"Mother, did you hear that strange wailing sound just now?" Nan Feihuang turned to ask Lan Xue.
When they were out and about, Lan Xue had advised him not to call her "Mother" but instead "Mama" to hide their identities a little better and make things seem more natural.
"Wailing? No, I didn't hear anything." Lan Xue shook her head. They were too far from Star Dou Forest's central Lake of Life. Even with her strength as a Titled Douluo, the sound couldn't have reached them here. So naturally, she heard nothing.
But Nan Feihuang knew exactly why he had heard it—the sound had been directed solely at him.
"Really? I must have been mistaken then," Nan Feihuang murmured, but in truth, he was certain. The sound was crystal clear to him, coming from the very heart of Star Dou Forest.
He really wanted to investigate.
However, that area was far beyond his current capabilities. Even with Lan Xue's protection, there was no guarantee of safety. If they encountered the two great kings of the forest, the Titan Giant Ape and Azure Bull Python, Lan Xue might not be able to protect him while fending off both. She could hold her ground for a while, but safeguarding him at the same time? Impossible.
Thus, Nan Feihuang decided to let it go for now. He would investigate when he had the strength to handle it.
As time passed, night fell. Unbeknownst to them, Nan Feihuang and Lan Xue had wandered into a deep, eerie valley.
"Hmm? The terrain here..." Nan Feihuang frowned as he observed the arrangement of the hills around them.
"What is it, Feihuang?" Lan Xue asked, confused.
"Mother, I've read about this kind of terrain in my Dunjia Heavenly Book. Three hills ahead—two long, one short—and surrounded by mountains, with countless bones buried both above and below the ground. This is a Soul Locking Land," Nan Feihuang muttered, "And tonight is a starless night, with heavy Yin energy. That means..."
Lan Xue's eyes widened as she realized, "Could it be... Earthbound Spirits!" In an instant, she gripped her Xuanbing Halberd, ready for anything. As a Titled Douluo, she had naturally heard of such terrifying and powerful soul beasts.
Similar to the Ghost Douluo of Spirit Hall, these Earthbound Spirits were beings born after death, entities of pure malevolence.
Earthbound Spirits were unique soul beasts created when a beast's soul was trapped after death, forming a new kind of ethereal spirit beast. They had no physical form, making them nearly impossible to deal with.
Even Titled Douluo could fall prey to their tricks if they were careless.
While the Earthbound Spirits here probably weren't that powerful—likely no more than a thousand-year level—they could still pose a real threat to Nan Feihuang.
Faced with such creatures, even Lan Xue couldn't afford to let her guard down.
Suddenly, ghastly wails echoed through the valley, and dark, shadowy figures began crawling out of the ground. Their ghostly hands alone were enough to make anyone's skin crawl.
In moments, Nan Feihuang and Lan Xue were completely surrounded.
A thick fog enveloped the area, making it impossible to tell which direction was which.
"Let's go!" Lan Xue grabbed Nan Feihuang's shoulder and leaped into the sky. After becoming a Titled Douluo, she could fly without even using her martial soul. If one had a flying beast martial soul or, like the Sword Douluo, could use their weapon to fly, their speed would be even greater.
Lan Xue opted for retreat. While she was confident she could handle the Earthbound Spirits, she wasn't sure she could protect Nan Feihuang in the midst of their overwhelming numbers. Their attacks were simply too strange.
The fact that she had been surrounded by so many spirits without noticing until they were right on top of her was evidence enough of their danger.
However, just as they ascended to about ten meters, an overwhelming force pushed them back down.
"What... how is this possible? I've been grounded? But Earthbound Spirits of a mere hundred or thousand years shouldn't have the ability to suppress a Titled Douluo!" Lan Xue was shocked.
"Grrraaaah!" The Earthbound Spirits roared and rushed at them again.
Lan Xue's halberd cut through dozens of them with one sweep, while Nan Feihuang used his "Eighteen Thrusts with One Hand" technique to pierce through spirits of two or three hundred years.
But in no time, the scattered spirits reformed.
"Stay close to me, Feihuang! These creatures are highly unusual," Lan Xue warned, her brows furrowed.
For some reason, even though she saw countless Earthbound Spirits before her, it felt like she was only fighting one. And that one seemed to be nearly as strong as a Titled Douluo, which explained why she had been grounded.
She had no time to dwell on this. Swinging her Xuanbing Halberd again and again, she shattered one Earthbound Spirit after another, but they just kept coming back together.
"This shouldn't be happening... Earthbound Spirits, even at their most bizarre, shouldn't be able to withstand the attacks of a Titled Douluo," Lan Xue muttered to herself.
Nan Feihuang, meanwhile, was observing the pattern. "These attacks… they're not random. They follow a clear order."
"Strike!" he called out, predicting an attack from the north. Sure enough, several Earthbound Spirits charged from that direction. After Lan Xue scattered them, Nan Feihuang continued, "Next is Injury!"
He turned to the east as another wave of spirits advanced.
Lan Xue noticed that her son seemed to have figured something out. "Feihuang, how are you predicting their attack pattern?"
"Mother, this is a formation described in my Dunjia Heavenly Book. It's called the Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation. These Earthbound Spirits are using the terrain to create this formation, merging their collective power and greatly enhancing it. Together, they're able to rival a Titled Douluo, which is why it feels like you're only fighting one enemy. There must be a highly intelligent leader serving as the formation's core. Once we find and destroy it, the formation will collapse!" Nan Feihuang explained.
"Your book even has things like this? It's practically an encyclopedia!" Lan Xue couldn't help but laugh as she adjusted her grip on her halberd. "Alright, Feihuang, you guide me, and I'll break the formation. Let's do this together!"
Nan Feihuang nodded. "Start with the southeast gate!"
Following his lead, Lan Xue unleashed the freezing power of her halberd, freezing hundreds of Earthbound Spirits in the southeast.
"Mother, the southeast gate is the Gate of Life. Breaking through here will let us push all the way to the western Gate of Scene," Nan Feihuang continued directing.
Without hesitation, Lan Xue, holding her son in one arm and her halberd in the other, cut through the mass of spirits as if she were taking a leisurely stroll through a garden.
Soon, they reached the western gate.
"Fifth Spirit Ability: Xuanbing Break!" Lan Xue activated her powerful ten-thousand-year spirit ability, sending a massive ice dragon roaring through the spirits, shattering the Gate of Scene.
The mist dissipated in an instant, and the battlefield cleared, revealing the core Earthbound Spirit at the heart of the formation.
"Mother, that's the core. Throw me!" Nan Feihuang shouted.
Lan Xue channeled her strength and hurled Nan Feihuang towards the spirit.
Raising his halberd high, Nan Feihuang's first spirit ring lit up. "First Spirit Ability: Crescent Slash!"
This core Earthbound Spirit had served as the commander for all the others. Its cultivation was about 1,200 years—not the highest, but it was the perfect match for Nan Feihuang.
The spirit clearly didn't want to die, but without the formation, it was powerless. Its wisdom had come at the cost of strength.
Moreover, Nan Feihuang's physique, inherited from Lü Bu, was naturally lethal to ghostly creatures, his body exuding an aura that repelled them.
Terrified, the spirit hesitated, giving Nan Feihuang just enough time to slice it in two with his halberd.
With the core destroyed, the remaining spirits scattered in fear. Lan Xue could have easily wiped them all out, but since Nan Feihuang only needed one spirit ring, there was no point in unnecessary slaughter.
A purple spirit ring rose from the fallen Earthbound Spirit, and Nan Feihuang reached out his hand to absorb it.
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