A Mortal's Start in the Spirit Beast Mountain

Chapter 377 Slaughtering the Branch Altar

That melodious voice came from the mouth of this little silver wolf!

A… talking phantom of a demonic beast! Moreover, judging from its form, it is clearly some kind of high-level demonic soul! It can speak human language, and its intelligence is so high…

"Transformed...transformed demonic beast? No, transformed demonic soul!"

Tong Laogui gasped, his voice distorted by extreme fear, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets! Gui Lao's legs went weak, and he almost fell from mid-air, his face contorted with terror.

Transformation stage! That's comparable to the Nascent Soul stage of humans! And this one before us, though merely a phantom demon soul, possesses an agility and imposing aura that are far from ordinary! More importantly, it appeared here simultaneously with that terrifying vortex of Yin energy... What does this mean?

Outside the Yin-gathering area, beyond the thick, gray-black protective light barrier.

The square-faced cultivator, along with a dozen Foundation Establishment disciples and dozens of Qi Refining disciples, was frantically manipulating various array plates to maintain the operation of the "Mysterious Yin Myriad Ghosts Array," firmly sealing off this area.

He was still happily fantasizing about how much he, as the steward who "reported the incident immediately and assisted in opening the great formation's seal," would get when the two Elder Tong Tie came out and captured the "Core Formation Ghost."

However, the smile on his lips had not yet fully spread—

"Ugh—!!!"

A sharp, mournful shriek, seemingly imbued with the agonizing roars of countless wronged souls, suddenly erupted from the core of the swirling vortex of yin energy without warning!

The shriek pierced through the thick protective light barrier, ignoring the distance, and like an invisible awl, it stabbed into the sea of ​​consciousness of all the cultivators present!

"ah--!"

"My head!"

"puff!"

Screams, groans, and the sound of vomiting blood instantly filled the air!

Those disciples whose cultivation was only at the Qi Refining stage were the first to be hit. They felt as if their heads had been struck by an invisible, incredibly heavy hammer! Their consciousness trembled violently, their vision went black, and blood spurted from all seven orifices at the same time!

Before they could even let out a proper scream, they collapsed to the ground like felled wheat, instantly losing consciousness. Their life force waned to an extreme level, and their fate remained unknown.

Even the dozen or so Foundation Establishment cultivators, including the square-faced cultivator, were not spared. Although their cultivation was slightly higher and their spiritual sense stronger, they still felt a tearing pain in their souls, constant ringing in their ears, a feeling of nausea and bloating in their chests, and their magical power instantly became disordered!

Many others also coughed up blood, staggered, their faces ashen, their eyes filled with indescribable horror and fear!

"What...what kind of ghostly voice is that? What...what's happening inside?"

The square-faced cultivator endured the stinging pain and dizziness in his soul, barely managing to steady himself. He raised his hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth and stared in horror at the violently fluctuating protective light screen, which seemed as if it could be torn apart at any moment by the terrifying power inside.

This was definitely not a sound a Core Formation stage ghost could make! The aftershocks alone nearly caused the souls of these Foundation Establishment cultivators on the outer perimeter to collapse! Something enormous must have happened inside!

Are the two elders alright?

However, before he could fully recover from the aftershocks of this shock to his soul, an even more terrifying change followed!

"Boom—!!"

Inside the Yin-gathering area, the already turbulent and dense Yin energy seemed to be completely stirred up by an invisible giant hand, suddenly starting to rotate, contract, and condense wildly around a certain point! The terrifying suction force and energy turbulence brought by the vortex rotation directly affected the outer protective array!

"Buzzing—!!!"

The protective light barrier enveloping the area immediately let out a mournful cry of despair! The light flickered violently, its brightness uncertain, and fine cracks even began to appear on its surface! It seemed as if it would be completely torn apart and disintegrated by the terrifying power within at any moment!

"Oh no! The formation is about to collapse!" A Foundation Establishment cultivator who was close to the formation's core screamed as he looked at the runes on the control panel in his hand, which were jumping wildly and almost shattering.

"Run! Get out of here! The thing inside...it's coming out!" Another cultivator's voice trembled, his eyes filled with fear. He no longer cared about sect prohibitions or elders' orders, and turned to flee for his life in the direction away from the Yin Gathering Land!

With someone taking the lead, the remaining Foundation Establishment cultivators also collapsed instantly, their instinct for survival overwhelming everything.

They all screamed and used their own methods, like ants scattered from a nest, frantically fleeing in all directions without any sense of direction!

The square-faced cultivator was also terrified, and no longer cared about maintaining the formation or waiting for the elder. He frantically pulled out a treasured "Swiftness Talisman" that he used to save his life, and was about to slap it on his leg.

However, just as he took out the talisman, before he could infuse it with magic power—

"Buzz—buzz buzz buzz—!!"

A dense, deep, teeth-grinding, strange buzzing sound, like countless thin metal sheets vibrating and rubbing at high speed, came from all directions like a tidal wave, overwhelming everything! Remember our domain name: , and enjoy the wonderful content anytime.

"What...what is this?!" A Foundation Establishment cultivator was so frightened that he almost fell off his flying sword, his voice trembling.

"Insects...a swarm of insects! They're spirit insects! Where did so many spirit insects come from? Could it be that the Spirit Control Sect has attacked?"

A moment later, the golden swarm of insects that had devoured more than a dozen Foundation Establishment cultivators, dozens of Qi Refining disciples, along with their abandoned magical artifacts, storage bags, and even the blood-stained soil, hovered and gathered in mid-air.

It hovered and gathered in mid-air, eventually transforming into a stream of light that precisely entered the wide sleeve of a black-robed cultivator who had silently appeared below, standing with his hands behind his back and watching everything quietly, before disappearing from sight.

The black-robed cultivator was none other than Luo Ming.

He slowly withdrew his sleeves, his gaze falling on the flickering protective light barrier before him, his brows furrowing slightly.

"Unexpectedly, the commotion caused by this ghost advancing through the Yin veins of this place is even greater than anticipated."

"Hopefully, we won't cause too much of a commotion and attract too many cultivators to investigate. Otherwise..." Luo Ming muttered to himself, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

Otherwise, he would have to consider eliminating any cultivators who might recognize him or notice something amiss, and completely cover up the matter.

After all, what he did today was tantamount to completely destroying a branch of the Ghost Spirit Sect, slaughtering its resident disciples, and draining the Yin Meridian essence that it had painstakingly cultivated to feed its own Ghost King.

This is no longer a simple conflict, but rather a plunder of the Ghost Spirit Sect! Once the Ghost Spirit Sect's higher-ups confirm that he was responsible, given the modus operandi of demonic sects, they will spare no expense, mobilizing the entire sect's strength, and may even join forces with allied forces such as the Demon Flame Sect to launch a relentless pursuit and annihilation against him.

With Luo Ming's current strength, he is not afraid to face any early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator alone, and he is even confident that he can protect himself against two or three.

However, if they were to confront the entire Ghost Spirit Sect, especially the two Nascent Soul stage cultivators within the sect, a head-on confrontation would be unwise.

"If you can handle it discreetly, then do so as discreetly as possible." Luo Ming suppressed the fierce look in his eyes and regained his composure, but his divine sense scanned the surrounding dozens of miles with even greater vigilance.

Time passed slowly.

Perhaps because the Ghost King had advanced, it primarily absorbed Yin energy and Earthly Fiend energy, causing relatively little disturbance to the Five Elements spiritual energy in the world. Its core fluctuations were mostly blocked by the formation outside this branch altar.

Or perhaps it's because the Ghost Spirit Sect is so ruthless and domineering in its daily operations, with a notorious reputation, that almost no independent cultivators or small families dare to settle or operate within a radius of hundreds of miles around its branch headquarters, for fear of offending them and becoming material for their evil cultivation techniques.

Due to a combination of factors, the situation that Luo Ming had worried about—that the advanced phenomenon would attract a large number of cultivators to observe and investigate—did not occur. This old site of the Spirit Beast Mountain, shrouded in dark and gloomy energy, remained strangely "calm" on the outside, except for the increasingly terrifying energy fluctuations inside.

One day later.

The earth-shattering energy fluctuations within the Yin-gathering area finally reached their peak at a certain moment, and then receded and subsided rapidly like a tide.

The enormous vortex of Yin energy that nearly shattered the protective array slowly dissipated, and the churning Yin energy gradually calmed down. However, the originally dense Yin aura became much thinner, as if its essence had been drained.

Luo Ming had already quietly entered and completed the final finishing touches—collecting the Ghost King, who had successfully advanced but was still unstable and needed to stabilize his realm within the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, along with the other low-level Yin spirits and ghosts.

After doing all this, Luo Ming did not linger. His figure transformed into a faint, indistinct shadow, and he silently left this "cursed land" that had become ruins and was no longer of any value.

At the same time, the steward of the Ghost Spirit Sect's main altar, who was responsible for monitoring the "Primordial Spirit Life Tablets" of disciples in various branch altars, was horrified to discover that the Primordial Spirit Life Tablets of all registered disciples in the Spirit Beast Mountain branch altar, including the two Core Formation elders, had all shattered and extinguished!

The news immediately caused a stir among the higher-ups of the Ghost Spirit Sect. A Nascent Soul elder personally led a team to rush to the Spirit Beast Mountain branch to investigate.

However, when they arrived, all they saw was a desolate ruin.

Inside the branch altar, apart from the outer protective array which was still barely functioning, the Yin veins of the Yin gathering place were exhausted, and the resident disciples, along with the two Core Formation elders, had all vanished without a trace, leaving not even a trace of their aura. Only a chilling, eerie atmosphere remained at the scene.

Soon, explosive news spread like wildfire throughout the Ghost Spirit Sect's territory and surrounding areas:

The Ghost Spirit Sect's important branch altar, located on the original Spirit Beast Mountain, was uprooted by an unknown cultivator. Even the Yin veins underground were not spared, and the area was completely reduced to wasteland!

The news caused a stir among the various sects of the demonic path, and the rogue cultivators were in an uproar, feeling both horrified and secretly pleased that "evil has been punished."

The Ghost Spirit Sect is infamous and has made countless enemies. This heavy blow has caused many forces and cultivators with whom it has a grudge to secretly rejoice. At the same time, they are also wondering which evil god has the courage and strength to deal such a ruthless blow to the Ghost Spirit Sect, one of the six major sects of the demonic path.

……

Just as the Ghost Spirit Sect was furious about this matter and the outside world was discussing it extensively...

About three hundred miles away from the main altar of the Yuling Sect, "Tianzhu Peak," in a bustling cultivator town called "Wangxian," there is a seven-story teahouse with elegant and luxurious decorations and a vibrant spiritual atmosphere. The best window seat is on the top floor.

Luo Ming changed into an ordinary black Taoist robe, but his face still maintained the disguise. He was sitting leisurely by the railing, playing with a warm white jade teacup in his hand.

The spirit tea in the cup is emerald green in color and has a delicate aroma. It is the shop's signature product, and a pot costs one low-grade spirit stone, making it quite valuable.