Chapter 540: Snaring a Soul Turtle

After Hua Changxi began exploring the Soul Realm, she discovered that the distribution of soul power within the Soul Realm was not uniform.

In some places, the soul power was so dense it turned into mist; when within it, soul power would automatically fill the soul body. In other places, the soul power was somewhat thinner.

However, even in places where soul power was sparse, the concentration was still much richer than the outside world.

"Swish~"

As she continuously shuttled through the Soul Realm, Hua Changxi occasionally heard faint and indistinct sounds of surging waves.

The Soul Realm existed by relying on the Soul River; regarding this, she simply assumed it was the sound of the Soul River flowing endlessly and didn't pay much attention, focusing only on continuing her exploration.

Within the Soul Realm, not only was the soul power rich, but there were also soul plants and soul fruits everywhere.

Hua Changxi was pleasantly surprised to find that many of the soul plants recorded in the "Shennong Cauldron's Inheritance: Hundred Herbs Scripture Commentary·Divine Plants Chapter"—whether soul fruits that strengthen and consolidate the primordial spirit, or soul plants that repair and replenish soul power—could all be found here.

On the journey thereafter, she explored while picking; before long, a large batch of soul plants and soul fruits filled the Sumeru Pearl.

"Whoosh~"

Just as she was immersed in the joy of harvesting, a fierce wind suddenly struck!

Hua Changxi instinctively dodged sideways swiftly, barely avoiding it. Looking closely, the attacker turned out to be a small snake that was entirely grayish-white.

A soul beast!

Indeed, how could the Soul Realm, filled with soul plants and soul fruits, be without soul beasts?

This kind of creature, the soul beast, has no physical body of flesh and blood; it is completely condensed from soul power, so ordinary physical attacks are utterly ineffective against them.

The small snake missed its strike; its tongue flickered, and it transformed into an afterimage again, pouncing to attack.

Hua Changxi's eyes sharpened, and a cold gleam appeared at her fingertips.

"Swoosh," a soul needle shot through the air, accurately piercing the small snake's vital spot, instantly pinning it firmly to the ground, unable to move.

She swiftly collected the corpse of the soul snake, planning to bring it back to refine soul pills.

To refine soul pills, besides requiring a large number of soul plants and soul fruits, soul beasts can also be used as the main ingredient.

In the subsequent exploration, the dangers lurking in the shadows seemed to have been awakened; attacks came one after another, making Hua Changxi immediately experience the peril of the Soul Realm.

First, a group of soul spiders blocked Hua Changxi's path with the webs they had woven.

The webs were woven from soul threads; touching them would cause one's spirit to be imprisoned and have their soul power drained until it was completely sapped.

Even though the soul spiders weren't particularly strong individually, they were numerous; although Hua Changxi was fast, she still got entangled by the soul threads. In the end, she had to summon lightning fire to burn them away.

Soul spiders excel at ambush attacks; they spit threads silently, making their hunting success rate extremely high. They are a very insidious type of soul beast.

After that, Hua Changxi also discovered a soul plant in the Soul Realm called Netherbone Rotten Fungus.

Netherbone Rotten Fungus grows on withered bones; its cap is dark purple with black spots, and its stem is slender and fragile. It emits a deadly soul poison; once contaminated, one's spirit faces the danger of disintegration.

"I hope the Vermilion Army and Aniu and the others can find a good place to focus on cultivation, and not run around recklessly in the Soul Realm."

Having encountered two crises in a row, Hua Changxi became somewhat worried about the others. However, worry aside, she never thought about intervening.

It was simple: entering the Soul Realm to cultivate was also a form of training. She neither could deprive others of the opportunity to gain experience from crises, nor was she strong enough to bear the safety of everyone alone.

The variety of soul beasts in the Soul Realm was far more complex than she had imagined.

Following the soul snake and soul spiders, Hua Changxi also encountered soul leopards that were as fast as lightning and hard to chase, and soul bulls with extraordinary defensive abilities.

No matter how she shot her soul needles in rapid succession, they only created ripples on the thick soul power carapace of the soul bull.

Aside from these soul beasts that confronted her head-on, the threats from the shadows were even harder to guard against.

She nearly fell into the hands of a group of soul butterflies that were as holy as snow and danced gracefully.

Those soul butterflies, as their wings fluttered, would scatter soul dust that was nearly imperceptible to the naked eye. Once inhaled, the victim would fall into an oblivion from which they could never awaken.

Starting from forgetting external things, gradually losing self-awareness, ultimately degenerating into an empty shell that only breathes.

When the soul power had been completely sucked dry by the greedy soul butterflies, that walking corpse-like physical body would silently wither, eventually turning into nourishment for the land.

Fortunately, she had sharp eyes and caught a glimpse of the ghastly white bones hidden in the soul butterfly area, so she decisively detoured around that gathering place, which seemed peaceful but was actually dangerous.

Being attacked by soul beasts one after another not only severely slowed her pace of exploring the Soul Realm, but also prevented her from peacefully collecting rare soul plants and soul fruits.

Hua Changxi, amidst her irritation, suddenly had a flash of inspiration. She took out the soul pearl she had obtained in the Netherworld and embedded it into the formation slot of the "Suixin" mask.

As a flow of soul power coursed through her, she transformed in an instant into a member of the Soul Clan with pure soul power.

After becoming a Soul Clan member, the journey ahead indeed became much more peaceful.

Hua Changxi breathed a sigh of relief, and her tense nerves also relaxed slightly.

Then, another thought crossed her mind: since disguising as a Soul Clan member could evade the attention of soul beasts, could the Soul Ballad of the Soul Clan also soothe soul beasts?

Even the beings of the Netherworld liked the Soul Ballad, so soul beasts likely wouldn't reject it either.

She made a prompt decision, took out a soul bamboo leaf, and tentatively began to play the Soul Ballad.

In an instant, the melodious tune flowed out slowly.

Sure enough, after that, even when she encountered soul beasts, none of them attacked her anymore.

"Splash~"

The familiar sound of waves drilled into her ears again, but this time, the commotion was far more intense than before.

Hua Changxi's heart stirred, and she fell into thought—perhaps, if she followed this sound, she could find the trail of the Soul River?

Even if she couldn't find the main course of the Soul River, finding a winding tributary or even a trickling stream seeping through a spatial rift would still be good.

Relying on her Soul Clan disguise and the Soul Ballad she was playing, the soul beasts no longer saw her as prey or an outsider. Hua Changxi hesitated no longer and decisively dashed toward the direction of the water sound.

After an unknown amount of time weaving through, the scene before her suddenly opened up.

A patch of pure milky-white, translucent strange soul plants came into view.

Their stems were slender, and at the top grew fluffy soul floss, gently swaying in the wind, like countless giant dandelions undulating in the soul mist.

"Soul-Converging Dandelion!"

Hua Changxi's eyes brightened. According to the "Hundred Herbs Classic: Divine Plants Chapter," the Soul-Converging Dandelion only grows in clusters where the waters of the Soul River flow; it can absorb scattered soul power and purify the turbid energy in the Soul River, and its ground-up powder is the main ingredient for refining high-grade soul pills.

Where there are Soul-Converging Dandelions, there must be the Soul River flowing!

Hua Changxi quickly walked toward the endless expanse of Soul-Converging Dandelions. Even so, she didn't dare to be careless; even while playing the Soul Ballad, she never relaxed her vigilance over her surroundings.

"Splash~"

The sound of the waves was now right before her.

Passing through the thicket of Soul-Converging Dandelions, Hua Changxi finally saw the source—a spatial rift stretching across the void, over ten meters long and several meters high.

The surging waters of the Soul River poured out from the rift continuously, nourishing this vast stretch of Soul-Converging Dandelions.

Standing at the edge of the rift, Hua Changxi maintained the melody of the Soul Ballad while cautiously extending her spiritual sense, trying to peek at the scene on the other side of the rift.

Unfortunately, apart from the turbulent, bottomless waters of the Soul River, she found nothing else.

"Hm?"

Just as she was about to withdraw her spiritual sense, a massive creature slowly rose up in the river on the other side of the rift, poking out a head several meters in size.

"Is that... a soul turtle?"

That soul turtle bobbed up and down with the waves, seemingly attracted by the Soul Ballad, lingering continually at the rift's entrance without leaving.

Staring at the soul turtle, a bold and almost insane idea suddenly sprang into Hua Changxi's mind—the soul turtle lives in the Soul River; if she could subdue it, could she use it to explore the Soul River?

No sooner had the thought arisen than her body had already made the choice.

In an instant, vast soul power crazily gathered in her palm, and in the blink of an eye, a solid "Soul-Locking Shackle" had taken shape.

"Whoosh~"

The Soul-Locking Shackle turned into a streak of light, flying out with a piercing sound like lightning, directly plunging into the soul turtle's head.

Hua Changxi held her breath, watching nervously.

She had no idea how strong this soul turtle was; if its power far exceeded hers, the Soul-Locking Shackle would likely shatter instantly.

One second, two seconds...

The soul turtle showed no sign of resistance. Just as Hua Changxi thought the binding had failed, a strange connection suddenly arose in her heart.

She clearly sensed that the Soul-Locking Hoop had firmly embedded itself into the Soul Turtle's head. With a single thought, she could make the hoop shrink, bringing unbearable pain to the Soul Turtle.

"Ah~"

The next moment, a childish scream rang in her ears.

"Who's ambushing Little Turtle!"

"Come out! See if Little Turtle doesn't crush you to death!"