âWhen the old wounds resurfaced, the sheer, soulârending pain nearly sent Zuo Shanchuan into unconsciousness.
Noâthis wasnât an illusion!
How could an illusion truly wound the body? Everything was real!
Instantly, the ground beneath him cracked apart. Countless fiendish ghosts crawled out, surging madly toward Zuo Shanchuan.
Under normal circumstances, he would never dare look such things in the faceâno matter how many he slew, they could never come within three meters of him. His protective divine radiance was no empty boast.
But now it was utterly different.
His entire body was bereft of any divine power, and the memoriesâ painful reverberations left him battered and bleeding. Zuo Shanchuan could not even rise, let alone fight back. He could only watch helplessly as these vile ghostsâonce beneath contemptâswarmed over him and swallowed him whole.
What felt like an eternity of torment to Zuo Shanchuan was, in truth, only two breaths of time in the outside world.
When the dust finally settled, Ye Yu had harvested 180,000,000 points of negative emotion.
Hell of Fear
truly was extraordinaryâletting oneâs enemy perish in boundless terror both tortured them thoroughly and yielded immense negative emotion. It was perfectly tailored to Ye Yuâs needs, a worthy exchange for sacrificing four divine arts to learn this one.
Ye Yu then strode over to Jin Ci, who was already broken by the
Despairing Forest
. The deadwood vines around him had sprouted razorâsharp †NĐŸvĐ”â ight †(Read more on our source) thorns, piercing his flesh and siphoning every drop of his divine power. Poor Jin Ci could only pray for a swift deathâbut that would not come so easily. Ye Yu still needed these Divine Clan cultivators to locate the heart demon.
Ye Yu raised his right hand and began reading Jin Ciâs memories. Shen Fuxin stood off to one side, stunned at the scene before her. To overcome two opponents and fully triumph in such short timeâYe Yuâs strength was astonishing. A gulf had opened between their power levels, and Shen Fuxin felt disheartened.
Several breaths later, Ye Yu withdrew his hand, his expression oddly bemused.
âI must say, you two were putting on airs,â he said. âI expected some mysterious art to locate the heart demon, but the real key tool is nothing more than a compass. If youâre going to use an aid, why cloak it in such mystique? Itâs just a waste of feelings.â
Ye Yu plucked the golden compass from Jin Ciâs sleeve, then with a flick of his sleeve sent Jin Ci to his end.
âTrash,â Ye Yu muttered. âYou contributed only 170,000,000 points. You canât even compare to your senior brother.â
Consulting Jin Ciâs memories, Ye Yu infused divine power into the compass. In moments, a phantom miniâmap covering a million li shimmered into view, dotted with a dozen red points that pulsed around its edges.
Shen Fuxin approached and asked, âWhat is this?â
âItâs a massâproduced tool of Wuzhong Mountain,â Ye Yu explained. âIt detects the aura of malevolent spirits within a set range of the Divine Realm. Nothing magical beyond that. The size of each red dot indicates a spiritâs powerâlarger means stronger, smaller means weaker.â
His brow furrowed. âSo many malevolent spirits within this millionâli radius... There are indeed numerous evil deities in the Divine Realm. But which one is Gu Ji?â
He could not choose at random.
Shen Fuxin, ever perceptive, noticed his hesitation and offered, âPerhaps I can try locating Gu Jiâs position.â
Ye Yu arched an eyebrow. Shen Fuxin lowered her gaze to the miniâmap. âWhen I left, Gu Ji was at Great Deity Realm. Even if she broke through in seclusion, she would be at most Heavenly God Realmâmidâlevel strength. And since she departed only a few hours ago, her dot should be this one. I will use moonlight to confirm.â
She pressed her hands together and formed a complex divine seal. âMoonshadow, reveal!â
As her fingers pointed at the miniâmap, a beam of moonlight descended. The mapâs image sharpened, and a familiar figure appeared.
Shen Fuxin nodded. âThat red dot is Gu Ji.â
At some point her hair had turned golden, and her divine robe now bore a striking, eclectic beauty. Sensing the surge of divine power, Gu Ji swept her wide sleeve, shattering the moonlight, then hurried onward.
Shen Fuxin moved to pursue, but Ye Yu stopped her. âChasing on foot wastes time. Use the teleportation array.â
He studied the compass, judged the distance, then snapped his fingers. A blinding light formed beneath them as the array charged, and in the next instant Ye Yu and Shen Fuxin vanished.
They reappeared upon a drifting cloud of auspicious vapor.
Shen Fuxin steadied herself and looked around. âDid we arrive too late?â
âNo, weâre a bit early,â Ye Yu whispered, watching the red dot rush toward them. âFive... four... three... two... one!â
As he spoke, the figure of Gu Ji emerged. Her hair glowed gold and her eyes had become chilling vertical slits. She halted at the sight of Ye Yu and Shen Fuxin.
âStop me, and you will die!â Gu Jiâs voice was hoarse and coldâundeniable signs that the heart demon held sway over her body.
Ye Yu glanced at the number hovering above her head: 90,000,000.
Negative Emotion: Ferocity!
With a wave of his sleeve, Ye Yu absorbed both the emotion value and the ferocity itself, intent on weakening the heart demonâs holdâthough he knew it would be no easy task.