Eternal Life: I Can Control My Essence Qi

But when he thought about it again, he began to doubt this assumption, after all, the material of the Earth Soul Crystal can seal and suppress the Primordial Energy, but the Muddy Qi does not seem to have such a property.

"Boom!"

Zhang Yao attempted to capture a strand of Earthly Miasma for verification, but when the Magical Power collided with the Muddy Qi, the two reacted violently and ultimately both vanished.

He then tried using a long rod, extending it into the Muddy Qi to indirectly transfer Primordial Energy through it, but even as the Primordial Energy dissipated, the Muddy Qi showed no special reaction.

Finally, he tried using the Earth Soul Crystal to contact the Muddy Qi, but once the position of the Earth Soul Crystal changed, the surrounding Muddy Qi immediately retreated, making it impossible for the two to touch.

"This is a bit tricky..."

Feeling rather helpless, Zhang Yao had no solution.

The Earth Soul Crystal was too valuable, and he was reluctant to employ any destructive methods, thus making it essentially impossible to verify anything under these circumstances.

The only certainty was that the Earth Soul Crystal had a solid repulsive effect on the Earthly Miasma, preventing the Miasma’s contamination, akin to a Protective Talisman.

"Forget it, if it can’t be understood, let’s put it aside for now."

"At least with the protection of the Earth Soul Crystal, I can confidently and boldly explore this Demon Cave!"

With this thought, Zhang Yao decided to suppress his curiosity for now. Holding the Lamp of Truth in one hand and the Earth Soul Crystal in the other, he began to explore the Underworld connected by the Demon Suppression Well.

The Underworld was vast beyond measure, fortunately, one would not lose their way, simply by looking up to see the golden ring, you could locate the mouth of the Demon Suppression Well, thus determining your own position.

Looking from below:

The mouth of the Demon Suppression Well was clearly only half a zhang wide, yet it resembled the sun of the Underworld, maintaining a nearly fixed size, like a golden disk.

"Boom!"

Feeling slow on foot, Zhang Yao effortlessly controlled his Escape Light, flying through the air, like weaving through a sea of earth and stone.

No matter his speed, the Earth Soul Crystal could immediately dispel the Muddy Qi, providing him with immense convenience.

Aside from the Mani Temple of Mani Kingdom which built the Demon Cave, knowing the characteristics of the Muddy Qi thoroughly, Zhang Yao was likely the only person daring enough to explore the Demon Cave so recklessly.

"There isn’t even a single Yin Demon here..."

"Is it the effect of the array built by Mani Temple, or did the Golden Core level Yin Demon clean up the other Yin Demons before and after its birth?"

During his flight, Zhang Yao observed various parts of the Demon Cave, a trace of doubt arising in his heart.

The Muddy Qi births Yin Demons, some strong, some weak; the weakest can only harm the common folk, while others are equivalent to those at the Qi Refining Stage or Foundation Establishment Stage.

Small numbers of external Foundation Establishment Cultivators and local Buddhist Cultivators usually eliminate Demon Cultivators and these Yin Demons, as well as some maddened cultivators.

Yet, here’s the dilemma:

Under the suppression and restraint of the twenty-four Demon Caves, the small amounts of leaked Demonic Qi can spawn various levels of Yin Demons to wreak havoc upon the world.

But within the endlessly rolling Muddy Qi of the Demon Cave, not a single Yin Demon could be found; at most, occasionally a Golden Core level Yin Demon would be born.

"This seems a bit unusual and defies common sense."

"Can the array built by the founding master of the Mani Temple suppress the transformation of this endless Demonic Qi? Even a Divinity Transformation True Monarch isn’t necessarily capable of that..."

Zhang Yao pondered for a long time without coming to any conclusion, and could only continue to fly forward and explore.

"Ah..."

After flying thousands of miles, Zhang Yao faintly caught a sound in his ear, seemingly from afar.

"Hmm?"

His spirit was immediately lifted, he turned his Escape Light and flew toward the direction the sound was coming from.

As he rapidly approached, the sound in his ears grew louder, allowing him to clearly hear—it was actually a wail!

Moreover, it wasn’t just a single wail, but thousands upon thousands of wails joined together, conveying distress, fury, resentment, and grievance... Just hearing it from a distance was enough to make anyone shiver in terror.

"What’s going on here?"

Zhang Yao’s expression changed, instinctively increasing the Magical Power infused into the Lamp of Truth, and ready at any moment to retreat.

Exploring this Changle Mountain Demon Cave inherently carried a risk of offending the Mani Temple, as Zhang Yao wasn’t certain whether the Mani Temple’s surveillance methods could constantly monitor the activities within the Demon Cave.

However, without clarifying the special reactions regarding the Muddy Qi and the secrets behind them, he couldn’t eat or sleep in peace, which led to this venture.

Now that the issue was clarified, if there were hidden threats within the Demon Cave, he would rather withdraw and abandon exploration than place himself in a perilous situation.

"Let’s check it out, and if things change, retreat immediately!"

"If the consequences are severe, I can always flee the Mani Kingdom and give up the Precious Luminous Golden Nectar on the Merit List."

Once Zhang Yao set his mind on this decision, he no longer hesitated, cautiously flying towards the source of the sound.

The closer he got, the more piercing the wailing became, if not for Zhang Yao’s determination, it would have been unbearable.

"Ugh..."

Zhang Yao furrowed his brow, enduring the jarring cries, continuing his flight toward the center.

As he continued forward, the wailing had transformed into an all-penetrating torrent, with a less skilled cultivator present they might have gone insane on the spot.

After covering another distance:

Suddenly, the vast Muddy Qi vanished completely, revealing a shocking scene before him.

"Ah ah ah..."

Numerous Yin Souls were partially buried in the black land, male and female, young and old, tall and short, fat and thin... They were densely packed, like twisted dead tree trunks, all black and twisted, face pained and mad, wailing frantically.

As far as the eye could see, the endless wailing Yin Souls stretched to the horizon, unable to determine their quantity.

In front of him was a living depiction of a hellish ghost landscape.

"This..."

Zhang Yao’s face showed shock.

"Could these be Yin Demons born from Muddy Qi? No... These are souls! Souls of the living!"

Upon realizing the true nature of the Yin Souls, Zhang Yao’s heart was shaken.

All sentient beings have souls, but the souls of Demon Beasts and cultivators are particularly strong, especially after cultivating the Sea of Consciousness, capable of independent existence.

A sweep of his Divine Thought quickly determined that these Yin Souls were very weak, far from being ’Divine Souls’, yet they are undoubtedly the living souls!

"Why are there so many mortal souls within this Demon Cave?"

"Just judging by eye, there are at least hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Yin Souls here..."

Thoughts flashed in Zhang Yao’s mind, immediately realizing he had discovered a massive secret.

Not daring to waste time, his Divine Thought swept around, quickly making new discoveries:

The black land was filled with tiny black Spells, arranged according to the Spirit Pattern Array Vein style, clearly part of a powerful array, closely related to the array shaping the entire Demon Cave.

Furthermore:

These black Spells rooted deeply like chains within every Yin Soul, relentlessly torturing them.

Every moment, some Yin Souls succumb to torment, perishing amidst agonized cries, but at the same time, new black Yin Souls emerge continuously from the black land.

Zhang Yao estimated that every instant, dozens or hundreds of Yin Souls become new sacrifices on this black land.

"These mortal souls must come from the area surrounding Changle Mountain!"

Zhang Yao quickly realized this.

Divide the Mani Kingdom with twenty-four Demon Caves as centers, you get twenty-four regions of similar size.

These mortal souls most likely originate from the region represented by Changle Mountain, and it’s likely the other Demon Caves contain similar occurrences.

"What kind of place is this?"

Thoughts surged within Zhang Yao’s mind:

"Could it be the founding master of the Mani Temple crafted a ’hell’ based on Buddhist Sect lore, externally cultivating it, and concealed it within the Demon Cave?"