Chapter 423

Chapter 423: Capturing the Yin

“How absurd! You dare to enter Sleepy Moon Ridge alone after fleeing once? Seize and eliminate him!” From the dark mountain rose several terrifying auras. Before they could approach, dark energy began to gather around them, spiraling into two five-foot-long cocoon-shaped ceramic jars.

“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…” The howling wind surged as the swirling vortex expanded to dozens of acres in size, even attracting the dark water from the river above, channeling a stream into the vortex.

Li Hui raised his hand, unleashing wave after wave of talisman light, while the roar of a dragon reverberated powerfully, crazily drawing in dark energy to fill the ceramic jars. Time inside the jars flowed differently than outside; surrounded by layers of talisman formations, he didn’t hesitate to use large amounts of Miao Jade to achieve a ninety-fold acceleration in time.

“Quickly!”

His hand seals flew, gathering layers of talisman light.

The spectacle was earth-shattering, as the suction power skyrocketed once more, causing the nine Xuan Yin Pools on the mountain to react, releasing masses of Xuan Yin energy.

At that moment, a massive vortex encircled another vortex, which surrounded a small vortex, with the smallest vortex being the most numerous, interlacing to enhance the suction power. Powerful ghostly beings descended from the mountain; previously, they had threatened to slay any intruder, but now they dared not approach.

The suction power generated by the dark energy jars was terrifyingly strong! It not only absorbed dark energy from the long river and the Xuan Yin Pools but also stripped dark energy from the ghostly beings on the mountainside, draining layer after layer, causing their strength to plummet.

“Who dares to cause trouble in Sleepy Moon Ridge?”

The commotion alerted high-level demon cultivators. No, it should be said that it stirred powerful ghostly beings. Suddenly, a beam of cold light shot toward him with lethal speed. By the time he noticed, the cold light was already within arm’s reach.

“Bang…” A burst of golden light erupted as a large wooden fish, the size of a human head, collided with the cold light, slowing it down. Li Hui raised his hand, slightly shifting it to absorb the cold light.

“A Buddha Treasure? You are a Buddhist cultivator?” a cold voice echoed from the mountain.

Li Hui was not a Buddhist, but his External Transformation barely counted as a great merit, otherwise, even with a Buddha Treasure in his hand, he wouldn’t be able to trigger its self-explosion.

In a moment, golden light flashed, revealing a small black sword.

This small sword had previously attacked as cold light, and it had circled around within the Primitive Shell Symbol in his miniature Buddhist nation for three hundred miles before being repressed and seized.

The miniature Buddhist nation was a great power of the Buddhist sect. Even though Jieyin had a natural affinity for Buddhism and Guang Jin had imparted knowledge, they still didn’t know how to cultivate it. But that didn’t matter; he didn’t plan to expend effort on cultivation. Wasn’t there a broken small heavenly cave upstream of the Li River? He could integrate it into the Primitive Shell Symbol to create a heaven-sent treasure. Want a Buddhist nation? Just create a makeshift one.

After all, even he, a great merit Buddhist, was just a shell; why should he care about the authenticity of the miniature Buddhist nation?

“Is this a spirit treasure refined by ghostly beings?” Li Hui grasped the small sword tightly; it emitted a “whoo whoo” sound, madly absorbing the surrounding dark energy.

The dark energy jars could take three months to fill by themselves; now, with the surge of suction, they could be filled in just ten moments.

The storage talisman formation worked wonders, creating five thousand times the space; this meant he could fill it up to five thousand times before it would be completely full. However, the Impermanence Worm constantly consumed dark energy, breeding, fighting, and devouring. They reproduced, fought, and devoured in an exceptionally intense cycle.

The Impermanence Worm was a rare insect, unable to rise to the top tiers but perfect for cultivating gu worms.

The Impermanence Worm did not have a mother worm; after reaching a certain stage, it could reproduce on its own, combining both genders, embodying the Yin-Yang, greedy, unusual, and terrifying.

Li Hui knew that Xuan Yin energy was much more refined than dark energy, so when constructing talisman formations for the dark energy jars, he used various enhancing talismans to compress and transform dark energy into Xuan Yin energy, allowing him to store more dark energy.

With this method, he strode upward, eager to see what secrets lay ahead.

Not long after, grotesque, contorted, blackened corpses began crawling toward him.

Guang Jin remarked, “These are starving corpses. They should have become hungry ghosts but are trapped in their own remains. The ghostly beings on the mountain release them to seize dark energy. If they can absorb enough dark energy, their bodies will explode, transforming them into formidable hungry ghosts, much stronger than starving ghosts. If the hungry ghosts explode again after becoming full, they can potentially evolve into ghost kings equivalent to the late-stage Bosa or early stages of Wanxiang.”

Looking around, the horde of starving corpses swarmed toward the vortex, fighting for dark energy, their bellies beginning to swell.

“Endless Life Buddha, how dare you steal business right under my nose! I’ll deal with him!” Jieyin shouted.

Li Hui smiled calmly; these starving corpses were no challenge for him—he could even take advantage of them. He pointed forward, and beams of black and white light surged into the dark wind vortex, swirling around the starving corpses.

Guang Jin was greatly astonished: “A damage-dealing talisman? How can you use a damage-dealing talisman on these ghostly beings?”

“Fool! Damage the starving corpses, and fill the dark energy jars. The more they eat, the better it is for the jars!” Jieyin said, highly satisfied.

“Not only that!” Li Hui made a hand seal, saying, “We can also establish a connection through the damage-dealing talisman, allowing the Impermanence Worms within the jars to devour dark energy like the starving ghosts, and then consume each other.”

“Brilliant, truly brilliant!”

Guang Jin sincerely admired, suddenly realizing that the person before him was no longer the young cultivator who had once hidden in the crannies for survival on Wan Nest Island. Now, Li Hui was wealthy and skilled, his External Transformation acquiring great merit, and he had successfully cultivated to mid-stage Bosa, with late-stage Bosa within reach.

For Sleepy Moon Ridge, today’s invitation to a distinguished guest was intended for a detailed discussion and potential collaboration with the demon lair, but unexpectedly, complications arose. A young man with notable cultivation had intruded into the mountain gate—he seemed to be a Buddhist cultivator but excelled in using talismans.

In the open hall, a round mirror displayed the scene below. An elderly woman pointed at the image, sternly declaring, “It’s him! Li Yingjun of the Haotu Sect, the one our Ghost Fox Sect wants to eliminate.”

The three skeletal thrones above were astonished: “There’s such a figure in the Haotu Sect?”

The elderly woman quickly replied, “Reporting to the king, this young man is quite mysterious. Calamity power has washed away his past, seemingly harboring a grudge against our Ghost Fox Sect.”

Among the two leading figures of the demon lair, a slightly shorter young man suddenly tightened upon hearing the name “Li Yingjun,” and when the elderly woman mentioned calamity power washing away his past, he could not help but frown, trying hard to conceal his emotions.

At this moment, the central skeletal throne spoke: “Alright, we represent the Yin Moon Dynasty to negotiate major matters with the Demon Palace. Let the Yuanchen Twelve Ghosts handle him. This person is indeed tricky; additionally, inform the Five Swordmasters of Lingxu to seal him off. Since he has entered the mountain gate, we cannot allow him to leave today. Is that clear to everyone?”

“Understood!” The various ghostly beings in the hall lowered their heads, not daring to breathe.

At this moment, Li Hui was quite pleased; he had successfully stored nearly two thousand instances of Xuan Yin energy and was heading towards three thousand. If it weren’t for the Impermanence Worm consuming Xuan Yin energy like crazy, he would have already filled up to four thousand instances.

Suddenly, the mountain went silent, with no actions taken. However, the more they held back, the more terrifying their power would be once they decided to strike.