"It's about to be reborn," Fang Daolong said, looking up at the miasma cloud above.
As more miners died, more resentment condensed. The mass of resentment in this cave had grown to the size of a cloud.
Terrifying waves of resentment emanated from the cloud.
"It's about to emerge," Fang Daolong said gravely.
"Ding~"
A crisp chime echoed.
The entire mine instantly fell silent, including the torrential rain falling outside the mine, which froze for a moment. Then, the entire world began to dissipate bit by bit.
"Activate the array!" Fang Daolong shouted urgently.
Then, he and Fang Mu moved simultaneously, quickly forming hand seals. Runes hidden in various corners of the mine began to glow, stabilizing the dissipating world.
On the other side, Fang Ming also noticed the abnormality. The surrounding world began to shatter like bubbles, just like the scenes in the painter's world and the reincarnation of Bai Mu Village!
Reincarnation had begun!
"Nannan, find the location of that malevolent spirit!"
"Okay, Fang Ming." Nannan responded, her hair spreading out in all directions from behind her, searching for the spirit's fluctuations.
Soon, Nannan looked up with a solemn expression. "Found it, above us."
"Above?" Fang Ming looked up, but strangely, the rock above him wasn't disappearing like the surrounding environment. What was going on?
At this moment, above the rock, a few runes glowed faintly, preventing these stones from dissipating.
"Your father is with a woman, facing that malevolent spirit," Nannan said.
"A woman?" Fang Ming instantly guessed it was his mother. "Can you take me to them?"
Nannan nodded. "Many areas are starting to dissipate now, we can go straight through the gaps."
"Then let's go!"
Nannan released her hair's protection and led Fang Ming through the dissipating areas of the mine towards Fang Daolong's location.
Meanwhile, at Fang Daolong's side, the miasma cloud above had condensed all the resentment generated by the miners' deaths into a single mass. Heartbeats pulsed from within the cloud.
Because of the runes Fang Daolong had set up to obstruct it, the malevolent spirit couldn't immediately break through the cocoon of miasma. It was continuously brewing its strength. Without the help of world reincarnation, reviving itself solely with its own power was difficult.
Moreover, this was not the malevolent spirit's peak state.
"Wife, prepare to break through the clouds and retrieve the heart!" Fang Daolong shouted. The two leaped up simultaneously, drawing a wooden sword carved with runes from the void. They fiercely thrust it into the cloud.
"Pain~ So painful..."
Screams erupted from the miasma cloud. Human faces materialized on the surface of the cloud, wailing continuously.
Fang Daolong was unfazed, methodically breaking through layer after layer of miasma. Black blood flowed from the breaches, making the entire cloud resemble a colossal living organism.
Suddenly, arms stretched out from the breaches, grabbing the long swords in Fang Daolong and his wife's hands. Fang Daolong, with swift reflexes, retreated with his sword, but Fang Mu wasn't so lucky. Her sword was grabbed by an arm.
"Ah! So painful~" The arm grabbed the rune sword. The runes on the sword flared, corroding the arm, which emitted puffs of green smoke. The miasma cloud screamed but, enduring the intense pain, swallowed the sword.
Fang Mu, having lost her sword, had no choice but to retreat to the side.
"Husband, it swallowed my rune sword," Fang Mu said helplessly.
Fang Daolong's heart sank, but he comforted her, "It's okay, I can handle it alone."
But how easy would it be for him to break through the clouds and retrieve the heart by himself?
He wasn't his true body entering the longevity realm; it was merely a spiritual body. Humans couldn't enter the longevity realm.
His current strength was at most equivalent to a normal malevolent spirit. He was far from a match for the malevolent spirit before him. Even though he had used many methods to weaken its power, retrieving the core of the spirit alone was not a simple matter.
However, with things as they were, Fang Daolong had no choice but to press on.
He leaped up again, sword in hand, and landed on the miasma cloud, thrusting his sword into it.
At this moment, Fang Ming and Nannan also arrived. They saw Fang Daolong battling the malevolent spirit in the air.
"Nannan, go up and help." Fang Ming commanded.
"Okay, Fang Ming." Nannan's body flew up, charging towards the miasma cloud. Her pervasive hair, like countless sharp arrows, pierced into the cloud and began to frantically absorb the resentment within.
"Ah! So painful, so painful..."
The malevolent spirit within the miasma cloud began to struggle and cry out. Fang Daolong severed the grabbing arms with a wave of his hand and glanced back at Fang Ming and Nannan, his gaze momentarily dimming.
Fang Ming couldn't help much. Even if he transformed into his malevolent spirit form, he would only be a fierce spirit, likely just fodder. He could only wait anxiously below.
"Please be safe." Fang Ming prayed.
He didn't want either Nannan or himself to be in danger.
With Nannan's help, the malevolent spirit's resistance weakened. Nannan's abilities were too effective against such a rigid opponent. This malevolent spirit could no longer resist and could only await death!
"Die! You deserve to die!" A chaotic mix of male and female voices emanated from the cocoon, filled with resentment.
Cracks suddenly appeared on the upper surface of the cocoon. Arms as thick as ancient trees struggled to emerge, then violently tore at the cocoon, trying to escape.
Simultaneously, the entire mine began to shake. The runes suppressing various areas flickered erratically. Some areas closely connected to the malevolent spirit broke free from the suppression and slowly shattered, disappearing.
More resentment surged from all parts of the mine.
Fang Daolong's heart sank. "Quick! Stop it from destroying the runes!"
Hearing the command, Fang Mu quickly began forming hand seals. A massive rune, five to six meters tall, appeared before her. As she continued to input hand seals into the rune, the runes suppressing the various locations gradually strengthened, reducing the frequency of conversion to resentment.
"Ah!"
The malevolent spirit let out an enraged roar. The cocoon was torn open by a larger rift, and numerous heads struggled to emerge. They were all part of the same entity, connected to a giant neck. From Fang Ming's perspective, it looked like a pile of enoki mushrooms growing on a wooden stake.
"You will all die!"
The malevolent spirit stared coldly at Fang Daolong and Nannan. Its arms braced against the cocoon, preparing to stand up.
"Stop it!" Fang Daolong shouted.
With that, he charged forward, rapidly drawing runes with one hand and imprinting them into the rune sword. With each imprint, the sword's light grew stronger.
Nannan also cast aside any pretense of hiding her strength. She felt a world-ending power from the malevolent spirit before her! It was even stronger than the painter!
At least a top-tier malevolent spirit!
Nannan closed her eyes, and the hair behind her instantly enveloped her. In a blink, she reappeared, her body transformed into its second form!
In this form, Nannan now possessed the strength of a top-tier冥煞 (Nether Spirit), a significant difference from her first stage. However, it was clearly not enough to deal with the malevolent spirit before them.
"Die!" Several of the malevolent spirit's heads fixed on Nannan. A massive stone hand materialized out of thin air and grabbed towards her. Nannan couldn't dodge; the stone hand had already locked onto her!
"Suppression spell, break!"
Fang Daolong intervened in time, slapping a rune towards the stone hand. The stone hand instantly shattered into pieces.
With Fang Daolong continuously disrupting the malevolent spirit's abilities, Nannan finally found an opportunity to approach it.
"Ice Sword!"
Nannan reached out and drew from the void, producing an exquisite ice sword. Unlike when she fought the Blood Kin King, this ice sword had changed, its appearance more refined. Blood flowed within it, and waves of cold air emanated from it.
Nannan drew her ice sword and slashed at one of the malevolent spirit's arms. At the same time, Fang Daolong arrived at another arm. The two simultaneously struck, their swords cleaving towards the massive arms.
"Slash!"
"Slash!"
Two spurts of blood splattered.
"Ah!" The malevolent spirit shrieked in pain. Its arms, hurt, went limp and sank back into the cocoon. The partially emerged body receded.
Fang Daolong and Nannan exchanged glances and pressed their advantage, unleashing a barrage of attacks towards the malevolent spirit's numerous heads. Head after head exploded like watermelons, causing the malevolent spirit to cry out in pain.
In pain, the malevolent spirit's body gradually sank back into the cocoon. If it returned, Fang Daolong would have a way to suppress it.
However, the malevolent spirit clearly realized this. Its current strength had granted it intelligence comparable to a normal person, and it saw through Fang Daolong and Nannan's objective.
It then exerted all its strength, extending an arm to grab the surface of the cocoon and slowly crawling outwards. Regardless of Nannan and Fang Daolong's attacks, it remained undeterred.
"Trouble!" Fang Ming cried out in alarm. He saw through the malevolent spirit's intentions, and Fang Daolong and Nannan, who were in the midst of battle, also understood.
Fang Daolong began to direct Nannan. "Let's both attack the same spot on this arm and cut it off!"
Nannan calmly nodded and the two began to relentlessly chop at a specific point on the arm.
The malevolent spirit's strength was immense, and its defense was naturally very strong, especially for a major body part. Nannan's attacks could only superficially damage the flesh of the arm, not its essence.
Moreover, the malevolent spirit's regenerative ability was astonishing. The combined attacks of Fang Daolong and Nannan could barely keep pace with its healing.
"Damn it!" Fang Daolong cursed. He began drawing runes again, but this time it took longer, clearly preparing a powerful move.
Taking advantage of Fang Daolong's pause to prepare his ultimate move, the malevolent spirit frantically climbed outwards. The part of its body below the neck finally emerged. On its chest, human faces appeared, twisted and ferocious, with several even emerging halfway.
As more of its body emerged, its strength began to expand exponentially. Soon, Nannan's attacks could no longer inflict substantial damage.
Fang Ming, watching from below, was frantically stomping his feet. What was his father doing? Why wasn't it ready yet?
At this moment, the faces on the malevolent spirit began to contort into sinister smiles, staring coldly at Nannan and Fang Daolong.
"You will all die!"