Pushing away the Evil Soul’s husk, its eyes now vacant and rolled back, Qi Yun emotionlessly dusted off his robes.

’A few fledgling, desire-hooking Evil Souls actually thought they could steal my Primordial Yang?

Naive!’

With a cold snort, a flicker of Qi Yun’s Heart Thought pushed the Breath-Concealing Bead to its full effect. His figure wavered, transforming into a formless, intangible wisp of ethereal Pure Qi that drifted silently from the decadent room.

The Breath-Concealing Bead’s aura-suppressing effect, combined with the equally potent Invisibility of Gathering Form and Scattering Qi, made it nearly impossible for an ordinary Cultivator to detect his presence.

The interior of the Wanyan Building was far larger than it appeared from the outside.

It had a total of eighteen floors.

Each floor was a labyrinth of sixty-six rooms, each with a unique layout.

The air was filled with a sickly sweet, exotic fragrance. Countless "desire-hooking Evil Souls"—condensed from pure Yin Qi and lust—took on various enchanting forms. They drifted and weaved through the corridors and halls, letting out alluring giggles and whispers, constantly soliciting and entangling the guests who entered.

’The Yellow Springs Netherworld and Hehuan Palace certainly have a ’fruitful collaboration’ going. They created these desire-hooking Evil Souls specifically to siphon the Primordial Yang and Essence Qi from visiting Cultivators. Truly impeccable business sense.’

Qi Yun watched with a cold gaze as some Cultivators emerged from their rooms, their faces wearing smiles of satisfied obsession.

In reality, a faint, imperceptible darkness had already appeared in the depths of their eyes.

He couldn’t help but inwardly admire the insidious and devious Demon Dao methods of the two Sects.

The amount of Primordial Yang these desire-hooking Evil Souls absorbed each time was extremely faint, like a frog in slowly boiling water, so it wouldn’t immediately arouse a Cultivator’s vigilance or discomfort.

But many drops make an ocean. The thousands upon thousands of Evil Souls in the Wanyan Building "worked" day and night without stopping.

The total amount of Primordial Yang stolen each day would be an astonishing figure.

Qi Yun reined in his Heart and Spirit, no longer focusing on these abominations.

With a slight movement of his fingertips, he once again used the art of the Blood-Drawn Profound Mechanism to divine his direction. His figure, like an invisible Clear Wind, moved swiftly through the labyrinthine Wanyan Building.

He avoided the Evil Souls and guests, heading straight for the core of the Xun Position.

Before long, he arrived at a remote corner on the lowest floor of the Wanyan Building.

Before him was a heavy gate, completely out of place amid the surrounding debauchery.

The gate was forged from a dark, heavy metal, its surface etched with defensive and cautionary Magic Patterns that radiated an imposing, somber aura.

On either side of the gate stood a Cultivator dressed in the attire of the Yellow Springs Netherworld. Their auras were cold and heavy, and their gazes scanned the surroundings like hawks.

Their Cultivation had impressively reached the Qi Refining Sixth Layer.

Above the gate hung a bizarrely shaped sculpture of a White Bone Beast Head. The beast head’s eye sockets were empty, yet within them burned two clusters of eerie green flames that slowly rotated, emitting a strange fluctuation.

It was clearly a warning Magical Artifact specifically designed to detect Magic like Illusory Concealment.

’Guarded so heavily?’ The wisp of Pure Qi that was Qi Yun paused at the edge of the White Bone Beast Head’s detection range, observing carefully.

’This style is completely different from the rest of the Wanyan Building... It seems the core node for the Xun Position coordinates is, nine times out of ten, right behind this gate.’

The Yellow Springs Netherworld wasn’t stupid. They would certainly strengthen the security around a key location of their Marketplace’s Earth Vein, especially during such a sensitive time.

’I can’t force my way in, so I’ll just have to find a way to slip inside...’

A frontal assault was the worst possible plan. Never mind whether he could quickly deal with the two guards and the White Bone Beast Head.

Just activating the Jade Talisman to replicate the Earth Vein coordinates required at least half an hour of stable, uninterrupted time.

That was clearly impossible.

The main gate was a no-go. Qi Yun’s thoughts raced as his gaze once again fell upon the guests and Evil Souls moving through the Wanyan Building.

A plan gradually began to form in his mind.

With a flicker of his Heart Thought, Qi Yun flipped his hand and produced a bottle of Medicine Pills.

This was a sinister Elixir he had previously looted from the Storage Pouch of a Hehuan Palace Cultivator in the Peach Garden Secret Realm—the Enchanting Immortal Guide.

This Elixir wasn’t a poison but a potent and dangerous drug capable of clouding reason and disrupting one’s Heart and Spirit.

It was something the disciples of Hehuan Palace used for "spicing things up" or dealing with chaste and virtuous types.

Qi Yun wasn’t originally sure if its properties would be effective on these half-human, half-ghost desire-hooking Evil Souls.

But now was the perfect time to test it.

He silently drifted to an area on the upper floors of the Wanyan Building where there were more guests and a denser concentration of Evil Souls.

After careful observation, Qi Yun selected several dozen rooms occupied by Low Tier Cultivators. Their Cultivation levels seemed low, and their Heart and Spirit were already muddled and intoxicated.

Moving like a phantom, he took the powdered Enchanting Immortal Guide and precisely blew it through the cracks in the doors. The powder mixed with the sickly sweet, fragrant air and drifted into the rooms.

The powder was colorless, odorless, and highly volatile.

Mixed with the Wanyan Building’s own bewitching, exotic fragrance, it was even harder to detect.

At first, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

The rooms were still filled with sounds that would make one blush, as the Evil Souls and guests remained endlessly entangled.

However, in less than the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn, something went horribly wrong.

"ARGH—!"

An utterly shrill scream, filled with pain and terror, suddenly erupted from one of the rooms, instantly drowning out the decadent music of the building.

Immediately after, similar miserable howls came from the next room, accompanied by the chaotic sounds of toppling tables and chairs and shattering objects.

"What’s going on?!"

"Ah! Help!"

"These Evil Souls... they’ve gone mad!"

The commotion spread like ripples from a stone tossed into a still lake. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

The doors to several rooms burst open. A few disheveled Cultivators stumbled and crawled out, their faces pale as paper and their eyes sunken, looking as if their Essence Qi had been completely drained.

Their eyes were filled with absolute terror, and they screamed hoarsely as they ran:

"The Evil Souls are killing people! They’re trying to drain all our Primordial Yang!"

"Run! The Yellow Springs Netherworld is trying to kill us!"

Almost at the same moment they fled, the once enchanting and seductive desire-hooking Evil Souls inside those dozens of rooms underwent a major transformation.

The pinkish mist surrounding them turned blood-red. Their faces twisted, their eyes became frenzied, and they let out sharp, piercing shrieks.

Like feral beasts, these desire-hooking Evil Souls burst from the rooms and attacked anyone in sight.

And it was no longer a gentle siphoning, but a violent plundering.

One of the Evil Souls was particularly ferocious, pouncing directly on a fat Cultivator in the hallway who was still lost in pleasure and hadn’t yet reacted.

Countless illusory tentacles instantly wrapped around him. The fat Cultivator only managed half a scream before his entire body shriveled at a visible rate, turning into a skin-and-bones husk in an instant.

This scene completely ignited the panic!

"The Evil Souls have turned on us!"

"Wanyan Building is trying to kill people!"

"Run!"

Screams, curses, and the sound of fleeing feet instantly echoed throughout the Wanyan Building.

Some of the Cultivators were genuinely terrified and furious that the Wanyan Building was so dangerous.

But many others with ulterior motives—either those who already had grievances with the Yellow Springs Netherworld or those who simply wanted to take advantage of the chaos to loot—immediately began to fan the flames, even deliberately attacking the surrounding Evil Souls and the Wanyan Building’s furnishings.

"The Yellow Springs Netherworld treats human life like grass! Trash this hellhole!"

"Maybe they’re trying to wipe us all out in one go!"

"Loot their treasures!"

The chaos spread as fast as a plague.

What had been a small-scale disturbance quickly evolved into a full-blown riot sweeping through the entire Wanyan Building, thanks to the intentional and unintentional fanning of the flames.

The Evil Souls were out of control, guests were fleeing in terror, and malicious patrons were looting amidst the chaos...

The building’s treasured wines, Spiritual Materials, and even some imprisoned Furnace Cauldrons all became targets for plunder.

The light of Magic, the clash of weapons, and the sound of collapsing structures were incessant.

The faces of the two Yellow Springs Netherworld Cultivators guarding the gate on the bottom floor turned grim.

"What’s going on? What’s all that noise upstairs?!" one of them barked.

"Go suppress it! We can’t let the chaos spread here!" the other said, anxious and angry.

They tried to maintain order, waving their Magical Artifacts to drive back the crowd rushing toward them, roaring furiously:

"Back off! This area is Forbidden! Trespassers will be killed on sight!"

However, their shouts were useless against the panicked, irrational crowd and the malicious troublemakers.

The surging tide of people, carrying the out-of-control Evil Souls with it, continuously battered their defensive line.

They had to fend off overt attacks while also guarding against sneak attacks from the shadows.

They were stretched thin and utterly overwhelmed.

They didn’t even have the time to notice the subtle changes in the White Bone Beast Head.

In this golden opportunity born from chaos, a faint wisp of "azure smoke" appeared. It was so faint it was nearly invisible, blending perfectly with the swirling dust and dispersing Yin Qi. Hugging the ground, it silently drifted toward the heavy gate from an impossibly clever angle.

WHIRRR... WHIRRR...

Above the gate, the green flames in the eyes of the White Bone Beast Head suddenly spun faster, emitting a low warning hum that only a Caster could perceive.

It had detected an abnormal magical aura.

But at that very moment, the two guards were completely blocked, their line of sight and path obstructed by several "guests" who were pretending to be panicked but were actually deliberately entangling them.

Their ears were filled with all kinds of screams and curses, leaving them no time to pay attention to anything else.

Even if they vaguely heard the beast head’s hum, they merely assumed it was interference from the traces of Magic all around, or perhaps some petty thief trying to approach with Invisibility, and paid it no mind.

After all, the "real" assault right in front of them was the primary threat.

In that brief blind spot of sight and perception created by the chaos, the "azure smoke" precisely pinpointed a tiny gap in the White Bone Beast Head’s detection waves. Like a slippery fish, it shot through the almost negligible crack between the gate and the floor with a soft WHOOSH.

Infiltration successful!

Beyond the gate was a dimly lit corridor that extended downward, a world apart from the clamor and chaos outside.

The Pure Qi that was Qi Yun re-condensed into a blurry humanoid silhouette. He glanced back at the heavy gate, still being battered by the riot, and the corner of his mouth curled into a faint smile.

Demon Cultivators are their boon, and Demon Cultivators are their bane.

The Demon Dao’s indulgence in pleasure and lust made the Wanyan Building’s business flourish.

But once something went wrong, these same Demon Cultivators were no saints; they were experts at looting a burning house.

And as for the bitter fruit of this chaos, the Yellow Springs Netherworld would have to swallow it all by themselves.

...