Struck It Rich

"Indeed!"

"This is extraordinary!"

"Not a single demonic creature can be seen within the black mist. This has never happened before."

The elders exchanged glances, all feeling a sense of disbelief.

In their hearts, a faint trace of unease began to stir.

Often, it is the unknown that strikes the deepest fear.

"So, what do we do next?"

One of the elders couldn't help but ask.

"Let's keep moving forward," the elder from Tianbi Sect said. "We must figure out what's going on."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

The spirit vessel maintained a steady speed as it continued to advance into the black mist.

However, even after traveling a considerable distance, they still hadn't encountered a single demonic creature.

This completely unsettled everyone.

If it were just a small area devoid of demonic creatures, it could be dismissed as a coincidence. But if a vast region was empty of them, it could only mean that something significant had occurred.

"Look over there!"

At that moment, one of the elders exclaimed, his eyes widening as if he had witnessed something utterly unbelievable.

Hearing this, everyone turned their gaze in the direction he was pointing.

What they saw left everyone on the spirit vessel stunned.

Ahead of them stood a small hill, but this hill was entirely made up of the corpses of demonic creatures.

"Quick, move closer for a better look!"

One of the elders shouted.

The spirit vessel slowly approached, stopping in front of the hill. This time, they could see it clearly—it was indeed a hill formed from the piled-up bodies of demonic creatures.

"How many corpses are there?"

One of the elders asked in disbelief.

The others shook their heads, unable to provide an answer.

"Why did so many of them die here?" another elder questioned.

"Look at the corpses. Many of them are split in half, as if they were cleaved by a single sword strike," another elder called out.

Everyone on the spirit vessel looked down at the scene.

"Although the wounds on the demonic creatures do look like they were caused by a single sword strike, this seems too fantastical to be true!"

"Exactly! Who could possibly enter the black mist and slay so many demonic creatures? It's impossible!"

"That's right, it simply can't be!"

Hearing this, everyone agreed with the reasoning.

They dared to venture into the black mist only because they were protected by the spirit vessel's formations. They wouldn't even dare to step outside it. The idea that someone could enter the black mist and kill so many demonic creatures was utterly unbelievable to them.

"Instead of speculating about how these demonic creatures died, why don't we focus on harvesting their demon cores?"

One of the elders said with a smile. "With this many demon cores, even if we divide them among our sects, it would still be a massive fortune!"

At this, smiles spread across everyone's faces.

The moment they saw the mountain of demonic corpses, they had already silently agreed on their next course of action.

"Netherfire, go!"

The leading elder from Tianbi Sect manipulated the spirit vessel, and in the next moment, a lotus-shaped flame fell from the vessel onto the mountain of demonic corpses.

"Boom!"

Almost instantly, the flames spread, and the entire hill began to burn fiercely.

As the flesh of the demonic creatures was consumed by the fire, only their demon cores remained.

The power of the Netherfire was terrifying.

The hill of demonic corpses began to sink at a visible rate.

When the flames reached ground level, everyone thought all the corpses had been burned away, but the fire continued to burn at the same intensity.

The pile of corpses continued to sink.

"Heavens, this was originally a valley. The number of demonic corpses far exceeds what we initially saw. They've filled the entire valley!"

One of the elders exclaimed in shock.

"Yes, we severely underestimated the number of demonic corpses."

"Now it seems there are at least half again as many demonic corpses as we initially thought!"

Everyone was both amazed and excited.

They were amazed at what could have caused the valley to be filled with so many demonic corpses.

And they were excited at the prospect of the vast number of demon cores, which would sustain their sects for a long, long time.

Finally, after a little more than half a day, the flames gradually died down.

The valley of floating corpses was revealed once more.

However, the valley was no longer as deep as it had been, for it was now filled with a dense layer of demon cores.

"We've struck it rich!"

Everyone looked at the sea of demon cores, their eyes filled with greed. Even with their cultivated elder's composure, they couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of excitement.