Within the slightly distorted space lay a vast expanse of black earth. Here and there, patches of stark white protruded from its surface—broken bones, exuding an eerie chill...
At the center of this vast region stood a huge black hall in silent stillness, like an ancient ferocious beast crouching upon the ground. A sinister and terrifying aura slowly spread through this sealed space.
Countless massive black chains extended from within the huge black hall, plunging deep into the earth. Clusters of black mist coiled around each chain, vaguely gathering into humanoid forms. Glimmers of light occasionally flickered along the chains before flowing into the black mist, making it grow ever more solid...
The entire area was deathly quiet. A strange atmosphere blanketed the place, enough to make one's skin crawl.
"Whoosh!"
No one knew how long this silence had lasted when more than a dozen clusters of black mist suddenly rose from the chains. The mist contracted, turning into more than a dozen cold-faced figures. They exchanged glances, then moved and gathered together.
"Let's go. It's our turn to carry out a mission. Hopefully, we'll bring back enough souls this time..."
One figure who appeared to be their leader spoke in a hoarse voice.
"Hehe, not long ago, Elder Liu's group ambushed several cities of Heavenly Mansion. Not only did they bring back enough souls, but they were richly rewarded by the Heavenly Venerate. This time, we should bloodbath a few Heavenly Mansion cities as well..."
One of them laughed sinisterly.
"Mm. Remember, don't leave any survivors."
The leading figure gave a sinister smile and slowly nodded. With a wave of his hand, the dozen or so figures transformed into black mist and shot like lightning toward the edge of the space.
"Bang!"
However, just as the black mist was