167: Chapter 168 Soul Devouring Demon Cloud

Lu Ming ignored Qiaoyue’s abnormality, his gaze deep as he scrutinized this Magical Artifact.

He could feel the fluctuations of Spiritual Qi emanating from it, indeed close to a Medium Grade Spiritual Artifact.

But for him, it was of little use.

With his main body’s current strength, he could even contend with a Late Stage Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator, so naturally, he looked down on such trinkets.

However, while Lu Ming didn’t care for it, someone below had already made a bid.

A tall, thin black-robed man wearing an evil ghost mask took out a jade tiger talisman.

“Kutengzi, how about this Yin Evil Tiger Talisman? It can summon a Foundation Establishment Stage ghoul to fight.

Even if it’s destroyed in a fight, as long as there’s enough Spiritual Qi, it can be re-summoned after a period of nurturing.”

As he spoke, the man slightly infused a trace of Spiritual Qi into it, and the jade talisman emitted a cold white light.

Evil Qi quickly gathered around the jade talisman, eventually manifesting a phantom of an eight-foot-long ghoul.

“Roar!”

Amidst the concealed Evil Qi, the ghoul’s blood-red eyes scanned its surroundings, then let out a roar, its Aura no less than that of an Early Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

“How about it?”

The ghost-masked Cultivator’s voice was sinister, clearly very proud of his Spiritual Artifact.

“This old man is already at the Middle Stage of Foundation Establishment, what use do I have for an Early Stage Foundation Establishment ghoul!”

Kutengzi shook his head, not taking a liking to this treasure.

“Then Fellow Daoist, how about this item?”

At this moment, a Cultivator completely enveloped in black mist, whose form and appearance were indiscernible, spoke in a hoarse, unpleasant voice, clearly intentionally so.

He took out a mass of black-gray mist, which looked like a cloud.

But upon closer inspection, countless wronged souls and ghost figures could be seen wriggling within it.

Each ghost figure had a ferocious, twisted expression, eager to climb out of the black-gray cloud mist.

But they were always dragged back by the dense ghost figures behind them, emitting roars of painful unwillingness.

“Soul Devouring Demonic Cloud, refined by me using the essence of tens of thousands of Mortals. Whether used as a Magical Artifact for combat, or for extracting souls for Alchemy, Artifact Refining, or Cultivation, it is an excellent choice.

Moreover, this Spiritual Artifact is also capable of growth; as long as souls are continuously sacrificed and refined into it, both its grade and power can continue to increase.

Its value is in no way inferior to Fellow Daoist’s Evil Soul Banner, can we trade?”

As the words fell, the expressions of the Cultivators present all changed.

Although they were Demonic Cultivators, ruthless in their actions, they still had considerable reservations about wantonly slaughtering Mortals.

It wasn’t that they possessed good intentions, but rather that such acts were strictly forbidden by the various Golden Core powers in the Southern Wilderness Region.

Mortals could be said to be the Foundation of the Cultivation world, and most Cultivators also originated from the Mortal world.

If there weren’t a vast base of Mortals to serve as successors, Cultivation would become a baseless endeavor.

The Cultivation world would also flourish and then decline, eventually becoming water without a source.

Especially the various Golden Core powers.

Their Disciples could not appear out of thin air; apart from internal promotion and assimilation, there would naturally be other channels for recruiting Immortal Seed Disciples.

So, every so often, they would open their mountain gates and hold Immortal Ascension Assemblies to recruit Disciples.

And with a vast Mortal population base, even if the chance of giving birth to a Spiritual Root was small, many Immortal Seeds could still be gathered.

Among them, there were even many Genius Disciples with extremely excellent Aptitude, which was the fundamental reason why Immortal Sects stood tall.

Therefore, the four great Golden Core powers could tolerate the existence of Demonic Cultivators, but the slaughter of Mortals touched their reverse scale.

It could be said to be instant death if touched!

If you did it stealthily, that would be one thing, but once discovered, it would be met with the heavy-handed intervention of the Immortal Sects, who would pursue and intercept.

So, everyone was slightly surprised to see someone openly take out the Soul Devouring Demonic Cloud.

But that was all; they were already Demonic Cultivators, long past any sense of shame or morality.

The Dao was what these people valued most.

So, everyone only paused for a moment, then their eyes became incomparably fervent.

Its function needed no further explanation; the other party had already introduced it clearly.

And most importantly, they could reap the benefits without having to bear the Karma and Karma of slaughtering Mortals.

Lu Ming looked at the black-gray cloud mist, his heart feeling somewhat heavy.

In the struggle for the Immortal Dao, contending for treasures and harming others for profit was the norm.

But this was the first time he felt Demonic Cultivators were so unrestrained and inhumane.

For resources, they actually extended their hands to Mortals.

To be honest, Lu Ming embarked on this Demonic Path because it was incredibly compatible with his Golden Finger.

Although he had killed many Cultivators during this period, and had even instigated family exterminations.

But those people had, more or less, harbored hatred and hostility towards him.

To say who had a completely clean slate, he didn’t believe it.

But even so, Lu Ming’s humanity had not been extinguished.

To make him slaughter defenseless Mortals like a Demonic Cultivator, he still couldn’t do it.

However, this was also speaking without feeling the pain.

If he didn’t have the golden book and wanted to contend for the Immortal Path among billions of Cultivators, he might also commit such heinous crimes.

So, Lu Ming had no standing to criticize these people.

However, if possible, he could still act on behalf of the heavens, cleansing the world of these people full of sin.

Rather than letting them harm all living beings, it would be better for them to become his resources.

One ‘demon’ like me in this world is enough!

“Acceptable!”

While Lu Ming was still deep in thought, Kutengzi smiled and nodded, agreeing to the trade.

The two reached a deal, and the trading meet continued.

During this time, one Foundation Establishment Demonic Cultivator after another came forward, taking out their treasures for trade or sale.

All sorts of bizarre treasures emerged endlessly, causing Lu Ming to sigh with emotion.

“It truly lives up to its name as a Demonic Cultivator Trading Meet.”

It gave him a sense of having his eyes opened.

Soul-Shattering Banner, White Bone Staff, Blood-Transforming Sword... not just weapons, but also some unorthodox Medicinal Pills.

Such as Blood Demon Pill, Heart Devouring Pellet... these were all refined from Materials like Cultivator Divine Souls, bones, and vital blood.

They truly utilized the entire essence of a Cultivator to the extreme, wasting nothing.

Lu Ming hadn’t seen a single proper treasure.

But thinking about it, it made sense; bringing out such items at this Demonic Cultivator Trading Meet would clearly be out of place.

It would also seem out of place, making people feel that you weren’t fitting in.

However, despite the multitude of treasures, Lu Ming did not find anything he liked.

These were all external protective items; what Lu Ming needed more were things that could enhance his own strength.

For example, Cultivation Techniques, Spells, secret arts, and the like.

Although he now had the ‘Flourishing and Wither Calamity Crossing Scripture’, that was only a trump card.

And merely constructing a Divine Ability had already consumed so many Fellow Daoists.

It certainly couldn’t be used as a regular attack for a powerful move.

And the methods he used before were gradually being phased out as his Cultivation continued to rise.

Like ‘Yin Thunder Palm’ and some other Spells, they could still show their power against some Qi Refining small fry.

But facing Cultivators of the same stage, they were somewhat insufficient.

So, collecting some Demonic Path forbidden Spells was still very necessary.

There’s no harm in having many skills!