Translator: CinderTL
"What do you mean?" Lin Fan asked, puzzled.
The vendor didn't answer, instead frantically urging them, "Quick, which piece do you want?"
Lin Fan's eyes narrowed slightly. "I want to know how much soul spirit I have first."
The vendor paused, then picked up a small scale and held it near Lin Fan. The weight dropped. "Eight liang and seven qian."
"That's all?" Lin Fan was surprised. His gaze shifted downward, focusing on the vendor's slightly translucent feet, his mind racing.
He noticed something crucial: the vendor hadn't crossed the threshold once, not even when weighing the tofu. He had merely stood outside and waved the scale.
Could it be... they can't enter?
Or perhaps they're afraid to?
With the situation still unclear, Lin Fan decided against buying the tofu. Just as he was about to refuse, he suddenly remembered something. He pulled out the crystal from his storage pouch and held it up. "Can I use this to pay?"
The vendor nodded. "Certainly. Which piece would you like, sir?"
"The white one," Lin Fan pointed.
The vendor swiftly retrieved the tofu and placed the crystal on the scale. The weight sank, displaying one pound and two ounces.
The crystal began to shrink slowly until it was reduced to nine ounces. The vendor handed Lin Fan the tofu along with the remaining crystal, his smile fading as he turned to leave. Before departing, he called out, "Sir, you only have eight ounces and six coins of soul spirit left..."
Lin Fan's face paled slightly as a wave of hunger washed over him. This wasn't a physical hunger; it felt like a deep, soul-wrenching emptiness that was almost unbearable.
Gazing at the tofu in his hand, he silently swallowed his saliva.
Combining the vendor's words with his own observations, a chilling realization dawned on him:
This Martial World... was slowly devouring his divine soul!
---
Zuoqiu Shu frowned slightly as she examined the mother stone in her hand. Beside her, Zuoqiu Hui noticed and asked, "What's wrong, Eldest Sister?"
"Fifth Sister encountered Xu Sanyan."
"What?!" Zuoqiu Hui exclaimed in shock. Since their previous battle, Xu Sanyan had become a dreaded figure, a monstrous flood to be avoided at all costs. The scene of him devouring people to heal his wounds was deeply etched into everyone's minds.
Zuoqiu Xin's face also paled. She immediately pressed, "Was Fifth Sister harmed?"
Zuoqiu Zhen curled her lip. "With Xu Sanyan's... abilities, if he had wanted to harm Fifth Sister, she wouldn't have had a chance to send a message."
Zuoqiu Shu glanced curiously at her sixth sister but didn't dwell on it. She nodded in agreement. "Sixth Sister is right. Xu Sanyan didn't harm Fifth Sister."
Behind Zuoqiu Shu, a tall, slender woman asked curiously, "Is Xu Sanyan truly that formidable?"
This woman was Zuoqiu Chen, the second-ranked among the Huai Lake Seven Heroes.
Zuoqiu Zhen immediately perked up, tugging at her second sister's sleeve and chattering excitedly, "Second Sister, you should have seen it! Xu Sanyan fought four of them at once—Fang Qingge, Jingyi, Luo Qingwei, and Mo Xianxian—and even their combined efforts couldn't stop him. He brazenly walked away with the treasure, and no one dared to stop him!"
Zuoqiu Zhen grew increasingly animated as she spoke. "This person's strength is so profound, he's undoubtedly the foremost among the younger generation. Moreover..."
She leaned close to Zuoqiu Chen's ear and whispered, stealing glances at Zuoqiu Shu. Zuoqiu Chen's eyes gradually lit up, and she stared at her eldest sister with a strange expression.
Zuoqiu Shu pursed her lips, about to speak, when she suddenly paused. They had unknowingly entered a narrow alleyway.
Alleys weren't unusual in cities, but this was a "giant city" where everything was colossal. Yet this alley was surprisingly small, only wide enough for two or three people to pass abreast, and its end was nowhere in sight.
"Retreat!" Zuoqiu Shu commanded decisively, her voice low and urgent. The others' faces turned serious, their playful mood vanished as they turned to retreat.
But as they turned, they discovered that the path they had taken to enter had also transformed into a narrow alleyway.
The group stood frozen in the alley's center, gazing left and right, utterly disoriented and unsure which way to go...
Xu Sanyan gazed at the massive well opening before him, stroked his chin, and scanned the surroundings. He began calling out names: "Elder Ren, Elder Liu... Elder Zhao, you will accompany me down. The rest of you will remain here and guard the entrance."
The elders selected, fifteen in total, all possessed cultivation levels at the Mid Stage of Dao Seeking or higher. This mission required a small, elite team; too many participants would only create chaos. Fifteen was the perfect number.
"Understood," the elders replied, preparing themselves.
"Let's move out!"
A gentle breeze rose beneath Xu Sanyan's feet, lifting him into the well. The elders followed closely behind, each employing their own unique methods to descend.
As they descended deeper, the light grew dimmer. The well walls bore the claw marks of demon beasts, and in places, dark, viscous stains clung to the stone.
Upon reaching the bottom, they found two tunnels stretching into the unknown depths.
Xu Sanyan pulled out a map, located their current position, and strode confidently into the deeper tunnel. As he walked, he sent a telepathic message to the old man within his discipline ruler: "Senior, where are the corpse demons hiding?"
"The Corpse Nourishing Pool," the old man replied. "It's used to preserve the demons' physical bodies from decay."
He added reassuringly, "Don't worry. Just follow the map, and you'll be fine."
Xu Sanyan nodded and continued forward through the darkness. They encountered no danger along the way, and Elder Ren and the others gradually relaxed.
"Awoo~"
Suddenly, a beastly roar echoed through the tunnel, as if triggering a switch. One roar followed another, reverberating through the underground passages.
Xu Sanyan frowned, about to ask what was happening, when a thunderous stampede erupted behind them. The group whirled around to see a massive horde of corpse demons, resembling small calves, charging straight at them. Their horned heads lowered, they formed an impenetrable wall across the tunnel.
These corpse demons were of average strength and incapable of climbing or flying, restricting their movements to the underground. This explained why they had never been seen outside.
Without hesitation, Xu Sanyan casually tossed eight small flags into the ground. A faint golden light shimmered, enveloping the entire group within the Eight Directions Divine Lock Formation.
Bang! Bang!
The corpse demons, fearless in their deathly frenzy, relentlessly rammed against the light barrier. Crimson flesh splattered, revealing ghastly white bones beneath.
Forced to channel more Spiritual Power, Xu Sanyan intensified the golden glow. Yet the endless tide of corpse demons surged forward like a river of flesh and blood, seemingly inexhaustible.
"Senior, what's happening?" Xu Sanyan asked telepathically. The old man hadn't mentioned anything like this.
"I don't know. Something must have changed underground," the old man replied, his gaze fixed on the horde of corpse demons. He searched his memories for an explanation but found nothing.
I don't remember creating anything like this among the corpse demons I forged, he thought, growing increasingly puzzled. What has happened in these tens of thousands of years? Why are unexpected events occurring so frequently in the secret realm I created?
First, the woman who shouldn't have been there, then the merging of the secret realms, and now this underground anomaly. Where exactly did things go wrong?
Realizing he wouldn't get any answers, Xu Sanyan handed the array command flag to Elder Ren, instructing the elders to take turns controlling the formation while he conserved his Spiritual Power for emergencies.
After an unknown amount of time, the corpse demons finally exhausted themselves. The golden light barrier was now thickly coated in blood and gore, with mangled corpses clinging to its surface.
Deactivating the formation, Xu Sanyan surveyed the crimson-stained passage. He consulted his map, made a quick comparison, and continued forward.
I need to end this quickly, he resolved, before anything else goes wrong.
(End of the Chapter)
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