C174 Let's Wait Until We Get Together!!
Zhou Cangmin's Lunar Spirit, clad in a pristine white robe, exuded elegance and scholarly grace.
The dense white clouds that enveloped him seemed like a natural extension of his garment, giving him the appearance of an immortal banished from an extraterrestrial realm.
Beneath him, the clouds parted, revealing the tumultuous sky below.
A sea of lightning and thunder, thick and interwoven, lay concealed beneath the cloud cover.
The bolts, originating from the Star River of the extraterrestrial domain, varied from hair-thin strands to torrents as wide as a giant dragon's cascade, their brilliance containing an extreme and terrifying thunderous might.
The Lunar Spirit, lacking a physical form, was but a refined essence of spiritual sense and Soul Power.
Even at the level of Spirit Walk, venturing into the storm below in his Lunar Spirit form would result in immediate and severe injury.
The Soulforge Matrix, designed to suppress a host of Aberrant Souls and evil entities, targeted souls specifically.
Lightning and thunder were the natural nemesis of all incorporeal souls.
Even ancient beings like the Sky Fiend, Indigo Wraith, White Walker, and the Stormcrowned Emperor had been constrained, not daring to reveal themselves.
If such venerable entities were filled with trepidation, what of Zhou Cangmin?
At that moment, he felt a sense of relief.
Relieved that he hadn't plunged headlong into the depths below.
"The ancient and extraordinary Soul Nexus that seals the heavens and earth has been activated once more," he murmured. "The youth from the Silvermoon Empire, from Asvetaesi, is unexpectedly the linchpin of the rune circle. Duan Guanlan's actions are unobjectionable, but how did that young man manage to break free from within the Cursemark?"
With the Soul Nexus now in motion, even Zhou Cangmin, powerful as he was, could no longer glimpse the world below.
He was unable to use the emblem to reach out to Duan Tianhong or issue commands.
In the final moments before the Nexus sealed completely, he focused his remnant soul upon Qin Yun, ensuring that Qin Yun was aware of his presence and identity.
He pinned his hopes on Qin Yun, trusting that he would ally with the Duan brothers when it mattered most.
"I am blind to it, and the empress of the Silvermoon Empire will no longer discern the truth. If those alien souls can be repelled, even briefly, many issues could be resolved."
"I hope the Duan brothers can hold on."
With that thought, Zhou Cangmin's mind shifted as he secretly cast a spell to once again reach out to the Silvermoon Queen.
...
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
A verdant stream flowed through the chasms surrounding the Soulforge Pool, brimming with life and lush greenery.
Yet, upon closer inspection, one would notice that the verdant stream was actually suspended in the air.
"Sss!"
As the stream neared the Soulforge Pool, it was abruptly cleaved in two by an intense sword's will.
The light and shadow shifted, and the stream coalesced back into one, transforming into an azure-robed lad.
Qin Yun, standing by the Soulforge Pool, suddenly looked alarmed and fixed his gaze on the newcomer.
The battle between Duan Tianhong and the Wraith Ape raged on with no clear winner in sight.
The azure-robed lad had appeared out of nowhere, likely having traveled from beyond the forbidden area with the Wraith Ape.
Four Dawn Arrows immediately targeted the azure-robed lad.
"Sir, don't act rashly!" Qin Yun called out.
Moments before, his attention had been skyward, intending to dispatch another remnant soul to consult the state preceptor about his intentions.
But before he could act, he sensed a dramatic shift in the environment.
The once clear sky was now shrouded in gray clouds.
Within the dark clouds, relentless lightning and thunder raged, and the fissures in the earth seemed to scream like slashing blades.
This indicated that the ancient circle confining the Moonfall Sanctuary had been activated once more, causing both heaven and earth to transform in an instant.
Qin Yun was no fool; he immediately realized that the state preceptor's ultimate decision was to avoid danger.
To not enter the forbidden area!
Without Zhou Cangmin's arrival, once the forbidden area was sealed, the alien souls would have to be dealt with by the cultivators from the Crimson Sun Empire and the Silvermoon Empire who had infiltrated earlier.
But the cultivators from the Crimson Sun Empire had been completely wiped out due to the schemes of the Duan brothers and the state preceptor.
The once formidable Duan Tianxi, gravely wounded by Yu Yuan's restrictions, was now off to the side, whispering to Duan Guanlan, seemingly reluctant to rejoin the fray.
The Wraith Ape's power surged with the influx of vitality, matching Duan Tianhong in a display of formidable strength.
Lee Yuchan had been chased off by Yu Yuan's harsh words...
Confronted by the sudden emergence of the azure-robed lad, it seemed I was left with no choice but to intervene.
"I won't cause trouble if you don't," he said with a smile, waving his hand and winking. "Just wait a bit longer. See what happens, then decide whether you want to confront me."
Qin Yun was initially taken aback.
But he quickly grasped the azure-robed lad's intention.
Shadows of dark phantoms emerged, a motley crew of grotesque figures—some with green faces and sharp teeth, others with black wings sprouting from their armpits, towering like mountains or as tiny as mosquitoes.
These were the myriad alien souls and evil spirits.
Qin Yun's Lunar Spirit, appearing as an elderly scholar, silently materialized, floating upward like a balloon.
He noticed that the throngs of alien souls and evil spirits deliberately skirted the battlefield where Duan Tianhong and the Wraith Ape clashed, converging towards him instead.
These were incorporeal soul spirits, most lacking in Soul Power, yet they were more potent than those previously summoned by the Sky Fiend Indigo Wraith, which had been absorbed by the bronze monument to nourish its inscriptions.
What astonished Qin Yun the most was that these converging alien souls and evil spirits possessed intelligence and sentience, unlike the mindless ones driven only by instinct.
The difference between the two was like night and day.
Beneath the swarm of alien souls and evil spirits floated a barren ancient tree, its branches devoid of leaves, hovering half a meter above the ground.
Its bare branches, supple and nimble like delicate hands, waved and tugged in all directions.
Occasionally, a feeble alien soul would be drawn into a branch with the swift absorption of a sponge soaking up water.
A faint glow within the trunk marked the passage of the absorbed soul to the tree's roots.
The ancient tree, standing over ten meters tall with roots slightly cracked, seemed rejuvenated after repeatedly absorbing alien souls, hinting at the possibility of budding anew.
A spectral entity with the head of a man and the body of a dragon hovered on the other side of the ancient tree. This alien soul was undeniably ethereal, yet its dragon form shimmered with a golden radiance.
The head bore the rugged features of a middle-aged man, his hair tied into a topknot, with four arms extending from his upper body, each covered in dragon scales.
His dragon body stretched nearly thirty meters in length, gently undulating in the air, which miraculously soothed the turbulent divine force.
No other souls dared approach this alien soul. He moved languidly to the side of the azure-robed lad, pausing in midair to scrutinize Yu Yuan in the Soulforge Pool, his brow furrowed in silence.
Qin Yun, for his part, remained unconcerned.
A sphere of blood-red light, exuding a pungent, metallic odor, materialized quietly beside the azure-robed lad and the middle-aged man with the dragon body.
The light took on a humanoid shape, its facial features indistinct as if desperately trying to sculpt and reveal its contours, but to no avail.
The sphere seemed to be a tumultuous fusion of violent vitality and frenzied spiritual energy.
The remnant soul that occasionally emerged was saturated with a brutal intent to extinguish life, as if its very existence was to obliterate everything in its path, leaving no flesh or soul unscathed.
The azure-robed lad, the enigmatic ancient tree, the human-headed dragon, and the sphere of brutal blood-red light stood out as the most formidable among the myriad alien souls.
At least, that was the impression for the moment.
The Dawn Arrow, initially aimed at the azure-robed lad, was rendered moot as more figures revealed themselves and a swarm of alien souls and malevolent spirits descended. Qin Yun couldn't help but offer a wry smile.
He turned to Duan Guanlan and Duan Tianxi and said, "Don't just stand there."
"Easy now, easy," the azure-robed lad interjected, gesturing with his hand and wearing a pleasant smile. "No need to rush. Let's wait a bit longer. The cultivators from the Silvermoon Empire are already en route and will be here shortly."
"Once they arrive, you can all proceed together."
