134: Deceit and treachery

"Soul Tide!"

He instantly recalled the bone-chilling cold that had unsettled him earlier when fighting the Qingming Faction Cultivators.

Only when a massive Soul Tide arrived would so many remnant souls appear in the mine!

"A scale of at least hundreds of thousands of Wandering Souls gathering!"

Su Ling's fingertips trembled slightly as a fierce struggle rose within his heart.

Spreading his Divine Sense slightly, he once again felt that bone-chillingly cold aura.

It was a hundred times denser than the aura of the tens of thousands of Wandering Souls within thirty li; clearly, the scale of this Soul Tide far exceeded his imagination.

With the slightest lapse, let alone seizing the Spider Mother Demon Soul, he might even be swallowed by the Soul Tide himself.

But on second thought, the ten thousand souls banner was currently in a 'hungry' state; such a Soul Tide would surely replenish the soul bodies within the banner quickly.

More importantly, a large number of Wandering Souls could also strengthen the soul-binding power of the Netherworld Ghost Hand, perhaps allowing him to completely control the Spider Mother Demon Soul in one fell swoop.

If he could take the demon soul of a fourth-grade Soul-Devouring Spider Mother into the ten thousand souls banner as the main soul... the power of the ten thousand souls banner would surely experience a qualitative leap!

"Wealth is found amidst danger!"

A flash of ruthlessness crossed Su Ling's eyes as he made his choice.

With a thought, five lustrous white Medicinal Pills flew out from his Storage Ring.

They were precisely the third-grade Medium Grade spirit nurturing pills, specifically used for rapidly recovering Divine Soul power.

The pills melted the moment they entered his mouth, and a gentle yet pure stream of Divine Soul energy surged down his throat into his Sea of Consciousness.

Like sweet rain, it nourished the Divine Soul that had been exhausted during the previous tug-of-war with the Spider Mother.

After a mere moment, Su Ling's gaze became sharp once again.

Diverting some of his energy to control the ten thousand souls banner, he temporarily stopped the absorption of the drifting Wandering Souls.

Instead, he fully activated the Netherworld Ghost Hand, unleashing its Soul-Draining ability.

The Wandering Souls that subsequently emerged from the ground were immediately caught by the suction of the Netherworld Ghost Hand as soon as they appeared, letting out shrill wails and instantly turning into pure Wandering Soul Power to be absorbed by the ghost hand.

The ghost hand, originally shrouded in black mist, suddenly expanded from several feet to over thirty feet in size, its fingers slowly tightening around the Spider Mother Demon Soul.

Sensing a fatal crisis, the Spider Mother Demon Soul shrieked repeatedly, its dark purple soul body struggling violently in an attempt to break free from the ghost hand's constraints.

But without the support of a Physical Body and the assistance of the soul-body spiderlings... its Soul-Shaking Shriek, besides continuously draining its own Divine Soul, could not break through the protection of the bodhi soul nurturing plaque at all, failing to shake Su Ling's Sea of Consciousness even slightly.

As one waxed and the other waned, the Netherworld Ghost Hand absorbed more and more Wandering Soul Power, and the Spider Mother Demon Soul was actually pulled up inch by inch.

The soul body that was originally deeply embedded in the Spider Mother's Physical Body now had half of itself exposed to the air, its Soul Power trembling violently out of fear.

The scales of battle finally tilted completely toward Su Ling... Meanwhile, at the edge of the Wuwang Bone Forest, in a dense forest in the direction of the Bitao Faction, a patch of grey mist was quietly surging.

In the mist, over a hundred Core Formation Cultivators from the Qingming Faction had formed a concealment Formation, their auras suppressed to the absolute limit.

Unless one came within ten feet, it was impossible to detect that anyone was hiding here.

These Cultivators were gathered in a circle, and in the center sat a female Nascent Soul Cultivator dressed in a dark green dress.

Her eyes were tightly closed, her fingers forming a strange hand seal, and a faint grey mist lingered around her as if she were merging with the surrounding fog; she was clearly controlling something.

"Fellow Daoist Qiu, how much longer will it take?"

A cold voice sounded as a Nascent Soul Cultivator dressed in Qingming sword robes walked out slowly.

It was precisely Jiang Wushe, a direct-line Nascent Soul of the Qingming Sword Sect.

He had sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, his whole body radiating sharp Sword Qi; even within the concealment Formation, it was difficult to hide the edge unique to a Sword Cultivator.

If Bai Yifan or Yan Wushuang were here, they would surely be scared out of their wits.

Who could have imagined that besides the four Nascent Souls outside the Formation, two more Nascent Soul Cultivators from the Qingming Faction were actually hidden nearby!

Six great Nascent Souls gathered; this was clearly an attempt to drive them to total extinction.

Qiu Xuetong slowly opened her eyes, a hint of charm in her gaze, and her lips curled into a confident arc. "Fellow Daoist Jiang, don't be impatient. The Soul Tide is already poised to strike... I guarantee that this Shadow Soul Crystal Mine will definitely fall into our hands."

"But an hour has already passed."

Jiang Wushe's brows furrowed slightly, his tone carrying a hint of impatience. "If we delay any longer, there will only be more and more Nascent Soul reinforcements from the Bitao Faction. When the time comes, taking this resource point will likely require a greater price."

"A price?"

Qiu Xuetong gave a light laugh, a flash of ruthlessness in her eyes. "The more that come, the better. The more Nascent Soul Cultivators that arrive, the more points we can harvest. Do you think Nangong Yan and Black Rock are just restraining them? They are fishing! Yan Wushuang and those thousand Cultivators are merely the first batch of bait."

She paused, the grey mist on her fingertips thickening. "Furthermore, I have used a secret technique to drive all the Wandering Souls within a hundred li into the range of the resource point's Formation. When the Azure Wave reinforcements arrive, hundreds of thousands of Wandering Souls will surge out from within the Formation... By then, with our six great Nascent Souls joining forces, why should we worry about not being able to take this resource point?"

Hearing this, Jiang Wushe's tense expression relaxed slightly.

As a Sword Cultivator, he was accustomed to straightforward killing and was not very comfortable with Qiu Xuetong's kind of scheming.

But at the thought of the points he could potentially harvest, a hint of anticipation flashed in his eyes.

If he could kill thousands of Azure Wave Cultivators at once and then take the resource point, his point ranking could advance by at least five to ten places.

Breaking into the top ten would be almost a certainty!

Under the drive of great profit, what did it matter if he waited a bit longer?

Seeing that Jiang Wushe said no more, the smile on Qiu Xuetong's lips deepened as she closed her eyes again, accelerating the speed of controlling the Soul Tide.

Thousands of feet deep underground, dozens of li away, a remnant soul radiating a Nascent Soul aura was floating in the darkness, its silent roar spreading through the rock layers.

The surrounding Wandering Souls, like startled birds and beasts, penetrated the rock layers one after another, swarming toward the Shadow Soul Crystal Mine.

If someone could look down upon the entire underground of the Wuwang Bone Forest, they would surely see a terrifying sight.

Hundreds of thousands of Wandering Souls were converging from all directions like a black tide.

Wherever they passed, even the sleeping third-grade Soul-Devouring Demonic Spiders curled up their legs and tightly covered their heads, not daring to make the slightest movement.

Although they fed on Wandering Souls, in the face of such a massive Soul Tide, the predator-prey relationship had already reversed.

Only by remaining fully dormant could they save their lives... Outside the resource point, a communication jade slip came flying through the air.

It flashed past and directly penetrated the Formation, landing in Bai Yifan's hand.

Under Yan Wushuang's eager gaze, Bai Yifan quickly sent his Divine Sense into it.

[Senior Brother Bai, Xiao Hanque and I have already led a team to reinforce you. Hold on!]

The concise and clear message made Bai Yifan couldn't help but be overjoyed.

"How is it?"

Yan Wushuang asked hastily upon seeing this.

"Haha, Junior Brother Ye actually persuaded Xiao Hanque, and they are already on their way!"

Bai Yifan casually put away the communication jade slip and laughed heartily while patting Yan Wushuang's shoulder.

"In that case, we only need to hold on for another hour or two..."

"The situation will surely turn around!" Yan Wushuang's eyes suddenly lit up upon hearing this.

Ye Linfeng, a direct-line Nascent Soul of the Bitao Sect, ranked eighteenth on the point leaderboard.

Xiao Hanque, a direct-line Nascent Soul disciple of the Xiao Family from Longwhale Island, ranked twenty-first on the point leaderboard.

Bai Yifan had originally only hoped that Ye Linfeng could bring more people to maintain the Formation and stall for time.

He hadn't expected that he would actually bring Xiao Hanque as well.

With the help of these two Nascent Souls, the top-tier combat power was leveled once again.

And since the Shadow Soul Crystal Mine resource point was already closer to the Bitao Faction, other Nascent Soul Cultivators who received the news might also arrive later.

If they were to get bogged down in a war of attrition, it would certainly be unfavorable for the Qingming Faction.

Bai Yifan nodded, then his smile vanished as he looked at the Cultivators maintaining the Formation around him and sent a serious voice transmission:

"Do not reveal this news for now, to prevent the other side from noticing anything unusual..."

"Once reinforcements arrive, we'll strike from both inside and out and give them a heavy blow!"