Chapter 417: Xiao Lan

Fleeing was Ye Feng and the others’ first reaction upon hearing that voice. They quickly rushed out of the crack in the rock, never expecting that the mountain shaped like a skull was actually the head of a skeleton. Even more absurdly, they had crawled into that thing’s mouth to avoid danger.
“Just die obediently, little ones!” The giant skeleton rose from the ground and roared at Ye Feng and the others who were fleeing. “Give me your flesh and blood!!!”
“Don’t resist! I’ll take you all into my refining realm!” Ye Feng transmitted his message to Long Tian and the others.
In the blink of an eye, only Ye Feng was left among those who had been fleeing.
The giant skeleton was momentarily stunned. When it recovered, it became even angrier. “Damn ants! Where did you hide them?”
Ye Feng’s strength and mobility far surpassed those of Long Tian and the others, not to mention his ability to create clones. His speed was nearly twice as fast as before, when he had to take care of those behind him and keep an eye on those ahead, which undoubtedly slowed him down. But now, with only himself to worry about, he just needed to escape.
“Damn you! Stop!” The giant skeleton was much faster than Ye Feng, but every time it swung its hand, Ye Feng would reappear elsewhere, as if teasing it.
“Only fools would listen to you!” Ye Feng knew the opponent couldn’t do much to him for now, so he turned around and mocked it.
“I have treasures to offer you!” Since force didn’t work, the skeleton tried to win him over with bribes.
“Only fools would believe your lies!” Ye Feng wasn’t fooled by this at all.
“Damn it! I’ve run into such a tricky guy this time!” Although the skeleton was talking to itself, its voice was loud enough to reach Ye Feng’s ears easily. “If darkness fully descends, it’ll be bad. This blood food will surely fall into the hands of the three Dark Monarchs, and then even I will be devoured…”
“Hey, what are Dark Monarchs?” Ye Feng asked while fleeing. Hearing the skeleton talking to itself like that, he felt quite alarmed. He knew very well that this skeleton could kill him with just one slap. Anything it feared must be an extremely terrifying existence.

“The Dark Monarchs are the rulers of this realm, the strongest beings who have devoured countless souls and flesh on this battlefield. All three of them exist beyond life and death, incredibly powerful…” The skeleton muttered to itself strangely, “Why should I tell this bloodthirsty creature these things?”
“Hey, aren’t you also beyond life and death?” Ye Feng asked.
“Do I look like I’m beyond life and death?” The skeleton thought the little creature in front of it must be saying this on purpose. “I’m just a mere soldier; I was lucky enough for my soul not to be destroyed.”
“A guy like that is just a soldier?” Ye Feng was shocked. He knew well that even if he encountered a being at the level of an Imperial God, he wouldn’t be in such a dire situation.
Just as Ye Feng was slightly distracted, a gust of wind blew from another direction.
Ye Feng hurriedly dodged. It was then that he realized the giant skeleton behind him hadn’t chased after him anymore.
Instead, several skeletons with murderous intent were chasing in his direction.
“Damn, got rid of one, but now there’s a whole group!” Ye Feng’s situation became even worse.
However, Ye Feng quickly noticed something unusual. The few creatures following him were different from the previous one. They didn’t say a word the whole time, but their fanaticism for flesh made Ye Feng even more cautious. At least he could get some useful information from the previous one, but these creatures behind him seemed to have nothing but a craving for flesh in their empty minds.
Noticing this, Ye Feng tried a new tactic. He created four clones, each fleeing in a different direction, while his original self concealed himself.
As expected, the four creatures behind him chased after the clones without hesitation.
“These four seem to be much less intelligent.” Ye Feng slowly revealed himself. He had used this trick on the previous giant skeleton, but that creature attacked all the clones and his original self at once, eliminating his clones in one move. But these four chose to chase instead.
“Hehe, do you really think you can escape?” A familiar voice came from behind Ye Feng.
“You seem much smarter than these four…” Ye Feng helplessly spread his hands. At such close range, he knew he had no chance of escaping.

“Of course. My soul is intact, and I have complete memories. As for those guys, though stronger than me, their souls have been severely damaged. The only reason they can force their bodies to get up is their fighting will. They chase you out of pure instinctual desire for flesh; they have no thoughts in their minds, so they’re easily deceived. I’m different. I’m one of the few left with an intact soul, aside from the three Dark Monarchs.”
“Do you know how many souls there were in this space at first? Over a hundred thousand! And now? Only about twenty thousand remain. Those souls haven’t been reincarnated because this space has cut off any connection to the underworld, let alone reincarnation. Do you know where those over eighty thousand souls have gone? They’ve all been devoured. In this desolate place, there are only two choices: either be devoured or devour others to survive. Since you’ve come in, you’ll end up with the same fate as us. Rather than your soul suffering in endless escape after death, it’s better to let me devour it as well. Don’t worry; I won’t make you feel any pain.”
At that moment, Xiao Lan’s voice came from Ye Feng’s mind sea, “Master, please set me free!”
“Xiao Lan?” Ye Feng didn’t know what she wanted by contacting him now. “This isn’t the right time.”
“I know there’s a Saint-level creature in front of you. I can help you!” Xiao Lan explained.
“Can you really do it?” Ye Feng doubted her.
“Although my strength isn’t great, as a top-tier plant from the Sacred Realm, my soul strength should be at the Saint level. But I became a top-tier plant after mutating, so my soul strength kept evolving. Just a few days ago, it finally reached the Saint level. The skeleton in front of you poses no great threat to me, as it’s just a soul inhabiting that body,” Xiao Lan explained.
“Alright then!” Seeing that Xiao Lan insisted, Ye Feng set her free.
When a nine-leaf plant suddenly appeared in front of him and Ye Feng, the giant skeleton grew angry. But it quickly calmed down, realizing that the soul energy of the plant seemed even stronger than its own.
What worried it even more was that one of the plant’s leaves wrapped around the leg of the skeleton it inhabited.
“No…” The giant skeleton let out a terrified scream.