Chapter 357: Soul‑slaughtering Pearl

"Daoist friend Yun, are you going?"

Seeing Yunhe volunteer for battle, everyone was somewhat surprised.

Although Yunhe had easily taken down the unconscious Han Bo yesterday, they instinctively still regarded him as a formation master.

Formation masters, however, generally need to rely on their own formations to bring out their full strength.

"We need to meet them to better understand the Abyss clan," Yunhe explained with a smile.

"Also." Jiliuyun gave a slight nod, then reassured, "Daoist friend, you can rest assured; if we detect anything wrong, we will certainly lend a hand immediately."

Yunhe's smile widened; he said nothing more, merely glancing at Feng Qingdan to signal her to open the formation while furtively glancing at Xiao Wuxian from the corner of his eye.

And Xiao Wuxian also looked at Yunhe at that moment.

Although it was just a fleeting glance, Xiao Wuxian inexplicably felt a jolt in his heart, as if he had been seen through.

At the same time, as the formation opened, Yunhe tapped his foot, turning into a stream of light that landed outside the formation, standing before the Abyss cultivators.

Seeing Yunhe, the Abyss priest obviously recognized him as the one who had set up the formation a few days earlier to block them.

"This person is a formation master; who wishes to fight?" the Abyss priest asked, lightly waving his black staff and giving a low laugh.

Whoosh—

Immediately, a figure landed beside him.

"Priest, leave it to me," a hoarse voice came from under the black robe.

"Douji?"

Seeing the person who had come out, the Abyss priest raised his eyebrows, seeming somewhat surprised.

But considering his ability and experience, he also felt at ease.

"If so, then this person is yours, Douji,"

Unlike when facing the two previous Abyss cultivators, where the priest assumed a superior posture, when facing Douji he adopted a more equal attitude.

"Priest, can this person be killed?" Douji asked in a low voice.

According to their plan, they would exhaust the human cultivators, and once they were unknowingly infected by the Heavenly Corpse Gu larvae, even if the human stronghold had formation protection, it would be nothing to worry about.

Upon hearing that, the Abyss priest thought briefly, then nodded and said, 'Yes.'

If they could kill one or two, it wouldn't be a big problem.

"Thank you, Priest," Douji bowed his hands to the Abyss priest.

Immediately he turned into a black light, shooting toward where Yunhe stood.

As he rushed toward Yunhe, he swung his arm violently; beneath his wide robe, a jet-black pearl like ink shot toward Yunhe at greater speed.

This pearl looks ordinary, whereas other pearls are usually lustrous and precious; even a black pearl would normally be smooth and shiny.

But this black pearl not only lacks any luster on its surface; it is like a black hole that can devour everything, as if it would swallow all objects.

Seeing this object, Yunhe's expression darkened slightly and he abruptly retreated.

Bang!!

The black pearl struck the spot where Yunhe had been standing; accompanied by a not-so-loud sound, a depression the size of a millstone appeared there, without any dust, as if everything touched had been obliterated.

"Soul‑slaughtering Pearl?"

Yunhe recognized this pearl.

"Good eyesight, you actually recognize this pearl," Douji said in a hoarse voice, his strike having missed and not immediately pursuing but standing a short distance away.

And the flying Soul‑slaughtering Pearl returned to Douji's side, orbiting him.

"Daoist friend, you have heavy killing intent,"

Yunhe flicked his sleeve, his tone calm.

"Daoist friend?"

Douji was slightly stunned, then snorted, 'You, a mere human cultivator, dare to call me "Daoist friend"?'

Although the Abyss clan harbors great hostility toward humans, it's rare to see someone like Douji who seems to want to devour Yunhe alive.

"When you human cultivators treat my clan's juniors as commodities, as toys to be bought and played with, have you ever considered the words 'Daoist friend'?" Douji roared.

"Huh?"

Yunhe furrowed his brows.

It seems Douji must have some very important person who was captured or even abused by human cultivators.

This situation is actually not uncommon.

Although after the ancient tribal wars myriad races were exterminated by humans, some non‑human races still found opportunities to survive, like the Abyss clan before us, the sea clan of the Endless Sea, and various other hidden races in the cultivation world; they still exist.

And if these non‑human races appear before human cultivators, they are very likely to be killed or captured.

Rare non‑human races have now become a precious and scarce 'commodity'; in some large auctions, if lucky, there is also a possibility of auctioning non‑human races later.

Douji had a relative who, while out, accidentally got trapped in a formation; although Douji eventually escaped, his relative was captured.

The consequences are easy to imagine.

Actually Yunhe wanted to say, some people don't just target these non‑human races.

Because in those people's eyes, 'humans' are also commodities that can be auctioned, such as furnaces with special spiritual bodies or cultivators with special bloodlines.

But he couldn't be bothered to give an explanation.

He simply said lightly, "If my knowledge is correct, this Soul‑slaughtering Pearl shouldn't be just one, right?"

"The Soul‑slaughtering Pearl is a well‑known demonic path treasure; according to Yunhe's understanding, this pearl stands alongside the seven great demonic weapons of the monster clan, and is also one of the supreme treasures of demonic path cultivators, or rather of the demon clan."

Nowadays, the method for refining the remaining Soul‑slaughtering Pearls in the Eastern Border cultivation world is merely an imitation of the true Soul‑slaughtering Pearl.

But just like Yunhe's held Heavenly Demon Armor, even if these treasures are merely imitations, once refined their power is still quite formidable.

He just didn't expect that Abyss cultivators could also use human treasures.

But thinking of Qizhou Changkong's long spear and the pearl's seashell, he also felt relieved.

Hmph!

Dou Si stopped wasting words with Yunhe, waved his hands, and instantly a fierce, murderous killing intent surged toward him.

Yunhe's expression remained unchanged; with a flick of his body he shifted several zhang aside, and the Soul-Slaughtering Pearl landed a moment later, gouging a trench where he had stood.

"All you know is to dodge!"

Seeing this, Dou Si seemed unable to hold his composure; he spread his arms, and from beneath his wide black robe five pitch-black pearls shot out with a whoosh, flying from all directions to envelop Yunhe.

At the same time.

Dou Si's eyes flashed scarlet, and suddenly a piercing, grating sound erupted around him, sharp enough to rend metal and split stone.

Seeing this, Yunhe's composed expression faded, replaced by a hint of solemnity.

He could feel that within that sharp, piercing long howl surged a turbulent spiritual sense attack like a tide.

Unlike the previous Yuan tribe cultivator Ao Yi, who shaped his spiritual sense into three black crows, Dou Si actually fused his spiritual sense into sound, using the all-pervasive noise to launch a spiritual sense attack.

At this moment, in Yunhe's perception, not only were six Soul-Slaughtering Pearls flying to envelop him, but countless spiritual sense needles finer than cow hair had already surrounded him.

This spiritual sense attack made Yunhe recall the Thunder Sound Secret Technique he had obtained as a Qi Refining cultivator, which also used sound to unleash a spiritual sense impact, but this method could not compare to that Thunder Sound Technique.

However.

A strange glint appeared in Yunhe's eyes.

If this is all there is to the spiritual sense attack, it really leaves him somewhat disappointed.

He neither dodged nor evaded; instead, his robes stirred without wind, and a surging spiritual sense spread outward from him.

At the same time.

His sleeve fluttered, and as he turned his wrist a flying sword landed in his hand; accompanied by a leaping golden arc, the sword stabbed out six times like lightning, knocking all six Soul-Slaughtering Pearls away.

Seeing this, Dou Si's heart skipped a beat, but he had no time to think; he again activated his hand seal, as if unwilling to believe it, and once more stirred his magical power.

The six Soul-Slaughtering Pearls formed a rotating disk, absorbing all the surrounding spiritual energy; the rising murky killing intent then coalesced into a fearsome demonic figure with three heads and six arms, a blue face and ferocious fangs.

This is the true power of the Soul-Slaughtering Pearl.

These pearls come in sets of six; they can be grouped as six, twelve, or eighteen, with each group of six forming an independent formation—more pearls mean more formations and greater power.

Furthermore, as Dou Si lifted his hood to reveal a pale face, he suddenly opened his mouth, and from his sharp-toothed maw he let out a roar.

The invisible spiritual sense attack condensed once more, sharper than the previous needles, and struck at Yunhe before the demonic image formed from the six Soul-Slaughtering Pearls could even reach him.

Hmph!

Seeing this, Yunhe's eyes turned cold, and he too let out a cold snort.

Immediately afterward, his spiritual sense surged forth without reserve, forming in midair a giant palm that lightly patted away like brushing dust, shattering Dou Si's spiritual sense attack completely.

"Spiritual sense taking form—how is that possible?!"

Seeing the palm quickly dissipate, Dou Si let out a muffled grunt while his eyes widened in disbelief.

Isn't spiritual sense supposed to be the forte of the Yuan tribe cultivators? How can this human cultivator's spiritual sense be so powerful?

Moreover, Yunhe's spiritual sense felt like a different order of magnitude—both in quantity and quality it surpassed his.

If it weren't clear that Yunhe had displayed the undeniable strength of an early Nascent Soul cultivator, he would suspect his opponent was a mid‑Nascent Soul cultivator.

Yet before he could recover from his astonishment at Yunhe's powerful spiritual sense, he saw the massive demonic conjuration formed from the six Soul-Slaughtering Pearls slam heavily into his fist.

But at that moment, the lightning on Yunhe's Five Elements Heavenly Thunder Sword flared suddenly, and as he executed a sword technique, the golden arc wove itself into a faint, uneasy silhouette.

"Nine Songs Sword Technique, Cloud Lord!"

The illusory figure formed from that lightning showed no fear before the demonic shadow, and as it waved, the ethereal thunder sword shot forth with a boom.

Boom—!!

A thunderclap rang out from the flat ground, and the treasure Dou Si prided himself on was shattered head‑on, splitting into six black pearls.

This was the first time Dou Si had ever seen his six Soul-Slaughtering Pearls smashed head‑on.

Not just the treasure.

His spiritual sense secret technique also seemed unable to inflict much substantive damage against that human cultivator.

"Your counterfeit set of Soul-Slaughtering Pearls truly disappoints me."

Yunhe shook his head and sighed.

The art of counterfeiting treasures is also tiered; his method for imitating the Yao‑subduing Armor comes from the mysterious Qing Yao who bears the Azure Phoenix bloodline, whereas Dou Si's method for imitating this set of Soul-Slaughtering Pearls seems to have been distorted in the copying, possessing only the form without the substance—at best a low‑grade Fourth Level treasure.

"You!" Dou Si's eyes flared.

Yunhe merely continued on his own: "And your spiritual sense secret technique is clumsy to the extreme, truly disappointing me to the utmost!"

As he uttered those final words, a chill gloom covered Yunhe's visage, and his eyes flickered with intersecting five‑colored light.

Furthermore, he did not hesitate to seal his hand sign, and a strange pattern appeared on his Five Elements Heavenly Thunder Sword, causing it to transform into an extremely swift arc.

"Cloud Lord" paired with the Cloud Escape sigil complements each other splendidly.

At the same time, Yunhe raised his voice again in a stern tone.

"If that's all you've got, then you might as well stay!"

(End of chapter)