Translator: CinderTL
Song Wen stared at the Primordial Qi, which was so dense it resembled a black curtain, his face etched with vigilance.
He finally understood why the cultivators Chen Jing had mentioned, who had ventured thousands of miles into this region, had all turned back.
The Primordial Qi here was astonishingly concentrated; his divine sense could only perceive distances of less than fifty zhang.
If he continued deeper, even without considering the hidden dangers, the Primordial Qi itself could disorient him, trapping him within this Death Zone with no way out.
"How far can you sense now?" Song Wen asked.
"The same as before," the Nether Fox replied casually, as if it were nothing.
Song Wen couldn't help but marvel again at the Nether Fox's extraordinary abilities. Its sensory range seemed unaffected by the Primordial Qi's density, or at least only minimally affected.
"Master, are you going to explore further or not?" Seeing Song Wen standing motionless for so long, the Nether Fox began to urge him.
Song Wen shook his head. "We're not going any further."
"Why not?" the Nether Fox asked, sounding dissatisfied.
Song Wen replied, "Haven't you noticed something strange about this Primordial Qi Death Zone?"
"What's abnormal? I haven't noticed anything amiss," the Nether Fox said, its face puzzled.
Song Wen replied, "We've traveled over ten thousand miles, yet we haven't encountered a single Resentful Spirit. Don't you find that strange?"
The Nether Fox's expression froze, a flicker of wariness in his eyes.
"You're right... we haven't encountered a single Resentful Spirit. What's going on?"
"I'm not sure," Song Wen said. "But it seems this Primordial Qi Death Zone in the mystic realm isn't entirely the same as the Misty Ghost Realm in the Lower Realm. There must be some other hidden mechanism at play. We should retreat for now."
"Fine, let's leave then," the Nether Fox said, though reluctant, he turned and flew back the way they had come.
Just then, a pitch-black vine erupted from the yellow earth below, shooting upward like a spear aimed directly at the Nether Fox.
The Nether Fox startled, immediately retreating toward Song Wen.
Though Song Wen's divine sense wasn't as sharp as the Nether Fox's, he couldn't miss the sound of the vine breaking through the earth.
With a wave of his hand, a ten-foot-long spear shot forth, hurtling toward the vine.
The spear flashed with a cold, starlike glint, closing in on the vine with lightning speed.
Just as the spear was about to strike the vine, the vine suddenly turned ethereal, transforming into a faint, almost imperceptible phantom shadow.
The spear passed right through the phantom shadow without touching anything.
The vine's phantom shadow remained completely unharmed and continued its relentless pursuit of the Nether Fox.
Song Wen's pupils narrowed slightly as he observed this.
He sensed a familiar presence within the vine—the 'shadow void' that had parasitized Jiang Yushan's Sea of Consciousness.
Though their forms differed slightly, their shared ability to turn ethereal was unmistakable.
"Master, save me!" The Nether Fox was less than fifteen meters from Song Wen, but seeing that even Song Wen couldn't stop the bizarre vine, it panicked even more.
Before the words had fully left its mouth, the vine's phantom shadow pierced into the Nether Fox's body.
The Nether Fox's physical form showed no visible wounds, yet its eyes instantly flashed with agony.
"Go!" Song Wen murmured, and a ball of Thunderlight materialized, hurtling toward the vine.
Just before impact, the Thunderlight exploded into countless dazzling lightning serpents that surged in all directions.
Based on Song Wen's past experience, creatures of Primordial Qi, including the Nether Fox, all possessed a degree of fear toward the overwhelming heavenly might of thunder magic.
As he had anticipated, the sun-chasing spear failed to harm the phantom shadow of the vine in the slightest. However, at the thunder serpent's roar, the vine was instantly and severely damaged, its surface cracking with countless fissures as it rapidly contracted downward.
The Nether Fox was freed, but it appeared utterly weakened, its eyes dim and its body trembling uncontrollably.
"Are you alright?" Song Wen asked.
"My... Demon Soul is injured," the Nether Fox replied, its voice fragmented and filled with pain.
"A soul attack!" Song Wen's eyes narrowed as he glared at the retreating vine.
His fingers moved swiftly, spiritual light flashing at their tips as he conjured silver runes.
High above, the Primordial Qi suddenly surged violently, and a majestic heavenly might descended, enveloping the entire area.
"Wooo..."
The monster hidden beneath the yellow earth seemed to sense the threat from above, emitting a series of mournful wails.
The sound resembled the cries of ghosts and wolves, filled with boundless pain and terror, as if emanating from the depths of hell itself.
As the wails pierced his ears, Song Wen felt countless sharp needles stabbing into his mind, the agony unbearable.
Within his Sea of Consciousness, a Black Hole suddenly materialized, swallowing the agonizing wails that had pierced his mind.
The excruciating pain immediately subsided.
The Nether Fox, however, was not so fortunate. Though the wails were clearly directed at Song Wen, the fox was caught in the lingering force.
Its Demon Soul, already wounded, suffered further devastation. Its consciousness blurred, its demon power surged uncontrollably, and its body plummeted toward the ground.
Beneath Song Wen's feet, a Blood-colored Tentacle suddenly emerged, coiling toward the Nether Fox.
Simultaneously, through gritted teeth, Song Wen maintained his thunder magic high above.
Crack!
A bolt of violet-gold thunder tore through layers of black mist and crashed down with earth-shattering force.
Boom!
The thunder struck the yellow-brown earth, sending dust and shattered rock flying as the ground trembled.
A monstrous creature, thirty feet long and resembling a colossal dog, burst from the dust cloud.
A black protective shield, formed from condensed Primordial Qi, hovered above its back. The shield was now tattered, flickering with violet-gold Thunderlight.
Clearly, it had used this shield to withstand the Great Azure Divine Thunder.
The monster's gaping maw revealed razor-sharp fangs and a long, serpentine tongue.
The vine-like tendril that had attacked the Nether Fox was, in fact, this very tongue—though lacking the warmth of flesh, it resembled more a plant-like appendage.
The monster leaped high into the air, lunging at Song Wen while emitting a series of mournful howls.
Song Wen's expression remained icy, strands of silver Thunderlight flickering around him.
The Thunderlight intensified, completely engulfing Song Wen's figure, transforming him into a towering, three-meter-tall sphere of lightning suspended in mid-air.
As for the Nether Fox, Song Wen had already stored it in his Spirit Beast Pouch, allowing him to focus entirely on dealing with this bizarre creature.
Nine transparent, dagger-sized blades shot forth from the Thunderlight sphere, hurtling straight toward the monster.
The monster's elongated tongue suddenly materialized, whipping through the air like a living lash.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
A series of crisp metallic clashes rang out as the monster's tongue effortlessly deflected all of Song Wen's Focused Spirit Stabs, which had never failed him before.
Song Wen was momentarily surprised, but there was no time for further contemplation.
The monster was now only thirty meters away, its blood-red maw gaping wide as it raised its razor-sharp claws, preparing to strike the Thunderlight sphere.
Instead of retreating, Song Wen surged forward, charging directly at the monster.
Boom!
A thunderous roar erupted as the monster's claws slammed into the Thunderlight sphere.
The sphere exploded violently, transforming into a torrent of silver plasma that cascaded over the monster.
Primordial Qi surged violently, instantly coalescing into a thick protective shield around the monster's body.
The silver plasma crashed against the shield like a raging tidal wave, relentlessly eroding the Primordial Qi that sustained it. The shield rapidly weakened, its energy reserves dwindling.
(End of the Chapter)
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