Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
After bidding everyone else farewell, Tang Jie flew to the Inkcloud Abyss.
More than half of the Inkcloud Abyss had collapsed, its depths filled with boulders, and wailing and shrieking could be heard from within.
Tang Jie stood at the edge of the abyss and waited for a while, and soon, Tutu returned with the Mother Cloud combat puppet on its back.
He had Tutu put the puppet down, upon which he saw that the puppet was covered in wounds. While the body made from Mother Cloud Essence Metal didn't have any problems, the formations within had been greatly affected, with the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor having destroyed more than twenty of the 108 formations.
Sure enough, there was nothing truly invincible in the world. While the main body of the Mother Cloud puppet was tough, the formations that made it so powerful were weak, and the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was able to notice this and destroy them. When it came to dealing with new enemies, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was rather formidable, much more than the Blood River Lord. Perhaps because of his unkillable nature, the latter was rather lacking in this sort of intelligence.
Taking out materials to repair the formations, Tang Jie commented, "You did very well this time, living up to my expectations."
The puppet's eyes flashed red as a voice croaked out, "Forever loyal to Master."
"Very good." He took out some crystals for the puppet to absorb, as a way to have the crystal cores quickly recharge. "There are many ghosts down below. If we kill them and absorb them with the Soul Refining Pearl, they can make you stronger. Come on. We have many more fights before us in the coming days. I need to improve, and so do you."
The puppet nodded.
After a while, Tang Jie finished fixing the formations, and he flew down with the puppet.
The falling stones had blocked the passage down, so Tang Jie and the puppet used an earth escape art to directly travel through the stone.
As they traveled down, the ghostly wailing grew louder, the biting wind colder and colder.
Liu Yunshan had been right. The opening of the Nether Gate had let in countless ghosts from the Nether Domain, and they were all wandering around these depths. The boulders prevented them from going upward, but there were still some cracks that would let these ghosts crawl out, where they would be eaten up by the powers of the Verdant Cloud Domain as water disappeared into the ocean.
But before that, they would be concentrated here and be obstacles to Tang Jie's search for the Withering Yin Grass.
Upon arriving at the lowest level, Tang Jie cautiously looked around.
The steep cliffs meant that large rocks filled up most of the surrounding space, but the openings between the rocks were wide enough for a person to walk through them. The area above the Blackwater River was narrow, so some of the rocks had simply been too big and were basically stuck above the river, so the area was more open. However, some large rocks had fallen into the water, stopping up the flow. Still, however, at least there was a path that he could use.
Thus, Tang Jie traveled upstream along the river, looking for Withering Yin Grass.
Perhaps because the rocks had broken up the terrain, the fog wasn't as thick, allowing him to see more.
It wasn't long before he spotted the staggering figure of a ghost general.
Tang Jie gestured to the combat puppet, and there was a flash of starlight as the puppet rushed over to the ghost general. The ghost general swayed a little before silently collapsing. The energy it exuded after death was absorbed by the ghost guard, and his eyes flickered with flame.
After dealing with the ghost general, Tang Jie continued traveling along the Blackwater River. Many rocks were scattered around the river, so if there really was any Withering Yin Grass, it might have been destroyed by the falling rocks. But Tang Jie trusted that he wouldn't be that unlucky. If Fate had eyes, it would be looking out for him.
This was a sort of self-centered confidence, but his previous experiences told him that this confidence was not without reason. For him, what happened next would serve to prove or disprove his theory. If he didn't find the Withering Yin Grass, all of this might have been a coincidence. If he did find it…
Tang Jie looked down at his stomach. There, a small white light was flashing.
The farther they went, the more ghosts they encountered, but the groups of ghost soldiers and generals they ran into were all killed by the puppet.
The closed space made movement difficult, and it also meant that the ghosts couldn't group together, which ended up helping Tang Jie. The ghosts were unable to use their advantage in numbers, allowing Tang Jie to easily take them down.
The numerous ghosts that Tang Jie encountered were almost all split up by the giant boulders, allowing him to hunt them down and kill them before moving on to the next area. Tang Jie began to clean up in the Blackwater River in an orderly fashion.
Of course, not every ghost was hindered by the terrain. Some of them could naturally ignore the terrain and travel freely, like the fog ghosts. While these ghosts were weak, they could turn into fog and freely travel around, passing through even the smallest of cracks. But Tang Jie was alone now, so he could freely use his powers, like the Pale Cloud Flame.
The Pale Cloud Flame made the fog ghosts melt away like snow under the summer sun.
Thus, it wasn't long before Tang Jie felt like he was getting close to the source.
The increasing number of ghosts seemed to verify this. They were all squeezed together in the small space, sometimes so closely packed that they couldn't move.
At times, Tang Jie simply needed to wave the Pale Cloud Flame to obliterate a swath of ghosts. But most of the time, Tang Jie left them for the puppet so that the ghost guard could grow stronger.
This feeling was simply impossible to imagine. Those savage and horrifying ghosts, restrained by the terrain, became like wheat that Tang Jie could harvest at his leisure. As for the actual harvest, that was even better. While ghosts didn't have flesh or blood that could be eaten for nutrition, the Yellow Springs Water was rather valuable. If he was lucky, he could even pick up ghost essences.
If those cultivators who had advised him not to go down had learned what the actual situation was like, they would have been so shocked that their tongues would drop out.
Finally, Tang Jie arrived in front of a giant pile of boulders. This place was extremely close to the source of the Blackwater River.
The fallen stones had cut off the Blackwater River, and the greater number of small stones meant that this seal was rather tight. It was like a stone wall had been erected that extended all the way to the surface.
The wailing of countless ghosts could be heard from behind this wall, and black energy churned.
In the center of the stone wall were a few cracks, which the ghosts were squeezing through.
Standing here, Tang Jie could see the ghosts squeezing out from the wall. If the scene were flipped by ninety degrees, it would appear like the ghosts were emerging from the earth.
"What a fine march of the ghosts. I can sense your longing for blood and flesh." Tang Jie smiled as he stood before the ghosts.
A ghost charged out of a crack and lunged at Tang Jie.
Tang Jie flicked out a spark, which fell on the ghost and quickly set it alight. Such was the ferocity of the flame that the ghost was a pile of ash by the time it reached Tang Jie.
The flames curled up and turned into a firebird that flew onto Tang Jie's shoulder. Tang Jie smiled and stroked its head. "Alright, alright, you're very powerful indeed. There are plenty of ghosts left. Go on; give them a little stimulation. See if you can't get them to come out, but don't damage any of the plants here… This place is a very good battlefield."
The firebird trilled and flew toward the stone wall.
An intelligent sacred flame could receive orders and be told what to harm and what to not harm. The firebird attached itself to the stone wall, applying a layer of flame to it such that any ghosts that rushed in would die. It was just that these ghosts were lacking in intelligence and fear, so they continued to charge in. Soon, shrieking wails resounded from behind the stone wall.
Tang Jie's actions had clearly enraged some powerful existences behind the wall.
Tang Jie saw a figure gradually emerge, crossing the wall as if by walking out of the void, appearing directly in front of Tang Jie. This was a red-robed ghost king whose eyes were flickering flames. It opened its mouth to Tang Jie as if it was laughing.
And then countless bony arms emerged from the ground and grabbed at Tang Jie.
Tang Jie beat a hasty retreat as numerous ghosts emerged from the mud.
There was also movement from the Blackwater River. Though the flow had been severed, there were still a few rivulets. Some ghosts used these rivulets to pass through cracks that they normally couldn't pass through and then emerged from the surface of the river.
Finally, some ghosts with spells that could let them ignore solid objects boldly passed through the wall of stones, heedless of the Pale Cloud Flame's threat. While the Pale Cloud Flame wanted to burn them all to death, under Tang Jie's command, it still let them through.
In a flash, ghosts were coming from every direction.
"I knew you guys could get through." Tang Jie was actually delighted to see all these ghosts.
It was clear that most of the ghosts, rather than not being able to come through, would only react once they received a certain level of stimulation, and Tang Jie was the source of this stimulation.
Countless ghosts now crazily rushed in. The ghost king opened its arms wide, and countless black tendrils coiled around its arms, turning into black chains that shot at Tang Jie.
Tang Jie smirked and looked behind him. "They're yours. I hope you have a good appetite."
The Mother Cloud puppet came forward, its chest flashing with rings of starlight.
As the starlight flashed, a storm erupted around the puppet, grinding up all the ghosts in the vicinity. The Soul Refining Pearl then sucked up their energy, and the eyes of the ghost guard twinkled.
At the same time, the Pale Cloud Flame dropped off the stone wall, turning back into a small bird that perched on Tang Jie's shoulder. As it watched the puppet annihilate the ghosts, it haughtily chirped as if to say that it would definitely have killed the ghosts faster than the puppet.
"The ghost guard needs the power of these ghosts. Giving him time to grow will benefit all of us," Tang Jie soothed the firebird. He patiently said, "Don't worry. You will also have a chance to show your power. The ghost guard won't be able to handle all these ghosts."
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