"Fang Ruiyi, I'm hungry."
As the monster spoke, it stared intently at the man, its eyes filled with thirst and bloodlust.
It takes a huge amount of energy to manifest itself, which makes it very uncomfortable right now. If it had known there were no souls here, why would it have bothered to pull itself out?
Thinking of this, the monster's gaze began to wander, staring at the group of people beside it, as if it were pondering and weighing something.
"My Lord, there is food here."
Fang Ruiyi felt a chill run down his spine as the monster's bloodthirsty gaze swept over him.
Fearing it might suddenly become enraged and devour him, he quickly pulled out a dark bottle and respectfully offered it with both hands.
After the monster saw the bottle clearly, its eyes turned even more bloodshot. It couldn't wait to take it, quickly pulled out the cork, and put the bottle opening to its mouth.
Soon after, many figures struggling to escape floated out, howling as they were swallowed by the monster.
Only after no more figures floated out of the bottle and the monster let out a burp did it casually put the cork back in, toss the bottle back to Fang Ruiyi, and casually praise him, "You did a great job."
After praising him, it generously gave Fang Ruiyi another wisp of black energy, this time only he received it.
Upon seeing the black aura again, Fang Ruiyi's expression became even more respectful. After quickly absorbing the black aura, he bowed and said, "Thank you for your reward, Lord." He was performing the etiquette of the demon race.
"As long as you serve me well, you will naturally receive your due rewards. Remember to collect more souls for me, preferably those of spiritual cultivation. Also, investigate why there are no souls here."
Seeing Fang Ruiyi's respectful attitude, the monster's eyes lit up with satisfaction. It then offered him more promises before hoarsely instructing him to get to work.
Without waiting for Fang Ruiyi's reply, it surged with black mist once more.
When the black mist dissipated, the monster had vanished without a trace, replaced by a normal-looking human.
Before long, the person rejoined the group and became an inconspicuous member.
Seeing this, the others all remained calm, showing no other signs other than a subtle, almost imperceptible, admiration and fanaticism for the man.
Soon, following Fang Ruiyi's instructions, these people began to perform their respective duties and investigate back and forth using various methods.
Some tried to connect with the surrounding flowers, plants, and trees to recreate the scene, while others released their spirit beasts to check if there were any witnesses nearby, and still others went to examine the ice sculptures closely.
Unfortunately, Lu Li was well aware of their methods and had already made corresponding preparations, so naturally, there was nothing he could find out.
Even the appearance of those ice sculptures was only speculated to be due to a snow-type master using a supreme technique.
I never imagined it would be Xue Ling who made the move, let alone that there would be a rare and precious creature like Xue Ling in the Xunfeng Secret Realm.
It can only be said that Xue Ling is indeed good at hiding. Over the years, she has managed to remain hidden in the Xunfeng Secret Realm without being discovered by outsiders.
If it weren't for Shushu coming in looking for Darkflame Leaf, we probably wouldn't have encountered it.
Actually, Shushu didn't know that there was a Snow Spirit in the Xunfeng Secret Realm. In her previous life, she had never heard of or seen a Snow Spirit.
However, Shushu guessed that Xue Ling probably didn't have a good ending in her previous life either.
Because she clearly remembered that after Wen Jianxi returned from the Xunfeng Secret Realm, she not only obtained the Dark Flame Leaf, but the artifact spirit also leveled up.
Her space now includes a resource-rich snowfield, but that snowfield has no spirit.
Back to the present, this group of people had exhausted all their methods but hadn't found a single soul, so they were inevitably a little annoyed and got together again.
One of them pointed to an ice sculpture and said to Fang Ruiyi.
"Young Master, this is the man who went to rob us and ruined our plans. We don't know what methods he used, but he managed to kill all of them, and half of them have disappeared. Young Master, do you think we should take action and deal with him directly?"
The person he was referring to who ruined their plans was Lu Li.
Fang Ruiyi's identity is even more interesting. He is the young leader of the Loose Cultivator Alliance, and also Wen Jianxi's sycophant in his previous life. He was the one who plotted with Wen Jianxi to frame Lu Li.
At this moment, Fang Ruiyi was unaware that the person who ruined his plans was none other than Lu Li. Upon hearing his subordinate's report, he thought for a moment and then replied.
"Go and find out his whereabouts. If necessary, you can notify me, and I will go and meet him in person. Alright, now hurry up and find a way to collect more souls. Don't delay the Lord's important matters."
After saying that, Fang Ruiyi did not linger there any longer and prepared to leave with his men. Since there was no soul left, there was no need for them to stay.
As for those ice sculptures, they're a bunch of useless people; he can't be bothered with them, nor does he want to. Let them just sit there.
At this moment, Fang Ruiyi left so decisively and cleanly, completely forgetting that he had played a large part in the fate of these people.
Yes, the reason these people targeted Lu Li was partly due to Fang Ruiyi's scheme.
The group from the Loose Cultivator Alliance entered the secret realm to harvest the souls of the disciples from these major sects and offer them to their lord.
After all, major sects have their own requirements for accepting disciples. Their souls are not only delicious but also possess great power, making them their first choice.
In the past, every time we entered the secret realm, these major sects would trip each other up, and killing and robbing each other was commonplace. If they stirred things up a little, even more people would die.
They thought this time would be the same as usual, allowing them to hide behind the scenes and secretly collect the souls of these people to nurture and strengthen their lord.
Unexpectedly, because of the rampant spread of the Spiny Sunflower, disciples from various sects and factions not only gathered together among themselves, but also became extremely wary of outsiders.
Even the female cultivators of the Hehuan Sect, who were usually the easiest to deal with, have started to show explosive combat power. Now that the secret realm is almost over, they have only received a handful of souls.
Therefore, after investigating everything and learning that it was the thorny sunflower that caused the chain reaction, Fang Ruiyi became furious and decided to kill Lu Li, the culprit.
Thus, the Loose Cultivator Alliance spread the news, inciting and guiding those people to intercept and kill Lu Li.
As for why he didn't take action himself, it's because he wanted to collect more souls.
Unexpectedly, Lu Li turned out to be a tough opponent, not only killing off their men but also preventing them from even picking up any souls they wanted to follow behind.
Now, whenever Fang Ruiyi thinks about how he lost countless souls because of Lu Li, he feels an urge to rush up to Lu Li and tear him apart.
However, now is not the time to talk about these things. He needs to collect more souls, otherwise, if he doesn't collect enough souls on this trip, the Lord will definitely be angry when he returns.
Thinking of this, Fang Ruiyi quickened his pace to leave, as if he would lose many souls if he slowed down even a step.
Meanwhile, Lu Li, who had already walked away, also saw everything clearly through the puppet's perspective. After thinking for a moment, he even made a backup of this scene.
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