The moment Tang Jie stepped into the cloud, there was a harsh screech.
Anyone looking from the outside would see that the cloud was contorting into a giant ghost face.
Tang Jie had stepped right through its mouth.
In this way, Tang Jie was essentially sending himself into the mouth of the cloud ghost, which bellowed, “Who dares to intrude into my territory?!”
This was a majestic voice brimming with anger, the roar of a king that had all ghosts trembling in fear.
Tang Jie was unmoved, continuing into the cloud as if there was no roar at all.
The cloud ghost grew even angrier. “Arrogant one, any farther and you die!”
With this shout, a blast of Yellow Springs water surged at Tang Jie.
This swift torrent was so fast that it immediately swept up the ghosts at the front, and they were almost instantly dissolved in its waters.
The blast of wind from his palm created a wall of energy in front of the Yellow Springs water, which threw itself at the wall to no avail.
But as the Yellow Springs waters climbed higher and higher, the wall of energy created by Tang Jie’s palm started to falter. Fortunately, the ghost eagle Saros was there, and with a cry and a flap of its wings, the wall was strengthened many times.
“The Yellow Springs…” Tang Jie said.
These were none other than the same Yellow Springs of the Nether Domain.
The Yellow Springs of the Nether Domain sprung from past lives and flowed to the afterlife, transcending space and time while serving as the supporting pillar of the Nether Domain. As the Yellow Springs transcended space and were omnipresent, they had countless branches. This was clearly one of those branches, harnessed through some secret art.
But a single insignificant branch of the Yellow Springs was like a mighty ocean, putting immense pressure on Tang Jie and the ghost eagle.
The Yellow Springs just kept coming, and the ghost eagle soon reached its limit and shouted, “Hurry and think of something!”
Tang Jie sternly said, “There’s no other way except fighting it out!”
“What?” Saros was aghast. Where did all your confidence go? Didn’t you say your chances were extremely good? ‘Only two possibilities left’?
Tang Jie said, “I can’t explain. All I can say is that based on what we saw here, the existence in the mountain is either the Two Life Flower or the Spirit Communion Grass. Either of them is capable of linking to the nether and drawing out the power of the Yellow Springs. But these two rare plants of the Nether Domain have two completely different traits. The Two Life Flower can link life and death, bringing the dead back to life, while the Spirit Communion Grass has gained intelligence and can also grant intelligence. These two both have the will to protect themselves, but their methods are different. If I make the wrong guess and choose the wrong countermeasure, I might incur its full counterattack. If we fall into that trap, all of our previous effort will be for naught.”
The poor ghost eagle somehow knew less about the Nether Domain than Tang Jie, despite being a native. “The Two Life Flower and Spirit Communion Grass are that powerful?”
Tang Jie coldly laughed. “These are two of the ten great plants of the Nether Domain, so how could they not be? Just hold fast no matter what it does. Once I pin down its identity, it won’t be able to do anything.”
He pushed out his hands, sending out more spiritual power, no longer worried about exposing his identity.
The two ghost generals were hesitant, so Tang Jie said, “Nobody is going to escape if the Yellow Spring waters fall upon us. I have a secret art that will ensure my survival, but do you?”
The ghost generals remained silent, thinking that he was bluffing, but the ghost eagle knew that he was telling the truth. After all, that talisman that could summon an Immortal was enough to sweep through everything.
The eyes of the ghost generals glinted with thoughts of betrayal, but then there was a roar: “Vile creatures, you dare to disobey!?”
A wing flapped, transforming into a giant hand that seized the two ghost generals.
The two ghost generals were much weaker than the ghost eagle and were instantly subdued. Tang Jie then swiftly seized their Life Flames.
Forcefully subduing them had done severe damage to the ghost generals, and their potential had been destroyed. Tang Jie had shown his ruthless side, and the ghost generals howled as Tang Jie held their Life Flames in his hand.
However, this momentary distraction had weakened the wall, and Yellow Springs water descended from the heavens, crashing onto the ghost soldiers and dissolving them.
“Hurry up already!” Tang Jie roared.
The two ghost generals had no choice but to join in resisting the Yellow Springs, and the waters of that mighty river of the underworld soared higher and higher as it beat against their dam, gradually lengthening until it was like a dragon of water.
This massive water dragon was putting a lot of pressure on Tang Jie, but it was also a heavy burden on that plant hidden in the shadows.
In this stalemate, it was the plant that ultimately failed first.
The ascendant water dragon’s momentum faltered, and it began to turn earthward.
A fissure opened in the sky, and the water of the Yellow Springs flowed straight in and vanished.
From the void it had come, and to the void it had returned.
This tributary of the Yellow Springs had had a brief existence.
The pressure on Tang Jie and the ghost eagle instantly dropped.
They looked around and found that only a fifth of the ghost soldiers were left.
“Go!” Tang Jie ordered, feeling no sense of loss at all.
The ghost soldiers were of limited intelligence, and they complied with his order and advanced.
The fog thickened, and that contorted cloud ghost’s face grew even more crazed and savage.
It constantly roared, “Go back! Go back!”
Tang Jie completely ignored it.
The ghost face angrily said, “Then die!”
A screech came out of the cloud, and numerous ghosts emerged from the fog and charged at Tang Jie.
Tang Jie was delighted by the sight, and heartily laughed. “So it’s Spirit Communion Grass! That’s exactly what I wanted!”
While the Two Life Flower could also attract Souleater Bugs, raise Grave Ents, bring Netherite to life, and link with the Nether, it couldn’t control ghosts. Only the Spirit Communion Grass, which had gained intelligence, could control ghosts.
Tang Jie had finally confirmed the possibility and no longer needed to worry about any other tricks.
With a shake of his hand, he unleashed the Hundred Ghost Slaughter of the Evil Punishing Seal. “Trying to send an army of ghosts against me is futile!”
In that sacred white light, the ghosts summoned by the Spirit Communion Grass were slain. The ghosts that Tang Jie commanded were also aghast, for they sensed a horrifying power in his hand!
Tang Jie didn’t care, blasting away at ghosts while being guarded by ghosts, caring nothing for his own safety or defense.
The Evil Punishing Seal cut down swaths of ghosts like they were weeds, and the two ghost generals were so terrified that they gave up on any thoughts of rebellion.
The ghost face roared, and more ghosts emerged from the clouds, but they were all helpless in front of the Evil Punishing Seal.
Finally, as that last wave of ghosts was slain, the cloud suddenly shrank as if something had sucked it up, and the skies began to clear.
The cloud condensed into a pillar that arose from the summit, where a single grass grew.
This grass was light blue and had a face growing on it, the same as the one that appeared on the cloud, with a large mouth and fierce appearance. The cloud pillar was sucked into its mouth, indicating that all of this had been manifested by this blade of grass.
Fear had appeared on the ghost face, and it lowered its head to Tang Jie and said, “Spare me, spare me.”
It had a childish voice, and even its face turned into that of a boy.
Tang Jie sneered and walked over. “I heard that the Spirit Communion Grass possessed peerless intelligence, and it seems to be true. You can even beg like a child. Alas, while you know how to disguise yourself, that doesn’t change your essence as a soul-devouring ghost. Such methods are of no use against me.”
The Spirit Communion Grass’s face turned ugly and wicked again, and it roared, “If you dare to touch me, I’ll destroy you!”
Yet this empty threat made Tang Jie pause.
He carefully examined it and then said, “Whew, that was close! I almost fell for your little trick. Not only did you let out an odorless and colorless soul-enchanting scent, you even tried to secretly take control of my ghost soldiers. Formidable!”
He chopped his hand, striking two ghost soldiers and killing them before they could react.
With another chop, he sent power rippling from his hand, scattering the scent the Spirit Communion Grass had released.
He had actually already known that the Spirit Communion Grass would do this. After all, once he knew what it was, he knew what it could do. He had just been teasing it.
This was the tragedy of this kind of plant. While it possessed formidable abilities, once someone knew of them and their counters, these abilities were basically disabled.
A ghost, even a Ghost King, would have found it very hard to deal with this plant, but Tang Jie was a human, and he both had ways to counter ghosts and knew what the plant was capable of. Even the most capable of plants would have found themselves helpless in such a situation.
Having broken the last defense, Tang Jie smiled. “No more threats now, huh?”
He reached for the Spirit Communion Grass.
“Don’t!” the Spirit Communion Grass shrieked. “Don’t eat me!”
Tang Jie replied, “Eating you will be very helpful for my Divine Soul, so, my apologies, but I can’t agree to that.”
“Spare me and I’ll be your subordinate. I can do many things for you,” the Spirit Communion Grass wailed.
Tang Jie placed his hand in front of the Spirit Communion Grass. “How can I believe you?”
The Spirit Communion Grass said, “I can give you my sprite core. With my sprite core in hand, you’ll have control over my life.”
The Spirit Communion Grass spat out an object.
Tang Jie received it with a chuckle. “Deal.”
He had never intended to eat the Spirit Communion Grass.
While the Spirit Communion Grass was a boon for the soul, it was most useful when alive.