Devouring the Demon Core, Ten Thousand Ghosts Block the Way!

"It's the Monkey King."

Ye Futian's voice echoed in Zhou Ran's mind.

"This beast has consumed a lot of Earth Core Fire Essence, and a false core has already formed inside its body. Be careful of its fire poison."

The Fire Ape King glared at Zhou Ran and slammed his bone club into the ground.

boom!

A blue wave of fire swept across the area from the ground.

There was nowhere to escape in the narrow passageway.

"Zhou Ran, its crystal core is in its throat!"

It's blocked by a bone!

Lin Qingxue shouted loudly.

"Your throat?"

Zhou Ran did not retreat but advanced.

He channeled demonic energy into his legs, and like a cannonball, he charged towards the wave of fire.

At this moment, he activated the defensive stance of his demonic body.

The blue flames struck his protective aura, making a hissing sound, but they couldn't penetrate it even slightly.

When the Fire Ape King saw that this human dared to take its attack head-on, its eyes blazed with ferocity.

He raised the bone club and brought it down on Zhou Ran's head as he rushed towards him.

This strike is powerful enough to uproot a mountain.

If it hits solidly, even an armored vehicle would be flattened.

Zhou Ran did not dodge.

He released his grip on Lin Qingxue and gently guided her to safety behind him.

Then, he gripped the knife with both hands and slashed upwards with the simplest and most unadorned upward sweeping motion.

Head-on clash!

when--

The sound of a collision echoed through the narrow corridor.

Miao Yingying covered her ears in pain, feeling as if her eardrums were about to perforate.

The incredibly hard white bone club snapped in two the moment it touched the Zanpakuto.

The Soul Slayer, undiminished in its momentum and carrying purplish-black demonic flames, pierced through the Fire Ape King's jaw and went straight to the back of his head.

puff.

The blade pierced through the body.

The Fire Ape King's massive body froze in place, and the red light in its eyes quickly dimmed.

Zhou Ran twisted his wrist, causing the blade to swirl.

He picked out a bead that emitted a faint blue light and placed it in his palm.

The Fire Ape King's corpse crashed to the ground, turning into a pool of scalding lava that flowed across the earth.

"call……"

Lin Qingxue leaned against the wall, let out a long sigh, and her forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat.

Although she was only responsible for observation, the Eye of Truth consumed a great deal of mental energy.

In Zhou Ran's palm, the bead that had been removed from the Fire Ape King's throat was emitting a faint blue glow.

The bead is about the size of a pigeon egg, with a smooth surface, but inside it seems as if blue magma is slowly flowing.

If an ordinary person were to touch it, a layer of skin and flesh would be burned off instantly.

"This is good stuff."

In Zhou Ran's mind, Ye Futian's voice carried a hint of approval.

"A mid-stage Qi Condensation demon core."

"A demon core?"

Zhou Ran raised an eyebrow.

"That's right. In the cultivation world, only demonic beasts that have awakened their intelligence and know how to absorb the essence of heaven and earth, sun and moon, can form a core."

However, the earth is lacking in spiritual energy, and the reason why this beast was able to form a core is not because of its noble lineage.

Rather, it's because it has lingered here for many years, consuming large amounts of 'earth core fire essence' leaking from underground fissures.

Ye Futian paused for a moment: "This Fire Ape King only mutated to this extent because it was tainted by a trace of the drought demon's aura."

If a true drought demon were to emerge, it would indeed have the power to scorch the land for thousands of miles.

Lin Qingxue had also recovered by this time. Her strange eyes were fixed on the beads in Zhou Ran's hand, and she said softly:

"The energy here is extremely violent, filled with fire and poison."

"Fire poison is also energy."

Zhou Ran clenched his five fingers and directly held the demon core in his palm.

At the palm of his hand, black demonic energy transformed into countless tiny tentacles, instantly burrowing into the demon core.

The demon core seemed to sense the impending doom, trembling violently and releasing astonishingly high temperatures in an attempt to resist.

But in the face of the Demon Emperor's legacy, such resistance is nothing more than an ant trying to shake a tree.

sizzle-

The demon core shrank at a visible speed, and a pure and domineering fire-attribute spiritual power surged into Zhou Ran's dantian along the meridians of his arm.

pain.

It was like swallowing a mouthful of molten iron.

Zhou Ran groaned, and veins bulged on his forehead.

But he did not stop; instead, he intensified his absorption efforts.

The demonic energy spun like a millstone, gradually extracting the violent fire elemental power and finally forcibly merging it into its own true energy.

The originally pitch-black demonic energy was now tinged with a dark red edge.

A few minutes later, the demon core completely turned into powder, which fell from between Zhou Ran's fingers.

Zhou Ran exhaled a long breath, which was accompanied by scorching white smoke.

"Peak of the seventh level of Qi Condensation..."

"Just a little short of breaking through to the eighth level."

He clenched his fist, feeling the surging power within him.

Although his cultivation level did not break through directly, he could clearly sense that the scorching heat around him, which was enough to bake a person dry, had now become warm and comfortable.

The body has been tempered by fire and poison, greatly increasing its resistance to fire.

"Let's go."

Zhou Ran looked into the depths.

With this layer of resistance, coupled with Lin Qingxue's Eye of Truth, the road ahead will be much easier.

The three continued down the spiral stone steps.

The further down you go, the more open the space becomes, and ancient murals begin to appear on the surrounding rock walls.

The earth cracked, the rivers dried up, and countless people knelt on the ground praying for rain, only to be met with fireballs falling from the sky.

"Brother Zhou, how exactly does this drought demon form?"

Miao Yingying felt a chill run down her spine as she looked at the murals.

Although the Corpse-Driving Clan also deals with corpses, this Drought Demon clearly goes beyond the scope of zombies.

"The so-called drought demon is not simply a corpse that has turned into a zombie."

He pointed to the path beneath his feet.

"This place was originally a 'trapped dragon' trap."

According to Feng Shui, Jiangcheng is located by the sea and has abundant water vapor, making it a treasure land that can gather and retain auspicious energy.

But a thousand years ago, someone altered the earth's veins, nailing the "water dragon" shut and forcibly extracting the earth's energy.

"When the water dragon dies, resentment arises."

"This is the most yin place in the earth's veins, but because the seal was broken, it is connected to the earth fire deep in the earth's crust."

"When Yin reaches its extreme, Yang arises; when things reach their extreme, they reverse."

"When an ancient corpse that has been buried in this location for a thousand years absorbs both the most yin resentment and the most yang earth fire."

Because the two cannot be combined, a strange balance is formed inside the corpse.

Once this balance is broken or fully realized, it will become a huge source of energy.

Lin Qingxue's penetrating spiritual eyes stared at the mural, the black and white pupils reflecting the broken light and shadow from a thousand years ago.

"I saw it..."

Her voice was dry.

"A water dragon was nailed to the depths of the earth... and endless resentment soared into the sky."

This drought demon was formed by using heaven and earth as a furnace and yin and yang as charcoal, creating an unparalleled ferocious creature.

As they were speaking, the view ahead suddenly opened up.

It was no longer a narrow passage, but a huge natural cave.

Countless stalactites hang upside down from the top of the cave, each one displaying an eerie blood-red color, like sharp swords suspended overhead.

"Brother Zhou, the aura of death here is very strong!"

Miao Yingying stopped and timidly grabbed Zhou Ran's clothes.

"So many...so many wronged souls!"

Lin Qingxue covered her mouth.

This place is practically a kingdom of the dead.

The ground was covered with highly decomposed bones.

The shadows in mid-air, dressed in clothing from different dynasties, some headless, some missing arms and legs, wandered aimlessly.

"The Pit of Ten Thousand Souls"

Zhou Ran stopped in his tracks.