Chapter 62 - Yin Mountain

The next morning, Leng Yan and Chu Jianfeng arrived at Mo Sang’s residence…

“Senior, the two of us have stayed here for a while, and it’s time to take our leave,” Leng Yan said with a smile.

“You’re going to Yin Mountain? There’s an old man with a terrifying cultivation level there, and he’s unpredictable. It will be very dangerous for you,” Mo Sang said with a worried expression.

“There’s no need to worry, Senior. We have our ways to handle him,” Chu Jianfeng replied with a confident smile.

Hearing the confidence in Chu Jianfeng’s words, Mo Sang couldn’t help but be slightly surprised. If their fearlessness towards him was because they knew they had a powerful figure backing them, then the one in Yin Mountain was a true monster-someone even twenty of Mo Sang couldn’t defeat. Yet, these two seemed unafraid, suggesting that Leng Yan’s background was indeed formidable. But all would depend on whether Leng Yan could make it back from Yin Mountain alive.

“In that case, I won’t insist on keeping you. I’ll be here waiting for your return,” Mo Sang said.

“Then we’ll take our leave,” Leng Yan and Chu Jianfeng said, standing up.

“This is a token recognized by the Barbarian Tribe. With it, no tribe will give you trouble,” Mo Sang said, handing a dark token to Leng Yan.

After accepting the token, Leng Yan and Chu Jianfeng set off in the direction of Yin Mountain.

…

A few days later, Leng Yan and Chu Jianfeng reached the foot of Yin Mountain.

“So this is Yin Mountain! But where is the teleportation formation?” Chu Jianfeng asked.

Looking at the charcoal-black mountain before him, Leng Yan whispered, “By not being swayed in spirit and remaining true to oneself, what I see is the most real.”

As Leng Yan murmured, his eyes slowly closed and then reopened, as if a rule descended upon them.

The scene before them transformed from a lifeless, coal-black mountain into a vibrant one filled with flowers and grass, and there, halfway up the mountain, an azure light emanated from the teleportation formation.

“Let’s go! I’ve found the teleportation formation,” Leng Yan said, leading the way forward.

In Chu Jianfeng’s eyes, everything remained pitch black with no sign of a teleportation formation. However, having spent time with Leng Yan, he knew Leng Yan had many secrets, so he asked no further questions and simply followed him forward.

Leng Yan’s eye of truth could see through any illusory realm. He didn’t know why it worked this way, but dao magic was often elusive and unpredictable.

Leng Yan led Chu Jianfeng onto the teleportation formation, then crushed thousands of primordial spirit elixirs to keep the formation active.

Enveloped in azure light, the two disappeared from their original location. When they opened their eyes again, they found themselves in a gray world, with splintered bones beneath Leng Yan’s feet.

“Is this Yin Mountain? It’s certainly eerie,” Chu Jianfeng remarked, glancing around their surroundings.

“It should be. I can feel the dense yin evil and death energy here,” Leng Yan replied, hearing the eerie cries of the wind in his ears.

Unleashing the netherworld ghost banner, ten fierce souls capable of rivaling cultivators in the primordial qi realm hovered around Leng Yan. The environment seemed to excite them, emitting a whooshing sound.

“Let’s go a bit deeper and find a place to absorb some yin evil energy first, so we can withstand what’s inside. What do you think?” Chu Jianfeng suggested as they walked.

“Yes, you’re right! There’s a hill up ahead, where the death energy is thicker. We can cultivate there,” Leng Yan agreed, looking into the distance.

The two hurried forward. Suddenly, a gust of shadowy wind swept in, concealing several ghost souls. Before Leng Yan could react, the ten fierce souls had already rushed forward with a whooshing noise.

Those ghost souls were only at the magical power realm and were no match for Leng Yan’s mutated fierce souls. In an instant, they became energy for the fierce souls to advance.

“So many ghost souls, enough for us to refine for a while,” Chu Jianfeng laughed, delighted, as he observed the tens of thousands of ghost souls swirling above the hill.

“No wonder the death energy is so abundant here; it’s a gathering place for ghost souls. Let’s not approach just yet. I’ll first lay down a seal with my spiritual awareness to ensure none of them escape,” Leng Yan said, beginning to inscribe a seal to envelop the entire hill.

In just over ten minutes, Leng Yan set up several layers of protection around the hill, including seals, concealment, and illusory realms, all to ensure greater safety.

Once everything was in place, Leng Yan and Chu Jianfeng advanced quickly. The distance of a thousand meters was closed in the blink of an eye, as the ten fierce souls expelled their energy and charged into the swarm of ghost souls.

With the fierce souls being at the primordial qi realm, going against the magical power realm ghost souls was akin to wolves among sheep. In no time, hundreds of ghost souls were dispelled and absorbed by the fierce souls.

Meanwhile, Leng Yan and Chu Jianfeng kept their hands moving, sealing and collecting the ghost souls for future refinement, to be integrated into their Divine Power.

Processing tens of thousands of ghost souls took them a full hour. Each of Leng Yan’s ten fierce souls absorbed over a thousand ghost souls, reaching the mid-late stage of the primordial qi realm. Despite this, these fierce souls might still struggle against a singular cultivator in the primordial qi realm, as they were purely spiritual power; any damage would result in their complete annihilation. Thus, Leng Yan rarely used the netherworld ghost banner. However, if the ten fierce souls evolved to the Heavenly Realm and became Asuras, Leng Yan planned to find suitable bodies for them to possess, allowing them to be unleashed without concerns to aid him.

Both Leng Yan and Chu Jianfeng collected over ten thousand ghost souls each, a substantial harvest indeed.

“Let’s dig a cave in the hill. We’ll cultivate here for a while,” Leng Yan suggested.

“Great idea!” Chu Jianfeng laughed happily, looking at the ghost souls in his hands. Refining all these could potentially allow him to challenge higher realms.

The two of them chose a location with great synergy, each carving out a cave before entering to begin their cultivation.

Waving his hand, Leng Yan released a hundred ghost souls, which were now sealed within bubbles, howling silently in protest.

Activating the nine yin fiend god technique, black mist surrounded Leng Yan as yin energy, fiendish qi, and death energy from around the hill began to converge toward him.

In front of Leng Yan, a black vortex spun rapidly, concentrating the yin evil energy. After erasing the spiritual awareness of the hundred ghost souls with his own, he tossed them into the vortex, amalgamating them together.

After six hours, the black vortex had condensed into a black sphere about the size of a peach.

Seeing this, Leng Yan halted the absorption process and concentrated fully on refining and compressing it. After half an hour, the peach-sized black sphere had been reduced to the size of a pearl.

Rolling up his sleeve, Leng Yan extended his left hand and merged two of his fingers, concentrating a golden sword qi.

Dragging his fingers across, he made a cut on his right arm, and fresh red blood began to flow.

“Nine Yin Fiend God Technique, draw the Qi within, and condense the yin evil Qi vein!” Leng Yan muttered a low chant. He directed a thin black line from the pearl-sized sphere to follow the injury and enter his body.

With the black thread inside him, Leng Yan guided it using his spiritual awareness. According to the instructions of the nine yin fiend god technique, it traveled through various acupoints in his body like an earthworm, threading through completely, making black lines appear on his face and body.

After three hours, the black line completed a full cycle, and Leng Yan felt an echo between his spiritual mind and the energy in his body. As the yin evil Qi vein formed, the black lines gradually faded and then disappeared completely. The wound on Leng Yan’s arm had also healed.

“The yin evil Qi vein is now formed. I can now absorb various yin evil energies and store and refine them within my body,” Leng Yan announced with a slight smile. He spread his hands wide, and with each breath, streams of black qi entered his nostrils, flowing into the yin evil Qi vein.

He released several hundred ghost souls again, erased their consciousness, and shattered them before absorbing them, integrating them into his Divine Power as described in the nine yin fiend god technique.

As the night passed, Leng Yan absorbed a significant amount of yin evil energy. He needed to refine all of it, as storing too much could harm his own vitality. Reluctantly, Leng Yan stopped absorbing and began refining the yin evil energy.

Refining the energy didn’t require his full attention, so Leng Yan started to concentrate the yin evil energy into Fiend Thunder.

He remembered how Liu He had once condensed powerful Fiend Thunder using a combination of ghost souls, Yin Energy, death energy, and Fiendish Qi from a hundred people. Now, Leng Yan couldn’t help but wonder what kind of power Fiend Thunder could achieve when concocted from ghost souls at the magical power realm, along with enough yin evil energy for a thousand people.