Chapter 2341 - 2339: Soul Erosion Wind

In the Void, Lu Ye's Mental Consciousness spread out, and the space around him began to twist. At the same time, a certain area of space ahead underwent the same change.

It was as if two different spaces had given rise to a strange resonance.

After a good ten-plus breaths, Lu Ye suddenly vanished from where he stood.

When he appeared again, he was already at the position his Mental Consciousness had just locked onto.

Spatial Transposition!

This was a genuine Spatial Transposition Technique, exactly like what Su Yan had used during their previous clash. This time, Lu Ye did not rely on Void Dao Runes, yet he still managed to accomplish it.

This was the benefit brought by his deeper understanding and Insight into Space's Marvel, and it also meant his attainment in the Path of Space had greatly improved.

It looked pretty decent…

But in reality, it wasn't of much use.

Because for Lu Ye to cast this secret technique right now, he had to stand perfectly still. Perhaps it was due to lack of practice, or perhaps his attainment in space wasn't sufficient; whatever the reason, he had never once succeeded in doing it while on the move.

And it took far too long—more than ten breaths to succeed. A technique like this simply couldn't be used in battle.

Su Yan was different. When Lu Ye had hunted her down several times before, no matter how intense the fight, she only needed to take a single step to Teleport away.

If Lu Ye hadn't been able to construct Void Dao Runes to disrupt the space she occupied, he truly would've had no way to restrain her.

There was another issue: his teleportation range was limited; its upper limit was only within the coverage of his field of vision. Beyond that, it simply wouldn't work.

Still, no matter how you looked at it, being able to perform Teleportation at all meant his attainment in the Path of Space had taken a big leap forward.

After a few trials, once the novelty wore off, Lu Ye stopped wasting time and pressed on with his journey.

Because he was carrying Su Yan, Lu Ye had kept a constant edge of caution along the way. Though he was indeed very strong now, any trouble that could be avoided should be avoided as much as possible.

The phoenix egg looked quite sturdy, but if it were to be caught in the Yu Bo of a battle, would it be damaged? Lu Ye had no idea.

Days passed one after another, and in the blink of an eye, a month was gone.

The phoenix egg showed no sign of change; Lu Ye could only sense the powerful and extremely pure vitality contained within.

As for when Su Yan would be reborn, he had absolutely no clue.

On this particular day, as he was advancing, Lu Ye suddenly furrowed his brow.

Because he had detected a trace of warmth, and the sensation of wind blowing past.

But this was the Void—how could there possibly be wind, and hot wind at that?

He turned his head to look around in all directions, finding nothing out of the ordinary.

Yet very soon Lu Ye realized something was wrong, because as this hot wind blew, his Soul Power was actually being eroded away!

Furthermore, as time went on, the speed and heat of the hot wind grew greater, and his Soul Power drained faster and faster, while his physical body scarcely felt any discomfort.

There were many bizarre, inexplicable phenomena in Star Abyss; Lu Ye had heard Jiu Ying speak of such things many times before. He knew at once that he had run into one.

This hot wind didn't seem like much on the surface, but once one's Soul Power was completely blown away, one would likely become a living corpse.

Lu Ye quickly inspected the phoenix egg behind him and was surprised to find that it was actually unaffected by this hot wind.

That allowed him to relax slightly.

Even so, he didn't dare linger here. He immediately rushed in the direction the hot wind was coming from, hoping to break out of the area covered by this strange hot wind.

The result left him helpless: no matter how hard he tried, he simply couldn't shake it off.

The rate at which his Soul Power was being consumed wasn't fast, but he had no way to stop it. With his Soul Power being eroded away ceaselessly like this, it would definitely become a problem over time.

After nearly half a day, Lu Ye had no idea how far he'd run, yet the situation remained the same.

He realized something was off.

The coverage of this hot wind couldn't possibly be this vast. Where was the problem?

Just as he was pondering, a voice suddenly came to his ear: "Young friend, young friend over there, greetings."

Lu Ye halted at once, raising a hand to grip the Boulder Mountain Saber, his expression turning wary.

Someone was nearby—and the crucial point was that he hadn't sensed any aura at all.

He spread out his Mental Consciousness to search in all directions, but under the blowing of this strange hot wind, his Mental Consciousness dissipated without a trace the instant it left his body.

"Over here, to your left!" That voice rang out again, as if it had Insight into Lu Ye's current situation, kindly offering a reminder. "Wrapped up in Soul Erosion Wind, your Mental Consciousness can't leave your flesh body."

Lu Ye stood there and contemplated briefly, then turned and swept off toward his left.

With his current strength of two hundred and forty Dao Runes, in this outer world, unless he ran into another Peak Dao Fusion like Solar Flames, who had an affiliated treasure acting as a Dao soldier, there really weren't many who could be his match.

The situation was strange right now, so he needed to find someone informed and get some answers. Otherwise, if he were continually harassed by this so-called Soul Erosion Wind, it would be troublesome.

In just a short while, Lu Ye arrived atop a floating land. There was nothing else on this floating land—only a stone statue standing there.

It was an enormous sculpted head, just a single giant head and nothing more.

Other than that, there was nothing else.

Lu Ye stood before the statue that was more than ten zhang tall, its surface mottled and weathered, looking up at it.

The head had no hair, the skull was a bald expanse, and there was a kindly smile on its face, making it look harmless to man and beast.

"Are you the one talking?" Lu Ye asked.

Although he didn't sense any vitality from this statue, there was nothing else here worth paying attention to.

"Greetings, little friend, it is I who am speaking."

The statue didn't move a muscle, yet a voice sounded in Lu Ye's ears.

Lu Ye clicked his tongue in wonder. Truly, the great world held all manner of oddities. He had seen many Spirit Monsters that could take human form, but something like this—no vitality yet possessing spiritual intelligence—he really hadn't seen before.

"Fellow Daoist, what's your situation?" Lu Ye asked.

The statue chuckled. "To be honest, I don't know what my situation is either. One day I suddenly gave birth to spiritual intelligence, and then I've just been like this ever since."

"You can't move?"

"I can't."

Rather pitiful… Though it had gained spiritual intelligence, it had stood here motionless for countless years. It was almost worse than being muddleheaded and unaware.

"You just said that was called Soul Erosion Wind?" Lu Ye asked again.

"Yes, a strange hot wind that constantly lingers in this area. It scours Soul Power. I once heard other Fellow Daoists describe it that way."

"Oh?" Lu Ye's brows lifted. "So others have encountered it before. I wonder how they dealt with it?"

The statue chuckled. "Little friend must be quite curious. The range this Soul Erosion Wind covers is rather large, isn't it?"

"Yeah, no matter how I ran, I couldn't shake it off."

"If that's all you do, you indeed can't escape, because this Soul Erosion Wind doesn't actually cover an enormous area. It's been following you the whole time."

"Is that so?" Lu Ye frowned deeply and pondered. It was indeed possible. No wonder he couldn't run out of its range. So this so-called Soul Erosion Wind had actually been tailing him all along.

If that was the case, then it would be easy to deal with.

He only needed to use a Spatial Movement Technique to have a chance at shaking it off. But to be safe, it was best to use his doppelganger and, leveraging the connection between doppelganger and true body, perform a long-distance Teleportation.

"In fact, dealing with it is very simple." The statue spoke again. "This Soul Erosion Wind is only drawn by vitality. I see that egg on your back has a powerful vitality. Why not leave that egg here, Fellow Daoist? The Soul Erosion Wind will stay as well, and then you can be on your way without worry."

Lu Ye blinked and said, "No need. Many thanks for clearing my doubts, Fellow Daoist. Farewell!"

His feet shifted. Facing the statue, his body drifted backward.

The statue didn't move at all, still looking at him with that harmless smile.

Lu Ye suddenly felt something was off, because the distance between him and the statue wasn't increasing, and the surrounding scenery began to distort.

"Little friend, you'd best leave that egg behind," the statue said.

Lu Ye said nothing.

"You refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit. Since you're unwilling, don't blame this seat for taking it by force!" The statue barked, and with a rumbling roar, the earth shook and the mountains quaked.

Originally standing rooted in the ground, it slowly stood up.

Below its body, leg after leg of different shapes appeared, bizarre and grotesque, at least dozens of them. These legs were clearly not from the same living being, much less the same race. It was as if someone had chopped off the legs of many cultivators and cobbled them together beneath this statue.

It didn't just have many legs. As the statue rose, its originally armless body also sprouted dozens of arms!

"Brat, with just a measly Enter the Path cultivation, how dare you act so arrogant before this seat? Don't say you're only Enter the Path—this seat has squatted here for many years and has slain dozens, if not a hundred, Dao Fusion cultivators. If you know what's good for you, obediently leave that egg on your back."

The statue spoke viciously, its former mild and gentle demeanor gone, now more like a bandit blocking the road for a robbery.

Lu Ye lowered his eyelids and said flatly, "That so-called Soul Erosion Wind is your handiwork, isn't it?"

There was no reason for him to be so unlucky as to encounter such a bizarre incident. Combined with the statue's performance now, how could Lu Ye not know that this was the other party's method?

It used this method to make contact with passing cultivators, then lured them here to be slaughtered.

If that was the case, the Soul Erosion Wind wouldn't last too long. After all, it was a secret technique and was surely consuming the statue's power. It was impossible for it to maintain it indefinitely.

But anyone who encountered such a strange event would make the same choice as Lu Ye and come here to ask for guidance.

As for how it could see through Lu Ye's cultivation…

Shrouded in the Soul Erosion Wind, Lu Ye had been channeling Dao force the whole time. How could it not sense that?

The Dao force of Enter the Path and Dao Fusion were far too different.

"You're quite clever, but you made a stupid choice!" the statue snorted. "I'll say it again: leave the egg behind you, and you can scram. This seat is in a good mood today and can spare your life!"

Lu Ye suddenly raised his head. "Who gave you the courage to talk to me like that…"

The moment his voice rang out, he had already shot forward, brushing past the statue's front, bringing with him a dazzling flash of saber light.

The statue, which had been wearing a face full of arrogant ferocity and waving its dozens of mismatched arms, suddenly froze in place. Great terror burst into its eyes, and by its ears came the latter half of Lu Ye's sentence.

"…with that tone?"