Chapter 287: First Display of Divine Power (4)

“You must be the strategist, right? Hehe!”

Lao Cai was a ghost officer, well-versed in the underworld and very slick. From Sima Zongheng’s attire and demeanor, he deduced that Sima was a military advisor. “Sir, I’m newly transferred here. This brother here is also new. Everyone else has already gone to the marshes. We brothers were worried, so we thought we’d take another round to see if anyone was left behind.”

“Yeah, yeah!”

Shui Miao hurriedly nodded in agreement.

Sima Zongheng felt a vague unease. He had no mood to chat with these two ghost officers, and besides, he didn’t believe any enemy could have infiltrated the inner palace so soon. “Forget it, forget it. You two can go now.”

Shui Miao and Lao Cai exhaled in relief and immediately bowed and scraped as they left.

Ghost officers were all warlike, straightforward, and never obsequious.

Seeing Shui Miao and Lao Cai act so servile, Sima frowned again. “Hey, you two, show me your identity tablets.”

“Little brother, you run first!”

Lao Cai’s heart skipped a beat. He immediately shoved Shui Miao and drew his curved blade, charging at Sima Zongheng. Startled, Sima instantly activated his dark energy, transforming it into chains that bound Lao Cai.

Seeing this, Shui Miao quickly activated his Soul Devouring Power and charged at Sima Zongheng as well.

“This is strange!” Sensing the abnormality in Shui Miao’s aura, Sima immediately dropped Lao Cai, flashed behind Shui Miao, grabbed a trace of his aura, then darted aside again. Sniffing the Soul Devouring energy in his hand, Sima’s expression instantly froze. “Impossible! This can’t be! Could the legend actually be true? Who exactly are you? Don’t tell me—you’re the Black冥 God?!”

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 even more terrified.

Shui Miao looked up at Sima Zongheng and, reverting to his original form, said bluntly, “You guessed correctly. In my previous life, I was indeed the Black冥 God. You must have heard some legend, so now tell me. If you’re genuinely willing to follow me, kneel and prostrate yourself before me, and I might consider accepting you.”

Shui Miao was bluffing bravely.

But he was also very curious—what legend had made this expert so frightened?

Lao Cai quickly adapted and chimed in, “Right! He is indeed our Black Ming God. Seeing your strength is quite impressive. If you’re willing to pledge allegiance to our master, he certainly won’t treat you poorly. A wise man knows when to yield. Besides, you’re already surrounded by us. Oh, and Ye Xian is also one of us.”

In his panic, Lao Cai dragged Ye Xian into this.

When their own lives were at stake, who had time to worry about others?

Lao Cai was taking a gamble—what if this expert was actually on Ye Xian’s side?

Shui Miao caught on and quickly added, “Ye Xian is merely the avatar of the Yellow Spring Ancestor. As a strategist, you must surely be aware of this, right?”

“…”

Hearing these words, Sima staggered backward a few steps, leaning against a wall to steady himself. He muttered, “Could it be he’s been manipulating me all along? I thought he was only helping me against Zhuge Suopan… No! I’ve fallen into his trap! He must have destroyed my life talisman too. No wonder I’ve been feeling uneasy lately. What should I do now? When the Ancestor comes out of retreat, he’ll definitely kill me!”

Hearing Sima’s muttering, Lao Cai quickly interjected, “What is there to fear? Our Black冥 God is the true master. If you follow our master…”

“Silence!”

Sima roared, cutting Lao Cai off mid-sentence. Emotionally charged, he continued, “You’re all impostors! Ye Xian is fake, that legend is false, and every one of you is nothing but a liar! This Black God is merely Ye Xian’s excuse! Do you actually expect me, Sima Zongheng, to kneel and prostrate myself before insignificant ants like you? You’re dreaming! Oh, right! I can kill both of you, absorb your memories, then hide away in the Rakshasa Realm to cultivate at my leisure. Once I fully master the Soul Devouring Technique and the Black Hole Domain…”

“Hahaha…”

Shui Miao suddenly burst into laughter, interrupting Sima. “Master Sima, you just said we’re all frauds. Then why do you still believe in the Soul Devouring power and the Black Hole Domain? Isn’t that a contradiction?”

“That’s easy! Killing you two and absorbing your memories will reveal the truth!” Sima’s eyes flashed, his expression darkening instantly. He summoned a surge of dark energy, encircling Shui Miao and Lao Cai, then drew the black mist back, pulling both of them into his bamboo staff.

“Where is this place?”

Shui Miao felt dizzy and disoriented, suddenly finding himself in a place where the sky and ground, all around, were completely white. It was stifling and hot, like being inside a steamer, growing more unbearable by the second.

Lao Cai sniffed the ground and nervously said, “We must be inside an ultimate-grade ghost artifact. Judging by how quickly the temperature is rising, our souls will soon melt, our dark energy disintegrate, leaving only our primal spirits to be devoured, extracting our memories. Brother, we must act quickly. Use that black energy to try corroding a hole in this artifact.”

“Alright!”

Shui Miao immediately activated his Soul Devouring power, beginning to devour all the energy in this white space.

※※※

Front Hall of the Yellow泉 Sect

From who knows where, crowds gathered, growing more numerous by the moment. Together, they scattered the Wild Ghost Camp and surged into the central and inner halls like a flood. The Ye Xian impersonating a ghost officer was also among them. Originally, Ye Xian had planned to use the crowd to eliminate Sima Zongheng, but unexpectedly, he discovered that Sima had vanished.

Thus, the faction-ridden ghost officers, ghost kings, and various ghost sects from the Underworld, all competing for the Nine Cauldron Furnace, united to open the giant stone gate of the inner hall.

As soon as the gate opened, everyone saw a massive square stone house.

In the center stood a semi-transparent, round, purple lightning orb. A naked man was wrapped in purple lightning. Behind the orb was a huge purple cauldron—the Nine Cauldron Furnace.

Seeing this, Ye Xian couldn’t help but inhale sharply.

Others didn’t recognize what the purple lightning orb was, but Ye Xian did. Once, when the Yellow泉 Ancestor was away, Ye Xian had sneaked into the treasure vault and read a secret manual about Thunder Souls.

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 fearing lightning punishment.

However, cultivating the Thunder Soul Body required first destroying all dark energy.

Ye Xian only knew that the Yellow Spring Ancestor had gone to challenge the Underworld Deity, had returned severely injured, and had withdrawn to recover. He did not know that the Ancestor had deliberately used the Deity’s power to purge his own dark energy, returning solely to cultivate the Thunder Soul Body.

Even more importantly, after successfully cultivating the Thunder Soul Body, one needed to kill numerous ghosts and absorb their primal spirits to maintain the soul body’s normal functioning.

In other words, the Yellow Springs Ancestor was about to slay a great many ghosts!

Without absorbing any primal spirits, the Thunder Soul Body would automatically wither and dissipate.

“Run quickly!”

“Everyone, get out of here! The Yellow泉 Ancestor has cultivated the Thunder Soul Body. He’ll awaken soon, and when he does, you’ll all die!”

In desperation, Ye Xian shouted loudly, trying to make everyone flee.

But everyone’s eyes were fixed solely on the Nine Cauldron Furnace!

“Damn it, too noisy.”

A giant ghost king directly swung his arm, sending Ye Xian flying…