Xiang Shaoyun, Liang Zhuangmin, and Hua Honglou were heading toward the place of the ghostrunes. Instead of rushing, they traveled at a slow pace as they recovered and discussed how to deal with the ghostrunes.
The ghostrunes were capable of flight. That alone would pose great trouble for many cultivators, placing many ghostrunes in an undefeated position when facing human cultivators.
Generally, only a bow or crossbow user would be able to pose them some threat. Xiang Shaoyun took out a crossbow from Devil Face's storage ring, and after some testing, he found that the crossbow was extremely powerful, capable of reaching a range of at least several hundred meters.
He was overjoyed at that discovery and gave the crossbow to Hua Honglou. "Here, this is your gift."
"Are you crazy? This is the best weapon to deal with the ghostrunes. After giving it to me, what are you going to do later?" said Hua Honglou in disbelief.
She might have coveted the crossbow when she saw how well it worked, but it had never crossed her mind that he would give it to her.
"Stupid girl. You are my bed warming maid. How can I leave you completely helpless?" said Xiang Shaoyun with a faint smile.
"If you put it that way, that's more reason I shouldn't accept it. How can a maid take the weapon the master relies on to defend himself?" rejected Hua Honglou even though she was very touched by the gift.
Xiang Shaoyun did not say anything and directly stuffed the crossbow into Hua Honglou's hand.
At this time, Liang Zhuangmin smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, just accept it. My brother is giving you that as a token of love."
Hua Honglou's body went stiff for a bit, and she blushed when she heard that. When she looked at Xiang Shaoyun again, a different emotion could be seen in her eyes.
"Big brother, what are you talking about?" Xiang Shaoyun grumbled. He then handed Liang Zhuangmin the storage ring and said, "This is for you."
Instantly, an exaggerated expression covered Liang Zhuangmin's face.
"Shaoyun, do you know what this is? Are you sure you're giving it to me?" Liang Zhuangmin cried out in alarm.
"Of course I know what it is. How would I have taken something out of it otherwise?" said Xiang Shaoyun with a smile. "You are my big brother. It's completely fine for me to give you something like this. It's not like I needed it anyway."
He had taken some of the dark elemental items from the ring. As for the other stuff like the spirit crystals, weapons, and so on, they were all left for Liang Zhuangmin. Although these things couldn't catch his eyes, that did not mean they were worthless. On the contrary, for other Transformation Realm cultivators, it was a considerable sum of wealth.
The more Hua Honglou listened, the more envious she got, but she also knew that she should be happy with what she had. If one day she really became Xiang Shaoyun's woman, he would be as generous to her as well.
More and more, she felt that Xiang Shaoyun was like a deep pond that could not be read. She couldn't begin to understand why he was showing these treasures such indifference. She had thought that she knew everything about Xiang Shaoyun from what Li Yaxuan had told her. She even knew how he had caught the favor of the Zither Empress.
But from how Xiang Shaoyun had been behaving, he was definitely not someone from a small town or city. In fact, he behaved more like a disciple or young master of some massive organization.
Liang Zhuangmin gave Xiang Shaoyun a deep look, and when he saw the sincerity on Xiang Shaoyun's face, he accepted the ring.
Liang Zhuangmin patted his chest and vowed solemnly, "I feel bad not having anything I can give you as a big brother, but just wait until I reach the Skysoar Realm. Nobody can bully you anymore."
Xiang Shaoyun laughed, "Haha, with us brothers working together, nobody can bully us!"
"Mighty heroes, don't forget to take care of a feeble woman like me then," teased Hua Honglou.
"Of course. Any who dares to bully my sister-in-law will have to face me," said Liang Zhuangmin, who was in an excellent mood.
At this time, they arrived near the place of the ghostrunes. They started seeing human corpses in the area. Looking at how the people were killed by having some object thrown at them, it was clear they were killed by ghostrunes.
"Big brother, Honglou, be careful. They're here," reminded Xiang Shaoyun.
"Let me kill them all!" Hua Honglou said. A lot of Red House members had been killed by the ghostrunes, and she had been holding a grudge against them.
"No, we won't waste any time with them. Just charge through. Our target is the soul spring, not killing them," said Xiang Shaoyun as he shook his head. He then led the way with the bucktooth tiger. Like magic, they avoided all the ghostrunes and went straight to the depths of the territory.
After traveling for a bit, they saw a group of humans being attacked by some ghostrunes. The humans seemed to be doing very badly at the moment. But since they weren't from the Cloud Margin Pavilion, Xiang Shaoyun's group did not get involved. The nearer they got to the place of the ghostrunes, the harder it was for Xiang Shaoyun to avoid the ghostrunes with his senses. Eventually, he could no longer avoid them.
After all, there were far more ghostrunes than humans here. It wouldn't be easy to keep hiding from them on their turf. A few dozen ghostrunes attacked, and a massive battle erupted.
"I'll defend against their attacks. You two will attack!" said Liang Zhuangmin, standing at the very front. He erected a yellow energy wall, protecting both Xiang Shaoyun and Hua Honglou.
Bang! Bang!
The numerous objects the ghostrunes threw were blocked by Liang Zhuangmin alone. Behind him, Hua Honglou attacked repeatedly with her crossbow.
Swish! Swish!
Instantly, numerous ghostrunes dropped from the sky. Some ghostrunes attacked from behind, sending numerous heavy boulders flying toward them. The boulders were met with a bombardment of Xiang Shaoyun's palm attacks and were instantly destroyed. This group of three was indeed the strongest group, capable of easily defeating the group of attacking ghostrunes.
"This is refreshing! With the three of us working together, we will be able to advance straight into the ghostrunes' place!" said Liang Zhuangmin in excitement.
"I don't think so. Don't forget about the ghostrune kings. They are able to directly attack one's soul. Nobody can stop those odd attacks," said Hua Honglou.
"Haha, I nearly forgot about them," said Liang Zhuangmin awkwardly.
"What should we do next?" Xiang Shaoyun asked.
"We need to just wait. If we are lucky enough and a soul spring happens to fly over, we will be able to get it," said Hua Honglou.
"Wait? But isn't that too much reliance on luck? If no soul springs fly over, we would have waited for nothing!" said Xiang Shaoyun gloomily.
"You don't have to worry about that. Every two or three days, soul springs will fly out from different directions. At that time, everyone will do what they can to fight for the soul springs," said Liang Zhuangmin.
"I see," Xiang Shaoyun said in realization.
But he still did not like this feeling of just waiting around.
"Come with me. I know a place where there is a higher probability of encountering soul springs. But competition will be stiff there too," said Liang Zhuangmin. He had once been in the Land of Soul Springs 10 years ago. Thus, he could lead the way with his previous experience.