Once both paths to breaking the soul restoration method had been given direction, the seven Venerables of the central region immediately began to act.
Six of them remained in the central region to stand guard, while also seeking the precise location of the Sea of Corpse Souls.
Azure Bamboo Venerable, the strongest among them in killing power, was dispatched with a group of Meishan True Intent sword cultivators to the northwest as reinforcements, striving to eliminate the demonic scourge there in the shortest possible time.
Yet just as the righteous-path Venerables took action, the soul restoration method that had forever hung over the central region like dark clouds underwent another mutation.
Placement academies across the land sent messages back to the Dao Academy one after another, reporting that they had discovered individuals among the settled souls who had lost their minds and gone mad.
Most of these individuals had been ordinary people or souls whose cultivation had not been high in life. They possessed an intense craving for the flesh and blood of the living, and would even actively attack other souls.
For now, the situation remained within controllable bounds. However, after conducting investigations, the placement academies had discovered that this frenzy was slowly spreading upward.
As time passed, more souls with higher cultivation in life might be affected and fall into madness.
Lingxiao Dao Academy had long anticipated this development. Since the soul restoration method had been the work of the Myriad Corpses Demon Lord, it would certainly not stop at merely restoring souls.
That this happened precisely when Chen Yang, at the peak of hidden cultivation, had infiltrated the demonic lands led the righteous-path Venerables to a conclusion after some brief deduction.
Most likely, the black smoke sealing off the battlefield was about to run out. The demonic