My father is the main character, but the female leads want to kill me.

"What are you afraid of? You'll definitely complain that there aren't enough of these ethereal spirits later. Do you want to bet? There's a big prize if you win!" Fan Hua wasn't trying to harm Lin Ran, but she suddenly remembered another characteristic of ethereal spirits. If she could achieve that, it would be a huge boost for Lin Ran.

Lin Ran stared at the hazy, gray spirits, gritted her teeth, and suddenly roared, "Damn it, I believe you!"

As soon as she finished speaking, the piercing demonic voice of the Ghostly Resentful Face Flower flooded Lin Ran's mind, and those gray, ethereal spirits with all sorts of ferocious faces rushed towards Lin Ran one after another.

Void spirits have no physical form, but their existence can be sensed through the strong soul fluctuations they emit. These void spirits also possess extremely powerful hunting instincts.

Lin Ran's unguarded mental ocean was like a piece of extremely succulent meat, which they all pounced on to devour.

Lin Ran felt as if his brain had been stabbed by countless sharp needles. A flood of negative emotions surged into his mind, causing him excruciating pain. Streams of ethereal spirits rushed into Lin Ran's mental ocean.

"what!"

Lin Ran couldn't help but let out a wail, as if she had been knocked to the ground by an invisible force, clutching her head and curling up.

"brat!"

After spending some time dealing with the man in black robes, Ou Yunjin hurriedly returned. When she saw the blood-red swamp and Lin Ran groaning on the ground, she rushed anxiously to Lin Ran's side.

She was knowledgeable and experienced, and could tell at a glance that Lin Ran had been invaded by that illusory spirit.

"This little guy, protected by magical artifacts, is completely unafraid of ghostly vengeful spirits and ethereal beings. Why was he attacked by ethereal beings?" Ou Yunjin wondered to herself. At the same time, she was also very anxious, wondering whether she should rush into Lin Ran's spiritual sea to help him. But if anything went wrong, Lin Ran might be in even greater danger.

As Ou Yunjin watched Lin Ran's eyes gradually become empty, she thought that once a martial artist was controlled by a spirit, they would become a slave to the spirit and a walking corpse.

"Little one, I'm so sorry!"

As Ou Yunjin transformed into a purple ray of light, about to penetrate Lin Ran's brow, she was blocked by a golden wall of light, and her soul was flung away.

"what happened!"

Ou Yunjin's soul floated in the air, and then she saw Lin Ran's eyes regain their brilliance, and she excitedly shouted, "Give me more ethereal spirits!"

Seeing Lin Ran shouting excitedly, Ou Yunjin was startled. She floated to Lin Ran's side and couldn't help but ask, "Little one, weren't you invaded by a ethereal spirit in your ocean of souls?"

"Senior Ou!"

Upon seeing that it was Ou Yunjin, Lin Ran excitedly exclaimed, "Those ethereal spirits have all been dealt with!"

"solved?"

Ou Yunjin was taken aback, but she quickly sensed that Lin Ran's soul was growing stronger. She quickly understood and shook her head helplessly, saying, "Little guy, you are really bold. You actually used the pure soul power contained in the ethereal spirit itself to strengthen your own soul. If there is even the slightest mistake, you will lose your life."

"Hey, high risk, high reward!"

Lin Ran scratched his head sheepishly. At the same time, while mentally cleaning up the mess left by Fan Hua, he was furious at Lin Ran's behavior and shouted, "You coward! You were acting like you were scared to death just now, and now you've changed your tune. Have you no shame...?"

Automatically blocking out the cries of the flowers in his mind, Lin Ran focused his attention on the swamp. Looking at the altar where the ghostly face flower was, he said, "Senior Ou, stay away. I'm going to destroy that altar!"

"it is good!"

Ou Yunjin nodded. She couldn't help but raise her spirit body, hoping to see more of the swamp from a bird's-eye view.

Lin Ran slowly walked towards the Ghostly Resentful Face Flower. No matter how the Ghostly Resentful Face Flower shouted, it had no effect on him. Lin Ran glanced at the tree demons and saw that these monsters seemed to be dead beyond dead, so he breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"Gurgling~"

While in mid-air, Ou Yunjin keenly heard the sound, which resembled boiling. She quickly looked at the watery part of the swamp, where blood-red bubbles were constantly rising out.

Lin Ran condenses a spiritual energy shield!

Ou Yunjin exclaimed in surprise.

Upon hearing Ou Yunjin's voice, Lin Ran subconsciously conjured a spiritual energy shield, which began to sizzle and corrode. Lin Ran saw a black-robed corpse not far away, soaking in blood. Soon, his flesh was rapidly corroded, and his bloody skeleton was as if it had been peeled off by an invisible hand.

"This blood has turned into a highly corrosive poison!"

Lin Ran felt a chill run down his spine. He sensed his spiritual energy being rapidly depleted, and he was currently in the area where the poison was most potent, constantly eroding his spiritual energy shield.

"I need to destroy this altar right away!"

Lin Ran thought to himself, and he quickly unleashed several sharp golden sword energies, shredding the corpses under the ghostly face flower into dust. However, this still seemed unable to stop the spread of the blood poison, and the air began to be filled with blood-red mist.

These blood-red mists seem to carry negative emotions, and anyone who comes into contact with them would likely lose their mind very quickly.

Lin Ran felt increasingly uneasy, so he quickly stepped back, intending to get Muller and the others to leave this strange place first.

"Dong dong!"

A series of tremors, as if striking the soul, suddenly resounded through the swamp. Even Ou Yunjin was affected. She desperately circulated her power, her body glowing with purple light to resist the corrosive blood-red mist. As if remembering something, she hurriedly said, "Lin Ran, get out of the swamp quickly!"

"what!"

Lin Ran was rushing towards Muller when he heard Ou Yunjin's words. He felt the earth shaking and quickly channeled his spiritual energy to his feet, creating a powerful thrust that allowed him to escape the swamp at the last moment.

"Boom!"

The entire swamp trembled, and the stone pillar where the ghostly, resentful face was located was slowly pulled out as if grasped by an invisible hand, revealing a giant, black, withered tree that emerged from the swamp.

The withered tree had no branches or leaves, but its trunk was enormous. Its branches were densely packed, as if it had once been a towering tree. The ghostly, resentful flowers at the hollow top of the tree swayed, like a king sitting on a throne, looking down indifferently at those below.

But what is most terrifying is perhaps not these things, but the exposed tree roots, which are skeletons. Surprisingly, they are still intact, but their white color is horrifying.

These skeletons appear to be part of these tree roots, connected to them. It's unclear whether the tree roots nourished them or they nourished the tree roots.

"Could these... all be members of the Celestial Fox Clan who died in battle?"

Lin Ran looked at the corpses. Many of them were still recognizable, some even still had tails. However, many of those tails had turned into bones and lost their original luster and fur. Some of them were strangely shaped. Thinking of the history of the Heavenly Fox Clan, perhaps those were people from the Void Evil Clan...

Ou Yunjin landed next to Lin Ran. Looking at the scene before her, her eyes were filled with sorrow. She gritted her teeth and said, "I never thought... the sacred tree that once protected our Heavenly Fox Clan would become like this. Is this heaven's punishment for our Heavenly Fox Clan?"

.....

59. Ancient Soul Demon Insect

"The divine tree of the Celestial Fox Clan?"

Lin Ran was filled with questions again, and Fan Hua promptly explained to her, "The Celestial Fox Clan has a guardian tree, which is said to have existed since the very beginning of the Celestial Fox Clan. It has always protected the Celestial Fox Clan and is said to be able to activate the bloodline talents of the Celestial Fox Clan and help them find their destined partner. Of course, I'm not sure, but that's about it!"

"Senior Ou, what should we do now...?"

Lin Ran roughly understood what was going on and was about to ask Ou Yunjin what to do next when suddenly a surge of incredibly powerful spiritual energy rose up between heaven and earth. This spiritual energy converged in only one direction: not far in front of the giant tree.

The rich spiritual energy of heaven and earth formed a teardrop-shaped vessel in mid-air in front of the giant tree. The vessel gathered this spiritual energy and gradually turned emerald green. A refreshing and vibrant feeling spread outwards, dispelling some of the strong scarlet smell.

"Tick!"

The teardrop-shaped vessel actually made the sound of dripping water, and the emerald green liquid inside was bursting out with strong life energy.

The moment this vibrant life energy dissipated, Lin Ran's heart began to beat faster.

His blood boiled, emitting a constant, yearning roar, like a hungry infant searching for sweet milk. His boiling desire might only be quelled by that life energy.

"How could such a godforsaken place contain such a pure source of life? Could it be the last remaining shade of the guardian tree of the Heavenly Fox Clan?" Fan Hua's voice echoed in Lin Ran's mind.

However, after the source of life emerged, a deep but very high-frequency sound suddenly rang out throughout the entire place, which Lin Ran felt was like the buzzing noise of a radio that couldn't receive a station.

Lin Ran saw that from the guardian tree of the Heavenly Fox Clan, many dark red, beetle-like insects were crawling out from the decaying, dead wood.

Their wings vibrated wildly, producing a very low and noisy sound. Even the muddy water in the swamp was filled with these insects, and in an instant, they almost covered the entire swamp.

"These ancient demonic soul insects created by the Void Evil Clan!"

Ou Yunjin's voice seemed to tremble slightly, clearly terrified of such insects. She looked at Lin Ran beside her and said, "Little one, I may not even be able to protect myself next. You must be careful. Don't rush straight for that Source of Life. It might be bait!"

These ancient demonic insects seemed to have caught a whiff of Ou Yunjin's soul, and they flew towards Lin Ran's direction. These demonic insects swarmed like locusts, and when Lin Ran looked at the "dark red" sky, she couldn't help but feel a chill run down her spine.

He looked to the side, but couldn't find Ou Yunjin's soul anywhere. He was still thinking about whether he could get more information from Ou Yunjin, otherwise how was he supposed to deal with these guys!

“Lin Ran, these ancient demon soul insects aren’t as scary as you think. They’re good at getting close to people and attacking their souls, but they’re actually quite weak. They’re basically just strong because of their numbers. Just find their core nest and destroy it!” Fan Hua said quickly.

She had gained some knowledge from following Jingyue back then, and she knew the weaknesses of these insects created by the Void Evil Clan.

"You're overestimating me!"

Lin Ran erected a spiritual energy shield, and the next moment, his shield was surrounded by these ancient demon soul insects. They had sharp, fine teeth, and their dark red compound eyes flashed with scarlet light. They frantically gnawed at the spiritual energy shield, and Lin Ran's spiritual energy drained away even faster.

"Müller, Cato, you'd better figure out how to survive. There are so many of these strange insects!" Lin Ran shouted to the sky, reminding Muller and the others. Whether they could all survive after that would depend on luck.

Lin Ran blasted her spiritual energy shield outwards with a "bang," and the shield, like shattered glass, instantly carried away a large number of demonic insects with its sharp fragments.

Lin Ran continuously unleashed golden sword energy from the Autumn Rain Sword in her hand, and the path the sword energy traced in the air almost took away swarms of demonic insects.

The corpses of these insects fell from the sky like rain, and even the swamp seemed to be filled in and compacted.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. His blue robe had been touched in many places by the demonic insects. No matter how well his sword energy protected him, the demonic insect army still managed to find loopholes using "human wave tactics".

As Lin Ran approached, he noticed that some of the ancient demon soul insects were different from ordinary demon insects. Their shells were a deeper color and had mysterious patterns. If it weren't for the protection of the flowers, he probably would have had his eardrums ripped off and his soul struck by the shrill roar.

"Fan Hua, I feel like something's not right..."

Lin Ran glanced at the corpses of the Heavenly Fox Clan and couldn't help but think of a chilling question: "Why don't those demonic insects attack these corpses!"

"why?"

Fan Hua was also taken aback, but she quickly noticed the corpse of the Heavenly Fox Clan member behind Lin Ran. Its empty eyes were glowing with a dark red light. She hurriedly shouted, "Lin Ran, watch out behind you!"

"it is good!"

Having already entered a state of mental awareness, Lin Ran dealt with the large swarm of demonic insects in front of him. He then turned around strangely and sat in an arched position, avoiding the sharp claws swung by the controlled Heavenly Fox Clan member. With his free left hand, he threw a powerful punch at the controlled slave.

The golden fist imprint made intimate contact with the Heavenly Fox Clan member. In his Mind's Eye state, Lin Ran could even see the Heavenly Fox Clan member being directly blasted into a pile of minced meat by the powerful force of the fist imprint, which also took away a group of demon insect corpses.

"Trying to ambush me again, huh!"

Lin Ran spat to the side and looked around. The corpses seemed to have come to life, with tree roots attached to their backs, and they attacked Lin Ran. Just as Lin Ran was preparing to fight back, he caught a glimpse of the scene, perhaps only a few frames, but Lin Ran saw where the demonic insects came from.

Beneath the teardrop-shaped vessel containing the source of life, there was a small opening. Although it was submerged in blood and the corpses of demonic insects, Lin Ran could still see countless fresh ancient demonic soul insects thrashing out from it.

"Damn it, this is the place I've been looking for!"

Lin Ran cursed inwardly. He took a few sneak attacks while protected by the golden shield, and then leaped into the air. The veins on his left hand throbbed like dragons, and a light golden spiritual power covered the surface, as if it were faintly forming golden dragon scales. A lifelike dragon head covered the surface of his tightly clenched left fist.

"Dragon Fist!"

Lin Ran roared to the heavens and earth, unleashing his strongest attack on the ground. A golden dragon, accompanied by a resounding roar, was born between heaven and earth with the punch Lin Ran threw. Its black and white dragon eyes held an unyielding majesty, and it bared its ferocious fangs as it crashed into the underground opening.

A powerful energy surge spread outwards, causing the entire swamp to tremble violently as if an earthquake had struck. All the corpse slaves who had attacked Lin Ran were buried beneath the golden dragon, including the demonic insects that had charged forward one after another. They were all vaporized in the mouth of the golden dragon amidst the blood that rose up from the tremors.

Mullerkato and the others were struggling to hold off the demonic insects with their spiritual energy shields when the earth suddenly trembled violently. Terrifying energy fluctuations swept around them, and they were also carried by the impact, crashing into the withered trees and breaking several of them before finally coming to a stop.

Cato struggled to his feet, shaking off some of the demonic insects that had been attached to his body. He stretched out his round belly and looked at the swamp where the mist had been washed away, revealing a scene of utter devastation.