Gentlemen, it's time to enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Chapter 237 Crisis Not Over
Deep underground, in the darkness, lies a still, icy pool, as quiet as stagnant water.

This is the place where Youluozi, who received the inheritance of the Bewitching Demon Lord, resides.

The demonic cultivators who followed Youluozi had only heard of him but never seen him in person.

This is the signature skill of the Bewitching Demon Lord. Unlike the illusions of the Mirage Sect, the Bewitching Demon Lord does not create illusions, but simply uses sound to bewitch people's hearts.

Therefore, it is normal that no one has ever seen Youluozi's true form, and none of the demons who follow her feel that there is anything wrong with it.

Even today, the once stagnant, cold pool has begun to ripple.

Youluozi's voice, filled with doubt and anger, came from within: "Go and investigate everything about Chen Ye, the sect leader of the Yellow Springs Sect."

The sound emanated from the icy pool, traveling precisely through countless deep underground fissures to reach the ears of all the disciples.

Moreover, in another underground demon cave thousands of miles away, the Soulfire Little Man also heard Youluozi's voice, but the content was completely different.

"Your Excellency Soul Master, Youluozi has fulfilled your request. Tianxin Island is currently preoccupied with its own troubles, so the attention of the five righteous sects will likely be drawn there. The five major sects will definitely be fully prepared to defend against our sneak attack on the Rift Heaven Mountain Tournament, and the Incense Burning Sect should lower its guard."

The little soulfire figure still lay atop his tower of bones. Most of his disciples, who had previously died, had been quickly replaced by ten more, and their auras seemed almost unchanged from before.

Youluozi sighed inwardly. No wonder Soul Venerable, despite being ostracized by the Demonic Sect and hunted down by the righteous path, could still live so comfortably. Only a few days had passed, and several more Nascent Soul Realm cultivators had been added. This method of replenishing disciples was even more powerful than that of the Demon Venerable Wujiu back then.

The little soulfire figure, upon hearing Youluozi's words, said, "Is it that simple? Youluozi, this isn't like you. If you really did it well, you would have explained in more detail so you could claim credit. You finished it in just a few words. Were you just going through the motions, or did something change along the way?"

Youluozi chuckled softly, "Soul Master is still so cautious, truly a role model for us all. It is indeed less effective than I expected, but those juniors of the righteous path have indeed started fighting, only no one has died yet. As for the obstacle Soul Master mentioned, Youluozi has indeed encountered a peculiar person. Have you heard of Chen Ye, the Sect Master of the Yellow Springs Sect?"

Upon hearing Chen Ye's name, the Soulfire figure was immediately enraged and said, "I thought he was just an unknown nobody before, but after some investigation, I found that this kid is quite troublesome. Last time, one of my disciples died at his hands, and I still don't know how he died, how he couldn't even leave with his soul."

The Nascent Soul Realm is known as a mini-immortal realm. The soul is condensed and unbroken, and even if the physical body is destroyed, the soul should be able to escape without difficulty.

Unexpectedly, his fourth disciple couldn't even give a warning, and his body and soul perished together.

The Soulfire Man sent people to investigate, but they could only find some traces that resembled the tracks left by the Crimson Serpent, which was definitely not the work of the Crimson Serpent Demonic Sect.

The little soulfire figure continued, "That Chen Ye cultivated to the Profound Realm in just one year, and his fighting skills are extremely formidable, earning him the title of the best in the Profound Realm today. He is also suspected of having obtained the inheritance of the Crimson Serpent Demon Lord, so he is definitely not an ordinary person. I just didn't expect that even you, Youluozi, would suffer a setback at his hands? Your methods should be most suitable for dealing with this kind of youngster."

Back then, the Demon Lord of Bewitching Hearts could turn hordes of righteous disciples against her with a single word, leading to infighting and betrayal. Youluozi has already reached the Returning Void Realm, only one realm lower than the Demon Lord of Bewitching Hearts. Using words to bewitch hearts is her forte; how could she possibly be turned upside down by these juniors?
Youluozi's aggrieved voice came through: "Alas, how could Youluozi have imagined that Chen Ye was also skilled in this illusionary sound technique? He used some kind of supernatural power, making everyone's ears ring. I was slightly distracted, and he saw through my flaw and broke my sound transmission method. Now that my voice can't be transmitted, what can a weak woman do?"

"Anyone who plays illusionary music can be better than you?"

The Soulfire Little Man didn't believe it for a second. If the Bewitching Demon Lord hadn't been ambushed, no one would have been able to find her true form. The saying "wherever sound goes, it is everywhere" was no exaggeration.

Youluozi seemed even more aggrieved upon hearing this, and said with tears welling up in his eyes, "Please, Soul Master, investigate this matter. The illusionary sound technique used by Chen Ye seems to originate from the same school as Youluozi's, only the methods of application are different. Unfortunately, I was still restrained by him, and my true body was thousands of miles away, so I really couldn't contend with him."

That's half true and half false.

Although Chen Ye's Bronze Bell Hell also referenced some of the methods of the Bewitching Demon Lord, it was far inferior to that of Youluozi, his official successor.

The real reason was that Youluozi was too far from the Pearl and Treasure Pavilion. Relying solely on the conch shell for sound transmission was tantamount to wasting nine-tenths of her abilities. In addition, Chen Ye's bronze bell was truly strange, causing her to reveal some flaws, which allowed him to discover the method of using the conch shell for sound transmission.

Chen Ye is currently leading his group to smash the conch shells all over the Pearl Treasure Pavilion, making it impossible for Youluozi to be omnipresent as before.

The only thing we can do now is to deceive the mortals in the glittering palace.

Let them commit suicide or assassinate those righteous cultivators; they may get covered in blood, but that will have no other effect.

Youluozi used the same method to poison people before. It's much easier to bewitch mortals than cultivators. Just whisper a few words in their ears and those mortals will obey without question.

Help her collect virgin tears, help her concoct poisons, and help her put the poisons into the pastries of those cultivators.

The colorless and odorless poison continuously eroded their souls, making them even less resistant to Youluozi's voice.

For this reason, Youluozi even helped a bit when mortals were performing. Otherwise, how could mortals possibly make people cry every day with their singing?

Having put in so much effort, only to have it all ruined by Chen Ye, this unexpected variable, Youluozi was truly somewhat resentful.

But since it's not really my own business, I've done enough.

Youluozi said a few words with aggrieved expression, and the little soul fire figure felt a little soft-hearted. Even though he only heard the voice, he still saw a pitiful woman pleading for mercy in his mind, and that feeling made his soul fire brighter.

But the Soulfire figure was, after all, a successor of the Demon Lord, and quickly regained his composure. "Youluozi, don't try to fool me with your tricks. Before you can confuse me, I can burn you to ashes!"

Youluozi laughed and said, "I wouldn't dare. Everyone knows how capable you are, Soul Master. It's just that I'm used to speaking like this. If you don't like it, Soul Master, I'll just shut up. But speaking of which, I've done what you asked me to do. Although it's not perfect, it's enough to keep the five major sects busy for a while. You should give me the Soul Cleansing Flower you promised me."

The little soulfire figure snorted coldly, raised its hand and released several soulfires, which slowly drifted down and transformed into eight Soul Cleansing Flowers. The underground was dark, but if one looked closely, one could see that these Soul Cleansing Flowers were somewhat different from those produced by the Incense Burning Sect.

The Soul Cleansing Flowers passed down from the Incense Burning Sect are all pure white, but these Soul Cleansing Flowers in front of us have some blood-like patterns on them.

Youluozi showed no disgust whatsoever and happily disappeared with the Soul Cleansing Flowers.

The little soulfire figure looked in the direction where the Soul Cleansing Flowers disappeared and couldn't help but want to follow them.

How exactly did they manage to summon these Soul-Cleansing Flowers using sound?

The inheritance of the Bewitching Demon Lord is truly mysterious, far more bizarre than the spells and supernatural powers of the Wujiu Demon Lord. If he were to become enemies with Youluozi in the future, this kind of spell would be truly impossible to defend against.

But the Soulfire Little Man quickly dismissed the idea; now was not the time to provoke Youluozi.

The Soulfire figure looked at the group of disciples it had just "recruited" and cursed, "Get out of here and find out more about the situation at Rift Sky Mountain. Confirm how big the conflict between the five major sects is, and then come back and report to me!"

Upon hearing the order, both the old and new demons quickly and respectfully withdrew, leaving only the Soulfire Doll lying on the Bone Tower.

"I must obtain the corpse of the Demon Lord Wujiu. Only in this way can I cultivate the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts to its peak, achieving rebirth from a drop of blood and eternal immortality!"

The Soulfire Little Man trembled with excitement at the thought of the bright future, and the flames on his body turned bright red.

At this very moment, Chen Ye and Yu Shenxing joined forces to smash the last conch shell in the Pearl and Treasure Pavilion.

Chen Ye breathed a sigh of relief, while Yu Shenxing cautiously maintained the effect of his silencing spell, fearing that the fragmented conch shells might still have the ability to transmit sound.

Within the area covered by the spell, only Chen Ye and he could communicate normally; the other cultivators around them remained silent to avoid any "misunderstandings."

Chen Ye comforted him, saying, "Brother Yu, there's no need to be so nervous. That demon hiding in the shadows could only communicate with the conch shell, and now that it's been smashed, the demon wouldn't dare to reveal its true form. It's probably already run away."

Yu Shenxing also breathed a sigh of relief.

If Chen Ye hadn't come to him, he wouldn't have known such a big thing had happened, and he had almost been bewitched by that demonic sound.

After arguing with Yu Xing, Yu Shenxing defended his junior brothers, but he still harbored some resentment towards them, feeling that such a small matter was not worth making a big deal out of. Everyone knew that Yu Xing was a scoundrel, and they had known him for a long time. They could have just ignored him like an idiot, but the argument escalated to the point of almost coming to blows, which was really damaging to the reputation of the Yunlu Immortal Sect.

Somehow, his complaints were overheard by his junior brothers, who dared to question Yu Shenxing, and they almost started arguing again.

At the time, Yu Shenxing was puzzled. They were fellow disciples who usually got along well, so why did they quarrel over such a small matter?

When Chen Ye arrived to explain, Yu Shenxing realized that what he said and what he heard were not the same thing at all.

Yu Shenxing said to Chen Ye with emotion, "I never imagined that there would be such vicious methods in the world. If it weren't for your quick thinking, my brother, we might have really killed each other."

Chen Ye comforted him, "This was the method of the Demon Lord of Bewitching Hearts back then. It's not surprising that we juniors, with insufficient cultivation, were ambushed. It seems the rumors were indeed true. Master Zhang is close to ascension, and the demons are stirring."

Yu Shenxing asked curiously, "The methods of the Bewitching Demon Lord? Where did you find out, my brother?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Ye became even more curious and asked, "You don't know? The abilities of the eighteen Demon Lords are so famous, Brother Yu couldn't possibly have never heard of them, could he?"

Yu Shenxing shook his head and said, "Of course I've heard the name, and I've also heard stories about the war between good and evil from my elders. But hearing is just hearing. I only know that the Bewitching Demon Lord can bewitch people with words, but I've never actually witnessed it, and I can't tell the difference between it and ordinary illusions. How did you determine that this was the Bewitching Demon Lord's method?"

Seeing Yu Shenxing's questioning look, Chen Ye suddenly felt a little embarrassed.

He couldn't very well tell Yu Shenxing that Chen Ye also knew a little about the spells of the Bewitching Demon Lord.

However, Chen Ye didn't make up a story to deceive people. He just said mysteriously, "It was also told to me by my elders, but the details involve the secret methods of my Yellow Springs Sect, so I'm afraid it's inconvenient to tell you, Brother Yu."

Yu Shenxing immediately stopped asking, as it would be impolite for others to press on matters concerning the sect's lineage.

Yu Shenxing quickly changed the subject, saying, "Although the problem of the Pearl Treasure Pavilion has been temporarily resolved, there are more conch shells in Pearl Harbor than just these. If the demon uses words to bewitch mortals, it will likely cause many casualties. I would like to ask you, my brother, to join forces with me to temporarily block out the sounds in Pearl Harbor, so as to prevent mortals from causing chaos."

(End of this chapter)