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Chapter 618: The Evil Spirit is Me?
Chapter 618: The Evil Spirit is Me?
"That skinny cultivator from before doesn't seem to be appearing near the cave for the first time." Lu Chen glanced at the grayish eyeball that had emerged in his palm, his brows furrowing slightly.
It had been over ten days since he encountered Shen Mingcheng and his group. During this time, he had kept the Nightmare Eye outside the cave, occasionally using its shared vision to monitor the surroundings.
The short cultivator who had just passed by not long ago, according to Lu Chen's impression, was not the first time he had appeared outside the cave. Each time, he would pass by from several miles away.
"When something abnormal happens, there must be a demon at play."
"Could he be here to case the place?"
"But he didn't expect to stumble upon a tough nut. He has no idea that a Spirit Herbologist like me possesses an excellent scouting treasure like the Nightmare Eye."
A cold smile curved Lu Chen's lips as he thought to himself. "Spying on me, yet unaware that his every move is clearly seen by me."
...
As night fell, a black figure emerged slowly from the shadows, eyes fixed on the cave up ahead.
"For a Spirit Herbologist to occupy such a large cave, he must have considerable wealth." Peng Qi thought to himself, his eyes gleaming with anticipation.
Upon hearing that the Leihuodong Cave was plagued by an evil spirit, he had initially been alarmed. But after a long time with no encounters, his rich experience in ambushes and raids sparked a cunning plan.
With his rental period in the Leihuodong Cave coming to an end, he decided to pull off one last big heist before leaving. He would raid a cultivator's cave, disguise the scene as a chaos caused by the evil spirit, and then slip away quietly.
As for the occasional patrols by the Tianxingdong cultivators, Peng Qi wasn't too concerned. After all, the Leihuodong Cave was vast and filled with countless thunderous rays, making it impossible for the patrolling escorts to be everywhere at once. They could only go through the motions.
So, after learning the patrol schedule, he had set his sights on Lu Chen's cave.
Furthermore, he had specifically inquired and found out that Lu Chen was merely a late Qi Refining Spirit Herbologist with a cave full of spirit herbs. He was also known to be inept at combat and had minimal contact with the outside world, so even if he died, it might take a while to be discovered.
Peng Qi possessed a highly advanced stealth technique and a fourth-grade charm that could easily break through fourth-grade and lower formations. He was confident he could enter the cave undetected, kill its occupant, and claim the treasures before fleeing far away.
The thought made his mouth water, and his eyes glinted with excitement.
Soon, he arrived at the edge of the cave undetected and took out a charm with intricate patterns from his storage bag.
"It's a pity that I have to use this precious charm," he thought with a hint of reluctance. But as the charm glowed with a faint spiritual light, the formation before him shifted quietly, guiding him into its depths.
However, contrary to his expectations, he didn't pass through the formation smoothly. Instead, a buzzing sound filled his ears.
Dozens of golden strange insects rushed towards him at breakneck speed, each with sharp, blade-like horns on their heads and bodies as hard as refined metal.
"What kind of formation is this? The charm doesn't seem to be very effective," he thought, sensing something amiss. But before he could ponder further, the insects attacked from all directions.
The insects' bodies were exceptionally tough; even a fourth-grade magical artifact could only leave shallow marks.
Peng Qi consumed half of his spiritual energy before finally exhausting himself to get rid of the golden insects.
Just as he relaxed a little, the formation's spiritual energy shifted again, and hideous, towering treants emerged from the ground. They brandished their tendril-like pitch-black branches, reeking of soil as they lashed out at him fiercely.
Feeling the near depletion of spiritual energy within his body, Peng Qi finally recognized the terror of the formation before him.
"Fellow cultivator, I accidentally stumbled into this formation. I beg for your forgiveness and mercy."
He dropped to his knees with a thud.
While pleading for mercy from the cultivator behind the formation, he slowly backed away, intending to seize an opportunity to escape.
Amidst the rustling sounds, an odd figure appeared in the distance beyond the formation.
Peng Qi initially felt elated, but his heart sank as he took a closer look at the figure.
It was a grass puppet with a bizarre appearance.
Its limbs were slender, and its massive head, wrapped in gray grass, sported an unusually large lump. The grayish-black body was entwined with four strange vines, each bearing arrows of varying sizes, making the grass puppet resemble a porcupine.
"What should I call you, fellow cultivator?"
Peng Qi cowered, his face contorted into a fawning smile, as several talismans slid out of his sleeves unnoticed.
The grass puppet didn't respond at all; it simply stared at the cultivator with hollow eye sockets.
Suddenly, one of the vines on its arm shot out straight, and numerous arrows pointed at Peng Qi.
The spiritual power of the arrows streaked like meteors, reaching Peng Qi in an instant.
He tried to dodge, but the arrows were too fast, and his spiritual energy had been completely depleted by the previous assault of the elemental spirit beasts.
His entire body was instantly pierced by the countless arrows, turning him into a veritable sieve.
A green light flashed from his head and darted out at lightning speed, rushing beyond the boundaries of the Vanishing Five Elements Formation.
However, before it could travel even thirty feet, the green light involuntarily turned back and entered a sinister lantern with a handle made of white bones and a cover crafted from human skin.
The last image that flashed through Peng Qi's consciousness was that of a handsome young man stepping out of the formation, gently picking up the lantern.
Before he could beg for mercy, he was engulfed by the endless vengeful souls within the lantern, instantly losing his sense of self.
"How laughable that a petty cultivator dared to trespass into my cave," Lu Chen remarked, a smile tugging at his lips as he naturally picked up the Soul Luring Lantern.
A mere fully-cultivated base-building cultivator wasn't worth his personal intervention. The Vanishing Five Elements Formation, along with the grass puppet that controlled the four arrow vines, was more than enough to easily eliminate the intruder.
"Well done."
Lu Chen conveyed a mental message of praise to the grass puppet.
"Guard the spirit herb field!"
Upon receiving the instruction, the grass puppet, armed with the four thick and grotesque arrow vines, strolled back to the spirit herb field with a relaxed gait.
Lu Chen approached the corpse of the cultivator who had intruded into his cave. He first secured the cultivator's storage bag before skillfully dismembering the body into several parts.
He meticulously separated the essence blood, muscles, bones, and the previously captured soul, ensuring a thorough job.
"The spirit herbs in the field will have a feast with the corpse of a fully cultivated base-building cultivator," Lu Chen mused, a mix of emotions in his voice as he dismembered the body.
After finishing the grisly task, he stared at the residual bits of flesh and bloodstains on the ground, suddenly feeling that the scene before him was somewhat familiar.
"What did Brother Lei say last time?"
"That evil spirit that intruded into a cultivator's cave was extremely cruel. The cultivator's soul disappeared without a trace, leaving only some flesh bits behind."
"It's so similar..."
"Could I be the evil spirit in question?"
A ridiculous thought flashed through Lu Chen's mind.
(End of Chapter)
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