Forging Immortality through the Dao Seed

In front of their eyes.

Pallid ghost-like figures, shrouded in thick white fog, were hopping, sprinting, and crawling swiftly through the streets and alleys, rushing towards Zhang Jing and the others.

"Senior Brother, Senior Sister, these are Ghost Skins, controlled by the devil 'Old Master Yin' of Heishan County."

"This fog is also his doing."

Zhang Jing quickly explained.

"Ha ha, Junior Brother, you really found the hidden devil of Heishan County, give you credit for this!" Senior Brother Ding said with a laugh.

In the next moment, he sent his bamboo staff flying into the air, radiating a bright green light, and swept it directly towards the numerous Ghost Skins.

In an instant.

Prolonged screams filled the air and countless Ghost Skins turned into ash, leaving behind dry and broken human skins where they stood.

"Tong Yao, remember to protect Junior Brother Zhang, we're going in to help."

The Senior Brothers Zhou and Xia beside him said in unison, each controlling their Magic Artifacts to attack the Ghost Skins.

Despite their large number, these Ghost Skins were extremely weak.

Seeing the three Senior Brothers hitting their stride, Zhang Jing didn't bother to step in. Instead, he silently replenished the spells consumed in Five Laws of the Spirit River while Senior Sister Tong was fully concentrated on the situation in front of them.

These Ghost Skins were just the appetisers.

The real devil had yet to show itself.

In the meantime.

Below the surface of Heishan County City, within a broad hall.

An eight-foot black tiger was weirdly lounging on a huge chair like a human, its front paws supporting its massive tiger head, rear legs crossed in a human-like pose, its cat o' nine tails-like tail smacking the ground and kicking up a lot of broken rocks.

The black tiger's eyes drifted open and closed, occasionally grunting.

"Push faster, you lazy gits. You're worth nothing alive or dead as Ghost Skins, such a disappointment to old me."

Following its gaze.

In the middle of the hall, there was a three-foot square pool.

In the center of the pool, there was a red grinder.

Scores of Ghost Skins were struggling to push the grinder.

Additionally, hundreds of Ghost Skins were lining up to spit fresh bloody meat with white bones into the grinder.

Every time the grinder turned.

Drops of mercury-like red liquid kept falling into the pool underneath, creating ripples.

Simultaneously, threads of pure water fog rose from the pool and were quickly drawn into a white Jade Bottle standing next to the pool.

Whizz —

An eerie wind blew.

The black tiger got up from the chair, dipped its fierce head into the pool, took a hefty gulp, and satisfaction appeared in its eyes.

"Great stuff, really great stuff. It's a shame I have to give them half."

"How great would it be if it all belonged to me?"

Suddenly, the black tiger closed its eyes, as if sensing something.

The next moment, a look of surprise appeared in its eyes.

"Why have so many Ghost Skins died? Could it be the Dao Institute? It shouldn't be!"

"I've already eaten all the devils within the Heishan County, could those three men have messed up the play? Why else would peaceful Heishan County attract the attention of the Dao Institute?"

"Useless, all useless! I knew humans were good for nothing but filling my belly! Haha~"

A low tiger roar echoed through the hall.

"No good, no good, my minions, hurry up, move old me's belongings."

As soon as the voice fell.

The black tiger dipped its ferocious head into the pool again, lightly inhaled, and the red liquid in the pool instantly halved. Then it opened its mouth, spitting out a storage bag, collecting the red grinder in the pool as well as the remaining red liquid, and the white Jade Bottle next to the pool.

...

Meanwhile.

All the Ghost Skins had been slaughtered.

Senior Brother Ding turned to Zhang Jing and asked:

"Junior Brother Zhang, do you know where the devil is now?"

"According to what I've learned from the three Loose Cultivators, it should be beneath County City in the Underground Palace... The entrance is... Please follow me, Senior Brother."

After speaking, Zhang Jing remembered the words of the man with the black mole, leaped into the air, and quickly flew towards East City.

In a short while.

In a ruin along the city wall.

Zhang Jing pointed to a stone door below, and said with some concern:

"Senior Brother Ding, this is one of the entrances to the Underground Palace. But I heard that the devil has a peak Qi Refinement of the fourth stage. Isn't it a bit risky for us to just go in like this?"

Just as he was finishing, he heard Senior Brother Xia beside him chuckle and reply:

"Junior Brother, Senior Brother Ding's strength... is very strong! You don't need to worry."

"Junior Brother Zhang, you said earlier, this is one of the entrances to the Underground Palace, do you know where the other entrances are?" Senior Brother Ding asked with a serious expression.

Zhang Jing shook his head: "Senior Brother, the three Loose Cultivators aren't sure either."

"We just killed so many Ghost Skins, the devil underground must have noticed. We don't have enough manpower and we're not sure where the exit of the Underground Palace is. The best plan for now is to go down directly and kill it while it hasn't fully reacted!"

Senior Brother Liu pushed open the stone door and walked in bravely.

"You guys follow me, don't stray too far, and also, take care of Junior Brother Zhang."

"Yes, Senior Brother!"

...

The winding passageway extended downward endlessly, spiderwebs filled each fork in the road.

Every ten feet along the ceiling, a shining Luminous Pearl was embedded. However, due to the increasingly thick white fog, these Luminous Pearls could only illuminate a small area.

Senior Brother Ding was leading from the front.

Zhang Jing and his companions were following closely behind, swiftly moving down the main passage.

As they walked, Zhang Jing suddenly felt a dense white fog in front of him churning rapidly as if something was approaching.

Before he had time to raise an alarm, a loud roar suddenly pierced the air.

Immediately after, a massive tiger beast, obscured by the fog and undefined in shape, suddenly leapt from the side passage, viciously lunging at Senior Brother Ding.

Cold, murderous energy permeated the air.

Just in the nick of time, the green bamboo stick suddenly erupted a strong ripple of spiritual power and countered the charge.

Simultaneously, a protective spirits' light suddenly appeared, firmly enveloping Senior Brother Ding. The magic shield was continually revolving around the surface of the spirits' light.

Boom——

The giant tiger-like figure fiercely collided with the green bamboo stick, resulting in a muffled explosion before they both went flying.

The massive tiger let out a mournful howl, then instantly disappeared into the dense fog.

Because the passage was relatively narrow, and the confrontation between the man and the tiger was very short-lived, Zhang Jing, who was preparing to join the fight surrounded by the five spiritual rivers, found that the giant tiger had already disappeared.

He could only awkwardly retract his hand.

At the scene, Senior Brother Ding looked at the green bamboo stick that returned to his hand; the spiritual light on it had dimmed significantly.

"A fourth-layer Qi Refinement tiger demon, it seems to be it!"

Then, Senior Brother Ding turned to look at Zhang Jing's group and quickly said:

"Junior brothers and sister, keep up."

A strong wave of spiritual power abruptly erupted from him, and his speed suddenly increased several times.

...

Inside the hall,

The surging spiritual power was continuously sweeping towards the surroundings. The incessant clashing sounds of metal echoed alongside the ferocious roars throughout the entire underground palace.

The intense battle caused the entire palace to tremble as if it would collapse at any moment.

"The commotion is just ahead, Senior Brother Ding should be fighting the devil now, let's hurry up and help!"

Senior Sister Tong stood still, her face showing a hint of urgency after feeling the surroundings.

Based on their previous understanding of Senior Brother Ding, a typical fourth-layer Qi Refinement devil should not have such intense combat.

However, just by listening to the noise, they knew that Senior Brother Ding's battle was not easy.

"Let's go quickly."

Senior Brother Xia, who was standing behind Zhang Jing, also said.

"Junior Brother, I might not be able to take care of you later, you have to be careful." Senior Brother Zhou looked at Zhang Jing and reminded him with a smile.

"Don't worry, Senior Brother, I understand."

Zhang Jing nodded.

But he noticed that Tong Yao had taken out her magic artifact and was rushing forward. Senior Brothers Zhou and Xia were close behind her.

"Wait for me!"

Zhang Jing, who was suddenly left behind, also took out the Water Cloud Shield, and chased after them.

Not long after,

The four slowly exited a small door, and the view before them suddenly opened up.

The sight of Senior Brother Ding fighting a giant black tiger using his magic artifact instantly met their eyes.

"Senior Brother Ding, we are here to help you."

Senior Sister Tong shouted, and controlling her magic artifact, she rushed forward.

Unexpectedly, the next moment a pitch-black spell sped across the sky and hit not far in front of her. The extremely violent spiritual power directly blew her away.

Senior Brother Ding's voice followed.

"You guys should quickly exit the ground palace the same way you came. This beast, for some reason, suddenly broke through to the fifth level of Refinement Qi during the fight. You can't interfere in my fight with it."

"Then what about you, Senior Brother?" Senior Brother Zhou asked loudly.

"It just broke through. It can't hurt me, but I also can't hurt it for the time being. You guys go first, I will rendezvous with you above later."

"Ha ha, why leave at all! In my opinion, you should all stay, look at these tender and juicy bodies."

The black tiger swatted the bamboo stick magic artifact from Senior Brother Ding's hand, then, its massive body spanning tens of feet, it lunged directly at Zhang Jing's group.

An intense, murderous intent made it almost hard to breathe.

Before their eyes, Senior Sister Tong and Senior Brothers Zhou and Xia's bodies became rigid, as if their spirits had been shocked.

Right at that moment,

Zhang Jing, who was standing at the very end, suddenly raised his head. His deep black pupils reflected a giant black tiger that leapt high in the sky. He could even see the animal's stereotypically foul-smelling saliva dripping from its mouth.

"Like jumping, do you? Just not sure if your carcass can make up for my losses."

Splash——

The five-law spiritual river flowed swiftly.

Three spell fishes, in the shape of black sea dragons, instantly leapt from the river, turning into three dark, terrifying, death-laden deep sharp edges.

At the same time,

A stack of thirty Scorching Sun Charms instantly appeared in Zhang Jing's hand, activating them simultaneously, setting off an enormously violent and dangerous aura.

The densely packed Scorching Sun Charms, and the three sharp-edged frostbite spells that carried the rhythm of gorge-seizing ghost dragons, exploded thunderously in the terrified gaze of the huge black tiger.

Boom!

As if a mini-sun suddenly appeared.

The charging black tiger was instantly blasted backward at a speed even faster than when it had attacked.

A scorched tumescent odor gradually filled the air.