Volume 2 Chapter 25: The Initial Appearance of the Soul Transformation

  In the dimly lit Ghost King City, Lu Yun led the six of them to carefully search the city. To avoid encountering large groups of vengeful ghost soldiers, Lu Yun used his divine sense to detect any movements around him, and every time he encountered a large group of ghost soldiers, he would avoid them beforehand. This made the search much easier for the seven of them.

  Half a time period had passed, and the seven of them had already searched the entire Gui Wang City, including the outer perimeter, but unfortunately, they didn't find any clues. Quietly standing in mid-air, Lu Yun and the others sheathed their swords and stood on the wind. Looking at the densely packed buildings inside the city, Lu Yun said softly, "Now we only have the inner city left to search, but the ghost soldiers inside are clearly three times more concentrated than outside. It's going to be very difficult for us to conduct a stealthy search. Moreover, I can feel that there are several extremely powerful auras within the inner city, whose momentum is not inferior to that of Heihe Jian's Gui Shuai Huan Mei."

  Everyone's face turned solemn upon hearing this, and it was clear that the situation was not optimistic. With the strength of seven people, searching for a mysterious place in this foreign Ghost King City was naturally a very dangerous thing. Looking ahead, Yun Feng asked: "So what should we do now? Should we stop advancing or retreat? If we advance, there is danger and the enemy's power is strong, if we are not careful, we will fall into an absolute predicament. But if we don't advance, our time is also running out, everyone says, how can this be good?"

  Everyone looked at each other, and finally, their eyes all focused on Lu Yun, because at this moment, he was the leader of the group. Looking at the city, Lu Yun said in a deep voice: "Now that we've reached this point, we naturally won't back down. However, to minimize obstacles as much as possible, we need to think carefully about it. Cloud Maple, immediately find out for me where Sword Wudeng and others are hiding, I want to know first, so that we can decide what to do next."

  Yun Feng responded with a soft "oh", sat cross-legged, and began to perform his mysterious yin-yang secret technique to track the whereabouts of Jian Wucheng and the other four. Meanwhile, Feng Yuanyang said: "Based on the information we obtained from Heihejian, we can temporarily infer that among these ghost corpses, there is also a Ghost King, a Ghost Commander, three Ghost Immortals, and three Great Generals. In total, they have eight extremely powerful experts, including the Ghost King and Ghost Commander who are extremely overbearing, and we may not be able to handle them yet. Even if it's just the Ghost Immortals, dealing with them would still be exceptionally difficult, so we don't have the strength to engage in a head-on confrontation with them. Since we can't confront them head-on, our mission this time is extremely arduous."

  Cang Yue heard this and said in a soft voice, "This is just a conservative estimate. We haven't included the Undead Blood Evil and the Ghostly Homicide in our calculations yet. Among these experts, we need to be most vigilant about the Ghost King and the Ghost Marshal, as well as the Blood Homicide and the Ghost Homicide. Although we haven't encountered them here yet, I think that once we find the Soul Pool, we will definitely encounter the powerful experts of the Ghost Domain blocking our way. No matter what, they won't allow us to retrieve the Soul-Sealing Symbol again and re-seal them. Therefore, finding the Soul Pool is very important now, but after finding it, the crucial moment will be when we snatch the Soul-Sealing Symbol. At that moment, we cannot retreat."

  Everyone felt a sense of heaviness in their hearts after hearing that. Cang Yue's words were right, for now they could try to avoid danger as much as possible. But when it came down to the final moment of snatching the Soul Symbol, would they still be able to hide? If they were still hiding at that time, then why bother coming to this Ghost Domain in the first place? Thinking about having to face the siege of the top experts of the Ghost Domain in the end, everyone's heart felt a chill. Last time in the Ghost King City, their group almost didn't make it back, and that was just the experts from the Black River Association. If they were to face all the top experts of the entire Ghost Domain in the future, then even if they managed to snatch the Soul Symbol, they probably wouldn't have lives to leave with.

  Silence, stillness and quietness, no one said anything at this moment. At this time, Yun Feng woke up and opened his mouth: "I have already detected their whereabouts, now they are hiding in a corner of the city, all five of them are using their full strength to hide their breath, so we can't feel anything here. In addition, according to my analysis of the situation I investigated, it seems that they are closely watching something at this moment, and their expressions appear extremely serious.

  Lu Yun thought for a moment, then opened his mouth and said: "It seems that they have arrived before us. This is good, at least we can avoid many troubles. Now, let's follow Yún Fēng and slowly approach them. We'll go take a look too, maybe we can find out what they're observing, who knows, maybe we can even find the whereabouts of the Huà Hún Chí." After finishing speaking, he led everyone to sneak into the city under Yun Feng's leadership.

  After nearly half a time, the seven people carefully avoided countless ghost soldiers and finally approached a tall building. Taking a closer look at the towering building, the seven people were surprised to find that it was a ghost castle, with a huge Wang character floating quietly on its surface, making it clear at a glance that this was where the Ghost King of the Yin Corpse lived. Exchanging glances, Lu Yun's eyes signaled everyone to be careful, after all, this was no ordinary place.

  As soon as the thought moved, Lu Yun quickly found out that Jian Wucheng and the other four were hiding on a ghost house top less than ten zhangs away from the Ghost Castle, closely observing the situation inside. After glancing around, Lu Yun transmitted his voice to Yun Feng: "Can you use your stealth technique here? If so, get closer and carefully investigate the situation inside."

  Yun Feng glanced at Lu Yun, nodded slightly, and silently cast the stealth technique, approaching the ghost castle. Carefully approaching the ghost castle, Yun Feng chose a hidden eave to hide in, carefully observing the scene inside.

  At this time, in a deserted temple within the Ghost Castle, two black figures were conversing. "Your Majesty, based on the reaction of the city guards, it has been discovered that a powerful cultivator from the Mortal Realm has infiltrated the city today. They have already killed many of our city guards and are now hiding within the city. Does Your Majesty think this matter requires a thorough investigation or should we temporarily ignore them?"

  "What they have come for is what's important. Have you found out about that?"

  "Their purpose in coming here, according to the information I got from Heihe Jian, is to find the Huayuan Pool and retrieve the Fenghun Symbol. Currently, there is a Blood Yanluo in the Ghost King City of Heihe Jian, so no one dares to cause trouble there, which is why they shifted their direction and came here. I think they want to find out from us where the Huayuan Pool is located, and then seize the opportunity to take it."

  "Heh heh, they thought coming here would be cheap, but their abacus was miscalculated. This time, the Blood Demon King has revived, and the Black River Sect will be the first to suffer. The next target will probably be us and the Soulless Sect. For now, our main enemy is the Blood Demon King, so we need to conserve our strength to deal with that main enemy. As for these intruding Cultivation Realm experts, what do you think should be done with them?"

  "This is up to the king's decision. In my humble opinion, since they are looking for the Soul Pool and want to retrieve the Soul Seal, this matter cannot be allowed to happen as they wish. I think at a critical moment, we should give them a severe blow, let them know that this is not the mortal world. Now these ten days are the most critical moment, once the ten days pass, even if they find the Soul Pool, it will be of no use. Hehe, what does the king think?"

  "Heh heh, your thinking isn't bad, but unfortunately, you're not ruthless enough. Now they want to find the location of the Soul Pool, and apart from us, only two other Ghost Kings and a Ghost Marshal know about it. If they can't get it out of our mouths, they'll never be able to find the location of the Soul Pool. Right now, they're in my tomb, and since they're anxious to find that Soul Pool, they must be getting desperate. In that case, they'll resort to reckless measures, which will weaken our forces here. At this critical moment, I don't want to see such a thing happen."

  "Does the king mean to tell them about the Soul Pool's whereabouts, and wait for those from the Soulless Realm to deal with them? The king's plan is indeed a double-edged sword, but if they were to retrieve the Sealing Symbol, that would be disastrous. What does the king think?"

  "Fool, it's been a waste of time for you to follow me all these years. That Soul Pool is in the No-Soul Area, and if they go there, it won't be easy for them to get close. Even if they can get close to the Soul Pool, by that time, both the No-Soul Area and they will have suffered heavy losses. Then we'll make our move, and reap the benefits of their struggle. Besides, that Soul Pool is one of the three most forbidden places in my Ghost Domain. Even without anyone stopping them, it's absolutely impossible for them to come out alive with the Sealing Symbol from the Soul Pool. Do you understand?"

  "The great king is wise, and his subordinates have learned from him. In fact, even if we don't take action at that time, the masters of the Black River will definitely not let them succeed. We don't need to lift a finger, just wait for the masters of the Xiu Zhen realm to help us eliminate the enemies of the Wu Hun realm, right?"

  "You're clever, just as you said, we don't need to take action at all, just sit back and watch the tigers fight. Hehe, haha, haha... Who dares to approach my palace? Show yourself!" The sudden voice from Gui Wang's mouth made Gui Shuai let out a fierce roar, his figure shooting straight out of the hall.

  Yun Feng, who was hiding in stealth, was shocked and wondered how he had been discovered when he hadn't moved at all. Before he could think about it further, his body, hidden in the void, rapidly shot towards Lu Yun and the others. Mid-air, Yun Feng suddenly heard Lu Yun's transmission, telling him to head towards Xian Wu Chen and the others' hiding place to divert the Ghost Marshal's attention. Upon hearing this, Yun Feng secretly thought that Lu Yun was cunning and didn't give Xian Wu Chen any opportunity at all.

  Haha, with a smile, Yun Feng's figure paused, turned back to glance at Gui Shuai's gloomy face. Seeing that Gui Shuai was closing in, Yun Feng let out a strange cry and shot his body towards Xian Wu Chen and the other four. In mid-air, a furious whistle sounded, followed by a five-colored radiance that suddenly chopped down on Gui Shuai, forcing him to retreat several meters. As soon as Gui Shuai retreated, Xian Wu Chen and the others simultaneously appeared, fleeing outward. Meanwhile, Yun Feng's figure flashed once, secretly returning to Lu Yun and the others' side.

  Just as Yun Feng returned to Lu Yun's side, a black air mass appeared silently in mid-air. In the air mass, a pair of ghostly fires flickered, casting a gloomy gaze at the hiding place of Lu Yun and his seven companions. Lu Yun's heart skipped a beat, secretly thinking that the Ghost King was indeed formidable, and hastily ordered the six people to quietly leave with him.

  Under the dark sky, in the gray and hazy atmosphere, the King of Ghosts and the Ghost General stood still in mid-air, their eyes fixed on the departing Lu Yun and Jian Wucheng's two groups. At this moment, Yin Li suddenly laughed and said: "Your Majesty's plan is indeed brilliant, I believe they will never be able to guess it."

  Yin Sen smiled, the Ghost King said: "This time, Sha Xue Yan Luo is revived, it's destined that the Ghost Domain will be in chaos. Our main goal now is to preserve our strength and wait for an opportunity to strike. As for these powerful cultivators from the Cultivation Realm, how we utilize their power to eliminate our enemies is crucial. Once successful, we can unify the Ghost Domain without bloodshed and march into the Human Realm. At that time, haha, the entire world will be ours. As for the Soul Pool, they will never find it, even if they do, there's no hope, haha, hahaha."

  Triumphant laughter, drifting in the gray and misty royal city. The gloomy tone, sinister plot, invisibly driving the development of things. Whether its plot can succeed, at this moment, perhaps no one can guess through.

  Leaving the Yin Corpse Chamber, Lu Yun and his group headed towards the Wu Hun Interval. Along the way, Yun Feng mentioned the previous conversation between the Ghost King and the Ghost General. Finally, Yun Feng said: "From their words, it can be inferred that the Hua Hun Pool should be in the Ghost King City of the Wu Hun Interval. Now thinking back, those Swordless Dust people must have also figured this out, I guess they are now rushing with all their might to get there before us and snatch back the Feng Hun Symbol to show off."

  Zi Yang Zhen Ren nodded in agreement: "Yun Feng's words are reasonable, they must have that intention. We need to speed up now and must arrive before them, only then will we have a greater hope of obtaining the Soul Symbol. Everyone, let's hurry!" After speaking, Zi Yang Zhen Ren's power surged, his speed suddenly increasing greatly.

  Lu Yun looked at everyone and said in a low voice, "Slow down, let's slow down our speed first. Listen to me finish speaking before rushing over there again. Just now, Yun Feng relayed the words of that ghost king, and you all heard it too. Whoever arrives there first will become the strong enemy of Wu Sou Yuan. If we arrive first, we'll naturally encounter a powerful attack from Wu Sou Yuan. After we've eliminated some of those enemies and our true yuan is exhausted, what if Jian Wu Chen and his five people suddenly appear? Can we still compare to them at that time?"

  Ao Xue and Cang Yue exchanged a glance, smiled faintly at each other, but didn't say a word. However, Zi Yang Zhen Ren, Yun Feng, Feng Yuan Yang, and Xu Jie were taken aback, carefully analyzing the meaning behind Lu Yun's words. As they looked at Lu Yun, everyone's eyes revealed a hint of curiosity, as if they couldn't fathom what he was thinking. Zi Yang Zhen Ren asked: "Lu Yun, we understand your intention, but what if Jian Wu Chen and his group were to seize the Soul Symbol first? Wouldn't that make us lose face when we return to the mortal world?"

  Lu Yun smiled calmly and walked forward with the wind, saying slowly: "You don't have to worry about this. Have you forgotten that the Soul Pool is one of the three major forbidden lands in the Ghost Domain? Remember when we passed through the Not-Violent Ridge, it took us a lot of effort to escape. It seems that the Soul Pool is not something that anyone can solve. Now that we know Swordless Dust is ahead, let's follow him and play a game of mantis catching cicadas, with the yellow sparrow in the back. Isn't that great?"

  Yun Feng patted Lu Yun's shoulder and chuckled, "Good one, Lu Yun! You really have a knack for this. If Jian Wu Chen heard about it, he'd probably be so angry that he'd spit blood! Haha, perfect! Let them exhaust themselves first, then we'll make our move. Hehe, that'll be the best part!"

  Feng Yuanyang looked at Lu Yun, his expression somewhat strange, and he felt that Lu Yun was somehow different from ordinary people. Lu Yun's personality was very difficult to grasp, making it impossible for anyone to guess what he was thinking. At this moment, Feng Yuanyang realized that Lu Yun was not just as gentle and elegant as he seemed on the surface, but his inner heart was actually extremely complex and changeable. On the side, Ao Xue and Cang Yue were also looking at Lu Yun, both women's eyes showing a hint of deep thought, as if they had discovered something, but unfortunately no one spoke up.

  Arriving at the Soulless Realm, Lu Yun led the six to stop a hundred feet away and carefully observe. From afar, a pale green light mixed with dark black light formed a distinct layered shroud that enveloped an entire city within. The outer layer of the Soulless Realm was a pale green light shroud, while the inner layer was a dark black light shroud; both layers simultaneously enveloped the Ghost King City of the Soulless Realm.

  Turning back, Lu Yun said in a low voice: "In just two short days, we have already entered two Ghost Kings' Cities. Now there is only this one left, I hope everyone will be careful. From the outside protective light shield of the city, it seems that Wu Hun Jian is more severe than the previous two places, and inside may be even more dangerous. This time our purpose for coming here, everyone understands in their hearts, is not to show off our strength, but to retrieve the Feng Hun Symbol. Therefore, in order to complete the task, sometimes we have to use any means necessary. Whatever method can smoothly retrieve the Feng Hun Symbol, that's what we'll do, this point everyone must remember. Now, let's all enter together with me."

  A faint tone revealed a hint of seriousness. At this moment, everyone found that Lu Yun was somewhat different from the usual Lu Yun. But what exactly was different, it was still unclear for the time being. After exchanging a glance, everyone followed behind Lu Yun, heading towards the mysterious Wugui Ghost King City.

  Recently, Lu Yun's mental wave had already detected the method to break through this mysterious light shield, so everyone easily entered it. As imagined, this place is also different from the other two places. Only here can be seen that the light is very bright, almost like daytime in the human world. The difference is that the source of this bright light is a kind of blood red, a strange and evil blood red. The architectural style is also different from the previous two places, looking a bit like a maze, with many passages.

  Looking at the scenery in front of him, Yun Feng opened his mouth and said: "It's strange, why can't I see a single ghost flying around here? I remember that there were ghosts and spirits in Heihe River and Yinshi River, why aren't there any here? And also, why is it so bright here, not at all like the Ghost Realm, but rather a bit like the Human World."

  Xu Jie said in a low voice, "Also, the aura here has less of that eerie and ominous feeling, but more of a bloody and murderous energy. It makes one feel as if they have entered a bloody killing field, not like being in the Ghost Domain." After finishing speaking, she looked at everyone and found that their faces all had strange expressions.

  "Snowy Pride suppressed the Purple Shadow, saying in a low voice: "It's very strange, my sword has been trembling here all along, as if something is about to happen. I don't know about you, Cang Yue, do you have that kind of situation too?"

  "Just like you, my Moon Whirlwind Sword has been vibrating constantly, as if it wants to automatically leave its scabbard. If I don't hold it back, I really can't control it. This is the first time this has happened since I got the sword, I don't know why?" Cang Yue said in surprise, staring at Ao Xue."

  His gaze swept across the crowd, and Lu Yun's face darkened as he said, "Everyone be careful. Now I understand why those yin corpses didn't dare to attack this place before, and also why this place is called the Soulless Abyss."

  Looking at Lu Yun's serious expression, everyone's heart sank, knowing that something was wrong. Yun Feng asked: "Lu Yun, if you want to say something, just say it clearly, don't say half and then stop, making everyone anxious. Why are the Yin Corps afraid to attack this place, and why is this place called Wu Hun?

  Everyone, just observe carefully and you will find that there is not a single wisp of flying soul here. At the same time, the aura around us contains an extremely strong bloody evil energy, completely masking all other auras. The name "No Soul Interval" implies that it is impossible to find any ghostly souls with physical bodies here. And the reason why the Yin Corpse Interval dare not come and attack is precisely because the bloody evil energy here contains the power to devour and assimilate souls, which can erode the ghost soldiers' souls of the Yin Corpse Interval. We have traveled through all three cities of the Ghost Domain, but now I realize that within the Black River Interval, all ghostly objects are the most orthodox ghostly objects, with an eerie and mysterious aura being the most obvious. The ghostly objects in the Yin Corpse Interval contain yin evil energy, just like zombies in the human world, with a few parts of yin evil energy mixed in their ghostly energy. As for here, although we haven't seen any ghostly objects yet, I can be certain that this is the place with the heaviest cruel and bloody energy in the entire Ghost Domain. All the ghostly objects here, if I haven't misjudged, should appear as physical entities and will not be soul bodies.

  As soon as this was said, everyone was stunned and looked at Lu Yun with shocked faces. Yun Feng was puzzled in his heart, ghosts were originally soul bodies, how could Lu Yun say they were not soul bodies but physical objects? It's strange, can't think it through?

  "Lu Yun, you said that the ghostly objects here are not the physical bodies of souls. How is this possible? In our consciousness, ghostly objects have always been the physical bodies of souls, never having a real body. Are you mistaken or why would you say such a thing?" Yun Feng finally couldn't help but ask the doubts in her mind.

  No turning back, Lu Yun quietly looked at the city, on one hand using his mind to search for any movement within, while answering: "The ghostly objects are indeed soul bodies, this is not wrong. But I say that the ghostly objects here are physical entities, relatively speaking compared to the other two ghost cities. The bloody aura of slaughter here has a devouring effect on souls, so scattered soul bodies cannot exist. Those that appear here will all be in physical form before our eyes. However, to overcome the devouring of this bloody aura of slaughter, any living ghostly objects with high cultivation are extremely rare. In other words, among the three ghost cities, the ghostly objects in this Soulless Domain may be the least in number, but they are absolutely the strongest."

  "Alright, if that's the case, we need to be even more careful with our actions. Now that everyone understands the danger here, let's first find a place to hide and then consider other things. Staying here for long is very dangerous, let's go."

  Looking back, Lu Yun glanced at Ao Xue and Cang Yue, saying in a low voice: "There is a very evil power in the center of the city, it's very strange. Your divine swords are shaking, it's extremely likely that it's because of that aura. For the time being, I still can't find out what it is, because it's covered by a layer of strong true energy, my true energy is completely blocked outside. In addition, I have already detected the auras of Swordless Dust and his four companions, they are heading towards the city center."

  Looking at Lu Yun in surprise, the two women nodded slightly and didn't ask him why he had investigated so much. On the side, Ziyang True Person looked at Lu Yun, a hint of doubt flashing across his eyes, but he hid his doubts in his heart and didn't ask out loud. Lifting his head to look at the sky, Ziyang True Person let out a silent sigh, revealing a hint of worry in his eyes. What was he worried about at this moment? Was it the matter of finding the Soul Pool or something else? Perhaps even he himself didn't want to say what the outcome would be.