Chapter 408: An Enormous Benefit
Yang Haoran returned, making his way back to the mountain where he had slain Zhao Hong. Yet, he did not revisit the exact site of her demise, but rather journeyed to an unfamiliar location.
Lush vegetation carpeted the area, with towering trees reaching for the sky—a common sight deep within the mountains, offering nothing particularly remarkable.
Under the moonlight, Yang Haoran stood with his hands in his pockets, lighting a cigarette. He meticulously observed his surroundings, then furrowed his brow, closing his eyes as if recalling something, or perhaps sensing it.
After a moment, Yang Haoran slowly opened his eyes, then left the spot, searching for something deeper within the mountain.
About half an hour later, Yang Haoran paused again, carefully scrutinizing the area before him.
Lush vegetation and towering trees, identical to the previous area, seemed to stretch out before him. Yet, a smile bloomed on Yang Haoran's face.
This was the very place where Zhao Hong's Guardian Spirit had unleashed a surge of intense Yin Qi. Yang Haoran's purpose in returning was precisely to find this location.
Under Yang Haoran's mental command, a chain as thick as an arm suddenly materialized in the void before him. The chain, like a black serpent, swayed its body and lunged towards a large tree.
The imagined scene did not unfold. The moment the chain struck the tree, there was no loud boom, nor did the tree topple. Instead, the chain vanished the instant it made contact.
Watching the chain swiftly undulate in the void before him, the smile on Yang Haoran's face deepened considerably.
"I've finally found it," Yang Haoran murmured. "This barrier is quite interesting. Not only does it allow unhindered entry and exit, but it also masks any power fluctuations. However, I don't particularly appreciate a barrier that can't prevent outsiders from entering."
Yang Haoran spoke indifferently, then with a light wave of his hand, the chain dissipated into Yin Qi. He then stepped forward, walking on air.
As his body touched the tree ahead, it, like the chain before, directly merged into the tree and vanished.
As his body merged into the tree, the world before his eyes instantly transformed.
The area was now shrouded in dense Yin Qi, and the vegetation had withered and died. It was completely unlike the vibrant scene he had just witnessed, utterly devoid of greenery, steeped in silence and death.
The scenes he had seen with his naked eye before were not real; they were mere illusions created by the barrier. The sight Yang Haoran now beheld, having stepped into the barrier, was the true reality.
Yang Haoran knew about this place for two reasons: firstly, the intense Yin Qi that erupted from here when Zhao Hong's Guardian Spirit appeared, and secondly, the information he had naturally gleaned from Zhao Hong's soul using his Ghost Eye.
Earlier, Yang Haoran had discovered numerous spirits in the porcelain bottle Zhao Hong used to collect souls. Logically, once a Spirit Medium acquired these spirits, they would immediately feed them to their Guardian Spirit to enhance its power.
However, Zhao Hong had not done so. It wasn't due to any soft-heartedness on her part, but because her Guardian Spirit was not by her side, which was why there were so many spirits in her soul-collecting porcelain bottle.
For a Spirit Medium, their Guardian Spirit was like their right arm. The reason Zhao Hong hadn't kept her Guardian Spirit by her side was precisely this area, which was saturated with incredibly dense Yin Qi.
Since Zhao Hong's previous Guardian Spirit had been annihilated by Deng Feng, her newly acquired Guardian Spirit possessed limited power. To rapidly increase its strength, obtaining more souls was only one method; the other was to choose a place rich in Yin Qi to accelerate her Guardian Spirit's growth.
The area Yang Haoran now stood in was the very place rich in Yin Qi that Zhao Hong had discovered, and it was precisely the Place of Extreme Yin that Yang Haoran most desperately sought.
Zhao Hong hailed from Liangshui Township, but this area was quite distant from it. Furthermore, being deep within the mountains, it was rarely trodden by people, so Zhao Hong herself hadn't known of this Place of Extreme Yin.
It wasn't until several months prior, when Zhao Hong was pursuing a Mouse Demon, that she stumbled upon this place and discovered that it concealed a Place of Extreme Yin. This revelation had utterly thrilled her.
The Demon Pill Yang Haoran and Bai Xue had acquired while clearing out their spoils of war had come from this very Mouse Demon.
After slaying the Mouse Demon, Zhao Hong had set up a restrictive barrier here, allowing her Guardian Spirit to cultivate and enhance its power. She then returned to the outside world to search for more souls, hoping to elevate her Guardian Spirit to the Evil Spirit realm as soon as possible.
Since this place was deep in the mountains and rarely frequented, and her Guardian Spirit was already quite powerful, not to mention her own ability to tear through space, she had opted for a barrier focused primarily on concealment when setting it up, without adding any extra barriers to prevent outsiders from entering.
According to her thinking at the time, no one should discover this place. Even if a person or wild beast stumbled upon it and entered the barrier, her Guardian Spirit would be able to handle them.
Taking a step back, even if her Guardian Spirit couldn't handle it, given her special connection with her spirit, she would sense any danger and could tear through space to rush back at any moment. Therefore, there was no need to waste effort on an additional restrictive barrier to prevent external intrusions.
It was precisely for these reasons that the restrictive barrier Yang Haoran now observed was configured this way.
Yang Haoran was no stranger to Places of Extreme Yin by now. This particular Place of Extreme Yin had a slightly denser concentration of Yin Qi compared to the Blackwater Pool. However, there was no sign of the Yin Qi sinking, indicating the absence of a Sunken Yin Stone.
Whether there was a Sunken Yin Stone or not was no longer as important to Yang Haoran. While its presence would naturally be ideal, allowing him to collect it as a backup, its absence was also acceptable. What he truly lacked at the moment was a large quantity of Yin Qi to refine the Soul-Refining Cauldron.
Previously, when he had extracted information from Zhao Hong's soul using his Ghost Eye, Yang Haoran had learned about this Place of Extreme Yin, and this Place of Extreme Yin was that enormous benefit.
However, Yang Haoran hadn't revealed it at the time. It wasn't out of a lack of trust in Bai Xue, but because he didn't want anyone other than Xu Meijing to know about the Soul-Refining Cauldron, not even his closest companions.
It was precisely for this reason that Yang Haoran hadn't brought Bai Xue along to search for this Place of Extreme Yin. Instead, after sending Bai Xue back to the villa, he had returned here alone.
Everyone had their secrets, and everyone had the right to keep them. Thus, Yang Haoran didn't feel there was anything wrong with his actions, nor did he feel any guilt towards Bai Xue. After all, he had no intention of harming her; he simply wanted to protect a secret he had to keep.
Having found this Place of Extreme Yin, Yang Haoran had no intention of leaving. His Soul-Refining Cauldron was already half-refined, so he was eager to complete the other half.
This was akin to a strong man enjoying a delicious meal, only for the food to suddenly run out, leaving him only half-full. The desire to be completely sated remained, but the conditions were unfulfilled. One could imagine the frustration.
But now, fragrant food lay right before him. The half-full strong man would undoubtedly gorge himself without hesitation until he was completely satisfied.
At this moment, Yang Haoran was like that hungry strong man.
However, he didn't immediately take out the Soul-Refining Cauldron to absorb the Yin Qi from this place. In his opinion, such an act would be too reckless. The Soul-Refining Cauldron was of paramount importance, and without absolute safety measures in place, he would never retrieve it.
The restrictive barrier Zhao Hong had set up here had some merit. However, given Yang Haoran's meticulous caution, a single restrictive barrier was far from enough. Even if this place was untrodden by humans, he would never act so carelessly.
He did not destroy the restrictive barrier Zhao Hong had established. Instead, within her barrier, he set up another powerful restrictive barrier. This new barrier not only reinforced the seal on the Yin Qi, preventing its leakage and dispersal, but also blocked any external objects from entering the barrier.
After completing all of this, Yang Haoran meticulously inspected both restrictive barriers, and only after confirming that there were no issues did he retrieve the Soul-Refining Cauldron and resume refining the unfinished Soul-Refining Cauldron.
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