78: Devouring Evolution

Thousands of Soul Spirits surged like a tide! The white ones were in front like waves, the green ones followed closely, and the blue commander suspended in mid-air pointed its spear—

Rip!

A dazzling blue lightning bolt tore through the air, striking directly at Lin Yuan!

Lin Yuan's lips curled into a cold arc. The chaos heavenly extreme sword hummed and vibrated, and nine-colored divine light suddenly erupted! From the center of his brows, the three-colored disc phantom rotated, emitting a soul-stirring fluctuation—

"Devour of Time and Space!"

The sword light swept across, space twisted, and time froze! The white Soul Spirits rushing at the forefront instantly solidified, like fragile glass, turning into scattered dust with a series of soft pops! Fifty green Soul Spirits didn't even have time to struggle before they were silently annihilated in the twisted force field. That fatal blue lightning bolt was swallowed by a spatial vortex that appeared out of thin air, vanishing without a trace!

The blue commander was utterly horrified, watching with wide eyes as that sword light, containing the mighty power of time and space, ignored all obstacles and pierced through its chest!

"Im...pos...sible!!" It let out a final, unwilling roar, looking down at its body disintegrating inch by inch, being completely wiped away.

Boom—!

The Soul Core exploded, and blue light scattered everywhere!

[Killed Tier 1 White Soul Spirit x3090]

[Experience +30.9 million]

[Killed Tier 1 Green Soul Spirit x50]

[Experience +5 million]

[Killed Tier 1 Blue Soul Spirit x1]

[Experience +1 million]

[Current Experience: 41 million/100 million]

[Obtained: blue soul crystal x1]

"Finally, some decent gains." Lin Yuan bent down and picked up the thumb-sized, crystal-clear Soul Crystal from the dissipating blue light. Inside the crystal, liquid blue light seemed to flow, emitting a mesmerizing and powerful energy fluctuation.

With a slight thought, the System shop interface unfolded before his eyes:

Soul Crystal Shop (requires Soul Crystal exchange)

10 million Soul Power — 5 blue soul crystals

Random Teleportation Talisman — 10 blue soul crystals

Low Grade Spiritual Artifact Fragment — 1 blue soul crystal

Medium Grade Spiritual Artifact Fragment — 10 blue soul crystals

High Grade Spiritual Artifact Fragment — 1 Purple Soul Crystal

...His gaze swept over the dazzling exchange list, and the brilliant light in Lin Yuan's eyes grew brighter and brighter. This Soul Ruins Secret Realm was simply a blessed land bestowed by heaven! Outside, the divine sense trees, which would take countless Heaven And Earth Treasures and vast amounts of time to cultivate, had a shortcut here. Moreover, the characteristic of the chaos heavenly extreme sword to grow by devouring divine weapons perfectly matched this Soul Crystal exchange System!

"Tier 1 Blue, Purple Soul Spirits... these are the targets." He clenched his five fingers, feeling the surging power within the Soul Crystal, and the excitement of the hunt ignited in his eyes, "As for Gold..."

His gaze turned towards the depths of the Secret Realm, where several faint golden light pillars indicated stronger existences. Fighting alone, he was not afraid of Tier 1 Gold Soul Spirits, but those powerful existences often commanded a massive number of low-tier Soul Spirits. A multitude of ants can kill an elephant; facing endless encirclement, victory was uncertain.

Putting away the Soul Crystal, Lin Yuan's eyes returned to their profound and resolute state. His fingertips gently traced the cold blade of the chaos heavenly extreme sword, whispering like the wind: "Don't rush... The feast has just begun."

Buzz!

In the distance, a new blue light pillar shot into the sky, like a defiant battle horn.

The cold arc on Lin Yuan's lips rose again, and his figure flickered, disappearing from the spot. The shattered ancient city returned to dead silence, with only the lingering white smoke, still rising from the ground, silently narrating the destructive slaughter that had just occurred.

Three enormous Blood Moons hung high, bathing the entire Secret Realm in a thick, eerie dark red. Scarlet moonlight poured down like blood, and the Soul Spirits in the valley stirred and churned under the halo, constantly screeching.

Lin Yuan stood silently atop a withered giant tree, its trunk riddled with holes corroded by Soul Power. He completely concealed his aura, his gaze as sharp as an eagle's, overlooking the bloody and cruel evolution ritual at the bottom of the valley.

Over a hundred green Soul Spirits frantically scurried and bit each other in the valley. Under the Blood Moon's illumination, their blurry forms became solid, and green light flickered erratically. The closer to the center of the valley, the more dazzling the light on the Soul Spirits became, and their aura grew fiercer.

"Screech—thud!"

Ear-splitting tearing sounds and energy-sucking noises were incessant. An exceptionally robust green Soul Spirit suddenly pounced on a fellow clan member, its sharp claws like hooks, tearing it in half! The scattered green energy was greedily devoured by it. With each portion it consumed, its body solidified a bit more, its green light surged, and its edges even began to glow with a faint blue light!

With his Tier 9 Divine Thought covering the entire scene, Lin Yuan saw clearly: whenever a Soul Spirit completed a Devour, the Blood Moon's glow seemed to be attracted, lingering on it for an instant, accelerating this transformation of the strong preying on the weak.

"The Blood Moon... is not just a trigger, but also a catalyst for evolution." Lin Yuan understood, his eyes growing colder.

The ritual was nearing its end. When the strongest Soul Spirit in the center of the valley completed its hundredth Devour, an anomaly suddenly occurred!

"Roar—!!!"

It let out a soul-shaking shriek towards the sky, and dazzling blue flames suddenly erupted around its body! Under the insane infusion of the Blood Moon's scarlet light, its body rapidly expanded and stretched, its blurry face becoming clear, finally transforming into a majestic blue figure holding an illusory spear—

[Tier 1 Blue Soul Spirit (Commander)]

[combat power: 100 Yu]

[Trait: Command (can direct low-tier Soul Spirits)]

The newly born blue commander was about to let out a roar of victory... Clang—!

A dark sword light, as if capable of severing time and space, had already descended from the sky like thunder from the Nine Heavens!

"Rumble!"

The moment the chaos heavenly extreme sword was unsheathed, the air in the entire valley seemed to freeze and be sucked dry! The sword light was like the Nine Heavens' Milky Way reversed, carrying a destructive will that crushed everything, piercing with extreme precision through the blue commander's Soul Core, which had just condensed and had not yet stabilized!

"Ugh... Ah!!"

The blue commander looked down in disbelief at the huge, rapidly disintegrating black void in its chest. It only had time to let out a desperate, unwilling shriek before it exploded with a crash, turning into scattered blue starlight.

[Killed Tier 1 Blue Soul Spirit x1]

[Experience +1 million]

[Current Experience: 42 million/100 million]

Lin Yuan's figure gracefully landed, and the Heavenly Extreme Sword silently returned to its sheath. He glanced at the dissipating blue light, frowning slightly: "Efficiency is too low." Killing over a hundred blue commanders to level up? Definitely not the best strategy.

His gaze once again turned to the three eerie Blood Moons, and a thought instantly became clear: "Hunting them individually is too slow... then I'll strike directly at the Dragon's Den and wipe out their nests!"

For the next half day, Lin Yuan transformed into the most deadly ghost, silently moving through the blood-colored Secret Realm, following the violent aura of gathering Soul Spirits. Under the Blood Moon, Soul Spirits instinctively gathered at energy nodes for Devouring Evolution, which ironically provided him with excellent coordinates for a clean sweep.

First stop: Bone Marsh.

In the decaying swamp, piles of white bones from unknown giant beasts reflected an eerie red light under the Blood Moon. Over three thousand white Soul Spirits wandered like walking corpses; fifty green Soul Spirits fought fiercely in the center of the swamp; and a blue commander sat high on a throne made of grotesque skulls, indifferently overseeing the feast dedicated to it.

Lin Yuan did not hesitate for a moment, appearing with a killing move!

"Devour of Time and Space!" The disc at his brow reappeared, and three-colored light flowed!

The invisible mighty power of time and space instantly enveloped the entire marsh! Twisting, freezing, annihilating! The blue commander on the throne had just looked up in alarm when its vision was swallowed by endless nine-colored light... [Killed Tier 1 White Soul Spirit x3000]

[Experience +30 million]

[Killed Tier 1 Green Soul Spirit x50]

[Experience +5 million]

[Killed Tier 1 Blue Soul Spirit x1]

[Experience +1 million]

[Current Experience: 78 million/100 million]