The blood contained an extremely dense and fresh essence of qi and blood, clearly drawn not long ago — and from a warrior who placed great emphasis on physical cultivation.
There was no other explanation besides Man Kuai's blood.
Half an hour ago, Man Kuai had died. Half an hour later, his blood had somehow arrived here and formed a grand array, enveloping everyone within it. This had clearly been premeditated, though none of them knew what effect the array was supposed to have.
After roughly the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the blood finally stopped flowing, as though it had been completely drained. The formation on the ground was now entirely filled with and activated by the blood. A strange aura began to circulate outward, making everyone feel a chill creep over them.
Faintly, carried on the air, came something like the wailing of ghosts and the howling of wolves.
Shen Fei and the others lay on the ground, quietly channeling their source power to neutralize the poison in their bodies. But whatever this poison was, the more they tried to purge it, the weaker and more feeble they became.
Suddenly, the Serpent Woman's face went white and she cried out, "Man Kuai!"
At her shout, Shen Fei jerked his head up to look. In the next instant, his eyes went wide — right at the center of the array, a spectral figure had appeared. The figure looked exactly like Man Kuai, except it bore no trace of awareness. It seemed浑浑噩噩, as though devoid of all reason.
Man Kuai's spiritual soul!
That stone slab had not only drained every last drop of Man Kuai's qi and blood essence — it had even taken his spiritual soul. And judging by the state of Man Kuai's soul, it had suffered tremendous damage. Otherwise, it would not appear so vacant. Even without a physical body, the soul of a Dao Source Stage Three expert should have been enough to maintain its own sanity.
"What are you trying to do, Sang De?!" Shen Fei snarled through gritted teeth, his voice sharp with desperation. It seemed the mounting dread of the unknown was pushing his mental defenses to the edge of collapse.
Sang De let out a cold snort, ignoring Shen Fei's accusation entirely. Instead, he stomped hard on the ground and said in a low voice, "Old ghost, time to wake up!"
There was someone else?
Shen Fei's face drained of color as he quickly turned his head to scan his surroundings. The Serpent Woman, too, looked around with wary unease, trying to determine who Sang De was referring to.
The next moment, both their gazes locked onto the same spot.
Over there, a wisp of a figure was slowly materializing — ethereal and formless. It appeared to be another spiritual soul, but unlike Man Kuai's, this one seemed incredibly fragile, as though it could dissipate at any second.
Once the figure had fully revealed itself, an aura like that of a fierce wraith surged outward all at once.
Sang De bared his teeth in a savage grin. "Old ghost, I've brought you a few delicious morsels. Why don't you thank me? Your apprentice here treats you pretty well, doesn't he?"
"What?" Shen Fei's jaw dropped, his face frozen in stunned disbelief as he stared at the apparition.
The Serpent Woman's lovely features lost all color. "This person is your master?"
Sang De snorted. "Don't concern yourselves with that. Just lie there like good little pets."
As he spoke, he frowned and glanced toward Yang Kai. For some reason, Yang Kai seemed far too calm — eerily so. Like Shen Fei and the Serpent Woman, he lay motionless on the ground, but he hadn't said a single word. Had he simply resigned himself to death?
But at this point, Sang De had no time to worry about such things. He just wanted to get this over with.
"What did you mean by 'morsels'?" Shen Fei asked again, his voice trembling with unease.
The words had barely left his mouth before he understood. Sang De's master — that wraith-like figure — let out a piercing shriek, an ear-splitting, hideous sound, then lunged like a starving wolf toward Man Kuai's spiritual soul. It opened its enormous maw and bit clean through half of Man Kuai's spectral form in a single snap.
This wraith-like existence could devour spiritual souls!
The concept was something Shen Fei and the Serpent Woman had never heard of, never seen, never even imagined. They stared blankly at the horrifying spectacle, a bone-deep chill running from the tops of their heads to the soles of their feet.
Under their horrified gaze, the apparition devoured Man Kuai's spiritual soul completely in fewer than ten breaths.
Far from being satisfied, it seemed to have been provoked into greater savagery. Its once wispy, insubstantial body had grown noticeably more solid. It turned its head and locked its vicious stare onto Shen Fei, letting out a shrill, malevolent cry before transforming into a gust of dark yin wind and hurtling toward him.
"No — stay away!" Shen Fei screamed in terror, struggling with all his might.
But he had no strength left to resist. The spectral figure flashed forward and vanished into his body without a trace. Immediately after, Shen Fei's entire frame began to convulse violently. His eyes rolled and jittered uncontrollably, his features twisted into a mask of agony — as though he were enduring the most excruciating torment imaginable.
The Serpent Woman had long since gone deathly pale. Seeing that she would undoubtedly be next, she hurriedly pleaded with Sang De, "Great Master, please spare me! I'll serve you as a slave, as a maid — I'll attend to you in any way you desire. I promise you won't be disappointed."
Even as she spoke, she forced out the most pitiful smile she could manage, making one last desperate attempt to leverage her beauty for survival.
Sang De was utterly unmoved. "A piece of rotting flesh even stray dogs would turn their noses up at — and you dare show off in front of me?"
The Serpent Woman's beautiful eyes dimmed, knowing with certainty that there was no escaping this fate.
Just then, Shen Fei suddenly went silent — he had stopped breathing. The spectral figure burst out of his body. Having devoured two spiritual souls in succession, it had become almost solid in appearance. And looking at its eyes, it seemed to have recovered some measure of its intelligence.
Without pausing, it plunged directly into the Serpent Woman's body, repeating the same process.
The Serpent Woman let out agonized screams. Knowing she was certain to die, she cursed Sang De with every foul word she could muster, the invectives pouring out without end.
Sang De let out a cold huff and ignored her entirely. He turned his gaze to Yang Kai and said, "You don't seem the least bit worried."