evil spirit puppet

The colorful auspicious light and pure Spiritual Qi gushing from the ground fissure were like a stone dropped into the barren Southern Wasteland Demon Domain, instantly breaking the surrounding dead silence.

The three Qinglin Sect Disciples stared dumbfounded at the gradually stabilizing fissure, feeling the rich Spiritual Qi and ancient aura emanating from within, far exceeding that of the outside world. Their faces were filled with shock and ecstasy.

"Ancient Cultivator Secret Realm! It's really an Ancient Cultivator Secret Realm!" Cheng Yuan's voice trembled with excitement, completely disregarding his injuries. "I never thought that the maturation of the Earth Fiend Demonic Lotus, which agitated the earth pulse, would unexpectedly open a Secret Realm entrance! What a heaven-sent Opportunity!"

"Senior Brother, let's go in quickly! Otherwise, it will be troublesome if other Cultivators or Yao Beasts are attracted here!" The young male Cultivator said impatiently, his eyes full of greed.

Cheng Yuan, being older, forcibly suppressed his excitement and cautiously said, "Don't be impatient! While Secret Realms are good, they often come with unknown dangers. Let's first observe whether the entrance is stable!"

The three of them cautiously approached the ground fissure.

Nightmare, hidden in the distance, also showed a hint of surprise in his eyes. He hadn't expected that a casual act would actually lead to the opening of a Secret Realm. Judging by the Spiritual Qi concentration and ancient aura, this Secret Realm must have been left behind by at least a Golden Core Stage or even a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator.

Just as Cheng Yuan was tentatively sending a spell into the ground fissure to investigate, another anomaly occurred!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Several sounds of rushing air rapidly came from different directions!

Clearly, the previous ground vibrations and Spiritual Qi eruption were not small, and had already attracted other Cultivators nearby!

"Not good!" Cheng Yuan's face changed dramatically.

As light flashed, four figures almost simultaneously landed in the valley, precisely separating the three Qinglin Sect Disciples from the ground fissure entrance.

These four people wore different clothes and were not from the same sect, but their Cultivation was not weak. Two were Middle Golden Core, and two were Early Golden Core Stage. Their gazes were fixed on the shimmering fissure, their faces filled with undisguised greed.

"Hahaha! I never thought I'd encounter a Secret Realm opening in this godforsaken place! It must be my lucky day!" A burly man with a scarred face, holding a Ghost-Head Saber, laughed wildly.

"Fellow Daoists, this place was discovered by our Qinglin Sect first..." Cheng Yuan suppressed his anger and tried to reason.

"Bullshit!" Another gaunt Cultivator with sinister eyes, who was also Middle Golden Core, directly interrupted him. "Heaven And Earth Treasure belongs to the virtuous! What kind of thing is your Qinglin Sect? If you know what's good for you, scram now, or don't blame me for being merciless with my saber!"

The other two Early Golden Core Stage Cultivators also approached with sinister smiles, their auras locking onto Cheng Yuan and his two companions.

Cheng Yuan and his two companions' faces immediately turned pale. The opponent's strength far surpassed theirs, and they were clearly ill-intentioned; reasoning with them was impossible.

Just as the tension was high and a conflict was about to erupt—

A cold voice, like a cold spring, suddenly echoed in the field:

"Too noisy."

"This Secret Realm belongs to me."

Before his words finished, a blurry black shadow, like a ghost, appeared without warning directly in front of the ground fissure entrance!

It was Nightmare!

He hadn't wanted to show himself so early, planning to wait for these groups to be mutually injured before making his move. But unexpectedly, four more troublemakers arrived. If they really started fighting, the commotion would be even greater, only attracting more trouble. It was better to cut the Gordian knot quickly.

Nightmare's sudden appearance startled everyone present!

Because they hadn't noticed anyone else hidden nearby before!

The burly man with the scarred face reacted the fastest. Seeing someone trying to get a head start, he immediately roared, "You sneaky fellow! Die for me!"

The Ghost-Head Saber in his hand erupted with a ghastly green saber light, carrying a mournful ghost wail, and fiercely slashed towards Nightmare's back! Its power had clearly reached the full force of a Middle Golden Core Cultivator's strike!

The other gaunt Cultivator's sinister eyes flashed, and he also attacked almost simultaneously, raising his hand to shoot three foul-smelling, pitch-black poisonous needles in a 'pin' formation towards Nightmare's vital points!

The two of them tacitly chose to join forces to instantly kill this suddenly appearing mysterious person!

Facing the pincer attack of two Middle Golden Core Cultivators, Nightmare didn't even turn his head.

His figure, like insubstantial smoke, merely swayed gently, avoiding the saber light and poisonous needles at an incredible angle in the nick of time!

The Demonic Shadow Evasion Technique, combined with his newly strengthened Physical Body, made his speed faster than they had anticipated!

"What?!" Their expressions changed.

And just as their old strength faded and new strength had yet to emerge!

Nightmare moved!

He pointed his fingers like a sword, striking like lightning at the saber-wielding burly man! Gray-black Demonic Essence surged from his fingertips, emitting a terrifying aura that annihilated Divine Soul!

Soul Shattering Finger — full power burst!

The burly man felt a deadly sense of crisis instantly envelop his Divine Soul. In extreme horror, he desperately tried to retreat and block, but it was already too late!

Pfft!

The finger wind, arriving later but striking first, easily pierced his protective Spiritual Light and entered his glabella!

The burly man's forward charge abruptly froze, the light in his eyes instantly dimmed like a candle blown out by the wind, and his massive body crashed to the ground like a collapsing mountain, completely devoid of life!

Instant kill!

At the same time, Nightmare flicked the sleeve of his other hand, and the three pitch-black poisonous needles, wrapped in Demonic Essence, which had originally shot at him, reversed direction at an even faster speed, shooting back towards the gaunt Cultivator!

The gaunt Cultivator hadn't even clearly seen how his companion died when he saw his own poisonous needles reflecting back at terrifying speed, scaring him Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering. He hastily conjured a bone shield to block!

Clang, clang, clang!

The poisonous needles hit the bone shield, emitting crisp sounds. Before he could breathe a sigh of relief, a strange Divine Soul impact force passed through the bone shield and violently struck his Divine Sense!

It was the hidden force technique of the Soul Shattering Finger!

"Ugh!" The gaunt Cultivator grunted, as if struck heavily, his Divine Sense throbbing with pain and disorientation.

In that momentary daze, Nightmare's figure appeared before him as if teleporting, and his cold finger pointed out again!

Another soft 'pfft' sound.

The gaunt Cultivator's pupils suddenly dilated, and his body softly fell to the ground, following the burly man's fate.

In the blink of an eye, two Middle Golden Core Cultivators were dead!

The remaining two Early Golden Core Stage Loose Cultivators and the three Qinglin Sect Disciples were all scared stiff, their bodies cold, looking at the gray-robed figure slowly retracting his finger as if they had seen a ghost.

What kind of terrifying strength was this?! Killing Middle Golden Core Cultivators like chickens?!

Nightmare slowly turned around, his cold gaze sweeping over the remaining five people.

The two Early Golden Core Stage Loose Cultivators were scared out of their wits. They knelt on the ground with a thud, kowtowing like pounding garlic: "Senior, spare our lives! Senior, spare our lives! We were blind and offended Senior! This Secret Realm rightfully belongs to Senior! We will scram now! Scram now!"

"Scram." Nightmare uttered a single, faint word.

The two of them felt as if they had received a great pardon, scrambling and crawling, fleeing frantically without looking back, disappearing beyond the valley in an instant.

Nightmare's gaze then fell upon Cheng Yuan and his two companions.

Cheng Yuan shivered, quickly pulling his Junior Brother and Junior Sister to bow in present. His voice was dry: "Th-thank you, Senior, for helping us again... We... we will also leave immediately..." His heart was bitter. The Secret Realm Opportunity was right before his eyes, yet he was powerless to contend for it. It was already a great fortune to have saved their lives.

"You, stay." Nightmare, however, spoke.

Cheng Yuan and his two companions stiffened, their faces even paler, thinking Nightmare intended to kill them to silence them.

"Se-Senior..."

"Go in and scout the way." Nightmare pointed to the ground fissure entrance, his tone unquestionable. He knew nothing about this Secret Realm and just needed a few scouts. These three were weak in strength, easy to control, and seemed to know a bit more about this place, making them perfect for waste utilization.

Upon hearing this, Cheng Yuan and his two companions actually felt a slight relief. As long as they weren't immediately killed, there was still a chance. Although scouting was dangerous, perhaps they could also get a share in the Secret Realm?

"Yes... yes! Junior obeys!" Cheng Yuan quickly agreed, not daring to show the slightest disobedience.

Under Nightmare's cold gaze, Cheng Yuan and his two companions cautiously stepped into the shimmering ground fissure first.

Nightmare followed closely, his figure disappearing into the halo.

After a slight spatial fluctuation, the scene before them suddenly opened up.

They seemed to be in a vast, desolate Gobi Desert. The sky was a dull yellow, with no sun, moon, or stars visible. The air was filled with pure but ancient and dead Spiritual Qi, and an even richer **Earth Fiend Qi**.

Beneath their feet were dark red gravel, and in the distance, some ruined architectural remains were faintly visible, as if they had endured tens of thousands of years.

"The Evil Qi here... is so dense..." The Qinglin Sect female Cultivator shivered, and the injury on her shoulder seemed to hurt more under the erosion of the Evil Qi.

Cheng Yuan's eyes, however, lit up: "The Evil Qi here is so pure, there must be a top-grade Earth Fiend Yin Vein! This is an excellent treasure land for my 'Azure Fiend Sword Body'!"

Nightmare's Divine Sense spread out, and he frowned slightly. This Secret Realm felt very strange to him, with Spiritual Qi and dead silence coexisting, like a giant tomb.

【Ding! Discovered unknown Ancient Cultivator Secret Realm (Evil Qi environment). Map function generating... 10%...】

【Warning: High-intensity energy aggregates detected approaching! Quantity: 3! Attribute: Yin Fiend!】

The System's alert sound suddenly rang out!

Almost simultaneously, the dull yellow sand ahead suddenly exploded!

Three **humanoid Puppets**, condensed from dark red sand and dense Evil Qi, suddenly drilled out from underground!

These Puppets had no facial features, were tall, shrouded in Evil Qi, with crimson light flickering in their empty eye sockets, emitting energy fluctuations comparable to an Early Golden Core Stage Cultivator! As soon as they appeared, they let out a silent roar, carrying a dense aura of death and slaughter, and fiercely pounced on the nearest living beings—Cheng Yuan and his two companions!

"Be careful! They are Malevolent Spirit Puppets!" Cheng Yuan cried out in horror, hastily conjuring his Flying Sword to block!

The other two also hurriedly responded.

But the Malevolent Spirit Puppets were fearless of death, and physical attacks had little effect. The Flying Sword only sparked and scattered Evil Qi when it hit them, yet they could directly devour the essence of living beings!

In one encounter, the three Qinglin Sect Disciples were in dire straits! The young male Cultivator was careless and was swept by an Evil Qi arm of a Puppet, his face immediately turning pale, feeling a trace of his own essence being absorbed!

Nightmare watched coldly, not immediately making a move. He was observing the weaknesses of these Puppets.

Soon, he discovered that the core of these Puppets lay in the crimson light in their eye sockets, which was a highly condensed Evil Qi core, and also their energy source!

Seeing Cheng Yuan about to be pounced on by a Puppet, Nightmare finally moved.

He pointed his fingers, and an extremely condensed gray-black finger wind, arriving later but striking first, shot with incredible precision into the Puppet's eye socket!

Soul Shattering Finger — specifically to destroy the spiritual core!

Puff!

That crimson light, like a bubble pricked by a needle, instantly dimmed and was annihilated!

The Malevolent Spirit Puppet's forward charge abruptly froze, the Evil Qi condensed around its body instantly dissipated, and with a rustle, it turned back into a pile of lifeless dark red gravel, scattering across the ground.

The other two Puppets seemed oblivious and continued to attack.

Nightmare repeated the process, pointing out two more fingers.

Puff! Puff!

The other two Puppets also instantly collapsed and fell apart.

With the crisis resolved, Cheng Yuan and his two companions slumped to the ground, panting heavily, their gazes towards Nightmare filled with awe and lingering fear.

Nightmare, meanwhile, walked to the three piles of gravel, extended his hand, and three rice-grain-sized **dark red crystals** emitting pure Evil Qi flew out from the gravel, landing in his palm.

【Ding! Acquired "Soul Fiend Crystal" * 3, containing pure Evil Qi and residual soul will, can be used for Artifact Refining, Cultivating special Cultivation Techniques, or exchanging for villain points (100 points/crystal).】

"Lead the way, find the Earth Fiend Yin Vein." Nightmare put away the Soul Fiend Crystals and commanded Cheng Yuan, his tone unquestionable.

This Secret Realm seemed to be more valuable than he had imagined.