Chapter 443: The Evil Female Ghost

“Oh! You, it’s you…”

Pain surged through the ghostly form. The little imp finally realized he had fallen victim to Shui Miao’s treachery.

“Hehe, for the safety of your soul, I’d advise you not to resist. This is the Soul Devouring Power feared even by immortals. If you obey me, I won’t harm you—I can even help you. But if you dare to play any double-crossing tricks with me, I can make you vanish into oblivion, forever and ever.” Shui Miao waved his hand. “Come here.”

The Soul Devouring Power began corroding and consuming the imp’s soul, effectively blocking its control over its own fire-based spiritual energy.

With no other choice, the imp obediently approached Shui Miao.

“Do you know why I tricked you?” Shui Miao asked, his brows furrowed.

The imp frowned and shook its head.

“You’re pretending to be clueless! You were planning to team up with the eel spirit to confront me. Even though you made up an excuse later, did you really think I would believe it?” Shui Miao sneered.

“I, I’m sorry…”

Knowing it was trapped and powerless, the imp could only admit its mistake.

“I appreciate honesty. It’s good that you can admit your fault,” Shui Miao nodded. “After all, we have a connection. I’m someone who clearly distinguishes between kindness and grudges, and I never kill needlessly. Not just you, but the eel spirit and the mountain goblin as well. I won’t kill any of you. Instead, I’ll restore you, and we can work together to carve out a big territory here. Doesn’t that sound good?”

“R-really?”

The imp suddenly became alert, for at that moment, it noticed Shui Miao withdrawing some of the black Soul Devouring Power.

“Of course it’s real. I only want spiritual energy. You want territory. This suits our interests perfectly.” Shui Miao turned and began drawing more wood-element spiritual energy.

Suddenly, the imp vanished into the mineral vein, followed by a strange cackling laugh. “Kid, you’re too naive! Did you really think I would obey you and become your servant? Hmph! Who do you think you are? I’m not afraid of Yama himself, let alone some brat like you!”

The imp was extremely cunning. Once inside the mineral vein, it refused to come out again.

Shui Miao frowned. “Can’t we cooperate peacefully?”

“Tch! Who wants to cooperate with you? If I kill you, I can obtain your memories. Do you think I can’t cultivate your kind of spiritual energy? You underestimate me. If I could escape from the Hellfire Prison, don’t you think I have some real skills?”

The imp sounded extremely arrogant. “Kid, you said you’re someone who distinguishes between kindness and grudges. Now I’ll let you taste the power of the Hellfire from the Eighteen Levels of Hell. Let’s see how you deal with me!”

As it spoke, the imp tried to unleash the Hellfire to burn Shui Miao to death.

But Shui Miao suddenly laughed coldly and said, “You really thought I would trust you that easily?”

“What!?”

“Agh! What’s happening!?”

The imp was shocked to find the Soul Devouring Power once again enveloping its soul.

The surroundings changed. The imp saw that it had returned to the Hellfire Prison.

“How did I end up back in the Hellfire Prison?”

“No! This can’t be real… Could this be an illusion? Is this how you killed the mudfish and the old tree root?”

The imp suddenly understood everything. The scene where Shui Miao withdrew the Soul Devouring Power was just an illusion. Its escape into the mineral vein was also an illusion. “G-great immortal, have mercy! I’ll never dare again! Please spare me this time!”

“I never forgive those who try to kill me with Hellfire.”

Shui Miao unleashed a massive wave of Soul Devouring Power, crushing down on the imp, consuming and dissolving it completely, and absorbing all its memories.

Indeed, the imp had escaped from the Hellfire Prison.

It was a top-tier imp, cunning and distrustful by nature.

Upon arriving here, it had found paradise, for the spiritual energy here was inexhaustible.

Inside Mount Everest’s body were countless veins of spiritual energy. If the mountain were a human body, these veins would be its blood vessels and meridians, and the imps were like parasites feeding off the mountain. Greedy and power-hungry, they fought amongst themselves to control more spiritual energy. They absorbed various elemental energies from the mountain’s veins, but instead of cultivating, they used the energy to attack each other, neglecting their own spiritual cultivation.

This was why their souls were never strong enough.

When their souls were destroyed, the elemental veins would return to their original spiritual energy and flow back into the mountain’s veins.

Since ancient times, cultivators have hidden in deep mountains and remote forests, claiming that sages prefer solitude. That’s nonsense. The real reason is that they seek the spiritual energy hidden in these remote places. And Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world, holds spiritual energy so profound that few even know of its existence.

“I see!”

After understanding the imp’s memories, Shui Miao gained a new appreciation for nature.

However, this imp had come here later.

In terms of seniority, the eel spirit was the oldest.

The mountain goblin was also a relatively new demon, with similar seniority to the imp.

The eel spirit, however, had existed since the time when Mount Everest was still submerged underwater. It had been trapped in a rock crevice, surrounded by spiritual energy, watching the ages pass without knowing how to absorb and cultivate the energy. One day, a group of demons befriended it and taught it how to cultivate.

Though not particularly powerful, the eel spirit should have had a wealth of memories.

So Shui Miao calmed his mind, sat down, and began sensing the soul memories of the eel spirit and the mountain goblin.

Though they had been reverted to their original forms by Shui Miao’s power, their souls still existed, albeit extremely weak.

Upon sensing their memories, Shui Miao found the eel spirit to be very simple-minded, with only a short memory span, remembering only major events from the past few decades. But even these “major” events were nothing more than a few encounters with humans and a few battles with the imp.

The mountain goblin was similar, though it had a group of monster brothers.

Another interesting point was that, like many great mountains, Mount Everest had a mountain deity, and this deity was extremely powerful. He meditated deep within the mountain, rarely moving or appearing to others. Only the mountain goblin patriarch had seen the deity’s true form before ascending to the immortal realm. Therefore, no one alive had ever seen the deity.

What intrigued Shui Miao, however, was that before him, two cultivators had already visited this place.

One cultivator had discovered the location hundreds of years ago, cultivated for a year, and successfully ascended to the heavens.

The other was a female cultivator who had arrived half a year ago and was now hiding somewhere, cultivating in secret.

Who could she be?

If one cultivator could ascend after just one year of cultivation, then this woman, who had cultivated for half a year, must be quite formidable.

Since beginning his cultivation, Shui Miao had never encountered any powerful cultivators in the mortal realm. This discovery excited him greatly. Perhaps after finding this female cultivator, they could exchange cultivation techniques, study together, or even cultivate together—why not?

After understanding the situation, Shui Miao acted on impulse and released the eel spirit and mountain goblin from their original forms.

Nourished by spiritual energy, they quickly recovered.

Since they were simple-minded and not malicious, Shui Miao had no intention of harming them. Once they fully recovered, he planned to cultivate while searching for the female cultivator.

About ten minutes later, the eel spirit and mountain goblin regained their soul forms and returned to their monstrous appearances.

Looking at them, Shui Miao smiled warmly and sincerely said, “Can we be friends? That imp has been destroyed. The reason is simple—it was evil, while you two are kind-hearted.”

At the same time, Shui Miao took out two rings from his Holy Yuan Ring and presented them to the two spirits.

“What are these?”

The mountain goblin, apparently forgetful, immediately became excited at the sight of treasures.

“They’re rings that can store items inside. One for each of you. Don’t be shy.” Shui Miao suddenly found the mountain goblin so adorable that he even considered keeping one as a pet.

The eel spirit, however, remained cautious. “Why are you giving us things? What’s your real intention?”

“Intention? Haha, you’re misunderstanding. I’m giving you the rings simply as a small compensation for what happened earlier. That’s all. Now, I must go. I have someone to find. Farewell…”

Shui Miao exhaled lightly and truly walked away along the rock crevice.

“Brother Five, what do you think?”

“What do you mean? These rings are so pretty!”

“Not about the rings. About that person just now. I still feel uneasy.”

“Why? If he wanted to kill us, he wouldn’t have released us in the first place! Besides, that cursed imp is really gone.”

“You’re right…”

The eel spirit and mountain goblin exchanged a few words. The mountain goblin put the ring on its finger, overjoyed and shouting how great a treasure it was. The eel spirit couldn’t help but put on its ring as well. Feeling its magical properties, it too became excited.

Shui Miao walked along the mountain for more than ten minutes.

As he was thinking to himself that they should be coming soon, he saw a flash of white and green light—sure enough, the eel spirit and mountain goblin had arrived.

“Why are you here?” Shui Miao pretended to be puzzled.

“Haha! You gave us such great treasures, so we’re here to help you find that person!” The mountain goblin looked lovingly at the ring on its thumb, clearly smitten.

The eel spirit added, “We know this place well. Finding someone is easier for us than for you. Who are you looking for? Tell us what she looks like, and we’ll help you find her.”

“Really!?” Shui Miao pretended to be excited.

“Of course! As real as the treasures you gave us. Hurry up and tell us!” The mountain goblin smiled happily.

The eel spirit, being naturally kind-hearted, grew impatient. “Oh! Why don’t you trust us?”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you. I’m just surprised. Thank you for helping me!” In truth, Shui Miao genuinely wanted to befriend them. The reason was simple—they were innocent and kind-hearted. Making friends with them meant no fear of betrayal. That was more than enough.

So, Shui Miao told them about the female cultivator he was searching for.

After hearing this, the eel spirit and mountain goblin exchanged glances, their expressions suddenly shocked. Almost in unison, they exclaimed, “That evil female ghost is your friend?”

“No, no, no!”

It was clear that the female cultivator he was looking for was a ghost, and a notorious one at that. Shui Miao quickly corrected himself, waving his hands. “She’s not my friend. I just learned from the imp that a female cultivator came here half a year ago. I thought she was a normal living cultivator, so I wanted to find her and exchange cultivation techniques. In fact, I’ve never even met her before. How could she be my friend?”