Volume 2 Chapter 32: Insidious Trap
Shura Forest, not big at a glance, but once inside, it's surprisingly vast. Lu Yun instructed Yun Feng to lead the way, and the group followed him secretly into the forest. After about an hour, the eleven people slowly approached the Soul Pool.
After glancing at everyone, Lu Yun said: "For safety, when we launch the attack later, the two Tianjian Institute experts will simultaneously attack and surround that demon from the demon domain. Ao Xue and Cang Yue will both go all out against that ghostly being, while the others pay attention to their surroundings and immediately take action if there's an unexpected event. Yun Feng, remember to give you a task, see if you can think of a way to crack the secret of the Soul Pool, while the others are careful at the same time, thinking about how to crack the evil aura of the Soul Pool." After finishing speaking, he led everyone cautiously forward.
Through the forest, everyone found that at this time, only two powerful guards were guarding the Soul Pool, and they couldn't help but feel a thrill of excitement. After carefully observing the surroundings, Lu Yun did not notice any unusual movements, and his heart slightly calmed down. With a light wave of his hand, Lu Yun gave a secret signal, and from behind him, four figures shot out with a loud whooshing sound, rapidly launching an attack on the demon and the Ghost Lord.
Three swords flashed, three great divine swords simultaneously left their scabbards, sandwiched between different dazzling lights, attacking those two enemies. By the Soul Pool's edge, the Demon Domain Ruler, whose body was flashing with green light, and the Ghost Ruler both changed their gaze, shouting in unison, rapidly dodging their bodies. In the midst of their figures flickering, dark and gloomy ghost energy, and eerie and strange demon energy suddenly burst forth. The powerful auras, under high-speed rotation, formed two frightening whirlwinds, rushing towards Swordless Dust and Cang Yue.
A long whistle accompanied by a phoenix's cry, the Tianling Divine Sword and the Xiao Yue Divine Sword simultaneously shone brightly, directly meeting the whirlwind's attack. The figures bounced and shot forward, four human silhouettes and two ghostly shadows rapidly flashing in mid-air, powerful attacks and counterattacks intersecting each other, under the calm sky, issuing a dense thunderous roar.
With the rest of the people, Lu Yun arrived at the outside of the Soul Pool and instructed everyone not to approach the mysterious flower pattern inside. After taking a glance at Yun Feng, Lu Yun said: "This place is very strange, any detection wave that gets close to the water surface will be bounced back onto the black cloud in mid-air, unable to find any useful information. Now, Yun Feng, you can use your Yin-Yang secret technique to see if you can find out anything. The others should carefully observe their surroundings to prevent accidents."
Upon hearing this, everyone became vigilant and carefully observed the surroundings. While watching the intense fight, Ziyang True Person asked: "Lü Yun, what do you think will be the outcome of these two battles? If our three divine swords can't defeat the enemy even when used together, we'll be in trouble."
His gaze lingered on the beautiful, rapidly flashing figures of Ao Xue and Cang Yue, with a hint of worry in Lu Yun's eyes. Looking at that Ghost King, Lu Yun felt an inexplicable unease in his heart, as if it was hiding something. Judging from the current battle situation, things didn't look optimistic. Jian Wuhen and Liu Xingyun were fighting against that demon, although they had the upper hand, their advantage wasn't obvious. Ao Xue and Cang Yue, on the other hand, had gone from having the upper hand to being evenly matched, and were gradually falling into a disadvantageous position.
He let out a soft sigh, and Lu Yun said: "I don't know where this Ghost King comes from, but his cultivation is so high. There's a very eerie aura on his body, revealing a mysterious and sinister atmosphere that makes people feel uneasy. With the cultivations of Ao Xue and Cang Yue, they can't even gain the upper hand when joining forces, it's really terrifying."
On the side, Xu Jie said: "I'll go help them a bit and get rid of this ghost together." After finishing speaking, she drew out her treasured sword and was about to move forward. Lu Yun gently blocked her path, saying in a low voice: "Don't rush for now, if you go at this time, it will only affect the two of them. Wait until it's time to move forward, we'll let you know. For now, just observe carefully."
By the side of the Soul Pool, Ao Xue and Cang Yue joined forces, their two divine swords flying about like dragons, their powerful attack force rolling up that thin figure of Gui Zun. Heh heh, with a sinister smile, Gui Zun's black figure moved at a speed of nearly a thousand times per second within a radius of one zhang, the afterimages from his movements forming a rolling black tide that surrounded the two women on all sides. Suddenly, Gui Zun's body appeared silently above Ao Xue's head, casting a poisonous glance at her before transforming into a black misty net that enveloped Ao Xue.
In the midst of dodging, Cang Yue let out a loud warning to be careful, and with a swift movement, she charged towards Gui Zun with her sword, intending to stop its attack on Ao Xue. Meanwhile, Ao Xue also dodged with all his might, and his divine sword moved swiftly, gathering into a purple cloud in the air that clashed with the black energy net. The purple cloud and black energy collided, producing a terrifying hissing sound, as two opposing energies cancelled each other out rapidly, like water and fire being incompatible.
The black light enveloped everything, and in the blink of an eye, it transformed the purple cloud into nothingness. A black energy net immediately covered Ao Xue. Feeling the powerful soul-destroying aura on the net, Ao Xue's face changed, and she suddenly increased her strength, releasing a purple glow from her body that formed a protective light shield. With all her might, she lifted the black energy net upwards. Not far away, everyone saw Ao Xue fall into crisis, their faces changing drastically, just as they were about to rush up to rescue her, but were blocked by Lu Yun.
Lu Yun's eyes were calm as he watched the fight, and he said in a low voice: "Everyone, don't panic. Ao Xue won't be in danger for now. She has the Purple Jade Battle Armor protecting her body, this strange black net can't harm her." The crowd was stunned upon hearing his words, then they remembered that Ao Xue indeed had a mysterious Purple Jade Battle Armor, but they didn't know if it could withstand the invasion of the black net.
Purple, black light flashed, with a strong power to each other. A sinister laugh, with the ghostly respect of unparalleled coldness, was transmitted into the ears of the crowd. At the same time, only the black net's light flashed, and a devouring all-powerful force instantly dissolved Ao Xue's protective light shield, rapidly enveloping her body. At the critical moment, Ao Xue's eyes turned cold, and her entire body burst with purple light, as an extraordinary, dazzling purple jade armor appeared on her body, setting off her proud figure.
By the pool, Ao Xue's entire body shone with a mysterious purple light. The Purple Jade Battle Armor flowed with purple splendor all over her body, and a majestic aura burst forth, accompanied by a sacred breath, suddenly sending the falling black net flying back up. In mid-air, the purple light and the black energy net clashed with full force, neither yielding to the other for a time, ending in a stalemate. Beside them, Cang Yue's eyes flashed, her entire body shining with white light as the White Jade Battle Armor silently appeared on her. The divine sword flipped and turned, 196 swords gathering in an instant into a golden yellow sword aura, wildly shooting at the black net.
On this side, Lu Yun and the others watched as Ao Xue and Cang Yue simultaneously deployed their protective battle armor. Everyone's eyes lit up, deeply attracted to the dazzling armor and the two women's enchanting figures. Transcendent beauty paired with an exquisite physique left Lu Yun, Bi Tian, and Du Li deeply infatuated. Even Feng Yuanyang and Zi Yang couldn't help but nod in admiration, truly a matchless pair of beauties, unparalleled in the world!
By the pool, Yun Feng's entire body shone with a green and red light, his eyes gleaming with an eerie red and green glow as he stared intently at the Soul Transformation Pool. Suddenly, Yun Feng's body shook violently, taking two steps back, his face filled with shock and excitement. Turning around, he looked at everyone and exclaimed loudly: "I know it! I've figured out the secret of this Soul Transformation Pool!"
"Really, you've figured it out? Is there a way to crack it?" Urgent and shocked voices came from several mouths at the same time, and everyone looked extremely surprised.
A somewhat complacent smile, Yun Feng said: "That's natural, you don't think about it, with me taking action, is there anything that can't be investigated? In fact, the most mysterious place of this Soul Pool is above these black clouds in mid-air. To the naked eye, this thing seems to be separate from the water surface, but in fact they are interconnected and closely combined. There is a mysterious power in this Soul Pool, which forms a strange boundary around the water surface, and any detection wave that gets close will be drawn to the clouds in mid-air and swallowed up, so nothing can be detected."
Lu Yun heard this and asked, "If that's the case, then how did you find out the secret of the Hua Hun Pool?" Not just Lu Yun, but everyone else was also puzzled, looking at Lin Yunfeng with suspicious eyes.
"Hmm, a smile spread across Yun Feng's face as he said: 'Of course, it's not that easy to investigate this. Wanting to find out something from the surface of the Soul Transformation Pool is impossible. The only way is to pay attention to the mysterious flower patterns around the pool. From my investigation, these mysterious flower patterns are a vast and complex celestial map of the Heavenly River. It's said that this mysterious celestial map shouldn't appear here because you can't see any stars from here. But why does it appear here? The only explanation is that this isn't a ghost domain object, but rather something from the human world. But why would a human world object appear here? In my opinion, this Soul Transformation Pool wasn't originally like this. It might have had an enormous and evil aura in the past, directly affecting the human world boundary. As a result, it was later sealed by a master from the human world using this mysterious celestial map, resulting in what we see now.'"
"This is just a guess, it's not necessarily accurate. Never mind, let's get to the point, what secret did you detect and how can we safely enter the Soul Pool and retrieve the sealed symbol?" Lu Yun asked directly, without wasting time listening to his speculation.
Taking a glance at everyone's eager eyes, Yun Feng quickly hid his smile and said in a low voice: "From the information I analyzed from this Tianhe Group Star Map, to enter this mysterious Huayuan Pool, we must first crack this magical Tianhe Array. Otherwise, the layer of magical seal on the surface of the Huayuan Pool cannot be opened. As for how to crack the Tianhe Array, I have already found a way and should be able to enter."
As soon as this was said, everyone was overjoyed, but Lu Yun's face suddenly changed from surprise to shock, and a hint of loss appeared in his eyes. Turning back, looking at the road, Lu Yun said in a deep voice: "Everyone pay attention, immediately enter full alert state, everyone stick together, be careful to defend. At the same time, call back those four people and suspend the attack."
The expressions of the crowd changed in an instant, and a look of shock appeared in everyone's eyes as they stared at Lu Yun in confusion. Following his gaze, a sense of foreboding suddenly arose in everyone's hearts, as if something big was about to happen. The crowd immediately gathered together, and at the same time, Zi Yang Zhen Ren and Yun Feng shouted loudly, calling for the four people who were fighting to retreat.
A chilling laughter echoed, and the entire Shura Forest, as well as the Soul Pool, were filled with dancing black ghostly shadows. A sinister figure appeared silently in mid-air, followed by nine ghostly shadows and an indeterminate number of ghostly soldiers. Glancing at the Ghost Lord and the Demon Domain Lord, the sinister figure laughed and said: "This time, we have to thank you two Lords for your trouble. You've managed to lure all these people here, a feat that cannot be overstated. The Great King is extremely pleased with this."
"Welcome, everyone, to the most mysterious Soul Pool in the Ghost Domain. I represent all parties of the Ghost Domain in welcoming you here. To show our respect, I have specially brought three top experts from the Ghost Domain to greet you. Hehe, you look surprised, don't worry, ask me anything, and before you die, I will benevolently answer your questions."
Lu Yun whispered to the crowd, arranging them in a five-element formation to guard all sides. He then shifted his gaze to Yin Lian. His eyes scanned the powerful figures behind him, and Lu Yun's face changed dramatically - there were at least ten of them, plus the thousands of ghost soldiers surrounding them, making the situation quite unfavorable. Calmly collecting his surprised expression, Lu Yun asked calmly: "Since the Ghost Commander is so generous, I'd like to ask a few questions. First, how did you know that we sent someone to sneak in and gather information? Second, is the Soul-Sealing Symbol really in this Soul Pool? Third, what are the identities of the two respected ones you mentioned, and what's the background of the powerful figures beside you?"
The gloomy figure gazed at Lu Yun, letting out a sinister laugh: "These are actually very simple. First of all, since you left the Soulless Abyss, we've been following closely behind you, so we know your whereabouts. Even if we didn't follow you, it's easy to guess your purpose, which is why we set up this trap in advance to lure you in. Originally, we could have taken care of you outside, but that way, some of you might have escaped, and that wouldn't be good. Once you entered here, as long as we activate the Shura Heaven Array within the Shura Forest, even if you were gods, you wouldn't be able to escape!" The gloomy laughter sent chills down everyone's spines, causing them to involuntarily glance around.
Lu Yun's face was expressionless as he asked, "And then what? Continue."
"Secondly, the Soul-Sealing Symbol you're looking for is indeed in this Soul-Transforming Pool, but even if I tell you, it's useless, because no one can enter it. Even if someone manages to enter the pool, no one can survive under the powerful Soul-Transforming Seal. So, your coming here is nothing but a death wish.
Thirdly, the two esteemed individuals you asked about: one is the Spirit Leopard尊者, one of the twelve Demon Lords of the Hundred Beasts Domain; the other is the Ghost Lord from the Ghost Domain's Phantom Island. As for those beside me, they are all top-notch experts from the Ghost Domain, with cultivation levels surpassing even the Ghost Sages. They are nine of the thirteen Evil Spirits of the Ghost Domain.
Now, I've answered your questions. Do you still have anything you don't understand? I'll answer them before you die." The dark and sinister figure gazed at the eleven people with an extremely terrifying smile.
His gaze swept over the Ling Bao Zun and Gui Zun, Lu Yun's eyes sank, and his heart began to sink. This time in the Ghost Domain, almost all the top experts had been encountered, it was really sinister to the extreme. At this moment, trapped in a desperate situation, Lu Yun couldn't help but glance at the people around him, and sighed softly: "This time we're trapped in a desperate situation, I'm afraid it's not as lucky as the last few times. For life, for peace, everyone must face it with all their might, bravely persisting on. Believe that as long as you try hard, there is hope. Next, remember to defend with all your might, let me go out and think of a way, see if I can break through this Shura Forest's strange array, so that we can escape more easily. No matter what, remember, persist, persist, and persist again, victory is just nearby. Now everyone get ready, remember to exert the advantage of the formation, in order to reduce the consumption of true yuan, so that you can have a greater chance of survival."
As they looked at Lu Yun, a faint sorrow appeared on everyone's face. If only they had known earlier, they should have listened to Lu Yun's words back then, and they wouldn't be in this desperate situation now. The long sword was drawn from its scabbard, and everyone strictly defended their position, revealing a resolute and weathered expression in their eyes. At this moment, a sigh seemed to come from nowhere, quietly drifting by the side of the Soul Pool, lingering without leaving.
Yin Sen smiled gloomily, his voice cold and stern: "It seems that you all have no more questions to ask. Very well, let us begin. I hope this time, we will not be disappointed." With a wave of his right hand, the ghostly army behind him immediately formed a phalanx with their spears at the ready, beginning to advance and press in.
By the pool, Lu Yun stood in the Five Elements Formation, with Bi Tian and Du Li standing beside him. Around them, Zi Yang True Person and Ao Xue, Cang Yue and Xu Jie, Yun Feng and Feng Yuanyang, Jian Wucheng and Liu Xinghun each guarded a direction, forming a tight array to await the enemy. At this moment, they saw a large batch of ghost soldiers launch an attack, and the eight people drew their swords together, each displaying their ultimate skills, closely coordinating with each other to defend against the Five Elements' momentum. In the middle, Lu Yun ordered Bi Tian and Du Li to focus all their attention on the sky above, constantly being vigilant for the enemy's attack from above.
His gaze fixed on the numerous powerful ghost domain experts, Lu Yun was considering how to charge out. As long as he could break through the encirclement of these experts, he could take the opportunity to probe the so-called Shura Absolute Heaven Array and see if he could crack it, then lead everyone to escape. After saying a low voice be careful, a silver light flashed on Lu Yun's body, and his figure appeared outside the Five Elements Strange Array in an extremely mysterious way. Pausing for a moment in mid-air, Lu Yun's shadow shot straight into the forest, trying to avoid the siege of the ghost domain experts.
With a faint smile, Yin Lian waved his hand and five of the nine ghostly shadows behind him shot out to chase after Lu Yun. After glancing at the group of human experts who were surrounded, Yin Lian led the remaining four experts to stand beside Ling Bao Zun and Gui Zun. With a hint of a smile, he asked the two Zuns: "Do you think these ten people can hold on for much longer? If our experts here launch a simultaneous attack, can they annihilate them all within ten moves?"
His eyes were slightly cold, and the Ghost Emperor said in a low voice: "The cultivation of these people is extremely high, and they are all rare masters in the mortal world. Among them, the inheritors of those three divine swords have even more profound cultivation, especially that man, who has a very strange aura hidden on his body, which makes one's heart tremble. With our current strength, it would be easy to capture them, but if we act rashly, we will have to pay a terrible price."
"The words of Gui Zun are reasonable. We don't need to rush into action now, but rather slowly consume their true yuan. When they're exhausted, it will be easy to capture them without much effort. For now, let's observe these top-notch cultivators and see what kind of ultimate skills they've cultivated. It'll come in handy when we deal with them in the mortal world." Ling Bao Zun nodded in agreement.
Yin Lian heard the words, his eyes turned, and he sneered: "Well, let's follow the two of you, we'll slowly watch the show now." After finishing speaking, his right hand slightly raised behind him. Behind him, a ghostly shadow flashed, and the figure disappeared into the dark forest.
Let's not mention the stalemate on this side, but rather talk about Lu Yun rushing into the forest. His figure quickly shot outward at the same time, his mental waves analyzing the current situation of the Shura Forest under the urging of his thoughts at the fastest speed. In just an instant, a clear map of the entire forest's energy distribution appeared in Lu Yun's mind. This included the battle situation by the Soul Pool, as well as the pursuit of the five ghostly shadows behind him.
While swiftly moving his figure, Lu Yun analyzed the situation around him. From the information detected by his spiritual sense, the forest at this moment was greatly different from when he first entered it. The distribution of the forest's energy clouds had been vast and complex before, but they were static. Now, however, these static energy clouds had changed, transforming into a strange circulation pattern that was operating at an extremely mysterious and inexplicable speed.
After converting 144 positions, Lu Yun still couldn't detect the secrets of the Shura Absolute Heaven Array and felt shocked in his heart. He turned around and took a look at the five Ghost Domain experts who had already caught up, Lu Yun's eyes were calm, among these five people, there was no particularly powerful expert. For Lu Yun at this time, he had encountered too many Ghost Domain experts, as long as they weren't top-level experts, he generally wouldn't take them to heart.
A shrill cry, and the five ghostly experts saw disdain in Lu Yun's eyes, which made them all furious at the same time. They were all ghostly experts, how could they tolerate being looked down upon? A black shadow flashed, a hidden ghostly aura appeared on Lu Yun's left side, striking his left chest directly. At the same time, four ghostly shadows intersected and crossed in mid-air, forming nearly a thousand layers of extremely dense black net, layer by layer shrinking inward.
His eyes turned cold, and a cruel smile hung on Lu Yun's mouth. At this moment, it was not the time to be kind-hearted and soft-handed. Since there was no one else around, Lu Yun could let loose without any reservations. A seven-colored rainbow light flashed, and his mental waves continuously laid down nine layers of defense outside his body, with a frequency starting from 183,700 times per second and increasing all the way up to 278,900 times per second. It was clear that Lu Yun intended to annihilate these Ghost Domain experts in one move, making preparations for his escape later on.
The air was turbulent, the ghostly shadows flickered, and the fierce impact resulted in a cacophony of wails. The five ghostly shadows were instantly blown away, their black aura extinguished, revealing their terrifying bodies. With an icy gaze at the five ghostly shadows, Lu Yun's eyes revealed a cold intent. His body shot up, hovering in mid-air above them. He raised his hands, and a powerful, unparalleled aura rapidly spread out in all directions.
Half-empty, Lu Yun's entire body was surrounded by a black misty aura, with rolling black air waves undulating unpredictably, enveloping his body in an eerie and terrifying manner. His black eyes gleamed with a cruel cold light, as the airflow around Lu Yun churned and formed a black whirlpool that sucked the five ghostly creatures towards him. The forest was filled with the sound of screams and wails, the desperate cries of the five ghost domain experts as they struggled and refused to give in.
A dark shadow flashed by, and Lu Yun was like a super magnetic field, easily drawing the five ghostly objects close to his body. Amidst the mournful cries, the five ghostly objects revolved around Lu Yun ceaselessly, their black ghostly energy being absorbed by Lu Yun with all his might, slowly transforming into his own Soul Refining magical power. With an icy gaze at the four Ghost Domain experts surrounding him, Lu Yun suddenly turned back to face the direction he came from, a cruel smile hanging on his face. His hands intersected in mid-air, and a strange seal emerged from between them. As soon as the seal appeared, the ghostly objects around let out mournful cries, the five ghostly objects were terrified and howled in anger, their pitiful voices filled with shock and despair.
"Soul transformation, how is that possible? No, no way, I don't believe it, no—" Along with a flash of black fog, all these voices suddenly disappeared.
He cast a cold glance at the ghostly creature hiding not far away, and Lu Yun shot out towards the outside. A black shadow flashed, and the figure of the ghost domain's high-ranking expert appeared in the arena. The ghostly creature looked at Lu Yun's back in shock, its green eyes flickering with a hint of astonishment and mystery, before turning around and heading towards the Soul Dissolving Pool.
