories. Brother, we must act quickly. Use that black energy to try and corrode this artifact.”
“Alright!”
Shui Miao immediately activated his soul-devouring power, devouring all the energy within the white space.
※※※
Front Hall of the Yellow Spring Sect
A crowd had gathered from who knows where, growing larger and larger. Together, they scattered the wild ghost camp and flooded into the central and rear halls like a tidal wave. Ye Xian, disguised as a ghost envoy, was mixed in among them. He had originally intended to use the crowd to kill Sima Zongheng but was surprised to find that Sima Zongheng had disappeared.
Thus, ghost envoys, ghost kings, and various netherworld factions—all with conflicting allegiances but united in their desire to seize the Nine Cauldrons Alchemy Furnace—worked together to open the giant stone door of the rear hall.
As the door opened, everyone saw a massive square stone chamber.
In the center of the chamber was a semi-transparent, circular purple lightning sphere. A naked man was enveloped in purple lightning, and behind the sphere stood a giant purple alchemy furnace—the Nine Cauldrons Alchemy Furnace.
At the sight, Ye Xian couldn’t help but gasp.
While others might not recognize the purple lightning sphere, Ye Xian knew exactly what it was. Once, when the Yellow Spring Patriarch was away, he had sneaked into the treasure vault and read a manual on the Thunder Soul.
The so-called Thunder Soul manual described the fusion of the soul and lightning. Once successful, the soul would become a Thunder Soul body.
A Thunder Soul body could freely traverse the Three Realms, completely unafraid of lightning punishment.
However, to cultivate a Thunder Soul body, one must first discard all dark energy.
Ye Xian only knew that the Yellow Spring Patriarch had challenged the Netherworld God, suffered severe injuries, and returned to seclusion. He had no idea that the patriarch had intentionally used the Netherworld God to dissipate his dark energy so he could focus entirely on cultivating the Thunder Soul body.
Most importantly, after successfully cultivating the Thunder Soul body, one needed to kill a large number of ghosts and absorb their primordial spirits to maintain the body’s normal function.
In other words, the Yellow Spring Patriarch was about to slaughter countless ghosts!
If he failed to absorb any primordial spirits, the Thunder Soul body would wither and dissipate on its own.
“Run!”
“Everyone, get out of here! The Yellow Spring Patriarch has cultivated the Thunder Soul body. He’s about to awaken, and when he does, you’ll all die!”
In his panic, Ye Xian shouted, trying to get everyone to leave.
But everyone had eyes only for the Nine Cauldrons Alchemy Furnace!
“Damn it, shut up!”
A gigantic ghost king swung his arm and sent Ye Xian flying…
“Hahaha…”
Shui Miao suddenly burst into laughter, interrupting Sima. “Master Sima, you called us frauds, yet you still believe in soul-devouring energy and the Black Hole Domain? Isn’t that a contradiction?”
“Easy! Killing you both and taking your memories will reveal the truth!” Sima’s eyes narrowed, his expression darkening instantly. He summoned a surge of dark energy, surrounding Shui Miao and Lao Cai, then drew the black mist back into his bamboo staff, trapping both inside.
“What place is this?”
Shui Miao felt dizzy and found himself in a strange place—above and below, all around, everything was white. It was stifling and hot, like being inside a steamer, growing more unbearable by the second.
Lao Cai sniffed the air while lying on the ground and nervously said, “We must be inside a supreme ghost artifact. Judging by how quickly the temperature is rising, our souls will soon melt away, our dark energy disintegrated, leaving only a sliver of our original spirit to be devoured and have our memories stolen. Brother, we must act fast. Try using that black energy to corrode and break through this artifact.”
“Right!”
Shui Miao immediately activated his soul-devouring power, consuming all the energy within the white space.
※※※
“You must be the Chief Strategist, hehe!”
Old Cai, being a cunning and experienced ghost envoy, deduced from Sima Zongheng’s attire that he was the strategist. “Sir, we’re newly assigned here, and this brother is too. Everyone has headed to the marsh, but we were worried, so we decided to check around and see if anyone was left behind.”
“Yes, yes!” Shuimiao quickly nodded in agreement.
Sima Zongheng felt a vague sense of unease and had no patience to chat idly with the two ghost generals. Besides, he didn’t believe enemies could have infiltrated the rear hall so early. “Forget it, just go.”
Shuimiao and Old Cai breathed a sigh of relief, immediately nodding and bowing as they prepared to leave.
Ghost generals were known for their combativeness and straightforwardness—they never bowed and scraped like this.
Seeing Shuimiao and Old Cai behave this way, Sima Zongheng frowned again. “Hey, you two, show me your identity tokens.”
“Bro, run first!”
Old Cai’s heart sank, and he quickly pushed Shuimiao aside before drawing his curved blade and charging at Sima Zongheng. Startled, Sima Zongheng immediately summoned dark energy, transforming it into chains that bound Old Cai.
Seeing this, Shuimiao quickly channeled his soul-devouring power and also charged at Sima Zongheng.
“Something’s off!” Sensing the unusual aura from Shuimiao, Sima Zongheng immediately released Old Cai, flashed behind Shuimiao, and grabbed a trace of his energy before retreating to the side. After sniffing the soul-devouring energy in his hand, Sima Zongheng’s expression froze instantly. “Impossible! This can’t be! Could the legend be true? Who are you? Don’t tell me you’re the Black Nether God!?”
Sima Zongheng stared intently at Shuimiao.
Shuimiao quickly moved to Old Cai’s side and used his soul-devouring power to dissolve the chains binding him.
“You can actually dissolve my dark energy!” Sima Zongheng grew even more terrified.
Shuimiao looked up at Sima Zongheng and transformed back to his original form, saying without any courtesy, “You’re right. My previous life was indeed the Black Nether God. If you’ve heard any legends, you can tell me now. If you’re willing to pledge loyalty to me, I might consider taking you in—as long as you kneel and kowtow.”
Shuimiao was bluffing with all his courage.
But he was also very curious: What legend could make such a powerful expert so terrified?
Old Cai quickly played along, “Yes! He is our Lord Black Nether God. Given your strength, if you’re willing to serve our lord, he will surely reward you generously. The wise submit to circumstances—you’re surrounded. Also, Ye Xian is one of us.”
In his panic, Old Cai even dragged Ye Xian into the matter.
When his life was on the line, why worry about anything else?
Old Cai was taking a gamble—what if this expert was actually on Ye Xian’s side?
Shuimiao’s heart stirred, and he added, “Ye Xian is the stand-in for the Yellow Spring Patriarch. As the strategist, you must know this, right?”
“…”
Hearing this, Sima Zongheng staggered back a few steps, leaning against the wall to steady himself. He muttered to himself, “Was I tricked by him? I thought he was just helping me deal with Zhuge Abacus… It’s over! I’m finished! I’m part of his scheme too. He must have destroyed my life talisman—no wonder I’ve been so restless. What do I do now? Once the Patriarch emerges, he’ll surely kill me!”
Hearing Sima Zongheng’s muttering, Old Cai’s heart stirred, and he quickly said, “What are you afraid of? Our Lord Black Nether God is the true ruler. As long as you follow our lord—”
“Silence!”
Sima Zongheng roared, cutting off Old Cai’s words. Agitated, he said, “You’re all liars! Ye Xian is a liar, that legend is fake, and you’re all deceivers! What Black Nether God? That’s just Ye Xian’s excuse! Expecting me, Sima Zongheng, to kneel and kowtow to a mere ant like you? You’re daydreaming! Wait—I can kill you, take your memories, and hide in the Rakshasa Realm to cultivate slowly. Once I master the Soul-Devouring Art and the Black Hole Domain…”
“Hahaha…”
Shuimiao suddenly burst into laughter, interrupting Sima Zongheng. “Senior Sima, if you say we’re liars, why would you believe in the Soul-Devouring Power and the Black Hole Domain? Isn’t that contradictory?”
“Easy! Once I kill you and take your memories, the truth will be revealed!” Sima Zongheng’s eyes narrowed, and his expression turned cold. He summoned rolling dark energy, surrounding Shuimiao and Old Cai, then retracted the black mist, pulling both of them into his bamboo staff.
“Where is this place?”
Shuimiao felt dizzy and disoriented, only to find himself in an entirely white space—above, below, and all around. It was stifling and hot, like being trapped in a steamer, and the discomfort grew increasingly unbearable.
Old Cai crouched down, sniffed the ground, and said nervously, “We’re probably inside a top-tier netherworld artifact. At this rate, our souls will soon melt, our dark energy will dissolve, and all that will remain is a trace of our spiritual essence for him to devour and steal our memories. Brother, we must act quickly. Use that black energy to try and corrode this artifact.”
“Alright!”
Shuimiao immediately channeled his soul-devouring power, devouring all the energy within the white space.
※※※
Front Hall of the Yellow Spring Sect
From unknown origins, more and people gathered, scattering the wild ghost camp and flooding into the central and rear halls like a tidal wave. Ye Xian, disguised as a ghost envoy, was among them. He had originally intended to use the crowd to eliminate Sima Zongheng but was surprised to find that Sima Zongheng had disappeared.
Thus, ghost envoys, ghost kings, and various netherworld factions—all with mixed allegiances and united by their desire to seize the Nine Cauldrons Alchemy Furnace—worked together to open the massive stone door of the rear hall.
Once the door opened, they saw a enormous square stone chamber.
In the center of the chamber was a semi-transparent, circular purple lightning sphere, within which a naked man was enveloped by purple lightning. Behind the sphere stood a massive purple alchemy furnace—the Nine Cauldrons Alchemy Furnace.
At the sight, Ye Xian couldn’t help but gasp.
While others didn’t recognize the purple lightning sphere, Ye Xian knew exactly what it was. Once, when the Yellow Spring Patriarch was away, he had sneaked into the treasure vault and read a manual on the Thunder Soul.
The so-called Thunder Soul manual described the fusion of the soul and lightning. Once successful, the soul would become a Thunder Soul body.
A Thunder Soul body could freely traverse the Three Realms, completely unafraid of heavenly thunder punishment.
However, to cultivate a Thunder Soul body, one must first discard all dark energy.
Ye Xian only knew that the Yellow Spring Patriarch had challenged the Netherworld God, suffered severe injuries, and returned to seclusion. He didn’t realize that the Patriarch had intentionally used the Netherworld God to dissipate his dark energy so he could focus entirely on cultivating the Thunder Soul body.
Most importantly, after successfully cultivating the Thunder Soul body, one needed to kill a large number of ghosts and absorb their spiritual essence to maintain the body’s stability.
In other words, the Yellow Spring Patriarch was about to slaughter countless ghosts!
If he failed to absorb any spiritual essence, the Thunder Soul body would wither and dissipate on its own.
“Run!”
“Everyone, get out of here! The Yellow Spring Patriarch has cultivated the Thunder Soul body. He’s about to awaken, and when he does, you’ll all die!”
In his panic, Ye Xian shouted, urging everyone to flee.
But everyone’s eyes were fixed solely on the Nine Cauldrons Alchemy Furnace!
“Damn it, so noisy.”
A massive ghost king swung his arm and sent Ye Xian flying.
From somewhere, a growing force gathered, multiplying in numbers. Together, they scattered the Wild Ghost Camp and surged into the central and inner halls like a flood. The Ye Xian impersonating a ghost soldier was among them. Originally, Ye Xian had planned to let the crowd kill Sima Zongheng, but to his surprise, Sima had vanished.
Thus, the chaotic mix of ghost soldiers, ghost kings, and various factions from the Underworld, all vying for the Nine Tripod Cauldron, worked together to open the massive stone gate of the inner hall.
As soon as the gate opened, everyone saw a large square stone room.
In the center was a semi-transparent, circular, purple lightning orb. A naked man was wrapped in purple lightning, and behind the orb stood a massive purple cauldron—the legendary Nine Tripod Cauldron.
Seeing this, Ye Xian couldn’t help but gasp.
“You must be the Grand Strategist, hehe!”
Old Cai, being a cunning and experienced ghost envoy, deduced from Sima Zongheng’s attire that he was a strategist. “Sir, we’re newly assigned, and this brother here is also new. Everyone has gone to the marsh, but we were worried, so we decided to patrol around and see if anyone was left behind.”
“Yes, yes!” Shuimiao quickly nodded in agreement.
Sima Zongheng felt a faint unease in his heart and had no mood to chat idly with the two ghost generals. Besides, he didn’t believe enemies could have broken into the rear hall so early. “Forget it, just go.”
Shuimiao and Old Cai breathed a sigh of relief and immediately bowed obsequiously before leaving.
Ghost generals were known for their combativeness, straightforwardness, and never bowing obsequiously. Seeing Shuimiao and Old Cai behave this way, Sima Zongheng frowned again. “Hey, you two, show me your identity tokens.”
“Brother, run first!”
Old Cai’s heart sank, and he quickly pushed Shuimiao aside before drawing his curved blade and charging at Sima Zongheng. Startled, Sima Zongheng immediately summoned dark energy, transforming it into chains that bound Old Cai.
Seeing this, Shuimiao quickly channeled his soul-devouring power and also charged at Sima Zongheng.
“Something’s strange!” Sensing the unusual aura from Shuimiao, Sima Zongheng immediately abandoned Old Cai, flashed behind Shuimiao, and grabbed a trace of his energy before retreating to the side. After sniffing the soul-devouring energy in his hand, Sima Zongheng’s expression froze instantly. “Impossible! This can’t be! Could the legend be true? Who are you? Don’t tell me you’re the Black Nether God!?”
Sima Zongheng stared intently at Shuimiao.
Shuimiao quickly moved to Old Cai’s side and used his soul-devouring power to dissolve the chains binding him.
“You can actually dissolve my dark energy!” Sima Zongheng grew even more terrified.
Shuimiao looked up at Sima Zongheng and transformed back to his original form, saying without any courtesy, “You’re right. My previous incarnation was indeed the Black Nether God. If you’ve heard any legends, you can tell me now. If you’re willing to follow me, just kneel and kowtow, and I might consider it.”
Shuimiao was bluffing with all his courage.
But he was also very curious: what legend could make such a master so terrified?
Old Cai quickly played along, saying, “Yes! He is our Lord Black Nether God. Seeing that you’re quite powerful, if you’re willing to assist our lord, he will surely reward you handsomely. The wise submit to circumstances. You’re surrounded, and besides, Ye Xian is also one of us.”
In his panic, Old Cai even dragged Ye Xian into the matter.
When his own life was at stake, why worry about anything else?
Old Cai was taking a gamble—what if this master was one of Ye Xian’s people?
Shuimiao’s heart stirred, and he added, “Ye Xian is the stand-in for the Yellow Springs Patriarch. As the strategist, you must know that, right?”
“…”
Hearing this, Sima Zongheng staggered backward a few steps, leaning against the wall to steady himself. He muttered to himself, “Was I tricked by him? I thought he was just helping me deal with Zhuge Abacus… It’s over! It’s all over! I’m also part of his scheme. He must have destroyed my life talisman. No wonder I’ve been feeling so uneasy. What do I do now? Once the patriarch emerges from seclusion, he’ll surely kill me!”
Hearing Sima Zongheng’s muttering, Old Cai’s heart stirred, and he quickly said, “What’s there to fear? Our Lord Black Nether God is the true ruler. As long as you follow our lord—”
“Silence!”
Sima Zongheng roared, cutting off Old Cai’s words. He said emotionally, “You’re all liars! Ye Xian is a liar, that legend is fake, and you’re all deceivers! What Black Nether God? That’s just Ye Xian’s excuse! Expecting me, Sima Zongheng, to kneel and kowtow to a mere ant like you? You’re dreaming! Wait! I can kill you, take your memories, and hide in the Rakshasa Realm to cultivate slowly. Once I master the Soul-Devouring Art and the Black Hole Domain…”
“Hahaha…”
Shuimiao suddenly laughed heartily, interrupting Sima Zongheng. “Senior Sima, if you say we’re liars, why would you believe in the Soul-Devouring Power and the Black Hole Domain? Isn’t that contradictory?”
“That’s easy! Once I kill you and take your memories, the truth will be revealed!” Sima Zongheng’s eyes narrowed, and his expression turned cold. He summoned rolling dark energy, surrounding Shuimiao and Old Cai, then retracted the black mist, pulling both of them into his bamboo staff.
“What is this place?”
Shuimiao felt dizzy and found himself in an entirely white space—above, below, and all around. It was stifling and hot, like being in a steamer, and it grew increasingly unbearable.
Old Cai crouched down, sniffed the ground, and said nervously, “We must be inside a top-tier netherworld artifact. At this rate, our souls will soon melt, our dark energy will dissolve, and all that will remain is a trace of our primordial spirit for him to devour and steal our memories. Brother, we must act quickly. Use that black energy to try and corrode this artifact.”
“Alright!”
Shuimiao immediately channeled his soul-devouring power, devouring all the energy within the white space.
※※※
Front Hall of the Yellow Springs Sect
A crowd had gathered from unknown origins, growing larger and larger. Together, they scattered the wild ghost camp and flooded into the central and rear halls like a tidal wave. Ye Xian, disguised as a ghost envoy, was mixed among them. He had originally intended to use the crowd to kill Sima Zongheng but was surprised to find that Sima Zongheng had disappeared.
Thus, ghost envoys, ghost kings, and various netherworld factions—all with conflicting allegiances but united in their desire to seize the Nine Cauldrons Alchemy Furnace—worked together to open the giant stone door of the rear hall.
Once the door opened, everyone saw a massive square stone room.
In the center of the room was a semi-transparent, circular purple lightning sphere. A naked man was enveloped in purple lightning, and behind the sphere stood a giant purple alchemy furnace—the Nine Cauldrons Alchemy Furnace.
At the sight, Ye Xian couldn’t help but gasp.
While others didn’t recognize the purple lightning sphere, Ye Xian knew exactly what it was. Once, when the Yellow Springs Patriarch was away, he had sneaked into the treasure vault and read a manual on the Thunder Soul.
The so-called Thunder Soul manual described the fusion of the soul and lightning. Once successful, the soul would become a Thunder Soul body.
A Thunder Soul body could freely traverse the Three Realms without fear of lightning punishment.
However, to cultivate a Thunder Soul body, one must first discard all dark energy.
Ye Xian only knew that the Yellow Springs Patriarch had challenged the Netherworld God, suffered severe injuries, and returned to seclude himself. He didn’t know that the patriarch had intentionally used the Netherworld God to dissipate his dark energy so he could focus solely on cultivating the Thunder Soul body.
Most importantly, after successfully cultivating the Thunder Soul body, one needed to kill a large number of ghosts and absorb their primordial spirits to maintain the body’s normal function.
In other words, the Yellow Springs Patriarch was about to kill countless ghosts!
If he failed to absorb any primordial spirits, the Thunder Soul body would wither and dissipate on its own.
“Run!”
“Everyone, get out of here! The Yellow Springs Patriarch has cultivated the Thunder Soul body. He’s about to awaken, and when he does, you’ll all die!”
In his panic, Ye Xian shouted, trying to get everyone to leave.
But everyone’s eyes were fixed solely on the Nine Cauldrons Alchemy Furnace!
“Damn it, so noisy.”
A gigantic ghost king swung his arm and sent Ye Xian flying…
The Thunder Soul technique involved fusing one’s soul with lightning. Once successful, the soul would become a Thunder Soul Body.
A Thunder Soul Body could freely traverse the Three Realms without fear of divine lightning punishment.
However, cultivating the Thunder Soul Body required completely erasing all dark energy first.
“You must be the Chief Strategist, hehe!”
Old Cai, being a cunning and experienced ghost envoy, deduced from Sima Zongheng’s attire that he was a strategist. “Sir, we’re newly transferred here, and this brother is too. Everyone’s gone to the swamp, but we were worried, so we stayed behind to check if anyone was left behind.”
“Yeah, yeah!” Shui Miao quickly nodded in agreement.
Sima Zongheng felt a vague unease and had no patience for idle chatter with two ghost generals. Besides, he didn’t believe enemies could have infiltrated the rear hall so early. “Forget it, just go.”
Shui Miao and Old Cai breathed a sigh of relief, immediately bowing and scraping as they hurried away.
Ghost generals were known for their combativeness and bluntness—they never bowed and scraped. Seeing Shui Miao and Old Cai act this way, Sima Zongheng frowned again. “Hey, you two, show me your identity tokens.”
“Bro, run first!” Old Cai’s heart sank, and he quickly shoved Shui Miao before drawing his curved blade and charging at Sima Zongheng. Startled, Sima Zongheng summoned dark energy, transforming it into chains that bound Old Cai.
Seeing this, Shui Miao immediately channeled his soul-devouring power and also charged at Sima Zongheng.
“Something’s off!” Sensing the unusual aura from Shui Miao, Sima Zongheng swiftly abandoned Old Cai, flashed behind Shui Miao, and snatched a trace of his energy before retreating. After sniffing the soul-devouring energy in his hand, Sima Zongheng’s expression froze instantly. “Impossible… This can’t be! Could the legend be true? Who are you? Don’t tell me you’re the Black Nether God?!”
Sima Zongheng stared intently at Shui Miao.
Shui Miao quickly moved to Old Cai’s side, using his soul-devouring power to dissolve the chains binding him.
“You can dissolve my dark energy?!” Sima Zongheng grew even more terrified.
Shui Miao looked up at Sima Zongheng and reverted to his original form, speaking bluntly, “You’re right. My past life was indeed the Black Nether God. If you’ve heard any legends, speak up now. If you’re willing to pledge loyalty to me, I might consider taking you in—provided you kneel and kowtow.”
Shui Miao was bluffing with all his courage. Yet, he was also deeply curious: what legend could terrify such a powerful expert so much?
Old Cai quickly played along, “That’s right! He is our Lord Black Nether God. Given your strength, if you’re willing to serve him, our lord will surely reward you generously. The wise submit to circumstances—you’re surrounded. Also, Ye Xian is one of us too.”
In his panic, Old Cai even dragged Ye Xian into the mess. When your life is on the line, what else matters? This was Old Cai’s gamble—what if this expert was actually on Ye Xian’s side?
Shui Miao’s mind raced, and he added, “Ye Xian is the stand-in for the Yellow Springs Patriarch. As the strategist, you must know that, right?”
“…”
Hearing this, Sima Zongheng staggered backward, leaning against the wall to steady himself. He muttered to himself, “Was I tricked by him? I thought he was just helping me deal with Zhuge Abacus… It’s over! I’m finished! I’m part of his scheme too. He must have destroyed my life talisman—no wonder I’ve been so restless. What do I do now? Once the patriarch emerges, he’ll surely kill me!”
Hearing Sima Zongheng’s muttering, Old Cai seized the opportunity and said, “What’s there to fear? Our Lord Black Nether God is the true ruler. If you follow him—”
“Silence!” Sima Zongheng roared, cutting off Old Cai. Agitated, he yelled, “You’re all liars! Ye Xian is a liar, that legend is fake, and you’re all deceivers! What Black Nether God? That’s just Ye Xian’s excuse! Expecting me, Sima Zongheng, to kneel and kowtow to a mere ant like you? You’re delusional! Wait—I can kill you, take your memories, and hide in the Rakshasa Realm to cultivate in peace. Once I master the Soul-Devouring Art and the Black Hole Domain…”
“Hahaha…” Shui Miao suddenly burst into laughter, interrupting Sima Zongheng. “Senior Sima, if you say we’re liars, why would you believe in the Soul-Devouring Power and the Black Hole Domain? Isn’t that contradictory?”
“Easy! Once I kill you and take your memories, the truth will be mine!” Sima Zongheng’s eyes narrowed, his expression turning icy. He summoned rolling dark energy, enveloping Shui Miao and Old Cai, then retracted the energy, pulling both into his bamboo staff.
“Where is this place?”
Shui Miao felt dizzy and disoriented, finding himself in an all-white space, both above and below. It was stifling and hot, like being trapped in a steamer, and the discomfort grew rapidly.
Old Cai crouched down, sniffed the ground, and said nervously, “We’re likely inside a top-tier netherworld artifact. At this rate, our souls will melt, our dark energy will dissolve, and soon only a wisp of our spirit will remain for him to devour and extract memories. Brother, we must act fast. Use that dark energy to try and corrode this artifact.”
“Alright!” Shui Miao immediately channeled his soul-devouring power, devouring all the energy within the white space.
※※※
Front Hall of the Yellow Springs Sect
A crowd had gathered from unknown origins, growing larger and larger. Together, they scattered the wild ghost battalion and flooded into the central and rear halls like a tidal wave. Ye Xian, disguised as a ghost envoy, mingled among them. He had originally intended to use the chaos to eliminate Sima Zongheng but was surprised to find Sima Zongheng had vanished.
Thus, a motley crew of ghost envoys, ghost kings, and various netherworld factions—all vying for the Nine Cauldrons Alchemy Furnace—worked together to open the massive stone door of the rear hall.
As the door opened, they saw a enormous square stone chamber. In the center was a semi-transparent, circular purple lightning sphere, within which a naked man was enveloped by purple lightning. Behind the sphere stood a massive purple alchemy furnace—the Nine Cauldrons Alchemy Furnace.
At the sight, Ye Xian gasped in shock.
While others didn’t recognize the purple lightning sphere, Ye Xian knew exactly what it was. Once, when the Yellow Springs Patriarch was away, he had sneaked into the treasure vault and read a manual on the Thunder Soul.
The Thunder Soul technique involved merging one’s soul with lightning. Once successful, the soul would become a Thunder Soul body, capable of freely traversing the three realms without fear of heavenly lightning punishment.
However, cultivating a Thunder Soul body required first abolishing all dark energy.
Ye Xian had only known that the Yellow Springs Patriarch challenged the Netherworld God, suffered severe injuries, and returned to seclusion. He hadn’t realized the patriarch had intentionally used the Netherworld God to dissipate his dark energy so he could focus solely on cultivating the Thunder Soul body.
Most importantly, after successfully cultivating the Thunder Soul body, one needed to kill vast numbers of ghosts and absorb their spiritual energy to sustain the soul body.
In other words, the Yellow Springs Patriarch was about to slaughter countless ghosts!
If no spiritual energy was absorbed, the Thunder Soul body would wither and dissipate on its own.
“Run! Everyone, get out of here! The Yellow Springs Patriarch has cultivated the Thunder Soul body. He’s about to awaken, and when he does, you’ll all die!”
In his panic, Ye Xian shouted, urging everyone to flee.
But everyone had eyes only for the Nine Cauldrons Alchemy Furnace.
“Damn it, shut your noise!” A gigantic ghost king swung his arm and sent Ye Xian flying.
More importantly, after successfully cultivating the Thunder Soul Body, the cultivator needed to kill countless ghosts and absorb their soul essence to maintain the body’s normal function.
“You must be the Grand Strategist, hehe!”
Old Cai, being a cunning and experienced underworld guard, deduced from Sima Zongheng’s attire that he was a strategist. “Sir, we’re newly transferred here, and this brother is also new. Everyone has gone to the marsh, but we were worried, so we decided to patrol around and see if anyone was left behind.”
“Yes, yes!” Shuimiao quickly nodded in agreement.
Sima Zongheng felt a vague sense of unease and had no patience to chat with the two underworld guards. Besides, he didn’t believe enemies could have infiltrated the rear hall so early. “Forget it, just go.”
Shuimiao and Old Cai breathed a sigh of relief and immediately scurried away, bowing obsequiously.
Underworld guards were known for their combativeness and straightforwardness—they never bowed and scraped like that. Seeing Shuimiao and Old Cai behave this way, Sima Zongheng frowned again. “Hey, you two, show me your identity tokens.”
“Bro, run first!”
Old Cai’s heart sank, and he quickly pushed Shuimiao aside before drawing his curved blade and charging at Sima Zongheng. Startled, Sima Zongheng immediately summoned dark energy, transforming it into chains that bound Old Cai.
Seeing this, Shuimiao quickly activated his soul-devouring power and also charged at Sima Zongheng.
“Something’s off!” Sensing the unusual aura from Shuimiao, Sima Zongheng immediately abandoned Old Cai, flashed behind Shuimiao, and snatched a trace of his energy before retreating to the side. After sniffing the soul-devouring energy in his hand, Sima Zongheng’s expression froze instantly. “Impossible… this can’t be! Could the legend be true? Who are you? Don’t tell me you’re the Black Nether God!?”
Sima Zongheng stared intently at Shuimiao.
Shuimiao quickly moved to Old Cai’s side and used his soul-devouring power to dissolve the chains binding him.
“You can actually dissolve my dark energy!” Sima Zongheng grew even more terrified.
Shuimiao looked up at Sima Zongheng and reverted to his original form, saying bluntly, “You’re right. My past life was indeed the Black Nether God. If you’ve heard any legends, you can tell me now. If you’re willing to pledge loyalty to me, I might consider taking you in—as long as you kneel and kowtow.”
Shuimiao was bluffing with all his courage.
But he was also very curious: what legend could make such a powerful expert so terrified?
Old Cai quickly played along, “That’s right! He is our Lord Black Nether God. You seem quite capable—if you’re willing to serve our lord, he will surely reward you handsomely. A wise man knows when to yield. You’re surrounded, and besides, Ye Xian is also one of us.”
In his panic, Old Cai even dragged Ye Xian into the matter.
When his life was on the line, why worry about anything else?
Old Cai was taking a gamble—what if this expert was actually on Ye Xian’s side?
Shuimiao’s heart stirred, and he added, “Ye Xian is the stand-in for the Yellow Spring Patriarch. As the strategist, you must know that, right?”
“…”
Hearing this, Sima Zongheng staggered backward a few steps, leaning against the wall to steady himself. He muttered to himself, “Was I tricked by him? I thought he was just helping me deal with Zhuge Abacus… It’s over! I’m finished! I’m part of his scheme too. He must have destroyed my life talisman—no wonder I’ve been so restless. What do I do now? Once the patriarch emerges, he’ll surely kill me!”
Hearing Sima Zongheng’s muttering, Old Cai’s heart stirred, and he quickly said, “What’s there to fear? Our Lord Black Nether God is the true ruler. As long as you follow our lord—”
“Silence!”
Sima Zongheng roared, cutting off Old Cai’s words. Agitated, he exclaimed, “You’re all liars! Ye Xian is a liar, that legend is fake, and all of you are deceivers! What Black Nether God? That’s just Ye Xian’s excuse! Expecting me, Sima Zongheng, to kneel and kowtow to a mere ant like you? You’re dreaming! Wait—I can kill you, take your memories, and hide in the Rakshasa Realm to cultivate slowly. Once I master the Soul-Devouring Art and the Black Hole Domain…”
“Hahaha…”
Shuimiao suddenly burst into laughter, interrupting Sima Zongheng. “Senior Sima, if you say we’re liars, then why would you believe in the Soul-Devouring Power and the Black Hole Domain? Isn’t that contradictory?”
“Easy! Once I kill you and take your memories, the truth will be revealed!” Sima Zongheng’s eyes narrowed, and his expression turned cold. He summoned rolling dark energy, enveloping Shuimiao and Old Cai, then retracted the black mist, pulling both of them into his bamboo staff.
“Where is this place?”
Shuimiao felt dizzy and disoriented, only to find himself in an entirely white space—above, below, and all around. It was stifling and hot, like being trapped in a steamer, and the discomfort grew increasingly unbearable.
Old Cai crouched down, sniffed the ground, and said nervously, “We must be inside a top-tier netherworld artifact. At this rate, our souls will soon melt, our dark energy will dissolve, and all that will remain is a trace of our spiritual essence for him to devour and steal our memories. Brother, we must act quickly. Use that black energy to try and corrode this artifact.”
“Alright!”
Shuimiao immediately activated his soul-devouring power, devouring all the energy within the white space.
※※※
Front Hall of the Yellow Spring Sect
A crowd had gathered from who-knows-where, growing larger and larger. Together, they scattered the wild ghost camp and flooded into the central and rear halls like a tidal wave. Ye Xian, disguised as an underworld guard, was mixed in among them. He had originally intended to use the chaos to have Sima Zongheng killed, but to his surprise, he found that Sima Zongheng had disappeared.
Thus, a motley crew of underworld guards, ghost kings, and various netherworld factions—all vying for the Nine Cauldrons Pill Furnace—joined forces to open the giant stone door of the rear hall.
As the door opened, everyone saw a massive square stone chamber.
In the center of the chamber was a semi-transparent, spherical purple lightning orb. A naked man was enveloped in purple lightning, and behind the orb stood an enormous purple pill furnace—the Nine Cauldrons Pill Furnace.
At the sight, Ye Xian couldn’t help but gasp.
While others didn’t recognize the purple lightning orb, Ye Xian knew exactly what it was. Once, when the Yellow Spring Patriarch was away, he had sneaked into the treasure vault and read a manual on the Thunder Soul.
The so-called Thunder Soul manual described the fusion of the soul and lightning. Once successful, the soul would become a Thunder Soul body.
A Thunder Soul body could freely traverse the Three Realms, completely unafraid of lightning punishment.
However, to cultivate a Thunder Soul body, one must first discard all dark energy.
Ye Xian only knew that the Yellow Spring Patriarch had challenged the Netherworld God, suffered severe injuries, and returned to seclusion. He didn’t realize that the patriarch had intentionally used the Netherworld God to dissipate his dark energy so he could focus entirely on cultivating the Thunder Soul body.
Most importantly, after successfully cultivating the Thunder Soul body, one needed to kill a vast number of ghosts and absorb their spiritual essence to maintain the body’s stability.
In other words, the Yellow Spring Patriarch was about to slaughter countless ghosts!
If he failed to absorb any spiritual essence, the Thunder Soul body would wither and dissipate on its own.
“Run!”
“Everyone, get out of here! The Yellow Spring Patriarch has cultivated the Thunder Soul body. He’s about to awaken, and when he does, you’ll all die!”
In his panic, Ye Xian shouted, urging everyone to flee.
But everyone’s eyes were fixed solely on the Nine Cauldrons Pill Furnace!
“Damn it, shut up!”
A gigantic ghost king swung his arm and sent Ye Xian flying.
Without absorbing any soul essence, the Thunder Soul Body would wither and vanish.
“Run quickly!”
“You must be the Grand Strategist, hehe!”
Old Cai, being a cunning underworld guard who’d seen it all, deduced from Sima Zongheng’s attire that he was a strategist. “Sir, we’re newly transferred here, both of us. Everyone else has headed to the swamp, but my brother and I were worried, so we stayed behind to check if anyone was left out.”
“Yeah, yeah!” Shuimiao quickly nodded in agreement.
Sima Zongheng felt a vague unease and wasn’t in the mood to banter with two underworld guards. Besides, he didn’t believe enemies could have broken into the rear hall so soon. “Forget it, just go.”
Shuimiao and Old Cai breathed a sigh of relief, immediately bowing obsequiously before scurrying away.
Underworld guards were known for being battle-hungry, straightforward, and never bowing and scraping. Seeing Shuimiao and Old Cai behave this way, Sima Zongheng frowned again. “Hey, you two, show me your identity tokens.”
“Bro, you run first!”
Old Cai’s heart sank. He pushed Shuimiao aside, drew his curved blade, and charged at Sima Zongheng. Startled, Sima Zongheng summoned dark energy, transforming it into chains that bound Old Cai instantly.
Seeing this, Shuimiao quickly channeled his soul-devouring power and also rushed at Sima Zongheng.
“Something’s off!” Sensing the unusual energy from Shuimiao, Sima Zongheng immediately released Old Cai, flashed behind Shuimiao, and snatched a trace of his energy before retreating. He sniffed the soul-devouring energy in his hand, and his expression froze instantly. “Impossible… This can’t be! Could the legend be true? Who are you? Don’t tell me you’re the Black Nether God?!”
Sima Zongheng stared intently at Shuimiao.
Shuimiao swiftly moved to Old Cai’s side and used his soul-devouring power to dissolve the chains binding him.
“You can dissolve my dark energy?!” Sima Zongheng grew even more terrified.
Shuimiao looked up at Sima Zongheng and reverted to his original form. Without holding back, he said, “You’re right. My previous incarnation was the Black Nether God. If you’ve heard any legends, speak now. If you’re willing to pledge loyalty to me, I might consider taking you in—provided you kneel and kowtow.”
Shuimiao was bluffing with all his courage. But he was also deeply curious: What legend could frighten such a powerful expert so much?
Old Cai quickly played along, “That’s right! He is our Lord Black Nether God. Given your strength, if you’re willing to serve him, our lord will surely reward you handsomely. The wise submit to circumstances. You’re surrounded, and besides, Ye Xian is also one of us.”
In his panic, Old Cai even dragged Ye Xian into the mess. When your life is on the line, what else matters? Old Cai was gambling, hoping this expert might be on Ye Xian’s side.
Shuimiao’s mind raced, and he added, “Ye Xian is the stand-in for the Yellow Spring Patriarch. As the strategist, you must know that, right?”
“…”
Hearing this, Sima Zongheng staggered backward, leaning against the wall to steady himself. He muttered to himself, “Was I set up by him? I thought he was just helping me deal with Zhuge Abacus… It’s over! I’m finished! I’ve fallen into his trap. He must have destroyed my life talisman. No wonder I’ve been so restless. What do I do now? Once the patriarch emerges, he’ll kill me for sure!”
Hearing Sima Zongheng’s soliloquy, Old Cai seized the opportunity. “What are you afraid of? Our Lord Black Nether God is the true ruler. If you follow him—”
“Silence!” Sima Zongheng roared, cutting him off. Agitated, he yelled, “You’re all liars! Ye Xian is a liar, that legend is fake, and you’re all deceivers! What Black Nether God? That’s just Ye Xian’s excuse! Expecting me, Sima Zongheng, to kneel and kowtow to a mere ant like you? You’re delusional! Wait—I can kill you, extract your memories, then hide in the Raksha Realm and cultivate in peace. Once I master the Soul-Devouring Art and the Black Hole Domain…”
“Hahaha…” Shuimiao suddenly burst into laughter, interrupting him. “Senior Sima, if you say we’re liars, why would you believe in the Soul-Devouring Power and the Black Hole Domain? Isn’t that contradictory?”
“Easy! Once I kill you and take your memories, the truth will be mine!” Sima Zongheng’s eyes gleamed, and his expression turned icy. He summoned a surge of dark energy, enveloping Shuimiao and Old Cai, then retracted the energy, pulling both of them into his bamboo staff.
“Where is this?”
Shuimiao felt dizzy and disoriented. When his vision cleared, he found himself in an entirely white space—white sky, white ground, white everywhere. It was stiflingly hot, like being trapped in a steamer, and the discomfort grew rapidly.
Old Cai crouched down, sniffed the ground, and said nervously, “We’re probably inside a top-tier netherworld artifact. At this rate, our souls will melt, our dark energy will dissolve, and soon only a wisp of our spirits will remain for him to devour and extract memories. Brother, we must act fast. Use that black energy to try and corrode this artifact.”
“Alright!” Shuimiao immediately channeled his soul-devouring power, devouring all the energy within the white space.
※※※
Front Hall of the Yellow Spring Sect
Forces gathered from unknown origins, growing larger and larger. Together, they scattered the wild ghost battalion and flooded into the central and rear halls like a tidal wave. Ye Xian, disguised as an underworld guard, mingled among them. He had hoped to use the chaos to eliminate Sima Zongheng but was surprised to find Sima Zongheng had vanished.
Thus, a motley crew of underworld guards, ghost kings, and various netherworld factions—all vying for the Nine Cauldrons Alchemy Furnace—joined forces to open the massive stone door of the rear hall.
As the door opened, they saw a enormous square stone chamber. In the center was a semi-transparent, circular purple lightning sphere, within which a naked man was enveloped by purple lightning. Behind the sphere stood a massive purple alchemy furnace—the Nine Cauldrons Alchemy Furnace.
At the sight, Ye Xian gasped in shock.
While others didn’t recognize the purple lightning sphere, Ye Xian knew exactly what it was. Once, when the Yellow Spring Patriarch was away, he had sneaked into the treasure vault and read a manual on Thunder Soul cultivation.
The so-called Thunder Soul manual described the fusion of soul and lightning. Once successful, the soul would become a Thunder Soul entity.
A Thunder Soul entity could freely traverse the Three Realms, completely immune to lightning punishment.
But to cultivate a Thunder Soul entity, one must first discard all dark energy.
Ye Xian only knew that the Yellow Spring Patriarch had challenged the Netherworld God, returned severely injured, and went into seclusion. He had no idea the patriarch had intentionally used the Netherworld God to dissipate his dark energy so he could focus entirely on cultivating a Thunder Soul entity.
Most importantly, after successfully cultivating a Thunder Soul entity, one needed to kill vast numbers of ghosts and absorb their spiritual energy to sustain the soul body.
In other words, the Yellow Spring Patriarch was about to slaughter countless ghosts!
If no spiritual energy was absorbed, the Thunder Soul entity would wither and dissipate on its own.
“Run! Everyone, get out of here! The Yellow Spring Patriarch has cultivated a Thunder Soul entity. He’s about to awaken, and when he does, you’ll all die!”
In desperation, Ye Xian shouted, trying to warn everyone to flee.
But everyone’s eyes were fixed solely on the Nine Cauldrons Alchemy Furnace.
“Damn it, shut your noise!”
A gigantic ghost king swung his arm and sent Ye Xian flying.
In desperation, Ye Xian shouted, trying to get everyone to flee.
But all they could see was the Nine Tripod Cauldron!
“Damn it, too noisy.”
A giant ghost king simply swung his arm and sent Ye Xian flying…
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage