Chapter 296: Chapter 266: Vegetable Thief, Spider Gods’ Blessing, Dream-Type Pet Beast!
Dense clouds spread in all directions, blanketing the area in a deep fog. A rustling sound, like the scurrying of insects and rats, filled the air. Amidst the obscurity, faint whispers could be discerned.
Within the mist, countless branches twisted and writhed like Demon Ghosts. Eyes, teeth, human skins, and faces lurked in the shadows, observing the living.
A flash of firelight suddenly illuminated a corner of the fog.
These ghostly entities trembled as if an indescribable presence had arrived, and they quickly retreated in fear.
Soon, a beautiful woman in a flowing robe appeared, holding a lantern, her bare, fair feet resembling tender lotus roots. The sash on her slender waist fluttered like willow branches, trailing a wisp of mist. She entwined her arm with the young man’s, proactively nestling into a snowy embrace, and said with a smile, "Master, the fruits from this tree are delicious."
As she spoke, she extended a delicate hand. The ancient tree beside her, towering over a hundred feet high, instantly bled as if in pain. Its lush branches writhed like a woman’s hair, from which hung the heads of female corpses, laden with "fruit."
The nine-headed serpent nodded. A head—that of a girl with delicate, lovely, and cute features—twisted on its neck and smiled before detaching and leaping onto the serpent’s hand.
Just as Chu Yi was wondering if the nine-headed serpent would actually eat the head, she raised the lantern. A devouring power erupted from it, swallowing the "fruit" to use as fuel, which she then indirectly digested.
"Of course, it’s not as tasty as what Master feeds me."
The nine-headed serpent smiled, licking her bright red lips. Her captivating eyes narrowed slightly, carrying a hint of entrancement as she looked at Chu Yi, seemingly suggesting something.
Chu Yi maintained a righteous demeanor, feeling no embarrassment whatsoever.
Because his contracted Deceit Beast was unique, he himself had become a highly nourishing entity—so potent that even gods couldn’t resist taking a bite—filled with rich positive energy.
He withdrew his hand from her soft embrace and surveyed the Nether Secret Realm used for cultivation.
He had relocated the Netherworld to Ten Thousand Souls Ridge. Its ecological environment had been maintained without significant damage and currently appeared relatively stable.
The process involved investing Souls, merging them with the Netherworld, and cultivating fruit trees that yielded "Beasts"—or rather, the Power of Rules.
The fruit the nine-headed serpent had just plucked, for instance, embodied a "hanging" rule. It produced a "Hanged Ghost" type of aberration, and defeating such entities yielded certain materials.
With this Underworld version of a farm, he could produce these materials himself.
If he were interested in these aberrations, he could cultivate powerful ones to serve as his subordinates, form a legion, and unleash an Undead catastrophe.
Alternatively, he could trade these "farm products" for other resources; the uses were manifold.
"By the way, Master, that flower over there is too lazy. It hasn’t done any work at all, just sits there dazing out."
"And while I wasn’t looking, it even stole nutrients from underground!"
The nine-headed serpent began to tattle, pointing towards a Flower of Flesh and Blood entrenched at the center of Ten Thousand Souls Ridge.
That witless flower had always served as Chu Yi’s meat shield. It was a signature lackey of the King of Black Robes and a unique existence born from the fusion of two taboo entities!
Initially, it was the Divine Eye, a servant of the God of Flesh and Blood. Chu Yi had sealed it within human skin and then fused it with the Desire Mother Tree, giving birth to the Flower of Desire—an amalgamation of desire and devouring.
As a taboo entity, it held no loyalty to Chu Yi; it was merely restraining its claws for the time being, subject to his control.
Chu Yi immediately cast his gaze across hundreds of miles, his sight landing on a majestic mountain range.
BUZZING...
This mountain range was constructed from decayed flesh and bones, piled layer upon layer.
As Chu Yi’s inspecting gaze swept over, the mountain range trembled. The ground cracked, and endless tentacles, entwined with bloody threads and adhered to freshly flayed human skins gushing blood, emerged. Its center caved in, revealing a giant flower bud. This bud split into a dozen or so petals, each lined with dense fangs.
Blood spewed from the flower’s core as an enormous eye abruptly opened—a scarlet, vertical pupil reminiscent of an Ancient God’s gaze. It was surrounded by clusters of fleshy tumors, from which more eyes protruded, like stars orbiting the colossal central eye.
Compared to its initial state, the Flower of Desire had grown much stronger, nourished by Ten Thousand Souls Ridge and the nutrients from the Netherworld. Some parts of it were even beginning to transform into a Flesh and Blood Willow Tree.
An aura of calamity, Destruction, and malevolent corruption surged madly, stirring up a sky full of crimson dust...
Merely gazing upon it for a moment caused countless rustling sounds to linger in one’s ears, instilling a profound desire to willingly become the flower’s nutrients. To be fed into its maw—that would be an immense blessing.
Resistance? A threat? Heh.
Chu Yi glanced at his slightly smug lackey and raised his hand with a flick.
Instantly, the Flower of Desire’s fluctuating tentacles became covered with scarlet Soul Seals. Then, scorching firelight condensed upon them, and with a deafening roar, the tentacles exploded into a cascade of fireworks that filled the sky.
In Ten Thousand Souls Ridge, it still didn’t know who the true master was. This lackey truly needed to be taught a lesson.
The Flower of Desire was stunned. Its aura became chaotic, its body was left pitted and cracked, and even a part of its giant eye had shattered. It sank into a slumber, feigning death.
It couldn’t understand why it had been inexplicably pummeled when it felt it hadn’t even done anything.
But Chu Yi showed no mercy. He was establishing the nine-headed serpent’s authority, precisely to ensure the proper management of this Netherworld farm. If the Flower of Desire were to steal the nutrients, wouldn’t Master Chu suffer a significant loss?
Under the nine-headed serpent’s admiring gaze, Chu Yi had blasted the Flower of Desire.
The Flower of Desire bowed its head, admitting its fault, yet it stubbornly maintained that it had only "borrowed" a small portion of the nutrients and hadn’t actually stolen anything. It vehemently protested its innocence, crying not to "slander a good person."
This only caused Chu Yi’s anger to surge further, and he blasted it again.
I really want to drag it out and let it bask under the Candle Dragon’s daylight.
Eventually, under Chu Yi’s crude and simple methods, the Flower of Desire was beaten into submission. It confessed its shameful actions and "voluntarily" offered to sacrifice a portion of its power to the Netherworld, to be used for cultivating the fruit trees.
After surrendering a portion of its core power, it immediately fell into a deep slumber...
Master Chu was very satisfied; the anger that had flared within him was also dispelled by the nine-headed serpent’s sweet words.
...
Within the dense fog, a twisted, withered tree that had absorbed too much energy suddenly swelled. It became like a woman nine months pregnant, a basin-sized fleshy tumor bulging from it, its outer skin covered in thorny bristles.
BANG!
The skin of the fruit tore open, and a viscous liquid sprayed out. A "Beast" plummeted to the ground. It resembled a toad, was cloaked in golden skin, and its entire body was covered in rising, blood-tinged foam bubbles.
PEEP~
It emitted a tender cry, yet one filled with malice, like the call of a Demon. Its four eyeballs rotated, shimmering with a cold glint.
Just as it was about to hunt another "Beast" to fill its stomach, having barely hopped three feet high, a spiderweb shot out with lightning speed, completely entangling it.
The next moment, the predator lurking underground swiftly dragged it down, and it vanished in a bewildered instant.
「Netherworld Underground.」
The dimly lit cavern, with its labyrinthine passages, was filled with layer upon layer of cobwebs—clearly the lair of some predator.
A sharp Spider Spear sliced through the air. A petite spider, seemingly carved from white jade, dragged a silk-wrapped cocoon and hung it in a spacious food chamber already laden with bounty.
It was hard to imagine how such a fragile body could hunt prey several, or even dozens, of times its own size.
Like it, numerous other White Spiders, resembling flowing waves of pale color, were busily dragging their hunted food.
And on a high platform above them, a basin-sized Jade Spider was perched. Its carapace resembled translucent white jade, and its six ruby-sized eyes flickered with electric arcs. It exuded an overall atmosphere of tranquility, peace, and serenity.
Surrounding it, a massive web radiated outwards, extending in all directions, allowing it to easily sense any movement anywhere within its domain.
Suddenly, the web quivered. The Jade Spider trembled. A sense of dread had just begun to surface when a blazing aura erupted behind it.
"Caught you, little food thief."