"Devour Xia Baiyi?"
Why was the Ten Thousand Ghosts Elder so confident?
But in the next second, after he plunged the withered wooden staff in his hand into the ground, everything seemed to be revealed.
"Heaven Swallowing Demon Devouring Array! Activate!"
Boom!
As the Ten Thousand Ghosts Elder's voice fell, the withered wooden staff he had inserted into the ground instantly cracked, turning into countless fragments as if stained with blood, scattering in all directions.
Each fragment was entwined with a wisp of dark purple energy, seemingly connected to each other.
In a moment, the range formed by these fragments had sealed off nearly a thousand miles of space around the testing platform.
Bang!
Bang!
Subsequently, the blood-red fragments exploded one after another, releasing the dark purple energy within. In just a few seconds, it filled every corner of the entire space.
"This is... Heaven Swallowing Demonic Energy!"
Xia Baiyi immediately identified what the dark purple energy was.
Heaven Swallowing Demonic Energy!
Legend had it that it was the most sinister and most consuming energy in the world. Wherever it existed, there was no trace of life force within hundreds of miles.
Under normal circumstances, Heaven Swallowing Demonic Energy would form containers called Heaven Swallowing Demonic Crystals, growing in certain special places.
Because of this, although it was terrifying, as long as one did not come into contact with it, it would not cause too much harm to the human body.
But once invaded, not to mention if you were in the Xiantian Realm, even a Heavenly Human Realm expert would have their life force continuously devoured by it.
Utterly terrifying!
However, for such a heaven-defying item, there would always be people in the world who coveted its power, using countless methods to control it, harness it, and even use it for themselves.
After learning from painful lessons, everyone who had harbored this thought ultimately became a shriveled corpse.
It was not until tens of thousands of years later that the first ancestor of the Demonic Cult created a cultivation technique called "Heavenly Demon Guidance," which could barely control innate demonic energy and turn it into a means of attack.
It was precisely because of this that the Demonic Cult could be passed down to the present day.
However, in the long river of tens of thousands of years, very few cultivators had truly mastered "Heavenly Demon Guidance."
More often than not, they were consumed by the backlash of cultivating Heavenly Demon Guidance, ultimately perishing.
Therefore, during the tenure of the 180th Cult Master of the Demonic Cult, it was strictly forbidden for anyone other than the Cult Master and the chosen inheritor to cultivate Heavenly Demon Guidance.
Under this ban, fewer and fewer people practiced Heavenly Demon Guidance. Finally, in the current Demonic Cult, only that Cult Master truly mastered Heavenly Demon Guidance.
...
At the edge of the core area.
"The Ten Thousand Ghosts Elder can actually control Heaven Swallowing Demonic Energy through a formation. He does have some tricks up his sleeve!" Ye Ming said with a solemn voice.
"Young Master! What is Heaven Swallowing Demonic Energy?" Du Yuemian asked.
Xu Zhan beside her had the same question.
Then, Ye Ming briefly introduced it to them.
"So terrifying, it can even overwhelm cultivators in the Heavenly Human Realm!"
Du Yuemian's face was filled with fear.
Then she looked at the white-robed woman on the screen, her beautiful eyes filled with worry, "Young Master! Is that fairy sister in great danger?"
Fairy sister!
Hearing Du Yuemian refer to the other party like that, Ye Ming was slightly stunned but didn't pay too much attention.
"Heaven Swallowing Demonic Energy! It is indeed a bit tricky!"
Ye Ming stroked his chin, thinking to himself:
"How will you escape?"
...
Inside the Heaven Swallowing Demonic Devouring Array.
"Fairy Baiyi, if I devour all your life force and talent, can I directly break through that bottleneck and enter the Heavenly Human Realm?"
Looking at the hazy silhouette before him, the Ten Thousand Ghosts Elder was already smiling victoriously.
At this moment, he had not yet controlled the innate demonic energy to corrode Xia Baiyi's body.
Just as he had said before, the Ten Thousand Ghosts Elder recognized Xia Baiyi's identity.
"So you had prepared long ago?"
At this moment, Xia Baiyi truly understood the Ten Thousand Ghosts Elder's scheme.
"No! To be precise, I only made two preparations!" The Ten Thousand Ghosts Elder said with a triumphant smile. "If I could successfully refine the Profound Heaven Pill, I wouldn't have to sacrifice my Heaven Swallowing Demonic Staff and set up this Heaven Swallowing Demonic Devouring Array. It's all your fault for forcing me!"
It turned out that the staff he held, which looked like withered wood, was forged from a piece of pure innate demonic crystal.
Sacrificing it pained the Ten Thousand Ghosts Elder greatly.
No one knew how much he had paid to obtain this Heaven Swallowing Demonic Crystal.
"Sacrificing thousands of ancient martial artists just to refine a Profound Heaven Pill, don't you think such an action goes against the Heavenly Way?" In this sentence, Xia Baiyi's voice clearly carried a hint of killing intent.
"Against the Heavenly Way? Hahaha!"
Hearing this, the Ten Thousand Ghosts Elder laughed heartily, shaking his head. "They all say that Fairy Baiyi has the potential to become the greatest person in history. I never expected you to say something so naive."
"The strong are respected, and the fittest survive. This is the law that the Heavenly Way advocates!" the Ten Thousand Ghosts Elder scoffed. "You haven't seen through this point, and you're truly wasting the talent bestowed upon you by heaven."
"Is that so?"
Xia Baiyi's tone became a little calmer and said, "If that were truly the law advocated by the Heavenly Way, why did that ancestral instruction appear a hundred thousand years ago?"
Seeing Xia Baiyi bring up that ancestral instruction, the Ten Thousand Ghosts Elder's expression stiffened, and his body trembled almost imperceptibly, then he said, "It's just alarmist talk. How many people among those of today still pay attention to that ancestral instruction?"
"Oh! Right! If I remember correctly, three years ago, the suggestion to lure those ancient martial artists to this Heavenly Hand Land to choose a spokesperson was led by your Dao Master, wasn't it!" At this point, the Ten Thousand Ghosts Elder sneered, "So now you mention the ancestral instruction to me, isn't it a bit too laughable?"
Hearing these words, Ye Ming and the others at the edge of the core circle were slightly stunned.
So, the news of the "Enlightenment Bodhi Tree appearing" that spread three years ago was masterminded by the people from the Otherworldly Realm.
Moreover, judging from the Ten Thousand Ghosts Elder's words, the leader was some kind of... Dao Master, and was related to Xia Baiyi.
The Ten Thousand Ghosts Elder's words seemed to render Xia Baiyi speechless, and she fell silent.
Seeing that the other party did not speak, the smile on the Ten Thousand Ghosts Elder's face grew even wider, "Speaking of which, I have to thank you all for your planning over the years. Although I didn't succeed in refining the Profound Heaven Pill three years ago, at least you have fallen into my hands now."
"As long as I devour your talent, I can still enter the Heavenly Human Realm. At that time, when I return to the Demonic Cult, who will dare to call me a traitor?"
As he thought of that scene, the Ten Thousand Ghosts Elder trembled with excitement.
"Fallen into your hands?"
At this moment, Xia Baiyi suddenly said in a low voice, "Who gave you the confidence to devour me?"
However, all of this, when it reached the ears of the Ten Thousand Ghosts Elder, was completely regarded as... a dying struggle.
"Fairy Baiyi! This is Heaven Swallowing Demonic Energy!"
The Ten Thousand Ghosts Elder controlled all the Heaven Swallowing Demonic Energy within the formation to approach Xia Baiyi, and said coldly, "No matter how strong you are, it's impossible..."
But as he was speaking, the Ten Thousand Ghosts Elder's smile suddenly froze.
"Impossible what?"
Xia Baiyi waved her hand at the Heaven Swallowing Demonic Energy, and it, as if guided by something, actually flew "obediently" to her side, not daring to be the slightest bit presumptuous.
Seeing this, not only the Ten Thousand Ghosts Elder was stunned. Even Ye Ming, who was a thousand miles away, exclaimed in disbelief.
"Holy shit! That's amazing?"
Ye Ming.