Shortly after Ye Ling feigned his departure, the evil spirit that had been locked in combat with the giant ghost face suddenly stopped. It then opened its gaping maw and began to absorb the power of the giant ghost face.
"Ah, why did it suddenly get stronger?"
Di Zhui, perched on Ye Ling's shoulder, exclaimed in confusion as the evil spirit, which had been stalemated with the giant ghost face and often at a disadvantage, suddenly surged in power and even killed the ghost face.
"As expected... this evil spirit's sudden charge and fight with the giant ghost face, while seemingly to help us, was actually just to create a tense atmosphere so that we wouldn't have time to think and would hastily leave..."
"The power of this treasure bone can be absorbed after cultivating the 'Great Transformation Heavenly Derivation Heart Art'."
Ye Ling watched the evil spirit continuously absorb the power of the giant ghost face, a smile flashing in his eyes. "I wonder how long this spiritual body waited for today's opportunity. It's a shame..."
As Ye Ling's voice fell, the mass of mud also crept into the cave dwelling. Taking advantage of the evil spirit's inattention, it quickly attached itself to the treasure bone and began to absorb its power.
"How dare you steal my power!"
Seeing the mud begin to absorb the power of the treasure bone, the evil spirit's voice instantly became extremely sharp. It swallowed the giant ghost face in one gulp, then screamed and charged towards the mass of mud, attempting to pry it off the treasure bone.
The mass of mud was not to be outdone. Two tentacles shot out from within it, whipping fiercely at the evil spirit.
The two monsters thus began to fight within the cave dwelling.
Di Zhui watched an evil spirit and a lump of mud battle, its confusion deepening. It blinked at Ye Ling and asked, "Master, why are they fighting?"
Ye Ling smiled and said, "For the power within the treasure bone... Although that person died failing to break through to the Emperor realm, the treasure bone they condensed retained a portion of their power from when they were alive."
"If one can absorb all the power within the treasure bone, let alone breaking through to Sainthood, dominating Earth would be no problem."
Di Zhui savored Ye Ling's words, muttering, "Dominating Earth..."
Although it had transformed into an ancient Qilin and inherited most of its ancestors' memories, its own experience was extremely limited. For most of its previous life, it had been imprisoned by Kong Xuhan and had not seen the world.
With its limited intellect, it could not yet comprehend the meaning of the word "Earth," and could only nod earnestly, "Amazing!"
Ye Ling patted Di Zhui's small head, then looked at the struggling mud and evil spirit, choosing to watch the fight from the sidelines.
To Ye Ling, it didn't matter who won between the two. He wouldn't even mind if the power of the treasure bone was destroyed.
The power of a Saint was too weak for Ye Ling at his current stage.
Even if he absorbed it, his cultivation wouldn't increase much, and he was too lazy to absorb it slowly.
Moreover, the power within the treasure bone had been transformed by the 'Great Transformation Heavenly Derivation Heart Art.' Absorbing it rashly would instead give the Emperor realm or Supreme being lurking behind the scenes an opportunity.
"Treasure... is mine... Hehehe!"
The mud cackled, and while entangled with the evil spirit, it seeped into the treasure bone, drawing out the power contained within.
As time passed, the mud's power grew stronger. The evil spirit, on the other hand, had consumed most of the power it had absorbed from the giant ghost face and began to show signs of weakness.
"No, no... that's my power... Give it back!"
The evil spirit became increasingly frenzied, its shrieks echoing throughout the cave dwelling, constantly assaulting Ye Ling's eardrums.
Di Zhui, unable to withstand the highly penetrating sound, covered its ears with its claws, its brow furrowed. "So noisy..."
Ye Ling considerately used his spiritual energy to block Di Zhui's ears, then looked at the struggling mud and evil spirit, whispering, "It's about time. That lump of mud has gained an overwhelming advantage. Now, the evil spirit is just making its final struggle."
"For the evil spirit to survive, it can only flee."
As soon as Ye Ling finished speaking, the evil spirit, completely suppressed by the mud, let out a shriek, broke free from the mud's tentacles, and fled the cave dwelling with immense unwillingness!
The mud attempted to grab the evil spirit back with its tentacles, but its speed was its weakness. After only a few rounds of entanglement, it could no longer stop the evil spirit, allowing it to escape.
Ye Ling watched the direction the evil spirit fled, a hint of amusement flashing in his eyes. He condensed a crow of demonic energy in his hand and pursued the fleeing evil spirit.
Afterward, Ye Ling reappeared and walked towards the mud that enveloped the treasure bone.
"It's you!"
Seeing Ye Ling and Di Zhui appear together, the lump of mud's tone changed significantly, its voice trembling slightly.
However, it quickly let out a scream: "You won't steal my power, get out of here!"
Several tentacles shot out from within the mud, whipping towards Ye Ling with even greater speed than before, tearing through the air and sending mud flying everywhere.
"Meaningless," Ye Ling said calmly, ignoring the whipping tentacles and slowly approaching the treasure bone.
Before the tentacles could even get close to Ye Ling, they were all shattered by the protective spiritual energy surrounding him!
Ye Ling remained spotless.
Seeing this, the lump of mud became even more frantic, sprouting several more tentacles. But before it could launch an attack, Ye Ling had already approached and placed his hand on the treasure bone.
"Come out."
Ye Ling said faintly, and with a casual pull, he extracted all the mud that had infiltrated the treasure bone, compressing it into a ball with demonic energy.
Ye Ling looked at the ball of mud suspended in his palm and asked, "What kind of creature are you?"
This lump of mud was clearly the core of the living swamp, and the culprit behind the devouring of the Abyss Dragon.
Ye Ling had never encountered such a creature before. Could it truly be that mud had gained sentience?
"Let me go!!!"
The mud, restrained by Ye Ling, screamed, showing no inclination to answer Ye Ling's question.
Looking at the mud's current state, Ye Ling attempted to constrict his demonic energy and compress the mud ball. However, this lump of mud clearly had no nerves, not even a soul.
No matter how he squeezed it, it was all in vain.
"No brain, no soul, yet it can think and act like a living being. Such a strange thing, unheard of in the vast world."
Ye Ling stared at the struggling mud ball in his hand, becoming increasingly curious about how it was born.
However, with no soul or brain, this mud could not store much memory. It was likely that it itself did not remember how it was born.
Interrogating it was ultimately pointless.
After much effort, Ye Ling finally gave up on finding answers from the mud itself. After sealing it with demonic energy, he shifted his attention back to the treasure bone.
The treasure bone, having had most of its power absorbed by the mud, was now dim and lusterless. Even its body had melted significantly, revealing the cross-section of the bone.
Ye Ling's gaze swept over the treasure bone, and he soon noticed a peculiar pattern on its cross-section!
Seeing that pattern, Ye Ling's heart stirred!