Chapter 4: Soul Devouring and Spirit Consumption

  The blue-haired woman's sharp gaze slowly turned around and added again:

  "The place you are about to enter is the extremely mysterious and eerie realm of the undead, where the boundaries stretch far and wide. You will be randomly transported to the peripheral areas of this realm."

  The green-robed old monster who had been sitting upright with his eyes closed in the great hall suddenly opened his eyes and took over the conversation himself, saying in a calm tone:

  "The periphery of the Yao Corpse Realm is mainly where the Red Soul Corpses, nurtured by a hundred years of death energy, are active. The method to identify them is that their eye sockets burn with bright red soul fire; the deeper the color, the stronger their combat power. These Red Soul Corpses are your targets for capture, and the Shihai Symbol you have just comprehended is the key to controlling and communicating with the corpses."

  The old monster in green robe finished speaking, raised an eyebrow and fell silent.

  The blue-haired female examiner saw him finish speaking and replied in a cold tone:

  "The highest-level spiritual beings all have three souls and seven spirits that make up a complete soul. The so-called corpse demon is a ferocious creature that lacks or does not have the three souls and seven spirits, and it's not just the product of human corpses transforming after death as you imagine. That's only one type among thousands of corpse demons. In the Corpse Demon Realm, there are countless corpse demons, including ferocious beasts, humans, and even plants that can transform into corpse demons after death. These corpse demons are extremely violent due to their lack of souls, and living beings with complete souls have an enormous attraction to them. Whether or not one can return alive also depends on luck, which is another aspect we evaluate."

  The blue-haired examiner paused slightly, waiting for the many young people to digest the news in his words, and continued:

  "The realm of the demon corpse, from low to high, is divided into seven colors of soul fire: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and purple. The higher realms are still too far away for you, so there's no need to know about them for now. As for how to communicate with the demon corpse, items will be distributed before entering, which will detail all relevant matters. Now, according to your talisman examination scores, come forth to receive your items and prepare to enter the realm of the demon corpse."

  When Jiǔ heard the results of the examination, his face changed, and he pushed through the crowd in front of him. Among the many young people who were either astonished or jealous, he quickly came to the front of the crowd, bowed to the green-robed old man and the other examiners, saying:

  "Disciple Zhao Jiu, come and collect the items needed to enter the Demon Corpse Realm."

  The blue-haired woman had no expression on her face, stretched out her hand and handed over a black box. Zhu Jiu raised his hand to take it, followed the examiner's indication, turned around and walked to the front of the green-robed old monster, stopping about ten feet away.

  The green-robed old man raised an eyebrow, his expressionless face swept a glance at Zhu Jiu, and the two ghosts behind him floated forward one step.

  Jiu suddenly discovered these two ghostly objects approaching him, and his heart was slightly startled, but he forced himself to endure it and didn't move at all.

  The old man in green seemed to be fairly satisfied with Zhu Jiu's composure, his mouth corners barely visible as he slightly pursed them, with a hint of a smile that was almost imperceptible.

  This eerie old man slowly stretched out his hands, with both palms facing each other, and a sphere of dense blue magical energy suddenly appeared between them.

  A streak of blue-purple light burst out from the thunderball, which initially looked like a stream of blue water, but after stabilizing, it turned out to be a silent burning flame, with the blue fire burning fiercely in a long strip.

  Blue with a hint of light purple, mysterious and beautiful. Such a blazing flame should have an extremely high temperature, but Zhu Jiu standing beside it didn't feel any heat at all.

  The numerous examiners present looked at the strange object with envy on their faces. The middle-aged man who was best at flattering others was the first to exclaim, praising:

  "Long River Blue Flame, blue with a hint of purple, is this the seventh-order Flame Corpse? And it's even an intangible body! The Elder's seat actually has such a divine object!"

  The old monster in green robes snorted coldly and said with a somewhat self-satisfied tone:

  "You're quite discerning, this Blue Flame Corpse has followed me for over a thousand years, devouring countless souls and corpses. Unfortunately, it's still not ripe enough, currently it can't be considered a true Corpse King, only a minor rank of the Unstable Sovereign."

  The old monster finished speaking and was separated from the blue flame by more than ten feet, pulling towards the ground.

  On the bleak green ground, there seemed to be a formless giant mountain, extremely heavy. The old monster and this wisp of flame had spent a great deal of effort, and the ground slowly began to undergo strange changes. A block about one zhang in size was slowly pulled open like a gate, with dense black death energy churning and surging within. The black color on the ground gradually became thick and profound.

  Jiu stood beside the increasingly dark and profound portal, only to feel a chill run down his spine as an icy aura surged forth, causing him to shiver involuntarily.

  Listening intently, from the dark-colored gate of about ten feet in size, a sharp and piercing howl that seemed to shock the soul was faintly heard, and a cold and eerie atmosphere permeated everywhere.

  Jiǔ looked curiously at the black fog-like gate, feeling that behind it was a world where ghosts and monsters roamed, and something strange was rapidly rushing towards this strange gate.

  Suddenly, the dark and profound ground gate violently bulged upwards, and a twisted and deformed face of an unknown creature emerged from the dense fog behind the gate, struggling to rush out.

  The many young men standing around were frightened by this sudden and terrifying change, and they all retreated a step in unison.

  More and more evil spirits and ghosts are emerging from the thick fog, crazily crashing into the gate that connects the two worlds.

  The green-robed old monster standing beside the gate with his hands behind his back let out a cold snort, and the two ghostly goblins floating in mid-air immediately opened their eyes wide, revealing a fierce glow. They stretched open their mouths and began to suck vigorously at the gate beneath their feet.

  Inside the portal, a multitude of wailing spirits suddenly burst forth, threads of black air continuously being sucked out and surging into the two little demons' wide-open mouths like a tidal wave.

  After a few minutes, the portal on the ground no longer emitted any strange phenomena and became calm and smooth, like jade ink.

  Two little demons swallowed their movements and transformed into a lazy appearance, but the cyan soul fire in their eye sockets became even brighter and more profound.

  Apparently, sucking out their souls beforehand has huge benefits for them.

  Jiu stood beside him, silently watching everything, his eyes shining with a strange light, and he didn't say a word.

  The blue-haired female lead examiner standing beside this strange gate saw that the ground had returned to calm and said coldly:

  "This is the interface gate leading to the world of demons, I wish you good luck as you prepare to be the first to enter."

  Jiǔ wú yán zǒu chū, dǎn dà zhī jí de tái jiǎo mài xiàng le dì miàn shàng de liǎng jiè zhī mén.

  Translation:

  Jiǔ stepped out silently and boldly lifted his foot to step towards the gate of the two realms on the ground.

  Behind the door was an endless abyss, and as Jiu stepped in, a chilling coldness that invaded his soul swept over him. His body plummeted downwards, as if swallowed by the gaping mouth of the earth.

  Then one by one, young men timidly walked in, most of them pale and soulless, with a strange white complexion.

  The Green Robed Old Monster was impatient, stretched out a hand and stroked, the remaining youths began to fall into the Two Realm Gate in batches, cries of surprise echoed unceasingly.

  In a short while, the grand hall was left with only a few examiners. The old man let out a cold snort and said:

  "You all go in and wait too! Do you still want me, an old man, to take action, heh heh!"

  More than ten examiners nodded together and flashed into the dark portal that connected to the Netherworld of the Undead.

  Inside the grand hall, only the green-robed old man and a ball of blue flames remained, along with two ghostly evil spirits.

  The old monster stroked his hand, and the door of the interface slowly closed. The dark color was gradually swallowed by the void, revealing the original greenish-yellow color of the ground. The old monster sat upright in his chair, lightly snapping his fingers, and hundreds of unconscious eliminated boys disappeared from the great hall. He also closed his eyes again, waiting silently.