290: Chapter 290 has been discovered!

"St... Star Soul?!" Zhao Yan's tone grew even more puzzled. "Aren't Star Souls those harmless 'little sprites' we see from time to time in the Land of Destruction? It doesn't look like this at all. It looks like it has a physical form…"

"The 'little sprites' we usually see are very low-level Star Souls. They are formed from one or two-mark Star Beasts, so naturally, they pose no threat to us. However, this one right here…"

Watching the yellow phantom hovering in mid-air at the cave entrance, Li Shishi's expression grew increasingly grave.

"…is a Star Soul with the strength of six or Seven Marks…"

"What?!" Zhao Yan clutched his head in shock.

But soon, he seemed to remember something and hurriedly said, "I've learned about this before. Don't these Star Souls only appear in the depths of the Land of Destruction? How could it possibly appear here?!"

"Anything is possible… But since it has appeared, we must be careful… I suspect that Yun Liu was just possessed and controlled by this thing…"

"Although this kind of Star Soul can possess someone inadvertently, its speed is actually not fast. Now, as long as we don't let it leave our sight and use the 'Soul Absorption Device' I prepared in advance, we will soon…"

Shangguan Mingyue's voice trailed off.

It turned out that while they were speaking, one after another, yellow phantoms of varying shapes drifted out from the darkness of the cave entrance and gathered beside the first yellow phantom.

They hung silently in mid-air, as if watching their soon-to-be prey. At the same time, the "Yun Liu" who had fallen to the ground slowly stood straight up at an eerie angle, stared hollowly at the three people in the clearing, and slowly raised his hands.

"Cap... Captain, is this situation also 'anything is possible'…?"

Zhao Yan swallowed hard and stammered.

"Possible my ass…"

Shangguan Mingyue gritted his teeth, and a terrifying Spiritual Pressure emerged from his body.

Although he didn't know who had set a trap for their Starlight Exploration Team, at this point, staying alive was the most important thing.

…Somewhere in the Land of Destruction.

The young girl in the white robe suddenly called out to the two men in front.

"Wait a moment…"

"What's wrong?" Qian Mo stopped quickly and turned his head to look at her with concern.

"Is there a situation? My senses didn't pick up anything unusual…" Although he had many doubts in his heart, Martial General Hu Dachui still stopped out of respect.

"Brother Dachui, can you take us with you using your earth-tunneling Superpower?"

Although Xing Yaoyan already knew the other party's true ability from Qian Mo, she still had to keep up the act.

"I can, as long as I wrap you in a Spiritual Energy Shield… But our top priority right now should be to reunite with my teammates, right? You previously agreed to my request…" Martial General Hu Dachui said pointedly.

He estimated that he would be reuniting with the captain and the others soon. He was truly afraid that this royal Young Miss would suddenly change her mind. If he had to go back to find someone now, the captain would definitely be completely eroded by the snake venom.

"Don't worry, 'a gentleman's word is as good as gold'; I will definitely do what I promised you."

Listening to the young girl's words, Martial General Hu Dachui silently scratched his bald head. He felt that the young girl's sentence was a bit strange. It said 'gentleman,' but wasn't she a woman? If so, even if she went back on her word, it wouldn't conflict with what she said…

Although he thought this in his heart, he didn't say it out loud.

Xing Yaoyan continued, "The anomaly is located at a very slight angle from our direction of travel. Perhaps they came specifically to intercept you. I suggest you follow what I say, go and confirm the other party's identity first, and then we will make plans."

"Then… alright…"

After thinking it over repeatedly, Martial General Hu Dachui agreed.

What else could he do if he didn't agree? Tie her up and drag her over? Didn't he see that she and her boy toy had made an old fox like Ye Xing suffer such a huge loss earlier? In terms of strength, he and Ye Xing were on par. Could he guarantee that he wouldn't end up the same way as Ye Xing?

Besides, he still had a contract in his hand worth one million spirit crystals that she had obtained for their Starlight Exploration Team. Reasonably and emotionally, it wasn't good for him to attack her…

As Martial General Hu Dachui circulated his spiritual energy, an earthy-yellow Spiritual Energy Shield enveloped the three of them.

The next moment, the figures of the three instantly vanished from the spot…

A few minutes later, a few kilometers outside the stone cave where the Starlight Exploration Team was located, two figures dressed in the white robes of the Star Cult were lying quietly on the ground. Judging by the decorations on the white robes, they were the patterns of Star Cult Deacons.

One of the Star Cult Deacons was lifting his head, holding a high-tech mechanical telescope in his hand, observing the stone cave from afar.

In the struggles between Espers, this purely physical method was quite practical: first, it wasn't afraid of the opponent's spiritual energy interference; second, it wasn't afraid of being too close to the opponent and having one's aura detected…

"Hey, haven't these Star Souls succeeded yet?" the other Deacon asked.

"Don't rush, Brother Qiu… The strength of Star Souls lies in their possession ability. Although they can be blocked at the beginning, as long as we let them continuously possess, and the opponent keeps losing personnel, the battle will soon become one-sided…"

"Besides, if the possessed object is an acquaintance, they won't use lethal force… This way, they will definitely be dragged to their deaths slowly."

The Deacon who was observing said leisurely, looking confident and in full control.

"But you have to admit, I really don't know where Priest Fear Demon found so many powerful Star Souls. I feel that if it were me, I wouldn't be able to handle even one Rank 6 Star Soul."

"Brother Wu, are you barking again? You are someone who is about to achieve a Breakthrough to Rank 7 soon. You will have a chance to become a Priest in the future, so stop putting on an act in front of me."

"Hahaha… keep it low profile, keep it low profile…"

The two were clearly close friends and were chatting casually.

In the ranking system of the Star Cult, except for special circumstances, Ranks 1 to 3 are Apostles, Ranks 4 to 6 are Deacons, and only those above that have a chance to be Priests. After all, generally, one has to wait for a Priest to die before a new position becomes available…

"By the way, the Apostles under us haven't replied for a long time. Nothing should have happened to them, right…?" Brother Qiu suddenly said.

"How is that possible? Our location has a cliff at our back and is blocked by hills all around. Plus, there is the aura of so many Advanced Star Souls here; those Star Beasts must have been scared away long ago. If you really don't believe it, take the risk of losing control and use the Breath of the Abyss to forcefully investigate."

"Haha… let's forget that then…"

However, after thinking for a while, the Deacon continued to say to Brother Wu, "Brother Wu, I'm still worried. Can you just interrupt me when you see I'm about to lose control…?"

"Alright, alright, I really can't do anything with you…"

After getting the promise, Brother Qiu very confidently utilized the Breath of the Abyss within his body and quickly entered the consciousness of the Apostles under his command.

But soon, he discovered with horror that almost all of them, even the Rank 4 Apostles, had completely pitch-black vision. He switched constantly, shocked constantly, and finally, with great difficulty, saw one with a picture.

As a result, he saw a beautiful white-haired woman wearing a mask slowly leaning in close. Her eyes were curved into crescents, and a silver-bell-like laughter followed: "Hehehe~ You've been discovered…"