432: Chapter 432 Clues to the Spiritual Root

She input the coordinates into the spatial array and verified them repeatedly, confirming the deviation was within an acceptable range, before handing the results to Gao Feng.

"The target area this time is much deeper than the last, and the concentration of the Void Clan is at least three times higher," Su Ning said, pointing to the marks on the star map, her tone calm. "We must prepare for a fierce battle."

Gao Feng did not hesitate. "Recall Situ Lan." Situ Lan and Lin Jingyu had been in seclusion at the Sect for the past six months, and both had made new Breakthroughs in their sword cultivation.

Before departing, Gao Feng gathered the seven of them in the main hall of the Immortal Cave.

"Our goal this time is the Void Spirit Fruit and the Spirit Gathering Array base." He spread the star map on the table and pointed to the coordinates marked by Su Ning. "General Zhao Wuji said that there is a Spirit Gathering Array left behind by an ancient Cultivator in that place. If we can find it and replicate it, we can extend the support time of the Wuxiang Spirit Gathering Array. We must also bring back the Void Spirit Fruit; it is beneficial for Cultivating the Divine Soul."

Lin Jingyu gripped the hilt of his flowing cloud sword, while Situ Lan lowered her head to glance at the frost sword at her waist.

Tian Xin distributed a thick stack of Talismans to everyone. Void positioning Talismans, Soul shield Talismans, Explosive Talismans, and purification talismans—she had made several improvements based on the originals, making the Talisman runes more stable.

Chu Lan retrieved several Shadow-Eating Vine seedlings from the Spirit Plant Garden. This Spirit Plant was something she had cultivated after the last exploration. It used the shadows of the Void Realm as nourishment and could absorb the resentment within the shadows, converting it into energy for its own growth. She had tested its effectiveness in the Void Realm, and it was more useful than Iron Thorn.

Luo Li tuned the strings once more, adjusting the resonance frequency of her flowing sound zither to its optimal state.

Yao Guang sorted the Medicinal Pill bottles and stuffed them into everyone's Storage Pouch, then placed the spare Meridian-Renewing Pills and anti-toxin pills into a separate jade box, handing it to Gao Feng for safekeeping.

Lin Yue checked the protective jade pendants again, confirming that the array patterns on every single one were intact.

Everything was ready. Su Ning opened a spatial channel, and a silvery-white gate of light appeared outside the Immortal Cave. The seven of them filed in, and this time, no one looked back at the entrance of the channel.

There were no directions in the Void Realm, only Su Ning's spatial anchor beads serving as a guide.

The group followed the guiding lines of the anchor beads, drifting through the grayish-white fog for who knows how long, until the fog ahead suddenly became dense. Tian Xin's void positioning Talisman burned in her palm, transforming into a light arrow that shot into the thick fog, but it exploded after traveling less than a hundred zhang.

"There is interference ahead," Tian Xin frowned. "Something is moving in the thick fog."

The Shadow-Eating Vine seedling in Chu Lan's arms suddenly became restless; its leaves curled frantically, and its roots burrowed wildly in the jade box. She quickly took the seedling out and cradled it in her palm, and the Spirit Plant's roots stretched toward the dense fog, as if yearning for something.

"It has sensed shadows," Chu Lan's voice was somewhat tight. "A lot of them."

Before she could finish speaking, a sea of black shadows surged out from the thick fog.

Those shadows were different from the low-level shadows they had encountered before—they had shapes; some were like wolves, some like pythons, and some like bats magnified several times over. They were condensed from shadows, their bodies more solid than ordinary shadows, and they moved much faster. Their eyes were two points of dark red light, staring fixedly in the direction of the seven, greedy and hungry.

"Shadow Beasts!" As soon as Tian Xin finished speaking, the wolf-like Shadow Beast lunged over.

Lin Yue's defensive array was activated immediately, and an earthy-yellow light shield enveloped the seven of them. The Shadow Beasts crashed against the light shield; they did not penetrate it like the low-level shadows, but were instead bounced back. However, their numbers were too great, and as they collided one after another, the light shield began to tremble.

Su Ning's Space Cutting sliced several Shadow Beasts in half, but those severed Shadow Beasts did not dissipate; instead, they turned into several smaller clumps of shadow and re-condensed into new Shadow Beasts.

Lin Jingyu suddenly drew his sword, and the silvery-white sword light of his flowing cloud sword slashed across a wolf-like Shadow Beast, splitting it in two. The two halves of its body writhed on the ground for a few moments before each turned into a new Shadow Beast, one size smaller but faster.

Situ Lan's frost sword struck a python-like Shadow Beast, and frost froze its body, but with a forceful struggle, the ice shattered. The Shadow Beast was unharmed, and it had even grown a size larger than before.

"They are undergoing Fusion!" Luo Li's spiritual sense captured the fluctuations of spiritual power between the shadows; they were not fighting individually but were devouring each other.

Several smaller Shadow Beasts actively collided with a larger one, their bodies merging into it. The python-like Shadow Beast's body suddenly expanded, the shadows on its body becoming more solid, and its aura climbed from the seventh level of Foundation Establishment to the eighth level.

Gao Feng's Time Insight was activated at full power, and silvery-white light spread from his body, enveloping the few Shadow Beasts that were in the middle of Fusion. Their movements instantly slowed, and the speed of their Fusion dropped significantly.

"Situ Lan!" His voice exploded within their spiritual sense.

Situ Lan did not hesitate, and under her activation, the frost sword lit up with a blinding ice-blue radiance. She did not strike at the bodies of the Shadow Beasts, but instead slashed at those faint, flickering lines of connection between them—those were the channels for spiritual power exchange during the shadow Fusion; invisible to the naked eye, they had nowhere to hide under the icy Sword Intent of the frost sword.

With one strike, she severed the connection between a wolf-like Shadow Beast and a python-like Shadow Beast, and the two clumps of shadow lost their connection, each freezing in place. Lin Jingyu's flowing cloud sword simultaneously slashed at another connection line, and the three Shadow Beasts that were undergoing Fusion were cut apart.

Lin Yue's defensive array protected everyone tightly. The Shadow Beasts' impacts became increasingly violent, and a trace of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, but he did not retreat.

Tian Xin's Explosive Talismans exploded within the pack of Shadow Beasts, and cyan-white flames engulfed several of them; their bodies twisted, struggled, and dissipated in the flames. But more Shadow Beasts surged from the thick fog, seemingly endless. She threw out a dozen more, and her arm had already begun to tremble.

Chu Lan's Shadow-Eating Vine moved at this moment. The vines broke free from her hand, took root in the Void Realm, and their roots grew frantically, piercing into the body of a Shadow Beast. That Shadow Beast struggled a few times, and its body began to shrink—the shadows were absorbed by the Shadow-Eating Vine. After the vine absorbed the energy of an entire Shadow Beast, silvery-white patterns appeared on its leaves, and it became a size thicker than before, lunging even more frantically toward the next target.

The 'Star Battle Song' by Luo Li resonated through the Void Realm. The zither music not only amplified the combat power of the entire team but also interfered with the Shadow Beasts' perception. Under the coverage of the zither music, those Shadow Beasts could not distinguish direction; some spun in circles, some collided with each other, and some even began to attack their own kind.

Su Ning's Space Cutting, combined with the swords of Lin Jingyu and Situ Lan, sliced apart the Shadow Beasts attempting to re-fuse, breaking them into fragments that could not re-condense. Chu Lan's Shadow-Eating Vine devoured those fragments frantically; after absorbing the shadow energy, it was already three feet long, and the silvery-white patterns on the vines became increasingly dense.

After about two joss sticks of time, the last Shadow Beast was completely devoured by the Shadow-Eating Vine.

The surroundings quieted down. Chu Lan retracted the Shadow-Eating Vine into her hand, and the silvery-white patterns on the Spirit Plant's leaves were still faintly glowing. Its aura was significantly stronger than before, and its roots were also more developed.

"It has evolved," Chu Lan said, looking down at the greedy little thing in her palm. "Its ability to suppress shadows is even stronger."

Su Ning re-calibrated the direction, and the seven of them continued forward. After passing through the dense fog, the Void Realm ahead became vast. A huge meteorite was suspended in the grayish-white fog, and several glowing vines were wrapped around it. The leaves of the vines were silvery-white, and pale golden sap flowed through the veins of the leaves.

Three fist-sized fruits hung from the vines; they were completely silvery-white, with fine patterns flowing across their surfaces, emitting a soft light.

"Void Spirit Fruit." Tian Xin's voice trembled slightly.

But coiled beside the fruit vines was a massive Shadow Giant Python. Its size was several times larger than the previous Shadow Beasts, and its body was coiled into a ball, protecting the fruit vines in the center. Its body was covered with fine scales, each one slightly undulating, and the power of shadows surged beneath the scales. There were two bulges on its head, as if it were about to grow horns. Its eyes were dark red, without pupils, only two balls of burning flames.

Golden Core, third level.

Gao Feng did not hesitate and drew his sword.

The moment the vajra sword was unsheathed, the phantom of the War God on the sword suddenly lit up, and the pressure of an eighth-rank Magical Artifact surged through the Void Realm. Sensing the threat, the giant python suddenly unfurled its body, opened its massive maw, and lunged toward Gao Feng, spewing a plume of grayish-black fog from its mouth.

Gao Feng did not dodge. He activated his Star Battle Body at full power, and purple starlight condensed into a layer of armor on the surface of his body, isolating the grayish-black fog. His figure traced an arc through the Void Realm, avoiding the giant python's first lunge and circling to its side.

The vajra sword slashed down. The third style of the Nine Styles of the War God—War God Shatter!

The golden sword radiance struck the giant python's neck, shattering its scales, and the power of shadows gushed out from the wound. The giant python let out a silent roar, its body twisting violently as its tail swept across.

Gao Feng did not retreat. He was struck by the giant python's tail and sent flying backward several zhang, but his Star Battle Body neutralized most of that terrifying impact force. He steadied himself and charged again.

The second strike of the vajra sword hit the giant python's head, exploding into a golden flower of light. The dark red flames in the giant python's eyes flared up, and it whipped its head around, knocking Gao Feng away.

A trace of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, and Yao Guang's healing power surged over immediately, cyan light healing his wounds and rapidly replenishing his consumed spiritual power.

The third time. He activated both the Five Elements War God Fist and War God Shatter simultaneously; the power of the Five Elements circulated and generated each other within his fist, merging with the golden sword radiance of the vajra sword.

Boom—

The sword radiance shattered the giant python's skull, and the power of shadows gushed out like a tide, dyeing the surrounding fog pitch black. The giant python's body seemed to lose its support and slowly went limp.

Chu Lan's Shadow-Eating Vine rushed up impatiently, its roots piercing into the giant python's body, frantically devouring that massive amount of shadow energy. The vines grew at a speed visible to the naked eye, from three feet to five feet, from five feet to seven feet, and the silvery-white patterns on the leaves became increasingly dense, finally covering almost the entire leaf.

Gao Feng sheathed the vajra sword and walked to the fruit vines.