Collateral Damage

Perhaps the Primal Chaos Plate's intelligence had been brought forth by the Spirit Awakening Fire Seed, while the Spirit Awakening Fire Seed itself had condensed from Lin Yan's soul and Origin Power. The two could therefore be said to share the same bloodline. Even without refining the Primal Chaos Plate, Lin Yan could clearly sense the faint Spiritual Body within it.

Holding the Primal Chaos Plate in his palm, Lin Yan tried speaking silently in his heart. Little fellow, can you understand what I'm saying?

The Primal Chaos Plate trembled slightly, and a cheerful, excited emotion flowed directly into his sea of consciousness. Though it did not answer him directly, Lin Yan could clearly sense a Nascent Consciousness expressing its emotions to him, like... the trust and attachment a child felt upon seeing his parents.

"Very good." Lin Yan could not help smiling. "Can you do me a favor, then? Absorb all the Malevolent Qi around here."

The moment the thought crossed his mind, the Primal Chaos Plate began spinning in his palm, as if saying, No problem. Watch what I can do.

The Primal Chaos Plate shot into the air in an instant. Immediately afterward, an immense suction force appeared out of nowhere, and the Malevolent Qi in the air, as though pulled by something, flew straight into the Disc Body of the Primal Chaos Plate.

Lin Yan focused his senses and seemed to witness the entire process of the Malevolent Qi being converted within the plate.

The Malevolent Qi drawn into the plate was compressed layer by layer in the Turbid Sha Zone of the Lower Four Layers before finally entering the Primal Chaos Seed in the middle core layer.

After absorbing the compressed Malevolent Qi, the Primal Chaos Seed slowly released strands of extremely pure Innate Spiritual Qi from within itself. This Innate Spiritual Qi was then stored in the Clear Spirit Space of the Upper Four Layers.

After the conversion was complete, Lin Yan vaguely sensed that the Primal Chaos Seed had grown slightly larger, while that faint consciousness had become a tiny bit clearer as well.

It seemed the Primal Chaos Seed truly could nourish itself by absorbing Malevolent Qi. The more the Chaos Origin Seed grew, the livelier that consciousness would become.

Perhaps there was too little Malevolent Qi in this Underground Space, for a wave of unfulfilled desire came from the Primal Chaos Plate. It was like a child who had just picked up a rice bowl, taken two bites, and found the meal already gone. That little bit of rice could not possibly satisfy its appetite.

Seeing this, Lin Yan quickly used an Evasion Technique to return to the surface.

He remembered an area nearby where the Malevolent Qi was especially dense. It was shrouded in Black Mist all year round, obscuring the sky, with thick Malevolent Qi filling both the air and the soil.

Since the terrain there resembled a valley, Lin Yan named it Black Sha Valley.

After arriving at Black Sha Valley, Lin Yan waved his hand and tossed the Primal Chaos Plate into the Malevolent Qi constantly rolling across the valley floor.

As soon as the Primal Chaos Plate entered the layer of Malevolent Qi, it was like a mouse falling into a rice jar or a child catching the scent of delicious food, releasing happy hums again and again. Its Disc Body spun rapidly like a bottomless abyss, madly devouring the Malevolent Qi within Black Sha Valley.

In an instant, the Malevolent Qi in Black Sha Valley formed an enormous Black Vortex centered on the Primal Chaos Plate. All the Malevolent Qi was forcibly dragged into the plate by an invisible force.

The originally dim sky visibly began to clear, while the charred ground gradually faded away, revealing the earthy yellow soil beneath.

With a thought, Lin Yan spoke to the consciousness inside the Primal Chaos Plate. Little fellow, release some of the Spirit Qi you've converted.

The Primal Chaos Plate, which had been madly devouring Malevolent Qi, paused. Somewhat unwillingly, it expelled the Innate Spiritual Qi it had just converted from the other side of its Disc Body.

"Haha, you even know how to guard your food?" Lin Yan could clearly sense the displeased emotion conveyed by the Primal Chaos Plate.

"Don't worry, I won't make you release Spirit Qi for nothing. There is plenty of Malevolent Qi here. Later, I'll take you somewhere else to eat. I'll definitely let you eat your fill." Lin Yan hurriedly soothed it.

With Lin Yan's promise, the Primal Chaos Plate immediately became happy. It absorbed Malevolent Qi with reckless abandon on one side while stingily releasing only a small amount of Spirit Qi from the other.

The concentration of Malevolent Qi in Black Wind Valley rapidly declined, while the concentration of Spirit Qi gradually rose. Without the suppression of Malevolent Qi, the earth seemed to regain its life force. Some Moss-like Spirit Plants with exceptionally tenacious life force even quietly Emerged from Soil at this opportunity.

Roar—

A deafening roar suddenly rang out from the depths of Black Sha Valley. A Fierce Beast as enormous as a small mountain charged out of a cave, its four blood red eyes fixed on the valley entrance. It was an Innate Fierce Beast that Fed on Malevolent Qi—the Sha Devouring Mad Bear.

Like most Fierce Beasts, the Sha Devouring Mad Bear preferred to live in places dense with Malevolent Qi, using its violent nature to temper its physical body. As for Spirit Qi, it possessed an almost instinctive aversion to it.

The increasing Spirit Qi in the air made the Sha Devouring Mad Bear feel extremely uncomfortable. It frantically pounded the ground, its tremendous strength splitting the earth with deep cracks. Malevolent Qi beneath the ground was forcibly squeezed out and continuously drifted into the air.

This was the nature of Fierce Beasts. Whenever Malevolent Qi grew thin, they would use the destructive aura they carried to destroy their surroundings and create Malevolent Qi anew.

There were many Fierce Beasts in Black Sha Valley like the Sha Devouring Mad Bear, and every one of them sensed that the Malevolent Qi in the valley was diminishing. One after another, they emerged from their habitats and began indiscriminately attacking everything around them in hopes of restoring the Malevolent Qi.

Yet the sudden rampage of these Fierce Beasts and their indiscriminate attacks on the surrounding environment brought catastrophic disaster upon some Spirit Beasts and Spirit Plants that had been quietly cultivating in hiding.

A Seven-Orifice Spirit Grass growing in a crevice on the valley floor had originally been silently inhaling and exhaling Spirit Qi, purifying Malevolent Qi. Yet it was unexpectedly buried halfway by a mudslide caused by a Marsh Rhino Fierce Beast, its spiritual glow dimming.

A group of Jade Spirit Deer, snow-white all over and with a pair of crystalline antlers atop their heads, had originally been hiding within a concealed Formation Barrier and leisurely eating Spirit Plants. But a Fierce Beast accidentally crashed through the barrier, forcing them to flee in all directions to avoid its attack.

As more and more Fierce Beasts became violent and crazed, the area of destruction continued to expand. The Spirit Beasts that had already been struggling to hide were exposed one after another and began to be Relentlessly Pursued by these Fierce Beasts.

Those Spirit Beasts that were fast fled in panic toward the outskirts of Black Sha Valley, relying on their speed advantage. Those with some combat power fought the Fierce Beasts pursuing them. As for those that could neither run fast nor fight, they were directly slaughtered by the Fierce Beasts.

For a time, dust and smoke filled Black Sha Valley, while roars and screams rang out without end.

Standing on the high ground, Lin Yan witnessed everything. He had not expected that merely wanting to let the Primal Chaos Plate have a full meal would cause the Fierce Beasts to riot. Those innocent Spirit Beasts and Spirit Plants had suffered collateral damage because of him as well.

Lin Yan was unwilling to stand by. He waved his hand and recalled the Primal Chaos Plate. Before he could soothe the dissatisfied plate, whose desire remained unfulfilled, he brought out the Earth Spirit Seal and suspended it above his head. Activating the Earth Escape Technique, he flashed into the center of a battlefield.

A Late Earth Immortal Three-Headed Demon Ape was pursuing a group of Jade Spirit Deer with no escape. Seeing that there was no escape, the Jade Spirit Deer King could only gather courage and lead his remaining clan members in preparing to fight to the death against the Three-Headed Demon Ape.