Chapter 1438: Soul Spirit Pool
Soul Spirit Pool has always been an extremely ethereal thing, a legendary object. According to legend, it can inscribe a person's soul fluctuations and reproduce them realistically.
Ye Fan set foot on the Stellar Ancient Path, and wherever he went, his first task was to collect various ancient texts and understand all kinds of anecdotes from past and present. He discovered that secrets about Soaring Immortal were only occasionally found in the most ancient esoteric records.
It was precisely because of this that he had seen descriptions of the Soul Spirit Pool. The lake water was composed of soul liquid, which did not reflect the surrounding scenery but only manifested the great soul and spirit.
Inside the Soul Spirit Pool, silver liquid flowed, resembling mercury, followed by golden liquid that shone brilliantly, and finally transparent liquid that constantly exchanged and circulated.
"Golden soul, silver spirit, plus a strange fusion liquid—this is the composition of the Soul Spirit Pool. It seems there's no mistake," Ye Fan said, carefully observing the changes in the pool.
The golden liquid, silver liquid, and transparent viscous liquid did not appear all the time; they only emerged occasionally over long intervals. If one wasn't paying attention, they would certainly be overlooked.
The ancient pool was deep. The silver waterfall falling from above crashed into it, stirring up layers of mist that shrouded and obscured the area, making everything hazy.
"Could this be harmful to Brother Haoyue?" Pang Bo asked.
Ye Fan said, "It's hard to say. This thing is too mysterious. Nowadays, I'm afraid no one knows how to use it. I've only heard that it can reproduce a person's soul fluctuations vividly. Some tried to use it to create a second soul, but they failed."
Pang Bo sent out a strand of divine thought, approaching cautiously to observe closely. He found that there was a tremendous force in the pool trying to pull his divine sense inside.
"Don't get close. There's a saying that this Soul Spirit Pool was formed from the souls of countless ancient experts melted together in a single furnace and turned into liquid," Ye Fan warned.
"Souls can turn into liquid? That's really strange," Dragon Horse and the others marveled.
This thing could be approached, but only with a physical body. Otherwise, a pure soul plunging in might be instantly dissolved and become part of the soul liquid.
This also indirectly illustrated the importance of the physical body. The body was the shell of the spirit, protecting the soul. Anyone who wanted to reach the pinnacle of strength needed a solid and indestructible shell.
Ye Fan said, "All of this is left over from the calamity of longevity. There is an ancient record that believes the Soul Spirit Pool was evolved by experts from the Mythical Era to study Soaring Immortal and immortality."
Everyone sighed. The more they cultivated, the narrower the path seemed. In the end, the greatest problem faced by all supreme beings and heavenly prodigies was the two words: longevity. Almost every Great Emperor and Heavenly Venerable had to exhaust their efforts for Soaring Immortal.
"This should be a barrier set up by Ji Haoyue and the others for self-protection, to deceive enemies who mistakenly enter. It seems they sensed the great chaos outside."
"Quiet!"
They quickly fell silent because someone was approaching at extreme speed. Several divine rainbows broke through the air, directly striking the figure above the Soul Spirit Pool, intending to suppress it in one move.
If Ji Haoyue were here, there would really be trouble, because these people were all young supremes, extremely powerful.
The three young masters of the Golden Serpent Clan, the Metal-Eating Beast, and several others they had never seen before. This was because the discovery of the Ancient Tree of Life in the Mythical Ancient Domain had shaken even more distant starry skies. During the search for the Divine Bridge, more ancient star domains had joined in, and it was at that time that even more experts appeared.
Clearly, they wanted to capture Ji Haoyue and force information about the forbidden zone out of him, believing he might have obtained the Divine Demon Liquid. Everyone attacked together, aiming for a single successful strike.
In a blaze of blazing light, three zhang-long golden serpents passed through that figure, and the others did the same, hitting the target, but it was like striking emptiness.
"These hateful bastards are really ruthless. They want to destroy Brother Haoyue's physical body and leave only his primordial spirit," Pang Bo muttered.
"Ah..."
One person screamed. He extended his divine sense to scan the surroundings, and with a slight carelessness, his soul was pulled out, falling from his forehead bone and plunging into the Soul Spirit Pool.
This was a terrifying sight. This person had dominated a path in an ancient domain, undefeated among his peers across that star region, but now he was so pathetic. His primordial spirit entered the pool, turned into liquid, and was melted within.
It was like a bronze furnace, with raging flames turning cold metal into liquid, destroying its original form.
"What's going on?" The Metal-Eating Beast and the others gasped, involuntarily stepping back. One of them, not understanding, mistakenly thought a great enemy was lurking in the shadows and ambushing them. He sent out a powerful divine thought to search, but the result was the same—a scream, and his primordial spirit was pulled out.
In an instant, his primordial spirit was dissolved, becoming soul liquid. Like the first person, he was forever erased from the world, his spirit extinguished here!
"Don't extend your divine thoughts! This pool water has a problem. Its name is the Soul Spirit Pool. It was created by those seeking immortality for longevity, and it cannot be resisted by ordinary power," the Golden Serpent First Young Master shouted.
The Golden Serpent lineage was descended from the ancient divine Teng Snake, and they had deep knowledge of various allusions and secrets. After observing the ancient pool, he made the correct judgment immediately.
Everyone retreated, showing shocked expressions.
"This Soul Spirit Pool is really good. It has great uses. It's a perfect place to ambush and kill great enemies," Pang Bo muttered. Dragon Horse deeply agreed. In such a short time, two young experts who had dominated their domains had fallen.
Ye Fan warned, "This thing is hard to take away. It's considered ominous. According to legend, since ancient times, anyone who took the Soul Spirit Pool eventually ended up being melted within it. None of them had a good end."
The Soul Spirit Pool, Reincarnation Lake, and Soaring Immortal Waterfall were equally famous. They were recorded in ancient texts as things not to be provoked, all related to longevity and all created by humans.
When Ye Fan, Old Madman, Li Heishui, Little Nannan, and Black Emperor had ventured into Sacred Cliff together, they had seen Reincarnation Lake. Back then, when everyone wanted to look, Old Madman stopped them.
Now, seeing the Soul Spirit Pool again, Ye Fan's heart was unsettled. He wished he could pierce through the fog of the Mythical Era and see what great methods the ancient sages had used to achieve immortality.
The Golden Serpent Third Young Master sneered coldly, "This person has good methods. Just by inscribing a soul fluctuation here, he made us lose two experts. Don't let me find him!"
"Once found, I will surely annihilate his spirit," the Metal-Eating Beast also said.
"This place is good. We can set up something. Maybe we can use it to destroy the Human Clan Sacred Body and others, or even make old immortals like Gray Flood Dragon and Golden Toad fall," the Golden Serpent Fourth Young Master said sinisterly.
The young supremes were very powerful, but with the Great Sages also descending, they could only choose to avoid them, not daring to walk together, lest they be killed.
Especially the three young masters of the Golden Serpent Clan, who had old grudges with Gray Flood Dragon and Golden Toad, their mortal enemies. They had to be even more careful.
"There's a void imprint here, left for a special person. Help me, everyone, to extract it!" the Golden Serpent First Young Master said.
The other young supremes were stunned, then showed strange expressions. They each made their move, grabbing at the void together. With a rumble, a brilliant light burst forth, and an imprint appeared.
"Beidou old friend, stop here. Do not extend divine thoughts!" It was just one sentence, warning of the danger here.
The Golden Serpent First Young Master sneered cruelly, "Beidou again. It must be an old friend of the Human Clan Sacred Body. I will definitely kill him!"
He personally arranged things, performing martial arts in front of the Soul Spirit Pool, replacing Ji Haoyue's position, leaving behind a lifelike figure, and then erased that sentence.
"Damn it, they want to ambush us. Let's kill them first!" Dragon Horse said fiercely.
Ye Fan stopped him. None of these people were good-natured; none were pushovers. If a great battle erupted, it would be earth-shattering and might attract several Great Sages, putting them in danger.
In fact, they didn't have a chance to ambush either. The Golden Serpent First Young Master sacrificed the Teng Snake Array Diagram, wrapping everyone up and disappearing.
"Should we set up something too, to ambush bastards like Qi Tian and Gray Flood Dragon?" Azure Luan asked.
Ye Fan shook his head, "No need. Let these people perform. All the bad debts will be recorded on their heads."
They had the Heaven-Deceiving Array, so they could hide in the mountains without worrying about revealing their aura. Even if a Great Sage passed by, it would be hard to detect them. After a brief stop, they continued on their way.
Boom!
Just a few hundred li out, a loud noise came from behind. Mountains collapsed and the earth split. A Great Sage roared, shattering the landscape.
Ye Fan and Pang Bo looked at each other in surprise. Someone had actually fallen for the trap, and so quickly, beyond expectations. They quickly returned along the original path and stood on a towering mountain to look. It was actually Gray Flood Dragon, who had almost fallen. His primordial spirit had been pulled out. At the critical moment, he cut off a quarter of his primordial spirit with a self-inflicted slash and escaped.
"Teng Snake, your lineage deserves to be exterminated. Don't think I don't know where your ancient star domain is!" Gray Flood Dragon roared.
"Heh, I hope this Gray Flood Dragon becomes even more ferocious in the future and descends upon the Teng Snake Ancient Star Domain," Dragon Horse said with schadenfreude.
Gray Flood Dragon was silent for a long time at the spot. In the end, he also left behind a figure, replacing the Golden Serpent First Young Master, to attract attention.
"This has become a vicious cycle. Whoever is tricked wants to trick others in turn. I wonder how many people will fall because of this," Pang Bo said.
They delved deeper into this ancient land, seeing various void array patterns. For others, without ancestral artifacts or the like, a slight carelessness could lead to getting lost, but for Ye Fan and his group, it was no longer difficult.
Along the way, they found many clues. They saw traces left by people who had comprehended the Dao, and even discovered several caves where people had lived in the past.
"There's the aura of Divine Demon Liquid here!" Ye Fan and the others were shocked. They had made a new discovery.
In front of a cliff, there was a man-made stone basin, very large, definitely big enough for bathing. Inside, there were a few drops of crystalline residue, which was actually Divine Demon Liquid.
Besides that, there were some hair strands and cracked old skin. This discovery made them gasp. Someone had undergone a rebirth here, a transformation.
This was absolutely an earth-shattering great fortune!
According to legend, only the Immortality Pill had such an effect, just like when Ye Fan and Pang Bo had picked divine medicine fruits from the Ancient Forbidden Land back then, undergoing a rebirth and becoming young again.
"Divine Demon Liquid is so heaven-defying..." They couldn't help but marvel.
Ye Fan activated his Source Art, and patterns emerged on the ground. Light ripples flowed over those hairs and shed old skin. He sensed a familiar aura and identified the person.
"Ji Haoyue. It really is him. He actually obtained such a heaven-defying fortune, using Divine Demon Liquid to temper his soul and bones, undergoing a rebirth."
Ye Fan sighed. Indeed, everyone had different fortunes. The Eastern Wasteland Divine Body had chased the ancient coffin of Emperor Void and was brought here, receiving such a blessing.
"Look, there's more here!" Dragon Horse was truly envious and jealous. For twenty years, he had been not far from the Divine Demon Liquid but couldn't get it, and now someone in the forbidden zone was using it to refine their soul body, making him envious.
This stone basin was even larger, two zhang long. There were some residual droplets, but more importantly, there were golden divine feathers, like clusters of golden flames burning fiercely.
Without a doubt, a divine bird had once undergone nirvana here, evolving into an even more powerful body, shedding its former divine feathers and old skin.
"They're not far away. They should be nearby," Pang Bo said. (To be continued.)