Chapter 444: Chapter 429: An Unfavorable Start [Part 2]
"I miscalculated; I didn’t expect the space compression force generated during the teleportation of this large remote teleportation array to be so great that even the ’Great Transposition Order’ couldn’t completely counteract it!"
Inside the dark and damp underground cavern, Zhouyang looked gloomily at the Zhou Family cultivators lying scattered and unconscious on the ground, feeling very unsettled.
He had thought that with the protection of the "Great Transposition Order," there shouldn’t be any problems.
But in reality, he underestimated the space compression force generated by such a remote teleportation and overestimated the endurance of Qi Cultivation Stage cultivators.
Even with the ’Great Transposition Order’ counteracting over ninety percent of the space compression force, the remaining less than one percent was still enough to be fatal for Qi Cultivation Stage cultivators.
Now, apart from several Purple Mansion and Foundation Establishment cultivators who could still remain conscious and stand, all Qi Cultivation Stage cultivators were severely injured and unconscious due to the space compression force, with seven older, weaker Zhou Family Qi Cultivation Stage cultivators having their hearts burst on the spot, dying instantly.
However, since the situation was already like this, it was pointless to dwell on it. Zhouyang quickly adjusted his emotions and instructed Xiao Ying, who had started treating the injured, "Ying’Er, the treatment of these people is up to you, I’ll go out first to check the situation outside."
After speaking, he told Zhou Guangxiang and a few Foundation Establishment cultivators, "As for Guangxiang and the others, stay here and assist Ying’Er as guardians. Until I return, do not leave!"
After arranging the matters, Zhouyang nodded at Xu Song, indicating for him to join in the reconnaissance of the situation outside.
Moments later, Zhouyang and Xu Song left the underground cavern and emerged in the lifeless waters of the lakebed.
"Such a dense Yin Sha Qi, it seems many have died here once!"
Xu Song, as a ghost cultivator, considered a place with such dense Yin Sha Qi a perfect cultivation ground.
As he spoke, he had already started absorbing Yin Sha Qi to restore the magical power expended previously using the ’Great Transposition Order.’
"This is very strange; according to what I know, the Great Brightness Immortal Palace detests demonic cultivators no less than the Profound Sun Immortal Sect. The Light Divine Techniques they practice have significant restraining effects on various dark forces, so why has the area originally belonging to the Great Brightness Immortal Palace’s teleportation array turned into such a land of Yin and Evil?"
Zhouyang’s eyes flashed with golden-red spiritual light, as he activated the ’Separation Fire Golden Eye’ divine technique to scan the lake.
In the vast Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm, with this divine technique activated, he could faintly see things thousands of miles away.
However, now at the bottom of the lake, his gaze couldn’t penetrate the water to see the sky above.
Strands of gray-black Yin Sha Qi permeated the water, obstructing his vision.
Regarding extending his Divine Sense for wide-range scanning, given the unclear situation here, Zhouyang naturally wouldn’t do something so rash as to alert any potential threats.
Seeing this, he retracted his divine technique and looked at Xu Song, who was restoring his magical power, saying, "It seems that scouting this place is something only Elder Xu can handle for now!"
"No problem, just watch how this old man handles it!"
Xu Song responded, immediately took out his pitch-black demon banner and shook it, releasing several demon souls to swim towards the lake surface.
These demon souls, as long as they didn’t leave Xu Song’s hundred-mile range, could transmit the scenes they witnessed back to Xu Song, effectively giving him several additional pairs of eyes.
Not long after this, Xu Song suddenly groaned, then looked at Zhouyang and said, "Something doesn’t seem right. One of the demon souls I sent out has died; it seems it stumbled into an array and was killed by the array power!"
As he spoke, he had already shaken the demon banner to summon the remaining demon souls back.
Since Zhouyang never agreed to let him use souls of cultivators to refine ghost slaves, the demon souls he had were all refined using beast souls, and were extremely limited in number. He couldn’t afford to lose too many at once.
"Elder Xu, these demon souls of yours, though they can’t defeat Purple Mansion cultivators, can last a while against them. Yet, one was eliminated so quickly; it seems this place is indeed unusual!"
Zhouyang felt alarmed, and his expression turned serious.
Suddenly, as if remembering something, he looked at Xu Song and asked, "Right, can you still summon back the demon soul that was teleported here earlier?"
"No, I just tried. That demon soul seems to have gained some fortuitous opportunity here, its strength has greatly increased, shedding most of the subjugation restriction I placed on it. Now, I can only faintly sense its location through the residual connection."
Xu Song shook his head with a difficult expression and explained the situation.
It turned out that his control over these demon souls was just through a Ghost Dao Secret Technique implanting a servitude restriction within the demon souls. As long as the demon soul remained by his side and its strength could not increase, it naturally could not break free of his control.
However, after that demon soul was transported here, although the servitude restriction within it was still in effect, Xu Song had lost control over the demon soul because the distance was too great.
Over the years, the demon soul had gained some unknown fortune in this lake, rich with Yin Sha Qi, allowing its strength to surge, giving it the capability to extinguish the servitude restriction imposed by Xu Song. It had been persistently attempting to eradicate Xu Song’s servitude restriction, achieving considerable success.
After he explained, a ghostly light flickered in his ghost eye, and he suddenly addressed Zhouyang solemnly, "Fellow Daoist Zhou, if you can trust this old man, you can return to that underground cave to wait. Leave the task of exploring to me. As long as this place is not a deadly trap capable of killing even Nascent Soul Stage cultivators, I assure you I can find a safe way out for you!"
Zhouyang was initially taken aback upon hearing this and then looked at him thoughtfully, pondering.
How could Zhouyang not understand the implication of Xu Song’s words?
The Yin Sha Qi around this lake is so abundant that it would certainly give rise to some demon corpses or similar demons. A demon soul released by Xu Song more than ten years ago could grow here to the point of resisting his servitude; thus, this place is greatly beneficial for a Ghost Dao cultivator like Xu Song.
Now, Xu Song asking him to return to the underground cave to wait was undoubtedly hinting at wanting him to stay out of the way and not interfere with his ghost refining activities here.
With Xu Song’s foundation as a Tier Five Middle-grade Array Master, if he had an abundant number of ghost demons to exploit as pawns opening the way, finding a safe path here wouldn’t be too difficult.
"Elder Xu should be aware of my bottom line. I have only one request: absolutely no killing of living beings to refine them into ghost demons or demon corpses. If the elder can uphold this bottom line, I am not one to stubbornly adhere to old ways!"
Zhouyang pondered for a moment but didn’t entirely reject Xu Song’s proposal, just stated his bottom line.
"No problem, I agree,"
Xu Song readily and straightforwardly accepted Zhouyang’s condition.
Afterward, nodding slightly to Zhouyang, he directly followed the guidance, sweeping towards a nearby location dense with Yin Sha Qi.
Seeing this, Zhouyang sighed lightly, shook his head, and turned back to the underground cave.
He originally didn’t wish for Xu Song to extensively refine ghost demons or demon corpses, these Demon Dao entities.
Back then, he agreed to Xu Song’s condition to make him a ghost servant. His interest was not in his combat prowess but in the Tier Five Array Master inheritance and Artifact Refiner inheritance he possessed, as well as the extensive knowledge and cultivation insights of a Golden Core Stage cultivator.
His initial intention was to have Xu Song as a senior he could consult on cultivation matters, a tool to help him resolve doubts — an encyclopedia.
However, as he repeatedly summoned Xu Song for battle aid, repeatedly achieved victories and bountiful rewards through him, his reliance on Xu Song, a Golden Core Stage ghost cultivator, deepened to the point where it became increasingly difficult to forgo the combat support provided.
Yes, Zhouyang knew very well that this wasn’t right. Continuing like this would make it increasingly difficult to wash away the suspicion of colluding with Demon Dao cultivators, even turning suspicion into fact.
Yet changes in circumstances always left him with little choice but to rely on Xu Song’s strength to break through situations.
For instance, this time, if he didn’t agree to Xu Song’s request and didn’t use ghost demons and demon corpses as cannon fodder to explore the path, he would have to risk the lives of their Zhou Family cultivators to find a way out.
"I must form a Core as soon as possible. Once I reach the Golden Core Stage, I can rid myself of reliance on Xu Song and face various challenges with ease without needing his Demon Dao ghost tricks!"
With these thoughts in mind, Zhouyang returned to the underground cave without saying much to others, merely setting up a carried array to isolate the external Yin Sha Qi from eroding the low-tier cultivators in the cave, allowing everyone to patiently meditate and cultivate while waiting for results.
This time, besides bringing these dozens of Zhou Family cultivators, Zhouyang had also removed over 500,000 low-grade Spirit Stones, four sets of Tier Four arrays, over a dozen sets of Tier Three arrays, more than 400 Tier Two and Tier Three artifacts, over 3,000 Tier Two and Tier Three Spirit Talismans, and tens of thousands of Grain Avoidance Pills, Blood Coagulation Pills, Antitoxic Pills, and other Spirit Pills, nearly emptying half of the Zhou Family Treasure Vault’s stock of treasures.
With these treasures, as long as they could occupy a Tier Four Spirit Mountain in this Land of the Far West, within a hundred years, they could re-establish a family branch not inferior to an ordinary Purple Mansion clan.
Moreover, the cultivators who accompanied him on this journey were promised by Zhouyang that if they survived until the erection of the family branch, the first of their descendants with Middle-grade Spiritual Root would directly receive a Foundation Establishment Pill from the family to assist in building their foundation, after reaching the Ninth-Layer Qi Cultivation.
If they didn’t manage to produce descendants with Middle-Grade Spiritual Root Talent, it didn’t matter; the reward could defer to three generations, and if no Middle-Grade Spiritual Root Talent emerged after three generations, the family would directly grant a Foundation Establishment Pill to the most outstanding of their descendants to consume.
Unfortunately, the seven cultivators who perished upon being transported here are unable to receive this reward.