Chapter 071: Restraint

On this parchment were marked the general terrain of the Thousand Souls Domain, as well as the location and appearance of the Thousand Souls Grass.
Chen Xiao took it, glanced at it, then said, “I need to be back by 8:30 a.m. tomorrow, right?”
“Yes. The Chi Meng Domain has a teleportation array that leads directly to the Thousand Souls Domain, so there’s no travel time needed. If you haven’t returned after 24 hours, we’ll assume you’re dead, and the mission will fail. Of course, if someone comes for you after 24 hours, that too counts as failure,” said the old man with a smile.
“Hmm, I understand,” Chen Xiao nodded. “Team leader, you can go back first. I can handle it alone here.”
“Be careful then. Don’t push yourself too hard. Take what you can get; if not, just leave. It’s just one assessment,” Yu Ye Xiao Chen said anxiously.
“Don’t worry, team leader. I know my limits,” Chen Xiao replied with a confident smile before turning and heading downstairs.
“Is that kid here to take the assessment for a Free Hunter?”
“He’s so young. Could he be from some noble family?”
“Since ancient times, those who take the assessment to become Free Hunters have all been brave. To have such courage at such a young age…”
“Not necessarily. I think he’s just ignorant of the dangers. Becoming a Free Hunter means facing life-and-death risks. He’ll either fail or never return.”
“I bet he’ll be so scared in the Thousand Souls Domain that he’ll wet himself. Hmph, Free Hunter…”
The moment Chen Xiao stepped down from the second floor, the hunters who were there to hand over tasks began discussing him—some admiringly, some disdainfully.
“The glory of Free Hunters isn’t something you can desecrate,” a cold voice came from a dark corner at that moment. “Just by daring to take the assessment, he already has the courage to become a Free Hunter. Whether he succeeds or not, he’s already one. Do you dare?”
In the corner, a somewhat thin figure raised his head slightly, revealing a pale face. Then, he picked up a bottle of liquor from the table and drank it gulps down.
“Cang Hai Cheng Kong?” The hunters’ expressions changed the moment they saw this thin young man—Cang Hai Cheng Kong, a Free Hunter!
……
In front of the teleportation array in the Chi Meng Domain, Chen Xiao stepped directly onto the platform corresponding to the Thousand Souls Domain.
Each teleportation array had platforms corresponding to eight domains. Although the Thousand Souls Domain had been discovered, it hadn’t been explored yet. It was filled with countless fierce spirits and beasts, making it a very dangerous place. Few supernatural beings wanted to go there for thrills.
A blur of light flashed, and Chen Xiao’s body vanished from the platform in an instant.
“Is this the Thousand Souls Domain?”
With a slight sense of dizziness, Chen Xiao found himself in another environment.
He was standing on an open-air stone platform. The stone platform beneath his feet was the teleportation array here—without any protection, not even a place to hide. This so-called teleportation array was also composed of eight stone platforms, corresponding to eight domains.

However, although this teleportation array had no protection, it was also completely unremarkable; even ordinary ablers would find it hard to detect unless they knew in advance.
“Waaah!”
As soon as Chen Xiao stepped down from the teleportation array, he heard familiar screams. Three fierce monsters rushed at him with their mouths wide open.
“This place is indeed a paradise for fierce monsters. In the Flame Soul Realm, these guys still tried to ambush me, but here they’re acting outright.”
Chen Xiao waved his hand, and a stream of black water surrounded his body. Here, he didn’t need to hide anything and could unleash all his strength.
Boom!
Death Water—the water that commands death. With a slight movement of his right hand, Chen Xiao seemed to cast a seal, and the Death Water instantly turned into three long whips, striking the three fierce monsters.
Slap!
The three monsters, whose strength was only equivalent to that of first-tier ablers, were instantly killed by the whips formed from Death Water. But Chen Xiao noticed that they weren’t killed by the force of the whips but rather had all their vitality drained the moment they touched the Death Water.
The bodies of the three monsters fell to the ground and shattered into pieces, with even the moisture disappearing without a trace.
“The power of Death Water seems to have increased a bit…” Chen Xiao sensed it slightly. This Death Water came from the Supreme God’s Space and was summoned by the “Yu” seal emanating from the Supreme God’s essence, but for now, Chen Xiao couldn’t control much of it.
Yet in that brief moment when he dealt with the three monsters, he found that the power of Death Water had increased slightly.
“Could it be that Death Water has a restraining effect on fierce monsters?” Chen Xiao raised his eyebrows. This was the first time he encountered fierce monsters, and he had always shattered their bodies with overwhelming force, but such a situation hadn’t happened before.
Chen Xiao looked up and saw over a dozen more fierce monsters slowly approaching. But seemingly seeing what had happened to their three counterparts, they became more cautious.
“Perfect for experiments.”
Chen Xiao spread his fingers, and the Death Water instantly turned into a giant net over ten meters long, enveloping the monsters.
“Waaahhh…” Seeing Chen Xiao’s aggressive attack, the dozen monsters became enraged. Their bodies flashed as they rushed at him from all directions.
“Hmph!”
Chen Xiao clenched his hand, and the net suddenly contracted, trapping five or six monsters inside.
“Waaah…”
The five or six monsters let out desperate screams before stopping abruptly and dying instantly.
“As I thought!”
Chen Xiao’s eyes lit up. Earlier, he hadn’t used the aggressive power of Death Water; he had only trapped the monsters, yet it still had such an effect.
“With Death Water here, isn’t this world of ablers entirely at my disposal?” A faint smile appeared on Chen Xiao’s lips. He waved his hand again, sending more waves toward the monsters charging from the other side.
“Waaah!”
In an instant, five monsters were shattered to pieces, while one was merely pushed back, its body shriveling slightly. It let out a shrill scream and fled instantly.

The next moment, the evil spirits gathered nearby, seeing that beast flee, scattered in all directions.
“Hm?” Chen Xiao frowned slightly. Then he realized that the strength of that beast just now was equivalent to that of a second-tier spirit, while his Death Water could only kill first-tier spirits. Against higher-tier spirits, it could at most drive them back.
But Chen Xiao understood that if he killed enough evil spirits and absorbed their power, his Death Water would one day be able to kill the Bloodthirsty Beast.