Xiang Shaoyun was feigning pain, but he was in fact fully on guard against the ghostrune king. He deliberately twisted his body to one side, barely avoiding the stone spike the ghostrune king threw his way.
"Huh? What a lucky fellow," muttered the ghostrune king in astonishment. He then flew closer to the ground before lifting a few more stone spikes and throwing them at Xiang Shaoyun.
As a King Realm expert, the ghostrune king's offensive power was far greater than a regular ghostrune's even when he was just attacking by throwing objects.
If Xiang Shaoyun was hit, death was certain. He stopped pretending to be in pain and instantly soared upward, swinging his Purple Lightning Saber.
Lightning Slash From the Clear Sky!
He used his strongest attack immediately, not holding anything back against the ghostrune king. His sudden counterattack gave the ghostrune king a fright. The ghostrune king wanted to retreat, but it was already too late. Xiang Shaoyun's slash was too fast.
Rumble!
The thunderclap shook the area as the lightning slash took the ghostrune king's life. After killing the ghostrune king, Xiang Shaoyun did not waste any time and immediately shot toward a stone mountain not far ahead.
This was the only stone mountain in the area. It wasn't exactly a tall mountain, but it had a very peculiar shape. It looked like an arm, with the peak of the mountain looking like a palm. From far away the mountain looked like the arm of a giant trying to grab some treasure from the heavens.
Based on what Hua Cheng had told him, this was where he could find the soul raising stone, and it might also be the origin of the soul spring strands. The reason he suddenly came here was because when he was on the Moon Gazing Platform, he suddenly sensed an intense calling in his head. It was as if something had formed a resonance with him, making him long to obtain that something.
Traveling in accordance to the call, he eventually reached this place, and when he arrived before the stone mountain, he stopped moving. He did not charge straight toward the mountain rashly. Not a single ghostrune could be seen.
This is too weird, thought Xiang Shaoyun. He then extended the senses of his Nether Soul Domain toward the entirety of the stone mountain. He would plan his next step after scouting the mountain.
Unfortunately, his Nether Soul Domain did not work for some reason. He was unable to see everything hidden within the stone mountain. To be precise, some sort of power seemed to be cutting off the Nether Soul Domain from the inside of the mountain, putting a veil of mystery around it.
After the failed scouting attempt, Xiang Shaoyun found that the call in his head had turned even more intense. The sensation originated from the Nether Soul Domain and Nether Dragon Soul Headband, as if something was waiting for them to devour it.
"There must be some soul treasures in there," Xiang Shaoyun concluded.
Just as Xiang Shaoyun was about to start climbing the mountain, he sensed a large number of ghostrune kings behind him. All of them were glaring at him ferociously. They immediately launched soul attacks at Xiang Shaoyun, trying to kill him where he stood. Unfortunately for them, the Nether Dragon Soul Headband in Xiang Shaoyun's head was a divine item which blocked all the incoming attacks.
"Stop wasting your time. You won't be able to harm me," said Xiang Shaoyun.
"Vile human, you can block our attack? But that doesn't mean you will survive!" said the ghostrune king leading the group before lifting and throwing a large number of rocks at Xiang Shaoyun.
"Shit! Do you need to be so fierce?" Xiang Shaoyun cried out in alarm and immediately flew toward the stone mountain with his White Tiger Wings.
But the moment he got near the mountain, he felt a terrifying soul power surround him. The soul power was so strong it almost felt solid as it slammed right into Xiang Shaoyun's soul. This attack was far more powerful than the ghostrune king's attack.
Xiang Shaoyun was completely dumbfounded. He stood no chance against such imposing soul power. But when the soul power was about to hit him, the Nether Dragon Soul Headband suddenly activated. It turned into a dragon which then coiled around Xiang Shaoyun's head, blocking the entirety of the soul attack.
Xiang Shaoyun was completely unscathed. It was clear how powerful the defense of this Nether Dragon Soul Headband was.
"Phew. Good thing the Nether Dragon Soul Headband does not disappoint," said Xiang Shaoyun. Just as he thought he had survived, another wave of even more powerful soul attack came slamming down at him.
Through the Nether Soul Domain, Xiang Shaoyun was able to clearly sense that the soul attack was so powerful it was as if the sky itself was collapsing upon him. It was extremely fearsome, causing fear to start rising from the very depths of his heart.
Once again, the soul attack slammed at his head. This was an attack capable of giving even Emperors a hard time. But once again, the Nether Dragon Soul Headband blocked the attack for him. He was still completely unharmed. Finally, everything settled down. No new attacks came for him.
"It's over?" Xiang Shaoyun mumbled before he continued on his way.
"That human has successfully entered the area of the mountain proper," a ghostrune king cried out in alarm.
"How did this human do it? Is he really immune to soul power?" asked another ghostrune king. "We need to report this to the patriarch."
This stone mountain was known as the Soul Stone Mountain, and it had always been the ghostrunes' forbidden zone. Xiang Shaoyun did not realize that he had shocked all the ghostrunes as he cautiously approached the Soul Stone Mountain.
When he arrived at the foot of the mountain, he found that there was no path leading to the peak at all. The entire mountain was incomparably steep and stood almost perfectly straight up until the peak.
Xiang Shaoyun gently caressed the surface of the slope and found that the mountain was incomparably glossy and sleek. He lamented, "What secret is there in this mountain?"
He stomped the ground and shot upward. At the same time, his White Tiger Wings unfurled behind him, carrying him straight to the peak of the Soul Stone Mountain. The mountain wasn't very tall. With a few flaps of his wings, Xiang Shaoyun arrived at the top.
The peak of the mountain was in the shape of a palm. The five fingers stood tall, as if the palm was clawing at the heavens. And at the center of the palm was a pool of spring water giving off an extremely refreshing sensation.
"Soul spring!" Xiang Shaoyun cried out in alarm.
He had always believed that it was impossible for each soul spring to come into existence in the form of droplets. Now that he found this pool of soul spring, his belief was reaffirmed. This pool of soul spring was enough to shock any organization out there. But this Soul Stone Mountain was a relatively unknown mountain.
After all, it was located at the depths of the ghostrune territory, and not many humans could even reach and leave this place alive. Suddenly, something happened at the pool of soul spring.