Chapter 1633: Waiting for This Meal

In the Eighteenth Layer of Hell, both Ye Chen and Zhao Yun had woken up.

Once again, each with a stick in hand, they sat on the ground—one drawing circles, the other making crosses. One could easily imagine just how bored the two of them were.

Ye Chen drooped his head. "Why aren't you a girl? At least then, I could find something to do."

"You're one of a kind in your universe," Zhao Yun buried his head as well.

Their idle chatter faded, and the two fell silent once more.

After some time, Zhao Yun suddenly flipped over and jumped to his feet.

Seeing him get up, Ye Chen quickly rose as well. From the look on Zhao Yun's face, it seemed something interesting was happening in this hell.

Sure enough, just like before, evil ghosts emerged to cause chaos.

The two perked up instantly. Each of those evil ghosts was a cluster of soul power, a great tonic for them.

"Just waiting for this meal." In unison, they drew their weapons, their roars booming with dominance.

Hell grew lively as waves of evil ghosts were blasted apart.

After devouring the soul power of the three-headed, six-armed evil ghosts, the two men's soul power had become terrifyingly strong, wiping out hordes of lesser ghosts in an instant.

Though the ghosts' soul power was meager and not very pure, with enough quantity, it could still lead to a qualitative change. Absorbing more and more, their soul power skyrocketed.

These two were freaks—if any ordinary person had been sealed in the Eighteenth Layer of Hell, they would have died hundreds of times over.

Looking from afar, both Ye Chen and Zhao Yun shone with dazzling brilliance, their soul power surging like a torrent.

Amid the dense swarm of evil ghosts, the two were like twin suns, strikingly radiant and illuminating the dark, gloomy hell.

"Come on, there's a big one." Ye Chen was in the midst of devouring happily and getting carried away when he heard Zhao Yun's call.

At those words, Ye Chen's eyes lit up instantly.

For Zhao Yun to call it a big one, it must be enormous, and its soul power far superior to that of the lesser ghosts.

Without a second thought, Ye Chen darted over to Zhao Yun's side.

From a distance, he spotted a colossal beast.

The creature stood seven or eight zhang tall, with a massive head, fierce giant eyes, and a gaping maw spewing flames and lightning.

Its body was pitch-black, with thick limbs, and around its neck hung a chain made of shrunken skulls.

Its form was as heavy as a mountain, each step rumbling like thunder, even more fearsome than the previous three-headed, six-armed evil ghosts.

When Ye Chen arrived, he saw Zhao Yun being sent flying by a slap from the massive one-eyed evil ghost.

It was lucky Zhao Yun was strong; otherwise, he would have been reduced to ashes.

"I love the big ones." Ye Chen grinned.

"Alternate main attacks." Zhao Yun immediately formed hand seals.

"Got to be in sync." Ye Chen stepped on Tai Xu, his figure ghostly fast, leaving a trail of afterimages in his wake.

The one-eyed evil ghost roared, spewing flames and thunder from its mouth.

Ye Chen's movements were agile; his soul power had surged earlier, boosting his speed dramatically, allowing him to dodge the incoming flames and thunder.

In just a few instants, he closed in on the one-eyed evil ghost and unleashed Wan Jian Feng Shen without a word—utterly domineering.

The one-eyed evil ghost howled and reached out with its massive hand to grab Ye Chen.

But before its fearsome hand could touch him, a pillar of light descended from the sky, striking it precisely and halting its movements.

That was Zhao Yun's restraining secret technique, perfectly timed to assist Ye Chen.

In that moment, Ye Chen's killing sword arrived, obliterating everything in its path.

The one-eyed evil ghost's massive eye was pierced on the spot, spraying black blood laced with malicious and evil thoughts, along with a foul stench.

Enraged, the one-eyed evil ghost let out a deafening roar, its soul power sound waves overwhelmingly powerful, sending Ye Chen flying with a mouthful of blood spraying out.

Even while flying back, Ye Chen didn't idle; he quickly formed seals and activated the Tai Xu Dragon Ban.

A cage appeared instantly, trapping the one-eyed evil ghost and freezing its body once more.

Now it was Zhao Yun's turn; his timing was impeccable as he flashed forward and beheaded the one-eyed evil ghost with a single sword strike.

With its head severed, the massive one-eyed evil ghost crashed to the ground, its body disintegrating, leaving only a cluster of pure soul power floating in the air.

The battle came quickly and ended just as fast; this fearsome evil ghost was utterly destroyed, all in a clean, efficient manner.

Of course, this was thanks to the two men's seamless coordination—the way experts work together is just that effective.

"Come on, yours." Zhao Yun split the cluster of soul power, taking half for himself and pushing the other half toward Ye Chen.

"Big ones really deliver." Ye Chen opened his mouth and swallowed it.

The pure soul power merged into his soul body in an instant; any impurities were refined out, and both men's soul power surged once more.

"Keep going." The two didn't rest; they each headed in a different direction. With the big one defeated, plenty of lesser ghosts were still wandering around.

What followed was a one-sided sweep. Though there were many hellish lesser ghosts, none could withstand a single sword strike from the two.

This was the absolute suppression of soul power. The ghosts had no intellect and couldn't coordinate, so they were no match for the pair.

Hell was strange; after about an hour, those lesser ghosts dissipated—not because they were destroyed, but because they vanished on their own.

The two found an open space and sat down, each carrying a sack.

Inside were clusters of soul power, varying in size and purity, but enormous in quantity.

"This doesn't seem like just hell; it's more like a place for trials," Ye Chen said casually while absorbing the soul power.

"For us, it's a trial, but if ordinary people came in, they'd be constantly bitten by evil ghosts. Don't underestimate hell." Zhao Yun absorbed a cluster and let out a burp.

"You're not wrong there." Ye Chen smiled, grateful for Meng Po's soup that had boosted his soul power, sparing him the agony of being bitten in this hell.

After absorbing the various clusters of soul power, the two sat cross-legged with eyes closed.

Not all evil ghosts' soul power was as pure as the one-eyed evil ghost's; most contained malicious and evil thoughts.

Absorbing too much could accumulate those thoughts, disturbing the mind, so they needed to refine them out and keep only the pure soul power.

For many days afterward, they passed the time this way.

The evil ghosts appeared in cycles, emerging every so often to wreak havoc and try to devour them.

But these two scoundrels weren't to be trifled with; every time the ghosts showed up, the pair feasted and their soul power skyrocketed.

Especially the big ones—they grew fiercer each time, yet died even more miserably, their soul power becoming nourishment for the two.

The two gathered again, treating clusters of soul power like buns, gobbling them down—it felt incredibly satisfying.

Their soul power was now unimaginably stronger than when they first arrived.

Not to boast, but with his current strength, Ye Chen could slap a one-eyed evil ghost to death as easily as swatting a fly, without any pressure.

In another windy, desolate open space, the two sat cross-legged, absorbing the soul power and refining it.

Strands of black gas were expelled from their bodies, making their soul forms crystal clear and dazzlingly radiant.

As they exhaled a breath of turbid air, the two opened their eyes almost simultaneously, their gazes pure and profound.

"Do you feel like this Eighteenth Layer of Hell has some kind of inexplicable opportunity?" Ye Chen stroked his chin.

"It does feel that way." Zhao Yun stroked his chin as well.

The two fell into thought, occasionally glancing at the ground beneath them or up at the sky, both wearing expressions of deep insight.

With their soul power greatly increased, they could sense the subtle mysteries of hell. This Eighteenth Layer of Hell was far from simple.

After gazing for a long time, they turned to each other, exchanging a knowing look before lowering their eyes to the ground.

"This Eighteenth Layer of Hell must have a massive formation array." Zhao Yun narrowed his eyes, as if glimpsing a clue.

"Or rather, it's the formation array itself that sustains the eighteen layers of the underworld's hell." Ye Chen's eyes flickered with divine light.

"So, it's sustained by vast soul power to keep the array running."