The small Purple Crystal lacks sensitivity to other presences but possesses an exceptional perception of the dead spirits. Upon just arriving in the underground kingdom, where all is pitch-black and nothing is visible, the small Purple Crystal can accurately discern that there are many dead spirits around.

Ye Fan first sensed the environment around him as dead silent, without any sign of life. Logically, after the large blue crystal recharged its energy, the underground kingdom should be flourishing, so why this bleak and deathly situation?

"If you're scared, come back, don't hide in my arms. Go into the storage bracelet!" Ye Fan said to the small Purple Crystal.

Not only did the small Purple Crystal swiftly slip into Ye Fan's access bracelet, but even the small Blue Crystal and small Red Crystal hurried in due to fear. Only the small Black Crystal seemed invigorated, itching to try on Ye Fan's shoulder. Ye Fan knew the small Blue Crystal was ready to move and feast, but it dared not act rashly this time because Ye Fan hadn't fully trusted it before. Even if it wanted to feast, it had to seek Ye Fan's consent first.

Ye Fan finally landed on the ground of the underground kingdom but couldn't sense the existence of Spiritual energy bodies around. The glow from the large blue crystal reached here, flickering with a pale blue light, and some underground crops were also present, indicating the kingdom's inhabitants hadn't stopped their food supply. This puzzled Ye Fan.

"Whooo..." Some dead spirits floated by, which Ye Fan sensed through the Copper Mirror.

The small Black Crystal emitted a black mist, about to chase those dead spirits. However, remembering Ye Fan's instruction, it obediently transformed the mist into a humanoid form, following behind Ye Fan, but facing him. Since the distance was closer and the underground's dim light allowed for clearer visibility, Ye Fan could roughly see the small Black Crystal's human form resembled a young girl. The small Black Crystal looked pitiably at Ye Fan.

As Ye Fan walked forward, he casually said, "What, you want to devour those dead spirits?"

The small Black Crystal replied, "Yes, Master. To me, those dead spirits are food. Watching them float by without eating... It's so uncomfortable."

"No," Ye Fan directly rejected the small Black Crystal's request. "You'll stay by my side and must understand this: even dead spirits were once living beings. Even if they've lost consciousness, they still have perception and know how to avoid danger. Eating them would mean taking their lives. Unless absolutely necessary, I won't allow you to devour other dead spirits."

"Okay," the small Black Crystal reluctantly agreed, still somewhat innocent.

Ye Fan didn't know what to say. After all, this was the small Black Crystal's survival mode, and judging it by his own sense of morality was unfair. Whether in the living or dead realms, there was a principle of survival of the fittest, and the small Black Crystal merely stood atop the dead spirit realm's food chain.

Ye Fan gradually moved towards the palace of the underground kingdom he visited before, being cautious to guard against any sudden attacks from spiritual entities around.

But through observation along the way, Ye Fan noticed that apart from some dead spirits, there wasn't a single living being in the underground kingdom. The kingdom's people seemed to have vanished into thin air.

"Could she have truly come here and destroyed everyone?" Ye Fan's heart held a peculiar emotion. The "she" he spoke of wasn't anyone else but the shadowless one who had set up a Spiritual Energy net after meeting him and Zhuo Junwu, claiming to get things done.

Ye Fan had initially ventured to the underground ocean to find the shadowless one, but unexpectedly discovered the upheaval in the underground kingdom midway.

"Master, I feel more dead spirits over there. Should we go and see?" The small Black Crystal, who hunted dead spirits for sustenance, had a sharper perception of them than Ye Fan. At this moment, she extended a black mist-formed spiritual arm, pointing towards the palace—the palace of the underground kingdom.

"Yes," Ye Fan nodded.

The master and servant, one a living being and the other a living entity, gradually approached the palace. When they were just twenty meters away, Ye Fan waved his arm, using spiritual energy to smash the palace doors open. This alarmed many dead spirits inside, who fled en masse from the palace entrance. The small Black Crystal could only watch the countless dead spirits pass by. Being surrounded by so much food yet unable to eat was excruciating for it.

At that moment, Ye Fan's attention wasn't on the small Black Crystal.

Stepping into the palace, Ye Fan saw that it was piled high with corpses, all of whom seemed to have died peacefully, clearly killed in one blow.

Many dead spirits hadn't left, standing vigil by their bodies. Though they had lost consciousness, they possessed a lingering obsession or resentment, questioning why they still had awareness but couldn't return to their bodies.

"Woooo!"

A distressing sound echoed, not made by the dead spirits nor by Leng Yu, but by the small Black Crystal. At this time, Leng Yu was confined in a spiritual energy space by Ye Fan, who didn't want her to learn that her clan had been annihilated.

Ye Fan side-eyed the small Black Crystal, asking, "What was that for?"

The small Black Crystal replied, aggrieved, "Master, I just wanted to chase them away. Seeing them but not being able to eat is so sad."

Indeed, the small Black Crystal's scare caused the dead spirits to leave their bodies and flee the palace. Even after leaving, they could only wander the underground space, unable to find an exit to the surface.

Ye Fan checked and found that all the underground kingdom's people had been killed in place, with no survivors, as if slain during a ritual performed in the palace rather than having their bodies transported post-mortem.

This mass gathering in the palace puzzled Ye Fan, as the people all died peacefully, akin to self-sacrifice, yet none bore any wounds.

"God Lord... You have finally come." A voice, not from a spiritual entity but heard by Ye Fan's ears, echoed from afar.

Ye Fan was startled; the voice was old and weak, belonging to the old priestess of the underground kingdom he had previously encountered, the one who had wanted to burn Leng Yu while wielding a magic wand.

Ye Fan was surprised because a living being was nearby, yet he hadn't sensed it. When he used his Spiritual Sense to investigate, he realized that the old priestess's Nascent Soul was utterly shattered, effectively making her a "dead person." Yet she clung to life out of sheer will, possessing only a faint trace of life force, insufficient to declare her alive.

"It's me," Ye Fan acknowledged, approaching and crouching to look at the old woman leaning against the wall, in whose arms was another—the queen of the underground kingdom and Leng Yu's mother.

But now, the queen was but a corpse, with her spirit having no known destination.

"God Lord, I've waited so long for you, finally, you have come." The elderly priestess, barely able to speak, continued, "The secret our people have guarded for millennia cannot end with me. I must tell you, God Lord..."

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