Mo Fan had been wondering why Bai Shuang, who was full of killing intent moments ago, would kindly remind those cultivators to take the mountain path. Only when blood mist surged did he suddenly realise.
This was no kindness at all.
It was clearly using their lives to test the way.
So the female demon had never believed the wild boar demon’s words from the start.
Even though the wild boar demon emerged unscathed, Bai Shuang still sensed something wrong. Her seemingly casual reminder was actually deliberate, luring all the cultivators onto the path.
Sure enough, this probe revealed the anomaly.
“What clever tactics.”
Mo Fan gave Bai Shuang a meaningful glance. He had to admit this female demon was truly clever, always coming up with new tricks.
“Everything is for safety, is it not?”
Bai Shuang merely smiled faintly.
In front of Mo Fan, she seemed to transform back into a harmless beauty.
Mo Fan shrugged, finding no issue with her approach. Just then, faint screams echoed from the blood mist.
“It seems it has begun.”
Bai Shuang chuckled lightly, then said to Mo Fan, “When it comes to slaughtering these monsters, stinky little brother, you are far better than your sister. You cannot expect me to handle it again this time, can you?”
Mo Fan rolled his eyes, said nothing more, and released rolling divine sense, probing into the blood mist on the mountain path.
Soon, he made a discovery.
One after another, ferocious dragon-blood creatures appeared in his divine sense. Within the blood mist, they launched frenzied attacks on the cultivators who had stepped onto the path. Many cultivators were bitten in half before they could react, becoming food for the dragon-blood creatures.
What puzzled Mo Fan was where these dragon-blood creatures had come from.
His divine sense was powerful, scanning the entire blood-mist area and finding it covered only about a li.
At the same time, Mo Fan discovered no particularly strong dragon-blood creatures in the blood mist. The strongest were merely comparable to mid-stage Golden Core level.
Even so, they were beyond what Foundation Establishment cultivators could handle.
Though most treasure seekers here were elite disciples of major sects, not everyone could compare to Mo Fan.
The power of dragon-blood creatures far exceeded their expectations. Their so-called immortal arts and colourful magical artefacts were utterly useless against these creatures, unable even to breach their defences. The outcome was naturally tragic.
There were many dragon-blood creatures, numbering in the hundreds. Previously, even Mo Fan would have needed considerable effort to kill them all.
But now it was different. Mo Fan immediately sacrificed the Soul-Devouring Banner.
The banner grew in the wind, soon reaching dozens of zhang in size. The black banner cloth extended endlessly, covering the entire blood-mist path and fluttering like a black river in full flow.
“Ghost domain, open.”
With Mo Fan’s low shout, the black banner cloth instantly released eerie ghost mist. As the ghost mist eroded downward, it soon enveloped all the dragon-blood creatures in the blood-mist area.
“Roar.”
The dragon-blood creatures looked up in unison, seeing endless fierce ghosts howling, and let out earth-shaking roars.
At that moment, black threads flew out from the ghost domain, completely entwining the dragon-blood creatures and dragging them into the domain.
In a short moment, all dragon-blood creatures were pulled inside.
Seeing this, Mo Fan raised his hand and recalled the Soul-Devouring Banner.
As the banner shrank, the ghost domain gate gradually closed, and the roars of the dragon-blood creatures faded.
When the Soul-Devouring Banner fully returned to Mo Fan’s palm, Bai Shuang looked surprised to find the blood mist on the mountain path ahead had vanished without a trace.
“This Soul-Devouring Banner is so powerful?”
Bai Shuang glanced enviously at the banner in Mo Fan’s hand.
“It is different. The Soul-Devouring Banner is actually better suited for capturing souls. The ghost domain seems powerful, but once living creatures are taken in, they could destroy the entire domain from inside, tearing the banner apart.
But these dragon-blood creatures are different. Though powerful, they have no rationality, acting purely on instinct.
I use the fierce ghosts to lure them into the domain. As long as I hide the ghosts, with no targets to attack, they naturally become docile and do not damage the banner.”
Mo Fan explained with a light smile.
He understood Bai Shuang’s implication. If the Soul-Devouring Banner could forcibly capture cultivators, why had the demonic cultivator not used this method against them earlier?
At first, Mo Fan did not understand, but after refining the banner, he grasped its strengths and weaknesses.
Ultimately, the Soul-Devouring Banner excelled against souls. Extracting and refining spirits was its forte, but against flesh-and-blood cultivators, it was not necessarily so formidable. At least, the seemingly terrifying ghost domain was far from that powerful.
“So that is how it is. Every magical treasure has its weaknesses. It seems the Soul-Devouring Banner’s weakness lies within the ghost domain.” Bai Shuang nodded thoughtfully.
“Let us go. First, find a dangerous spot on Blood Dragon Mountain.”
Mo Fan spoke, preparing to head to the True Dragon Lair with Bai Shuang.
Their purpose was to ambush Lei Yu Zi Dian, so they needed a suitable spot for the kill.
In the entire Dragon Ruins, only the lairs of those immensely powerful dragon-blood creatures were ideal ambush points. This was the consensus between Mo Fan and Bai Shuang.
They did not linger. With a tap of their toes, they floated onto the mountain path.
Perhaps because the blood mud on the path was too filthy, Bai Shuang refused to touch the ground. Faint demonic qi appeared beneath her jade feet, forming a semi-transparent demonic cloud that held her an inch above the surface, untouched by any dirt.
Mo Fan did not mind. He stepped directly into the blood mud, showing no discomfort.
He had seen too much fire and blood along his journey.
He had walked out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, whether in the former Three Mountains Battle or the Feng Ming Demon Domain War. He was like a god of death, truly stepping over the bones of countless cultivators.
So, mere blood mud meant nothing to him.
But as Mo Fan stepped into the blood mud, a strange sensation suddenly arose in his heart.
“What is wrong?” Bai Shuang noticed Mo Fan’s odd expression and asked immediately.
“This path seems to have some issues.”
Mo Fan frowned slightly, hopping in place a few times before saying uncertainly, “The ground seems a bit too soft.”
“Who knows how many cultivators have died on this path. The surface has long been layered with flesh mud and bone powder. Some softness is normal.”
Bai Shuang laughed gloatingly, then said with disgust, “Stepping right into this flesh mud, are you not afraid of stinking yourself up?”
“I am not a female demon. Why so delicate?”
Mo Fan rolled his eyes. Interrupted by Bai Shuang, he stopped thinking about the issue underfoot and proceeded up the mountain with her.
But before long, Mo Fan frowned again.
“Where do you think these things are popping out from?” Bai Shuang also stopped, frowning as she examined the blood mist slowly emerging around them.
“I do not know, but I think we will soon find out why.”
Mo Fan’s expression grew cold. With a casual wave, he sacrificed the Soul-Devouring Banner again, opening the ghost domain gate immediately to draw in the blood mist continuously.
At the same time, Mo Fan scanned the path inch by inch with his divine sense and finally found the answer.
