Xiang Shaoyun was excited to see the pool of soul spring water, but he did not lose his rationality from the excitement. He was certain that there must be something else here. Otherwise, how would he have gotten attacked by the terrifying soul attacks out of nowhere earlier?
His gaze landed at the middle of the pool. There, a black flower was blooming. It had a total of 49 petals on it, each sparkling and translucent, with droplets of soul spring flowing about on the glossy, bright petals. The flower looked dainty and elegant, possessing a majesty fit for the king of flowers.
Xiang Shaoyun's breathing stirred when he laid eyes on the flower. He couldn't help but to cry out, "Ghostbloom!"
The ghostbloom was an extremely rare and precious plant. With the 49 petals this particular stalk had, it had certainly matured to a top-tier emperor medicine. Note that it was an emperor medicine, not a king medicine.
One ought to know that just one king medicine was enough to cause a massive battle between numerous Skysoar Realm experts. It went without saying that this emperor medicine would be capable of spilling the blood of Emperors.
Xiang Shaoyun had not expected to stumble upon something so rare here on the Soul Stone Mountain. If he could obtain this ghostbloom, he would have a total of three rare plants on him, with the other two being the vicious tiger gold lotus he had obtained from the Golden River Valley and the blaze flower he had obtained from the Flame Mountain.
Any one of the three could be considered a massive fortune for any cultivator. For Xiang Shaoyun to stumble upon them one after another, one had to admit that he was truly loved by the heavens. Suddenly, the water in the pool started rippling. At first, there were only some small waves, but soon, a whirlpool formed, slowly throwing out drops of soul spring water repeatedly.
Swish! Swish!
Drops of soul spring water flew in all directions. This was most likely the origin of the so-called strands of soul spring flying everywhere. It was also at this moment that something seemed to be trying to charge out of the pool, causing Xiang Shaoyun to grow nervous.
"Roar!"
A fearsome roar rumbled in the air as a terrifying mouth soared before crashing down on Xiang Shaoyun. He was totally dumbstruck. Before he could even react, he was swallowed by the massive mouth.
At this critical moment, the Nether Dragon Soul Headband in his head suddenly shone, releasing rays of light that proceeded to defeat that mouth. It turned out the massive mouth was still a soul attack. It was merely a mouth formed through soul power that looked extremely real, giving one an illusion that it was an actual mouth.
Without the Nether Dragon Soul Headband, the attack would have been enough to completely devour him. Xiang Shaoyun broke out in cold sweat from the fright, drenching his entire body. That was a near-death experience, and it was dreadful.
"Kid, you really have a treasure on you capable of blocking my full-powered attack!" a voice suddenly rang out. The voice was extremely sinister, as if it had come from the ninth hell itself.
The voice pulled Xiang Shaoyun's mind back from his shock. He looked down and saw the shape of a terrifying human face in the pool. The face was filled with wrinkles, looking like the bark of an old tree. On the left cheek was a long scar that looked more like a centipede. Messy hair cascaded down the face, making it look like it was the face of a devil that had risen from hell. Xiang Shaoyun could not understand why something like this was here. He felt his legs go weak from the creepy sight.
Xiang Shaoyun swallowed and asked, "Are you a human or a ghost?"
"Tsk tsk, this lord is a ghost, and I am going to eat you!" said the face with the same creepy voice.
Xiang Shaoyun took a step back, but when he recalled the protection he had from the Nether Dragon Soul Headband, he regained some of his courage. He replied, "Hehe, even if you are a ghost, you still won't be able to eat me. Don't you remember your previous failed attempt?"
Numerous possibilities rose in Xiang Shaoyun's mind. This face might be the remaining consciousness of some expert, or it might be a spiritual brand. A ghost was not the only thing it could be. But it was certain that the face could only release soul attacks. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been trying to scare him from within the pool. At that realization, much of his fear vanished.
"Bastard, do you really think I can't touch you?" the face roared and sent another massive mouth toward Xiang Shaoyun. It was still a soul attack, and it similarly failed.
"Stop wasting your time." Xiang Shaoyun smiled. The Nether Dragon Soul Headband essentially granted him immunity to all soul attacks. He had no need to fear this face anymore.
"Hmph, it's still too soon for you to be happy," the human face snorted as numerous rocks started hovering in the air. Then, all the rocks were slammed in the direction of the ghostrunes.
Bang! Bang!
Like a rapid-fire catapult, the face rained stones down on the ghostrunes, causing wails to ring in the air. Chaos ensued, and the ghostrunes started fleeing farther away. But no matter how they fled, the stones still hit them.
In the span of a few breaths, almost all the ghostrunes in the vicinity were killed. Only a few lucky ones escaped. Even the survivors had only escaped because the human face had intentionally stopped attacking. Otherwise, none of the ghostrunes would have been able to escape.
Xiang Shaoyun witnessed everything, and once again, he broke out in cold sweat. He had been too smug earlier. If the human face attacked him the same way, he would definitely end up as mincemeat.
"Hehe, scared now? Don't think you can insult this lord just because you can stop my soul attacks. I can kill you as easily as squashing an ant," said the human face.
"Yes, lord. You are truly brilliant and mighty, your valiance unrivaled. Before you, this kid is nothing but an ant. In fact, you will only be dirtying your hand killing me. This kid shall quickly piss off from the presence of your exalted self," said Xiang Shaoyun respectfully while wiping his cold sweat before quickly retreating from the place.
Yes, the ghostbloom was a very precious treasure, but his life was even more precious. Unfortunately, before he could even start flying, floating rocks completely surrounded him, rendering escape impossible.
He sullenly grumbled to himself, I knew treasures wouldn't be obtained so easily!
Fortunately, the human face did not seem to have any plans of killing him. Otherwise, the rocks would not stop at merely surrounding him.
"O great lord, why are you even wasting your time on a tiny thing like me?" Xiang Shaoyun asked.
"Hehe, now you know to beg?" said the human face with a creepy smile.
"What do you need to consider sparing me, great lord?" Xiang Shaoyun asked, having a feeling that this fellow was not going to kill him after all.