As for Zhou Ziwei's earlier lie that he also had such a thing at home... that was immediately filtered out by Zhuihun. He didn't believe that this treasure had become so common that anyone could just come along and say they had one at home; that would be a joke.
Zhou Ziwei, however, did not find Zhuihun's words particularly laughable or unrealistic, because he was not quite clear about the rarity of the Immortal Crystal Heart. Therefore, he thought that since this dead Abyss Demon had such an Immortal Crystal Heart, it was possible that the others also had it. Perhaps... this so-called Immortal Crystal Heart was simply a special product of the Abyss Demon's body, just like pearls are unique crystals found in oysters.
After all, these abyssal demons feed on the soul energy of humans, so it's reasonable that they would have a treasure inside their bodies that is entirely crystallized from soul power.
It's quite normal that Zhou Ziwei didn't get this thing from the other two Abyss Demons he killed before.
After all, the first abyss demon he killed was blasted to pieces by the blue fireball. Even if there really was such a crystal inside that thing, it would probably be destroyed by the explosion of the blue fireball. The second abyss demon, on the other hand, possessed the bodies of more than a dozen people. The abyss demon that appeared there might not be the original one. So, it was even more natural that the crystal did not appear.
Thinking about it this way, Zhou Ziwei felt that he would encounter at least three or four more Abyss Demons in the future. And if each Abyss Demon had an Immortal Crystal Heart hidden in its body... wouldn't he be rich? As far as Zhou Ziwei knew... there were a total of six Abyss Demons. He had killed two of them earlier, and today another one died under the Soul Chaser's Soul-Slaying Sword.
Logically, there should be three left.
However… Zhou Ziwei had some doubts. Although the abyss demon that possessed Jiang Chunshui and the others had its soul fused with its clone Dwight, it still couldn't prove that the guy was truly and completely destroyed. After all, abyss demons were incredibly resilient; as long as a trace of their soul remained, they would be resurrected.
So, when that abyss demon possessed Jiang Chunshui and the others, who knows if it left behind a trace of its soul imprint beforehand? That possibility definitely exists, so it's possible that they might encounter four more abyss demons here.
Although Zhou Ziwei felt that this Immortal Crystal Heart wouldn't be of much use to him, he wouldn't complain about having too few treasures. Even if he didn't need it himself, he could give it away... For example... Chu Qiutang, who had just started practicing Spirit Control Technique, would definitely see her progress become terrifyingly rapid after obtaining this Immortal Crystal Heart.
After all, the amount of spiritual power automatically output by the Immortal Crystal Heart is basically constant. This amount of automatically output soul power is pitifully small for an expert like Zhou Ziwei, but for a beginner like Chu Qiutang, it is definitely much more than the pitiful amount of spiritual power she can cultivate every day.
That's why this thing is most effective when it's in the hands of a novice.
Or Zhou Ziwei could simply treat it as a longevity supplement and give it to his parents, allowing them to slow down aging and enjoy a few more years of happiness and health—that would be a wonderful thing indeed…
Because of this thought, Zhou Ziwei agreed almost without thinking when Zhuihun said those words. Hehe... Zhuihun is the king of assassins... His words are like nails on a board, he shouldn't go back on his word! Anyway, let him take a small share of the benefits first, and I'll happily accept the rest.
Stimulated by the Immortal Crystal Heart, Zhuihun quickly became restless. He felt he owed Zhou Ziwei too much and planned to seize the opportunity to rescue all the people Zhou Ziwei needed to save, fulfilling his duty as a henchman to the best of his ability.
In this way... I can feel a little more at ease keeping this treasure all to myself.
Moreover, with the Everlasting Crystal Heart constantly replenishing the Soul Chaser with fresh spiritual energy, the recovery speed of the large amount of spiritual energy originally consumed in his body has also increased slightly.
In just a short while, Zhuihun's spiritual power had been almost completely restored.
Feeling that he had recovered enough, Zhuihun could no longer sit still. He quickly stood up and pulled Zhou Ziwei into the passage on the left side of the underground hall. At the same time, the two secretly made preparations and agreements. They agreed that if such monsters appeared again, Zhou Ziwei would use fireballs to try to distract them and keep their attention, while Zhuihun would wait to unleash his Soul-Slaying Sword to kill them.
Of course, it would be best if these guys appeared one by one... If several appeared at once, then we would have to rely on Zhou Ziwei to completely restrain them. After all, without using normal spiritual power, the Soul Chaser would completely lose its ability to attack those abyssal demons from a distance, and we would have to rely entirely on Zhou Ziwei to hold them off.
Volume 3, King of the City, Chapter 642: Truth and Falsehood
Zhou Ziwei and Zhuihun were clearly not very lucky, or perhaps the Abyss Demons were not as stupid as Zhou Ziwei had hoped. In any case, those Abyss Demons did not stupidly jump out one by one to fight Zhuihun one by one. Instead, when Zhou Ziwei and Zhuihun went deeper into a more complicated area and turned a corner in the corridor, six guys wearing black robes suddenly jumped out at the same time.
How could there be six!
Seeing this, Zhuihun was dumbfounded. He was confident that his Soul-Slaying Sword could defeat such ghosts, but with his current strength, he could only deal with two abyss demons at a time, which was definitely his limit and would be quite dangerous.
Facing three at once... there's nothing you can do but run for your life. But now, six have suddenly appeared. How could Zhuihun not be astonished?
Zhou Ziwei, however, was not panicked. Instead, he hurriedly transmitted his voice to Zhuihun, saying, "The one on the left... and the two in the middle are real. The other three are just ordinary people, there to make up the numbers. You focus on dealing with the guy on the left, and I will hold off the two in the middle for you."
Upon hearing this, Zhuihun finally breathed a sigh of relief. It turned out that these ghosts also knew how to use such deceptive tactics. Fortunately, Zhou Ziwei had figured it out, otherwise... in such a hurry, he really wouldn't know how to deal with it.
However, when Zhuihun looked at the six men dressed in black robes in front of him, he found that they were all dressed exactly the same. Even from their walking posture and movements, it was impossible to tell which one was real and which one was fake.
But how did Zhou Ziwei distinguish them? This puzzled Zhuihun greatly.
In fact, Zhou Ziwei, being in such a dangerous area, naturally had to constantly use his soul power to scan his surroundings.
Although those abyssal demons could absorb his soul power, as soon as his soul power approached the abyssal demon's body, the soul consciousness attached to it would be automatically blocked, and then absorbed into the abyssal demon's body.
So Zhou Ziwei could never actually scan these guys. However... as soon as he felt his soul power inexplicably decrease, he would know what was going on. If he sensed where his soul power had disappeared, then the Abyss Demon would have appeared there. As for the remaining three guys, although he didn't know what method they used, they walked in a ethereal, ghostly manner.
However, their bodies could not devour Zhou Ziwei's soul power, so this test revealed the truth.
Soul Chaser was unaware of the secrets involved, and at this moment he had no time to ask so many questions. Upon hearing Zhou Ziwei's arrangement, he immediately nodded, and then moved swiftly, holding the black gold sword that had lost its spiritual power imprint in his hand, and wearing black gold armor formed from the Hundred Transformations, he charged straight towards the abyss demon attacking from the left.
The unfortunate abyss demon was the first to pounce on Soul Chaser upon seeing him. It was taken aback, and then without hesitation... it turned and ran. This unfortunate fellow was the same abyss demon whose energy had been burned away by Zhou Ziwei's flames earlier.
Moreover, while he was fleeing, he happened to witness the Soul-Slaying Sword strike from Zhuihun, which instantly annihilated his companion's soul. He was terrified at the time and still feels lingering fear to this day.
Upon seeing that this person was actually charging straight at him, the guy no longer dared to fight this killing god, so he naturally tried to run away.
But since that abyss demon has already been targeted by Soul Chaser, how could it possibly escape?
It's important to know that the nickname "Soul Chaser" wasn't given lightly. His nickname not only contains the word "soul" but also the word "chaser," so his speed is naturally exceptional.
Soul Chaser, Soul Chaser... This is the kind of ghost that is chased. Once a ghost is targeted by a Soul Chaser, it almost certainly has no hope of escaping.
The other two Abyss Demons, who were mixed in with several fake goods, were taken aback by the sight and rushed over to attack Soul Chaser from behind.
Zhou Ziwei wasn't about to let them succeed. When he saw them chasing after him, he remained calm until the two of them recklessly stepped into the trap he had set beforehand. Only then did he suddenly launch his attack.
Zhou Ziwei set this trap while they were still slowly making their way from a distance, intending to encircle them.
Zhou Ziwei first converted a large amount of attribute-less energy in his body into earth energy, which he then silently integrated into the ground beneath his feet and stored in a fixed location.
Abyssal demons are only sensitive to light and heat energy. If Zhou Ziwei had released heat energy just now, those three abyssal demons, even if they were far away, would probably have sensed it.
As for this kind of earth energy, they have almost no reaction. After all, earth energy poses little threat to them. Although they are similar to souls and need to rely on their skeletons, if they get angry, they can abandon their skeletons and move freely through the land like Zhou Ziwei.
Therefore... the earth's energy has almost no relation to them, and even if they had just discovered it, they probably wouldn't have paid much attention to it.
However... this vast expanse of earth energy, which Zhou Ziwei had laid in advance, suddenly erupted just as the two abyss demons rushed over to rescue their companion and stepped into the encirclement of that earth energy.
Of course, if what erupts at this moment is still just earth energy, it will only be a small scare for these abyssal demons, and it is unlikely to cause them much damage, or even slow them down.
Zhou Ziwei, of course, wouldn't be that stupid. So... the moment the earth energy connected to his soul and consciousness emerged from the ground, he instantly converted it into fire energy. And so... flames several meters long suddenly burst forth on the terrazzo floor.
The area engulfed by the flames was quite large, at least the size of a room. The two abyss demons took a step and immediately found themselves trapped in a sea of fire. They were terrified and quickly turned to flee.
In this situation, although they wanted to rescue their companions, their instinctive fear of fire prevented them from crossing the line.
So they could only retreat quickly along the same route, and then pounce on Zhou Ziwei all at once.
Meanwhile, the other three imposters suddenly pulled out automatic rifles from under their black robes, raised their guns, and fired at Soul Chaser.
The Soul Chaser was incredibly fast. Whether he could actually catch up with the soul was unknown, but catching up with the abyss demon who had lost half its strength was a piece of cake. With just a few leaps, he had already caught up with the unfortunate fellow in a flash. His figure continued to rush forward, and the black gold sword in his hand was already raised high. Then, with a loud shout, he brought the sword down...
Just then... the three guys disguised as Abyss Demons simultaneously raised their automatic rifles and launched a powerful attack on Chasing Soul. They were not close to Chasing Soul, and it was impossible to rescue the escaped guy under those circumstances. Therefore, they had no choice but to use the strategy of attacking Wei to rescue Zhao. As long as Chasing Soul had any hesitation after hearing the gunshot, or stopped to defend himself, or dodged, then the guy being chased by Chasing Soul would have temporarily escaped with his life.
Unexpectedly, Zhuihun paid no attention to the gunshots coming from behind him. His sword swing remained unchanged, and he did not dodge in the slightest. As a result, when Zhuihun's earth-shattering sword finally struck the head of the abyss demon in front of him, dozens of bullets were also fired into Zhuihun's body at the same time.
A series of extremely pleasant "clanging" sounds emanated from Zhuihun's body; these were the sounds of the whistling bullets striking the ever-changing armor he wore.
Although the weapons in the hands of these three people were very advanced, and they could even penetrate ordinary armored vehicles with these rifles, it was nothing short of a pipe dream to try to break through the ever-changing defenses of a top-grade spiritual artifact with such guns.
With a sword as a weapon, it slashed down on the head, with the effect exactly the same as last time. Moreover, because Zhou Ziwei had already weakened the energy of this abyss demon by half, the Soul Chaser's sword strike was much easier to execute.
Under his mutated spiritual power manipulation, the area within several meters around him was completely blocked by his sword energy, and even the abyss demon could not transform into a wisp of energy to escape.
All the souls were destroyed by this sword...
"Come help me!" Zhou Ziwei was struggling to hold off the attacks of two abyssal demons all by himself. After all, his elemental energy was limited. He had already used it up when he set fire to the military base, and then he had fought the abyssal demons and set a trap here. As a result, Zhou Ziwei's elemental energy reserves were almost exhausted.
However, to deal with these abyssal demons, only the fire and light energies from the natural world can be effective. Using soul power is basically just offering yourself up as food. So, although Zhou Ziwei is currently burning the two abyssal demons in a sorry state with the flames he sets up around him, his actual situation is extremely worrying. Once his attribute-less energy is exhausted, then... he will almost become a lamb to the slaughter in front of those two abyssal demons.
Upon hearing this, Zhuihun roared and rushed over. At the same time, three streaks of black light flew out from his body, instantly killing the three imposters wielding automatic rifles.
Zhou Ziwei glanced up and saw three faint phantoms suddenly floating above the three human corpses, with a faint red light emanating from them.
After these three illusory figures flew out of the three corpses, they showed absolutely no attachment to their bodies, and immediately ascended into the air, flying wildly into the distance with no regard for their lives.
"Om Mani Padme Hum—" Zhou Ziwei was slightly taken aback when he saw this scene. Suddenly, he realized something and, disregarding the danger he was in while being besieged by the two abyss demons, he immediately devoted most of his mental energy to reciting the six-syllable mantra.
Six enormous halos instantly formed, and in the blink of an eye, they directly separated and pulled back the three souls that had already flown through the thick layers of soil to the outside world above the military base.
With a "whoosh," Zhou Ziwei suddenly felt a large amount of soul power being replenished into his mind. Zhou Ziwei had just been committing murder and arson outside, and quite a few people had died in this military base, so Zhou Ziwei's gains this time were quite substantial.
However, Zhou Ziwei was not concerned about how much soul power he had absorbed, but rather about the situation of the three souls that had just flown out from here... Sure enough, although the three souls that had been absorbed into the sea of souls had been decomposed and purified by the Six-Syllable Mantra, they still contained a trace of extremely violent and ferocious malevolence.
Without a doubt... the souls of these three guys had already been imprinted with a trace of the souls of the three abyssal demons... In other words, the three ordinary people who pretended to be abyssal demons could not really be called imposters, because the souls of these abyssal demons had already been hidden in their souls, although this evil soul was only a faint trace.
But as long as this tiny wisp of soul can successfully escape, even if their true form as a demon of the abyss is destroyed here, they will still have the chance to recover and be reborn.
If the souls of those three people hadn't risen from their corpses and immediately fled without the slightest hesitation, Zhou Ziwei wouldn't have had this doubt. This wasn't the first time Zhou Ziwei had seen dead people; in the past, the souls of newly deceased people would always linger, bewildered, guarding their bodies for a long time, unwilling to leave.
The fact that these three guys' spirits showed no sign of lingering today is truly suspicious...
"Ugh—damn it, he ate all our soul imprints... Kill... kill him." The two abyss demons who were besieging Zhou Ziwei didn't realize what was happening at first, until they clearly sensed that the wisp of their soul that they had finally managed to split off hadn't flown very far before being forcibly pulled back by a mysterious force and eventually entered Zhou Ziwei's body.
The two guys immediately panicked.
In fact, after witnessing one of their companions being completely killed by the Soul-Chasing Sword, the remaining abyssal demons had already begun to have second thoughts.
Although they coveted the treasure that their employers had brought out, they knew they had bitten off more than they could chew; these two were simply no match for them.
Now that they have already participated in this matter, there is no possibility of them backing out halfway. Helplessly, they arranged a secret and safe way out for themselves in advance, just in case they were killed when they faced the Soul-Slaying Sword. That would mean the end of everything. However, as long as the three strands of their souls are hidden among ordinary souls and far away from this place, and given a year or two to recuperate, and to devour a large number of fresh living souls, then... they can completely return to their original state.
But now... the soul imprints they had preserved beforehand had actually been eaten by Zhou Ziwei, which was utterly unacceptable to them, leaving them with no hope of survival other than fighting to the death.
The two abyss demons roared and suddenly charged recklessly into the sea of fire that was blocking Zhou Ziwei's path, fiercely attacking him... They spewed out streams of red mist that kept drilling into Zhou Ziwei's body...
"How dare these mere ghosts run wild here?" Along the way, Zhuihun used three small magical weapons to kill the other three imposters who kept firing their guns, but this little thing naturally did not affect Zhuihun's speed at all.
Moreover, Zhou Ziwei alone controlled all the flames on the ground. When he saw Zhuihun coming, he would naturally separate the sea of fire on the ground and let Zhuihun enter. In this way, his speed would be much faster than those two abyss demons.
So, just as Zhou Ziwei was attacked, the Soul Chaser's black gold greatsword flashed forward, slashing down towards the head of one of the abyss demons...
The abyss demon was terrified at the sight. It no longer cared about harming Zhou Ziwei. It let out a strange cry, withdrew its power, and fled to the side for its life.
However, by the time he realized that the Soul Chaser had reached them and the greatsword of black gold had already fallen, it was already impossible for him to escape. The monster, whose entire body was covered in a black robe, began to tremble violently, as if he were having an epileptic seizure.
But no matter how much he struggled, he could only tremble in place. It felt as if he was tightly surrounded by a mysterious force, which had bound this alien life form, which was similar to a soul, so tightly that he was powerless to break free. In the end, he could only watch helplessly as the black gold greatsword, as heavy as Mount Tai, fell heavily on his head...
Volume 3, King of the City, Chapter 643: Kill Me!
The Soul-Slaying Sword was indeed extraordinary. Beneath this seemingly ordinary sword strike, there was a subtle sense of spatial sealing, so much so that the abyss demon didn't have time to make any move before being instantly killed.
The last remaining abyssal demon was terrified to see that all its companions were dead.
The evil energy he plunged into Zhou Ziwei's body felt as if it had entered a fiery mountain. He felt that wherever the evil energy entered, there was an overwhelming raging fire. His soul power was like a thermometer that had fallen into an ice cave, and it was dropping straight down. In the blink of an eye, he had already lost nearly a quarter of his soul power.
Under such extremely unfavorable circumstances, the Abyss Demon dared not confront He Zhuihun again. It let out a strange cry and, not daring to retract the evil energy trapped within Zhou Ziwei's body, hastily severed it, allowing Zhou Ziwei to devour it. At top speed, it shed the shackles of its withered bones, transforming into a cloud of red mist that disappeared beneath its feet...
With a "thud," after the abyss demon had been gone for a while, Soul Chaser, who had just killed two abyss demons in succession, slowly lowered the black gold greatsword that he had been holding above his head. As soon as the greatsword, which weighed more than twenty pounds, hit the ground, Soul Chaser lost his balance and fell directly to the ground.
The Soul-Slaying Sword... is an extremely powerful attack method that only forms after burning one's spiritual power to undergo mutation. Generally speaking, this sword move is truly capable of killing gods and demons alike, especially against soul beings, where its destructive power is terrifying.
However, such a powerful sword move naturally consumes an absurd amount of energy. Given Zhuihun's current strength, if he were to unleash a sword move, he would immediately need to undergo a long period of rest and recuperation until his body was fully restored to its optimal state before he could use it again.