Chapter 724 - 364: Brothers in the Soul Gathering Stele

Chapter 724: Chapter 364: Brothers in the Soul Gathering Stele

In the Underground Spiritual Vein.

The invisible waves from the Soul Gathering Stele continuously expanded, drawing in all the Divine Souls and Souls on the entire mountain peak. Only Divine Souls could sense these kinds of fluctuations; the living could not.

It was just like the frequencies emitted by certain creatures, which the human ear cannot hear.

"What is this kid doing?" The old man arrived underground and saw Cheng Zongyang sitting beside the Soul Gathering Stele. "This aura... it doesn’t seem to belong to the Zhou Family."

Although the Soul Gathering Stele’s presence attracted him, it wasn’t yet strong enough to forcibly suck him into the stele.

But at that very moment, Cheng Zongyang’s eyes snapped open, and he whipped his head around to look in the old man’s direction.

’That Divine Soul’s intensity... Golden Core!!’

The next moment, Cheng Zongyang threw his number one Soul Gathering Stele—a pebble-sized artifact at the Spiritual Artifact Level—at the old man. With a single thought, the Spiritual Artifact returned to its normal size, and a terrifying suction force suddenly erupted.

The old man’s expression changed drastically, but it was too late to escape. In an instant, a black mist enveloped him, and the Soul Gathering Stele completely immobilized his form!

The entire process took only two breaths of time.

The old man struggled ceaselessly, but he was completely powerless to resist. He could only watch as his Soul Body was slowly sucked toward that bizarre Wordless Stone Stele.

It was as if countless trapped Divine Souls within the Stone Stele were baring their fangs and brandishing their claws at him, shrieking hysterically, beckoning him to join them and become one of their brethren inside the stele!

"Who in the world are you!"

The old man unleashed a wave of Divine Thought toward Cheng Zongyang, intending to use his Divine Sense against the person who was clearly the stele’s master. He had a terrible premonition; if he was sucked in, he would be finished!

But the next moment, the old man’s eyes filled with horror and astonishment! He discovered that his Divine Sense couldn’t penetrate the black mist at all!

’I’m a Divine Soul at the Peak of Golden Core, yet I’m completely powerless before this Stone Stele!’

Cheng Zongyang couldn’t be bothered to talk to him and simply intensified the absorption force!

"No—"

The last remnants of the old man’s furious roar vanished as he was sucked into the Soul Gathering Stele.

Cheng Zongyang’s expression was grave. ’I can’t believe this little maneuver actually attracted a Tier Three Divine Soul!’

However, he wasn’t in a hurry to leave and decided to wait a while longer. He wasn’t sure if the family had noticed the final commotion from the Divine Soul.

But his feet were already on the Teleportation Array, and his Divine Sense was focused on the Spirit Storage Dharma Pearl. If any Tier Three or Tier Four Golden Core or Nascent Soul Cultivators really showed up, he would teleport away.

’I also hadn’t expected the Soul Gathering Stele to have such terrifying control after becoming a Spiritual Artifact! A Tier Three Divine Soul didn’t even stand a chance against it!’

"This Soul Gathering Stele must have been left behind by the previous master of the Realm of Ten Thousand Races. Otherwise, how could it have so many incredible powers!" Cheng Zongyang muttered. He immediately checked the progress counter.

——

Quantity: 1/10 (Tier Three Divine Soul)

——

"Excellent! A pleasant surprise."

Cheng Zongyang breathed a sigh of relief. He continued to wait for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. Seeing that no one had come to investigate the recent incident, he figured it must have been the effect of the Yin Realm, which had not only blocked the Divine Soul’s Divine Sense but also muffled the sound.

"This truly is a Supreme Treasure for suppressing Divine Souls!" Cheng Zongyang’s lips curled into a grin.

’Now, with the Soul Gathering Stele, Divine Souls below the Nascent Soul realm are no longer a threat to me!’

He then continued to wait for the Earth Treasure Gourd to absorb the Spirit Vein.

At the very moment the old man’s Divine Soul was absorbed by the Soul Gathering Stele, on Cinnamon Peak, within a young man’s cave residence...

He stared at the ring that had just shattered on his finger, his face a mask of bewilderment...

An hour and a half felt like a year to Cheng Zongyang, who was terrified someone would show up.

Just as the Earth Treasure Gourd was about to finish its absorption, Cheng Zongyang looked at his number two Soul Gathering Stele, which had successfully absorbed an attracted Tier Two Divine Soul and been smoothly upgraded.

Its information panel was the same as the number one Soul Gathering Stele’s.

’This way, with these two steles, collecting Spirit Veins is much more secure.’

’I don’t consider myself a coward, just low-key. I prefer not to make a move if I don’t have to, but once I do, I’m decisive!’

As soon as the absorption was complete, Cheng Zongyang immediately retrieved the Earth Treasure Gourd, dismantled the Array and took it with him, and then made a swift departure.

Next, he continued to stealthily collect Spirit Veins while having the Soul Gathering Steles attempt to absorb local Divine Souls.

And so, before anyone knew it, he had collected one First to Third Grade Spirit Vein after another, and the Grade of his two Soul Gathering Steles had progressed halfway to the next level.

「Two months passed in the blink of an eye.」

Over the past two months, Cheng Zongyang had traveled to all the locations of First to Third Grade Spirit Veins around the four Main Cities, silently taking thirty-six Spirit Veins in total—which amounted to twelve of each Grade.

The timing and the quantity were all part of his plan, and each of the thirty-six locations was a great distance from the others.

Even if some of the local families discovered their Spirit Veins had suddenly vanished, it probably wouldn’t cause too much of a stir.

It might, however, stir up some local conflicts.

’That has nothing to do with me.’

Afterward, he stopped targeting the First to Third Grade Spirit Veins and instead turned his attention to the Fourth to Sixth Grades.

After some thought, Cheng Zongyang locked onto a target: the closest Six-Star Level family that possessed a Sixth Grade Spiritual Vein.

The family occupied several large mountains and had a population of over ten thousand!

Now, he was going to go after the Sixth Grade Spiritual Vein beneath their main mountain.

If he succeeded, the family would be thrown into utter chaos.

A High Grade Spirit Vein was the foundation for a large family’s long-term prosperity. The fact that they could support a population of tens of thousands was proof enough of how many talented individuals the family had cultivated with the help of this Spirit Vein.