Chapter 34: The Earth-Bound Spirit and the Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation

"Mother, did you hear any screeching just now?" Nan Feihuang asked Lan Xue.

When they were outside, Lan Xue had told him not to call her Empress Mother, but rather Mother, to slightly conceal their identities and appear more intimate.

"Screeching? No." Lan Xue shook her head. This place was simply too far from the Life Lake at the center of the Star Dou Great Forest; the sound could not possibly reach here. Thus, even with Lan Xue's Title Douluo cultivation, she had heard absolutely nothing.

The reason Nan Feihuang could hear it was because the sound had been transmitted specifically to him.

"You didn't? Then it must have been my imagination." Nan Feihuang did not probe further. In truth, he was certain that the sound he had just heard was very clear, and it had come from the very center of the Star Dou Great Forest.

He truly wanted to get to the bottom of it.

But for him to go to that place now would be no different from seeking death. Even with Lan Xue's protection, there was no guarantee of absolute safety.

If they encountered those two Forest Kings, Lan Xue would not be a match for them if they joined forces in a two-on-one fight. She would not be defeated immediately, but it would be absolutely impossible for her to protect Nan Feihuang while distracted by them.

Therefore, Nan Feihuang chose to remain unmoved for the time being, waiting until he had the ability to go and investigate.

As time gradually turned to night, Nan Feihuang and Lan Xue unknowingly walked into an incredibly eerie canyon.

"Hmm? This terrain?" Nan Feihuang frowned, looking at the arrangement of the valley.

"What is it, Huang'er?" Lan Xue asked, puzzled.

"Mother, I once saw this type of terrain in my Dunjia Heavenly Book. Three hills ahead, three long and two short, surrounded by mountains on all sides, with thousands of bones buried above and below ground—this place is a Soul-Locking Land," Nan Feihuang murmured. "And today happens to be a starless night, with extremely heavy yin energy, so it is very likely that..."

Lan Xue was startled and finished his sentence, "Could it be a Earth-Bound Spirit!" The next moment, the Mysterious Ice Halberd was already in her hand. She had also realized it; as a Title Douluo, she had of course heard of this type of extremely evil yet powerful special Spirit Beast.

Just like the Ghost Hand of the Spirit Hall's Gui Douluo, it was a martial soul that could only be produced after one had died once.

An Earth-Bound Spirit is a new type of special Spirit Beast formed after a Spirit Beast dies and its soul is bound. It is shadowless and formless, difficult to track.

Even a Douluo-level expert could fall victim to them if they were not careful.

Even if the cultivation of the Earth-Bound Spirits here was not very high—at most around a thousand years—and posed no threat to Lan Xue, the same could not be said for Nan Feihuang.

Facing such bizarre monsters, even Lan Xue could not afford to be careless.

Suddenly, countless screams echoed through the valley, and pitch-black figures crawled out from the ground. The sight of those Ghost Hands alone was enough to make one's hair stand on end.

At this moment, Lan Xue and Nan Feihuang were completely surrounded.

Mist filled the surroundings, making it difficult to distinguish directions.

"Go!" Lan Xue grabbed Nan Feihuang by the shoulder and flew toward the sky. This was a major difference in appearance between a Title Douluo and a Spirit Douluo.

That is, even without using a martial soul, one can fly through the air. If one possesses a flying-type Beast Spirit, or can control a sword like the Sword Douluo, the speed can be even faster.

Lan Xue chose to retreat. Although she was confident in dealing with so many Earth-Bound Spirits, she was not confident in ensuring her son remained unharmed under their siege; the attacks of the Earth-Bound Spirits were simply too bizarre.

The fact that even she, a Title Douluo, had been surrounded by so many vengeful spirits without noticing was the best evidence.

However, she had barely flown ten meters into the high air with Nan Feihuang when she was pressed down by a fierce force.

"How is this possible? I've been restricted from the air. Why would mere hundred- or thousand-year Earth-Bound Spirits possess the ability to restrict a Title Douluo?" Lan Xue was shocked.

"Ugh..." At this moment, the Earth-Bound Spirits roared and charged toward the two who had fallen back to the ground.

There were thousands of them. With a sweep of her long halberd, Lan Xue scattered the dozens that were pouncing on her. Nan Feihuang also used his Single-Handed Eighteen Picks to pierce through the Earth-Bound Spirits that were attacking him, which had only two or three hundred years of cultivation.

But very quickly, these Earth-Bound Spirits regrouped.

"Huang'er, you must not leave my side. These guys are very strange!" Lan Xue said with a frown.

For some reason, even though there were countless Earth-Bound Spirits in front of her, the feeling they gave her was as if there were only one. Moreover, that one could not be killed and its strength was infinitely close to the Title Douluo level, which was why it could restrict her.

But she could not worry about that now. She swung the Mysterious Ice Halberd continuously, scattering the Earth-Bound Spirits one by one, only to watch them repeatedly reform.

This phenomenon should not have occurred. No matter how bizarre Earth-Bound Spirits were, mere hundred- or thousand-year cultivation should not be able to withstand the attacks of a Title Douluo.

"Hmm? The attacks of these Earth-Bound Spirits are not without method; they are actually very regular. This attack pattern?" Nan Feihuang suddenly noticed something.

"Rest!" Nan Feihuang spat out a word and looked to the north. Sure enough, a dozen Earth-Bound Spirits attacked from that side. After Lan Xue scattered them, Nan Feihuang continued, "Next is Injury!"

He looked to the east; it was that direction's turn for the Earth-Bound Spirits to attack.

Lan Xue also noticed it now. Her son seemed to have discovered something. "Huang'er, why can you predict the opponent's attack pattern?"

"Mother, this is a formation recorded in my Dunjia Heavenly Book called the Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation. These Earth-Bound Spirits are utilizing the terrain here to create this battle formation, combining the power of these thousands of Earth-Bound Spirits into one and greatly enhancing it, making them comparable to a Title Douluo-level expert. That is why you felt as if there was only one opponent. There must be a highly intelligent existence among them acting as the eye of the formation. As long as we break it, this formation will surely be broken!" Nan Feihuang said.

"Your book even has this recorded? It really is an encyclopedia," Lan Xue couldn't help but remark. She then held the halberd in one hand and picked up Nan Feihuang with her left. "Huang'er, you direct, and Mother will break the formation. Let us mother and son join forces."

Nan Feihuang nodded. "Alright, Mother, listen to me. Start attacking from the southeast!"

Hearing her son's words, Lan Xue swung her long halberd, and a powerful freezing force immediately swept across the southeast direction, completely ice-sealing the hundreds of Earth-Bound Spirits there.

"Mother, the southeast is the Life Gate. After breaking through here, kill your way in from here, all the way to the Scenery Gate in the due west," Nan Feihuang continued to direct.

Lan Xue did not hesitate. Holding her son in one hand and swinging the halberd with the other, she charged wantonly through the thousands of Earth-Bound Spirits, as if she were merely watching fish or admiring flowers.

Very quickly, she had killed her way from the southeast to the west gate.

"Fifth Soul Skill: Profound Ice Break!" Lan Xue unleashed her soul skill—a ten-thousand-year soul skill. A giant ice dragon roared out and charged directly through the Scenery Gate.

The scenery around them changed abruptly, the mist dissipated, and the formation had been broken by Lan Xue, revealing the Earth-Bound Spirit at the very center of the formation.

"Mother, that is where the eye of the formation is! Throw me over there!" Nan Feihuang shouted.

Lan Xue exerted an appropriate amount of force and threw Nan Feihuang toward the Earth-Bound Spirit in the middle.

Nan Feihuang held his halberd high, and his First Spirit Ring flashed. "First Soul Skill: Half-Moon Slash!"

The Earth-Bound Spirit in the middle was the strategist for all these Earth-Bound Spirits. Perhaps its cultivation was not the highest, but it was the most suitable for the current Nan Feihuang, at around 1,200 years.

That Earth-Bound Spirit certainly did not want to sit and wait for death, but without the support of the formation, its strength did not seem like much. It was smart enough to set up an Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation, but unfortunately, this intelligence was traded for strength.

Moreover, Nan Feihuang possessed a Ghost God Body similar to Lv Bu's. This constitution had extremely heavy baleful energy and was inherently the nemesis of ghosts.

That fellow was so frightened by Nan Feihuang that it dared not move. In the end, it was split in two by a single strike from the Fangtian Halberd.

Seeing this, the remaining Earth-Bound Spirits were immediately frightened and scattered. Without a commander and the formation, Lan Xue could easily kill them all, but Nan Feihuang only needed one spirit ring, so there was no need to slaughter them all.

A purple light ring emerged from the body of the slain Earth-Bound Spirit, and Nan Feihuang reached out his hand toward it.

(End of chapter)