Xu Hei sneered inwardly.
Xu Hei was not adept at using magical treasures and had suffered greatly because of it in the past. Now, he could finally indulge in the power of a magical treasure.
Once he refined this old man, he could turn him into a vengeful spirit, unleashing him against enemies with remarkable effect.
"Exactly, since so many have died, I should collect more," Xu Hei's eyes lit up.
Back then, Bai Xiu had released five or six vengeful spirits, forcing Xu Hei to swallow the Thunderfire Seal and injure himself to break the attack.
If he could absorb a hundred or so and release them all at once, it would definitely be a powerful trump card!
Xu Hei immediately took action, waving the Soul-absorbing Flag over the spots where Foundation Establishment cultivators had died, absorbing each soul.
He ignored those at the Qi Refining Stage, focusing mainly on the Foundation Establishment Stage.
As demonic beasts, this was their first time attacking a human city, and their success left them somewhat excited.
Man Jin wasn't in the mood for treasure hunting; he headed straight for Rock Serpent City's armory, pulling out all the ivory items and storing them in his trunk.
Many of the ivory items emitted familiar energy fluctuations; they had once been members of the Wild Giant Elephant Tribe.
After a round of scavenging.
Xu Hei had collected sixteen Foundation Establishment souls and over a hundred Qi Refining souls, though many were fragmented due to the passage of time.
But Xu Hei was already very satisfied.
He began to understand why humans valued magical treasures so much. If a treasure was carefully cultivated and used at a critical moment, it could indeed turn the tide of battle.
Xu Hei's physical body and True Qi were so powerful that he often defeated opponents with a single spell, causing him to frequently overlook the importance of magical treasures.
Finally, Xu Hei headed straight for the City Lord's mansion.
There was still a Jiao Python formation spirit that hadn't been subdued.
When Xu Hei arrived, the formation spirit was already extremely weak, almost transparent, with no strength left.
However, having guarded Rock Serpent City for three hundred years, it had developed an instinctual duty ingrained in its soul, long forgetting its wild nature.
Xu Hei tried to persuade it, but the formation spirit remained unmoved, still attempting to attack.
Xu Hei stopped wasting words and directly took out the Soul-absorbing Flag, focusing his mind.
"Soul-absorbing Flag, absorb!"
A suction force acted on the formation spirit, which screamed and struggled. Xu Hei's eyes turned cold, and black True Qi ignited, increasing the force.
After a series of screams, the formation spirit was forcibly absorbed into the Soul-absorbing Flag.
Once inside the flag, over time, it could be refined into a vengeful spirit, ready to devour anyone.
No matter who you were in life, you would ultimately become an emotionless killing machine.
Xu Hei had given it a chance out of consideration for his kind, but he didn't have time to convert it.
Xu Hei scanned the Soul-absorbing Flag with his Divine Sense, noting that the old man and the Jiao Python were the largest and most conspicuous.
Next were the sixteen Foundation Establishment souls, and finally, the over a hundred Qi Refining souls, scattered around.
Once these souls were all turned into vengeful spirits and released together, who knew if they could threaten a Core Formation Stage cultivator.
"Killing has its perks; this trip wasn't in vain," Xu Hei thought to himself.
"Hey! You over there, come take a look."
A voice called from afar; it was the Purple Lightning Thunder Lion looking at him.
Xu Hei flashed over to an underground cage. Above it had been a formation that blocked Divine Sense, but now it was destroyed.
Xu Hei's Divine Sense probed underground, and he was shocked, his body stiffening.
Inside the dungeon were countless snakes, densely packed and uncountable.
There were all kinds of snakes, spread over ten levels with a thousand rooms, totaling over ten thousand, all ordinary snakes.
At the lowest level, there were even snake demons.
From the Spirit Communion Stage to the Foundation Establishment Stage.
The strongest snake demon was a fifteen-meter-long giant horned python at the late Foundation Establishment Stage, but it was bound by iron chains, unable to move, with thin tubes inserted all over its body, looking emaciated.
Xu Hei had known that the Snake Catchers Sect had places for raising snakes, but he hadn't expected the scale to be so grand.
This underground breeding base was like an underground city, filled entirely with snakes.
And this was just one branch.
The Snake Catchers Sect had five such branches and an even more exaggerated headquarters.
What would that be like? It was unimaginable.
Humans might find this snake-filled scene terrifying, but Xu Hei felt no discomfort. He leaped into the underground breeding ground.
There were five snake catchers hiding there, knocked out by the Purple Lightning Thunder Lion.
"These are your enemies. I didn't kill them; I'll leave them to you," the Purple Lightning Thunder Lion said calmly.
"Thank you," Xu Hei nodded.
He entered the underground, heading straight for the deepest part where the Foundation Establishment great demons were kept.
Each cage on either side had its own formation, imprisoning a great demon.
Most of the snake demons had thin needles inserted all over their bodies, connected to jade bottles and other containers, emitting a pungent smell.
Xu Hei immediately recognized these as devices for extracting snake gall and snake blood. The cultivation techniques of snake catchers relied mainly on these.
Foundation Establishment great demons were hard to cultivate, so they chose to extract them alive.
The giant horned python twitched instinctively at the sound, its eyes flashing with fear.
But when it saw that the visitor was not human but Xu Hei, it was visibly stunned, then overjoyed, "Brother, please kill me, kill me!"
Its eyes were filled with fervor, as if death were a blessing.
The other snake demons woke up and also began to shout, "Benefactor, please kill me! Be careful of the humans!"
"Please kill me, I don't want to suffer anymore!"
"Please, have mercy and let me be free!"
Various pleading voices filled Xu Hei's mind.
Their excitement outweighed their fear. To them, death, which ordinary people feared, was a release, a blessing.
The late Foundation Establishment giant horned python had been imprisoned for five years. Once twenty meters long and as thick as a barrel, it was now skin and bones.
Each extraction of snake gall was excruciatingly painful.
Their True Qi was sealed, their meridians blocked, unable to move, not even able to commit suicide, forced to watch their life drain away helplessly.
Xu Hei scanned each snake, taking in their emotions.
"I'm here to save you," Xu Hei said.
"No! Don't save me, I just want to die!"
"Benefactor, I don't want to live!"
The snake demons pleaded.
Xu Hei remained expressionless, revealing the robes and heads of each snake catcher, and displayed the Soul-absorbing Flag, letting it float in the air.
The noisy voices fell silent in an instant.
All the snake demons stared in shock, the entire place falling into a deathly silence.
"They're all dead. Rock Serpent City has been destroyed. I can really let you out," Xu Hei said calmly.
The snake demons' eyes filled with hopeful light, but it quickly dimmed again.
Some things could never be restored.
An old snake sighed, "My venomous fangs have been pulled, my venom sac removed. I've lost the ability to hunt. Going back means death."
Another patterned python said dejectedly, "I'm already a useless snake. I don't want my friends to see me ."
"My meridians are severed, my bones shattered. I can't cultivate..."
"My demon core was taken. I can only die..."
Various helpless voices continued to echo.
Gradually, the snake crowd fell silent, until the place was as quiet as death.
Xu Hei then realized.
The snake catchers had destroyed not only their physical bodies but also their spirits and wills.