Chapter 558 - 302: A Ten-Thousand-Li Pursuit

SQUELCH!

A peerlessly sharp Sword Aura swept out, dicing the hideous, savage creature into more than a dozen pieces. Black blood and strange bits of internal organs sprayed across the ground.

However, the first creature’s surprise attack was just the beginning. Dozens more emerged from all directions, surrounding Ling Changqing and his companions. Their sharp claws tore through the air at high speeds, creating a piercing shriek.

Their Physiques were generally powerful, but their methods of attack were relatively simple, more akin to Human Race Body Cultivators.

But the power gap between the two sides was obvious. The women all attacked, and the light of various Divine Techniques, Magic, and Magical Treasures enveloped the entire area.

Within just a few breaths, not a single one of these Outer Heaven creatures—the strongest of which were only at the Golden Core Peak Level—survived. All of them were dismembered.

As for their Divine Souls, they were all secretly devoured by the Era Star Palace, leaving them no chance to escape.

The appearance of these things was completely at odds with the aesthetics of human civilization. They were twisted and deformed, hideous and savage, looking no different from wild savages.

"How on earth did these things manage to wander all the way here?"

Ling Changqing frowned. ’For them to cross a distance of hundreds of millions of miles from the distant Primordial Demon Palace in Shunzhou to get here on their own power, without the help of a High Grade Magical Treasure, would be far too difficult.’

"I think... they were probably transported here in batches by High Rank Cultivators from the Primordial Demon Palace and secretly released, right?"

Ziyunxi analyzed thoughtfully.

"That makes sense. It seems quite a few small and medium-sized powers must have suffered along the way!"

Ling Changqing’s expression grew even more solemn.

The Primordial Demon Palace’s scheme was nothing short of insidious and vicious. To the countless mortals and Low Grade Cultivators, these creatures were the stuff of nightmares.

A few dozen of these creatures could slaughter everyone on an island spanning thousands of miles in just a few days. Cultivators who reacted quickly might have a chance to escape, but mortals wouldn’t stand a chance.

The Primordial Demon Palace must have sent out thousands upon thousands of Cultivators to "start fires" all over the Qingyao Continent. Their goal was to throw the continent into chaos, leaving the various powers, large and small, too busy to deal with anything else.

"Husband, look at this."

The Kunpeng Maiden, Qingsi, said after rummaging through the creatures’ corpses and collecting a few crystals.

Ling Changqing took one and examined it closely in his hand. The chaotic-colored crystal was only about the size of a thumb, its surface shrouded in a faint, swirling mist and glowing with a soft, lively light.

"This is... a Soul Crystal? Is it made by extracting the Divine Souls of the dead and refining them with a Secret Technique?"

Ling Changqing understood its origin after a moment of thought, and his expression turned even colder.

Clearly, the Cultivators of the Primordial Demon Palace had sent these creatures to slaughter mortals en masse for the sole purpose of collecting these Soul Crystals.

For all powers of the Heretic and Demon Paths, the souls of intelligent beings were an extremely precious resource. They could be used for refining certain Elixirs with special effects or for repairing a damaged Divine Soul Origin.

They were also used to forge numerous inhumane Magical Artifacts and Magical Treasures, to practice all kinds of wicked Cultivation Technique Divine Techniques, and were indispensable for certain mysterious and evil sacrificial rites.

However, such an act went against the harmony of the heavens and easily provoked public outrage. Therefore, even the Demonic powers didn’t dare to openly slaughter mortals to extract their souls, and could only do so secretly on occasion.

"...Husband, don’t hesitate any longer. Let’s go and clear out the creatures on those other islands first."

Bai Qingyi, who was beside him, spoke. She and Qin Mengxuan had just confirmed that there was more than one island with the creatures’ auras present.

"Alright."

Ling Changqing nodded and released Qin Yun, Mu Yunxiu, Fu Yin Xue, Ling Zhiqing, and the other women from the Era Star Palace Grotto Heaven Blessed Land. He then divided them into four groups to act separately.

The islands were not large, nor were they far from each other. Thus, after a little over an hour, all the creatures—numbering over a thousand in total—had been exterminated.

But in that short time, they had already killed over a million mortals and a hundred Low Grade Cultivators. The losses were anything but small.

When the women regrouped, Ling Changqing held another pile of Soul Crystals in his hand.

In certain unsavory underground black markets, these Soul Crystals were astonishingly valuable and were perennially in short supply.

"These things... Husband, you can use them, right?"

Bai Qingyi’s eyes shimmered as she spoke. She knew the Ancient Heavy Artifact on Ling Changqing had not yet recovered, so this arrangement was the most suitable.

The other women had no objections. The faster Ling Changqing’s cultivation progressed, the more it would naturally benefit them.

"Alright, then I’ll accept them!"

Ling Changqing didn’t stand on ceremony and accepted immediately.

"Master, if you sacrifice these Soul Crystals to me, it can speed up my main body’s recovery!"

Gong Ling’s soft and alluring voice echoed in his sea of consciousness.

"Fine, you can have them all!"

Ling Changqing said, tossing all the Soul Crystals into the Era Star Palace Grotto Heaven Blessed Land.

In the unseen void, a mysterious flame that was neither black nor white emerged, refining all the Soul Crystals into nothingness.

Immediately after, the main body of the Era Star Palace in his sea of consciousness brightened slightly. Specks of mysterious Spiritual Light surged into Ling Changqing’s Divine Soul, merging with him without any resistance.

He then discovered that his Divine Soul Origin had increased by ten points, which was equivalent to several years of his own arduous Cultivation.

A Nascent Soul True Monarch’s soul was already quite powerful, and the difficulty of strengthening it further was on a completely different level than before. The previous method of harvesting the Soul Origin of Female Cultivators to empower himself now had a negligible effect.