Chapter 19: Soul Gathering Stone
In the blink of an eye, the Sky-Sounding Bug and the Ice-Blood Ant reverted to their true forms—a 100-meter-long beetle and a 50-meter-long termite—immediately heading toward Skull Mountain. The Flying Shadow Black Panther, Sky-Winged White Tiger, Blizzard Ice Silkworm, and Dark Scented Cold Fox also hesitated not for a moment, transforming back to their true forms and joining them at Skull Mountain. With howls, roars, icy blasts, and chilling winds, they launched attacks on the disciples of the Soul Departure Sect.
The hundreds of other monstrous beasts behind them also reverted to their true forms—giant eagles, fierce apes, rock leopards, golden dogs… Dozens of massive beasts filled the sky, surrounding Skull Mountain entirely.
The Dimensional Ball attached to the Golden Qilin rose against the wind and flew into Skull Mountain, heading deep into its passages.
The five powerful cultivators at the Divination Stage of the Soul Departure Sect, who were trapped in the “Confused Hearts, Blurred Souls Formation,” became aware of the situation outside and immediately flew out of the formation. They stood in front of tens of thousands of their sect’s disciples, ready to confront the attacks from the Sky-Sounding Bug and the Ice-Blood Ant.
“Bingbing, you didn’t fight hard enough in the Netherfire Cave. Now there are two cultivators at the Mid-Divination Stage—let’s take one each,” the Sky-Sounding Bug said with a laugh upon seeing the five strongmen emerge, knowing that the Three-Tailed Dragon and the Illusion Dancing Butterfly would now face much less pressure.
Hearing this, the Ice-Blood Ant’s cold face also showed a smile. It had yet to kill anyone in the Netherfire Cave and had been seething with anger—now was the time to unleash it.
“Alright, Bug. Let’s go,” the Ice-Blood Ant replied instantly.
In an instant, it arrived before Soul Annihilation and spat out a blast of icy cold air, forcing Soul Annihilation to retreat hundreds of meters. This attack dealt a devastating blow to the nearby disciples of the Soul Departure Sect—hundreds of them died instantly from the cold energy.
The Sky-Sounding Bug flew toward Soul Exhaustion and, without hesitation, unleashed the “Chaotic Hole Wave”—a massive spatial vortex filled with chaotic bursts of vital energy, killing anyone caught inside on the spot.
Soul Exhaustion quickly retreated, escaping the chaotic space, but the hundreds of disciples behind him were not so lucky; they were all killed by the vital energy blasts.
The Flying Shadow Black Panther, Sky-Winged White Tiger, Blizzard Ice Silkworm, and Dark Scented Cold Fox joined forces to confront Soul Departure, Soul Loss, and Soul Scattering, forcing them to retreat. Along the way, they killed nearly 500 more disciples of the Soul Departure Sect.
With the six Divination Stage monstrous beasts taking action, nearly 700 disciples of the Soul Departure Sect were killed, demonstrating the terrifying impact of their assault.
Originally, all the disciples calmly released their spiritual consciousness to create a spiritual space and attack the three-tailed dragon and hundreds of other monsters. Unexpectedly, another hundred monsters arrived and killed seven hundred people at once, scaring all the disciples into retreating their spiritual consciousnesses and fleeing into various passages within the mountain.
As the disciples of the Linghun Sect scattered, the entire “Confusing Hearts and Disorienting Souls Formation” lost its supporting force, reducing its pressure on monsters like the three-tailed dragon and the Illusory Dance Butterfly. At that moment, the Sky Sound Insect and the Ice Blood Ant drove away the five strongest warriors of the Linghun Sect, immediately flew back above the formation, one emitting sound waves and the other spraying ice and snow, thereby breaking through the “Confusing Hearts and Disorienting Souls Formation.”
The three-tailed dragon and the Illusory Dance Butterfly were revealed, but they were exhausted and lay on the ground. The other hundreds of monsters also lay limp on the ground, staring blankly at the Sky Sound Insect and the Ice Blood Ant in the sky.
“All brothers, retreat!” The Sky Sound Insect shouted immediately upon seeing this scene.
Naturally, it wanted to protect the three-tailed dragon and the Illusory Dance Butterfly first, so that those five mid-stage divination experts wouldn’t launch a surprise attack while it fought the Linghun Sect. Otherwise, the three-tailed dragon and the Illusory Dance Butterfly would truly be in danger.
After a while, all the monsters gathered together to protect those lying on the ground.
The disciples of the Linghun Sect who retreated into the internal passages of Skull Mountain immediately sealed the entrances to each passage and activated various traps and formations, turning the entire Skull Mountain into a soul-binding realm where anyone who approached would feel as if their soul were about to shatter.
……
The Dimension Ball had fallen into the headquarters of the Linghun Sect from the beginning. Guided by the Artifact God, it easily entered the most secret part of the headquarters—a semicircular hall with a sacrificial altar inside.
Qu Yi, inside the Dimension Ball, released his spiritual consciousness and observed the entire hall as well.
“Artifact God, why did you bring the Dimension Ball here?” Qu Yi asked after hesitating for a moment.
“Of course, there’s a reason. Besides the soul-based formation you saw outside just now, this Skull Mountain is also equipped with a defensive formation called the ‘Skull Confusion Formation.’ When fully activated, it possesses the power equivalent to the late mid-stage divination level. Thus, it’s impossible for the monsters from the Heavenly Punishment Mountains to invade. But the control core of this ‘Skull Confusion Formation’ is this sacrificial altar. Look at it—is there a black stone in the shape of a hexagram on it?” the Artifact God said with a smile.
Qu Yi immediately sent out his spiritual sense and indeed found, at the center of the flat sacrificial altar, a crystal embedded in the shape of a hexagram, its color resembling ink jade.
“Yes, there really is such a stone,” Qu Yi affirmed, looking at the Artifact God with anticipation.
“That’s right. This is a Soul Gathering Stone, capable of absorbing the spiritual senses of all members of the Soul Departure Sect. It fills the entire Skull Mountain with an eerie aura of broken souls, making people afraid to approach it—this is the effect of the ‘Skull Soul Confusion Array.’ Now, while the members of the Soul Departure Sect haven’t arrived yet, use your jade sword to destroy the entire sacrificial altar and take the Soul Gathering Stone. Hehe, this stone will be of great benefit to you; you’ll understand soon enough,” the Artifact God replied with a smile, its round eyes blinking.
Hearing that the Soul Gathering Stone would benefit him, Qu Yi was shocked. He immediately stepped out of the Dimensional Sphere, picked up his jade sword, and swung it. A beam of light descended, instantly shattering the sacrificial altar and revealing the Soul Gathering Stone completely.
“Soul Gathering Stone, it’s mine now,” Qu Yi said with a smile before soaring upward and seizing the stone in his hand.
In an instant, Qu Yi returned to the Dimensional Sphere with the Soul Gathering Stone.
The moment Qu Yi took the stone, the entire Skull Mountain began to shake. The mountain, once filled with an evil aura, gradually regained its normal stone-like atmosphere, eliminating the nauseating feeling among the beasts below.
Meanwhile, the members of the Soul Departure Sect who were defending inside the Skull Mountain realized that even when they sent out their spiritual senses, the various soul arrays in the mountain no longer absorbed them. At that moment, all of them understood that their sect’s defensive array, the ‘Skull Soul Confusion Array,’ had failed.
“Souls exhausted, souls gone, souls lost, souls scattered—follow me immediately to the sacrificial altar!” Sect Master Soul Annihilation realized something and shouted urgently.
In an instant, the five powerful cultivators at the Divination Stage arrived in the hall where the sacrificial altar stood. They found it shattered and the Soul Gathering Stone missing. Yet, there was no trace of the person who took it.
“It’s impossible. How could anyone get inside this sacrificial altar?”
“The Soul Gathering Stone is gone, and the Confusion Array can’t be restored.”
“Without the Confusion Array, we can’t resist those beasts’ attacks.”
…
The five Divination Stage cultivators of the Soul Departure Sect were now extremely anxious. With their defensive array gone and numerous beasts waiting outside, they had no choice but to fight to the death.
“Four junior brothers, the Li Hun Sect is now facing survival or extinction. All of this can only be borne by us five. For the sake of the Li Hun Sect, let’s fight to the death together,” said Hun Mie with grief in his voice.
Hun Jin, Hun Qu, Hun Shi, and Hun San listened in silence for a long time before nodding.
Soon, the five of them—Hun Mie, Hun Jin, Hun Qu, Hun Shi, and Hun San—led over nine thousand disciples of the Li Hun Sect out of Skull Mountain and gathered in the open area between its two eyes and mouth. With resolute determination, they stared down at the monstrous beasts below.
“Monsters of the Heavenly Punishment Mountains, you insist on attacking our Li Hun Sect, but we are not afraid. Now, let’s engage in a final battle to the death!” Hun Mie shouted angrily from atop Skull Mountain’s nose.
Tian Yin Chong and Bing Xue Yi also glared at Hun Mie with fury in their eyes. The Three-Tailed Dragon and the Illusion Dance Butterfly were still very weak, so they naturally blamed the Li Hun Sect for this hatred.
“Is that so? You’re not afraid of death, are you? Very well, today I’ll freeze every last member of your Li Hun Sect to death right here in Skull Mountain,” Bing Xue Yi declared coldly.
Ever since the Netherfire Cave, Bing Xue Yi had been filled with rage. Upon arriving at the Li Hun Sect and discovering that his two siblings had been betrayed, his anger surged even more. If he didn’t vent it, his body might explode.
After speaking, Bing Xue Yi transformed into a 50-meter-long termite and spat out a wave of cold air. This wave, stretching a hundred meters long, spread out like mist in moments, covering Skull Mountain with a layer of cold.
In an instant, the entire mountain was covered in ice and snow. The cold radiating from it was even unbearable for those at the Yuan Ying stage.
“Ah! Ah! Ah!”
In no time, the disciples of the Li Hun Sect standing in the open area between the mountain’s eyes and mouth could no longer withstand the intense cold and retreated back into the mountain’s passages. Of course, those with weaker cultivation died immediately.
As a result, only those at the Yuan Ying stage or above remained, numbering less than a thousand.
Bing Xue Yi was incredibly fierce—just one blast of cold air had claimed eight thousand lives.
But after expelling the cold air, Bing Xue Yi, like the Three-Tailed Dragon and the Illusion Dance Butterfly, became weak and reverted to human form, lying on the ground alongside the dragon.
Tian Yin Chong was shocked to see Bing Xue Yi fighting so desperately. After seeing him lie down, he immediately shouted, “All brothers, protect the Dragon King, Butterfly King, and Ant King, and prepare to counterattack the Li Hun Sect!”
Of course, Tianyin Bug also knew at this moment that there were still five powerful beings at the Spirit Separation stage in the Soul Departure Sect. He couldn’t risk his life like the Ice-Blood Ant; if anything went wrong, all the monsters here might perish.
“Yes, Bug King!” echoed hundreds of monsters at once.
Meanwhile, Hunmie and the other four in Skull Mountain saw their Soul Departure Sect suffer such heavy losses suddenly, and a glimmer of soul fire arose in each of their eyes.
“Fight to the death with these monsters!” Hunmie shouted in fury.