“Oh, that’s what happened. You really scared me!”
“Ah! That little imp is no good at all. It’s strange that the information it provided was correct. If not for its powerful Hellfire, we would have driven it away long ago, no need to wait until today.”
“Hehe, well, fortunately, this friend of ours killed it. Now we don’t have to worry anymore.”
“By the way, friend, you must never seek out that female ghost. She’s extremely evil, even more ruthless than the little imp. No one here welcomes her. If you encounter her, stay far away and don’t provoke her.”
“Don’t worry. This fellow here is very capable. Perhaps he can even eliminate her too.”
“Old Five, you shouldn’t talk like that. The female ghost cultivates seductive arts. No man can resist her.”
The two spirits conversed back and forth.
Shui Miao’s heart stirred. Undoubtedly, the seductive arts must refer to techniques of enchanting men.
In Shui Miao’s mind, fox spirits were most skilled in this art.
“Friends, where is that female ghost now?”
Shui Miao had obtained the little imp’s memories and knew that the main spirit vein of the mountain was guarded by the mountain god. The mountain god had several spirit followers who controlled and protected the spirit veins throughout Mount Everest. These spirits were roughly divided into three categories. One was spirit elementals, like stone spirits. Another was plant and animal spirits from outside the mountain, like the eel spirit and the mountain monkey demon. The third category was friends of the mountain god, whose origins and identities were unknown and who never appeared, so no one was familiar with them.
The likes of the eel spirit and mountain monkey demon were merely small fry.
Indeed, they were just minor henchmen, existing as dispensable entities.
“She’s outside. She often transforms into a beautiful woman at night to seduce men who come adventuring, absorbing their vital energy. Sometimes she even tries to seduce us, but since she can’t obtain spirit energy, she has to resort to such despicable methods.” The eel spirit had been tempted several times, but as a mere spirit, it had no interest in the female ghost.
The mountain monkey demon laughed heartily. “Friend, you’re different from her. Not only did you free us, but you also gave us treasures. From now on, we’re friends. If you need spirit energy in the future, come find us. Anyway, you don’t need much more, hahaha!”
“Great! Thank you both!”
Shui Miao nodded heavily and returned the way he came, going back to where he had previously encountered the little imp to begin meditating and cultivating.
This time, with the help of the eel spirit, Shui Miao obtained a stream of pure spirit energy. As he sat in meditation, cultivating quietly, he gradually felt his cultivation becoming stronger. The pure spirit energy contained all types of spirit energy, and the spirit energy in Shui Miao’s dantian grew increasingly powerful. However, strangely, this time Shui Miao couldn’t transform his spirit energy into immortal energy, as if something was wrong.
After cultivating for several hours, Shui Miao’s spirit energy cultivation hit a bottleneck, reaching a point where it could no longer improve.
With nothing better to do and noticing that the eel spirit and others were absent, Shui Miao slowly made his way out from the cave entrance.
Outside the mountain, night had fallen, the snow-covered landscape was quiet and serene.
Looking into the distance, Shui Miao suddenly noticed a flickering light, seemingly a campsite set up by an adventuring party.
He wondered how everyone else was doing.
Since his spirit energy couldn’t improve further, he might as well go out and chat with everyone to relax.
Shui Miao activated his spirit energy, used the wind-riding technique, and flew directly down from the cave entrance.
Inside one of the tents, a disheveled woman, naked, was straddling a man, swaying her hips. Her silhouette was clearly reflected on the tent fabric from the lamplight. Shui Miao normally wouldn’t stoop to voyeurism, but recalling what the spirits had said about the female ghost, he couldn’t help but wonder. On such a cold night, who would be so enthusiastic?
Shui Miao expanded his spiritual senses and suddenly discovered that the man inside the tent was actually Zhang Yuan, who had his eyes closed and was sweating profusely. The woman straddling him had no facial features. Upon closer inspection, Shui Miao realized that this wasn’t a woman at all—it was a skeletal frame, completely bare bones!
“Cursed female ghost!”
Shui Miao didn’t heed the eel spirit and mountain monkey demon’s warnings, nor did he turn and run. Instead, he immediately activated his spirit-devouring power and attacked the female ghost.
“Who’s there?”
The female ghost sensed an unknown spirit energy attack, suddenly turned her head, and let out a piercing shriek. With a wave of her hand, she launched a stream of dark energy to envelop the spirit-devouring power.
Shui Miao’s heart hardened. His spirit-devouring power spread out fiercely, dividing into several streams to attack the female ghost directly.
The female ghost was about to drain the man’s vital energy when she unwillingly summoned a large amount of dark energy to resist the spirit-devouring power.
The female ghost miscalculated, mistaking the spirit-devouring power for ordinary spirit energy.
The dark energy collapsed instantly upon contact, and the spirit-devouring power quickly enveloped her soul body.
“Ahh!”
The female ghost screamed in shock, but it was already too late. The spirit-devouring power wrapped around her layers, directly corroding her soul body.
“Who are you? Why are you trying to kill me!?” The female ghost cried out in panic and pain.
Shui Miao maintained a cold expression and simultaneously activated an illusion formation, attempting to control the female ghost.
The female ghost was highly cultivated and immediately sensed something amiss. Thinking quickly, she immediately possessed Zhang Yuan’s body and threatened, “If you kill me, I’ll make this person die with me. Come on! Kill me!”
“Cursed!”
Shui Miao hesitated, quickly commanding his spirit-devouring power to stop consuming.
The female ghost, now possessing Zhang Yuan, tore open the tent, stood up naked, and glared angrily at Shui Miao with a fierce voice. “Brat, who exactly are you? Why did you attack me!”
“Do you even know what you’re doing?”
Shui Miao multitasked, channeling spirit energy to activate the illusion formation, attempting to create a grand illusion for the female ghost. If she escaped, it would surely bring endless trouble.
“Daoist?” Zhang Yuan furrowed his brow, speaking in the female ghost’s voice. “Are you another meddling, self-righteous Daoist priest?”
“Hmph! You evil female ghost, stop talking nonsense. If you dare, release Zhang Yuan immediately and fight me directly.” The female ghost was possessing Zhang Yuan, and Shui Miao couldn’t think of a way to deal with her.
“Hahaha!”
The female ghost suddenly laughed again. “Brat, you’re still too naive! You care about this person, don’t you? I guess he must be your friend. Now that I’ve possessed him, you’re helpless, right? Fool! You still want to provoke me into leaving his body. Do you think I’m an idiot? Would I follow your orders? Hmph! That’s a daydream! It’s not you who’s in control now—it’s me! I now command you to immediately withdraw that strange spirit energy, or else I’ll make you watch him die before your very eyes.”
Zhang Yuan grabbed his own throat!
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