"Stop, let's rest for a while."
The closer they got to this area, the uglier Shanggong Ji's expression became.
It's easy to imagine how deep a shadow this place left on Shanggong Ji.
Even so, Shanggong Ji and the others had long since run out of options.
Next, everyone rested and recuperated in the cleared area. Everyone understood that an extremely severe challenge awaited them.
If we can pull through, there's still a chance to live; but if we can't, everyone will die...
But now everyone has experience fighting evil creatures and is no longer as ignorant as before.
They also learned a lot about evil spirits.
At this moment, everyone was more or less shrouded in evil energy, most of which came from the cracks they had encountered earlier.
Some were entangled with evil spirits after they were killed.
At this moment, Shang Gongji was also completely unreserved, passing on the "Qi Swallowing Technique" that his mentor in the academy had privately taught him to the students present.
This method utilizes one's own spiritual root to dissipate evil energy; the stronger the spiritual root, the more spiritual power is generated.
The academy's instructors will only teach this method to cultivators with exceptional spiritual roots. After all, it would be of little value to ordinary people and would only cause them unnecessary trouble.
Thanks to the Qi Absorption Technique, everyone's cultivation level has also made a slight improvement. Although it is not much, it is at least a visible breakthrough.
The two people most shrouded in evil energy are Gu Yuan and Shanggong Ji.
After breaking through to the first level of cultivator, Gu Yuan deliberately concealed his strength, but absorbing a little more evil energy was still no problem.
However, these thin and loose evil energies were no longer of much help to Gu Yuan.
Even if he used the "Wandering Evil Body-Gathering Heart Sutra," there wouldn't be much improvement, but every little bit helps, and Gu Yuan certainly wouldn't let go of such an opportunity for improvement.
After absorbing the evil energy, Gu Yuan licked his lips. Seeing that many students were still cultivating, he subtly began to draw in the evil energy around them...
After an hour, most of the students had finished absorbing the information.
Many people benefited greatly, and Shang Gongji even touched the threshold of "first level". If he had some more opportunities, he might be able to break through in the death row!
As for Gu Yuan...
Shang Gongji merely glanced at him briefly, then gave a cold, unchanging laugh.
On the surface, there is almost no change.
That makes sense, considering Gu Yuan's extremely poor spiritual root aptitude. To expect to make a significant improvement with just a Qi Devouring Technique is simply wishful thinking.
"Speaking of which, Senior Shanggong! We have a question. For some reason, when we were halfway through absorbing the evil energy, it suddenly started to be consumed rapidly, and the absorption became much easier, but the gains also decreased."
"So I'm not the only one with this problem. I thought I had memorized the Qi Swallowing Technique wrong!"
"Me too...."
Listening to the conversation among the students around him, Shang Gongji chuckled and said, "Junior brothers, there's no need to be nervous. It's mostly just that some evil energy couldn't withstand the changes in the surrounding environment and eventually collapsed naturally."
"Therefore, spiritual practice must be done with utmost urgency, and no time should be wasted!"
"I see, Senior Shanggong is right!"
"It's because we were too slow; it took us too long to even understand the Qi Swallowing Technique..."
Shang Gongji smiled slightly, "Although the harvest is less, the improvement we have gained is at least something that we might not get even after meditating for several days outside. After we go out, I believe that everyone can become a potential cultivator."
"yes...."
Thinking about this, everyone felt much more confident about facing second-tier evil creatures later on.
Gu Yuan simply wiped his weapon in silence, not participating in the discussion at all.
Seeing Gu Yuan like this, Shanggong Ji did not offer any words of comfort.
You must feel annoyed and inferior because you are not as talented as others and think that everyone's strength will soon catch up with you after you leave!
As far as Shanggong Ji was concerned, if Gu Yuan was willing to be his dog, then Shanggong Ji wouldn't mind spending some rare and precious materials to improve Gu Yuan's aptitude.
After all, Gu Yuan's combat skills are still quite enviable.
But only Gu Yuan knew exactly how much evil energy he had just absorbed...
This wave of improvement allowed Gu Yuan to firmly establish himself and stabilize his realm at the early stage of the first rank!
After that, all you need to do is change your cultivation method to officially begin your training!
However, cultivation techniques above the first level require auxiliary materials and specific cultivation conditions.
Otherwise, Gu Yuan would have had many options within the cultivation methods he already possessed; unfortunately, he currently lacked suitable materials to aid in his practice and comprehension.
While everyone was talking, someone was surprised to find that their body was "petrifying"!
This terrified them all.
Gu Yuan, on the other hand, remained somewhat calm; it seemed the death row had reached its limit...
Each time the death row cell opens, there are not only restrictions on the number of people allowed in, but also on the time limit!
Once the time limit is reached, the assimilation of the cultivators inside the death row will begin, which is why no one dares to hide inside the death row.
This is why Gu Yuan greatly admires the "Evil Path"—they were actually able to devise methods to deceive death row inmates.
It's a method that allows one to blend into the death cell and remain undetected even after all the cultivators have died.
This technique can only be used by cultivators who practice the evil path. Even Gu Yuan, who had searched countless souls in his past life, still found nothing...
At this point, everyone is only being affected initially; it will probably take several more days before they are completely turned into stone sculptures or rubble.
For everyone present, there was still plenty of time.
However, this only increased the psychological pressure on everyone...
"The situation is dire, everyone! There's no time to hesitate. I'll only tell you this once, it's extremely important, so listen carefully."
Shanggong Ji acted swiftly and immediately revealed all the information he already knew about the second-tier evil creatures.
First of all, the first one is Shanggong Ji's primary target.
A magma tiger with both "earth" and "fire" attributes. This evil creature is not only extremely fast, but its skin is also covered with a layer of magma. If you attack rashly, you may be burned by the magma.
The other one is a pure evil creature from the earth, which looks very similar to the "earthen brick statue" we encountered before, only it is larger and harder!
After listening, the students began to consider their own abilities and what they could do.
Although Gu Yuan's expression remained unchanged, his heart was filled with doubt.
It's not because of anything else...
These two evil creatures seem different from the two I learned about in my previous life.