The Celestial King Province was a province near the Soaring Dragon Province, and like the Soaring Dragon Province, it was also located in the Western Desert.

  At a certain hidden location in the Celestial King Province was a lush area where numerous flowers bloomed and spirit medicines grew abundantly. Chirps of birds and insects filled the air, graceful rivers streamed through the land, and majestic waterfalls cascaded like great rivers. This place was akin to a hidden paradise, a place too beautiful for words to describe.

  In this paradise was a young woman in black. Like a butterfly, she fluttered about in the air repeatedly. In truth, she was training in the sword, and the sight of her training was a sight to behold—dancing about like a graceful and joyful butterfly.

  She swung her blade repeatedly, creating numerous rays of light that weaved about in the air before coming together and taking the shape of a butterfly. It was truly a wondrous and enchanting sword technique.

  The young woman returned back to the ground in satisfaction, and the sword energies slowly dissipated in the air. If one looked at this woman, one would find that she had a breathtakingly beautiful face.

  Her bright eyes were like a pair of luminous moons, emanating a brilliance that could intoxicate any person. Just her eyes alone were beautiful enough to cause even the most beautiful of flowers to feel dull. Her delicate nose was fair and smooth and was perfectly proportionate to the size of her face. Her red lips were like a blooming flower, emanating a fragrance capable of seeping straight into one's heart. Her long hair cascaded down her shoulder like a waterfall, swaying about as the gentle wind brushed past her.

  She was beautiful enough to cause kingdoms to fall, possessing a perfect face that could bewitch all men. Apart from her beautiful face, she also had a captivating figure. The black robe she wore underlined her peerless figure, as if she was a perfect creation of the gods. She looked about 16 or 17 years old, yet she was already a late-stage Skysoar Realm cultivator, an extremely shocking feat for her age. A person possessing a look and a talent like this was as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

  "Young lady, Guardian Duo Ji requests an audience," came a respectful voice.

  "Guardian Duo Ji? One of the eight great guardians under Father? Why is he here?" muttered the young woman in astonishment. "Invite him in immediately. No, wait, I’ll just go meet him instead!"

  She then dashed away and arrived at a grassy area shortly after. There, a one-armed old man stood waiting. Beside the old man stood a bulky man. This one-armed old man was once Xiang Shaoyun's guardian, Duo Ji.

  Currently, he was dressed sloppily with blood stains all over him. He looked like he had experienced many great battles before arriving here, and in fact, he looked quite sorry at the moment.

  When the young woman appeared, Duo Ji was slightly astonished before he quickly knelt down on one knee and said, "Duo Ji greets the young lady."

  "Guardian Duo Ji, please rise," the young woman said quickly. A slight trace of anxiousness appeared in her eyes as she asked, "Guardian Duo Ji, why do you look so terrible? Has something happened at the sect?"

  Looking at the young woman who had now grown into a breathtaking beauty, he sighed, "Young lady, you were not aware, but three years ago, great changes happened in the sect. The sect master fought Shangguan Wusheng the Death Magistrate at the Wumo Pass and went missing afterwards. His current status is completely unknown. Then, the vice sect master, Di Batian, took the chance to revolt and kill the guardians before seizing the spot of sect master for himself. The young master was hunted and nearly died."

  Hearing that, rage covered the young woman's face as she asked anxiously, "My father is missing and my big brother is being hunted? Why did nobody tell me something this big?"

  \r\r\r

  The young woman was furious. She glared at the sturdy man beside them, as if she was going to rip him apart.

  The man quickly got on his knees and said, "Soothe your anger, young lady. When I heard, it was already too late to do anything. Lord Wu Xie had then told us to not inform you for fear that your cultivation would be affected. Therefore—"

  "Therefore, you have been keeping me in the dark! But do you realize how that involves the safety of my father and brother? How can you not tell me? You bastard!" the young woman raged, getting the urge to even kill the sturdy man. But when she recalled his loyalty to her during all these years, she held back.

  "Young lady, the young master did not wish for you to know either," said Duo Ji.

  "Why?" asked the young woman.

  "The young master does not want to see you take any risks," Duo Ji answered. "I shouldn't have appeared here to disturb your peace at all. The young master only had me protecting you in secret, but things are looking bad at the moment. I had been leading the traitors on a wild goose chase, intending to interrupt their efforts to search for the young master. But they discovered my plan, and I'm afraid the young master will be plunged into danger soon."

  "My brother does not cultivate. How can he be a match for those traitors? How can you abandon him? Tell me, where is he? I will go to him immediately!" shouted the young woman anxiously.

  "Calm down, young lady. Just the two of us won't be able to save the young master. We need the help of more experts, and we also need to use a teleportation formation to reach the Soaring Dragon Province as quickly as possible," Duo Ji said.

  "First Eagle, assemble the Thirteen Eagles!" commanded the young woman.

  First Eagle did not dare to waste any time as he quickly answered, "Yes, young lady."

  He then vanished into thin air, heading off to gather his 12 companions.

  "Guardian Duo Ji, tell me, how are my father and my brother? Are they fine?" asked the young woman, caring more about her family than the sect they had lost.

  "The sect master fought the Death Magistrate at a forbidden zone, Wumo Pass. I don't know their status, but the sect master has been missing for half a year when the coup happened. That was why Di Batian had the courage to snatch the position of sect master. As for the young master, he is doing decently. He is hiding at a small town in Soaring Dragon Province and has started cultivating. He is not willing to have me by his side, so I went to lead the traitors on a wild goose chase. Unfortunately, they found out the truth and sent half their numbers after me while the others continued hunting for the young master. I'm afraid……," said Duo Ji anxiously.

  "My big brother will be fine. He is brilliantly intelligent and will definitely have a way of hiding from them," said the young woman, seemingly trying to comfort herself with those words.

  At this moment, 13 men each mounted on a demonic eagle arrived before the young woman. "The Thirteen Eagles await the young lady's command!"

  "Good. Come with me to the nearest teleportation formation. We will be going to the Soaring Dragon Province," commanded the young woman overbearingly.

  "Young lady, do we need to inform Lord Wu Xie about this?" asked First Eagle.

  "You are not the men of my master, and you only need to obey me. Why do you need to report to him? Just come!" said the young woman resentfully.

  She waved her hand in a certain direction, and a black feline quickly dashed over. She then hopped onto the massive cat's back and soared to the sky.

  Chapter 291: You Shall Be the Young Master of Devouring Ghost

  Devouring Ghost was now in Xiang Shaoyun's Nether Dragon Soul Headband, making the dried up body a true corpse that had neither vitality nor a soul. Even so, this dry corpse was still a precious treasure for many cultivators.

  Unfortunately, even if someone else found this place, they wouldn't be able to retrieve the corpse. The formation sealing this place was powerful enough to kill Emperors. Xiang Shaoyun withdrew the Nether Dragon Soul Headband back into his head.

  In his head, Devouring Ghost's voice rang out, "Pulling me straight into your head like this, are you not afraid that I would devour you?"

  "You won't," Xiang Shaoyun replied confidently.

  For some reason, he had a sense of trust toward Devouring Ghost after he talked to him. It was as if even if everyone in the world turned on him, Devouring Ghost wouldn't. Devouring Ghost sank into silence when he heard the reply.

  Not intending to linger around, a pair of wings sprouted from Xiang Shaoyun's back. He then soared, trying to leave. When he neared the top of the room, Devouring Ghost released his soul power and created an opening, allowing Xiang Shaoyun to fly through it.

  Once again, he found himself in the pool of soul spring water. The opening closed, not allowing even a drop of soul spring water through. The instant Xiang Shaoyun was back in the soul spring water, he found his mood calming as a comfortable sensation washed over him. The same sensation that his very soul was about to fly out returned.

  "Take your time and wash your soul here. This will be very beneficial for your Nether Soul Domain," said Devouring Ghost.

  Xiang Shaoyun naturally would not give up on the opportunity. He immediately activated the cultivation method of the Nether Dragon Soul Curse and started absorbing the power in the soul spring water to grow his soul power.

  The Nether Dragon Soul Curse was not only a curse. It was also a secret soul cultivation method. Numerous strands of energy coursed into Xiang Shaoyun's head from the soul spring water, enriching his soul. He felt extremely comfortable, as if he was taking a bath in a river during a hot summer.

  The senses of his Nether Soul Domain absorbed the power of the soul spring like a sponge, slowly growing and expanding. Xiang Shaoyun's mind went completely blank as he fully immersed himself in the blissful sensation.

  After an unknown amount of time passed, his soul grew considerably stronger. All the filth had been washed off his soul, and his Nether Soul Domain had expanded by at least triple in size.

  Just a single strand of soul spring was enough to help a peak Transformation Realm cultivator enter the Skysoar Realm. Therefore, it was not surprising for Xiang Shaoyun, who was practically having a bath in an entire pool of soul spring water, to grow his soul several times over.

  He innately possessed the Nether Soul Domain, granting him a soul stronger than others. Absorbing the Brain Devouring Bug had further grown his soul, and after cultivating his soul with the Nether Dragon Soul Curse, he had a soul power comparable to the soul power of a third-stage or fourth-stage Skysoar Realm expert.

  Now that his soul had been enriched by the power of the soul spring, his soul power was the equivalent of an eighth-stage Skysoar Realm expert. With his valiant soul power and the Nether Dragon Soul Curse, he could totally capture and put any Skysoar Realm expert below the eighth-stage under his control. Of course, that was on the premise that he could catch his target by surprise.

  Xiang Shaoyun stayed in the pool and only woke up when the soul spring water could no longer help his soul grow.

  He jumped out of the pool and stretched. "That was refreshing."

  \r\r\r

  His strength had also grown alongside his soul power. His cultivation level had reached peak eighth-stage Transformation Realm. Although he had only advanced from the middle eighth-stage to peak eighth-stage, it had brought him to the border of the ninth-stage, cutting the time he would have taken to reach this level by two months.

  His gaze then landed on the ghostbloom. Joy covered his face as he muttered, "If I swallow this ghostbloom, my soul power will probably grow even stronger!"

  "Young master, don't be in too much of a rush. The ghostbloom might be a treasure, but you are too weak. Eating it now is a waste. It is better to wait until you reach late-stage Skysoar Realm," said Devouring Ghost.

  Xiang Shaoyun rubbed his nose and laughed dryly before asking, "What did you just call me?"

  "Young master. From now on, you shall be Devouring Ghost's young master. Although you have incredibly horrible talent, you have still obtained my master's inheritance, which can only mean that you will probably be strong in the future. Also, I will help you with all my power from now on so your growth will be even easier," said Devouring Ghost.

  Xiang Shaoyun grew cheerful as he replied, "Sure, I'll be relying on you."

  Inwardly, he grumbled, This young master has horrible talent? Oh, you will know my talent one day.

  He made some space in his astral cosmos sea and moved the pool of soul spring water into it together with the ghostbloom. Three wondrous sights could be seen in Xiang Shaoyun's astral cosmos sea. First was the vicious tiger gold lotus growing among the gold lunar liquid. Second was the blaze flower growing amid a pool of lava, and third was the ghostbloom growing in a pool of soul spring water.

  The fact that these three treasures were growing well in Xiang Shaoyun's astral cosmos sea was something many people couldn't even imagine. Xiang Shaoyun had never imagined that the treasures he kept in his astral cosmos sea would bring about an inconceivable change to his astral cosmos sea. That was something he would come to learn in the future.

  "Young master, you already have an astral cosmos sea?" asked Devouring Ghost in surprise when he saw the pool vanishing.

  "Yes, I got lucky and managed to cultivate one," said Xiang Shaoyun smugly.

  Astral cosmos sea was something even many Skysoar Realm experts failed to cultivate. Generally, people would only have one upon reaching the Emperor Realm. Even that was on the premise that one possessed a secret astral cosmos sea cultivation method.

  "How much space do you have currently?" asked Devouring Ghost with a somewhat rushed tone.

  "Not much. About 500 square meters, I guess?" Xiang Shaoyun estimated. The combination of his growth in strength and the numerous fortuitous encounters he had stumbled upon had helped his astral cosmos sea grow steadily.

  "What? So big already?" Devouring Ghost was shocked.

  "That's nothing," Xiang Shaoyun said nonchalantly.

  Devouring Ghost offered no reply. Instead, he sank into silence. Xiang Shaoyun was about to leave the Soul Stone Mountain when his Nether Soul Domain detected a large number of people rushing toward his location.

  "They actually have the balls to intrude into the territory of the ghostrunes?" Xiang Shaoyun muttered doubtfully.

  But then he recalled how Devouring Ghost had killed a large number of ghostrunes, causing all the ghostrunes in the vicinity to flee, stripping the defenders from this area.

  "Whatever. I already have all the treasures anyway. I don't fear them," Xiang Shaoyun told himself. He then leaped down from the peak of Soul Stone Mountain without attempting to conceal himself at all.

  One person who was running in front of the group noticed him and shouted, "Haha, is this what people call enemies meeting on a narrow path? Xiang Shaoyun, today you die!"