Chapter 307: Hard Stumble
For the following five months, the group continued to hunt soul beasts and moved towards the centre of the soul beast forest.
In that time, none of the five improved their qi or body cultivation. However, their soul power improved by leaps and bounds.
Yu Nianzhen and Jiang Yue broke through to the third level of their soul-refining techniques while Hongzhu managed to refine soul replenishing pills.
Although the soul replenishing pills were only low-grade, they were enough for the group’s needs.
"We are about to enter the core of the soul beast forest." Yang Xu announced as the group prepared to go out.
"I think we should act separately in the core area." Xuan Ke suggested and everyone nodded in agreement.
The core area was different from the outer area.
This was because the nine core treasures of the soul beasts’ forest were in the central area.
No matter how close the group was, they all had their paths to walk.
In that case, it was better for everyone to act separately so that conflicts wouldn’t arise.
"Shall we set a time to meet? How about six months?" Jiang Yue asked.
"Six months is fine with me." Bing Lan said and looked at Yang Xu.
"I agree with six months."
After making plans, five people were divided into three groups.
Xuan Ke went alone, Bing Lan and Yang Xu went together, and Yu Nianzhen and Jiang Yue also went together.
"Where do you want to go first?" Yu Nianzhen asked and Jiang Yue fell into thought.
A moment later, he pointed towards the east and the two began to walk.
One day later, they came across a soul beast.
The soul beast was drinking from a basin-sized puddle and its body was more solid than all the soul beasts they had come across.
[Azhen, is that puddle filled with soul marrow?] Jiang Yue asked excitedly.
[It could...] Yu Nianzhen started and then pulled Jiang Yue to the side.
"What?" Jiang Yue asked and then felt something brush past his body.
"Did it attack us?" He asked in wonder.
"Although we are using invisibility talismans and can’t be seen using ordinary means, its soul power is higher than ours. It should have noticed our sound transmission and attacked in our general direction."
"So strong?" Jiang Yue shuddered at the thought.
In the past five months, he had suffered from soul attacks more than once.
Fortunately, the power difference between him and the soul beasts wasn’t too high and he wasn’t seriously injured.
However, the soul beast in front of them was different.
Its soul power was several times higher and its random attack was enough to injure Jiang Yue.
"What should we do?"
"Retreat for the time being." Yu Nianzhen said and pulled Jiang Yue backwards.
When doing so, the soul beast attacked several times but the two managed to dodge and weren’t injured.
After leaving the range of the soul beast’s attack, the two hid behind a rock and took a moment to rest.
"Shall we hunt more soul beasts and then go back to find it when our soul power improves?" Jiang Yue asked.
He didn’t want to let the soul beast go.
For one, the soul beast had a high level of cultivation and its core was bound to be better than any they had encountered.
On the other hand, it was guarding a puddle of what he suspected was soul marrow.
If they defeated it, its core and the soul marrow were enough to let them break through to the fourth level of soul refining.
"Have you not noticed we haven’t encountered other soul beasts since we entered the core area." Yu Nianzhen mentioned and Jiang Yue gasped.
He hadn’t noticed it but when the other mentioned it, he immediately realised it.
"It’s possible that the central area is controlled by high-level soul beasts. The low-level soul beasts should have been driven to the outer area or devoured by the high-level soul beasts."
When Jiang Yue heard that, his face turned black.
If there were no weaker soul beasts in the core area, they wouldn’t have enough soul beast cores to improve their soul power.
"We have three options." Yu Nianzhen stated and rubbed Jiang Yue’s head to soothe his mood.
"What options?"
"The first option is to leave the core area and hunt weaker beasts in the outer area." Yu Nianzhen said but Jiang Yue frowned.
One of the reasons they rushed to enter the central area was because the soul beast cores in the outer area were no longer as effective.
If they relied on those soul beast cores, their progress would be slow and they may not raise their soul power in six months.
"I don’t think returning to the outer area is a good option." He said.
"I also think so."
"What about the second option?"
"The second option is to go to a different area. If we are lucky, the next place will be easier and what we find may help us improve our soul power. At that time, it won’t be impossible to come back."
"This option is also good but it could go either way. We may encounter a harder stumble and fail to get what we need."
"You are right. The final option is to find a way to deal with the soul beast in this area. What do you think?"
After listening to the options, Jiang Yue fell silent.
At first, he was biased toward the second option but when he thought things through, he chose the third option.
"Why don’t we challenge ourselves and find a way to deal with the soul beast?" He asked and winked at his husband.
When Yu Nianzhen saw that, he chuckled and his heart was filled with appreciation.
If asked, he wanted to fight the soul beast but he gave the choice to Jiang Yue.
In the end, his husband did not disappoint him and chose the best option for their current situation.
Although the second option could lead to an easier situation, cultivation was going against the sky.
Giving up before trying wasn’t conducive to their future cultivation and Yu Nianzhen was glad that Jiang Yue had figured it out.
"Do you love me a little more?" Jiang Yue asked playfully and Yu Nianzhen chuckled.
"I will love you a little more even if you don’t do anything."
"When did you get such a sweet mouth?" Jiang Yue mumbled and stole a quick kiss.
The two played around for a while and then settled down to think of a plan.
"It’s unfortunate we don’t know the core treasures in the soul beasts’ forest." Jiang Yue lamented and Yu Nianzhen agreed.
Since the soul beasts’ forest had never been explored, they didn’t have information about the nine core treasures.
However, they didn’t care too much.
All they had to do was explore the area and they would naturally discover the core treasures.
"Alright, let’s find a way to deal with the soul beast." Yu Nianzen said and the two began to discuss.
Three days later, they left their hiding place and walked towards the soul beast.
However, this time, they didn’t bother to hide their presence because they knew they would be easily discovered.
When they were one foot from the beast’s attack range, they stopped and stared at the soul beast.
The beast had also turned to look at them but neither made a move.
"It’s as we thought. The soul beast doesn’t want to leave the puddle and it won’t take the initiative to attack." Jiang Yue commented and Yu Nianzhen nodded.
"Get ready." He said and Jiang Yue released his sanxian.
A moment later, ethereal music floated around the area and the soul beast took a step away from the puddle.
’It’s working.’ Jiang Yue rejoiced but didn’t dare to be distracted.
Fundamentally, he was weaker than the soul beast and his sanxian barely made up for the difference.
If he was distracted, he would give the soul beast a chance to escape the illusion which would not be good for them.
While Jiang Yue was weaving an illusion for the soul beast, Yu Nianzhen was looking for a chance to attack.
He condensed all his soul power into a soul sword and when the soul beast fell into Jiang Yue’s illusion, Yu Nianzhen released the sword.
Unlike when they first entered the soul beast forest, the soul sword was so condensed that it looked like a physical sword.
It was also faster and before the soul beast could react, it embedded itself between the beast’s eyes.
At the same time, the tempo of Jiang Yue’s music increased and the peaceful notes turned murderous; further injuring the soul beast.
Three breaths later, the soul beast fell to the ground and the music came to an abrupt end.
"Is it dead?" Jiang Yue asked.
His face was pale, his eyes were bloodshot, and his body shivered from exertion.
"It should be." Yu Nianzhen answered in a low voice.
His condition wasn’t any better than Jiang Yue’s.
To kill the soul beast, they had both done their best and their soul power was severely depleted.
If an enemy attacked at this time, they would have no ability to defend themselves.
