183: Chapter 183: The Realm of Soul Infusion

In front of the spatial rift on Nether Planet, over a thousand people stood solemnly.

Su Fan gave a brief pre-battle mobilization speech, then ordered the soldiers to set out immediately.

Zhang Sheng and Su Xiaobai were kept back until the end by Su Fan.

"Xiaobai, I don't expect you to kill many ghosts or bring back many soul crystals; you just need to come out alive!" Su Fan patted Su Xiaobai's shoulder.

As a father, his heart was filled with extreme worry at this moment.

"Don't worry, among everyone here, my cultivation is the highest." Su Xiaobai smiled shyly.

"Having the highest cultivation is exactly the problem!" Su Fan's tone was serious.

"People with the highest cultivation are often the first to step up when danger arises and the last to leave."

"Son, don't do anything foolish when the time comes. You must assess the situation carefully; not everything can be solved with hot-bloodedness alone!" Su Fan spoke earnestly.

At this moment, he was no longer a leader of Xia Country, but Su Xiaobai's father!

"Don't worry, Dad, I'm not stupid!" Su Xiaobai's delicate face was full of seriousness.

"Good!" Su Fan's gaze held some reluctance, but he restrained himself and then turned his eyes toward Zhang Sheng.

"Zhang Sheng, Su Xiaobai's status is neither that of a soldier nor a member of Shengyuan Star; he is a citizen of Xia Country."

"Protect Xiaobai well!" The reason Su Fan had kept Zhang Sheng behind was to give him these specific instructions.

"Rest assured, Chief, I will definitely fall before the Second Young Master does." Zhang Sheng grinned.

"Don't call me Second Young Master, it's so embarrassing!" Su Xiaobai said awkwardly.

"Yes! Second Young Master!" Zhang Sheng's tone was respectful.

Su Xiaobai: "..."

"Go on then, stay safe!" Su Fan waved his hand, trying his best to keep his voice steady.

Personally sending one's son to a dangerous battlefield—only those who have experienced it can understand how it feels!

"Yes! Chief!"

"Goodbye, Dad!"

...

In the Soul Realm, over a thousand people emerged one after another from the spatial rift.

"Is this the Soul Realm? It feels much gloomier than Nether Planet." Su Xiaobai extended his Mental Energy, directly trapping a small ghost that was rushing toward them, then condensed his Mental Energy into a spike and pierced the small ghost, making it explode.

"The Second Young Master is impressive!" Zhang Sheng was stunned the moment Su Xiaobai extended his Mental Energy; he could clearly feel that Su Xiaobai's Mental Energy was much stronger than his own.

"General Zhang, you flatter me." Su Xiaobai gave a shy smile.

"Ahem... I don't deserve the title of General, not at all... Just call me Zhang Sheng." Zhang Sheng was startled; he didn't dare accept the title of General yet.

Although they say a soldier who doesn't want to be a general isn't a good soldier, one has to actually become one before being addressed as such.

"Then I'll call you Captain Zhang!" Su Xiaobai thought for a moment and said softly.

"Alright!" Zhang Sheng nodded.

By now, a large number of ghosts had gathered around, densely packed and quite terrifying.

However, everyone present had raised their Mental Power Barriers, and these small ghosts were completely unable to break through.

"This time, although we've brought many dark energy crystals to replenish our Mental Energy consumption, their number is limited after all." Zhang Sheng's tone was serious.

"So, from now on, everyone will be divided into two groups to take turns maintaining the Mental Power Barriers."

"With each squad of ten as the smallest unit, five will form an outer circle to hold up a Mental Power Barrier and protect the other five."

"Yes!" all the Xia Country soldiers responded.

The 100 people from Shengyuan Star, seeing what the Xia Country soldiers were doing, followed suit.

They weren't stupid; Xia Country had explored the Soul Realm before and had some experience.

When one lacks experience, one must know how to imitate those who have it.

All 1,100 people were divided into two groups to support the mental barriers, and Su Xiaobai joined Zhang Sheng's squad.

"Captain Zhang, I just killed a ghost, but there was no soul crystal." As Su Xiaobai spoke, he extended his Mental Energy again and with a light thrust, popped another small ghost.

"See, this one is useless too."

"The ghost we killed last time was hundreds of meters large; I suspect only large ghosts have soul crystals." Zhang Sheng said with a smile.

"I know the location of a large ghost, and it happens to be past the Soul Realm's stone tablet. Let's head there first to hunt it!"

"Attention everyone! Forced march, target straight ahead!" Zhang Sheng ordered.

The 1,000 Xia Country soldiers responded in a roar, then began running forward in an orderly and rapid fashion.

"Friends from Shengyuan Star, you may act freely. Stay safe!" Zhang Sheng greeted the 100 cultivators from Shengyuan Star, then led his team straight toward their destination.

To prepare for this trip to the Soul Realm, the Xia Country Academy of Sciences had modified the lightweight exoskeleton armor they were wearing.

They removed almost all life-support and defense systems, retaining and strengthening the power supply and speed systems.

Life-support and defense systems were actually somewhat redundant when facing ghosts; removing them wouldn't affect much.

Strengthening the power supply and speed systems could greatly save on their Mental Energy consumption; after all, while flying was fast, it consumed relatively more Mental Energy.

After some time, the team arrived at the bank of a large river.

They then followed the current, marching rapidly downstream along the riverbank.

"This river really is wide enough." Su Xiaobai pursed his lips as he watched the rushing, roaring water.

"It is indeed very wide, and the waves in this river are comparable to those in the ocean." Zhang Sheng said with a smile.

"The stone tablet is just ahead. Look, you can already vaguely see its outline."

Hearing this, Su Xiaobai immediately looked carefully into the distance and indeed discovered a small outline on the far riverbank.

"Full power, speed up our advance!" Zhang Sheng ordered.

The team's marching speed increased, and after traveling for a while longer, they finally arrived in front of the stone tablet.

"Is this the Soul Realm's stone tablet?" Su Xiaobai stepped forward and gently stroked the stone tablet.

"Could there be a treasure hidden inside?"

"That... probably not." Zhang Sheng said with a smile, "I've scanned it with my Mental Energy, and there's nothing special about this stone tablet."

"Either my ability is insufficient, or there really isn't anything."

Su Xiaobai nodded, but he still covered the stone tablet with his Mental Energy for a careful investigation.

To probe the interior more clearly, he used a special detection secret technique he had learned at the Shengyuan Holy Land.

"There really is something!" Su Xiaobai's lips pursed slightly.

The moment he approached the stone tablet earlier, he felt that it was special.

"Rise!"

Buzz—

The stone tablet suddenly began to vibrate.

"What's going on?" Zhang Sheng and the others looked at the vibrating stone tablet in shock, then turned their gaze toward Su Xiaobai, who was radiating powerful Mental Energy.

"Could there... really be a treasure?" Zhang Sheng recalled his conversation with Su Xiaobai just now and suddenly felt like complaining.

"This... is a bit of a cliché, isn't it!"

"When I scan it, it's an ordinary stone tablet, but when Su Xiaobai scans it, there's a treasure?"

Zhang Sheng thought of the novels he used to stay up all night reading and looked up at the gloomy sky.

"Could Su Xiaobai be the protagonist?"

...