Chapter 270: Despicable Ambush

A powerful aura emanated from the giant cauldron, carrying a strong scent of blood, causing panic among those present. The aura within the cauldron was even more ferocious than that of the guardians in the forest, something Ye Feng hadn’t anticipated. To him, the Black Dragon Nethasario was already powerful enough; coming up with a way to deal with him was already at his limit. Now, with an even stronger opponent appearing suddenly, Ye Feng was at a loss for a strategy.

The monster kept crashing into the cauldron, trying to break free, with the sound growing louder with each impact, as if striking straight at everyone’s hearts. Even Tie Man and Di Er looked grave.

Ye Feng crossed his arms over his chest when his right hand suddenly felt a hard object inside his chest. He was momentarily stunned before recalling he still had an extremely powerful seal. Taking out the seal, he glanced up at the cauldron, stepped onto the ground, and leaped up, landing right on top of the cauldron’s lid.

The people present stared in astonishment at this scene, unsure of what Ye Feng intended to do. Everyone wanted to stay as far away from the cauldron as possible, yet Ye Feng stood right on its lid. If the monster broke free, he would be the first to be affected.

However, as top experts in the cultivation world, they quickly noticed the seal in Ye Feng’s hand. Though they didn’t know its rank as a treasure, they knew Ye Feng rarely undertook actions without confidence. They all fixed their eyes on him intently.

After climbing onto the cauldron, Ye Feng didn’t act hastily but assumed a fighting stance, staring intently at the lid. Seeing this, Tie Man couldn’t help but think to himself, “This guy has courage!”

Indeed, when facing such a fierce creature, it was natural for everyone to instinctively stay away and flee as far as possible before danger struck. But Ye Feng seemed utterly fearless—a feat no ordinary person could achieve. Even if he had something capable of killing that monster, he would only use it in extreme necessity. The disparity in strength was enormous—like a three-year-old holding a pistol against a well-trained special forces soldier; it was pure recklessness, and a single mistake could mean instant death.

“Boss…” Bernard and Xiao Yu were extremely nervous. As magical beasts with heightened awareness beyond ordinary humans, they naturally understood just how formidable the monster inside the giant cauldron was. Their instincts were screaming at them to flee—over and over again, the primal command flashed in their minds: Run! They knew full well that fighting against the monster in the cauldron meant no chance of survival. Yet they trusted Ye Feng; although his strength didn’t seem strong in their eyes, they still believed he was omnipotent. The roaring sound from within the cauldron grew louder, even causing the cauldron itself to tremble. Only Ye Feng, standing above it, could clearly see fine cracks appearing on the edges of the lid, where nine magical beast sculptures were carved. His intuition told him that the moment those sculptures shattered would be the moment the monster broke free. He watched the lid intently, not daring to slack off. “Boom, boom, boom…” The increasingly violent impacts lifted Ye Feng slightly off the ground. The vibrations from the cauldron were so intense that it became impossible to stand, forcing him to float above it. The surroundings grew eerily quiet; aside from the frantic impacts, people’s tense, rapid breathing and heartbeat could even be heard clearly. Ye Feng watched as the cracks in the nine sculptures widened until they finally split completely, allowing swirling black mist to burst out through the lid. Ye Feng gripped the seal in both hands, let out a fierce shout, and pressed it down hard. The black mist, still overjoyed from having just broken free, paid no attention to the beings around it, which it regarded as insignificant ants. In its carelessness, it was struck by the seal. A golden light radiated from the seal, instantly covering the swirling black mist. From within the golden light came continuous, agonizing screams—sounds like those of evil spirits wailing. Ye Feng stood above the golden light, like a deity, staring coldly at it as he patiently waited for the outcome. Just then, a figure suddenly appeared behind Ye Feng. By the time he reacted, it was already too late. Ye Feng let out a fierce shout, twisted his body forcefully, and pressed the seal hard onto the other person’s forehead. “Die!” As soon as the words left his mouth, the figure flew backward and disappeared into the golden light.

At that moment, everyone finally saw who had attacked Ye Feng—it was Dil. He suddenly appeared behind Ye Feng, aiming to throw him into that golden light. He knew that monster would never spare someone who had hurt it.
What Dil didn’t expect was that the spot on his forehead where the seal was pressed seemed to be burned by hellfire, starting to crack open.
“How is this possible?” he asked, touching his forehead. “I still have over twenty death substitutes…”
At this point, no one even thought of helping him. Dil attacking Ye Feng at such a time clearly angered everyone. After all, Ye Feng was the only one who had stepped forward to fight that monster. If not for Ye Feng, the monster would likely have started a massacre by now.
“Save me!” Dil pleaded, looking at Tie Man.
“Dil, I can’t,” Tie Man said helplessly, shaking his head. “And I don’t want to either. You shouldn’t have attacked him from behind at a time like this. I promised to help you kill him, but in an open and honest way. Attacking him in secret while he’s helping us resolve the crisis—frankly, it’s disgusting. Besides, I don’t know what that seal is. Something that can bypass death substitutes to attack the true self must be something extraordinary. And as you can see, that powerful monster is still in unknown condition after being sealed.”
“Ah…” Dil let out a long, agonized scream. Soon, the cracks on his forehead spread rapidly across his entire body. His voice stopped abruptly, and in the next instant, only a pile of clothes and a ring fell from the air.
A shadow flashed by, catching the storage ring mid-air.
“That ring belongs to the boss! If anyone disagrees, come and take it!” Bernard stood proudly in mid-air, his cold gaze sweeping over the crowd. Seeing no one respond, he returned to Xiao Yu’s side, looking worriedly toward the golden light.
Inside the golden light, Ye Feng’s ankle was held by a black tentacle, preventing him from escaping.
The black cloud continued to twist in pain, emitting shrill, agonized cries, and its size gradually shrank. Yet the tentacle gripping Ye Feng’s ankle refused to let go.
Ye Feng summoned courage, turned his hand into a palm, and forcefully severed his own ankle before bursting backward.

But unexpectedly, the monstrous creature still refused to give up easily. Risking exposure to the golden light, it charged toward Ye Feng. A hundred or so tentacles, like persistent parasites, surrounded Ye Feng at an even faster speed, quickly trapping him tightly.
“Trouble!” Ye Feng thought to himself that something was wrong.
The tentacles didn’t tear Ye Feng to pieces; they merely trapped him. He didn’t even feel any pain, only an inability to move freely.
Ye Feng grew even more frustrated. If those tentacles had killed him, he could have escaped using his death substitute. But now that they only trapped him, he truly had no way out.
The black smoke slowly enveloped Ye Feng, and at last he understood what those agonizing screams were. The sounds didn’t come from one place but from all directions, with varying pitches. Yet Ye Feng could tell that each groan conveyed the same meaning—pain!
“This is…” Inside the black mist, Ye Feng looked closely and realized that the swirling mist was actually those hair-thin black threads constantly splitting and recombining. The sounds originated from each of those thread-like strands…
“Is this thing formed from the gathered souls of the dead?” Ye Feng finally understood. The souls of cultivators after death were much stronger than those of ordinary people. Especially those who had entered this palace—top figures in the cultivation world—whose souls must be incredibly powerful. Here, they had gathered together to form an unparalleled monster.
“But where did these souls come from?” Just then, Ye Feng heard a scream from outside. A shadow flashed before him before turning into one of the black threads in the mist.
Ye Feng was stunned. Though the shadow vanished in an instant, he clearly saw it was Dil. He knew he would never mistake him.
“Dil is dead?!” Ye Feng’s confusion deepened. He suddenly remembered that the one who had attacked him earlier must have been Dil, though he hadn’t seen clearly who it was.
“Strange. I also used that seal on myself, and my attacks were nullified by my death substitute. If Dil came to such a place, he must have a death substitute with him… How exactly did he die?” Ye Feng felt a hint of doubt.

“Could it be that the souls of those who die in this area are trapped here?” Ye Feng glanced at the swirling black mist. “There must be tens of thousands of such souls…”
The black mist pulled Ye Feng downward at high speed. Even though he could feel himself descending, no matter what he tried, he couldn’t break free from its grasp.
The lid of the giant cauldron was lifted, and Ye Feng was dragged inside. Then the lid was closed, and the golden light above the cauldron gradually dissipated.