Chapter 144

Chapter 144

Shuili Yin held a long, dark-green flute that was tied to her waist, gazing intently at the mist-shrouded area ahead with a serious expression.

As a sound cultivator who cultivated the Pure Spirit Body, she was extremely sensitive to non-elemental spirit energy, particularly the evil aura in the air that allowed her to detect it instantly. Instinctively disliking it, she had a premonition that there would be more malevolent energy ahead.

If there were no surprises, the malevolent energy would certainly give birth to something imbued with it, which could be a malevolent beast or perhaps some heavenly treasures.

But the more so, the more dangerous it became.

Duan Haoyan couldn't help but curse, "What kind of place is this? There won't really be any malevolent beasts, will there?"

"Master Duan, don’t jinx it. What if a malevolent beast really does appear?"

Duan Haoyan glared at Tang Tuan, who had spoken, wanting to say that he wasn't jinxing anything; he couldn't even mention it? To take care of Little Tang Tuan's fragile nerves, these Tang Tuans were indeed conscientious and responsible.

However, with Wen Qiao present, he couldn't lose his temper recklessly and could only hold it in.

Suddenly, they saw the gray mist ahead surge as something approached them.

The creature came swiftly, leaping forward with its front hooves toward them.

"You can't be serious? It's real? Master Duan is truly a jinx!"

As the Tang Tuans exclaimed in surprise, they intercepted the thing running over and quickly identified what it was.

It was a low-level carrion-eating beast.

A carrion-eating beast wasn't very powerful, living off decaying matter. It usually appeared in dark and filthy places where the decayed remains of plants and demonic beasts served as its food, making it easy to sustain. Moreover, they were exceptionally timid, hiding at the slightest disturbance and generally not daring to appear before stronger demonic beasts or cultivators.

Yet, this carrion-eating beast stared with blood-red eyes, displaying an unusually irritable temperament. Despite being weak, it dared to attack them.

The Tang Tuans enveloped it with strange water to study the carrion-eating beast.

The carrion-eating beast charged back and forth within the cage formed by the strange water, emitting threatening roars. Its blood-red eyes were particularly terrifying.

Everyone soon noticed something amiss. Apart from the carrion-eating beast's typically small courage, most of its eyes were black, and its fur was mostly gray-brown. However, this carrion-eating beast was not only abnormally irritable, but its fur had also turned into a dull gray color. Whenever it became agitated, an uncomfortable aura would emanate from its body.

"It's malevolent energy," Shuili Yin frowned. "It has been tainted by quite a bit of malevolent energy."

Wen Qiao's heart stirred. Could it be like those cultivators in Tai Zecheng who went mad? All of them had their bodies altered by malevolent energy, turning into monsters that only knew how to attack.

However, those people were disturbed by the malevolent energy in problematic spirit pills, while this carrion-eating beast was infected by the surrounding malevolent energy.

The Tang Tuans looked at each other, hesitantly saying, "Is this considered a type of malevolent beast?"

Duan Haoyan couldn't help but ridicule them, "Is this a malevolent beast? Clearly, it's just an ordinary demonic beast infected by malevolent energy. How can it be considered a malevolent beast? Can your brains hold less water?"

"Whose brain has water? Don't speak nonsense." Tang Shaolin, young and hot-headed, couldn't help but retort.

"Aren't the Tangs known for playing with water? You're all water, so where did I go wrong?"

"You..."

The water players and fire players exchanged verbal barbs, with the water-playing Tang Tuans never able to outdo the fire-playing Duan firecrackers.

Little Tang Tuan was infuriated, while Duan Haoyan hummed arrogantly. However, when he noticed Wen Qiao looking over, his raised face froze, silently turning away as the arrogant look on his face subsided significantly.

The appearance of this carrion-eating beast made everyone present understand that this place was indeed filled with malevolent energy. There might be other malevolent creatures ahead, whether demonic beasts or malevolent beasts, none of which were easy to deal with.

For this carrion-eating beast already tainted by malevolent energy, due to its extreme weakness, everyone ignored it. After they left, they retrieved the strange water that had trapped it.

Unexpectedly, the carrion-eating beast chased after them.

A group of people flew on their tools, seeing the carrion-eating beast relentlessly pursuing them when they looked down.

"What does it want?"

"It clearly sees us as prey."

"Could it be that after being infected by malevolent energy, even a demonic beast's instincts change?"

"Judging by its behavior, it seems so."

...

The Tang Tuans discussed enthusiastically. Fortunately, although this carrion-eating beast had its instincts altered by malevolent energy, it was still essentially a low-level demonic beast. Everyone sped up, quickly leaving it behind.

As they moved forward, they could clearly feel that the surrounding malevolent energy was increasing. These malevolent energies resembled gray gases, shrouding the plains and wilderness, interfering with both vision and spiritual perception.

"Caw—"

"Caw caw—"

After flying for an unknown amount of time, a series of croaking sounds came from the depths of the gray mist ahead.

Everyone looked into the distance. The gray mist was dense, preventing them from seeing clearly what was there. But as the dense croaking sounds approached, they knew that many things were flying toward them.

The sound grew closer and clearer, and Duan Shaolin decisively said, "Everyone, get down."

Everyone landed on the ground one after another. Not long after standing still, they saw a flock of dark birds sweeping across the sky from within the gray mist.

They were a flock of birds with grayish hair, densely packed. Appearing in mid-air, they emitted croaking calls, swooping down upon seeing the group of cultivators below.

Everyone present recognized these birds as quack sparrows. They weren't large in size, but their numbers were overwhelming, always appearing in vast swarms.

Moreover, their gray beaks were exceptionally sharp, as if there was nothing they couldn't peck.

However, these quack sparrows rarely initiated attacks on other living beings unless provoked. Normally, their temperaments were relatively gentle, preferring to live among forests and rarely appearing in such barren wilderness areas.

However, at this moment, these quackbirds were acting contrary to what they knew of them. Not only did they attack them fiercely, but their small eyes were also blood-red. This made them realize that these were yet another group of demonic beasts eroded by malevolent aura, similar to the carrion beast from earlier.

A quackbird swooped down like an arrow, snatching a piece of cloth from Shuilinyin's shoulder. If not for Shuilinyin dodging in time, it might have taken more than just a piece of her precious robe.

Shuilinyin was wearing a treasured robe, a spirit artifact of the Profound rank, which showed the sharpness of the quackbird's beak.

Duan Haoyan hurled a fireball, reducing the bird that had torn Shuilinyin's robe to ashes.

"Fall back!"

He shouted, launching one fireball after another at the flock of quackbirds.

The Tangtuan members conjured water arrows, shooting them at the birds and knocking them down one by one.

Wen Qiao protected Ning Yuzhou behind her, holding a whip in one hand. The long whip moved like a snake, striking down the quackbirds diving from the sky. Before long, the ground was littered with corpses.

Wen Tutu no longer pretended to be a fur ball, leaping from her shoulder to claw at the flock of birds.

Despite this, the number of quackbirds was too great. The dense mass of them seemed endless, no matter how many were killed.

"Azhuo, the Flame Pearls." Ning Yuzhou suddenly said.

Wen Qiao's heart stirred as she immediately understood his intention. She retrieved several crimson pearls and told the Tangtuan members, "Erect your defenses; I'm going to use the Flame Pearls."

The Tangtuan members acknowledged her words. As Wen Qiao acted, they used exotic water to create a defensive barrier, enveloping them within its protective shield.

The Flame Pearls flew toward where the quackbirds were most concentrated, exploding with a loud boom and transforming into a sea of flames. The bursting tongues of fire were met by the exotic water, which held them all at bay.

Although the power of the Flame Pearls didn't match that of the Explosive Pearls, they carried an explosive burst of flames, which was equally devastating. Instantly, a third of the quackbirds were extinguished, their charred corpses falling from the sky.

Seeing the effectiveness of the Flame Pearls, Wen Qiao threw out several more, eliminating another quarter of the quackbirds.

The explosions and flames caused the quackbirds to cry out incessantly, clearly aware of the danger. However, their nature was fierce, and they fearlessly charged towards them, pecking at the defensive barrier erected by the exotic water.

Duan Haoyan condensed dozens of small fireballs, hurling them at the birds.

Wen Qiao and Wen Tutu acted simultaneously, sweeping away multiple quackbirds with a single lash of the whip, dealing with the quackbirds attacking the exotic water barrier.

The Tangtuan members had to maintain the exotic water barrier, consuming a significant amount of spiritual energy and leaving them unable to attack.

Suddenly, a clear and melodious flute sound echoed.

The frenzied quackbirds paused, subconsciously pecking a few times. Their violent attacks gradually calmed under the soothing effect of the flute music.

Shuilinyin lowered her gaze, quietly playing the flute and infusing the intent of sound cultivation into the melody, pacifying the frenzied quackbirds.

Under the influence of the flute music, the quackbirds ceased their attacks. They regained their usual docility, circling around before finally taking flight towards the distant gray mist, disappearing into it.

The flute music gradually faded, and the surroundings became quiet once again.

The Tangtuan members withdrew the exotic water barrier, each retrieving spirit stones and spirit essence pills to replenish their elemental spirit energy.

Duan Haoyan's complexion was somewhat pale. His exotic fire possessed immense destructive power. Although he wasn't the strongest among them, he was the fiercest during battles. He had killed the most quackbirds, leading to an excessive depletion of elemental spirit energy within him.

After swallowing a spirit essence pill, Duan Haoyan turned to look at Wen Qiao and Ning Yuzhou.

Ning Yuzhou, Wen Qiao, and Shuilinyin had consumed little elemental spirit energy, so they stood guard for the others while also examining the corpses of the quackbirds on the ground.

"The malevolent aura within these quackbirds is heavier than that of the carrion beast," Shuilinyin remarked.

Ning Yuzhou glanced at her, quickly understanding that Shuilinyin's cultivation of the Purifying Spirit Body had achieved some success, allowing her to perceive malevolent aura with such sensitivity.

"Could it be that they've all been influenced by the environment here, causing them to become like this?" Wen Qiao asked, squatting there and poking at the corpses of the quackbirds on the ground with a spirit sword.

Wen Tutu also came over, unable to discern anything, and calmly pulled out a spirit fruit from her cheek pouch to munch on.

"It should be so," Shuilinyin sighed, unsure of what kind of place this was, for it to retain such a large amount of malevolent aura, even infecting other demonic beasts and transforming them into ferocious and easily angered creatures.

Once the Tangtuan members and Duan Haoyan had mostly recovered their elemental spirit energy, they also approached to examine the situation.

"It seems there are quite a few types of demonic beasts affected by the malevolent aura here," Tang Shaolin summarized.

Duan Haoyan had no interest in this. Feeling somewhat awkward, he asked, "Miss Min, were those Flame Pearls just now refined by Young Master Ning?"

Before Wen Qiao could answer, the Tangtuan members spoke quickly, "These Flame Pearls were refined by Qi Jiake of the Qixing Sect, and they were refined under the guidance of Young Master Ning."

"Yes, three years ago when we went to the Qixing Sect, we originally wanted to buy Flame Pearls from Qi Jiake, but he said he hadn't refined them yet."

"Never would I have thought that three years later, he finally managed to refine them."

"Last time, he promised us that if he refined them, he would sell us some. If we had known he had already refined them, we would have found him to buy them before entering the Thousand Islands Secret Realm. I never expected him to directly give Young Master Ning a bag of Flame Pearls..."

"Of course, he has to give them to Young Master Ning. If not for Young Master Ning's guidance, how could he have refined them? In my opinion, the most powerful are still the Explosive Pearls refined by Young Master Ning."

...

As the Tangtuan members explained, Duan Haoyan and Shuilinyin were enlightened.

Recalling the power of the flames when the Flame Pearls exploded earlier, they were incredibly lethal, making them perfect for dealing with large numbers of demonic beasts. Moreover, using them felt incredibly satisfying.

As someone who played with fire, Duan Haoyan was extremely interested in these large-scale lethal Flame Pearls. He decided that after leaving the Thousand Islands Secret Realm, he would also go to the Qixing Sect to find Qi Jiake and make some reservations.

After they had dealt with the remaining corpses of the quackbirds on the ground, they continued forward.

As they ventured deeper, the surrounding gray mist grew denser. The omnipresent malevolent aura made them truly uncomfortable.

Especially Shuilinyin, who cultivated the Purifying Spirit Body, was naturally drawn to pure energy and particularly repelled by malevolent aura, a corrupting force. Her expression was rather grim.

Duan Haoyan glanced at her, clicked his tongue, and asked, "How are you?"

Shuilinyin's complexion paled slightly, yet her expression remained calm as she smiled and said, "It's nothing, Young Master Duan, you don't need to worry."

"Who's worried about you? If you can't hold on, just say so; I won't laugh at you..." Duan Haoyan muttered under his breath.

The malevolent aura around them had grown so dense that it was affecting both their vision and divine senses, limiting the range of their divine senses to only a dozen or so feet. As for their eyes, they could barely see more than ten feet around them.

This was highly unusual for cultivators accustomed to relying on their divine senses for vigilance.

However, Wen Qiao and Ning Yuzhou had both participated in the trials of the Demon Sealing Mystic Realm, where the demonic aura similarly weakened divine senses and vision. It was simply a matter of getting used to it.

Due to the overwhelming malevolence in the air, everyone was forced to descend from the sky and continue on foot.

Whether in the sky or on the ground, the thick gray fog formed by the malevolent aura posed a threat. In the event of sudden danger, being on the ground proved safer and facilitated their defense.

After walking for a while, Ning Yuzhou suddenly stopped.

"Husband, what's wrong?" Wen Qiao called out.

Upon seeing this, the others also halted, looking at them with confusion.

Ning Yuzhou pulled out a small, exquisitely crafted lantern from his storage bag, holding it in his slender, fair hand. The sight of such an elegant lantern amidst the harsh surroundings seemed oddly out of place.

At that moment, the lantern flickered to life, soon emitting a bright glow that seemed to dissipate much of the surrounding malevolence.

Duan Haoyan and Shuilinyin watched in astonishment as they realized that the lantern was absorbing the malevolent aura, and the brighter its light became, the more it absorbed.

"A Treasured Branch Lantern!"

Recognizing the lantern, Tangtuan immediately perked up, "Right, the Treasured Branch Lantern absorbs malevolent aura; it's perfect for use now."

With that, the Tangtuans retrieved their lanterns, but there were only five of them—the same five Treasured Branch Lanterns that Ning Yuzhou had refined for those five Tangtuans several years ago.

The Treasured Branch Lantern was originally a spirit artifact specifically designed to counteract malevolent aura, capable of drawing in the surrounding malevolence as energy. The more malevolence there was, the better its illuminating effect.