C1477 The Four Great Vicious Spirits

A towering knight astride a warhorse, his muscular frame swathed in bandages, reeked of decay.

The bandages encasing him were stained with blood, as though they hadn't been washed in millennia.

His head had been severed, yet a deep red soul at his neck coalesced into a face that exuded both heroism and authority.

The headless knight, gripping a short axe in one hand, emerged and pressed his other hand to his chest, bowing to Yu Yiyi. "Long time no see!" he greeted.

The face formed by his soulful red essence bore an expression of nostalgia.

Memories seemed to flood back to him of leading the Evil Sect's legions and organizing the Demonic Formation to aid Yu Yiyi in battle.

Recognizing him and his enduring respect, Yu Yiyi, known for her fiery temper, gave a rare nod, her voice tinged with complexity. "You're actually still alive."

The knight, his head replaced by a cluster of soul, let out a raspy laugh.

But he said no more.

With the Evil Sect's leader fallen in battle and both Yu Yiyi and the Great Ding suffering grave injuries before being captured by the enemy, he too had been beheaded and perished. He owed nothing more to Yu Yiyi or his former master.

His resurrection was thanks to Huangyin's assistance, a debt he acknowledged.

With everything so irrevocably altered, and their allegiances no longer aligned, what purpose would more words serve?

A spirit snake, less than two meters in length, hovered midair. Its body as dark as coal, its diminutive eyes glinted with malevolence, as if mocking Yu Yuan.

A pungent, acidic stench wafted from the black spirit snake, causing Yu Yuan slight discomfort.

Sizzle, sizzle!

Pitch-black lightning sparked to life within the snake's belly, seemingly possessing immense lethality against spiritual entities.

Within the Evil Cauldron, behind the Yang God, the lower-ranked Evil Demons grew restless at the sound of the crackling lightning.

Yu Yuan was taken aback.

An Earth Demon had managed to possess and refine such an unusual thunder snake?

Surely the thunder snake's lineage and the innate power coursing through its veins should have been at odds with the Earth Demon?

The Devil Soul is inherently vulnerable to lightning and thunder. This vulnerability is precisely why both the Earth Demon and the otherworldly Devaputra refined their Demon Bodies—to compensate for this weakness and disadvantage.

It was quite unexpected for the Earth Demon to refine a thunder snake into its Demon Body.

A blood-red banner snapped in the wind, its pungent, bloody stench overwhelming. A ghastly and terrifying face slowly took shape within it, bursting into maniacal laughter.

"Evil Cauldron! Hehe, Evil Cauldron!"

The eerie soul within the banner cackled, seemingly taunting Yu Yiyi.

"Traitor!"

Yu Yiyi huffed, her gaze fixed on the face within the blood-red banner with revulsion. "I should have known you'd be here! I should have refined you when I had the chance inside the cauldron!"

"Regretting it now? Too bad, it's too late!"

The strange soul in the banner, having regained its peak strength thanks to Huangyin, had broken free from the Evil Cauldron's enslaving mark and now faced Yu Yiyi without fear.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The tombstone, crafted from an unknown wood, stood erect in the air, its natural grain resembling bizarre soul lines that radiated a mysterious energy.

The wooden tombstone hung suspended, swaying gently as the grain on its surface began to stir.

Then, a woman with a refined and dignified demeanor gracefully emerged.

She was a pure and ancient Earth Demon, awakened when Yu Yuan removed the Dragon Slash Platform from the Fallen Moon Forbidden Area. Upon emerging from the tombstone, she paid no attention to the others.

She didn't even glance at the Earth Demon Ancestor Huangyin, Yu Yuan, or the Dragon Slash Platform, focusing solely on the Ghost God White Bone.

"Youyu, after tens of thousands of years, I never thought I'd see you again."

The woman, exuding elegance and nobility, appeared to be one with the wooden tombstone. Clearly, she and the white bone had known each other for millennia.

She addressed only the white bone.

Yet, after a brief look, the white bone, unable to recall her identity, offered no response—not even a nod.

"Still as surly as ever."

Unperturbed, the woman in the wooden tombstone allowed herself a small smile, then turned her attention to the blood souls that Yu Yuan was swiftly collecting into the Demon Blade. "You're quick on the uptake. Any slower, and these refined blood souls would have been beyond saving."

"That's not necessarily true."

Yu Yuan, his Yang God holding the Demon Blade, flashed a radiant smile, undaunted by the arrival of the four figures.

The headless knight and the Devil Soul within the scarlet banner, as per Yu Yiyi's message, were once the mightiest Evil Demons, having fought alongside Yu Yiyi and the former master of the Evil Cauldron in conquests far and wide.

Once the knight's soul regained consciousness, it willingly heeded Yu Yiyi's commands, often leading the charge into battle.

The Devil Soul in the banner, having reclaimed its memories and past, felt a kinship with Huangyin, having been swayed by him to defect multiple times, indicative of its past instability.

Yet, like Huangyin, the soul could not escape the grasp of the Evil Cauldron. Whether willing or not, it was compelled to join the fray.

This was why Yu Yiyi's perceptions of the headless knight and the Devil Soul within the banner diverged significantly.

The thunder snake, black as charred coal with lightning in its belly, had been taken over and refined by a formidable Earth Demon, a being not of ancient origin but a more recent emergence.

As such, it lacked familiarity with the white bones and held no reverence for them.

The elegant Earth Demon, having refined the enigmatic wooden tomb marker as its sanctuary, shared the ancient lineage of Huangyin and might have once fought shoulder to shoulder with Youyu.

Indeed, the Ghost Wizard Sect and the Earth Demon Clan have been steadfast allies since time immemorial.

She knew of Youyu, recognized only him, and was aware of all the events that transpired in his life. Hence, upon their encounter, she promptly made her greetings.

The four entities that emerged suddenly bore a stark contrast to the blood souls within the Demon Blade, each possessing full sentience and intellect.

Inherently powerful, they manifested in the Foul Land, a place that allowed them to exert their might. Yu Yuan sensed their capability to consume and assimilate seven blood souls, prompting him to timely retract the Demon Blade.

Nevertheless, Yu Yuan found himself at odds with the assured declarations of the Earth Demon within the wooden tomb marker.

"Do you think my cauldron is a sham?"

It was Yu Yuan himself who spoke next, standing resolute upon the Dragon Slash Platform.

Whoosh!

The Dragon Slash Platform glided over, with both Yu Yuan's Yang God and his true form standing atop it. Speaking through his true form, he said, "The four of you are truly remarkable, possessing either Ghost King level soul spirits or Earth Demons of the Demon God level. Your spiritual essence is abundant, and there's still potential for further growth. I must admit, I'm quite impressed."

"Impressed? What's there to be impressed about?" the eerie soul within the scarlet banner screeched.

"Finding low-tier Evil Demons is easy, but encountering the most powerful ones requires both chance and fortune. My cauldron is not in need of the weaker Evil Demons; it's exceptional beings like yourselves that it lacks," Yu Yuan stated earnestly.

Whether it's the Evil Demons of old or the ancient and modern Earth Demons, they are all formidable.

Once drawn into the cauldron, they would be branded with its unique mark, twisting their spiritual nature and enslaving them to its will.

The cauldron's return to the ranks of Artifacts hinges on the quantity and caliber of the mightiest Evil Demons!

Yu Yuan was pleased with the four before him, given their exceptional quality.

"I demand the Evil Cauldron. I've been subjugated by it for an era; I need to wield it myself to erase the disgrace of the past!" Huangyin declared.

He turned his gaze to Yuen Qingxi.

"Very well."

Yuen Qingxi nodded in agreement. With no objection from the skeletal remains, he invoked the malevolent curse within the gray fox, aligning with Huangyin and the four ferocious spirits.

"You have the loudest laugh," Yu Yuan's Yang God form remarked, pointing at the scarlet banner with a mouth wide in a grin, his tone leaving no room for doubt, "You, come to me!"

The strange soul within the scarlet banner, about to hurl its scorn, suddenly sensed danger.

As if seized by an unseen colossal hand, the scarlet banner and its soul were abruptly pulled towards Yu Yuan.

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