Chapter 574: The Yellow Springs Protects Its Master

Venomous snakes coiled around the Ghost Infant Sect Master, slithering through his flesh. The sight made my scalp prickle, and I instinctively backed away from his corpse.

'He should be dead,' I thought. The Ghost Infant Sect Master looked utterly wretched, venomous snakes weaving in and out of his clothes. Not daring to step too close, I pressed myself against the wall and slipped past him.

'Evil cultivators are selfish and ruthless. I finally saw it for myself today. They completely disregard any bonds of fellowship and will use any means necessary for their own benefit.' Following the stone steps, I trailed after She Qian deep into the earth vein.

This place had to be the core forbidden grounds of the Three Yin Sect. The deeper we went, the more complex the talismans painted on the walls became. If She Qian hadn't been clearing the way ahead, it would have been impossible for me to enter safely.

The yin energy had materialized into a physical mist, obscuring my vision. Even with my Judging Eye, I could only see two or three meters ahead. Under these conditions, I wouldn't be able to see She Qian clearly even if he were standing just a short distance away.

As I continued downward, the yin energy within my Yin Meridians ran wild like unbridled horses, circulating on its own. It extracted the purest yin energy from the surroundings and drew it into my yin apertures, strengthening my foundation and slowly elevating my realm in the ghost arts.

'At this rate, my Yin-Yang Ghost Art will break through to the Fourth Layer before long,' I thought. The first three layers of the Yin-Yang Ghost Art were for Foundation Establishment and weren't much different from ordinary ghost arts. But starting from the Fourth Layer, the tyrannical nature of this art would be fully displayed, using yin and yang as commands to rule over the ghosts and deities of the five directions.

The yin energy flowed smoothly, on the verge of a breakthrough at any moment. My talent in ghost arts far surpassed my aptitude for Daoist spells and Buddhist dharma. I didn't even need to deliberately cultivate; everything was falling into place naturally. It felt as if I had been a Ghost Cultivator in my past life, simply repeating the process in this one without any hindrances.

After descending another eight or nine meters, I could no longer make out my surroundings, even with my Judging Eye.

It wasn't just darkness. The black mist formed by the yin energy shrouded everything, making it feel like I had entered an entirely different world.

Slowing my pace, I brushed my fingers against the rock walls on either side. It was the only way I could feel any sense of security.

"Bang! Bang!"

The muffled thuds came from further down. Immediately after, I heard She Qian chanting an incantation. It was the first time I had heard him chant since we entered the earth vein.

'Has he already found the core of the grand formation?' I quickened my pace and hurried down after him, but even after walking another dozen meters, it remained pitch black. I couldn't see a thing.

'Where is he? Did he disappear?'

The rock walls on either side had been corroded by the yin energy into hideous patterns, much like the deep wrinkles on an old man's face. The place was utterly devoid of life, filled with nothing but darkness and a biting cold.

My wrist trembled slightly. The four jade beads on my Ghost Ring lit up all at once, as if the ghosts inside wanted to come out. 'The yin energy in this earth vein has accumulated over countless years and is incredibly pure. No wonder they're sending me such strong waves of desire,' I thought. 'It doesn't look too dangerous here either. I might as well let them out. If the ghosts increase their strength, it will benefit me too.'

After pondering for a moment, I released the ghosts, leaving them to absorb the earth vein's yin energy. I kept only the Desire Ghost with me as I ventured deeper.

Yin energy swirled inside the earth vein, dropping visibility to almost zero. I could hear She Qian's voice but couldn't see him. Tracking him downward, I found only used talismans scattered on the ground, along with the remnants of the formations he had broken through.

The downward passage grew narrower and narrower. What had started as a path wide enough for two people to walk shoulder-to-shoulder shrank until I could only squeeze through sideways.

'Why haven't I reached the bottom yet?' I frowned. An invisible resistance had appeared in the underground passage. Yin energy surged up from the depths of the earth vein like ocean tides, wave after wave.

The purity of this yin energy was absurdly high; even ordinary ghosts wouldn't dare absorb it. Curiously enough, even a powerful entity like the Desire Ghost swayed unsteadily under the washing tide of yin energy, yet it had absolutely no effect on me.

The Yin-Yang Ghost Art circulated on its own. The Eighteen Yin Apertures inside my body acted like the maws of dragons, continuously swallowing the pure yin energy surging from the depths of the earth vein, then converting and absorbing it at a staggering speed.

'Could it be because the ghost art I cultivate is special?'

The yin energy tide grew more and more violent. I had no choice but to leave the Desire Ghost behind to find a suitable place to absorb the energy and cultivate, while I continued downward alone.

After enduring five consecutive waves of the yin energy tide, I finally caught sight of She Qian.

He looked rather wretched. Clutching a handful of talismans, he chanted to break the formations while struggling to withstand the crashing waves of the yin energy tide.

'Should I strike now?' I thought. She Qian's entire focus was on unraveling the formation; he had no idea someone was following him. If I made my move now, the chance of success was a hundred percent.

'Forget it, I'll wait a bit longer. I want to see the Three Yin Sect's Sect-Protecting Grand Formation for myself.' Yin energy drifted through the air. The passage was incredibly dark, and She Qian was actually only a meter or two away from me, yet he remained completely oblivious.

This was my first time entering an earth vein. According to rumors, earth veins were extremely dangerous places inhabited by all sorts of terrifying monsters. But this particular earth vein was an exception. The Three Yin Sect had spent decades modifying it, covering the surroundings with arrays and talismans of all sizes. As a result, the danger level was quite low, completely incomparable to a natural earth vein.

The further down we went, the more violent the yin energy tides became. After stubbornly weathering thirteen waves, She Qian finally couldn't hold on any longer.

His crown sat askew, his black hair disheveled, and his Daoist robe was covered in tears. Even from a couple of meters away, I could hear his heavy, ragged breathing.

"I just have to survive five more waves to reach the formation core. I only get one chance at this. If I can't take control of the grand formation, the moment the old man's death is exposed, I'll never recover. Jiang Yuan will definitely rally the sect members and hound me to death." She Qian had a sinister and vicious personality; he was ruthless to others, but just as ruthless to himself. He pulled a jade bottle from his robes, put it directly to his lips, and swallowed all the pills inside.

A minute later, the pills took effect. His somewhat feminine face flushed with an unnatural blood-red, as if the blood vessels beneath his skin had burst. At the same time, shallow wrinkles surprisingly surfaced around the corners of his eyes.

'Is he burning his lifespan and his own vitality to boost his lifeblood?' I thought. These pills had massive side effects. I hadn't expected She Qian to swallow five or six of them at once just to achieve his goal!

Relying on the pills, She Qian pushed forward a bit further, only stopping when there were two waves of the yin energy tide left.

The redness had already faded from his face, leaving him as pale as paper. He was completely burning his own life to hold out this long.

He pressed forward step by step. A sinister wind howled through the gloomy underground passage, making it feel like the gaping maw of a giant beast waiting for its prey to willingly step inside.

The yin energy materialized, surging and churning like giant, rolling ocean waves. It was hard to imagine I could witness such a spectacular sight underground.

"Bang!"

The seventeenth yin energy tide crashed into him. She Qian was knocked violently backward, stumbling three large steps before collapsing onto his rear.

Bleeding from all seven orifices, he looked absolutely wretched, but his face was filled with fanatical fervor. "Just one last wave!"

His manic voice echoed through the underground passage. In truth, if he had simply turned his head right then, he would have discovered another person standing barely half a step away.

Unfortunately for him, he didn't. His obsession ran too deep. He scrambled to his feet, brandished his talismans, and chanted his incantations as he marched toward the end of the passage.

The final tide was still brewing. The howling yin wind sliced against soft skin like blades. Propping himself against the wall and coughing up blood, She Qian exhausted all his strength to throw out ghost talismans one after another.

As time passed, a terrifying aura gathered at the end of the passage. Two or three seconds later, the entire tunnel shuddered, and a yin dragon composed entirely of the earth vein's yin energy came roaring toward us!

Under the yin dragon's impact, the talismans She Qian had set up earlier crumbled without putting up any resistance. They didn't even make a sound before being completely swallowed whole!

This eighteenth yin energy tide advanced like crushing dry weeds and smashing rotten wood, rolling forcefully over She Qian with an unrivaled momentum. Then, without slowing down in the slightest, it slammed directly into me.

Having hidden in the back to reap the benefits all this time, I hadn't expected such an abrupt turn of events. Startled, I hurriedly crossed my arms over my chest to block, circulating the Yin-Yang Ghost Art with everything I had.

"Yin-Yang Has an Order!"

I could no longer care whether I exposed my presence or not. I shouted at the top of my lungs, opening all Eighteen Yin Apertures and rallying the yin energy throughout my entire body to resist this eighteenth yin energy tide.

The yin dragon roared. After holding my ground for a few seconds, I gradually began to lose the upper hand. But right at that moment, the White Bone Jade Box I had been keeping close to my body suddenly cracked open a slit. The murmurs of departed souls echoed in my ears, and a moment later, the phantom image of a pale yellow river wrapped around me, shielding my body.

'Is this... the Yellow Springs Token?' I thought.

The yin dragon crashed into the phantom of the Yellow Springs. It shook its body once, splashing up a moderately sized spray of water, and then simply vanished into the underground passage just like that.