Chapter 53: Top-Tier Materials Secured

Boom!

As the voice fell, the Soul-capturing Demonic Cloud suddenly looked up. Its overwhelming spiritual power interfered with reality, much like an ancient bell striking, tearing the atmosphere, causing air tremors to send a terrifying ring of force spreading out in all directions. However, it was quickly blocked by the starlight screen in front of it.

Rumbling!

But the periphery of the abandoned city behind it wasn’t so lucky. Under this terrifying force, numerous buildings instantly crumbled and collapsed, countless dust rising into the air, transforming the ruins completely into dust.

From then on, there was no longer periphery to the abandoned city; entering meant one was immediately in the inner city area, with direct access to the central region.

While this made travel more convenient,

the challenge level also doubled!

The Soul-capturing Demonic Cloud, having vented its frustrations, looked down at Lu Yu, as if committing this human to memory.

Click!

Accompanied by a flash of light, Lu Yu took a selfie with his back to the Soul-capturing Demonic Cloud, casually making a “yeah” gesture with his hand.

Lu Yu, satisfied with the photo’s outcome, nodded approvingly and laughed, “If the Demonic Cloud bro misses me this much, we might as well take a commemorative photo together!”

However, this time, faced with Lu Yu’s provocation, the Soul-capturing Demonic Cloud was calm as still water. It glanced at the Star Beast Tower in the distance, which was continuously gathering stellar radiance, and then turned to leave, drifting deeper into the Abandoned City District.

Although the outer region was destroyed, compared to the actual city areas, it was but a mere tip of the iceberg—plenty enough to conceal its tracks.

What was more critical…

If it didn’t leave soon,

it would be awaiting a strike from the star cannon powerful enough to severely injure it!

Lu Yu quietly watched the departing figure of the Soul-capturing Demonic Cloud and sighed,

“What a shame…”

After speaking, his figure suddenly dissipated like a bubble.

The real Lu Yu was walking out of a small alley hundreds of meters away, looking out at the distant ruins with a heart still pounding from the near experience, saying,

“This is the strength of a top-tier demonic entity, isn’t it?”

He had maximized his use of time, taking the corpse away in a flash as Little Spider killed the offspring, and retreated back to Dayuan City.

All these actions were completed in the blink of an eye, flowing as smoothly as clouds and water.

Yet he hadn’t expected the Soul-capturing Demonic Cloud to respond even quicker than he imagined, crossing thousands of meters in a single breath, casually stirring up a hurricane!

Fortunately, the Star Beast Tower responded faster than it, taking it all in one sweep!

Although it was theoretically safe in Dayuan City, a wise man does not stand under a wall in danger, so the instant Lu Yu returned, he chose to use an illusion in his place to converse with the Soul-capturing Demonic Cloud.

Though unsure whether the opponent realized that he was an illusion, Lu Yu, from its futile rage at being tricked by ants and its lack of strength to break the barrier, confirmed that the entity did not possess the power to penetrate the barrier, even perhaps fearing the power of the Star Beast Tower.

This…

was perfect!

So his subsequent series of seemingly suicidal actions were also intended to use the abandoned buildings at the junction of the new and old city areas as a price to lure it in, then leverage the power of the Star Beast Tower to, if they could not kill it, at least severely injure the terrifying creature before them.

It was only that the entity was more cautious than he had imagined.

Such a pity; he was just a little short of having the chance to collect even higher-level materials.

“But this time’s harvest can be called abundant!”

The materials information Lu Yu obtained after the retreat appeared in his mind.

Because the five materials originated from the same entity, there was only one material after extraction, but the corresponding star level had also increased.

【Soul-capturing Demonic Cloud’s Tentacle: Originating from an ancient evil god known as ‘Dust World Dark Fog’ which was sought and worshipped by the Evil God Cult but because the evil god does not need faith, after a large number of human sacrifices, patterns were discovered. They enjoyed the fear and pain of souls needing to sacrifice tens of thousands of souls, tormented by the painful purgatory of the dusty world, and the individual that survived, like the king of the cultivated gu, became the Soul-capturing Demonic Cloud. It can grow by imprisoning and tormenting the souls and eventually absorbing them. This tentacle possesses the ability to control the soul’s magnetic field, create offspring, and adjust its soul frequency to mimic the soul fluctuations of other life forms, thereby concealing itself.】

【Rating: Four Stars Beginner】

It is no wonder that just one tentacle of the Soul-capturing Demonic Cloud is a four-star material, given that it utilizes the power of the evil god. Therefore, the complete entity of the Soul-capturing Demonic Cloud is very likely a four-star top material or even five-star!

If it weren’t for the tower’s injuries making it let down its guard, willingly letting its offspring diverge to the elite rank, and personally harvesting souls to repair its injuries. Otherwise, Lu Yu would not have had the chance to pick up such a loophole!

The only material Lu Yu had of a higher level, a five-star, was from a treasure box that came alongside the Eye of Truth. That was a part of the legendary Death God Tree, an offspring of the Ghostly Ember Sovereign Tree, that possessed the miraculous ability to transform souls and replace the dead.

Every high-star material is a top-level treasure.

Through this material information, Lu Yu finally understood why the Soul-capturing Demonic Cloud was able to hide so well. It turns out it can adjust its own soul frequency to achieve near-perfect concealment. Just randomly adjusting to a bug’s soul frequency and hiding in a cloud, who could find it?

And with the ability to control the soul’s magnetic field and create offspring, it can be called a top-tier soul-type companion beast. It is simply that the method to create it was too twisted, requiring the sacrifice of a large number of human souls, truly an evil path.

“It just feels like this soul frequency tuning ability is somewhat similar to the Shadow Hamster’s shadow mimicry; only one affects the soul and the other the shadow…”

Lu Yu was puzzled in his mind, but he had no further lead. After all, with so little information, a hasty deduction would lead him into a conceptual error, and it would be better to take the time to improve his own strength.

As for the use of this material, he already had an idea; he was confident he could create a secret delicacy not lesser in quality than the 【Void Saintess Fruit】, and its capabilities would be extremely terrifying!

However, all of this would have to wait until he was promoted to Silver rank and contracted the Shadow Hamster.

“Now that the matter is over, it’s time to go and claim my task bounty!”

Thinking of the high reward for the hyena task, Lu Yu’s mood lightened, and even his walk became a bit buoyant as he speedily left the junction area.

What he did not know was that atop a tall clock tower in the Abandoned City District stood a figure in a black tailcoat with a blood-red tri-petal eye mask—a figure tall and slender, like an ancient noble, every movement filled with grace.

He gazed at the figure of Lu Yu and said slowly,

“The human ode is an ode to courage, to triumph over strength with weakness. Truly, it was a marvelous battle, don’t you agree?”

The one he was speaking to was none other than the Soul-capturing Demonic Cloud, which Lu Yu considered his greatest enemy.

However, his praise was an insult to the Soul-capturing Demonic Cloud!

In response, it captured him with countless tentacles, opened its gaping maw, and swallowed him whole!