Chapter 288: First Display of Divine Power (5)

Ye Xian miscalculated. He tried desperately to stop the various demons and monsters, but no one believed his words.

As he saw the horde of demons rushing toward the Nine Tripod Cauldron, Ye Xian suddenly had an idea. He decided to bypass the purple lightning sphere and seize the cauldron, then lead the monsters away. The demons, unaware of the power of the purple lightning, eagerly charged forward. However, as soon as they approached, the purple lightning struck them, scattering their souls, leaving only their yuan-shen trapped within the lightning sphere.

The stone house concealed numerous hidden mechanisms and traps.

The demons found it extremely difficult to move forward and were forced to stop. They watched as Ye Xian dodged left and right, effortlessly nearing the cauldron.

The Nine Tripod Cauldron was enormous, but Ye Xian managed to merge it into his spatial ring. He immediately returned, broke through the demons’ blockade, and fled outside.

Instantly, many demons chased after Ye Xian.

However, a dozen or so female fox spirits who wanted to take advantage of the chaos remained behind.

“Ahh! That man took the Nine Tripod Cauldron and escaped…”

“Mother, aren’t we going to chase him?”

“If we don’t hurry, it’ll be too late!”

Several young fox spirits cried out anxiously, fearing the cauldron would be taken by someone else.

An older fox spirit, still quite attractive, grinned and said, “Haha, they’re just too foolish. Didn’t my daughters notice? That young man was clearly one of the Yellow Spring Ancestor’s men. This stone house is filled with hidden mechanisms. How could he easily bypass them and reach the cauldron without using a back door to escape?”

“So, that cauldron is fake, and they’re trying to lure us away?” A fox spirit in a purple robe suddenly said excitedly.

“Exactly!”

The older fox spirit raised her eyebrows and turned to smile at the other fox spirits, “My daughters, although this stone house hides formations, I’ve already memorized that young man’s steps. Watch carefully and follow me to the secret room at the back entrance. The real Nine Tripod Cauldron must be hidden there.”

“Yes, Mother!”

A group of young fox spirits beamed with joy, their eyes wide open as they watched the older fox spirit.

The older fox spirit had an amazing memory. Following Ye Xian’s earlier movements, she successfully reached behind the purple lightning sphere.

As expected, there was indeed a hidden chamber behind.

Fox spirits had extremely sensitive noses. They quickly found the entrance to the hidden chamber, managed to open the stone door, and entered.

Inside the chamber, it was empty except for Situ Zongheng, who was sitting cross-legged in black robes.

Seeing someone inside, the fox spirits immediately drew their weapons and surrounded Situ Zongheng.

Situ Zongheng was fully focused on suppressing Shui Miao within his bamboo staff using dark energy, attempting to dissolve him. But just at the critical moment, a group of fox spirits arrived!

“Seal the stone door, kill this old man!”

Seeing Situ Zongheng unmoving, the older fox spirit suddenly commanded coldly.

Instantly, two fox spirits lunged at Situ Zongheng with their swords.

Realizing the danger, Situ Zongheng had no choice but to abandon suppressing Shui Miao. He opened his eyes and engaged the fox spirits in battle.

“Great! The old man finally can’t hold on anymore!”

Shui Miao suddenly felt a huge reduction in pressure and felt excited. He immediately poured his Soul Devouring Force into corroding the bamboo staff.

Old Cai couldn’t endure the high temperature or Shui Miao’s Soul Devouring Force, so he had already fled into Shui Miao’s Holy Yuan Ring long ago.

“Crack!”

The bamboo staff suddenly exploded, releasing a large amount of Soul Devouring Force.

Realizing the danger, Situ Zongheng tried to escape, but the exit was sealed and blocked by the fox spirits, leaving him no way out.

In an instant, the Soul Devouring Force filled the entire stone house, forcing Situ Zongheng and the fox spirits to stop fighting.

Situ Zongheng fled into another one of his spirit artifacts, a spatial ring.

The fox spirits also retreated into a jade-green gourd.

Under Shui Miao’s spiritual perception, he could naturally sense the existence of these two treasures. Given their defensive power, it would take a lot of time for the Soul Devouring Force to destroy them.

Therefore, the best solution was to collect them into the Holy Yuan Ring and slowly corrode them.

After placing the gourd and the ring into the Holy Yuan Ring, Shui Miao looked around, unsure of where he was. He quickly opened the stone door and saw the Yellow Spring Ancestor inside the purple lightning sphere!

“Ah! So much Purple Fortune Qi!”

Through spiritual perception, Shui Miao discovered that the purple lightning sphere contained a vast amount of various types of Holy Spirit Forces, along with a significant amount of Immortal Qi.

“Old Cai, who exactly is this person?” Shui Miao mentally communicated, summoning Old Cai from the Holy Yuan Ring.

Seeing the scene before him, Old Cai was shocked and quickly said, “Brother Shui Miao, hurry and stop him! He’s the Yellow Spring Ancestor! He’s about to complete his Thunder Soul Body. If he succeeds, both you and I will die by his hands!” Old Cai, with his vast knowledge, recognized this as the method for cultivating the Thunder Soul Body.

Without hesitation, Shui Miao immediately channeled his Soul Devouring Force toward the purple lightning sphere. However, the lightning’s offensive power was terrifying, successfully blocking the Soul Devouring Force outside.

Seeing this, Old Cai quickly opened his Soul Capturing Bag and released captured evil spirits into the purple lightning sphere.

Shui Miao had an idea and took out Situ Zongheng’s ring and the fox spirits’ gourd from the Holy Yuan Ring, throwing them all into the purple lightning sphere. A sound of “squeaking” echoed as the two treasures were attacked by lightning and quickly exploded. The fox spirits had their souls scattered by the lightning. Situ Zongheng managed to hide in another spatial artifact, but it didn’t last long before it also shattered. In despair and terror, Situ Zongheng’s soul was scattered by the purple lightning.

The purple lightning sphere had consumed a significant amount of energy and its glow visibly dimmed.

Shui Miao once again enveloped it with his Soul Devouring Force. This time, although there was resistance, the Soul Devouring Force clearly gained the upper hand.

The Soul Devouring Force began absorbing the purple lightning, channeling the various types of Holy Spirit Forces and Thunder Force into Shui Miao’s dantian and spiritual realm. The structure of the black Immortal Qi ball within his dantian continuously transformed. Undoubtedly, Shui Miao’s power was rapidly increasing. The purple lightning sphere contained all types of spirit forces and a vast amount of Thunder Force! Feeling incredibly lucky, Shui Miao was suddenly interrupted by a strange man’s voice in his ear…

“Friend, who exactly are you? Are you also trying to cultivate the Thunder Soul Body?” The voice was calm, like that of a respected old man casually chatting.

But Shui Miao knew that this calmness was forcibly restrained.

“Haha! Senior Yellow Spring Ancestor, I apologize for the intrusion. Your spirit forces are very tempting; I simply couldn’t resist, haha…” Shui Miao spoke while mentally activating his Soul Devouring Force, accelerating his absorption of the Thunder Force. Thunder Force was a rare and unique form of Immortal Qi, and Shui Miao naturally didn’t want to miss this opportunity.

“Hehe…”

The Yellow Spring Ancestor’s voice echoed in Shui Miao’s ears again. He actually chuckled lightly and said in a relaxed tone, “I thought you had a deep grudge against me, but if you’re only here for spirit forces, I can give you some. Above the clouds in this back hall, I’ve stored a vast amount of spirit forces, including the Thunder Force you desire. Since I’m about to complete my cultivation, I won’t need them anymore. Feel free to take them.”

“Really?”

Shui Miao looked at Old Cai, who shook his head repeatedly.

Are you kidding? Who knows what traps are hidden up there? Do you think I’m that easy to fool? Shui Miao thought to himself and replied, “Senior Yellow Spring Ancestor, since you’re about to complete your Thunder Soul Body, I’m not in a hurry to cultivate. Why don’t we have a chat?”

“Now isn’t the time for chatting. After one cup of tea, I’ll not only chat with you, but I’ll also spar with you.” The Yellow Spring Ancestor’s words were soft but threatening, “Haha, since you like spirit forces so much, feel free to absorb as much as you want. One cup of tea time passes quickly.”

“Haha! Thank you for your concern, Senior Ancestor. I love challenging strong opponents. Since you’re so kind, I’ll absorb a bit more spirit force.” Shui Miao mentally activated his Soul Devouring Force, searching for the source of the purple lightning. He followed it upward into the cloud layer above the back hall and indeed found a vast amount of stored spirit forces.

This absorption rate was too slow.

He needed to sever the Yellow Spring Ancestor’s connection to these spirit forces and collect them all into the Holy Yuan Ring.

Spirit forces without a spiritual connection were ownerless, like ordinary air, and wouldn’t harm anyone.

Shui Miao signaled to Old Cai, “Senior Old Cai, send me halfway up. I want to check the clouds.”

“Haha, I won’t deceive you.” The Yellow Spring Ancestor inwardly relaxed a bit.

Shui Miao gave Old Cai a look. Old Cai immediately understood and swiftly carried Shui Miao halfway up into the air. Suddenly, Shui Miao used his full Soul Devouring Force to sever the Yellow Spring Ancestor’s connection to the spirit forces above. With the Holy Yuan Ring, he instantly absorbed the vast amount of spirit forces from the clouds. Then he landed back on the ground and once again fully activated his Soul Devouring Force to surround the Yellow Spring Ancestor.

“Cursed brat! You’re forcing me to fight you to the death!”

The Yellow Spring Ancestor finally lost his composure.

Shui Miao grinned and said, “Senior Ancestor, you were the one who told me to absorb spirit forces as much as I wanted. Why are you changing your mind so quickly?”

“You’re celebrating too early, brat!” The Yellow Spring Ancestor suddenly absorbed the entire purple lightning sphere into his body, transforming it into a purple lightning armor. He opened his eyes, slowly descended to the ground, and glared at Shui Miao with his white eyes, walking toward him step by step, threatening, “I’ll give you one last chance. Hand over the spirit forces, or you will die immediately!”

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

Doors in the back hall automatically shut, sealing all exits.

“Brother, watch out! He might go down fighting!” Old Cai pulled Shui Miao back repeatedly while looking around desperately for an escape route.