Hua Mei just felt Nie Kong’s smile was odd but hadn't seen the look in his eyes. Hearing Hua Zhang laugh so hard, she became confused.

Hua Tang and another woman exchanged knowing glances, smiling slyly, "Little sister Hua Mei, you let your Uncle Nie Kong tell you about that later."

"Oh?"

Seeing this, Hua Mei became even more perplexed.

Seeing her expression, the four of them—Hua Tang included—laughed so hard their bodies shook like flowers in the wind. The surrounding crowd frowned at their demeanor. What on earth were these four women doing? Their mouths and faces suggested they were laughing heartily, yet no sound was made. They were clearly mad.

The entire crowd from the Mo Luo clan seemed to have realized Nie Kong was teasing her. Her face was hidden by the white veil, so her expression was invisible, but her eyes betrayed no hint of anger.

"Brother, that goldfish is also raised with water. Can you let me see it?" The Saintess of Mo Luo’s pure eyes seemed to transform into two tranquil springs, rippling softly. Her tone grew increasingly delicate and pitiable, instantly evoking compassion in anyone who saw her.

Nie Kong felt speechless. The moment this woman appeared, Nie Kong felt an unusually magnificent spiritual sense sweeping outward in all directions.

However, this spiritual sense was very strange—like spring rain descending, silently nourishing everything, as if her spiritual sense were inherently a part of this world. Although she wasn't targeting the surrounding Spirit Masters at that moment, they were still unconsciously affected by her spiritual sense.

If Nie Kong hadn't recently absorbed a large amount of Origin Soul Flame, elevating his spiritual sense to the Void Spirit Realm, he probably would have fallen for her charm, just like everyone else, without realizing it—becoming infatuated and obsessed. Thus, Nie Kong deliberately teased her, wanting her true nature to be exposed.

But to Nie Kong's surprise, the woman seemed not to grasp his hidden meaning; her eyes remained as pure and endearing as ever. If someone else had been facing her now, they would have likely rushed to offer the Hellfire Youquan to this woman immediately.

However, the woman’s response made Nie Kong even more wary of her. Her cultivation might only be at the first rank of Spirit Control, but the intensity of her spiritual sense had likely reached the high ranks of Spirit Control.

Indeed, the Dark Soul Hall was full of hidden masters. First, there was Gu Sa from the Heaven and Earth Sect. Although Nie Kong didn't place much importance on Gu Sa, he had to admit that the Heaven and Earth Law Spirit Art was truly miraculous. In that situation, even a Spirit Master at the fourth rank of Spirit Control would have struggled against the wild assault of Gu Sa’s Heaven and Earth Dharma Body.

Then there was that mysterious man in green, whose movement spirit skills were bizarre, and whose manipulation of water spirit power had reached the Eighth Transformation of Divine Subtlety. Unless something unexpected happened, that person would undoubtedly break through to the Heaven Spirit Realm easily in the future. Now, there was this woman of unknown origin whose spiritual sense was both strong and strange. "Brother, please?"

The Saintess of Mo Luo begged again, her eyes wavering even more intensely, as if two crystalline drops of water were about to spill from her eyes at any moment.

"Fine," Nie Kong finally uttered, succumbing to exasperation.

Seeing the surprise flicker in her eyes, Nie Kong grinned sharply, his tone changing abruptly: "That's impossible. But if you show me the goldfish, maybe Big Brother will use this lump of water to raise it for you."

Saying this with a wry smile, Nie Kong paid no further attention to her expression, too lazy to delay or waste any more time. With a thought, Nie Kong’s brow twitched, and a powerful spiritual sense roared toward the woman opposite him like a flood from a breached dam, or a fierce beast breaking free from its cage.

Whoosh!

Instantly, it was as if a tornado swept through the passage, and a large expanse of dark green aura filled the void. The surrounding Spirit Masters felt their minds tremble, instantly snapping out of their enchantment with the Saintess of Mo Luo. Confusion first appeared in their eyes, quickly turning into undisguised shock.

"Such a strong spiritual sense! This fellow’s spiritual sense intensity must be around the eighth or ninth rank of Spirit Control!" Everyone stared at Nie Kong, dumbfounded. When the Saintess of Mo Luo's spiritual sense appeared silently without warning, they couldn't detect it, but when Nie Kong manifested his spiritual sense with such force, if they still sensed nothing, they would be unworthy of being Soul Transformation Masters or Spirit Masters.

A flicker of surprise crossed Hua Tang’s beautiful eyes before she couldn't help but praise him, "No wonder Nie Kong wasn't affected by the Saintess of Mo Luo's spiritual sense. It turns out his own spiritual sense is equally formidable. Eighth rank of Spirit Control, or ninth? Perhaps that isn't even his limit."

"Mmm," Hua Mei nodded, her face beaming with delight.

At this moment, a slight look of astonishment finally appeared in the pure eyes of the Saintess of Mo Luo. The void around her vibrated violently. A moment later, it was as if a ten-meter-high wave of snow-white water surged up from a calm sea surface and crashed down fiercely onto Nie Kong, who was a few meters away with a deafening Boom!

In the narrow space between Nie Kong and the Saintess of Mo Luo, it was as if colossal waves were churning. However, in the blink of an eye, the dark green aura gained the upper hand, crushing the snow-white wave like rotten wood, yet it did not pause in the slightest. It aggressively charged toward the Saintess of Mo Luo.

The Saintess of Mo Luo retreated backward over ten meters with a graceful, light step before halting.

"Tang Ling?"

The Saintess of Mo Luo stabilized her figure, a look of shock flashing through her watery eyes. She involuntarily murmured the name.

Although neither she nor Nie Kong had used spiritual power or made physical moves, the confrontation between their spiritual senses was far more dangerous than a spiritual power battle; one's mind could be severely injured in an instant. If the Saintess of Mo Luo had lifted her veil at this moment, everyone would surely have seen an unnatural blush rising on her cheeks.

Hearing the two syllables she uttered, the surrounding crowd was greatly astonished. They had guessed Nie Kong's spiritual sense was strong, but they hadn't expected it to reach the Void Spirit Realm. A low-rank Spirit Control Master paired with Void Spirit spiritual sense—no matter how one looked at it, it was abnormal. "If you won't show it, then forget it!"

The Saintess of Mo Luo snorted, surprisingly turning around and walking toward the passage exit. Her action resembled a girl throwing a tantrum because her request for a toy was denied. As she left, about a dozen young men and women in their twenties followed her. They appeared to be her companions.

Nie Kong smiled strangely. "Little sister, don't covet this lump of water on Big Brother’s shoulder anymore. Actually, Big Brother has better water for raising goldfish."

Boom! The wide passage immediately erupted in commotion.

The Spirit Masters who understood burst into uncontrollable laughter, while those who didn't understand looked around in confusion. The Saintess of Mo Luo, who had walked only a dozen meters out, staggered almost imperceptibly. Her companions turned back to glare furiously at Nie Kong. It was clear she hadn't stopped, only quickened her pace. "This woman really fell flat. Why pretend to be pure when she could pretend to be anything else," Hua Zhang chuckled, watching the Saintess of Mo Luo’s somewhat flustered figure.

"Uncle, what did you mean by that last part?" Hua Mei grew more bewildered.

Hua Tang let out a chuckle. A member of the Hua Ling clan next to her finally couldn't help but enlighten Hua Mei about her confusion after seeing her lost look.

"Uncle has become so naughty."

A moment later, a blush of sweet color spread across Hua Mei's icy-white skin. "This Naughty Disciple Nie Kong surprisingly also has such an improper side."

Lan Shang couldn't help but smile, and Liu Hemin and the others beside her showed slight smiles too. Jing Lan and the female disciples from the Mo Xue Sect flushed slightly. Nie Fenghua, however, maintained her cold, pretty face and snorted heavily through her nose, clearly very displeased with Nie Kong's veiled words just now.

But regardless, the spiritual sense contest between Nie Kong and the Saintess of Mo Luo, while shocking everyone with the immense power of Nie Kong's spiritual sense and the strangeness of the Saintess of Mo Luo's, had significantly eased the murderous aura pervading the entire passage. The shadows and tension in many Spirit Masters' hearts gradually dissipated.

However, the voice Nie Kong raised next made everyone's hearts leap again.

"Does anyone else wish to fight me?" Nie Kong’s tone was high, his voice ringing like clashing metal, echoing thunderously throughout the passage.

The answer to Nie Kong was silence. The atmosphere in the passage became somewhat oppressive again. The blood-red Hellfire Youquan coiled on Nie Kong's shoulder still exuded infinite temptation, but the strength Nie Kong had just displayed was enough to dispel the greed for it in the hearts of the vast majority.

After a series of battles, Nie Kong estimated things should be wrapping up. The current silence from the crowd was also within his expectation.

Yan Mang and Mo Wuwei, who were just there to make up the numbers, could be ignored. Gu Sa, who possessed the Heaven and Earth Dharma Body, was defeated. The mysterious man at the second rank of Spirit Control was defeated. And that pure-pretending woman with both a strong and strange spiritual sense was also defeated. If this still couldn't give them a clear understanding of Nie Kong’s strength, then they had been cultivating for over a decade or two for nothing. There was no hope left of snatching the Hellfire Youquan from such a person.

"If multiple people attacked at once, perhaps..." Just then, a voice grunted from the crowd. "If we wanted to seize the Hellfire Youquan, why would we fight you one-on-one here?"

"Well said."

Nie Kong’s eyes swept over the speaker. The young man who spoke subconsciously shrank his head, but Nie Kong didn't get angry; instead, he smiled faintly, "If you still haven't given up the idea, you can bring your companions out together. Don't worry, this time I promise not to kill you all." Hearing Nie Kong's words, everyone's eyes lit up. This fellow actually promised not to kill anyone anymore. If several people attacked together, maybe there was still a chance to get out! "Let's go, brothers!" the young man shouted loudly. Instantly, sixteen figures rushed out of the crowd, surrounding Nie Kong in the center with a clamor. Each one was filled with fierce resolve, fists clenched, eager to knock Nie Kong down in one blow. However, these sixteen people came quickly but retreated even faster—coming upright but leaving horizontally. The dark green aura vanished, and sixteen people lay scattered on the ground, unconscious. The surroundings were deathly silent.