Chapter 310: Yang Xu?
After walking for half an hour, Yang Xu saw a light at the end of the stairs.
However, this light made him uneasy and he became more vigilant.
[Be more careful.] He reminded and Bing Lan nodded.
A few breaths later, they took the last step and arrived in a wide cave.
Although the cave was underground, it was bright and was no different from the outside.
Looking around, half the cave’s ceiling was covered with white stalactites which secreted a milk-like substance.
The substance collected in a small pool which was the source of light in the cave.
[AXu, something in that pull is attracting my soul.] Bing Lan said and involuntarily took a step towards the pool.
[Don’t be reckless.] Yang Xu said and held her back.
However, he was not unaffected.
He desperately wanted to go to the pool but a part of his mind was overwhelmed with crisis.
’My soul is already at the fifth level but I am still affected. This cave is not simple.’ He thought and shook his head to clear his mind.
After he calmed down a little, he looked at the stalactites and the drops of milk-like substance.
[That milk-like substance should be soul milk.] He said and his breath hitched a little.
[Soul milk..., if that’s the case...]
Bing Lan didn’t have to finish because they both understood.
For qi cultivation, spirit stones were invaluable.
In the same way, soul stones were invaluable for soul cultivation.
Unfortunately, soul stones were extremely rare and it was almost impossible to find one in the Cangxing world.
However, soul milk was the liquid form of soul stones.
The presence of soul milk meant there were soul stones in the cave.
[Let’s check carefully.] Yang Xu said and signalled Bing Lan to follow his lead.
The two walked toward the small pool while using their divine sense to search the cave.
However, the more he checked, the more Yang Xu grew uneasy.
This was because he had clearly sensed an entity before he entered the cave.
Unfortunately, the entity had somehow disappeared and he couldn’t find it with eyes or divine sense.
[LanLan, why don’t you enter the palace for the time being?] Yang Xu asked.
After cultivating in the soul beast forest for almost a year, Bing Lan’s soul had broken through to the fourth level.
However, Yang Xu was not assured.
Even with his soul cultivation at the fifth level, he felt threatened and he wasn’t confident he could protect his wife.
In such a situation, he didn’t want Bing Lan to stay outside to take risks with him.
Unfortunately, Bing Lan did not see it that way.
Since they hadn’t found the enemy, she couldn’t hide and leave her Taoist companion to face it alone.
Although her cultivation was lower, she wasn’t useless.
There were things she could do and if she really couldn’t help, she would immediately enter the palace.
However, that decision had to wait until they found the enemy.
[Don’t talk nonsense.] She admonished and Yang Xu could only sigh.
He knew he couldn’t convince her so he didn’t try.
Instead, he focused his attention on the surroundings and tried to find the enemy.
Unfortunately, nothing was found even after searching for one hour.
At a loss, Yang Xu came up with an idea and turned to his wife.
[LanLan, enter the palace first.]
[I said...]
[It’s not that. I have a plan but I can’t use it when you are here.]
[Are you trying to cheat me?]
[I am not. I promise to let you out when I am done.]
When she heard that, Bing Lan looked at Yang Xu as if trying to decipher the truth from his eyes.
However, she couldn’t detect any lies so she glared at him and entered their ancient palace.
After she left, Yang Xu spread his divine sense and did another search.
Unfortunately, the results were as before and he didn’t find anything except the stalactites and the pool of soul milk.
"There is no other way." He muttered and a small flame flew out from between his eyebrows.
This white flame was a soul flame.
When Yang Xu broke through to the nascent soul realm, he managed to condense a soul flame.
Although he was later injured and his realm fell, it did not affect his soul and soul flame.
Over the years, he continued to cultivate his soul and nurture his soul flame.
With his efforts, both his soul and soul flame were at the peak of the fifth level and were only a hair’s breadth away from the sixth level.
However, this hair’s breadth was an unbreachable gulf.
No matter what he did, he couldn’t cross the gulf and his cultivation stagnated at that point.
Although he felt it was a pity to give up, he thought the reason he couldn’t break through was because of the suppression of the Cangxing world.
In that case, there was nothing he could do unless he found a way to overcome the suppression or leave the Cangxing world.
However, when he entered the cave, Yang Xu felt an opportunity for a breakthrough.
It was because of this feeling that he didn’t back down even when he knew the cave was dangerous.
After all, such an opportunity was extremely rare and he didn’t want to miss it.
’Fortunately, I still have many soul replenishing pills.’ He thought and controlled his soul flame to spread in the cave.
His plan was to cover the cave with soul flame and hope that the hidden entity would be forced to come out.
Although this method consumed a lot of soul power, Yang Xu didn’t have other options.
"Come out." He suddenly shouted and urged his soul flame to burn hotter.
At the same time, he swallowed two soul replenishing pills while using his divine sense to monitor every inch of the cave.
"What’s the use of hiding?" He continued.
[You are right, there is no use in hiding.] A voice reverberated in the cave.
When Yang Xu heard the voice, he couldn’t help but shudder.
The voice sounded like his and the familiarity made his scalp numb.
"Who are you?"
[Who am I...] The voice started but stopped, as if unclear about its own identity.
[Who are you?] It asked instead.
"My surname is Yang and my given name is Xu." Yang Xu subconsciously answered and then frowned.
He realised he was talking aloud but the voice was replying through sound transmission.
’Can he not talk?’ He wondered and continued to look around.
At this time, he noticed a figure rising from the small pool of soul milk.
The figure did not have distinct features but with time, its features morphed and Yang Xu took a step back.
"What are you?" He muttered as he looked at the figure that looked just like him.
[What am I...] The figure started and blinked its big eyes.
Its expression was filled with expectation and Yang Xu didn’t know what to do or say.
He asked the question because he didn’t know the answer but the opponent seemed to expect an explanation from him.
’What is this situation?’ He wondered and took a deep breath.
Since the issue of identity couldn’t be clarified, the next step was to ask about the soul milk.
In the end, the opponent’s identity didn’t matter. What mattered was the soul milk under its feet and the possible soul stones.
"Can I have some soul milk and soul stones?" He asked.
When the creature heard his question, his eyes lost focus and he seemed confused.
’Does he not know what soul milk and soul stones are?’ Yang Xu sighed and felt a headache coming on.
Under ordinary circumstances, he wouldn’t talk so much nonsense with an unknown entity.
However, Yang Xu felt that he shouldn’t try to fight the creature. This feeling was born from experience and a natural instinct for danger.
At this time, he felt that fighting the creature would lead to an outcome that was worse than death.
"What you are standing on is called soul milk." Yang Xu said and the creature looked at the milk in the pool.
After looking at the soul milk for a while, it emanated a dangerous breath and Yang Xu immediately raised his soul shield.
However, activating the soul shield was like using paper to block fire.
In the blink of an eye, the soul shield was devoured and a tremendous pressure pressed on Yang Xu’s soul.
’This is not good.’ He thought and forced himself not to panic.
When he calmed down, he realised his stagnant soul cultivation was loosened by the pressure.
However, soul cultivation was different from body and qi cultivation.
Body refiners and qi cultivators could use pressure to enhance their cultivation.
If the method failed, the consequence was injuries that could be easily healed with rejuvenation or other pills.
Unfortunately, soul cultivation was much more delicate.
Although soul pressure was helpful, the danger was so much more.
If the method failed, the consequence was a crushed soul.
