Ye Ling watched as the Wanghun Tree fell from the spatial rift. With a wave of his hand, he unleashed a torrent of demonic energy, enveloping the entire tree.
*Bang!!!*
The Wanghun Tree crashed heavily onto the ground, its massive form shattering the earth and sending debris flying!
It was Chu Yuan who reacted swiftly, halting his momentum in mid-air. He stared in horror at the Wanghun Tree lying prone on the ground.
One moment he was desperately pursuing the Wanghun Tree in the Ten Thousand Underworld Mountains, and the next, he was back in the valley with it. The sudden shift left him disoriented.
What kind of spatial manipulation was this? He couldn't fathom it.
Ye Ling observed the struggling Wanghun Tree on the ground. After a moment's thought, he abandoned the idea of directly extracting its life core.
Not only did the Wanghun Tree have an intricate connection with Wu Xue, potentially causing unforeseen consequences, but given its ignorance of even basic spiritual energy, Ye Ling doubted it could produce the so-called "life core."
Abandoning the notion of obtaining the life core containing spiritual energy from the Wanghun Tree, Ye Ling reached out again, dragging the tree up and flinging it outside the valley.
*Bang!!!*
Another deafening sound, causing the earth to tremble!
The Wanghun Tree was thrown about haphazardly, its consciousness scattered.
After moving the Wanghun Tree, Ye Ling paid it no further mind. He flew directly to Chu Yuan and said, "Absorb all the underworld energy from the Ten Thousand Underworld Mountains. I need to find something."
"Absorb all the underworld energy from the Ten Thousand Underworld Mountains?" Chu Yuan looked at Ye Ling incredulously, convinced he had misheard.
He had resided here for hundreds of thousands of years and still couldn't comprehend the sheer volume of underworld energy within the Ten Thousand Underworld Mountains.
The underworld energy in these mountains was seemingly inexhaustible; how could it possibly be absorbed entirely?
Ye Ling patted Chu Yuan's shoulder and said, "There's no need for modesty. The underworld energy in the Ten Thousand Underworld Mountains is highly compatible with you. Absorbing it will be as simple as eating and drinking."
"The underworld energy can be utilized by you, and absorbing it will bring you no harm."
Chu Yuan hesitated, "But I still have my limits... I fear I would explode before I could absorb even a tenth of the total underworld energy in the Ten Thousand Underworld Mountains."
Ye Ling chuckled, "You don't need to worry about that either. I will store any excess underworld energy for you. Consider yourself a transitional tool for absorbing underworld energy; don't worry about being unable to consume it. I can handle any amount."
Hearing Ye Ling's words, Chu Yuan still felt it was unreliable. However, if he wanted to rescue Wu Xue, he had to rely on Ye Ling. He had no right to refuse.
After a brief moment of consideration, Chu Yuan made up his mind. He nodded to Ye Ling and said, "I understand. I will proceed as the Emperor commands!"
With that, Chu Yuan sat cross-legged in the air and began to greedily absorb the surrounding underworld energy.
Guided by Chu Yuan, vast amounts of underworld energy surged towards him, even forming a vortex of underworld energy in the valley, continuously drawing in the surrounding energy!
A fierce wind howled within the valley!
The underworld energy, which had been intertwined with spiritual energy in the deep pit below, was also rapidly pulled out of the pit and into Chu Yuan's body under his guidance.
Although a large amount of underworld energy continued to pour into the valley from outside, replenishing the pit below and opposing the spiritual energy, the energy within the pit had become much more stable than before.
Once the underworld energy was completely drained, Ye Ling could also draw out all the spiritual energy. At that point, the entity releasing the spiritual energy would have nowhere to hide!
"This is indeed effective... but still too slow..."
Ye Ling glanced at the ceaseless flow of underworld energy around him, still finding it too slow. He decided to scan the flow of underworld energy within Chu Yuan's body with his divine soul, then condensed runes around Chu Yuan, and infused them into Chu Yuan's body, forcibly expanding his soul meridians!
The moment the runes entered his body, Chu Yuan felt unbearable pain, his entire face contorting. He gritted his teeth and looked at Ye Ling, "Emperor..."
Ye Ling said quickly, "Endure it. Your current absorption rate of underworld energy is not fast enough. I am stabilizing your soul."
The runes Ye Ling was condensing were forcibly expanding Chu Yuan's soul, allowing him to absorb more underworld energy in a short period.
However, this method of expanding the soul with runes was somewhat crude. Although Chu Yuan's soul was being strengthened by the runes, he was also constantly enduring the pain of his soul being torn apart by them!
"This... I... I will endure..."
Chu Yuan thought for a moment, then clenched his teeth, enduring the pain of his soul tearing apart, and began to absorb underworld energy at an accelerated rate.
With Ye Ling's runes, Chu Yuan's absorption rate of underworld energy increased severalfold. The underworld energy in the Ten Thousand Underworld Mountains now surged into the valley like a raging tide, being absorbed by Chu Yuan!
Before long, Chu Yuan's aura broke through the Emperor realm and soared within the Supreme realm, rapidly approaching its peak!
However, with Ye Ling's external assistance, Chu Yuan's realm advancement speed far outpaced his absorption rate of underworld energy.
Vast quantities of underworld energy continued to pour in, but his body had reached its limit. Cracks even began to appear on his skin.
If he continued to absorb, Chu Yuan would likely explode!
"Emperor... I'm reaching my limit..."
Chu Yuan gritted out, the pain of his soul tearing and the swelling ache of underworld energy filling his body constantly tormenting his nerves.
Fortunately, Chu Yuan, who had endured hundreds of thousands of years of solitude, possessed a sufficiently resilient will and did not collapse. If it were someone else, they might have given up due to the unbearable pain even before reaching the Supreme realm!
"I will help you. Don't worry about anything, just keep absorbing underworld energy!" Ye Ling said quickly, placing his hand on Chu Yuan and drawing the stored underworld energy from his body, guiding it into his own meridians.
In reality, Ye Ling could not utilize that underworld energy. Absorbing it offered him no benefit. If spiritual energy was akin to oxygen in a person's blood, then underworld energy was like carbon monoxide. A cultivator who had not reached a sufficient level of cultivation would only suffer their meridians to wither if they rashly absorbed underworld energy, ultimately being consumed by it and dying on the spot.
However, Ye Ling had already reached the Dao Lord realm. His meridians were exceptionally robust, and the quality of his internal spiritual energy far surpassed that of the underworld energy in the Ten Thousand Underworld Mountains. The underworld energy, upon entering Ye Ling's body, was suppressed by his spiritual energy before it could cause any disturbance and stored in his Qi Sea.
With Ye Ling's assistance in absorbing the excess energy, Chu Yuan immediately felt the obstruction within his body disappear. His doubts were completely dispelled, and he began to focus solely on absorbing the underworld energy.
The valley was now filled only with the howling of the underworld energy storm.
As Ye Ling and Chu Yuan continued to seize the underworld energy, the energy in the Ten Thousand Underworld Mountains began to thin at a visible rate. The entire Underworld Realm even reacted to this change!
A sliver of sunlight appeared in the perpetually dim sky of the Underworld Realm!
Even this slight change sent tremors throughout the entire Underworld Realm!
The Wanghun Tree, bound by demonic energy outside the valley, lay on the ground. Looking at Ye Ling and Chu Yuan at the center of the underworld energy vortex, its eyes were filled with shock and disbelief. "They've gone mad... daring to absorb the underworld energy of the Ten Thousand Underworld Mountains like this, they're courting death!"
"No! I must escape while they are busy absorbing the underworld energy!"
Seeing Ye Ling preoccupied with the underworld energy, the Wanghun Tree sprouted numerous branches from its trunk, attempting to break free from Ye Ling's demonic energy.
Unfortunately, no matter how it struggled, the demonic energy binding it remained unyielding. It was utterly incapable of shaking it off!
"This damned Ye Ling!!!" The Wanghun Tree struggled a few more times, growing increasingly agitated. It even attempted to detach its primordial spirit, trying to abandon its physical body and escape!
However, even though the Wanghun Tree's soul detached from its body, it remained bound by the demonic energy and could not flee.
"It's completely over now..."
The Wanghun Tree's human-like phantom floated above its本体, gradually succumbing to despair.
It glanced towards the deep pit in the center of the valley and muttered, "If I had remained in the valley, with the reinforcement of my life core... perhaps I..."
As the Wanghun Tree spoke, it involuntarily looked towards its fallen trunk, as if contemplating something.
While the Wanghun Tree was pondering ways to escape Ye Ling's demonic grasp, all the underworld energy in the Ten Thousand Underworld Mountains was completely absorbed by Ye Ling and Chu Yuan's ravenous consumption!
Sunlight pierced through the clouds and shone upon the Ten Thousand Underworld Mountains.
The entire Underworld Realm underwent a drastic transformation due to the disappearance of the underworld energy from the Ten Thousand Underworld Mountains!