535 Precipitous (1/2)
As they heard that Shi Yan wanted to help them catch the dead souls, the five people of Tie Mu’s group didn’t show that they were happy. Quite the contrary, they all wore panic-stricken faces.
”It's too dangerous. We'd better not go there. We can wait for another chance to catch the dead souls. If we lose our lives, it will be too bad.” Tie Mu shook his head continually. He seemed to have an extreme fear of that area.
Shi Yan was surprised. ”What do you fear?”
”Not only low-level dead souls, there should be some at high levels there as well. If we have to go there, we can’t endure them for sure,” Tie Mu smiled miserably.
”Shi Yan, you shouldn't take risks. It's easy to deal with the low-level dead souls, but it's tough to deal with the high-level ones. You shouldn't go,” Cherry advised with a low voice.
People living in the Dead Soul Mountain all knew that the dead souls were dangerous. If they encountered the low-level ones, they could use the Rock Panacea to secure their souls, preventing them from being eroded. However, the high-level dead souls could directly penetrate into the warriors’ Sea of Consciousness to nib their souls, despite the pellet they had taken.
If they weren't at Spirit Realm, it would be tough to defend the soul-erosion effect of the high-level dead souls.
Be it Cherry or Tie Mu, they only had the Sky Realm cultivation base. Once they faced a high-level dead soul, they couldn't save their soul from being eroded by the dead soul, even if they had the Rock Panacea. Once their soul started to be eroded, they couldn't urge any beam of energy to counter. At that time, they could only gawk at the dead soul feasting on their souls. Eventually, their souls would be destroyed.
Thus, when she heard that the area had the high-level dead souls coming back and forth, Cherry also felt scared. She didn't want to go there.
Shi Yan had the Nine Serenities Soul Devouring Flame and the Five Devils protecting him, so he wasn’t afraid of the dead souls. When he knew Tie Mu’s group didn’t want to lead the way, he frowned, thought for a second, and then said, ”Alright, then you can just show me the exact direction. I’m going there alone.”
”You shouldn’t take such risks,” advised Cherry.
Shi Yan’s face was still cold and persistent.
Tie Mu contemplated. Under the attraction of the dead souls, he pointed towards a shade of a mountain in the South-West. ”There’s a cave hiding behind a big pine. When you get there, you should be more careful. The dead souls often travel through the entrance. Inside the cave is gloomy; of course, there are more dead souls there.”
As the four other disciples of the Radiant God Cult heard that Shi Yan wanted to take the risk, they all made it clear that they didn't want to accompany him. They showed him respect, but kept a distance from him.
”And you?” Shi Yan smiled at Cherry, ”Are you afraid of high-level dead souls, too?”
”I’m just an alchemist,” nodded Cherry. She then answered him soundly. ”Fighting is not my strength. Especially in a fight with dead souls, I can’t be of help to you.”
Regarding powers and strength, the alchemists were one level lower than the normal warriors, and their knowledge and cultivation of soul weren’t as deep as the warriors who had specialties.
In the Dead Soul Mountain range, some high-level dead souls loved to trouble the alchemists.
Since the endurance of the alchemists’ souls was weak, when they seized the chance, they could attack the alchemists’ soul easily, much easier than attacking the ordinary warriors.
Shi Yan would never force Cherry if she were reluctant. He nodded while smiling, ”Alright, you can stay here. After I grab some dead souls, I’ll come back here to find you.”
”You should be careful. The three recent ones were just the low-level dead souls. It’s not easy to deal with the high-level ones.” Cherry could see that her advice was no use, so she could only reluctantly see him off. ”And, although the high-level dead souls rarely appear, it doesn’t mean that there are none of them dwelling in the Dead Soul Mountain range. If you have the bad luck of meeting up the highest level dead soul, I advise you not to trust your luck. Run away as fast as you can… Never linger. Usually, the strong dead souls can’t operate too far from the evil lairs. As long as you can run fast enough, and far enough from the dead souls’ evil lairs, I think the highest level dead souls won’t chase after you.”
”So, are there any distinctive differences between the normal dead souls and the highest level dead souls?”
”Yeah, but we can’t identify it,” Cherry shook her head. ”According to my master, when your soul cultivation base reaches a certain level, you can use your Soul Consciousness to sense the differences between them. Warriors who encountered the highest level dead souls almost have no chance to run away. One or two of them had successfully escaped, but they wouldn’t want to share the details they had observed. So, the others couldn't know much.”
It was no help at all. Shi Yan smiled, and didn’t continue. He waved his hand at Cherry, then departed in the direction Tie Mu had shown him.
It was an area covered with thick, dark gray clouds, like a gray curtain that hindered people’s vision. Shi Yan released his Soul Consciousness, and immediately found that his sensing was weakened, as he could only sense the soul fluctuations within hundreds of meters around him. His Soul Consciousness couldn’t extend any further.
Shi Yan became more alert. He slowed down his flying speed and observed here and there cautiously. He also checked the space underneath him.
The valley underneath him had vibrant bushes of Bone-picking grass, growing densely, just like the scythe of Death, waiting to harvest people’s lives.
Under the shade of the mountain ahead of him, clusters of gray clouds became thicker, which obstructed his vision and Soul Consciousness more.
Flows of cold and despondent aura flooded from ahead of him. It felt like some small, pale hands were stroking his body, making his hair rise simultaneously in fear.
Taking a deep breath, he didn’t hurry to intrude the place, but called the Earth Flame and asked it to fly in front of him, in case some dangerous dead souls would ambush him.
The Earth Flame was like a small sun, shining a blazing light and scorching heat, which washed away the cold. It turned into a beautiful firing line, leading the way.