Below, a seemingly bottomless pit was revealed. Zhang Boyant concentrated his eyesight, but apart from the thick accumulation of dead branches and leaves near the edge of the pit, it was pure darkness going deeper. He sensed something might be hidden there, with threads of chilling Evil Qi rising up.

Within a radius of ten thousand miles, only here is the Yin Hua Essence Qi most abundant. If there are Ghost Sunflowers in the mountains, they must be here.

After a few glances, he did not dare to enter recklessly but instead summoned several Devils, ordering them to go inside and scout.

Seven Devils, upon receiving his order, leapt into the deep pit.

After a while, a sense of danger suddenly surged in his heart, his eyes shining bright. He immediately summoned a Qi Jue, calling several times but received no response.

Zhang Boyant sneered softly. Even if the Devils were scattered, they could regroup. Yet now, they maintain contact within his Heart and Spirit, but he couldn’t summon them back, implying they were trapped by something.

He instantly used tunneling light to circle the pit and then stood firm in the air, forming a spell. This was a Divine Skill he had learned after following Zhang Yan, but as he was about to use it, he paused, dispersing his mana with a flick of his sleeve.

The power of this spell was not trivial. Once cast, it could turn several miles into a muddy mess. If there were indeed Ghost Sunflowers, they’d be destroyed alongside, which would not be good.

He snorted, grabbing several Yin Thunder from thin air and throwing them downward into the pit. After seven or eight breaths, muffled sounds echoed from inside, along with faint cries of some unknown entity.

Listening for a moment, he chuckled darkly, his body transforming into a Yellow Smoke, flying away swiftly. Just as he dodged, a pitch-black vine whip lashed from where he previously stood, smashing a distant rock to pieces.

Zhang Boyant smirked. With extensive fighting experience, he sensed the opponent hidden beneath the pit would be difficult to locate. To venture down would be unwise, so he intentionally stood above the pit serving as bait, hoping the opponent would show itself. Evidently, the adversary below was not very clever, and was easily provoked.

The entity missed a strike and seemed exceptionally furious. From the pit came the rustling noise of millions of ghastly white bones being squeezed out, piling around the pit edge, followed by a monstrous flower ten zhang tall emerging.

At first glance, it resembled a turtle-backed abnormal snake, its petals jet black, its flower face akin to a millstone with dense seeds, its jagged leaves, its thick stem covered in sharp thorns, entwined with tendrils of black smoke, exuding a rotting stench while the seven Devils sent below were stuck in the smoky air, unable to escape.

Zhang Boyant’s eyes shone brightly. Being part of the Demon Sect, it was his first time seeing such a vicious Plant Spirit, immediately generating the idea of capturing and refining it into a Magic Artifact.

On closer inspection, this thing was clearly the Ghost Sunflower he urgently sought after. It was simply larger than imagined, and he hadn’t recognized it at first.

Zhang Boyant squinted slightly. Originally, he planned to find a few Ghost Sunflower plants to confirm their existence in the mountain—this spot was not enough; he needed to search elsewhere. But now it seemed capturing this single plant would suffice.

This Ghost Sunflower had taken root here for over three thousand years, already nearing Transformation. However, fearing heavenly tribulation, it hadn’t acted yet. It spent centuries gathering the corrupt yin energy of the mountain realm to aid in resisting Heavenly Thunder at the crucial moment. Yet all of its efforts were unexpectedly benefiting Zhang Boyant, hence the fierce hate it held for this Old Demon surged to an extreme.

Suddenly, a shrieking wail, like wind from a cave, erupted, as dozens of vine whips rose a hundred zhang into the sky, all striking towards him.

Zhang Boyant just let out a sneer, raising his body slightly to evade them. With a casual gesture, a Banner flew out from the Gang Cloud. He grasped it lightly, shaking it to produce a massive black cloud, a hundred zhang wide, blanketing the Ghost Sunflower. In the blink of an eye, inside, thousands of Demon Smoke flew up, forming long slender black hands that tightly gripped the flower, wrapping it from top to bottom in just one breath.

He then pressed his hand downward, and with a booming sound, the huge body of the Ghost Sunflower was pinned to the ground tightly. Although its serpentine stem twisted and rolled on the ground, it struggled in vain, letting out a terrified hiss.