Chapter 1493: Separated

In the South Sea, within the Sea of Myriad Ghosts.

A particular area within this sea was thick with dark, gloomy energy. The water was black, and the occasional wails and howls of ghosts sent shivers down one's spine.

From the depths of the sea, a deafening boom echoed, accompanied by a faint, dazzling flash of firelight and piercing wails of ghosts.

Deep within the sea, eighteen massive black banners hovered high in the air. Their surfaces gleamed with dark light, exuding an overwhelming aura of ghostly energy. Grotesque ghost faces were faintly visible on the flags. Ye Haitang stood mid-air, her expression cold and her black hair fluttering in the wind.

The eighteen enormous black banners encircled a ball of green light. The light revealed a beautiful young woman in a green dress, emanating a chilling aura – clearly a Nascent Soul stage ghost.

The young woman in the green dress had terror in her eyes, and her spiritual energy was weak.

Immortal Zi Yue held her Fire Sparrow Fan, her expression indifferent. The Sea-Suppressing Ape stood on the sea surface, baring its fangs.

Ye Haitang changed her incantation. The eighteen Heavenly Ghost Banners simultaneously emitted wailing ghost cries, as if countless spirits were weeping. From the banners, delicate black threads spewed forth, rapidly weaving into a massive black net that descended upon the young woman in the green dress.

The black net covered the young woman in the green dress, who let out a pained scream. Wisps of green smoke rose from her body.

A shrill, piercing ghost wail resounded. The young woman's eyes turned malevolent, and her fingers elongated drastically. She grabbed the black net with both hands and tore it apart, breaking free. Opening her mouth, she spat out a hazy green flame that transformed into a green fire swallow, over ten zhang (approximately 33 meters) in size, and shot towards Immortal Zi Yue.

Immortal Zi Yue dared not be careless. She fiercely fanned her Fire Sparrow Fan, and rolling flames swept out, transforming into a crimson fire sparrow with a wingspan of a hundred zhang (approximately 330 meters), radiating an overwhelming wave of heat.

The crimson fire sparrow let out a clear cry, flapped its wings, and flew to meet the green fire swallow.

The crimson fire sparrow and the green fire swallow collided, immediately unleashing a powerful wave of energy. In mere moments, the green fire swallow disintegrated and vanished, overwhelmed by the crimson fire sparrow.

Seizing this opportune moment, a chilling wind intensified, and the young woman in the green dress suddenly disappeared.

A cold, eerie wind blew behind Ye Haitang. The young woman in the green dress suddenly reappeared behind her.

As the saying goes, "pick the softer persimmon." Immortal Zi Yue's aura was significantly stronger than Ye Haitang's, and she also possessed a spiritual treasure. The ghost naturally knew whom to target.

Ye Haitang had already anticipated this. Her body erupted with dark light, covering an area of ten zhang (approximately 33 meters) around her. This was the Divine Underworld Light, a special divine ability specifically designed to counter ghosts.

As soon as the dark light appeared, it enveloped the beautiful woman in green. She immediately let out a painful shriek, and wisps of green smoke rose from her body, which flickered in and out of existence, seemingly on the verge of disintegration.

A dark black banner descended from the sky. With a gentle sweep, a black aura surged out, covering the beautiful woman in green and pulling her into the banner's surface, where she vanished.

"Collect!"

Ye Haitang changed her incantation again. The eighteen Heavenly Ghost Banners rapidly shrunk, transforming into eighteen streaks of dark light that disappeared into her sleeves.

"It's finally resolved. Thank you, Senior Martial Aunt Zhao."

Ye Haitang expressed her gratitude. They had stayed in the Sea of Myriad Ghosts for over half a year, collecting numerous ghosts, specifically subjugating two Nascent Soul stage ghosts, fifteen Core Formation stage ghosts, and thousands of low-level ghosts.

Low-level ghosts were not very useful; they could only win by sheer numbers, and often suffered heavy casualties in a single battle. Therefore, high-level cultivators primarily came to the Sea of Myriad Ghosts to capture high-level ghosts, rarely bothering with low-level ones.

The eighteen Heavenly Ghost Banners had captured thousands of ghosts, mostly low-level. If Ye Haitang spent time refining them, the banners' power would increase significantly.

"It was nothing. Let's go! Let's rendezvous with Senior Martial Brother Wang."

Immortal Zi Yue put away her Sea-Suppressing Ape. The two women transformed into two streaks of light, piercing through the air and vanishing into the horizon.

On a certain desolate island, about a hundred miles in circumference, the terrain was higher in the south and lower in the north. Dozens of large black trees grew on the island.

Wang Ruyan and Wang Changsheng stood atop a peak, gazing into the distance.

In the distance, a golden light could be seen. Numerous low-level ghosts scattered in all directions, with the golden light in close pursuit.

Not long after, the golden light flew back. It was a Soul-Devouring Golden Cicada, only at the low-grade third rank. This was Wang Ruyan's Soul-Devouring Golden Cicada.

They both raised Soul-Devouring Golden Cicadas, but their advancement speed was too slow. Wang Ruyan had nurtured hers for over a century, yet it was only at the third rank. Wang Changsheng had nurtured his for several centuries, and it was still only at the high-grade third rank.

Wang Ruyan flicked her wrist, and the Soul-Devouring Golden Cicada transformed into a streak of golden light, flying back into its spirit beast orb.

"The environment here is good; the Soul-Devouring Golden Cicada has almost no natural enemies. However, without Core Formation stage ghost kings, it doesn't have much appetite," Wang Ruyan said, sounding a bit helpless. The Soul-Devouring Golden Cicada had a picky appetite. It had no interest in ghosts of too low a rank, and it might not be a match for ghosts of too high a rank. Aside from the Sea of Myriad Ghosts, no other place had so many ghosts.

It was precisely because of the high difficulty in advancing the Soul-Devouring Golden Cicada that Myriad Beasts Island had not cultivated any fourth-rank Soul-Devouring Golden Cicadas. The Sea of Myriad Ghosts was thick with Yin energy; even Nascent Soul cultivators felt uncomfortable staying there for too long, let alone low-level cultivators. For the Soul-Devouring Golden Cicada, the Sea of Myriad Ghosts was a space full of food, but it needed to be looked after by a cultivator; otherwise, the Soul-Devouring Golden Cicada could easily be killed by high-level ghosts.

"It's precisely because the Soul-Devouring Golden Cicada is so difficult to advance that fewer cultivators raise them," Wang Changsheng said with a light chuckle. "If it were that easy to advance, Myriad Beasts Island would have long ago cultivated fourth-rank Soul-Devouring Golden Cicadas." Advancing spirit insects was inherently harder than advancing spirit beasts or spirit birds, and auxiliary spirit insects were even more difficult to advance. The Soul-Devouring Golden Cicada had previously devoured Nascent Soul stage ghosts and Sky Beast Pills, but none of it had been very effective.

"My Soul-Devouring Golden Cicada's rank is too low. Let's give it to Haitang to help look after it! She's based in the Sea of Myriad Ghosts anyway."

Wang Ruyan intended to entrust the Soul-Devouring Golden Cicada to Ye Haitang's care. Wang Ruyan herself could not permanently reside in the Sea of Myriad Ghosts, but Ye Haitang could.

A streak of purple light and a streak of dark light appeared on the horizon, rapidly flying towards them.

Not long after, Immortal Zi Yue and Ye Haitang landed before them.

"Haitang, you succeeded, right?"

Ye Haitang nodded excitedly and said, "Yes, I succeeded! By refining it with the Yin energy here, the longer it's refined, and the more ghosts are absorbed, the greater the power of the Heavenly Ghost Banners."

If she had eighteen Nascent Soul stage ghosts at her command, Ye Haitang could use them to set up the Myriad Ghosts Immortal-Slaying Formation, which even late Nascent Soul cultivators couldn't withstand. However, she only thought about it; being able to subdue a few Nascent Soul stage ghosts was already excellent. With her current cultivation level, if she were truly given eighteen Nascent Soul stage ghosts, she wouldn't be able to control them.

Wang Changsheng nodded and said to Wang Ruyan, "Let's go back! Wife, you return to Green Lotus Island first. I'll stay here for a while."

"Alright, be careful, both of you. I'll head back now. Haitang, I'm entrusting this Soul-Devouring Golden Cicada to your care. This is the insect-controlling ring, used to control it. Just release it every so often and let it devour some ghosts."

Wang Ruyan took out a cyan ring and a spirit beast orb, handed them to Ye Haitang, then transformed into a long blue rainbow and soared into the sky, disappearing into the horizon.

Ye Haitang solemnly put away the insect-controlling ring and the spirit beast orb. She then followed Wang Changsheng as he flew towards the depths of the Sea of Myriad Ghosts. Before long, they vanished into the thick Yin energy, as if they had never been there.