"If we don't kill that Enslavement Path Gu Master, we'll all die here today!"
The leading big brother watched helplessly as a defensive line faltered, and one of his own was dragged away by a hyena, torn to bloody pieces. He gritted his teeth and said fiercely, "Zhang Yu, since we two brought this team out, we must also bring it back!"
"In a bit, I'll lead people to kill that Enslavement Path Gu Master. You take the remaining people and break out, leave this place!"
"What? No, that won't do!" The Gu Master named Zhang Yu shook his head repeatedly, "Big Brother, if anyone goes, it should be me!"
"Nonsense! Are you the big brother or am I the big brother?!" The leading big brother roared, "You've just entered Rank Three, just become a Family Elder. How many Rank Three Gu do you have in your hands? Can you even get in front of that Enslavement Path Gu Master?"
"Listen to me, I'll clear the way in a bit! You just…"
The leading big brother's words were cut short by "Third Brother," who had spoken earlier.
"Big Brother! Look!"
"Third Brother! I'll deal with you sooner or later…" The leading big brother angrily turned his head, reprimanding Third Brother while subconsciously looking in the direction Third Brother was pointing, and immediately froze.
In that direction, a giant flower descended from the sky, heading straight for the Enslavement Path Gu Master who was protected by several Gu Masters.
"Hahaha, I didn't expect there to be an Enslavement Path Gu Master here, what good luck!"
Loud laughter fell from the sky. Along with the laughter, a giant ghost face first formed in front of the flower, cackling and descending.
The defensive measures deployed by the several Gu Masters protecting the Enslavement Path Gu Master were like nothing in front of the giant ghost face, easily shattered by it.
Then the ghost face descended, opening its large mouth and chewing wildly.
"Ah!" "Ah!" "Ah!"
Several Gu Masters screamed repeatedly, falling off their mounts, already lifeless.
Only the Enslavement Path Gu Master remained, frantically commanding the hyena pack to try and defend himself, but it was too late!
A blade light several meters long descended from the sky, splitting the defensive Gu on the Enslavement Path Gu Master with one strike, and also cutting off the Enslavement Path Gu Master's head, sending it flying into the air.
A hand reached out from the giant flower, grabbing the head. Then the giant flower rapidly ascended, quickly flying far away.
On the vast battlefield, both warring parties were stunned by this sudden turn of events.
A clear dog howl broke the silence. It turned out that with the death of the Enslavement Path Gu Master, the hyena pack all broke free from control, reverting to wild beasts, howling and scattering, unwilling to fight desperately anymore.
Then, the leading big brother reacted, flames a foot high burning in his hands, excitedly shouting, "The chance has come, brothers, kill!"
The two sides clashed again, but one side had just lost its backbone, its strength and Aura both plummeting, while the other side saw hope, its Battle Intent soaring. The scales of victory in this battle began to tip in the other direction.
In mid-air, on the Flying Flower Gu, Zhou Ming held the head he had just cut off, sucked out its Soul, and casually threw away the twisted and ugly head, then somewhat distastefully washed his hands with Soul Cleansing Gu.
"An Enslavement Path Gu Master with a hundred-person Soul, haha, good luck."
With clean hands, Zhou Ming looked at the vast blue-green expanse in the distance, in a good mood.
In these days, he had been rushing southeast, often encountering situations like the one just now on the road. He would descend to the battlefield to select a few with higher Soul Foundation, harvesting a wave of fresh Souls.
Then came the clash of wills, various methods from the Hell Soul Cleansing Scripture constantly striking, followed by Soul Cleansing Gu weakening, and finally using the Soul Splitting Art to cut off and completely eradicate the portion of the Soul that occupied the completely expendable share, completing the entire Soul Devour and Soul Refining process.
Although the process was quite cumbersome, after going through the entire procedure, as long as the unfortunate victim's Soul Foundation was decent, he would gain a considerable harvest.
Killing and Soul Refining all the way, constantly digesting and accumulating intermittently until now, in over a month, his Soul had almost reached the level of a six hundred-person Soul.
However, having accumulated to this extent, Zhou Ming also temporarily halted his actions to continue Soul Devour to enhance his Soul Foundation.
A restless agitation came from deep within his Soul, an uncontrollable sense of irritation, like ADHD in his previous life, making his heart always unable to calm down, feeling vexed and distracted.
This was a sign of the Soul improving too quickly, with an unstable Foundation.
Soul cultivation involves three aspects: strengthening the Soul, refining the Soul, and stabilizing the Soul.
Strengthening the Soul is to make the Soul grow and become stronger; refining the Soul is to make the Soul more solid and firm; stabilizing the Soul is to allow the Soul to settle down effectively.
These three aspects are complementary and indispensable, otherwise, it is easy to cause Soul imbalance, leading to more harm than good.
In one month, the Soul Foundation increased so much in one go, which can indeed be called rapid progress, a bit too hasty.
Like strengthening the Soul and refining the Soul, stabilizing the Soul also has many corresponding Gu. Zhou Ming had already bought them in Lang Ya Blessed Land, so he didn't need to spend a lot of time relying on natural recuperation to calm the Soul's agitation.
"The Dao of cultivation, while requiring courageous and diligent progress, also needs rest and recuperation. A balance of tension and relaxation is the Righteous Path."
Zhou Ming gained some understanding in his heart and decided to settle down properly, adapt to the changes brought by the six hundred-person Soul, and then further enhance his Soul.
Three more days passed. The giant flower formed by the Flying Flower Gu flew rapidly. Zhou Ming sat cross-legged on it, looking forward. In the distance, what came into view was the boundless, endless Azure Water Boundary Wall, connecting heaven and earth, causing him to sigh.
"In this past month, I traveled day and night, spending over eight hours a day on the road, covering hundreds of thousands of li. It finally paid off for all the hardship along the way, reaching the junction of Northern Plains and Eastern Sea."
The Five Regions of the Gu World—Central Continent, Southern Border, Eastern Sea, Western Desert, and Northern Plains—are all separated by different barriers, thus forming five relatively independent and distinct regions.
These five great barriers are the Southern Border Miasma Boundary Wall, the Northern Plains Licorice Boundary Wall, the Western Desert Fiery Sand Boundary Wall, the Eastern Sea Azure Water Boundary Wall, and the Central Continent Sage Boundary Wall.
Between any two adjacent regions, there are two respective boundary walls separating them, and the higher the cultivation of the person, the stronger this isolating force becomes.
For example, if Zhou Ming wanted to go from Northern Plains to Eastern Sea, he would first have to pass through the Licorice Boundary Wall on the Northern Plains side, then through the Azure Water Boundary Wall of the Eastern Sea, enduring numerous dangers within the two boundary walls before finally reaching Eastern Sea.
If a Rank Six Gu Immortal were to pass through the boundary wall, the dangers he would encounter would likely be more than ten thousand times that of Zhou Ming!
After another day of flying, Zhou Ming finally flew to the bottom of the Licorice Barrier. He descended the Flying Flower Gu and stood before the blue-green Licorice Barrier, extending his hand, slowly probing inside.
As his fingertip touched the Licorice Barrier, Zhou Ming only felt a springy sensation, as if touching soft jelly.
Zhou Ming gradually increased his strength, his right hand slowly "squeezing" into the Licorice Barrier, then his right arm, then he lifted his leg and stepped, his whole person gradually walking into the Licorice Barrier.
What appeared before Zhou Ming's eyes was a pervasive blue-green dense fog. Blue-green light and shadows were vibrant, countless blades of grass danced like seaweed, growing wildly, like a sea of snakes, like strands of hair, constantly intertwining and entangling.
Immersed within it, Zhou Ming felt a resistance. The wildly growing blades of grass were entangling him, forming an invisible suction force pulling him from behind, hindering his forward progress.
However, Zhou Ming did not feel this resistance to be very strong. His expression was normal, he could still walk normally, and even run, though every movement consumed more Qi than usual.
"What's going on? Even if I'm only a Rank Four Gu Master, the Five Regions' barriers shouldn't restrict me too much, but it shouldn't be this easy."
A strong doubt arose in Zhou Ming's heart. He strode quickly through the barrier, gradually turning into a jog, and finally into a full run.
After running for over a thousand steps, he began to feel tired, so he slowed down, walked for a while, felt his strength recover, then continued to run. After feeling tired again, he slowed down to walk and recover.
This happened over a dozen times. Each time, the distance Zhou Ming ran became shorter and shorter, and his rest periods became longer and longer, the fatigue on his body also growing heavier.
However, at this point, the blue-green dense fog in front of Zhou Ming had gradually thinned, revealing a deep blue color.
That was the Eastern Sea's Azure Water Boundary Wall.
Zhou Ming gathered his strength, and with a single burst, he broke through the final distance between the two barriers, crashing into the Azure Water Boundary Wall.
Before Zhou Ming could properly observe the scenery within the Azure Water Boundary Wall, a mighty force suddenly pressed in from the front.
Caught off guard, Zhou Ming lost his footing and was actually pushed out of the Azure Water Boundary Wall by this immense repulsive force, returning to the Licorice Boundary Wall.
"What the hell?" Zhou Ming's eyes widened.
Zhou Ming originated from Northern Plains; the forces exerted on him by the Licorice Boundary Wall and the Azure Water Boundary Wall were different.
The Licorice Boundary Wall exerted a pulling force, wanting to keep him in Northern Plains, while the Azure Water Boundary Wall exerted a repulsive force, preventing Zhou Ming from entering.
Whether it was a pulling force or a repulsive force, the strength applied to Zhou Ming should be similar, but the immense force Zhou Ming just encountered in the Azure Water Boundary Wall was more than ten times that of the Licorice Boundary Wall!
As a result, Zhou Ming, who had originally been able to cross the Licorice Boundary Wall relying solely on his Physical Body without even using Gu, now found himself unable to even enter the Azure Water Boundary Wall!
"Could it be… because of the Forest Sea Reincarnation Body?"
Zhou Ming thought through his entire being; it seemed only the Forest Sea Reincarnation Body had the slightest possibility of causing such a situation.
"Forget it, I won't worry about it for now." Unable to find an answer, Zhou Ming wouldn't waste time fretting, "The repulsion of the Azure Water Boundary Wall should be the normal difficulty for crossing a barrier. Being able to cross the Licorice Boundary Wall so easily was what surprised me."
Zhou Ming moved his arms in the Licorice Boundary Wall, activated his defensive Gu, and once again rushed into the Azure Water Boundary Wall.
In an instant, boundless repulsive force pressed down, heavy as a mountain. The Iron Shell Flower Gu emitted sounds of "crackle, crackle," as if it were being squeezed and deformed by this immense force, making Zhou Ming feel a surge of fear.
The true essence in his Aperture was rapidly consumed, the ten-tenths true essence sea level slowly dropping.
If before, his Aperture no longer had the ability to self-recover true essence, Zhou Ming could only rely on absorbing primeval stones to restore it, making this journey undoubtedly more difficult.
Fortunately, now he possessed a Gu that changed this situation.
In Zhou Ming's Aperture, a giant lotus bloomed, its blue and white petals expanding and contracting with the undulations of the true essence sea, mysterious and beautiful.
Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus Gu!