Chapter 210: Soul Collection

Demonic energy permeated the area, making it impossible to know what lay within. Qin Sang's face showed a pensive expression. Instead of rashly diving in, he opened his corpse puppet bag and released the fiendish corpse.

Within the demonic energy, his spiritual sense could only cover a small area around him. Even if he encountered other companions, as long as he carefully controlled the distance, he wouldn't have to worry about the fiendish corpse being discovered. It was perfect for scouting ahead.

“Go!”

Upon Qin Sang's command, the fiendish corpse rushed into the demonic energy without hesitation. Unfazed by the encroaching demonic energy, it charged forward. After traveling a short distance, it suddenly encountered an uninvited guest blocking its path: a black shadow.

‘Bang!’

The fiendish corpse threw a punch, striking the black shadow squarely.

A chilling shriek echoed through the passage, filled with intense pain and madness, like a demonic melody invading one's mind. The black shadow, resembling a cloud of dark smoke, was shattered by the fiendish corpse's punch, only to immediately re-coalesce. It was a giant ghoul head. As it shrieked, it opened its gaping maw, glaring fiercely at the fiendish corpse, and lunged forward viciously.

The ghoul head was weaker than the fiendish corpse, which could shatter it with a single punch. However, the ghoul head resurrected itself again and again, as if indestructible, irritating the fiendish corpse immensely. Moreover, more and more ghostly entities sensed the fiendish corpse's presence and continuously swarmed towards it.

These ghostly entities were not limited to the form of ghoul heads; they were bizarre and extraordinarily vicious, creating a scene akin to a nocturnal parade of a hundred ghosts.

Through the spiritual imprint on the fiendish corpse, Qin Sang could sense its predicament.

“These are… artificially refined evil spirits?” Qin Sang muttered to himself, his brow furrowed, wondering how evil spirits could appear here.

While there were indeed countless types of cloud beasts, they differed fundamentally from evil spirits. The most common evil spirits were those artificially created by demonic cultivators—heretical practitioners who gathered souls to forge demonic artifacts, similar to the main souls of the Ten Directions Yama Banners.

Had demonic cultivators infiltrated the area? Why had no one come to investigate despite the fiendish corpse causing such a commotion? Qin Sang secretly wondered if he had wrongly accused Yin Xingge. However, since only evil spirits existed within the demonic energy, dealing with them wouldn't be difficult. And these two people had to be rescued. If there truly were powerful demonic experts, he could still retreat immediately after the rescue.

His thoughts racing, Qin Sang retracted his ebony sword. He opened his palm, and six Ten Directions Yama Banners floated out, swiftly orbiting him to form a grand formation.

The main souls of the Ten Directions Yama Banners flickered on the banners, using ghosts to subdue ghosts, unafraid of the evil spirits.

With the banner formation around him, Qin Sang felt considerably more secure, though he dared not relax. Remaining vigilant, he entered the demonic energy and caught up with the fiendish corpse.

“Go!”

Qin Sang raised a hand and pointed. In a flash, the six banners descended around the fiendish corpse, encompassing the evil spirits that were besieging it within the formation. Threads of shadowy souls glowed with an eerie blue light, and the main souls of the demonic artifacts crawled out from the banners.

He had expected a chaotic battle, but then a surprising scene unfolded before Qin Sang. Upon seeing the evil spirits, the main souls of the Yama Banners actually displayed an extreme sense of delight, an emotion so clear that even Qin Sang could distinctly perceive it.

It was like encountering delicious food, emitting a primal joy.

“Roar! Roar!”

Some of these demonic artifact main souls let out jubilant roars, others cackled eerily. Without Qin Sang's command, they eagerly pounced on the evil spirits.

The evil spirits, surprisingly, showed extreme fear towards the Yama Banner main souls, as if they had encountered natural predators. Their arrogant aggression towards the fiendish corpse vanished instantly, and they scattered in all directions.

‘Whoosh, whoosh…’

The Yama Banners flapped wildly, unleashing their full power. Threads of shadowy souls tightly bound the evil spirits within the grand formation. The main souls, as if entering a paradise overflowing with delectable food, began to feast heartily.

A chorus of ghostly wails filled the air. As the main souls devoured more and more evil spirits, their strength grew, and the quality of the Ten Directions Yama Banners slowly improved. The evil spirits were utterly defenseless.

“What’s going on?” Qin Sang was completely bewildered. For something like this to happen, there were only two possibilities.

Either these evil spirits were masterless, or the opponent controlling them was far weaker than Qin Sang.

It was true that demonic cultivators using soul-refining demonic artifacts could forcibly devour evil spirits controlled by an opponent, but this only occurred when there was a vast disparity in strength and the opponent had no means of retaliation.

Considering the strength of these evil spirits, their controller's cultivation must have been significant. Yet, they were being easily devoured by the Ten Directions Yama Banners, and the opponent seemed unaware of what was happening, offering no counter-measures.

Qin Sang was at a loss, but it wasn't a bad thing.

After obtaining the Ten Directions Yama Banners from Sun De, Qin Sang had not engaged in soul-refining by killing, which had caused the banners' quality to stagnate.

Sun De had been cautious, not daring to carry out widespread massacres under Shaohua Mountain's jurisdiction. None of these six Yama Banners had reached the grand accomplishment stage. Qin Sang wondered how many evil spirits were in the demonic energy and to what extent they could improve the Ten Directions Yama Banners.

Qin Sang controlled the Ten Directions Yama Banners to devour the ghosts, while allowing the fiendish corpse to continue scouting ahead.

As both were inanimate, the fiendish corpse could actually elude the evil spirits' perception, as long as it avoided them and didn't actively attack.

Soon, all the evil spirits within the formation were devoured. Qin Sang raised his hand and recalled the Ten Directions Yama Banners, noting that their luster was brighter than before, and the patterns on their surfaces were more vivid. If there were enough evil spirits here, he might even be able to elevate all six banners to the grand accomplishment stage.

Tapping his toe lightly on the ground, Qin Sang resumed his journey at a very fast pace, for the fiendish corpse had already located the two individuals.

In a recessed area of the passage, two cultivators were defending themselves by pressing their backs against the stone wall, using the terrain to their advantage. One was in relatively good condition, while the other was pale-faced and injured.

Together, they activated a ring-shaped magical artifact, which projected a golden-yellow light barrier. Outside, countless evil spirits were pressed together, savagely ramming the barrier, causing it to flicker erratically and appear on the verge of collapse.

Both cultivators looked anxious. They had fled all the way here and were nearing exhaustion. Countless evil spirits had completely blocked their escape, and there were even more terrifying presences than the evil spirits themselves.

If no one came to rescue them, they were doomed!

Qin Sang swiftly arrived at the scene. He found the two surrounded by countless evil spirits, chose a secluded spot to set up the Ten Directions Yama Formation, and then intentionally revealed himself within the formation, calling out loudly, “Are those Fellow Daoist Ning and Fellow Daoist Chai up ahead? Don’t make a sound, but find an opportunity to escape.”

As his voice rang out, the evil spirits were startled by Qin Sang and turned to pounce on him. The pressure on the two besieged cultivators immediately lessened. Seizing the opportunity, they fully activated their magical artifact and broke through the encirclement.

Seeing Qin Sang, who had come to their aid, both bowed with faces full of gratitude. “Thank you, Senior Qin, for saving our lives!”

“Less talk…” Qin Sang quickly informed them of the situation. “Go quickly and help Fellow Daoist Yun Qiong. I will cover your rear.”