Almost simultaneously, Xie Feng and the others had also infiltrated the deepest part of the Styx River, entering the bottom of the Styx Valley through another vastly different cavern. Xie Feng's eyes remained closed, but her brow furrowed slightly, and her delicate nose wrinkled faintly: "Chaos Spiritual Qi?"

"Indeed. Although Miss Xie Feng is not yet old, you are quite knowledgeable," the Corpse Worm Emperor praised her in a measured tone. "To immediately detect that this is Chaos Spiritual Qi proves you are indeed a descendant branch of the primeval divine beast, the Phoenix. Your foundation is truly profound."

The mere mention of 'Phoenix descendants' caused all the enchanting women present to show looks of resentment, as if deeply insulted. The round-faced woman coldly sneered, "Worm Emperor, you know full well the taboo of our Nether Phoenix Clan. Yet you dare to bring this up directly in front of us. Are you trying to provoke us into initiating a war between our two clans?"

"To become angry over this now would be unwise," the Worm Emperor stated coldly. "Bloodline is something innate; no one can erase it. I am not the one provoking; it is a fact that the Nether Phoenix Clan has inherited the rich bloodline of the primeval divine beast, the Phoenix. Otherwise, how could your Nether Phoenix Clan, a group of fewer than ten thousand souls, produce so many talents and masters, successfully securing a position as one of the Four Great Power Clans of the Nether Domain?" "So what if that is the case? But after the Phoenix Clan abandoned us, the Nether Clan, and entered the Demon Realm alone, our Nether Phoenix Clan has had nothing to do with the primeval Phoenixes." The round-faced Nether Phoenix woman could not help but retort, "It's better than your clan emerging from some unknown corner. I hear that when the Demon Race conquered the world you inhabited, it was an entirely barren land—only bugs, and still only bugs."

"Whether one's origin is noble or lowly, only strength is the true kingly path. To tell the truth, although your Nether Phoenix Clan possesses the bloodline of the primeval Phoenix, among your entire lineage, only Miss Xie Feng commands my respect. The rest, hah, have long lost the might of the divine beast Phoenix." The Worm Emperor sneered.

"You—" Just as the round-faced Nether Phoenix woman was about to erupt in anger, Xie Feng spoke with a light, leisurely air: "Enough." "Yes, Miss." The round-faced Nether Phoenix woman showed extreme respect and adoration for Xie Feng, immediately halting the conflict, bowing her head respectfully and fearfully.

"Worm Emperor spoke rightly; race and origin are all fleeting clouds," Xie Feng stated, her tone seeming ancient and distant. "Only powerful strength commands awe. Feng Juan, your talent is among the most outstanding in our Nether Phoenix Clan. If you were to strive diligently, coupled with a bit of luck, you might have a one or two-tenths chance of advancing to the Deity Transformation stage in this lifetime. Unfortunately, your nature is willful, wasting your energy on competing with others, resulting in your cultivation only barely reaching the middle stage of the Nascent Soul. After this matter is concluded, I will punish you by making you enter a life-and-death seclusion. You are not permitted to emerge until you reach the High Stage. Do you object?" "Yes, Miss. Your subordinate is completely convinced and has no objection whatsoever," the round-faced woman, Feng Juan, said with extraordinary deference.

After a pause, Xie Feng's eyes remained closed, and she said flatly, "Worm Emperor, I know one of your intentions. Since there is Chaos Spiritual Qi here, you wish to borrow the profound foundation of our Nether Phoenix Clan to perhaps set up a Chaos Spirit Gathering Array, thereby seizing a share of the spoils? As for the ruins of the Nether God Hall, hmph." "Miss Xie Feng, please do not be angered," the Worm Emperor quickly stated. "Indeed, our race is not as historically long-established as your Nether Phoenix Clan, being a branch of the Phoenix descendants with a deep racial background. I certainly hold an intention to hope Miss can understand the Chaos Spirit Gathering Array; it will benefit us all. As for the ruins of the Nether God Hall, I can swear to the heavens that the fragments were found here at the bottom of the Styx Valley; there is absolutely no falsehood, or may I, the Worm Emperor, die a terrible death."

"Very well. Considering that I have known you, Worm Emperor, for over a thousand years and you have never broken your promise, this young lady will trust you this one time," Xie Feng’s tone remained somewhat light and ethereal. "However, I have a small question. The origin and background of your Corpse Worm Clan are indeed somewhat low. It is normal that you don't possess the long-lost Chaos Spirit Gathering Array. But why must you seek out me, Xie Feng, specifically?"

"Miss Xie Feng," the Worm Emperor spoke, seeming to give a wry smile. "The Chaos Spirit Gathering Array is merely a legend to us; it has been rumored to be lost for countless ages. The only races that might possibly still possess this secret art are the great clans left over from the primeval or ancient eras. If I rashly went seeking someone to exchange for the Chaos Spirit Gathering Technique, the outcome is predictable. I have known Miss Xie Feng for many years and am familiar with your temper and disposition—though cold, you are a person of character. I trust that if the Worm Emperor trusts you, you will not let the Worm Emperor down."

"Worm Emperor, I must admit, you have excellent luck," Xie Feng stated faintly. "Our clan's inheritance does indeed contain the method for setting up the Chaos Spirit Gathering Array, and because the trick behind this art is fundamentally very simple, I recorded it out of curiosity when I was studying formations."

Hearing this, the Worm Emperor was overjoyed, his voice even trembling slightly: "Miss Xie Feng, what materials are needed? I brought ample materials for setting up formations when I set out this time."

"Hmph, you have calculated everything quite thoroughly," Xie Feng snorted coldly. "A three-seven split. You take three, I take seven." The Worm Emperor immediately looked distressed, shaking his head. "Miss Xie Feng, this place was discovered by me while searching for the Nine Nether Soul Devouring Worm King. A three-seven split is truly too little. Let's be fair—a fifty-fifty split, and no one takes advantage of the other."

"A fifty-fifty split? You can try asking that old Demon Dragon Ben. The Nether Domain Demon Dragon Clan is also a descendant race of the primeval Divine Dragon; they surely also have an inheritance of the Chaos Spirit Gathering Array," Xie Feng said calmly.

"Ask him?" The Worm Emperor let out a disdainful cold laugh. "That old dragon is incredibly greedy. If he were to learn of this place, I fear I wouldn't even get half. But coming back to the point, there are very few powerful experts as reasonable as you, Miss Xie Feng. Otherwise, I, the Worm Emperor, wouldn't have thought of you first."

"Hmph. Given our long years of acquaintance, four-six. Any more, and we part ways." Regarding Chaos Spiritual Qi, even powerful experts like Xie Feng, those at the Deity Transformation stage, would fiercely contend for every scrap. For experts who have cultivated to their level, many acquired heavenly materials and earthly treasures have lost their utility. To increase their strength, they must mostly rely on arduous cultivation. Imagine the cost required to make any progress or achievement during the Deity Transformation stage when lacking vast resources?

It is precisely for this reason that any expert who can cultivate to the level of the Nether Ghost Emperor, a middle-stage Deity Transformation expert, is already an exceedingly formidable existence within the Six Domains and Nine Continents.

And Chaos Spiritual Qi is one of the heavenly materials and earthly treasures highly effective for Deity Transformation experts. Even using it to cultivate some innate spiritual herbs is quite worthwhile.

"Four-six it is, then. It's settled." Although the Corpse Worm Clan is also one of the Four Great Power Clans of the Nether Domain, they are ultimately inferior in foundation to the profound Nether Phoenix Clan. The strength of their faction is reflected at times like this. Theoretically, the Worm Emperor, as a Deity Transformation expert, should not be inferior to Xie Feng. But because the overall force behind him is not as strong as the Nether Phoenix Clan, he is at a disadvantage in this contest for benefits. This is also because Xie Feng herself is relatively agreeable; otherwise, if he had approached the Nether Domain Demon Dragon Clan, the Worm Emperor would be considered fortunate to get even a sip of the soup, and they would already look down on him.

Naturally, for Xie Feng, a four-six split was also very reasonable. Although the Corpse Worm people were slightly weaker in comparison, they were still one of the Four Great Power Clans of the Nether Domain. If both sides tore their faces over one or one-and-a-half percent of Chaos Spiritual Qi, it would needlessly create a powerful enemy, which would be unwise.

After simple negotiations, an agreement was reached, with both parties benefiting.

Soon, under Xie Feng's main direction, the process of gathering and collecting the Chaos Spiritual Qi began.

But how could they have anticipated that on the other end of the cavern at the bottom of the Styx Valley, Lei Dong, leading the Ghost Race people, was also rapidly and madly drawing upon the already sparse Chaos Spiritual Qi here.

Unknowingly, Lei Dong and his group had penetrated dozens of miles deep and had collected eight small jade vials of Chaos Spiritual Qi. According to the artifact spirit, this amount of Chaos Spiritual Qi was enough to cultivate three to five stalks of innate spiritual herbs. Innate spiritual herbs are extraordinary things, mostly born from Chaos Spiritual Qi. Once refined into pills, they are like immortal elixirs, possessing incredibly potent effects for breaking through bottlenecks and boosting cultivation. Even those with the poorest aptitude would see their cultivation advance by leaps and bounds after consuming elixirs of this grade.

The only slight regret was that the amount of Chaos Spiritual Qi, sufficient for cultivating only a few innate spiritual herbs, was indeed a bit too little. It was no wonder that even though Chaos Spiritual Qi existed here, it still seemed somewhat thin.

Fortunately, the area within this cavern at the river valley bottom seemed quite vast, stretching out for who knows how many miles. If they collected slowly, they could still gather quite a bit. Suddenly, Lei Long sniffed a few times, his eyes lighting up: "The Chaos Spiritual Qi ahead seems much denser. There appears to be a Chaos Spiritual Spring."

Chaos Spiritual Spring? Lei Dong and Xiao You’s faces also lit up with joy. Chaos Spiritual Springs are usually formed by a cluster of Chaos Spiritual Qi. Not only do they hold a significant amount of Chaos Spiritual Qi, but more importantly, they might nurture innate spiritual herbs or various rare mineral materials. Of course, they might also breed some exceptionally powerful demonic beasts.

Everyone understood the importance of the situation. With Lei Long leading the way, they rushed directly toward the place where the Chaos Spiritual Qi was concentrated.

After moving through the underground palace for a short while, Lei Long suddenly roared out: "Everyone, be careful! There's the aura of a powerful demonic beast."

A foul, putrid wind instantly assaulted their nostrils.