Douluo: Unparalleled General, Starting by Deceptive Thousand-Snow-Peak 34

Chapter 34: Earthbound Spirits and the Eight Gates Locking Array

“Mother, did you hear any kind of screeching sound just now?” Nan Feihuang asked Lan Xue.

Out in public, Lan Xue had asked him not to call her Empress, but rather Mother, to better conceal their identities, and it also felt more intimate.

“Screeching sound? No, I didn’t.” Lan Xue shook her head. They were too far from the Lake of Life at the heart of the Star Dou Forest; the sound wouldn’t carry this far. Even with Lan Xue’s Title Douluo cultivation, she hadn’t heard anything.

Nan Feihuang, however, had heard it clearly because the sound was directed at him.

“No? Perhaps it was my imagination,” Nan Feihuang said, not pressing the issue. He was certain, however, that the sound, which had come from the very center of the Star Dou Forest, was very clear to him.

He really wanted to investigate.

But going there now would be akin to seeking death. Even with Lan Xue’s protection, there was no guarantee of safety.

If they encountered the two great forest kings, a two-on-one fight, Lan Xue wouldn’t be able to defeat them in a short time, though she could hold her own. But protecting Nan Feihuang while fighting them would be impossible.

Therefore, Nan Feihuang chose to remain still, waiting until he was stronger before investigating.

As night gradually fell, Nan Feihuang and Lan Xue unknowingly walked into an extremely gloomy canyon.

“Hmm? This terrain…” Nan Feihuang frowned, observing the arrangement of the hills in the valley.

“What is it, Huang’er?” Lan Xue asked, puzzled.

“Mother, I’ve seen this terrain in my Dun Jia Heavenly Book. Three hills in front, three tall and two short, surrounded by mountains on all sides, with countless buried bones above and below ground. This place… it’s a soul-locking land,” Nan Feihuang murmured. “And today, it’s a starless night, with extremely heavy Yin energy, so there’s a high chance of…”

Lan Xue gasped, finishing his sentence, “Earthbound spirits!” The Mystic Ice Spear was already in her hand. As a Title Douluo, she had, of course, heard of these extremely evil yet powerful special soul beasts.

Like the Ghost Douluo of the Martial Soul Temple’s Ghost魅 (魅 – refers to a ghost or spirit that can be alluring, adding to the description of the Ghost Douluo), these are souls who only gain this kind of martial soul after dying once.

Earthbound spirits are formed when the souls of soul beasts are bound after death, creating a new type of special soul beast. They are formless, shadowless, and elusive.

Even Douluo-level experts could easily fall prey to them.

Even if the Earthbound spirits here weren’t very powerful, at most a thousand years old, posing no threat to Lan Xue, it might be a different story for Nan Feihuang.

Facing such eerie monsters, Lan Xue couldn’t afford to be careless.

Suddenly, countless screams echoed through the valley, and countless pitch-black figures crawled out of the ground. The sight of their ghostly hands alone was enough to make one’s hair stand on end.

Lan Xue and Nan Feihuang were completely surrounded.

The area was filled with thick fog, making it difficult to determine their bearings.

“Go!” Lan Xue grabbed Nan Feihuang’s shoulder and flew into the air. One of the major differences between a Title Douluo and a Soul Douluo is that even without using their martial soul, Title Douluos can fly in the air. If they have a flying-type martial soul, or are like the Sword Douluo and can control a sword, they can fly even faster.

Lan Xue chose to retreat. While she was confident in dealing with these Earthbound spirits, she wasn’t sure she could protect her son unharmed amidst their attack. The Earthbound spirits’ attacks were simply too unpredictable.

The fact that even she, a Title Douluo, had been surrounded by so many vengeful spirits without noticing was the best proof of that.

However, as soon as she and Nan Feihuang reached ten meters in the air, a fierce force pushed them back down.

“Impossible! I’ve been grounded! Why would these hundred-or-thousand-year-old Earthbound spirits have the ability to restrict a Title Douluo?” Lan Xue was astonished.

“Ugh…” At that moment, the Earthbound spirits roared and charged towards the two who had fallen back to the ground.

Thousands upon thousands of them! With a sweep of her long spear, Lan Xue dispersed the dozens that lunged at her. Nan Feihuang also used his One-Handed Eighteen Strikes, piercing the Earthbound spirits attacking him, which were only two or three hundred years old.

But soon, these Earthbound spirits regrouped.

“Huang’er, don’t leave my side, these things are very strange!” Lan Xue said, frowning.

For some reason, although countless Earthbound spirits stood before her, she felt as if there was only one, and that one was not only immortal but also possessed strength that was close to that of a Title Douluo, capable of grounding her.

But she couldn’t afford to think about it now. She continuously swung the Mystic Ice Spear, dispersing the Earthbound spirits one by one, only to watch them regroup again and again.

This phenomenon shouldn’t have happened. No matter how strange the Earthbound spirits were, mere hundred-or-thousand-year-old spirits shouldn’t be able to withstand a Title Douluo’s attack.

“Hmm? These Earthbound spirits’ attacks aren’t random; there’s a pattern. This attack pattern…” Nan Feihuang suddenly realized something.

“Rest!” Nan Feihuang uttered a single word, then looked north. Sure enough, a dozen Earthbound spirits attacked from that direction. After Lan Xue dispersed them, Nan Feihuang continued, “Next is Injury!”

He then looked east, and the Earthbound spirits from that direction attacked.

Lan Xue also noticed it. Her son seemed to have discovered something. “Huang’er, why can you predict their attack patterns?”

“Mother, this is an array described in my Dun Jia Heavenly Book, called the Eight Gates Locking Array. These Earthbound spirits are utilizing the terrain here to create this battle array, combining the strength of these thousands of Earthbound spirits into one, greatly enhancing their power, making them comparable to a Title Douluo. That’s why you felt like there was only one opponent, Mother. Among them, there must be a very intelligent being acting as the eye of the array. Once we break it, the array will be broken!” Nan Feihuang explained.

“Your book even records this? It’s a real encyclopedia,” Lan Xue couldn’t help but say, then held her spear in one hand and scooped up Nan Feihuang with the other. “Huang’er, you command, and Mother will break the array. Let’s work together, mother and son.”

Nan Feihuang nodded. “Okay, Mother, listen to me. Start attacking from the southeast!”

Hearing her son’s instructions, Lan Xue swung her long spear, and a powerful freezing force immediately swept across the southeast, completely freezing hundreds of Earthbound spirits.

“Mother, the southeast is the Life Gate. After breaking through here, charge forward from here, all the way to the West Injury Gate,” Nan Feihuang continued to command.

Without hesitation, Lan Xue held her son in one arm and wielded her spear in the other, slaughtering her way through the thousands of Earthbound spirits as if she were admiring fish and flowers.

Soon, she fought her way from the southeast to the west gate.

“Fifth Soul Skill, Mystic Ice Break!” Lan Xue unleashed her soul skill, a ten-thousand-year soul skill. A giant ice dragon roared out, directly breaking through the Injury Gate.

The surrounding scene suddenly changed. The fog dissipated, and the array was broken by Lan Xue, revealing the Earthbound spirit at the very center of the array.

“Mother, that’s the eye of the array. Throw me over there!” Nan Feihuang shouted.

Lan Xue exerted a moderate amount of strength, throwing Nan Feihuang towards the central Earthbound spirit.

Nan Feihuang raised his spear high, his first soul ring flashing. “First Soul Skill, Half-Moon Slash!”

This central Earthbound spirit was the strategist of all the others. Perhaps its cultivation wasn’t the highest, but it was the most suitable target for Nan Feihuang at the moment, approximately twelve hundred years old.

The Earthbound spirit naturally didn’t want to sit idly by, but without the support of the array, its strength seemed rather weak. It was clever to set up the Eight Gates Locking Array, but this wisdom had been purchased at the cost of its strength.

Furthermore, Nan Feihuang possessed a ghost-god body similar to Lü Bu’s (a legendary Chinese warrior), a physique with extremely heavy killing intent – a natural nemesis to ghosts.

The Earthbound spirit was so frightened by Nan Feihuang that it didn’t dare to move, and eventually, it was split in two by the spear.

Upon seeing this, the remaining Earthbound spirits were immediately scared away. Without a commander and the array, Lan Xue could easily kill them, but Nan Feihuang only needed one soul ring, so there was no need to eliminate them all.

A circle of purple light emerged from the slain Earthbound spirit, and Nan Feihuang reached out his hand.

(End of Chapter)

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