Only three seconds? He's already the Lord of All Realms, so it doesn't matter.

Standing at the edge of the depression, Ye Xuan looked down at the layer of dark red, viscous liquid below.

The stench of blood mingled with a cloying, rotten sweetness, making it particularly pungent in this enclosed, low-lying area.

Among the white bones at the bottom of the depression, several still had partially decayed flesh hanging on them. Judging from their clothing, they were indeed disciples of the Holy Sect. One of them even had half a broken wooden plaque hanging from its waist.

"That's strange, didn't the old man say that no one had come to replace him these past few days...?"

But the bodies he saw in the depression were clearly those of people who had died recently. Could there be a third person in this sandalwood forest?

"Sigh, the competition here is so fierce."

Seeing that there were no ghosts wandering around, Ye Xuan figured someone had gotten there first. Just as he was about to back away, the dark red liquid in the center of the depression suddenly surged.

Several bubbles immediately surfaced, bursting and sending up wisps of black smoke. The smoke condensed in mid-air and eventually transformed into three ghostly figures that resembled neither ghosts nor demons.

The three were all wearing tattered robes of the Holy Sect, but they showed no signs of injury. Unlike the remnant souls seen before, these three figures had crimson eyes and had retained most of their intelligence.

"I am a true disciple of the inner sect, how dare you act so presumptuously?!"

The remnant soul in the center spoke, and the two souls on either side also uttered the same words, their tone filled with resentment and madness.

The three remnant souls turned to Ye Xuan in unison, their gazes fixed on the Dao Token at his waist, and suddenly began to shriek.

The piercing scream penetrated the eardrums and went straight to the soul.

Ye Xuan frowned slightly, and the blue and white energies around his body flowed naturally, forming an invisible barrier around his sea of ​​consciousness, blocking out most of the sound waves.

"Grudge?"

But I've been wandering around this Thunder Sandalwood Forest for so long, and I've never seen any ghosts with such a strong sense of resentment as these three.

Besides, you're clearly dressed as outer disciples. Are you so desperate to get into the inner sect?

He took a half step back, and three immortal seeds had already condensed at his fingertips, but he did not rush to make a move.

These three vengeful spirits all possessed an aura that subtly approached the Golden Core stage. In that case, why not lend them a hand...?

"Having received the true teachings of the inner sect, I lack nothing. Why would I be afraid of you!"

The vengeful spirit in the center slowly rose and left the low-lying area.

Before it finished speaking, two vengeful spirits flew out swiftly from the left and right, their speed even faster than that of ordinary Golden Core cultivators.

Xuan remained still, simply sending the three immortal seeds in his hand forward.

The immortal seed transformed into a stream of light, heading towards the oncoming vengeful spirits. But just as the two were about to make contact, the two vengeful spirits suddenly scattered, transforming into dozens of gray shadows that surrounded them from all directions!

Ye Xuan's mind raced, and his senses instantly expanded, capturing the trajectory of each gray shadow.

He withdrew his immortal seed and saw that those gray shadows were all decoys, and his true body was still hidden in the black smoke above the depression. He then activated the Nine Heavens Sun Technique, and golden flames suddenly rose around his body.

The golden flames spread out, quickly engulfing the black smoke above.

At this moment, only a mournful roar could be heard, bursting out from the black smoke. The true forms of the three vengeful spirits were forced to appear. Under the scorching of the golden flames, their souls twisted violently, and pus and blood even seeped from their eye sockets.

Taking advantage of the situation, Ye Xuan sent another immortal seed, and this time three white rays of light accurately entered the vengeful spirit's brow.

After struggling for a moment, the three ghosts also experienced a breakthrough... and were then devoured by the immortal seed, eventually turning into three strands of pure soul power, which were completely absorbed by Ye Xuan.

The depression returned to silence.

Ye Xuan put away the immortal seed and felt the extremely broken fragments that had appeared in his consciousness. He couldn't piece together even a single complete memory.

However, improving his cultivation level was the most tangible thing. He put aside his distracting thoughts and headed to the next place.

Over the next hour, Ye Xuan explored three more marked locations, encountering a total of thirteen ghosts, and finally captured seven remnant souls.

Most of these remnant souls were in a daze, and even those that retained some fighting instincts were far less troublesome than the three vengeful spirits in the depression.

As for the other things the old man mentioned to him before he left, besides ghosts, Ye Xuan has not yet seen them.

"This is the last one."

After collecting yet another remnant soul from the Foundation Establishment stage into his bag, Ye Xuan glanced at the sky; there was still less than an hour until Chen Shi (7-9 AM).

He took out the map and spent the entire night capturing these remnant souls without rest, almost wiping them out completely. He then focused his attention on the last red dot.

That was the seventh location marked on the map, and the only one with the word "Forbidden" written next to it.

"Forbidden area?"

Ye Xuan pondered for a moment. This map was from a long time ago, and this place might have changed long ago, perhaps even into some strange new form. But in any case, he still had to go and explore it.

He put away the map and headed towards the "forbidden" sign, but the closer he got to the sign, the thicker the fog became in the forest.

This mist is unusual; it contains a significant amount of soul power. Inhaling too much of it can lead to mental confusion, and in more serious cases, it might even drive a person insane...

Ye Xuan switched his breathing to internal energy, creating a spiritual energy shield around his body to isolate the mist.

After walking for about fifteen minutes, the fog in front of us suddenly dissipated, revealing a dilapidated stone pavilion.

The stone pavilion is built on a low hill. Two of the four stone pillars are broken, and most of the roof tiles have fallen off, revealing the rotten wood inside.

Inside the pavilion, a person was sitting.

The man was dressed in the robes of an inner disciple of the Holy Sect, with his back to Ye Xuan and his face towards a desolate graveyard outside the pavilion.

It is called a desolate graveyard because there are only seven or eight earthen mounds, with no tombstones in front of them, only half-burnt sandalwood branches stuck in the ground.

Ye Xuan paused slightly. "They even built a pavilion here? Doesn't it feel creepy?"

But when he took out the Soul-Catching Mirror, he saw that there was no reaction on the mirror, which meant that what was in front of him was not a remnant soul, but a living person.

But why would a living person sit here alone at midnight?

His senses quietly probed out, and when he touched the person's back, he suddenly felt a chill.

"Lifeless."

The man was deathly still, almost blending into the surrounding graves, yet his form remained intact, and even his clothes were undamaged.

As if sensing Ye Xuan's arrival, the man slowly turned his head.

A deathly pale face came into view, with regular features, eyes that held an indescribable sense of madness, and a stiff smile at the corner of the mouth.

"Junior brother... as expected... I have truly received the true teachings; there will always be people coming to pay their respects."

His voice was dry and hoarse, and he spoke slowly and deliberately.

Ye Xuan's gaze swept over the other person's waist, where a jade token of an inner disciple was hanging, engraved with "True Disciple of Tianquan Peak".

"Chen Qingyuan?"

Liu Yao clearly remembered this disciple, but that was all she knew. She only knew that he was a true disciple of Gucha Peak, and nothing else.

"Haha... It's me, Junior Brother! You've come to pay homage to your true disciple!"

Chen Qingyuan slowly stood up, his movements stiff as a puppet, but he immediately noticed the jade pendant on Ye Xuan's waist.

"Michiko? You are Michiko?"

"So what if it is?"

Ye Xuan originally intended to use the Immortal Seed Technique to investigate the matter himself, but this senior brother lowered his head, looked at the jade pendant at his waist, and a trace of confusion flashed in his empty eyes.

"I think I'm... dead."

Ye Xuan remained silent. "If it's not you who's dead, then am I the one who's dead?"

But Chen Qingyuan ignored him. He could definitely hear it. He just raised his hands and looked at his pale palms.

"But it also seems... he's not completely dead."

He suddenly looked up at Ye Xuan, the stiff smile on his lips becoming even more sinister, but the madness in his eyes gradually faded.

"Michiko, can you help me?"

"Help with what?"

"Help me... to die completely."

After confirming that he had heard clearly, Ye Xuan was quite surprised, "There's such a requirement?"