"All the ghostrunes seem to have gone missing? Did something happen?"
"Well, this will be the best time to go look for soul springs. We might be able to reap a great harvest with the disappearance of the ghostrunes."
"It has been two days since any soul spring was seen. Has something happened to cause both the soul springs and ghostrunes to go missing?"
"I don't care. The period of one month is almost up. I need to get at least one strand of soul spring before then."
...
Peace came suddenly to the Land of Soul Springs, and many people had a hard time adapting to it. Little did they know, both the soul spring and the ghostrunes had been completely harvested by one person. If news of what Xiang Shaoyun did spread, many would be in deep shock. Not only had he harvested the soul spring, he had even harvested the ghostrunes?
There were tens of thousands of ghostrunes, and a massive space would be required to store them all. Surprisingly, Xiang Shaoyun's Nether Soul Domain had enough space to fit them all. He even wondered if he was dreaming.
Only now did he realize that the Nether Soul Domain was the same as the astral cosmos sea. Both were essentially storage spaces in his body, with him being the master of both spaces.
As Xiang Shaoyun's soul power was equivalent to an eighth-stage Skysoar Realm expert's, he had a large space within his Nether Soul Domain. Even so, his Nether Soul Domain was still not big enough to keep all the ghostrunes. How then, had he taken all of them in?
It was thanks to the soul raising stone he was keeping in his Nether Soul Domain. Half a day ago, Xiang Shaoyun had agreed to bring all the ghostrunes with him. But after all the ghostrunes convened, he released his Nether Soul Domain only to find he did not have enough space for all of them. There were about 50,000 or 60,000 ghostrunes in total, and his Nether Soul Domain was not big enough for them.
While he hesitated, Devouring Ghost had said, "You have two methods to expand your Nether Soul Domain. First is by swallowing the ghostbloom, and the second is by fusing the soul raising stone with your Nether Soul Domain. I personally suggest the second method. If you can fuse the soul raising stone with your Nether Soul Domain, it will bring you great benefits now and in the future when you enter the Soul Foundation Realm."
It was a hard decision for Xiang Shaoyun to make. After all, he had promised Hua Cheng to bring her the soul raising stone. What should he tell her if he ended up using the stone for himself instead? Although he did not view himself as some upright gentleman, he was still someone who upheld his promises. Since he had promised Hua Cheng, he would not break it.
As Xiang Shaoyun hesitated, the ghostrune patriarch suddenly handed him an even larger soul raising stone.
"Master, I have another soul raising stone here."
Xiang Shaoyun had never imagined that the ghostrunes would actually have two soul raising stones, and the one being offered to him was more than double the size of the first soul raising stone they had given him.
"Looks like you haven't been completely honest with me," Xiang Shaoyun remarked with a gleeful laugh.
With this soul raising stone, he no longer had any worries. He directly placed a soul raising stone in his Nether Soul Domain. The moment the soul raising stone entered, the Nether Soul Domain started undergoing an astonishing transformation.
More than half of the soul raising stone's power was instantly absorbed by the Nether Soul Domain. The domain grew and expanded, the soul raising stone much more effective than Xiang Shaoyun had expected. Toward the end of the process, the soul raising stone's size had been reduced four or five times in size.
If previously Xiang Shaoyun's Nether Soul Domain was akin to a massive courtyard capable of holding 10,000 people, then his current Nether Soul Domain was akin to a massive village capable of easily holding all the ghostrunes.
The growth of the Nether Soul Domain also signified that Xiang Shaoyun himself had grown. His soul power soared, reaching a level equivalent to a peak Skysoar Realm expert's. The growth of soul gave him an extremely wondrous sensation, as if his very soul was floating up into the sky. In fact, he had a feeling his soul could grow even more if it wasn't for the limitation of his low cultivation level.
Xiang Shaoyun was pleased as he lamented inwardly, Fortunately I have Devouring Ghost with me. Otherwise, I wouldn't have known how helpful the soul raising stone would be to me.
He had just entered ninth-stage Transformation Realm, and with the growth of his soul power thanks to the soul raising stone, his new cultivation level had completely stabilized. Additionally, his eyes and ears had become sharper than before, and his senses had become much more sensitive. His detection range had also increased greatly. From now onward, ambushing him would be even harder.
At present, all the ghostrunes were already inside the Nether Soul Domain. Xiang Shaoyun could sense that they were extremely content and comfortable there. If it wasn't for the ghostrune patriarch restricting them, they would have started a wild celebration.
Some of the ghostrunes had even directly broken through into the King Realm the moment they entered the Nether Soul Domain, which was completely outside of Xiang Shaoyun's expectations.
"The Nether Soul Domain is indeed a wondrous thing. If you can create an army of Nether Soul Puppets in the future, you will be able to dominate the world. Hahaha," said Devouring Ghost.
"Huh? I can even make Nether Soul Puppets?" Xiang Shaoyun was confused.
"Of course you can. But I don't really know that much about it. You are still too weak now. When you grow stronger and learn more, you will understand what it is all about," said Devouring Ghost. "Alright, let's leave this shitty place. I can't stand this place anymore."
"Ok, let's leave," Xiang Shaoyun agreed.
And thus, he started his journey out of the Land of Soul Springs.
There was about a week left before the one month period was over, and some of those who had gotten a soul spring for themselves had long departed. As for those who had not found any soul springs, they were planning to make a final attempt to get one. Unfortunately, it had been a few days since any strands of soul spring were seen, and the people were becoming anxious as the one month deadline approached.
More and more people decided to throw caution to the wind and enter deep into the territory of the ghostrunes in hope of getting a soul spring. But even after going deep inside the territory, not a single ghostrune or soul spring was in sight, which caused the humans to become even more curious, and they continued exploring. One such group of people had stumbled upon Xiang Shaoyun who was on his way out.
Xiang Shaoyun was able to sense them hiding nearby waiting for him, but he did not care and continued treading ahead. With his strength, nobody here could stop him. When he approached them, the ambushers all came out of hiding. There were about a dozen of them; none were weaker than eighth-stage Transformation Realm.
"Haha, so it's the renowned Xiang Shaoyun? Let me pay him my respects," a crisp voice rang out in the air.
Xiang Shaoyun indifferently looked at the voice's owner and said, "I am Xiang Shaoyun. What do you want? Are you here to rob me of my soul spring?"