Chapter 987: City Lord's Mansion

Soul attacks were extremely terrifying, easily shattering or even devouring an opponent's spirit. No matter how strong one's defenses or how formidable one's strength, such attacks were impossible to guard against.

For this reason, soul power experts were feared.

They were far more powerful than those at the Embryo Realm.

Subdued by his opponent, Water Leaf King knew he was doomed. Without hesitation, he used a secret technique to abandon his physical body with his soul, intending to devour the other's spirit and perish together.

But the moment he entered the body, he saw the soul trapped inside and was nearly scared to death on the spot.

It was over ten meters tall, radiating a vast aura like the will of heaven, crushing his spirit until it seemed ready to collapse at any moment.

"This... how is this possible? How can it be so huge?"

Water Leaf King was utterly frantic.

Normal Sages, though they cultivated their souls, could only manipulate the rules of heaven. Their souls were extremely weak, inferior even to an infant's.

What kind of monster was this?

Over ten meters tall, like a mountain, and most crucially, it lacked the cold yin of a soul, instead carrying a radiant thunderous intent. Forget devouring it—he'd be lucky not to be devoured himself...

Could it be... this guy wasn't a Sage, but a super expert at the fifth or even sixth level of the Saint Domain?

Otherwise, how could he have such a powerful soul?

He had thought that sacrificing himself would at least make the opponent pay a heavy price, but he never dreamed the other's soul would be stronger and more condensed than his own. There was simply no way to fight.

What a mess...

"Escape!"

Knowing he couldn't devour it, Water Leaf King turned and fled without hesitation.

But before he could get far, his body stiffened. A giant hand grabbed him around the waist, and no matter how he struggled, he couldn't break free.

"Soul Search!"

Zhang Xuan snorted coldly as he seized him.

The opponent was a soul power expert. If he hadn't invaded Zhang Xuan's body, killing him would have been nearly impossible. But once inside, it became simple.

His body contained surging Heavenly Dao true energy and was guarded by the library, which even the Cruel One couldn't escape. What trouble could a mere soul cause?

With one move, the opponent fell into a boiling cauldron, screaming in agony.

"Young master, don't kill him. Leave the soul to me—I have use for it..."

Just as he was about to perform the soul search, the Cruel One's voice rang out.

"Leave it to you?"

"Yes. Devouring the soul of an Otherworldly Tribe king will speed up my recovery..."

The Cruel One hurriedly said, "Rest assured, young master. I'll interrogate him and extract everything you want to know!"

"Very well."

Trusting the Cruel One's assurance, Zhang Xuan nodded, released his grip, and left Water Leaf King's soul to him.

Ignoring the interrogation, he returned his consciousness to his physical body.

Letting out a breath, Zhang Xuan felt a cold sweat on his forehead.

It seemed he needed to be more careful when facing soul power experts in the future.

If this guy hadn't tried to kill him quickly by钻入 his body, but instead used soul techniques from outside, the outcome would have been uncertain.

His own soul, though over ten meters tall, was still far inferior to a true soul power expert's.

They were life forms of different levels, not comparable.

It was only inside his body that he had a significant advantage.

Looking down at Water Leaf King's corpse, he flicked his finger, and a storage ring flew up into his palm.

Peering inside, he saw countless treasures piled up like a mountain, with top-grade spirit stones densely packed, numbering in the thousands.

"He must have been on some mission, like Gold Leaf King and Green Leaf King, to carry so many spirit stones..."

Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up.

Regardless of the opponent's purpose, so many spirit stones were a huge gain for him.

He also glanced at the other items. This guy had quite a few soul cultivation manuals, but like those of the other two kings, they were vague and unclear.

After reading through all these books, he was about to dismiss them when a thought struck him.

"Correct!"

The soul cultivation methods he had obtained over these days immediately converged, forming a new book.

He casually opened it and read.

After a moment, his eyes brightened.

"It can actually form..."

He had thought that since Otherworldly Tribe members and humans were fundamentally different, their soul cultivation techniques would be useless to him. But after merging multiple manuals, they unexpectedly formed a correct Heavenly Dao technique.

The reason they had seemed chaotic before was simply that there were too few manuals.

"It seems that while the Otherworldly Tribe's method of cultivating the soul differs from humans, they ultimately converge, achieving the same effect..."

He nodded in approval.

The opponent's techniques had been completely incomprehensible before, bizarre to the extreme. By his guess, not cultivating them to the point of qi deviation would have been lucky... Now it turned out they were a different system, a cultivation method entirely distinct from humans.

Regardless of right or wrong, as long as one followed the steps, they would eventually converge.

Of course, for him, the prerequisite was still having enough techniques. Without sufficient collection, they were useless.

"Merge!"

He took out the Nine Transformations of Mortal Soul technique that Mo Hunsheng had left him and merged it with this manual.

After a moment, a new book appeared before him.

Reading it, Zhang Xuan smiled.

This technique was now flawless and ready for cultivation.

Previously, his soul had only reached the eighth transformation of Mortal Soul. With this, he could now冲击 the ninth transformation, further increasing his power.

"I'll do it after I return."

Suppressing the urge to cultivate, Zhang Xuan knew this wasn't the time. He disposed of Water Leaf King's corpse, withdrew the surrounding禁制, and headed toward Mo Yun Pavilion.

After all this delay, the auction had surely already started.

His priority now wasn't cultivation but finding the poison master's trail.

As he entered the auction hall, before he could assess the situation, Hu Yunsheng hurried over.

"Senior, just now... the city lord left!"

"Left?"

Zhang Xuan was startled.

"Yes. The Earthly Burial Flower auction hadn't started yet when he suddenly turned and left his booth. I thought he had something to attend to, but he didn't return and went straight to the city lord's mansion. It seems he doesn't intend to continue bidding."

Hu Yunsheng was puzzled.

That guy had been dead set on the Earthly Burial Flower, almost ready to snatch it by force. Now, just as the auction was about to begin, he turned and left...

Hu Yunsheng was completely baffled.

Zhang Xuan was also perplexed.

This was highly unusual!

He had seen the city lord earlier—the man had seemed ready to disregard his status and seize the flower. Why would he give up midway after attending the auction?

"Could there be some scheme?"

He couldn't help asking.

"Probably not. Judging by the direction he took, he went to the city lord's mansion. I suspect... something urgent came up that forced him to return."

Hu Yunsheng thought for a moment.

"Alright, you stay here and keep watch. I'll go see what's happening."

After a moment's thought, Zhang Xuan said.

This city lord wanted the Earthly Burial Flower, which a poison master needed, which was suspicious in itself. Now he was rushing back so urgently—there had to be more to it. To find out, he had to go see for himself.

"Alright."

Hu Yunsheng nodded. "The city lord's mansion is heavily guarded and very dangerous... Senior, be careful."

He wasn't so much concerned for Zhang Xuan's safety as worried that if something happened, his own poison would remain uncured.

"Don't worry."

Zhang Xuan waved his hand.

He might not be able to defeat a soul power expert from the Otherworldly Tribe, but the city lord's rabble—even if they all came at once—would be no match for him. It was nothing.

"Mm."

Remembering that this middle-aged man was not only terrifyingly powerful but also a fearsome poison master, Hu Yunsheng relaxed. He said no more, pointed out the direction of the city lord's mansion, and explained its layout in detail.

Though he had only visited the city lord's mansion a few times, Mo Yun Pavilion gathered intelligence from all quarters, so he knew the defenses of this local tyrant quite well.

Now that Sun Qiang was heading to the city lord's mansion, he naturally held nothing back and recounted everything in detail.

Soon, Zhang Xuan had a good understanding of the place. He then turned and flew toward the city lord's mansion.

The city lord's mansion was located at the very center of Jingyuan City, just over ten li from Mo Yun Pavilion. Flying through the night sky, he quickly spotted a sprawling estate ahead.

Following Hu Yunsheng's directions, Zhang Xuan activated his Eye of Insight and indeed found flaws in the formations and defenses.

"Looks like this guy's information is pretty accurate."

With a light smile, he flickered and slipped inside.

Hu Yunsheng might not be reliable when it came to information about the Poison Hall, but he did know quite a lot about other matters.

Otherwise, Zhang Xuan wouldn't have found the Earthly Burial Flower so quickly and arrived here smoothly.

Armed with prior intelligence and his Eye of Insight, Zhang Xuan soon bypassed the layers of defense in the city lord's mansion and reached the main hall where the city lord was.

He flickered and concealed himself in a large tree in the courtyard, peering inside.

He saw the city lord who had threatened him earlier standing in the spacious room, looking anxious, as if waiting for something.

The two guards from before were also tense, constantly looking around.

"Alright, you two may leave now."

The city lord waved his hand.

"Yes."

The guards left, and the room fell silent.

The city lord paced back and forth. After a while, just as he was about to say something, a peculiar aura descended.

Then, a figure appeared abruptly in the hall.

"Greetings, sir..."

Seeing this person, the city lord sighed in relief and quickly clasped his fists. It seemed this was the one he had been waiting for.

"Mm."

The figure stood with hands behind his back, nodding faintly.

"Sir, you asked me to bid on the Earthly Burial Flower. It's about to start..."

The city lord looked at him, full of confusion.

The other had told him to bid, but just as it was about to begin, he had been summoned back urgently. He couldn't help but find it strange.

"Something's happened..."

Without answering his question, the figure frowned.

"Something happened?" The city lord was puzzled.

"Mm."

The figure waved his hand, about to speak, when suddenly his brows shot up. He looked toward Zhang Xuan's hiding spot. "Who's there?"