From the surface, Yulia appeared to be a beautiful woman in her twenties, capable of being both pure and alluring, her charm irresistible.
However, once her soul was extracted, her skin began to twitch and shrink. Her once smooth, fair skin turned rough and then developed spots – age spots!
Within minutes, the corpse transformed into an old woman in her sixties. In reality, this was Yulia's true age!
The captivating young woman, who looked like a blooming flower, was merely a shell sustained by the vital essence of men and an evil cultivation technique.
Ling Tian wondered what kind of reaction those men whose souls Yulia had stolen would have upon seeing the true face of this ancient sorceress. It would surely be a spectacular sight!
...
Upon the high platform ruins built by the merfolk, dozens of burly men stood shirtless, their robust muscles exposed. These were the core disciples of the Heavenly Demon Sect, all of whom were awakened power-type ability users, meticulously cultivated by Pang Zongheng.
These men appeared incredibly strong, yet their gazes were vacant, capable only of mechanically executing commands.
This was due to Pang Zongheng's gradual modification of their brains using a certain drug. Though these men appeared alive, they were no different from machines.
Building the formation was a task requiring great strength. Pang Zongheng was already very old and could not personally undertake such strenuous work, hence his reliance on these robust individuals.
However, to prevent his secrets from being leaked, Pang Zongheng had turned them into imbeciles using a secret medicine.
These imbeciles lacked independent consciousness but were extremely obedient, doing whatever they were told. Under Pang Zongheng's direction, they had cleared the debris from the platform. Then, Pang Zongheng produced some magical artifacts for building the formation, dug pits on the platform, and buried these artifacts within.
Each of these artifacts was of considerable value, capable of fetching a fortune if sold individually. Pang Zongheng used these artifacts as the eyes of the formation, though they were only a part of it. He intended to use a bone formation for the remaining parts, utilizing the corpses of those people as materials for constructing the formation.
They toiled for over two hours before the formation was completed. However, Yulia had not yet returned, nor had any Heavenly Demon Sect disciples delivered any corpses. At this point, Pang Zongheng began to grow impatient.
"Old Ninth, go and see why Yulia hasn't returned yet. Also, urge those people to send the corpses quickly!
This island protection battle is not that simple, and I need time to decipher the formation! Tell her to hurry up!"
Upon hearing his words, Shi Jiu let out a cold laugh.
"Listen here, old man. Please know your place. My orders are to protect your safety, not to run errands for you!"
"Old Ninth, I know you don't like me, but we are both acting on behalf of the Sect Master.
If you have personal grievances, once this matter is concluded, you can name your terms, and I will accept them. But until then, you must obey my orders and complete the task assigned by the Sect Master!
Otherwise, you know the consequences!"
Pang Zongheng did not stand on ceremony with Shi Jiu, directly using the Sect Master's authority to pressure him. Although these individuals from the Heavenly Demon Sect were all defiant, especially the elders and enshrined members, who all carried themselves with immense arrogance, their fear of the Sect Master was ingrained in their very being. Pang Zongheng naturally did not hesitate to leverage this when the opportunity arose.
"Fine, old man. It's not that I fear you, but I'm giving face to the Sect Master!
I've noted your words, and I will settle this score with you sooner or later!
However, without my protection, don't go dying on me!"
"Get lost, hurry up and get lost! I won't die even if you do!" Pang Zongheng waved his hand impatiently.
After speaking, Shi Jiu leaped up. His wide sleeves unfurled, and he plunged from the high platform, dozens of meters up, like a kite. He then glided hundreds of meters away. At a height of two meters from the ground, he flew through the air like a bat!
Suddenly, a whistling sound of air being torn apart echoed. Shi Jiu, who was flying with the wind, abruptly turned his head and witnessed a scene that chilled him to the bone: two hammers, crackling with electric light, hurtled towards him like cannonballs.
Shi Jiu, startled, quickly exerted force at his waist and performed a sudden somersault in mid-air, dropping two meters. However, the two hammer-like projectiles, like clinging maggots, continued to fly directly towards his head and chest.
Seeing this, Shi Jiu gritted his teeth and unleashed both palms. A large amount of demonic energy converged in his hands, forming the shapes of two human heads. These heads were exceptionally ferocious, not ordinary human heads but demonic heads!
This was precisely Shi Jiu's most proficient demonic sect technique, the Soul Devouring Demonic Art!
He had cultivated this technique for decades, killing countless people and converting their life force into demonic energy for his own cultivation and for killing enemies!
He had no desire to be struck by those hammers. He knew instinctively that being injured by such things would cost him half his life!
The two demonic heads flew out and collided squarely with the hammers, resulting in a violent explosion.
The shockwave from the explosion spread outwards for dozens of meters, knocking Shi Jiu, who had just landed on his feet, to the ground in a disheveled state.
Shi Jiu got to his feet and then noticed a very beautiful young girl standing about twenty meters in front of him. The girl was holding the two hammers from before, which still crackled with electric light. This was Ah Li, wielding the Wind and Thunder Hammers, and she was looking at Shi Jiu with great interest.
Ah Li had not expected her sneak attack to be blocked!
Shi Jiu looked at the young girl before him, his eyes revealing a greedy glint. He could sense that this young girl possessed a tremendous soul energy!
This was not surprising. The soul of a thousand-year-old cat demon would naturally be very powerful, especially since this young girl's soul had been tempered in a soul refining furnace and she had consumed a considerable amount of soul essence.
This powerful soul was precisely the ideal material for Shi Jiu to cultivate his Soul Devouring Demonic Art.
However, he still retained a sliver of reason, knowing that this young girl was likely not easy to deal with!
"Wo—"
Shi Jiu was about to speak, intending to frighten Ah Li a little and put psychological pressure on her to make her lose her composure. But the young girl, acting outside of convention, directly swung her hands, and the two Wind and Thunder Hammers flew towards Shi Jiu, one after the other.
Shi Jiu's mind was filled with a thousand alpacas. This impossibly beautiful young girl before him was not playing by the rules.
There was no time for him to ponder further. He immediately concentrated his demonic energy in front of him, forming two shields.
At this moment, the first Wind and Thunder Hammer flew over and struck the shield squarely. The Wind and Thunder Hammer released a large amount of electricity!