Chapter 911: The Untouchable Taboo

Huaxin's eyes widened. She urgently exclaimed, "Jiang Fan! Can you please be a decent human being?!"

Jiang Fan smiled faintly. Since he had decided to harvest, he would naturally gather more. If they could use it outside, great; otherwise, he could feed the leftovers to Huaxin. Nothing would go to waste.

With preparations complete, he looked around. After leaving the forbidden zone, his senses became much clearer. He could even distinctly feel a faint spatial fluctuation in the far distance. Without a doubt, that was the location of the spatial array.

Locking onto the direction, he held the Yin Marrow Tiger Talisman and said, "Chaoge, stay close to me."

Xia Chaoge nodded and replied, "I know what to do." She moved closer to Jiang Fan and skillfully linked her arm through his.

"Uh—" Jiang Fan froze. He meant for her to follow, not cling to him. Just as he was about to push her away, a fierce aura rapidly approached. It seemed even stronger than the two-headed hellhound from before.

Huaxin's expression tightened. "Be careful," she said. "It's a Two-Orifice Hell Creature, equivalent to your human Two-Orifice Nascent Soul realm."

Jiang Fan's gaze was serious. As he watched, a two-headed hellhound, radiating powerful Yin energy, advanced towards him. It was visibly larger than the two-headed hellhound they had seen previously, exuding an overwhelming ferocity! Its speed was incredible, leaving a trail of afterimages. One moment it was on the horizon, the next it was a hundred zhang away. It opened its gaping, blood-red mouth, its bloodshot eyes gleaming with excited, man-eating intent.

With just one raise of its paw, it could pounce and kill both of them. Jiang Fan's expression was grim. He decisively activated the Yin Marrow Tiger Talisman, sending a powerful wave of Yin energy surging forward.

The massive beast seemed to sense something. Its blood-red eyes sharply turned to the Yin Marrow Tiger Talisman in Jiang Fan's hand. Its fierce, man-eating expression instantly turned to apprehension. Its hind legs pawed at the ground. It seemed very frightened, yet also extremely unwilling to let go of the food before it. Ultimately, it overcame its instinct.

It slowly retreated. Jiang Fan secretly let out a breath and said, "The Tiger Talisman really works. However, for stronger creatures, its deterrent effect seems to be much lower." The previous two-headed hellhound had quickly given up its pursuit of Jiang Fan, but this one hesitated for a while.

"Of course," Huaxin said. "The stronger a hell creature is, the greater its resistance to the Yin Marrow Tiger Talisman's deterrence. Beyond the Four-Orifice realm, its effect is negligible. Of course, Four-Orifice hell creatures usually don't appear; even Three-Orifice ones are rare."

"Usually?" Jiang Fan suddenly felt that the Yin Marrow Tiger Talisman in his hand couldn't offer him much safety anymore. If he were to truly encounter a Four-Orifice hell creature, wouldn't he be in trouble? He watched the two-headed hellhound, which was about to retreat.

An idea sparked in Jiang Fan's mind. He took out the black bell. He had never known what this item was for. It didn't seem to be a spirit artifact, nor was it a symbolic object like the Yin Marrow Tiger Talisman. Now that he had encountered a two-headed hellhound, why not take it out and try it?

He shook the bell. A slightly jarring clang echoed in his ears.

The two-headed hellhound, which had already turned to leave, suddenly spun around. Its two dog heads' eyes erupted with startling red light. Its tail, behind its rear, wagged constantly, showing inner excitement and eagerness. It lowered its neck, wagged its tail, and stepped towards Jiang Fan, seemingly wanting to approach him. However, it also feared the Yin Marrow Tiger Talisman in his hand, so it dared not make any rash moves.

Huaxin glanced at the bell in Jiang Fan's hand. Her eyes nearly popped out. "Ah! How do you have the Hell Soul Bell?!" she cried. "Damn it all! I've been to the ninth layer countless times looking for it! Several times I was almost killed by the powerful creatures here, and I couldn't find a single clue. Where did you get it?!"

Just one look, and Huaxin instantly broke her composure. So much so that the resemblance to Concubine Yunxia, which she had been impersonating, flickered and changed. It was because her emotions were fluctuating too wildly to maintain the disguise!

"Uh—" Jiang Fan was startled. "Is this bell very significant?" he asked. In fact, seeing the Two-Orifice two-headed hellhound act so subserviently, he had already guessed the bell was extraordinary. What he hadn't expected was Huaxin's extreme excitement.

Huaxin's two dark eyes stared intensely at the black bell. "This is the Hell Soul Bell!" she exclaimed. "Back then, a great war broke out in the Hell Realm over this bell. It raged from the Hell Realm all the way to your Central Lands! Ultimately, the commotion was too great, incurring the displeasure of an Ancient Saint from your Central Lands, who then suppressed all of us Asura who had entered the Central Lands here."

Huaxin's few simple sentences stirred up a huge ripple in Jiang Fan's mind. The Hell Realm? The Central Lands? An Ancient Saint intervened? What was Huaxin's background? How did she know so much? Furthermore, the Hell Soul Bell in his hand was so extraordinary? So much so that it triggered an internal conflict in the Hell Realm, which even spread to the Central Lands?

"What's the purpose of this bell?" Jiang Fan asked.

Huaxin's eyes were full of longing. She began, "It's to become..." Abruptly, she lost her voice. It was as if an invisible force had blocked what she was about to say.

Huaxin paused, then her expression grew serious. "I can't say it," she stated. "I know it in my mind, but I can't describe it to the outside world."

Jiang Fan was dumbfounded. A Soul Transformation realm cultivator shouldn't be so extraordinary, should they? He had never heard of even the human Great Venerables having unmentionable names. Only Ancient Saints were never openly discussed. Could it be that this bell was connected to an Ancient Saint-level existence in the Hell Realm? Was it therefore shielded by heavenly secrets?

Jiang Fan pondered for a moment and tentatively asked, "Is this something belonging to an Ancient Saint-level figure from our Central Lands?"

Huaxin had just barely nodded. Suddenly, her face changed drastically, and the Yin energy in her body surged out wildly, like a broken water skin. A look of panic appeared on her face. She desperately tried to stop the outflow of Yin energy from her body but couldn't. Her soul power, along with the dispersing Yin energy, diminished at a visible rate.

Jiang Fan gasped! This couldn't be mentioned either? What kind of forbidden existence was this?

He quickly took out a large handful of harvested vegetables and placed them in the Ghost Crystal. Huaxin immediately clutched them and began to eat. Only by relying on the incredibly abundant Yin energy in the vegetables could she temporarily maintain her Yin energy balance and prevent it from further declining. Jiang Fan continuously fed her.

Half an hour later, all the vegetables from half an acre of the garden were consumed. Only then did the depletion of Huaxin's Yin energy finally cease. Her already pale face became even more ashen, and her gaze towards the Hell Soul Bell was filled with terror. She tightly covered her mouth, not daring to utter another word. Jiang Fan also didn't dare to ask any more questions. If he continued to ask, it was possible he would be implicated himself.

"I really picked up something extraordinary," Jiang Fan exclaimed repeatedly.

Huaxin's eyes were red with envy. "For so many years, I had given up searching for this item," she said. "I thought it had been lost in the Hell Realm. I never imagined it would be in your hands! You still haven't told me how you got the Hell Soul Bell? You must have gone through countless hardships and narrowly escaped death to get it, right? This bell couldn't possibly appear in a safe place."