I Am Overlord c1-962
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Just like that, the high-tier beast flame was turned into Yun Flame's food, further increasing Yun Flame's might. When Yun Flame returned to Xiang Shaoyun's body, he could sense that his own strength had grown considerably, reaching late eighth-stage Transformation Realm. But he did not have the luxury to focus on that. A few other people were attacking him.
"You dare kill our vice alliance leader? The Lightning Alliance will not let you off!" shouted one of the attackers.
These people were Lightning Alliance members, and they were Huo Linfei's loyal followers. They attacked together, sending a massive bombardment toward Xiang Shaoyun.
Chapter 282: Climbing Moon Gazing Platform
"I see. Fine, you can all join your vice alliance leader in the afterlife as well," said Xiang Shaoyun as he drew his Purple Lightning Saber.
The blade left the sheath; a bright radiance erupted before vanishing as soon as it had appeared.
Rumble! Rumble!
A loud rumble ensued, followed the instant destruction of a bunch of energy attacks. When everything settled, all that was left on the scene was the corpses of the people who had attacked Xiang Shaoyun.
Without wasting any time, Xiang Shaoyun started rushing toward the top of the cliff. The people in the surroundings were all dumbstruck. All of them were shocked to see Xiang Shaoyun's valiant prowess, and they started wondering who the young man was.
On the Moon Gazing Platform, the numerous young geniuses had also witnessed the entirety of the battle. They all focused on Xiang Shaoyun, their battle intent starting to leak. Even Wu Longfei, who had his eyes shut all the while, suddenly opened his eyes. A sharp sword aura suddenly erupted from his body.
The people around him were instantly on guard when they noticed, but the aura had only appeared for a split second before it vanished. Inwardly, Wu Longfei muttered to himself, Has he reached human weapon unity? Interesting!
Unlike the others, Devil Fairy wasn't shocked by Wu Longfei's reaction. Her bewitching eyes were completely focused on Xiang Shaoyun, but it only lasted for a split second as well. She withdrew her attention, as if nothing in the world was worthy of her time. Meanwhile, Liang Zhuangmin and Hua Honglou reached the halfway point up the cliff. Not many people could stop their advance.
"Do we wait for Shaoyun?" asked Hua Honglou, not realizing that she was now addressing Xiang Shaoyun in a more intimate manner.
Liang Zhuangmin looked behind him and smiled. "No. We just need to get up there fast enough so we won't be a burden to him."
Liang Zhuangmin was aware that Xiang Shaoyun could fly. If Xiang Shaoyun wanted, he could arrive at the Moon Gazing Platform before anyone else. Currently, Xiang Shaoyun was surrounded by a raging clump of flame as he dashed along the path up the cliff, pushing away everyone in his path with the power of his aura alone, which was already too much for many people here to handle.
There were naturally some who refused to believe in Xiang Shaoyun's strength. One of them was a peak Transformation Realm overseer from Myriad Sword Sect who drew his sword and attacked.
"Get back down there!" said the overseer whose sword nimbly appeared before Xiang Shaoyun's throat in a flash.
Xiang Shaoyun was already prepared to face any incoming attack. He bent to the side and avoided the stab before grabbing the attacker's wrist. He then lifted the attacker and tossed him away.
"AHHHH!"
The overseer couldn't even control himself and tumbled down the cliff. Without sparing him a second look, Xiang Shaoyun continued on his way up. After that little episode, nobody else dared to block him. They let him quickly reach the top of the Moon Gazing Cliff.
After arriving at the top, he had to continue traveling forward for a bit before arriving before the Moon Gazing Platform. Here, a battle would decide if he could get on the Moon Gazing Platform as well. A large number of people were competing against each other to get on the platform. Each of them was a peak Transformation Realm cultivator possessing a mighty combat prowess.
In order to get a soul spring, they were using even all their trump cards. After all, obtaining a soul spring was pretty much equivalent to reaching the Skysoar Realm, which was a dream for all of them, and none of them would be willing to miss out on this chance. Both Liang Zhuangmin and Hua Honglou were standing at a corner. Instead of charging straight toward the platform, they stood there waiting for Xiang Shaoyun.
When Liang Zhuangmin saw Xiang Shaoyun, he laughed heartily, "Haha, I knew nobody could stop you."
"Alright, stop laughing. There are limited spots left. Let's go," said Hua Honglou.
"Sure, let's go," said Xiang Shaoyun with a nod.
The three grouped up and formed an energy barrier around them before rushing toward the Moon Gazing Platform.
"Want to get on the Moon Gazing Platform? You have to go through us." Suddenly, a group of three got in their way.
The three were overseers from the Devil Blood Society; each of them was a peak Transformation Realm cultivator. They were trying to stop Xiang Shaoyun's group to let a different group pass instead.
"Piss off," Liang Zhuangmin was the first to reply. His fists shot toward the three like a pair of heavy boulders.
Liang Zhuangmin had already recovered to his peak condition, and with his combat prowess as a War King, not many people could be his match. The three blocked his attack together, but Liang Zhuangmin alone forced the three to retreat. Following closely behind him was Hua Honglou's attack. Her scarlet sword energy split into three and created three scarlet flowers that bloomed like the most enchanting of fireworks.
"Ahhhh!"
All three of her opponents were stabbed in their stomachs, causing them to wail in pain. Xiang Shaoyun's attack came next as a flurry of kicks shot forth, and they sent the three flying away. Just like that, three peak Transformation Realm experts from the Devil Blood Society were defeated by Xiang Shaoyun's group.
"Haha, that feels refreshing!" said Liang Zhuangmin in excitement.
"Let's go," urged Hua Honglou, who still remained level-headed.
The three continued on. Some other people tried stopping them as well, but everyone failed.
Bang! Bang!
After sending a few groups of people flying away, the Moon Gazing Platform was finally right before them.
The young man the three Devil Blood Society overseers had escorted was standing on the platform. He glanced at Xiang Shaoyun's group. With a red glow in his eyes, he said, "I will teach you guys a lesson when I have the time later."
"Why wait? I'll teach you a lesson right now!" said Liang Zhuangmin, who immediately attacked upon hearing with his sharp ears what the young man said.
From how he was behaving, it was obvious he was intending to battle this young man right on the Moon Gazing Platform.
"Impudent!" said the many geniuses on the platform.
Their auras surged out and pressed down on Liang Zhuangmin. Xiang Shaoyun and Hua Honglou quickly stepped forth and faced the pressure together with Liang Zhuangmin.
"Battles are prohibited on the Moon Gazing Platform," said Wu Longfei, who was seated at the very front of the platform. He spoke with a calm tone, yet his voice seemed to give off a sensation that his words were not to be disobeyed.
Liang Zhuangmin snorted, "Hmph. So are we not going to fight even when a soul spring flies over?"
"We will do what we can to get the soul spring then," replied Wu Longfei calmly.
"Then what's the point of prohibiting battle?" Liang Zhuangmin said.
Right after he said that remark, Wu Longfei opened his eyes and stared straight at Liang Zhuangmin with his sharp eyes. Liang Zhuangmin met his gaze fearlessly. Just as things were about to further escalate between the two geniuses, a sparkling and translucent clump of radiance suddenly drifted toward them.
"A soul spring has appeared!" someone cried out.
Chapter 283: Soul Spring Obtained
The so-called soul spring, also popularly referred to as a strand of soul spring, wa
s in fact only the size of a dewdrop. Regular people would not even notice it when it flew out. But everyone here was a top-tier Transformation Realm expert. Thus, they had much better eyesight than regular people and could immediately notice the soul spring.
Everyone grew excited when they saw the soul spring. Instantly, they all moved, doing what they could to snatch that strand of soul spring. The first person to notice the soul spring reached out and sent out a massive palm that was over 10 meters wide to grab the soul spring. However, before his palm could even touch it, a different attack shattered his energy palm.
Bang!
Following closely after that explosion were numerous other energy attacks flying everywhere. Even with the chaos, everyone was taking great care to avoid damaging the soul spring by sending numerous strands of gentle energy to compete with each other to control the soul spring's trajectory. The numerous strands of energy entered a deadlock, causing the soul spring to stay frozen midair. At this time, only the strongest would be able to get the soul spring.
"Hmph. This soul spring is mine!" coldly snorted Lightning Kid as purple lightning energy bloomed from his palm, destroying many of the competing energies. At the same time, he reached out with his free hand and formed a lightning net that attempted to drag the soul spring to him.
The Lightning Kid was strong, but so was everyone else here.
Fan Ren the Scarlet Broadsword bellowed, "Who do you think you are? Come here, soul spring!"
His sword energy weaved about in the air, pushing away Lightning Kid's lightning energy before directing the soul spring toward him. But at this moment, someone else interrupted and redirected the soul spring's trajectory again. The intense competition continued until someone suddenly lost control over his own energy and accidentally destroyed the soul spring.
"Bastard!" Lightning Kid howled furiously. The intense storm brewing around him was an indication of how angry he was.
But right this instant, someone cried out, "A lot of soul springs are coming this way!"
Sure enough, a few strands of soul spring were flying toward them at the same time from several different directions. On the platform, one could almost smell the greed in the air. Everyone started grabbing at the numerous soul springs.
"Brother Yun, let your big brother get one for you!" said Liang Zhuangmin, no longer staying silent. He roared and erupted with all his strength. A valiant yellow energy wrapped around him as he sent a yellow energy palm forth, pushing numerous energies aside and pulling one of the soul springs over.
Just as Liang Zhuangmin was about to get that strand of soul spring, someone else intercepted him. The person sent out a cyan energy claw that grabbed Liang Zhuangmin's energy palm and pulled it toward a different direction.
"Trying to snatch food from the tiger's jaws? Are you trying to die?" Liang Zhuangmin did not dare to apply too much strength for fear of destroying the soul spring. Thus, he could only shout at the claw's owner.
"We are all doing all we can to get the soul spring," came the reply.
Right after he said that, a different energy arrived and sliced his energy claw apart, allowing Liang Zhuangmin to quickly pull the soul spring back. The new attacker was none other than Hua Honglou.
A few other people were also trying to snatch the soul spring from Liang Zhuangmin, but Hua Honglou stopped them all, allowing the soul spring to land in Liang Zhuangmin's palm.
Liang Zhuangmin immediately stored the strand of soul spring into a jade bottle before giving it to Xiang Shaoyun. "Brother Yun, this is my gift to you."
Xiang Shaoyun seemed to just now only notice what was happening, as he was recovering from his daze. He said with a surprised tone, "You got a soul spring already?"
"Yes, of course. Your big brother is not one to break his promise. But of course, my sister-in-law helped greatly," said Liang Zhuangmin with a hearty laugh.
Xiang Shaoyun looked at Liang Zhuangmin and Hua Honglou with gratitude and said, "Thank you. Big brother, keep this soul spring for yourself first."
"Are you looking down on your big brother?" Liang Zhuangmin grumbled.
Xiang Shaoyun smiled helplessly. "No, of course not. Fine, I will accept it."
He then accepted the bottle of soul spring.
Liang Zhuangmin smiled. "That's more like it."
By this time, the other strands of soul spring had also been obtained by a few of the geniuses there. Those who had failed to obtain one were filled with envy. But they were not overly anxious as they still believed that there would be even more soul springs flying over.
"Big brother, Honglou, let's go," Xiang Shaoyun suddenly proposed.
"What? What's the rush? I am planning to get a few more strands of soul spring," said Hua Honglou unwillingly.
Liang Zhuangmin agreed, "Yes, it's not easy for us to get a good spot like this. It will be too much of a waste to leave this early. We still have plenty of time."
"If you trust me, leave right now. Otherwise, everything will be too late," said Xiang Shaoyun solemnly.
Hua Honglou and Liang Zhuangmin looked at Xiang Shaoyun in confusion, not understanding why he was being anxious. Xiang Shaoyun no longer said anything and directly sped off as he dragged them along. The moment they left the platform, some other people occupied their spots.
"What are you doing? Don't you want more strands of soul spring?" asked Hua Honglou in indignation.
"Nothing is more important than our lives," said Xiang Shaoyun.
"What do you mean?" Hua Honglou became even more confused.
This time, Xiang Shaoyun did not need to answer as someone else had answered for him.
"S-so many ghostrunes are flying over! That is so...terrifying!" someone cried out in alarm.
Not far away, a large number of ghostrunes could be seen flying toward them. At a glance, there were a few thousand of them. Before they had even arrived, a hail of rocks started raining down at the humans on the cliff. By the time the humans noticed what was happening, rocks were already falling everywhere around them. Chaos instantly erupted.
Those who couldn't react in time were instantly injured. Wails of pain filled the air. They started working together to destroy the rocks, but as debris filled the air, the chaos grew. Finally, Liang Zhuangmin and Hua Honglou understood why Xiang Shaoyun had dragged them off the platform so quickly.
Liang Zhuangmin looked behind him and cried out in alarm, "Heavens, are all the ghostrunes coming for us?"
Hua Honglou also shivered. "That is really terrifying. If we had been a moment slower, we would have been completely surrounded up there with the others."
"Big brother, work with Honglou and help our people escape. As for whether we can get more soul springs, I suggest we don't try too hard. There are too many ghostrunes here, and even ghostrune kings have arrived. We can't stay here for long," said Xiang Shaoyun.
"What? Even ghostrune kings are here?" Liang Zhuangmin and Hua Honglou cried out.
As if to prove Xiang Shaoyun right, some people on the cliff suddenly started gripping their heads, wailing in pain. It was as if these people had gone mental all at the same time and could no longer fight, helplessly allowing the rocks to smash them into mincemeat.
Chapter 284: Ghostrune King
Unlike regular ghostrunes, ghostrune kings weren't only limited to lifting and throwing objects. They could also directly attack one's soul. The people gripping their heads in pain had been attacked by the soul attacks of the ghostrune kings, causing them to be completely defenseless against the hail of stones.
The weakest part of any cultivator was the soul, and the moment one's soul was injured, one's mind would be affected. The effects of an injured soul varied from losing one's mind or even dying through the withering of one's soul.
The geniuses no longer dared to stay on the platform. All of them started leaving at the fastest speed they could muster. The other people on the cliff also started fleeing everywhere.
There was only a tiny path leading up the
cliff, and in this situation, the path became filled with people while chaos ensued. A large number of people were pushed off, and they started falling down the cliff.
"Ahhhh!"
Screams filled the air. As for Liang Zhuangmin and Hua Honglou, they survived the calamity thanks to Xiang Shaoyun, who had dragged them off before all that happened. But that did not mean they were completely out of danger. After all, they still had to help the members of Red House and Free Society escape.
"Honglou, use your crossbow to protect our people and leave with them," said Xiang Shaoyun.
"How about you? Are you not leaving with us?" asked Hua Honglou, who sensed that Xiang Shaoyun had decided on something.
Xiang Shaoyun shook his head. "I'm not leaving. These ghostrunes won't be able to do anything to me."
"Brother Yun, this is not a joke. You have to leave with us too!" Liang Zhuangmin persuaded.
"Just trust me, big brother. I'll cover your retreat. Go," said Xiang Shaoyun firmly.
Right this moment, a large number of stones rained down on them. With the Purple Lightning Saber in hand, Xiang Shaoyun slashed repeatedly, sending numerous lightning energy sabers toward the stones, turning them into powder. But since only a small number of ghostrunes had reached this far, Xiang Shaoyun was able to protect everyone's rear all by himself.
When Liang Zhuangmin and Hua Honglou saw that Xiang Shaoyun had made up his mind, they did not dally around and immediately rushed the others to leave. But even without them rushing them, the others were already fleeing madly after witnessing what had just happened on the cliff.
Finally, a few ghostrunes arrived and surrounded Xiang Shaoyun. Instead of attacking with stones, they flapped their ghostrune wings, causing several odd light waves to ripple out around them.
Wave after wave of the rippling light spread out, and anyone who looked at them were hit with a dizzy spell. Xiang Shaoyun was no exception as he felt his vision going blurry, and even his soul was starting to be affected.