C687 Collecting Evil

In the night sky, a golden streak of light shot across from a secluded corner of the city with the speed of lightning.

Whoosh!

The heavens above Afnetalos City seemed to be split in two by the golden beam.

Suddenly, the golden streak came to an abrupt halt in front of Ma Jianjiang. Interweaving strands of dazzling golden light transformed into a tall and burly elder.

The elder was clad in the loose robes of the Skyreach Consortium, with the distinctive Seven-colored Stairway to Heaven pattern prominently embroidered on his chest.

"Ma Jianjiang! Is it true that the Soul-Igniting Mist has appeared in Afnetalos?" His eyes, large as copper bells, sparkled with golden light, and his voice boomed like a great bell, "You're well aware that some matters must not be spoken of lightly!"

"Greetings, Lord Jin!"

The deacon bowed respectfully, then gestured towards Yu Yuan, introducing him, "This is Yu Yuan, from Asvetaesi!"

"The God of Plagues from Asvetaesi?" The elder with the golden gaze was taken aback.

Yu Yuan, feeling a touch awkward, nodded with a wry smile.

"Yu Yuan, meet our Skyreach Consortium's Afnetalos overseer, Lord Jin Xiaolie," Ma Jianjiang said, introducing the elder to Yu Yuan. "Although Lord Jin is the overseer here, he seldom involves himself in daily affairs. He is more likely to intervene with force when the Consortium faces significant troubles."

"I'm not too versed in commerce, magic items, or pills," Jin Xiaolie admitted with a nonchalant air. "My expertise lies in combat and the art of vanquishing foes."

In the instant the golden rainbow had appeared, Yu Yuan had surmised that the man named Jin Xiaolie must possess the late-period prowess of the Spirit Walk stage.

The Chen family of the Songbird Empire also had their own regulations, prohibiting excessively powerful forces from lingering within the city.

The Spirit Walk stage was the threshold of power the Chen family was willing to tolerate.

Jin Xiaolie, at the late period of the Spirit Walk stage, practiced his cultivation in Afnetalos City, seeking the moment to refine his Solar Spirit. He would step in to resolve issues for the Consortium only when particularly thorny problems arose.

"Is it truly the Soul-Igniting Mist?" Jin Xiaolie called out urgently.

Upon his arrival, he had extended his remnant soul to survey the city. He observed the Chen family leading the Songbird Empire's soldiers in the burning of bodies. Without discrimination, they were also executing any cultivators and family disciples who had inhaled the purple mist.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, Liu Ying, having locked onto Yu Yuan with her Fallen Star Eyes, swiftly arrived at the Skyreach Consortium's branch office, joining Yu Yuan and Jin Xiaolie.

"Yu Yuan, is it the Soul-Igniting Mist that's causing the turmoil in Afnetalos?" she asked, her voice quivering with fear—clear evidence of the terror in her heart. The Soul-Igniting Mist was not to be taken lightly.

"There's no mistake," Yu Yuan confirmed with a grave nod.

"Cultivators from the Sunlit Order, Ethereal Void Sect, Thunder Sect, and Winter's Bite, along with the remnants of the Taintborn Sect and some younger members of the Devil Palace, have banded together and are now rushing out of the city," Liu Ying explained, her delicate hand pointing southward. "Neither the Chen family nor the elders of the other sects could persuade them to stay."

"Did they flee because they learned that the Soul-Igniting Mist has spread throughout Afnetalos?" Yu Yuan inquired.

"Yes," Liu Ying affirmed. "Once they realized it was the Soul-Igniting Mist, they were thrown into a panic. To them, it's a more fearsome and perilous threat than the Ashen Shadowmist enveloping the city. They'd rather confront the extraterrestrial demons, alien souls, and interstellar visitors than perish mysteriously to the Soul-Igniting Mist."

"Lord Jin, what's our course of action?" Ma Jianjiang asked.

The cultivators within Afnetalos were split into two camps: one advocating for defense, and the other, driven by the ravages of the Soul-Igniting Mist, had opted to risk death by leaving the city to escape the calamity.

As he posed the question, more members of the Skyreach Consortium steadily arrived from various parts of the city.

"The Soul-Igniting Mist," Jin Xiaolie murmured, his expression fraught with worry, his fingers entangled in his hair, unable to decide on the spot.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Wisps of malevolent Qi, drawn by the Crucible of Evil, drifted from the streets and alleys where the seven lower sect training halls were nestled in Azure Alley. Once the newly formed evil Qi entered the Crucible of Evil, it purified and rapidly coalesced into unconscious, chaotic evil spirits.

The cauldron spirit was thrilled. It promptly informed Yu Yuan that the cultivators who had perished due to the Soul-Igniting Mist, despite their souls being consumed as fuel, had their worldly attachments, resentments, and towering hatred for their enemies intensify to an astonishing degree. These emotions were crucial for the formation of evil spirits.

"Converging evil requires a surge of various negative emotions, not the strength of the soul," the cauldron spirit said excitedly. "The more evil Qi that gathers, the more evil spirits are formed, significantly enhancing the cauldron's power! In the future, it might even return to its former glory!"

"So, you're saying that the people who died from the Soul-Igniting Mist have fueled the creation of these spirits with their overwhelming negative emotions?" Yu Yuan inquired, intrigued.

"Exactly! Master, if it won't cause you any inconvenience, I'd like to go into the city and collect these burgeoning evil spirits on my own," the cauldron spirit proposed to Yu Yuan.

After a moment's consideration, Yu Yuan nodded, "Be cautious."

"Understood!"

Suddenly, the Crucible of Evil shrank to the size of a grain of rice, a dark speck of light, and left the Skyreach Consortium's branch to independently roam and gather the nascent evil Qi.

Yu Yuan maintained a constant mental connection with the artifact soul. He could faintly sense the evil Qi emanating from various parts of the city, flowing toward the Crucible of Evil.

Jin Xiaolie, the head of the Skyreach Consortium, noticed the activity of the Crucible of Evil but chose not to interfere. He was aware that this prized artifact from the Terror Claws Sect could refine and condense evil Qi into evil spirits, which could then be transformed into Banes. These Banes could be arrayed into a formidable formation, deterring malevolent forces far and wide, even causing the Star-Spawned Terrors to shudder with fear.

Jin Xiaolie pondered whether he should lead the Consortium's members to evacuate the city promptly.

"Yu Yuan, should we... leave the city?" Liu Ying asked softly.

Yu Yuan squinted his eyes, carefully observing the unfolding situation while covertly maintaining contact with the Crucible of Evil, attuned to the emergence and distribution of the evil aura.

He witnessed the Chen family and the Songbird Empire deploying their forces, resorting to cruel and bloody tactics to immediately execute those afflicted by the Soul-Igniting Mist.

Regardless of the individual's status within the empire, or whether they were a disciple of a sect, the Chen family was ruthlessly quelling the disturbance.

It appeared that the Chen family and the Songbird Empire were likely to contain the spread of the Soul-Igniting Mist.

"There's no need to rush," Yu Yuan advised, shaking his head. "I have a feeling that the Chen family and the Songbird Empire will manage to handle the complications brought on by the Soul-Igniting Mist. Let's wait until they can no longer control the situation, when even the Lunar Spirit powerhouses have been penetrated by the Soul-Igniting Mist, before we make our move."

Liu Ying nodded in agreement. "Okay!"

"We'll follow Yu's plan," Jin Xiaolie, who lacked confidence in decision-making, quickly instructed Ma Jianjiang after Yu Yuan finished speaking. He urged him to stay calm, not to hastily issue commands, and to remain within the city.

"Ah, the harbinger of plague truly lives up to his name," Jin Xiaolie lamented suddenly. "We should have been prepared the moment you set foot in the city. The Skyreach Consortium's assessment of you was spot on. Wherever you go, chaos and death follow."

At this, Yu Yuan paused, reflecting on the observation before letting out a wry smile, unable to muster a rebuttal.

Two hours later, the southern part of Afnetalos was filled with the eerie wails and howls that pierced the air!

Through the azure veil of the Phoenix Skybreak Array, one could see the southern sky ablaze with blinding divine light and streaks of lightning, piercing through the Ashen Shadowmist and illuminating the heavens with a terrifying brilliance.

"The battle has begun!"

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