https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-664-Soul-s-Return-Dragon-Appears-in-the-Clouds/12942637/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-666-Azure-Sun-s-Strike-the-Rage-of-Tianran/12942639/
Chapter 665: This Grudge, Luo Chen Has Never Forgotten It!
Chapter 665: This Grudge, Luo Chen Has Never Forgotten It!
"Soul, return!"
The shout echoed across the vast and desolate Gobi Desert, as if the brown-robed cultivator's voice was about to turn hoarse.
The hurried ringing of bells, like the sound of soul-searching, reverberated throughout the thousand-mile radius.
When a black cloud in the sky revealed a dragon's head, a glint of light flashed in the cultivator's eyes.
He let out a low roar.
"Raise the banner!"
The two other companions didn't hesitate and channeled their spiritual power into the white banner in front of them.
In an instant, the banner flapped in the wind, stirring up the clouds.
The black cloud seemed to be pulled by the banner and began to sway.
As the clouds and wind shifted, a faint blue light quietly retreated.
In a short while, Tianxuan encountered Luo Chen and his two companions, who had rushed over.
"Master!"
"You've worked hard."
Luo Chen nodded and patted the spirit beast bag at his waist, and Tianxuan immediately nimbly crawled inside.
The Lord of Cloudsoaring Cave and Taishui couldn't help but glance at the bag again.
Allowing an Incarnated Demon Cultivator to run errands for them was far more convenient than having a typical third-stage spiritual pet.
Aside from other considerations, the difference in intelligence alone was like night and day.
After putting away Tianxuan, Luo Chen set off again and soon arrived a hundred li away from the Gobi Desert.
The hurried and eerie ringing of the bells continued to echo in their ears.
Their eyes were fixed on the scene ahead, holding their breath without making a sound.
Divine sense transmissions reverberated among them.
"What are they doing?" Taishui asked. Although he knew many things about the Demon Annihilation Land, his knowledge was limited to that. In the end, he had only gained spiritual awareness in this world, and his knowledge of external methods was limited to the experiences of Ding Yi, the original owner of his body.
"It seems like they're... summoning souls?" The Lord of Cloudsoaring Cave observed for a while and finally fixed his gaze on the white banner, "Using stones as an altar, bells as a guide, chanting mantras to summon gods, and using the banner to summon souls. This is the most orthodox soul-summoning technique of the Demonic Origin Sect back then, surpassing the shallow soul-summoning methods of family disciples."
Taishui was surprised, "Lord, you're so knowledgeable. Could it be that you're also proficient in this technique?"
The Lord of Cloudsoaring Cave shook his head, "Not exactly, but when I had a little reputation in the art of artifact crafting, I once helped a Foundation Establishment Cultivator from the Demonic Origin Sect repair a soul-summoning banner. At that time, he and an enemy were fighting deep in the Demon Sea, but unfortunately, my fellow cultivator..."
Perhaps the soul-summoning process at the altar ahead was slow, so the Lord of Cloudsoaring Cave decided to share some past events.
Luo Chen didn't interrupt and listened attentively, as understanding their actions would be beneficial for their next move.
Regarding soul-summoning, he wasn't completely clueless either.
Back when he was in Tianlan Immortal City, there was a shop that specifically sold a type of incense called Soul-Summoning Incense.
However, the souls that could be drawn by burning that incense were limited to those with a blood connection, and the effectiveness was hard to estimate. Whether it could truly recall the souls of one's ancestors was also uncertain.
Unlike the current situation, Luo Chen's gaze fell on the dragon head in the clouds.
"That previous soul-summoning was merely performed by a Foundation Establishment Cultivator from the Demonic Origin Sect, and its power was quite ordinary. How could it create such a huge commotion like it does now?"
The Lord of Cloudsoaring Cave sighed and also turned his gaze towards the dragon-shaped soul struggling and writhing in the black cloud.
"This soul is extremely powerful. Even if its will is scattered, the level of the soul itself gives me a great sense of oppression. In its previous life, I wonder what cultivation level it had reached?"
Taishui stared for a while, and his brows gradually furrowed.
As he continuously searched his memories, his head began to ache.
After a few breaths, he suddenly blurted out two words.
"Soul Incarnation!"
Luo Chen was startled, and the Lord of Cloudsoaring Cave's pupils dilated as well.
"How is that possible? Even if a Soul Incarnation expert dies, their soul is not something that three mere Golden Core Cultivators can forcibly summon!"
"Taishui, don't be so startled. Although this soul is strong, how could it be that terrifying?"
Taishui spoke with uncertainty, "It shouldn't be wrong. Although it only seems to be at the Nascent Soul level now, its essence is indeed a Soul Incarnation soul. This feeling is like... the difference between my current self and my original body."
Upon hearing this, Luo Chen and the Lord of Cloudsoaring Cave exchanged glances.
Especially the latter, who had already subconsciously taken a step back.
Taishui noticed this subtle movement and spoke reassuringly, "Don't panic. This remnant soul has probably been dead for thousands of years, and it has long lost its consciousness. Even this soul body seems to have been forcibly condensed by a powerful being using the might of heaven and earth."
Seeing that they didn't believe him, he shook his head.
"I can sense the ancient aura on it, which is definitely not from this era's creatures. According to my speculation, it's either a loser from the ancient great war or an ancient existence. The decayed deathly aura is too obvious."
"However, even ordinary Golden Core Cultivators shouldn't dare to provoke such a thing, right?"
Towards the end, a puzzled expression also appeared on Taishui's face.
The Lord of Cloudsoaring Cave stopped retreating and curiously looked at the three Golden Core Cultivators, "Who are they, and why are they soul-summoning here, as if they came here specifically for this?"
As they were pondering, Luo Chen spoke up.
"They're from the Blood Nightmare Demon's faction."
"Blood Nightmare Demon?"
"Huh? Demon Lord, do you know them?"
Luo Chen's gaze was complex as he looked at the brown-robed cultivator shaking the bells and shouting on the altar.
Wu Qi!
The master of Wuqi Island.
Also, a capable general under the Blood Nightmare Demon's command.
Their last meeting was at the auction in Feileng City, when Wu Qi was only at the sixth layer of the Golden Core stage.
Now, he had already surpassed the middle stage and reached the late stage, with robust spiritual power, appearing to be not far from the eighth layer of the Golden Core.
Luo Chen had also met the two people beside him once before.
"These are the renowned Late Golden Core Great Cultivators, Eagle Demon and Hundred Creations Old Freak, from the Blood Nightmare Demon Lord's lineage within the Demon Lord Flow!" After Luo Chen quietly explained, the Great Year's face changed dramatically.
"If what you say is true, these three belong to the Blood Nightmare Demon Lord, and they are under the command of the first-rate and the Rending Heaven Flow Masters. Does their arrival also imply that the three major Flow Masters of the Demon Annihilation Land are here?"
The Lord of Cloudsoaring Cave suddenly realized, "That makes sense. The Blood Nightmare Demon Lord is a Nascent Soul True Man from the Blood Sea lineage, proficient in the most orthodox soul-summoning technique, which he then passed on to others... Wait, isn't the Blood Nightmare Demon Lord a True Man from the Blood Sea lineage?"
The three lineages of the Demonic Sect were independent of each other, and their cultivation methods were clearly distinct.
The powerful cultivators from the Blood Sea lineage would never use the formidable techniques of the Soul Refining lineage.
Obviously, soul-summoning and soul-refining were techniques of the Soul Refining lineage.
Luo Chen's expression turned somber, and he didn't answer their question.
At this moment, he had only one thought in mind.
The Blood Nightmare Demon Lord had also arrived at the Demon Annihilation Land!
He had a grudge against this person!
He had initially brushed off the other party's face, refusing to be recruited, and together with Han Zhan, they used soul techniques to attack the other party's clone, He Yuan.
The Blood Nightmare Demon Lord wasn't a generous person; later, he directly ordered the Hundred Creations Mountain Master to spend decades chasing after Luo Chen.
For a True Man, this might just be a casual word.
But for Luo Chen, if not for his formidable strength, he might have perished long ago in the Hundred Creations Mountain Master's ambush, never to return to Seven Stars Island.
Luo Chen usually didn't mention this grudge, but he remembered it deeply.
Now, with Wu Qi and the others' actions here, was the Blood Nightmare Demon Lord also present in this place?
Luo Chen gazed into the distance, seeing no one, only the boundless yellow sand and layers of dark clouds.
"Senior, please search for me!"
"Hmm."
Han Zhan responded to Luo Chen's request.
Even though this place greatly suppressed divine consciousness, Han Zhan was proficient in soul-refining techniques, and the range of his divine consciousness still far exceeded that of a Core Formation Cultivator.
After a short search, Han Zhan's response came.
"I don't see any other Nascent Soul-stage powerhouses, but..."
Luo Chen had just relaxed when his heart tightened again.
"But what?"
"This place will undergo a change, be careful."
"Hmm?"
Just as Luo Chen was about to speak, a deafening dragon's roar echoed from the distance.
"Look!" The Lord of Cloudsoaring Cave exclaimed.
Luo Chen looked up, and in the sky, a dragon soul's phantom within the clouds started to struggle frantically.
On the ground, the white banner clearly showed signs of faltering.
At that moment, the Eagle Demon and Hundred Creations Old Freak, who controlled the banner, calmly took out a piece of earthy yellow rhombic crystal from their storage bags.
They shattered the crystal and threw it into the white banner.
As more crystals were thrown in, the trembling of the white banner gradually subsided.
Looking at those crystals, the Lord of Cloudsoaring Cave glanced at Luo Chen as if to say something.
The Great Year was more direct.
"Demon Lord, you've been collecting these crystals everywhere. Could it be that you also sensed something amiss?"
"Yes, you specifically asked me about the stone monsters that produce these crystals. Were they refined by the Heavenforge Demonic Lord himself?"
"It seems that you realized something was wrong before us!"
Luo Chen narrowed his eyes.
He had indeed sensed the difference between the stone monsters and the other beasts before.
Those beasts were all incomplete, with their soul bodies not fully formed.
The stone monsters were also incomplete.
However, the most fundamental difference between the two was that the beasts were of different species, each with their unique race.
Yet, the stone monsters shared the same origin, as if they were created by the same person.
Furthermore, as the Black Emperor collected more and more crystals, he increasingly felt that these crystals showed signs of merging.
Now, with Wu Qi and the others releasing a large number of crystals, it undoubtedly confirmed his speculation.
Moreover, Wu Qi and the others were taking it a step further, finding the source of the aura.
The dragon soul within the black clouds!
At this moment, he wasn't concerned about his speculation being proven right, nor did he intend to answer the Great Year's question. His entire attention was focused on the surroundings.
What was the change that Han Zhan mentioned?
The sand rustled, and the stones flew, as peaceful as ever.
Yet beneath this tranquility, a subtle difference emerged.
The boundary between the Gobi Desert and the Sandy Sea had been completely buried by the flowing sand.
Streams of sand, like tides, were spreading towards the Gobi Desert.
Their speed seemed slow, but it was actually extremely fast.
Without a deliberate reference point, it was almost impossible to detect its spread.
When the local creatures noticed, they were shocked to find that the once ten-thousand-mile-long Gobi Desert had been enveloped by an endless Sandy Sea!
"Something's wrong!"
Wu Qi's soul-summoning voice suddenly stopped.
At that moment, a deafening dragon's roar echoed from within the black clouds.
"Roar!!!"
As the dragon's roar erupted, the Gobi Desert began to shake.
Streams of earthy yellow light burst from the dragon soul's body, infusing into the ground.
Amidst the shaking, the scattered stone monster fragments on the ground started to crunch and reassemble, forming tall stone monsters once again.
Ignoring Wu Qi and the others, they charged towards the flowing sand that surrounded them from all directions.
As they ran, yellow sand giants emerged from the Sandy Sea.
In an instant, the stone monsters and yellow sand giants clashed.
Their battle was straightforward and fierce.
Without a sound, large numbers of stone monsters began to crumble.
Some yellow sand giants also disintegrated, revealing their cores, which were tiny clay figures.
These clay figures, without the support of the yellow sand giants, became fragile, and the stone monsters easily crushed and swallowed them.
Some of the lucky ones were once again immersed in the yellow sand, gathering endless sand to form new giants.
In a region of the Yellow Sand Basin...
A golden sphere rolled with the wind.
Within the golden sphere, three figures had looks of terror.
If not for the Great Year using the yellow-skinned gourd to release golden sand and envelop them, they might have been buried by the endless sand.
But beneath the rolling sand waves, the Great Year also showed signs of being unable to hold on any longer.
"That's the Heavenly Soil!"
Through the golden sand, the Great Year saw a small clay figure appear and fall, and he couldn't help but exclaim.
Then, his expression changed.
"No good, the Heavenly Soil has been disturbed. This Sandy Sea has become dangerous. We must leave."
The Lord of Cloudsoaring Cave, who had been shocked by the mention of the Heavenly Soil, heard his words and quickly agreed.
"Run!"
With his companion's approval, the Great Year wasted no time and controlled the golden sphere to fly away.
The commotion attracted the attention of three Golden Core Cultivators below as they passed over the Gobi Desert.
"There are others spying?" Eagle Demon asked.
"This Sandy Sea is so barren; I thought no one was here, but there are others," said the Ever-Changing Old Freak, equally surprised.
Wu Qi glanced at the golden sphere formed by the golden sand, his expression turning grave.
"Forget about others, we must hurry and capture the Stone Dragon's remnant soul. Otherwise, we won't be able to report back to the Flow Master!"
Eagle Demon retracted his gaze and looked towards the black cloud in the sky again.
"But now, the Stone Dragon's remnant soul is resisting entering the Soul-Attracting Banner, and there are strong enemies outside..."
"This is good news!" Wu Qi spoke firmly, "The one controlling the yellow sand is the Stone Dragon's remnant soul's natural enemy. At this moment, the Stone Dragon's remnant soul is dispersing its power to resist its natural enemy, and its main body is greatly weakened. This is our best chance to capture it."
"Put in more effort!"
Seeing the hesitation of Eagle Demon and the Ever-Changing Old Freak, Wu Qi's eyes turned cold.
"You were able to enter this Demon Annihilation Land and obtain a large number of rare resources because of Blood Nightmare's help. If you can't complete this task, even if Blood Nightmare doesn't hold you accountable, once you leave, without his protection, do you dare to face your respective Flow Masters?"
Eagle Demon and the Ever-Changing Old Freak exchanged glances.
The first-rate and Rending Heaven Flow Masters they had relied on before were not kind-hearted.
If the Blood Nightmare Flow Master didn't protect them afterward, their fate was unimaginable.
"Listen to me, complete the task with all your might! When the time comes, Blood Nightmare will bestow the Demonic Origin Sect's Nascent Soul Formation technique, and we will all have the hope of achieving the Nascent Soul stage. If we're lucky enough to succeed, we will become the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth Flow Masters after the Blood Nightmare Flow Master, what's there to fear from the first-rate and Rending Heaven?"
Wu Qi shouted sternly.
Not only did he urge them with words, but he also led by example.
He bit his tongue and spat a mouthful of essence blood onto the bell in his hand.
In an instant, the bell rang loudly, and the dragon soul in the sky seemed to be heavily struck.
Seeing this, Eagle Demon and the Ever-Changing Old Freak no longer hesitated and squeezed out their essence blood, enhancing the power of the Soul-Attracting Banner.
A terrifying suction force came from the Soul-Attracting Banner, and the dragon soul in the sky began to shake violently.
Without the dragon soul's support, the number of stone monsters that kept coming also gradually decreased.
What replaced them was the rolling yellow sand, covering the sky and blocking out the sun!
A rare glint of ruthlessness appeared in Wu Qi's eyes.
He wanted to seize the opportunity before the sand sea surrounded them and capture the Stone Dragon's remnant soul!
---
Whoosh!
A golden light pierced through the clouds and mist.
The golden light was a golden sphere, formed by a gourd inside it constantly spraying out golden sand.
Inside the golden sphere, the three figures felt relieved.
"As expected, the one controlling the yellow sand isn't targeting us," the Lord of Cloudsoaring Cave said with a sigh of relief.
The Great Year's face showed confusion, "Strange, the Heavenly Soil has been in deep slumber for over a thousand years. Even Nascent Soul True Men from the Demonic Origin Sect came to explore this place, but it avoided them. Why did it suddenly appear this time and engage in battle?"
A question came from the side.
"Is that the Heavenly Soil?"
The Great Year looked at Luo Chen and nodded slightly, "Yes, that's the Heavenly Soil. As I said before, the Sandy Sea has a master, and its name is Heavenly Soil."
Luo Chen had a thoughtful expression.
The Lord of Cloudsoaring Cave was curious, "What level is the Heavenly Soil? Compared to your main body, who is stronger and who is weaker?"
Hearing this question, the Great Year's expression turned displeased.
"We are different from cultivators and demon beasts; we are spirit creatures. Even if we are at the same cultivation level as cultivators, our means are limited. The Heavenly Soil and I are both fifth-stage existences, and it's not a matter of who is stronger or weaker; it's more about the advantage of the terrain."
"In the Sandy Sea, it's stronger. In my original territory, I am naturally superior."
"However, the Heavenly Soil is a man-made object, a hybrid with innate defects. If my main body can break free, I have several ways to kill it!"
As he spoke, he seemed to dislike the Lord of Cloudsoaring Cave comparing the Heavenly Soil to him.
Especially since his main body was a wood-attributed spirit plant, which inherently restrained earth-attributed spirit creatures.
"Never mind, let's not worry about it for now. After obtaining the Five Elements Lotus Platform for Qingyang, I'll go to the Demon Annihilation Land to remove the restrictions on my main body."
After saying this, he increased his spiritual power and prepared to leave the Sandy Sea with the two.
But at this moment, the Great Year looked at Luo Chen in confusion.
"Azure Sun Demon Lord, what are you doing?"
A giant hand pressed against the inner wall of the golden sphere.
Azure flames erupted, silently burning a hole.
Luo Chen's smile didn't reach his eyes as he said, "You two go first, I'll be right behind you!"
After saying this, his figure moved, and he flew out of the hole directly.
Behind him, the Great Year and the Lord of Cloudsoaring Cave were stunned.
The golden sand flowed back into the gourd's mouth.
The two appeared in the Azure Sky, watching Luo Chen's departing figure.
He was like an arrow loosed from the bow, resolute and unwavering, charging into the rolling Sandy Sea.
(End of Chapter)
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