Mu Chen's consciousness drifted in a daze within the darkness.
After an unknown period, a dark, eerie light suddenly illuminated the center of the darkness, and black flames ascended, transforming into a giant black bird.
The giant bird's eyes gleamed with ferocity, and it charged at him.
Mu Chen was both startled and afraid, but he had no means of resistance. Just then, a mysterious black paper appeared.
Is this... the mysterious black paper he obtained on the Spiritual Road?
A peculiar, Sanskrit-like sound resonated, as if countless monks were chanting scriptures.
Dark purple light spots lit up on the surface of the black paper, spreading to reveal a dark purple mandala flower slowly blooming.
The petals of the mandala flower were covered with obscure dark gold patterns, forming a flower-shaped seal that trapped the charging Nine Nether Bird within it.
"Hehe... what did I find... a little Nine Nether, a page of an immortal remnant..."
A mysterious voice echoed in the darkness, very soft, seemingly real yet illusory, and Mu Chen completely lost the ability to think.
When Mu Chen woke up, he found himself back in Mu Territory, with his father by his side.
"You're awake, Xiao Mu," Mu Feng asked with some concern.
"Father, how long was I unconscious? What happened?" Mu Chen rubbed his head.
Mu Feng replied, "That day in the Black Underworld Abyss, you were struck by the black flames and then fell unconscious. We brought you back to Mu Territory, and you've been unconscious for three days."
"That long?" Mu Chen felt a wave of weakness.
"How do you feel now? Is your body better?" Mu Feng asked with concern.
Mu Chen smiled and replied, "Nothing abnormal, I just feel a bit hungry."
"Then I'll have someone bring some food over right away. You should rest well."
After eating a meal of spirit beast meat, the hunger in his stomach subsided, and he regained some energy. He began to examine his body.
He found that he had already broken through to the Spirit Wheel Realm. In his Qi Sea, the mysterious black paper obtained from the Spiritual Road floated. On the black paper was a dark purple mandala flower, and within the mandala flower, a small Nine Nether Bird was trapped.
Uh... it wasn't a dream? The Nine Nether Bird really entered my body through the black flames, and then was trapped by that mysterious black paper?
Mu Chen was startled at first, then felt a wave of lingering fear. Thanks to this black paper of unknown origin, otherwise he would have probably died at the hands of the Nine Nether Bird.
His eyes lit up... I wonder if, when I reach the Divine Soul Realm, I'll be able to activate the black paper to refine the Nine Nether Bird into my own Spirit Beast essence soul?
As if sensing his thoughts, the black flames on the Nine Nether Bird surged, and it suddenly jumped around in the cage, repeatedly impacting the mandala flower-shaped seal.
Mu Chen was greatly startled. He had seen how terrifying the Nine Nether Bird's power was; even a trace of it could kill him. He was somewhat worried whether the flower seal could hold it.
After a while, the flower seal remained motionless, and Mu Chen finally relaxed.
It seems the Nine Nether Bird temporarily has no way against the black paper's seal... but this is still a hidden danger.
"Hehe..."
The familiar laughter sounded again, and the Nine Nether Bird suddenly stopped moving, its eyes filled with intense terror.
A translucent, twelve-segmented worm with starlight-like colors appeared from nowhere. It slowly wriggled along the Nine Nether Bird's body, Binding it like a python.
But the Nine Nether Bird seemed to be scared silly, neither struggling nor resisting, just staying in place dumbfounded.
Mu Chen gasped, instinctively leaning back in a tactical retreat. What was this thing again?
This suddenly appearing mysterious insect gave him an extreme sense of strangeness and danger. Judging by the Nine Nether Bird's terrified but unresisting appearance, this worm was clearly something even more terrifying.
Mu Chen could only hope that the black paper's mandala flower seal could trap this worm along with it.
"Hehe... an immortal remnant page? This thing can't trap me."
A clear female voice echoed in the Qi Sea, but in Mu Chen's ears, it sounded like a devil's sneer.
Under Mu Chen's terrified gaze, the translucent worm released the Nine Nether Bird and slowly crawled out of the flower seal.
The flower seal was as good as useless against it, not offering the slightest obstruction.
Mu Chen looked at this mysterious worm, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. His greatest reliance, the mysterious black paper, had no effect on it. He didn't think his small body could contend with this mysterious existence that even made the Nine Nether Bird dare not move. Remembering that it had just spoken, he tried to communicate with it.
He asked cautiously, "Excuse me, who are you?"
"Are your eyes not working? I'm not a person," the clear female voice replied leisurely.
Uh... Mu Chen paused slightly, correcting his wording: "Excuse me, what kind of Spirit Beast are you?"
"Are your eyes not working? How did you conclude I'm a Spirit Beast?"
Mu Chen blinked, somewhat at a loss.
"Divine Beast, Divine Beast! I am a legitimate Divine Beast! Don't confuse me with this trash!"
The mysterious worm seemed a bit annoyed, its voice rising a few octaves, pointing its tail at the Nine Nether Bird... well, let's call it a tail for now. Mu Chen couldn't tell which end was the head and which was the tail; they looked the same.
The Nine Nether Bird, labeled as trash, wanted to retort that it wasn't trash, but thinking of the terrifying pressure it had just felt, it closed its mouth and silently endured.
This thing is truly terrifying! When it climbed onto its body just now, an indescribable fear uncontrollably rose from its heart, even its thoughts became sluggish, and its soul seemed to freeze!
It looked at the mysterious worm, its gaze filled with uncertainty and surprise. There weren't many worm-type Divine Beasts, and among those it knew that could be called Divine Beasts, none matched this one.
Divine Beast? Mu Chen was startled upon hearing this, but then felt it was quite normal. Just looking at the Nine Nether Bird's reaction when facing it was enough to know... He also searched for answers in the Wan Shou Lu Heaven Ranking but found nothing similar to it.
Could it be... this is the Worm of Spirit, ranked first on the Wan Shou Lu Heaven Ranking? This speculation stirred up a monstrous wave in his heart.
In the Ten Thousand Beast Record, most Divine Beasts and Spirit Beasts have basic records, but only the "Worm of Spirit," ranked first on the Heaven Ranking, remains a mystery.
Even its most basic appearance features are not described, only the simplest name is left.
If what the other party said was true, then this seemed to be the only possibility.
Mu Chen was frightened by his own speculation... That was something even the giants who dominated a region in the Great Thousand World had to fear!
Although he had previously fantasized about having a fortuitous encounter and refining the Worm of Spirit's essence soul, when it truly appeared before him, all it brought was infinite fear.
Who could refine this thing at the Divine Soul Realm? Even with the full assistance of top powerhouses, there wouldn't be much chance of success, right?
Mu Chen cautiously confirmed, "As far as I know, none of the Divine Beasts on the Wan Shou Lu Heaven Ranking match you. Could it be that you are the mysterious number one on the Heaven Ranking?"
"That's right, it's me, I am the number one in the World!" The mysterious little worm straightened its upper body, seemingly a bit proud.
It really is the number one on the Heaven Ranking!
It really is the Worm of Spirit!
Mu Chen took a deep breath, his emotions difficult to calm.
"I'm hungry, go find me something to eat."
The Worm of Spirit couldn't maintain its arrogant posture for long before it sagged, limp as if it had no energy at all.
Seeing that it didn't seem like it would take his life at a moment's notice, Mu Chen relaxed a bit and asked, "What do you want to eat?"
"Essence souls. Any level of Spirit Beast essence soul will do, I'm not picky," the Worm of Spirit replied in its clear female voice.
Only eats Spirit Beast essence souls... and that's not picky? Mu Chen then shifted his gaze to the Nine Nether Bird.
The Worm of Spirit also turned its head to look at it.
The Nine Nether Bird shivered, curled up in a corner of the mandala flower seal, not daring to move.
"Hmm, it's also a tasty snack, I had a hard time not eating it... Are you sure you want me to eat it?"
The Worm of Spirit distorted its body like a python. Its upper body passed through the mandala flower's seal, slowly extending towards the Nine Nether Bird.
Like being stared at by a man-eating python, the Nine Nether Bird was scared out of its wits and cried out in panic, "No, don't... don't eat me..."
The Nine Nether is proud; it never flinches even in the face of heavenly tribulation, and it does not fear death. But in front of the Worm of Spirit, an uncontrollable fear arose from its heart, as if facing fear itself.
Seeing it like this, Mu Chen sighed helplessly and took out a low-grade early-stage Spirit Beast essence soul from his storage bracelet.
The Spirit Beast essence soul was enveloped in a ball of starlight and disappeared into his chest in an instant.
Although the Worm of Spirit had no eyes, Mu Chen could feel it staring intently at him.
Mu Chen's mouth twitched, and he took out three more Spirit Beast essence souls.
This time, the Spirit Beast essence souls disappeared even faster.
This happened several times in a row, until Mu Chen had taken out all of his low-grade Spirit Beast essence souls, but the Worm of Spirit still looked hungry.
Mu Chen gritted his teeth and took out all of his mid-grade Spirit Beast essence souls, saying resignedly, "They're all here, there's no more."
The mid-grade Spirit Beast essence souls disappeared, but the Worm of Spirit still stared intently at Mu Chen.
"There's none left, truly none left, not even one. Otherwise, you should just eat it," Mu Chen pointed at the Nine Nether Bird.
The Worm of Spirit didn't insist, saying cheerfully, "Thank you for the meal."
Mu Chen felt that its tone was somewhat satisfied, and he bravely asked, "Can we talk about something else now? Why are you in my body?"
"Oh... you mean that... Let me introduce myself first."
As it spoke, bright starlight bloomed from the Worm of Spirit's body. Amidst the surging light, it transformed into a red-haired girl with fair skin, bright eyes and white teeth, and a monocle over her right eye.
She adjusted her monocle and said with a light laugh, "My name is Amon, the current agent of the Amon Family... Hmm, you can call me Amon. Nice to meet you!"