A sizzling crackle erupted as the old man's lower body plunged into what might as well have been a vat of boiling oil. The myriad evils contained within the Evil Spirit spring water erupted with incomparable ferocity, dissolving a massive chunk of the old man's flesh in the span of a single heartbeat.
The old man let out a wretched scream, his entire supply of true yuan surging as he desperately fought to repel the evil qi invading his body.
But no matter how hard he struggled, those sinister, ink-dark energies continued spreading across his body with alarming speed.
Terrified out of his wits, the old man poured every ounce of strength into trying to leap upward—but some tremendous suction force seemed to emanate from within the spring water, as though countless invisible hands below were dragging him relentlessly downward.
It was like stumbling into a swamp—the harder he fought, the faster he sank.
Seizing the opportunity, Yang Kai shot up directly above him and unleashed both palms in a devastating overhead assault, bearing down with the crushing force of a mountain.
The Trifold Solar Detonation and his soul technique fired simultaneously. A sky full of palm imprints cascaded forth, interspersed with streaks of ethereal purple light.
He intended to show no mercy.
The old man possessed the fifth level of the Shenyou Realm, but a tiger cast upon the plains was no tiger at all—he simply couldn't bring his power to bear. Consumed by frustration and fury, he was beaten relentlessly downward by Yang Kai, forced straight into the Evil Spirit spring water.
A piercing shriek tore through the air. Through the ink-dark surface, one could just make out the old man thrashing and struggling, yet never managing to break free from the evil energy's shackles. He sank deeper and deeper until he vanished from sight entirely.
Before long, even his cries went silent—he had perished beyond any doubt.
Yang Kai's expression was somewhat grim. He hadn't expected the Evil Spirit spring water to be this powerful. Even a Shenyou Realm cultivator who fell in couldn't escape. When he drew upon the evil energy within his Proud Bone Golden Body, he could swim through the water freely, but if anyone else fell in, their fate would surely be no different from the Carefree Sect's members.
The True Yang Energy shield on the high platform… could it hold?
He cast a worried glance toward it, then quickly withdrew and headed back.
Having deployed his Divine Sense so many times, he was genuinely fatigued and weakened, but Yang Kai showed no hint of it on his face.
When he landed back on the high platform, everyone stared at him holding their breath, seemingly unable to believe that a fifth-level Shenyou Realm expert had just been killed by his hand.
Though everyone knew it wasn't really Yang Kai's own strength at work—it was mainly thanks to the spring water's evil power—even so, it was nothing short of astounding.
"Ahem… it looks like we're the only ones left here." Shen Yi gave a light cough, drawing the group's attention back.
"That's right. They're all dead." Leng Shan gazed at the empty platform on the other side, feeling as though she had wandered into some surreal dream.
The Ghost King Valley had offended the Carefree Sect this time, and she had been worried about punishment from her master upon their return. She never imagined that Yu Qing and the others wouldn't survive a single one of them. This outcome was exactly what she would have wished for.
With no one from the Carefree Sect alive to return, no one would ever know what had happened here.
"It's rising!" Tao Yang barked, his gaze heavy as he stared outward.
The Evil Spirit spring water outside had erupted once more, and the rapidly expanding water soon overflowed the platform, surging upward by dozens of zhang in the blink of an eye, filling the entire cavern of malevolent spirits.
Yang Kai turned to look around. Apart from the high platform, which was still visible, everything in every direction was submerged beneath the spring water. The ink-dark liquid blocked out all light—they were now like a bubble hidden at the bottom of an ocean.
Through the barrier, one could occasionally glimpse evil spirits drifting through the surrounding water.
A wave of relief washed through the group. It was a good thing they hadn't rashly left the platform earlier—otherwise, they would have been swallowed by the water long before reaching safety.
"Sizzle…" The spring water made contact with the True Yang Energy barrier, producing a burst of crackling explosions. The two opposing energies clashed, each rapidly draining the other.
In an instant, everyone's nerves tightened, and they stared at the barrier without blinking.
If the barrier failed under these conditions, everyone except Yang Kai would die.
Boom. Boom.
The sounds emanating from the Evil Spirit spring's source grew more violent, more rapid. Pulled along by those pounding rhythms, the heartbeats of everyone on the platform quickened involuntarily. They gripped their chests in dread, uncertain of what kind of upheaval was about to unfold.
"Pfft…" A sound, as if something had ruptured, drifted over.
Zhao Rong of the Treasure Artifact Sect let out a startled cry, her face draining of color. "It seems like one layer of the barrier has broken!"
"Is that for real?" Cheng Ying's face turned pale as well.
How long had it even been? One layer of the barrier had already been ground away. If this pace continued, the platform wouldn't be safe for even a quarter of an hour.