That feeling was strange, almost… as if she could sense the emotions and fragments of memory from the targets that had been corroded!
"This…" Her pupils shrank.
This ability had already gone far beyond the scope of an ordinary Primordial Soul attack. It was more like some twisted devouring secret art!
It was powerful, but far too sinister. In her past life at the Hehuan Sect, she'd seen plenty of people lose control after cultivating forbidden arts. She knew all too well that power like this always came with a terrifying price.
"I've got to use it sparingly…" she warned herself. This ability could serve as her last life-saving trump card, but she couldn't let herself rely on it.
To be sure, she checked her sea of consciousness again. The green-violet mist seemed thinner than before. Oddly, that discovery calmed her down. If this power could be used without limit, that would've been truly terrifying.
"Good thing it's consumable…" she whispered. Her nerves finally relaxed.
That meant she wouldn't have to constantly worry about the power going out of control, nor would she need to wrestle with herself over whether to use it or not.
The queen bee perched on her shoulder and fluttered its wings softly, its compound eyes reflecting her relieved expression.
Xie Zhaolin stroked the creature's carapace, a faint trace of green-violet mist curling around her fingertip. The queen bee's antennae quivered as if sensing something, yet it didn't shy away.
"Looks like it's harmless to you…" she murmured thoughtfully.
Maybe this power wouldn't affect her contracted beast. She'd need to test that theory later, but now wasn't the time.
Standing up, she felt the mist flow faintly within her sea of consciousness. Although its quantity was slowly diminishing, the rate was much slower than she'd expected. At this pace, the mist could last her a long while.
"Still, I've got to figure out how to replenish it…" she muttered.
It was consumable for now, but who knew when she might face a situation where she'd have to use a lot of it? Her gaze swept across the surroundings. The yinsha qi of the Blackwater Abyss appeared in shades of gray through her spiritual sense.
She tried guiding a wisp of yinsha qi into her sea of consciousness, and to her delight, the green-violet mist stirred faintly. The replenishing effect was tiny, but it was there!
"So that's it…" Her eyes lit up.
This mist could be sustained by absorbing energy of certain attributes, though the efficiency was painfully low. If she could find a purer yin-type spiritual item, the results might be much better.
The discovery lifted her mood.
She carefully regulated her absorption, slow enough not to draw attention, steady enough to offset the mist's depletion. The fine control required might've been daunting to others, but for someone who'd been a Nascent Soul cultivator in her past life, it was second nature.
Just as she was adjusting her rhythm, a violent fluctuation of spiritual power suddenly erupted in the distance.
Through the fragments of the soul chasing mark, she sensed that the gray-robed man seemed to be fighting some powerful being—and he was getting closer.
Xie Zhaolin instantly withdrew all traces of her presence, frowning.
The battle was moving toward her. That was bad news.
"I need to move faster…" she whispered to the queen bee, her eyes turning toward the deeper parts of the Blackwater Abyss. The Rebirth Flower was likely in that direction, along with her original goal—the cultivator's cave dwelling.
But just as dangerous, that same mark could draw the gray-robed man straight to her.
After weighing it for a moment, she decided to risk it and keep going.
She had three advantages now: first, her spiritual sense was as strong as a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator's; second, she had the strange green-violet mist as her hidden trump card; and third, she could track the gray-robed man's location.
As long as she stayed cautious, she should be able to reach her objectives without alerting him.
"Let's go." She spoke softly to the queen bee. "We've got no time to waste."
She pulled out a Concealment Talisman and slapped it on her body, then layered an isolating barrier of spiritual sense around herself. It wasn't foolproof against high-rank cultivators, but it would at least lower her chances of being spotted.
After steadying her condition once more, she pressed forward into the abyss.
She deliberately limited how often she released her spiritual sense, using it only when necessary. Even then, every use clearly drained the mist.
The deeper she went, the denser the yinsha qi became. The queen bee flew three zhang ahead in silence, its compound eyes constantly sweeping the darkness.
Suddenly, it froze mid-air, antennae trembling violently.
Xie Zhaolin halted immediately, her spiritual sense surging forth. Around the bend of the gorge, five shadow wolves with pitch-black fur crept toward her soundlessly. These were peak second-rank beasts, their green eyes glowing eerily, their claws carving deep grooves into the stone.
"Shadow wolves…" She narrowed her eyes.
These pack beasts were troublesome. Once they locked onto prey, more of the pack would soon follow.
The leader arched its back, a low growl rumbling in its throat. Xie Zhaolin knew fleeing would only rouse their hunting instinct. Slowly, she raised her right hand, a wisp of green-violet mist coiling at her fingertip.
"Perfect chance to test this new attack."
The moment the first wolf lunged, she flicked her finger. The mist shot out like an arrow, piercing straight into its brow.
The wolf's body froze mid-air before crashing heavily to the ground, limbs twitching uncontrollably.
Through her spiritual sense, she saw the mist spread through its sea of consciousness like ink in water, corroding its awareness at an alarming rate. What shocked her more was that she could faintly sense the wolf's terror and agony—something she hadn't experienced with the scorpion earlier.
The other four wolves didn't retreat. Instead, their bloodlust surged, and they charged from all directions, claws flashing cold light in the gloom.
Xie Zhaolin snorted coldly. Her sea of consciousness roiled, mist coalescing into four hair-thin spikes before her. With a thought, the spikes pierced the foreheads of the charging wolves with unerring accuracy.
"Awooo—"
The canyon echoed with chilling howls. All four beasts collapsed, writhing in torment. She could feel their seas of consciousness being consumed rapidly, their awareness fading into nothing.
But then she realized the green-violet mist had already burned through nearly thirty percent of its volume! A group attack drained far more than she'd expected.
"I can't waste time here…" She didn't hesitate. While the wolves writhed helplessly, she swiftly finished them off, collected the bodies into her storage ring, and fled with the queen bee.
Behind her, wolf howls rose and fell in succession. More were coming.
She quickened her pace while checking her inner state. The mist had thinned considerably, but it was slowly drawing in yinsha qi again, replenishing itself at a faster rate than she'd imagined.
"So combat stirs it up…" she mused.
That discovery was both encouraging and worrisome. The recovery was quicker, but if she overused it in battle, the consequences could be dire.
Turning a corner, she suddenly froze in her tracks!