"By the way, Canfeng. That soul-attachment jade pendant from last time has already shattered. Take this. At a critical moment, it might just save your life."
As Jiuyou spoke, his palm turned over, and the Nether Capital Ghostfire manifested with a flourish. The ghostly blue flame danced in his palm, the surrounding temperature plummeting until even the air seemed ready to freeze.
He clenched his palm gently, forcibly compressing the mass of ghostfire with his magic power. The firelight grew brighter, more solid, until it finally condensed into a finger-sized bead. The bead was entirely a deep, ghostly blue, with faint flames swirling within.
"This is something I refined using a sliver of Nether Capital Fire's essence. To this old man, it's utterly insignificant, but to you, it's an absolute trump card. You've seen the power of Nether Capital Ghostfire. Even a Nascent Soul cultivator wouldn't dare take it head-on. As for Golden Core cultivators—touch it, and you die."
Jiuyou handed the bead over, his tone flat, as if discussing a trivial matter.
"Remember, once you unleash this thing, get far away. Don't get caught in the blast."
"Nether Capital Ghostfire!" Canfeng gasped, his eyes filled with shock.
He had personally witnessed the might of this ability when the Grand Ancestor had used it before.
That previous strike of Nether Capital Ghostfire had easily driven back a Righteous Path Nascent Soul cultivator, rescuing Elder Dan. That world-shattering power, that suffocating pressure—it was still vivid in his mind.
He didn't doubt the bead's power for a second.
"Thank you, Grand Ancestor, for bestowing this treasure!"
Canfeng hurriedly accepted it with both hands, carefully storing the bead inside his Storage Pouch and keeping it close to his body. Ecstasy surged through him. This was a life-saving trump card equivalent to another Nascent Soul cultivator's full-powered strike—at a critical moment, it could turn life and death around!
"Go. I have other matters to attend to."
Jiuyou waved his hand, saying no more.
Canfeng quickly bowed, then turned and shot into the distance as a streak of light.
After watching Canfeng disappear into the distance, Jiuyou swept his gaze around, his Divine Sense instantly expanding outward.
A moment later, he locked onto a direction, his form flickering, and he vanished from the spot.
In less than half an incense stick's time, he had found a steep cliff face. The cliff was covered in jagged rocks, desolate and uninhabited—a perfect temporary refuge.
Jiuyou raised a hand and pointed. A beam of cyan light shot from his palm, effortlessly carving a temporary cave several zhang deep into the cliff. He then placed several early-warning restrictive spells at the cave entrance, finally allowing himself a moment of ease.
His Divine Sense expanded again, covering a radius of two hundred li. After confirming no other cultivators were lurking nearby, Jiuyou slowly walked into the cave.
Inside, he sat down cross-legged and retrieved the Heavenly Light Mirror ancient relic from his Storage Pouch.
A flash of spiritual light at his fingertip, and a stream of cyan flames washed over the entire bronze mirror. The residual Divine Sense restrictive spells on the mirror were incinerated by the flames in an instant, vanishing without a trace.
Without a moment's hesitation, Jiuyou began re-refining the treasure.
He poured wave after wave of magic power into the bronze mirror, embedding Spiritual Mark after Spiritual Mark into the core of the artifact. He was determined to completely claim this ancient relic as his own, making it one of his hidden trump cards.
Several hours later.
On Canfeng's side, he had already captured five cultivators.
Aside from one cultivator at Early Golden Core, the other four were all at the foundation-establishing stage. As for the ones who didn't cooperate and tried to secretly escape, he and his controlled Soul Wraith Puppet had already killed them easily, not even leaving their souls behind—he had devoured them all.
Unfortunately, this secret realm was just too vast. With his abilities, trying to grab a large number of cultivators all at once was as difficult as reaching the heavens.
Canfeng walked on empty air, the giant Bone Hammer resting on his shoulder as he swayed unsteadily forward. He glanced left, then right, his gaze constantly sweeping the surroundings.
Behind him, the five captured cultivators obediently followed, their faces ashen, not daring to make a single wrong move. They had all been implanted with Divine Sense restrictive spells by Canfeng; their lives and deaths were solely in his hands.
Among them, the Early Golden Core cultivator secretly glanced at Canfeng before quickly lowering his head, cursing his own bad luck inwardly. But the restrictive spell in his Divine Sense left him with not a shred of will to resist.
Canfeng patrolled the area with his group, hoping to catch more cultivators.
Suddenly, his eyes sharpened as he stared at a certain point ahead.
A cyan light flashed in his gaze, and his Divine Sense instantly crossed over thirty li. At the very edge of his Divine Sense's detection range, he sensed four auras. Four Golden Core cultivators, all at the initial stage, their auras not particularly strong. They seemed to be rogue cultivators who had come to Heavenly Abyss Mountain together to seek treasures.
The corner of Canfeng's mouth slowly curled upward, revealing a cold, sinister smile.
"Finally found some decent ones."
His form flickered, transforming into a dark cyan streak of light, speeding toward their location. At the same time, his voice rang out in the ears of the five cultivators behind him, his tone dripping with condescending arrogance.
"You all stay put. Don't do anything stupid. Working for Soul Wraith Island is your honor. Our Soul Wraith Grand Ancestor is nearby. If you do your best, there will be plenty of rewards for you in the future."
The five cultivators looked at each other, their expressions complex.
Some showed fear; others gritted their teeth in silence, not daring to show any sign of it. After all, their lives were in his hands. What room was there for resistance?
Thirty li away.
Four Golden Core cultivators were paused in a wide, open meadow, as if identifying some kind of spiritual herb.
The leader was a tall, broad-shouldered man in a brocade robe. He held a strange spiritual herb brimming with spiritual energy and asked a young man in white robes beside him.
"Brother Gu, do you recognize what this is? I can see this herb has quite impressive spiritual energy—at least two hundred years old, I'd say."
The young man in white had ordinary features, but a sharp glint shone in his eyes. He took the herb, examined it closely, gave a slight nod, and answered without hesitation.
"This is a Spirit Nurturing Herb. It's used exclusively for raising spirit insects and spirit beasts. Fellow Daoist Huang, if you want to cultivate a spirit pet, this herb can accelerate its growth and make its physique stronger."
The man in brocade nodded thoughtfully, carefully storing the herb in his pouch.
Beside them stood two others.
One wore a hooded cloak, a black robe with gold patterns, his face cold and stern, silent. The other was a woman in a purple tight-fitting outfit, a lively look in her eyes, her gaze occasionally drifting toward the young man in white.
The young man in white looked around, then suddenly fixed his eyes on the distance, furrowing his brows. He spoke to the other three, a hint of urgency in his tone.
"Brother Huang, Brother Gao, Miss Zhou, this isn't a good place to stay. We should leave quickly."
Hearing this, Miss Zhou showed a hint of confusion in her eyes, then glanced at the several spirit plants growing on the ground, seemingly reluctant to part with them.
"Senior Brother Gu, why the rush? I was too proud before. Meeting you today, I've realized there's always a sky above a sky. Your mastery of alchemy and your knowledge of spirit herbs far surpass mine. Why don't we stay a little longer and harvest all these spirit herbs together?"
The young man in white was about to persuade her further when—
A cold, eerie laugh suddenly came from behind them, with no warning, as if it had emerged out of thin air.
"Where do you think you're going? How about taking this young master along? Hahaha—"
"Who?!"
"Who's playing tricks?!"
Aside from the young man in white, the other three were all startled by the sudden laughter. They quickly looked around, their magic power surging, magical artifacts secretly readied.
In that very moment, a giant skull hammer plummeted from the sky, whistling through the air as it hurtled straight toward where the four of them stood!
The four cultivators' Divine Senses twitched violently. They all leaped in different directions, barely dodging the blow.
Boom—!
The skull hammer slammed heavily into the ground. Dust flew, gravel scattered, and a pit several zhang wide appeared on the earth.
Canfeng's figure slowly descended from the sky, landing steadily on the hammer's handle. He looked down at the four from his lofty position.
A cold smile hung on his lips as his gaze swept over them, his tone dripping with unbridled arrogance.
"Hehehe. Soul Wraith Island conducts business. You'd all better surrender obediently. Maybe then you'll manage to find a way to live..."