Evil Spirit

Beside the Snake King stood two other figures. One was a human cultivator of distinguished grace, while the other was the Cold Lizard, who had already revealed its true demonic form. One mid Nascent Soul stage cultivator and two Transformation stage great demons. Among the three, the Cold Lizard held the lowest realm, being only at the early Transformation stage. Seeing this, Qin Sang knew these two had to be the helpers the Snake King had mentioned. The human cultivator was surnamed Lu, while the Cold Lizard was likely the one who had discovered the ancient great demon's cave dwelling. Yet even with the three joining hands, the situation was exceedingly dire for them. Besieged and unable to break free, they had fallen into a severe disadvantage; the Cold Lizard had even been forced to revert to its true body. Qin Sang was thoroughly taken aback. Halting in the distance to observe, he quickly looked toward their opponents. Those taking part in the siege consisted of two people and a bizarre entity. Without a doubt, both people were Nascent Soul cultivators from the Sin Abyss. Though Qin Sang had never seen them in person, he had read intelligence reports about them and recognized that one, clad in black robes, was surnamed Ma, while the other, a gray-robed elder, went by the Daoist name Jiang Chenzi. Both were long-renowned Nascent Soul Patriarchs. Each held an odd banner. However, both were only at the early Nascent Soul stage, and with one less person on their side, the Snake King's group was more than a cut above them in strength. They shouldn't have been trapped like this. Yet the true adversary of the Snake King's party was not those two, but that bizarre entity. The reason Qin Sang found it bizarre was that he had never seen anything like it before. In appearance, it resembled a colossal azure python with an immense body. Its tail was coiled below while its upper body reared upright, standing a hundred zhang tall. Yet its figure was as ethereal as a soul, like a snake spirit. Though the Snake King was also a serpentine demon, compared to this snake spirit, he seemed as tiny as an ant. The snake spirit was neither human nor demon. Its eyes were like stars, yet filled with intense malice, rage, and madness—an amalgamation of every negative emotion, completely devoid of sanity. It did not resemble a living creature so much as an evil spirit driven solely by slaughter and destruction. Catching the evil spirit's gaze from afar, Qin Sang could not help but feel secretly alarmed. It was hard to imagine how an evil spirit that abhorred everything in the world had come into being. He wondered what the Snake King and the others had done to enrage it. The evil spirit fixated solely on attacking them, turning a blind eye to the two from the Sin Abyss. "The Blood Lake!" Inside the Primordial Concentric Rings, Fat Chicken let out a startled cry, as though having spotted something inconceivable. Hearing this, Qin Sang shifted his gaze and noticed that behind the battlefield, the boundless dark clouds parted, revealing a dense, palpitation-inducing bloody glow piercing through. The source of the bloody light was an expansive lake, its waters rippling with an eerie crimson hue. At this moment, the Blood Lake was completely calm and tranquil, without a single ripple. It was unclear whether the evil spirit had originated from it. Fat Chicken fell silent after that single cry. Qin Sang had no mind to pay it any attention and kept his focus on the battlefield, his eyes flickering with thought. He had spotted the treasure that attracted the Fire Jade Centipede. It was a head-sized mass of white metal that looked like a kind of white bronze, its substance seemingly flowing rather than solid. The white light radiating from it blazed like flames, as incandescent as the sun, dazzling the eyes so intensely that one dared not look directly at it. Qin Sang had never seen such a spiritual material. Both the Fire Jade Centipede's reaction and the white bronze's outward display proved that this item was extraordinary! Yet that cluster of white bronze was actually inside the evil spirit's body! Beside the white bronze were two other items: a broken stone axe and a rod of blood jade. Both clearly possessed remarkable origins and were likely not inferior to the white bronze. To claim these treasures, one would inevitably have to attack the evil spirit, effectively snatching treasures from its heart. "Roar!" The evil spirit loathed the Snake King and his companions to the bone. Seeing that it could not kill these three pesky things that had enraged it after so long, it flew into a violent fury, its baleful aura shaking heaven and earth. Opening its gaping maw amidst a deafening roar, a ball of azure light brewed before hurtling out like lightning, carrying an aura of destruction. Seeing the azure light, the faces of the Snake King and his allies paled drastically. Among them, the Snake King's combat strength was still relatively intact, though his breath was somewhat hurried. The cultivator surnamed Lu was bleeding from his seven facial orifices and had no time to wipe away the blood, evidently severely injured. The Cold Lizard's demonic form stretched over ten zhang long—a ferocious giant lizard capable of manipulating cold energy. Yet facing the snake spirit, it still looked diminutive. Moreover, its cultivation was the weakest; though it constantly exhaled icy breath, it could do no more than protect itself. As the azure light surged toward them, they attempted to evade. Seeing this, the two Nascent Souls of the Sin Abyss sneered coldly and immediately drove the treasured banners before them. Instantly, runes flashed across the banners, and a chaotic vortex opened on each banner's surface. Two beams of bloody light shot forth, converging into a torrent in the void that crashed violently toward the Snake King and his companions, cutting off their room to maneuver. The control of the two Nascent Souls was formidable; the torrent targeted solely the Snake King's group, never inadvertently harming the evil spirit. At first glance, one might even think the evil spirit was an ally summoned by the two Nascent Souls. In truth, the evil spirit had indeed been helping them deal with their enemies all along. "Fellow Daoist Lu, we of the Sin Abyss had no wish to make an enemy of you. But since you barged into the Abyss Ruins and walked right into our trap, do not blame us for being ruthless!" Jiang Chenzi said coldly. The black-robed cultivator surnamed Ma chuckled weirdly. "Heh heh, you outsiders trespassing into the Abyss Ruins are doing nothing short of courting death! Who knows how long this snake spirit was tormented in life—its mind was obliterated long ago, leaving behind only an obsessive grudge that turned it into a pure evil spirit. By angering it, it will never rest until you are dead. Even we would have had to make careful preparations and rally our companions before daring to face this evil spirit. It is merely your misfortune; had you not run into the evil spirit, you might have truly pulled the wool over our eyes and made off with the treasures." As they attacked, they taunted the Snake King and his group in a mocking tone, looking exceptionally relaxed. After all, the evil spirit would not attack them. The two had no need whatsoever to clash head-on with the Snake King's group; they only had to strike at the right moments to block their retreat and prevent them from escaping. Then, leisurely and at ease, they could wait for the evil spirit to finish off the Snake King's party one by one. They would easily reap the spoils as the fisherman, and then deal with the weakened evil spirit to seize the treasures inside its body. Truth be told, they ought to thank the Snake King and his allies. Not only had they delivered treasures right to their doorstep, but they were also bearing the brunt of the evil spirit's wrath in their stead. With imminent crisis looming, the Snake King and his companions had no words to retort to the mockery. Fully focused on the evil spirit's movements, thoughts raced through their minds as they desperately racked their brains for a way to escape. "Cold Lizard!" the cultivator surnamed Lu shouted. The Cold Lizard opened its mouth and spat out that snow pearl. In an instant, a biting chill surged. Feathery snowflakes swirled around the snow pearl, forming a snowy domain. Almost at the same time, the cultivator surnamed Lu made his move. He gripped a thumb-sized gourd; with a slight tilt, a boundless torrent of river water poured out. The river water flowed into the snowy domain, instantly freezing into thick frost and ice to form a massive ice sphere around the surface of the snow pearl. Inside the ice sphere, deep blue light shone with profound mystery, and the extreme chill seemed capable of freezing one's very mind and soul. A Nascent Soul Patriarch and a Transformation stage great demon had actually combined their powers using such a method. "Go!" The snow pearl, still steered by the Cold Lizard, crashed directly toward the azure light. Meanwhile, the cultivator surnamed Lu coughed violently several times, a flush of crimson surfacing on his face. Coordinating this strike with the Cold Lizard had once again aggravated his injuries.