I, a cultivator, have ended up in the world of tomb raiding.

At this moment, more than a dozen grayish-white phantoms broke free from the tree bark.

The distorted, ghostly face opened wide, its mouth splitting to its ears, faintly revealing a ferocious and greedy nature, and pounced straight at Li Yue.

Li Yue stiffened and immediately took half a step back.

At the same time, he quickly formed hand seals in front of his chest, and the Yin energy in his body circulated, immediately forming a light blue protective shield around his body, firmly protecting him.

The countless gray-white corpse puppets swarmed in and crashed into the protective barrier one after another, their ghost faces instantly contorting in agony.

These nascent Yin entities were inherently weak and powerless. The moment they collided with the pale blue light shield, the Yin mist swirling around them violently trembled and dispersed, only to gradually gather again.

But they have no intelligence; they only know how to follow their instinct to devour. When one is pushed away, the next one immediately pounces on it, crashing into it repeatedly.

Seeing that they couldn't break through, Li Yue reached out and tried to grab the trailing wisps of dark mist behind these phantoms.

He clenched his five fingers and grasped several remnant souls in succession.

With one hand continuously forming the binding seal, a surge of Yin energy tightly bound the phantoms, sealing off their instinct to scatter and escape.

It neither allows it to dissipate nor can it be broken free from its grasp.

Despite their frantic writhing, they could not escape his control and were all drawn together by him.

Then they devoured them one by one.

[Unknown malevolent entity detected...]

[Whether to select...]

[Being devoured...]

……

[Unknown malevolent entity detected...]

[Whether to select...]

[Being devoured...]

The text on the panel kept refreshing, but at one point it wasn't even as fast as Li Yue's devouring speed of the corpse puppet.

He held several corpse puppets in his hands and refined them one by one, turning them into supplements to enhance his cultivation.

Although these unformed corpse puppets have low yin energy content and are substandard in quality, they can win by sheer quantity.

Other phantoms that floated out from the trees rushed forward one after another, constantly colliding and rubbing against the surface of the light membrane, emitting silent roars.

With each impact, the thin, illusory figure would be scorched by the protective magic, its edges melting and turning white, with wisps of gray mist constantly dissipating.

However, they could never break through this defense and could only remain isolated, restless and agitated.

The kind of spirits that are raised on corpses are considered inferior even in unorthodox sects, and the evil spirits they produce are dull-witted and have little ability.

Even though they had been easily captured and controlled by him, the remaining phantoms still did not know how to retreat and only relied on their instincts to rush forward one after another.

Li Yue also didn't want them to get hurt.

After all, the depletion of Yin energy was also a loss for him.

Therefore, the only option is to speed up the process of subjugation.

The information on the panel is constantly refreshing, flashing as if it's lagging.

The ancient tree overhead was covered with dense foliage, shrouded in a persistent mist, making visibility difficult and obscuring the view. The tangled branches also somewhat hindered movement.

With so many evil spirits attacking relentlessly, Li Yue, despite having a shield, could only retreat step by step.

Before long, they retreated from the area covered by the tree canopy.

He glanced at the panel in his mind and found that the concentration of the yin energy around him was mostly around six or seven percent, which was not as high as the corpse puppet he had encountered on the well wall earlier.

No wonder these things can only parasitize the tree body and cannot leave the tree body like that fully formed corpse puppet.

Several more gray shadows, reduced to mere heads, circled around, their mouths gaping open, exhaling grayish-white mist.

A sinister object hovered around him, constantly breathing out cold air, looking for an opening to burrow into Li Yue's body and erode his soul.

This kind of yin entity has no physical form and is elusive.

Once it touches your body and eats away a trace of your soul essence, you will suffer from chronic weakness, cold intolerance, and lethargy.

The lingering effects of the illness are difficult to eradicate.

Li Yue dared not be careless, suppressing the enemy while remaining vigilant.

Amidst the chaos, one phantom stood out slightly from the others, having already grown half a body and possessing a higher level of spirituality.

It seemed to realize that Li Yue was a tough nut to crack and knew he was not easy to deal with. Instead of attacking mindlessly like other evil spirits, it suddenly turned around, transformed into a wisp of gray smoke, and flew outward along the crack in the mountain.

Li Yue caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of his eye, but he was currently entangled by a large number of Yin puppets and was unable to use his magic to intercept them, so he could only let them escape.

However, he knew in his heart that these kinds of spirits that depend on trees for survival would lose their yin energy and become weaker day by day once they left their host body.

When the sun rises the next day, the yang energy will be abundant, and without anyone else's intervention, the body will naturally be melted away by the sunlight and die.

As for the bandits of the Unloading Ridge, there is no need to worry. They are numerous and powerful, full of murderous and violent energy, and are most effective against evil.

Those insignificant creatures would never dare to approach voluntarily; it would be suicidal. Therefore, there is no need to worry.

A moment later, he subdued all the wreaking havoc among the surrounding Yin puppets.

Countless gray-white ghostly figures hovered above their heads, each one connected to the dark silk threads in their hands.

He clenched the ends of wisps of gray mist into his palm, and more than a dozen corpse puppets obediently floated behind him, remaining still under his control.

These are all evil spirits that haven't yet been devoured.

With the group of Yin puppets in his grasp, Li Yue finally had time to observe the surrounding situation.

Looking up, one could see four pavilions standing neatly around the enormous corpse.

The buildings are similar in style, all being two-story structures with upturned eaves and tiled roofs, and neatly carved doors and windows.

From afar, it appears elegant and refined, with a touch of otherworldly charm, allowing one to temporarily set aside worldly thoughts and feel as if one is in a realm other than the mundane world.

The entire building was dark and gloomy, with black tiles and window frames, without a trace of light.

An elegant pavilion paired with a sinister ancient tree creates a striking contrast: one part evokes a misty atmosphere, while the other exudes a deep, malevolent aura. The fusion of these two contrasting elements creates an exceptionally strange effect.

The concepts of immortals and evil seem to permeate the entire architectural style of the Pill Palace.

Above the well is the ethereal realm of the mortal world, a mirage of the mortal realm; below lies a place littered with corpses, a secret chamber where the ancients refined Yin Elixir.

The fact that a ghost and an immortal lived in the same place speaks volumes about the cunning and bizarre thoughts of the ancients.

Li Yue surveyed the surrounding landscape and understood the situation perfectly. The central point where the Yin energy of the entire Bottle Mountain converged was precisely where the Corpse Osmanthus Tree was located.

In ancient times, Taoist practitioners understood how to observe the terrain and specifically used this ancient osmanthus tree, which was considered to be the key point of the formation. They used the tree's natural ability to absorb death energy, block the wind gaps in the mountain, and prevent the yin energy from leaking out.

Then, a large number of coffins and corpses were piled up and buried underground. The resentment of the corpses nourished the trees, and the yin energy was gathered along the mountain slope, creating a yin-gathering pattern.

The method was crude and clumsy, hardly a sophisticated Taoist technique, but it cleverly utilized the terrain and vegetation to create a rare and extremely yin place.

It was specifically designed for refining Yin Pills, and it turned out to be just right.

With this thought in mind, he grasped a group of Yin puppets and approached the pavilion.

The four buildings are exquisitely carved and meticulously designed, yet they are entirely black, like splashed ink, hidden in the dimness of the ground, their outlines almost blending into the night.

Controlling the Yin puppet with one hand made it difficult for Li Yue to move, so he took the lantern from his waist, used Yin energy to light it, and spread out a dim yellow light.

"These Yin puppets are not yet fully formed and their abilities are weak, but they have the advantage of a large number of them. If we refine them one by one, we may be able to make another breakthrough."

Having made up his mind, he walked toward the nearest attic.