Chapter 103: The Ingenious Use of Spoils—The Thrill of a Knockout Blow!

This ominous and eerie realm, due to the imminent collapse and explosion of space, was in a state of total destruction. The fluctuations of ominous energy were so intense that even the demons and ghosts residing within could not withstand them.

"It’s him, it’s him... he just bullied me... boo-hoo-hoo-hoo..."

The voice of the ghost child emerged. The child was holding Brother Baike’s mobile phone, but because the ominous energy was so dense, the screen seemed to glitch, flickering back and forth. Even the phone case had begun to develop tiny cracks. The ghost child was speaking to a monster.

This monster was not human; it was a gigantic spider. Its body was pitch black and hairless, covered from head to toe in dense, overlapping scales—a truly mutated breed of spider. Strangely, it had no head; instead, it bore the face of a child on its abdomen. It was a human-faced spider.

Hearing the ghost child’s wailing, the human-faced spider charged toward them. However, as it rushed over, Lin Yi could sense that the creature possessed little intelligence or consciousness. Its eyes, set within that face, were dull and gray, devoid of the spark of life—completely unlike the ghost child. They looked like the eyes of a corpse, stripped of all luster.

It was the closest to Lin Yi, and behind it, Lin Yi spotted familiar faces: Brother Baike and his companions! Yet, their eyes were glazed over, and they were walking at high speed. Their target was the center of the fractured barrier's small space, just like every other demon and ghost in the sky and on the ground, all converging toward the middle.

Ghostly shadows were swarming and shifting back and forth over their bodies. They remained unattacked precisely because they were now so heavily coated in layers of ominous energy. Those shadows, like the ones flying toward the breach and the center, were grotesque in shape. Some were just masses of black smoke swirling around the men; others were like severed arms clinging to their bodies; still others were like octopus tentacles without heads or bodies, wrapping tightly around them. This was the case for all of them. They moved with extreme speed and were about to vanish in the blink of an eye.

Many other demons and ghosts, aside from those staring at Lin Yi and Zhang Xu with green, glowing eyes, were also walking toward the center of the fractured barrier. The area was vast, and as far as the eye could see, layer upon layer of demons and ghosts were doing the same. It was a shocking and heart-stopping sight!

"Hmm... looking at Brother Baike and the others, it seems that if you have ominous energy on you, the energy in this fractured realm won't attack you. Yes, that's it! This fractured barrier space is like a world unto itself; you have to follow its rules, just like the *Scripture of Severing*. In the *Scripture of Severing*, I was rejected because, although I have a certain connection to it, it can still push me away. So, if I carry ominous energy, maybe I won't be attacked by the ominous energy inside this fractured barrier?"

Thinking of this, Lin Yi’s eyes lit up. With a shift of his mind, he took two ominous energy stones out of the mysterious space within the *Scripture of Severing*. One was slightly chipped, while the other was relatively intact. These were the ones he had obtained previously after killing the deformed fox-demon skin-ghost and dismantling the paper car made by the Tang family of the Central Plains—a family of paper-crafting masters whose creations relied on these stones to come to life.

As Lin Yi brought the stones out, his expectations were met: the waves of ominous energy attacks within the fractured barrier suddenly turned chaotic. Upon encountering Lin Yi, they seemed to treat him as one of their own, and the surging pressure ceased.

Lin Yi handed the more complete stone to the terrified Brother Zhang Xu. Upon taking it, Zhang Xu clearly recognized the item, and his face filled with pleasant surprise. Indeed, he was no longer under attack. With this, the human-faced spider, which had been charging at them, stopped in its tracks. Lacking much intelligence, its dull, lifeless eyes regained a flicker of clarity for a moment, darting here and there, before finally returning to a dull gray. It ceased its attack.

The ghost child was agitated by this, but he dared not approach. The scene of Lin Yi shattering the balloon and the aura that had radiated from him earlier filled the child with terror.

"Right, it works. Brother Zhang Xu, follow me quickly and wear the badge... wait, you don't need a badge because you aren't from the Demon Prison, but I am. No, I must wear the badge; this is the perfect time to rack up upgrade points..."

With the human-faced spider no longer attacking and the countless demons around them turning their green eyes elsewhere to continue toward the center of the barrier, Lin Yi felt like a wolf in a sheepfold. The enemies weren't targeting him, yet he could target them—could there be anything more satisfying? He had expected to fight a lone battle against swarms of monsters, but now there was nothing to fear.

Taking out his energy scanner, Lin Yi measured the human-faced spider: its energy level was around 6,310, marking it as a Class-A Great Demon. Without another word, Lin Yi leaped in front of the spider and threw a punch.

As the energy of the *Great Cavern Scripture* surged within him, the ominous energy stones in his hand diminished, causing him to be rejected by the space once more. The ominous energy began to attack him. This time, it felt as if the gathered energy grew stronger in response to his pure, masculine energy, making it quite uncomfortable. But Lin Yi didn't care; he continued his assault.

The spider was large, standing three meters tall and looking formidable. Its fleshy, bulbous legs were covered in dense scales, and the bone blades protruding from them appeared incredibly tough. Lin Yi leaped high, throwing his fist with all his might. The spider, having lost its target and just found a new one, was about to strike, but Lin Yi was already upon it.

*Bam! Bam! Bam!*

As he neared the spider, the *Scripture of Severing* in his mysterious space flipped rapidly. A gray-white photo appeared, showing a human-faced spider slightly larger than the one before him.

"Human-faced Spider: Low-level Lesser Demon."

That was all. Lin Yi was speechless; the *Scripture* clearly looked down on this creature. With a single punch, the pure, masculine energy exploded against the spider's face. The human face shattered instantly, and the entire body followed, bursting into countless fragments.

"Sealed and recorded: Human-faced Spider. Reward: one Yellow-grade Superior Body-Tempering Pill."

"Yellow-grade Superior Body-Tempering Pill: Consuming this tempers the body, detoxifies, enhances internal power, and has a high probability of raising one's cultivation level during the Yellow-grade stage."

...

He killed a human-faced spider and only got this? Still, one can never have too many pills; even if he didn't need them, he could sell them later. Excitement surged through him as he turned his gaze toward the ghost child. The child had to die—especially for directing the spider to attack him.

Lin Yi strode toward the ghost child, simultaneously suppressing the energy of the *Great Cavern Scripture*. Holding the ominous energy stone, he allowed its aura to shield him. When he had killed the spider, countless green eyes had turned toward him, and the monsters walking toward the center had paused. But now, as the ominous energy enveloped him once more, the creatures acted like headless flies, eventually continuing their march.

Lin Yi wanted to laugh out loud. During the last "Ghost Army Procession," Jin Huishan had blocked his path, and later, at the artificial lake, he wasn't sure if the City God and the River God had reached some agreement, but no more energy clusters had appeared, leaving his "wool-shearing" plan failed. Now, he had finally achieved his wish—he could shear wool endlessly! He was killing demons and ghosts, and they couldn't even perceive it. Was there any feeling better than this?

Zhang Xu watched, his eyes wide and his jaw practically hitting the floor. Good heavens, this young brother Lin Yi was too ferocious! He, Zhang Xu, was doing his best to avoid these monsters, while Lin Yi was actively hunting them down. Was he planning to take on all of them single-handedly? He was impossibly fierce.

The demons here all possessed powerful ominous energy. Zhang Xu had measured them, then silently put his scanner away. Gripping his steel blade tightly and holding the energy stone in his other hand, he didn't dare to speak, keeping his eyes locked on Lin Yi.

Lin Yi took out his Demon Prison badge. "Upgrade points, here I come! Once I harvest this place, I don't know how powerful I'll become... By then, I can go wherever I want in the Demon Prison. As for the *Scripture of Severing*, I see it now: killing small demons doesn't yield good rewards; I must find the larger, stronger ones."

"Fighting such powerful demons is dangerous, so what place could be better than the Demon Prison? Those strong demons are locked up, waiting for me to bully them!"

Feeling incredibly satisfied, Lin Yi continued his charge. The ghost child had already scampered away, followed by an old man with half a head missing. As Lin Yi prepared to rush forward, he suddenly felt the memories of the human-faced spider flooding into his own mind.

Receiving these memories made his eyes shine even brighter. Many of his questions were answered! Why was the fractured barrier space fractured? Why were there colorful lights in the sky, and why were non-ghost shadows flying toward the breach and the center of the space? Why were the countless demons and ghosts on the ground rushing toward the center?

Everything now had an answer. Knowing the truth, Lin Yi trembled with extreme excitement, unable to stop himself from grinning.

The memory images began.