Chapter 216: Ghost Soul Water

Several more Nether Beasts roared and charged from all around.

Xu Chen lightly touched the Blue Light Jade Bottle with his Divine Sense, and as his Yuan Qi surged out, a cyan phantom of a mountain range exploded in the surroundings, directly knocking the several Nether Beasts flying; immediately following this, a bolt of thunder descended, and a Soul Beast only five or six zhang in size was blasted into nothingness in mid-air.

A Fourth-Rank Nether Beast is still something Xu Chen cannot contend with for the time being.

As for Third-Tier mid-to-late stage Nether Beasts, if he were to face one alone, he reckons he could slowly grind it to death using his Magic Treasure and white light, though it would require a significant amount of time.

However, Third-Tier early-stage Soul Beasts no longer pose much of a threat to him right now; he can easily deal with them just by using his Magic Treasure and Divine Pattern Battle Technique.

As for Second-Tier Nether Beasts, he no longer pays them any mind at all.

There are estimated to be over ten flying lizards with combat capability in this Soul Beast nest, but only about four or five have truly reached the Third-Tier; at the moment, they are all being held back with full force by Feng Yi and the other three Tribal Pattern Warriors, and it looks like they are handling them quite easily—although the situation is somewhat deadlocked, victory is only a matter of time.

Therefore, Xu Chen does not want to go up and help; instead, he brandishes the Thunder Fire Pestle, flickering and weaving through the Black Wind, occasionally unleashing the Cloud Flow Step to launch fierce attacks against the groups of low-tier flying lizards.

Very quickly, the dozen or so weaker flying lizards are all wiped out, and the valley suddenly becomes much quieter.

"Let's go, let's go into the nest and take a look first!"

Xu Chen puts away the Thunder Fire Pestle, gives a nod to Feng Feiyi and the three others including Feng Xing, and then transforms into a streak of light, charging straight toward a massive cave deep in the valley.

"Leave the outside to us, you all go in and protect the benefactor!"

Feng Yi is still playing cat-and-mouse with the largest Nether Beast; the beast's wings are torn with two large holes, and it is roaring and thrashing in the air while spitting black light, looking as if it is about to reach its end.

With victory now in sight, he loudly urges Feng Xing and Feng Zhao to follow and protect Xu Chen.

Soon, Xu Chen rushes into the depths of the valley.

At this moment, there are still over a dozen flying lizards, only one, two, or three zhang in size, flying and roaring near the cave entrance, but they do not dare to fly out; seeing this, Xu Chen shows no mercy, directly releasing a tidal wave of cyan Wind Blades that sweeps from the bottom of the valley into the cave, shredding all the large and small Nether Beasts along the way into dissipating Black Mist.

These Nether Beasts may seem weak, but if placed in the outside Mortal World, they would be demonic creatures that give all low-to-mid-level cultivators a headache.

When Xu Chen entered Black Wind Ridge twice in the past, the large quantities of Nether Beasts he encountered were mostly of this size, with very few exceeding five zhang; Nether Beasts of this size could only be counted as First Stage, but at that time, Xu Wen and Lan You, who were in the Zhenyuan Realm, were basically unable to deal with them—they could resist, but killing them was very difficult, and one careless move would result in a severe injury from the backlash of the Soul's power.

As for the giant spider and two-headed bat he encountered later, those were of Second-Tier strength, which cultivators of the same level are basically unable to contend with.

And later, the giant Soul Spider that attacked the Array Eye of the Five Elements grand array was likely at the late Second-Tier or early Third-Tier; Zhenyuan Realm cultivators were completely unable to withstand a single blow, and even those in the Danyuan Realm would be struck—if it weren't for Xuanchenzi intervening in time, the grand array would likely not have been preserved.

As for the octopus Soul Beast, nearly thirty zhang in size, that brought Xu Chen into Minghuang, its strength was stronger, not weaker, than the strongest flying lizard before him; it was at least at the Third-Tier mid-stage.

Xu Chen could withstand its Soul attacks and backlash, but he could not break through its defenses at all; even when he finally had a sudden inspiration and used the Demon Refining Art to release white light to severely wound it, the process lasted for a very long time, and it was only after Xu Chen could no longer bear the impact of the white light enhancement from the Demon Refining Art that he finally blasted it into fly ash.

Although his strength and realm have improved significantly since entering Minghuang, with his current strength, even with the addition of Divine Pattern Battle Techniques, he can at most barely deal with Third-Tier mid-stage Nether Beasts; he still lacks the ability to deal with late-stage ones—he can contend and fight, but he cannot finish the battle quickly.

And in a complex and unfamiliar environment like Minghuang, which is a paradise for Nether Beasts, once one falls into a protracted, bitter battle, it is very easy to lose one's life while being besieged by a large number of Nether Beasts.

This is also why Xu Chen has never dared to be overconfident and rush to leave the Feng tribe to find a way out.

The battle outside is still continuing.

Xu Chen follows Feng Feiyi, Feng Xing, and Feng Zhao into the flying lizard cave.

The interior is extremely spacious and vast, billowing with thick black smoke like a demon's lair.

The four of them continue to kill the small flying lizards along the way as they push deeper.

There are many forks in the cave, which seem to be tunnels dug out by the flying lizards.

Feng Feiyi and the others seem quite familiar with the flying lizard nest, leading Xu Chen straight to the deepest part; soon, a stone grotto appears before everyone.

As far as his Divine Sense can reach, it is at least a hundred zhang in circumference; there are many holes in the surrounding stone walls, filled with swirling masses of Black Mist, which seem to be things like eggs, and in the middle of the grotto, there is a pool of water; what is astonishing is that there are even a few black lotus flowers growing in the water.

"Mysterious Water Nether Lotus?!"

Xu Chen exclaims in shock the moment he sees them.

These few black lotus flowers are actually very similar to the Mysterious Water Nether Lotus he subdued deep in the mine cave of the Spirit Fox Valley in the past.

"What are you saying?"

Seeing Xu Chen's exclamation of surprise, Feng Feiyi and the others are all bewildered and cannot understand, so they can only ask via voice transmission.

Xu Chen points to the black lotuses in the pool and says: "I have seen this thing in the Mortal World; it is called the Mysterious Water Nether Lotus, and it is originally a product of the Underworld as well, extremely strange and powerful."

Feng Feiyi pauses for a moment, shakes his head, and says: "We call this the Nether Soul Flower; it is precisely because of its existence that the Ghost Soul Spring water can be born. Look at this pool of water; this is the Ghost Soul Water we have always needed."

Xu Chen approaches in surprise to look closely, and sure enough, he discovers that the water in the pool is clear and azure, not that pitch-black color, and it even emits wisps of a faint fragrance.

And the black lotus flowers are not living creatures either; they show no movement at all in the water.

Could this really not be the Mysterious Water Nether Lotus?

But it looks too much like it.

Xu Chen is completely baffled, and at the same time, he recalls what was said in the recorded Jade Slip left behind by Wuwang Shenjun back then, which stated that the black lotus was called the Mysterious Water Nether Lotus; could it be that it wasn't originally called the Mysterious Water Nether Lotus, but rather the Nether Soul Flower?

But although the two flowers are similar in color and shape, their properties seem completely different.

At this time, the flying lizards in the giant lizard nest are likely all either lured out and killed or in the process of being killed; the cave is quite safe, and he does not sense any other threats.

Feng Feiyi and the others excitedly walk to the side of the Ghost Soul Spring and immediately take out some clay pots to start collecting the water; Xu Chen also prepares to get a barrel to take back.

Although the products of the Underworld are scarce, each one is quite extraordinary; he had carefully felt this Ghost Soul Water when refining pills, and it possesses a strange energy that powerfully clears various discomforts from the body—not just the Blood Poison of the so-called Divine Blood Paste, but he even feels that after drinking it, his tendons, bones, and flesh seem to have been soaked and washed by cool spring water, leaving his whole body refreshed and clear, and even his Soul feels much lighter.

If even his formidable physique can feel it so clearly, cultivators of the Mortal World would feel it even more distinctly; bringing it out might have some unexpected wonderful uses.

But it is a pity that this spring water must have the Nether Soul Flower to form... wait, should I take a flower out?

Xu Chen's eyes suddenly light up, and he turns his head to transmit his voice to Feng Feiyi: "Can I dig up a Nether Soul Flower and take it with me?"

Feng Feiyi nods quickly: "You can even dig them all up; actually, Ghost Soul Water is not rare in Minghuang, it's just that our strength wasn't enough before, so we couldn't travel too far to search for it. Besides, most Nether Beasts also like Ghost Soul Water very much; as long as you find a nest where a large number of Nether Beasts gather, it is very easy to find a Ghost Soul Spring."

Xu Chen asks in surprise: "Nether Beasts are originally demonic creatures of the Underworld, why do they also need the Ghost Soul Spring?"

"Because the Ghost Soul Spring has the effect of awakening intelligence and nourishing flesh and blood. The lowest-level Nether Beasts are condensed from Soul Beads and do not have true flesh-and-blood bodies, so they cannot form tribes through reproduction. But under the influence of the Ghost Soul Spring's aura, Nether Beasts will awaken their intelligence and be able to form true flesh-and-blood bodies like humans. Once they fully evolve a complete flesh-and-blood body, they can grow into extremely terrifying existences; it is said that the most powerful Nether Beasts can destroy the world and are comparable to gods," Feng Feiyi explains.

Xu Chen gasps in shock, thinking to himself that it seems he had underestimated the efficacy of this Ghost Soul Water, and he also suddenly remembers that he had killed two Soul Beasts on the way to Yuqing Hall that had used the flesh and blood of humans and wild beasts to recast their bodies.

At that time, he had killed one and even obtained something that looked like a beast egg.

So, he probes his Divine Sense into his Mysterious Gold Bracelet to search, and then, with a pull of his Divine Sense, a black bead the size of a bowl appears in his hand.

Several months have passed since he obtained this egg, and feeling it now, the life force inside seems much weaker.

If this Soul Beast egg were to be hatched in the Ghost Soul Water, he wonders what kind of strange thing would eventually emerge.

Xu Chen has an urge to give it a try.

The ability of that Demon Bat Soul Beast is very strange; it can directly invade a cultivator's Sea of Consciousness, and it also seems capable of releasing a large number of small, clone-like bats to possess humans, creating a terrifying effect similar to mass control.

If this thing could be hatched and controlled like a Spirit Beast pet, perhaps it could also help with many tasks, and it would be much better than Xiaobai.

Besides, I don't know if this Nether Soul Flower can be stored inside the Blue Light Treasure Bottle.

Thinking this, Xu Chen began to communicate with the Blue Light Treasure Bottle, and unexpectedly, he succeeded easily again; he saw a stream of Blue Starlight erupt from between his brows, transforming into a phantom treasure bottle, which opened a vortex and sucked the Ghost Soul Water directly inside, and with a movement of Xu Chen's Divine Sense, he swept up two of the Nether Soul Flowers and took them inside, roots and all.

After the large pit of Ghost Soul Water had decreased by nearly half, Xu Chen communicated with the Blue Light Treasure Bottle to try it out, and he also took the black egg of the black Soul Beast Demon Bat inside, only then stopping the continued collection of Ghost Soul Water.

(End of this chapter)