I transmigrated to a chaotic world and became the sole player.

The night was as dark as ink, and the mountain wind howled through the forest like a mournful wailing, as if a hundred ghosts were roaming at night. A waning crescent moon appeared and disappeared behind thin clouds, casting dappled and pale light that barely outlined the contours of the mountains and trees.

Lu Zhao once again embarked on the path leading to the cemetery behind Li Family Village. Unlike last time, this time his breathing was deep and his steps light, his figure moving silently through the rugged mountain path and jagged rocks. This was the effect of combining the [Turtle Breathing Technique] and the [Spirit Refining Technique], making his movements more swift and stealthy, and expanding his perception range to a radius of nearly ten zhang. His 3.1 divine attribute allowed him to concentrate intensely, clearly capturing every discordant element in the night breeze.

Instead of taking the main road, he followed the route he had previously explored, circling around to the side of the cemetery. His previous experience had taught him that approaching head-on would be easily detected; the evil entity had set up mentally triggered alarms around the cemetery.

About a hundred feet from the burial mound, Lu Zhao stopped and hid behind a boulder. He activated the [Refining Spirit Technique], transforming his spiritual power into invisible tendrils that slowly spread towards the center of the burial mound. This time, he was even more careful. His spiritual power seeped into the soil like a stream, nourishing silently, and he tried his best to avoid the faint, spiderweb-like sensory nodes formed by the condensed Yin energy in the air.

In my perception, the entire cemetery was still shrouded in a thick, viscous aura of malevolent energy, like an invisible quagmire, even deeper than before. The collapsed tomb at its center resembled a swirling black hole, constantly spewing out a chilling aura. A faint, cloyingly sweet, putrid smell permeated the air, consistent with what I had sensed last time. But it seemed… something was missing?

Lu Zhao focused his attention and examined the situation closely. The "bait"—the mental illusion mimicking a child's crying—hadn't appeared. Was it temporarily dormant because it had been injured by the exorcism talisman last time? Or was it... doing something else?

Suddenly, he sensed an unusually "active" area of ​​Yin energy deep within the cemetery, about twenty feet northeast of the collapsed tomb. There seemed to be subtle energy fluctuations there, completely different from the overall deathly stillness and slow flow of Yin energy in the cemetery. The fluctuations carried a rhythmic, breathing-like quality, and there was a faint, purer, colder aura, different from the last time, gathering, dissipating, and gathering again.

"There's something new over there." Lu Zhao felt a chill run down his spine and silently made his way in that direction. He climbed up a steep slope, lay down behind a cold rock, and looked down.

Below was a depression, about three zhang square, located between two low mounds of earth. The moonlight could barely reach this area, revealing a scene that sent chills down one's spine.

In the center of the depression was a bizarre array drawn with a mixture of an unknown black powder and some kind of solidified dark red liquid (most likely blood). The array was about ten feet in diameter, its patterns intricate and twisted. At its center was a distorted, interconnected serpentine rune, similar to the symbols on the walls of Li Family Village, but far more complex, radiating a strong aura of malevolence. Scattered around the array were several grayish-white, fist-sized stones; upon closer inspection, they turned out to be children's skulls! These were deliberately placed at several key points in the array.

At the very center of the array, a human-shaped black shadow was currently lurking.

The dark figure wore a tattered black robe, its original form unrecognizable. Its body was hunched, withered, and emaciated, like a dried-up corpse. But its head presented a bizarre shape—it was not a human head, but a snake's head magnified several times over, covered in black scales! On the snake's head, two eerie green flames flickered in their eye sockets, cold, cruel, and greedy.

At this moment, the "snake-headed, human-bodied" monster sat cross-legged in the center of the array, its hands forming strange hand seals as it chanted incantations. With each incantation, wisps of pale gray smoke, carrying an aura of despair and fear, continuously escaped from the eye sockets, mouths, and noses of the children's skulls. These wisps were slowly absorbed by a fist-sized bead, emitting a ghostly black light, suspended above the snake-headed monster's head. Each time the bead absorbed a wisp of gray smoke, its color deepened, and its chilling aura intensified.

[Evil Cultivator - Snake-Headed Demon (Weakened State), Level: 7 (Estimated)]

Health: 62%/100% (Unhealed)

[Status: Cultivating, absorbing soul power, core of the formation]

[Note: Suspected of fusing with a snake demon's soul using evil magic, the creature is currently devouring the remnant souls of children to heal and cultivate, and is at a critical stage.]

The panel displayed the information. It really was this demon at work! Moreover, it was devouring the remnant souls of children to cultivate! No wonder it kidnapped children; it was to extract their souls and cultivate its evil arts! The snake-shaped runes, this evil formation, and the soul power it absorbed were all for its own cultivation and recovery! It was injured by Lu Zhao's exorcising talisman last time, and was currently healing itself in this way; its aura was much weaker than when it was at its peak!

"Level 7, and with only 62% health, it's fully focused on cultivation—the perfect opportunity for a sneak attack!" Lu Zhao's heart pounded, and killing intent surged instantly. If this demon isn't eliminated, more children will suffer! Moreover, the black bead on its head and this formation are definitely evil magical artifacts. If we can destroy or seize them…

"No, I can't be impulsive!" Lu Zhao forcibly suppressed the urge to act immediately. The opponent was of a high level and was located at the core of the formation; who knew what backup plans they might have? That formation looked complicated; rushing in rashly could easily trigger the restrictions and alert the enemy.

He carefully observed the array diagram and the snake-headed demon. The array diagram seemed to have the effect of condensing and transforming Yin energy, and those skulls were the source of soul power. The demon was refining soul power, and it seemed to have reached a critical moment that could not be easily interrupted, otherwise it might suffer a backlash. That black bead seemed to be its core of power and the key to its cultivation.

"I must destroy the formation and interrupt its cultivation before I can have a chance to kill it!" Lu Zhao's mind raced. Attacking the demon's main body might wake it up immediately. Attacking the skulls? The skulls were the nodes of the formation; destroying them might weaken the formation, but it would also immediately alert the demon. Attacking the black bead? It looked like the core, but it was definitely the strongest in defense.

His gaze swept across the ground around the array diagram, and he suddenly noticed that next to the skulls, there seemed to be a few other things. Looking closer in the moonlight, he saw several small stones of different colors, emitting a faint glow, embedded in the soil; they appeared to be energy nodes forming the array. The stones contained energy, some bright, some dim, and there were subtle energy flows connecting them to the array diagram and the skulls.

"Spirit stones? Or some other material?" Lu Zhao's eyes lit up. Attacking these "energy nodes" might be a gentler way to disrupt the energy flow of the formation, weakening its effect without immediately alerting the demon at the core!

He took a deep breath and pulled three throwing knives from his robes. He still had some left from when he used them to kill the poisonous bats last time. Although the knives weren't enchanted, they were sharp enough. He carefully adjusted his breathing, concentrating all his mental energy on his eyes and arms. He activated the [Refining Spirit Technique] to its maximum, amplifying his senses, and aimed at and locked onto one of the weakest, most secluded stone nodes.

Hold your breath, concentrate, and suddenly flick your wrist!

"Whoosh!"

The throwing knife traced an extremely thin silver line through the night sky, accompanied by a barely audible whooshing sound, and accurately struck the stone embedded in the ground!

"Ding!"

With a crisp sound, the stone shattered! The energy flow within the formation abruptly halted, the light in that area dimmed instantly, and an extremely subtle inconsistency appeared in the formation's operation.

It's done! Moreover, the sound was very soft, and the demon seemed unaware, still focused on refining his soul power.

With his mind at ease, Lu Zhao took out two more throwing knives and, in the same manner, shot them at two other stone nodes where the light was slightly dimmer!

"Ding! Ding!"

Two soft sounds rang out, and two more nodes were destroyed! The sluggishness in the flow of energy in the formation became more obvious. The black bead floating above the snake-headed demon's head flickered slightly, and the speed at which it refined soul power seemed to have slowed down a bit.

However, just as Lu Zhao was preparing to fire at the fourth node—

"hiss--!"

The snake-headed demon suddenly opened its eerie green eyes, its head twisting at an incredible angle of 180 degrees, staring intently at the direction from which the flying knife had come! It had clearly sensed the anomaly in the formation and the destruction of those energy nodes! A violent, furious mental shock, mixed with endless chilling killing intent, swept towards the rock where Lu Zhao was hiding like a tsunami!

"Who dares to ruin my 'Gathering Yin and Transforming into Snakes Formation'!"