The sudden, intense rumbling was quite startling, both to the old man and to Bai Xiaochun. That was not to mention the other savages and soul cultivators in the area. Before anyone could react, a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering shockwave erupted from within the crater.
As a result, everyone, regardless of the level of their cultivation base, was violently thrown backward. In fact, some who were in the Foundation Establishment level were ripped to shreds, with even their souls being destroyed in the process.
Bai Xiaochun was left gasping, and everyone else was shocked to the core.
"What's going on!?"
"First the mountain collapsed into a crater, and now the crater is falling apart. This...."
"Don't tell me that some powerful magical treasure is coming into the world!!"
Even as the cries of astonishment began to ring out, a gravitational force erupted from within the crater that didn't affect anyone in the area except for the countless scattering souls. Instantly, they began to tremble as they were sucked back into the crater.
At the same time, shocking roars began to emanate from the crater, causing Bai Xiaochun's mind to reel from the incredible, shocking force contained within it.
Everyone reacted in such a way, with the exception of the old man. His eyes suddenly flickered with disbelief, and he even began to tremble in excitement.
"That's... that's...." Even before the man could finish his sentence, another intense rumbling sound echoed out, accompanied by a ball of white mist that shot up into the air. Just barely visible within that mist was a golden blur that appeared to be some entity trying to fly up into the heavens!
Only a moment later, the golden entity within the mist became clear, which was none other than a golden crocodile!
At the same time, a metal-type aura erupted out, causing rippling fluctuations that both Bai Xiaochun and everyone else instantly recognized.
"A deva beast soul!!" The savages and soul cultivators began to cry out in shock, and their eyes instantly burned with madness and greed. Of course, those who were merely in the Foundation Establishment level began to back away, aware that they didn't qualify to compete for something like this, at least not do so and stay alive.
The savages and soul cultivators who were in the Core Formation level were going mad with glee. As powerful experts of the Wildlands, they lived in an impoverished place where fighting for resources was the natural order of things. Rewards come only with risk, and that was a virtual instinct for people like this.
Deva beast souls were rare, something that some people might never even see in their entire life. Just catching sight of one could be considered good fortune for some.
The sudden and unexpected appearance of one right here led everyone present to go wild with anticipation.
Without any hesitation, everyone present shot directly toward the golden crocodile!
Although the golden crocodile seemed confused, almost like a newborn creature without much intelligence, it quickly realized that a whole group was bearing down on it with the desire to take it.
Booms could even be heard as some of the Core Formation soul cultivators and savages began to fight each other. Clearly, a large number of them were actually from the same organization, and were teaming up to beat away the rogue soul cultivators.
As for the three who were in the great circle of Core Formation, they were virtually invincible, and quickly began to close in on the deva beast soul. Although the deva beast soul hadn't fully regained its senses, its instincts were still there, and it quickly began to back up.
Bai Xiaochun's eyes were wide, and his mind was spinning. He actually possessed deva souls, but this was his first time seeing a deva beast soul. Despite being less rare than deva souls, they were still astronomically valuable, and if he could turn it in for battle credit, it would count for nearly thirty percent of what he needed to get a promotion to major general.
Therefore, it was no surprise that his excitement instantly built to a frenzy.
"That belongs to me!!" he roared, unleashing all the speed he could to blast toward the deva beast soul. In the blink of an eye, he was in the crowd of soul cultivators, waving his sleeve to unleash blasts of power and knock people out of his way.
Although he was actually using spiritual power, the mask made it seem like soul power, and revealed absolutely no clues about the truth. Screams rang out as the soul cultivators were hit with power, causing blood to spray out of their mouths as they looked over in confused terror at Bai Xiaochun.
Bai Xiaochun was like an explosive dragon, holding nothing back as he battled his way forward. Soon, he was almost upon the deva beast soul, which would normally cause it to flee in the opposite direction. And yet it didn't even seem to notice him.
Bai Xiaochun was very pleased at that, and was well aware that the beast couldn't see him because of his mask. Laughing heartily, he reached out to grab the soul. However, that was when the old soul cultivator madly shouted, "Heed my command and block this monkey! I want that soul as a gift for Giant Ghost King!"
The enraged old man's hands flashed in a double-handed incantation gesture. At the same time, the others under his command recklessly charged forward to block Bai Xiaochun's path, their eyes glowing red with madness.
This was the combined attack of more than ten people, two of them in the great circle of Core Formation, four in late Core Formation, and the rest in the early and mid stages.
However, despite all of that, they weren't a match at all for Bai Xiaochun, and were incapable of preventing his advance. And yet, their wild charge did have the effect of frightening the deva beast soul.
The soul couldn't see Bai Xiaochun, but could see the others, and immediately began to flee. As a result, Bai Xiaochun snatched nothing but air, after which he was struck by the divine abilities and magical techniques launched by the more than ten soul cultivators.
Bai Xiaochun was shaken, but not hurt, and yet could do nothing other than watch as the deva beast soul fled. At the same time, the old soul cultivator tossed out a glowing red sphere, which was a magical treasure specifically designed to capture souls. As soon as it left his hand, it transformed into a huge net which neatly wrapped up the fleeing deva beast soul.
Enraged, Bai Xiaochun unleashed the power of a Frigid Paragon in a blast toward the ten Core Formation soul cultivators.
In the blink of an eye, they were transformed into lifeless statues of ice as the entire 30,000-meter area became a frigid domain!
The old man was scared out of his mind. How could he ever have imagined that Bai Xiaochun would be so terrifying? In this moment of crisis, all he could do was grab his net and then slap his hand down onto the crown of his head, causing a statue of a giant ghost to appear.
It had two horns, green skin, and the faces of countless vengeful souls bulging out from its skin. Not only did it look matchlessly vicious, but it radiated a terrifying fleshly body power. As for its eyes, they glowed red, as if the statue had just climbed up out of the underworld! This statue depicted something completely and utterly legendary, something that existed above berserk ghosts. This was a giant ghost!
As the statue flew out, it radiated green light, as well as a sinister, murderous aura that seemed to contain fluctuations of the Deva Realm.
Because of that murderous aura, Bai Xiaochun's Frigid Paragon domain suddenly slowed, giving the old man just enough time to flee with the deva beast soul.
Even still, he was covered with ice and coughing up blood. Clearly, his blood and internal organs had been negatively affected, and yet he still managed to shout, "I'm the seventh apprentice of Marquis Lan, direct subordinate of Giant Ghost King! I'm here on a mission! How dare you injure me!!"
The old man could see how much danger he was in, and how furious Bai Xiaochun was. Trembling inwardly, he pointed down at the statue of the giant ghost, which began to rumble loudly. Then, fifty shadowy figures burst out from inside, which transformed into fifty savage giants. All of them had expressionless faces and glowing red eyes, and quickly began to grow until they were fully 30 meters tall. Based on the powerful fleshly body fluctuations rolling off of them, they were all in the Core Formation level.
Most shocking of all was that they wore matching armor engraved with images of giant ghosts! Because of that armor, they were even more powerful than they would have been normally. Furthermore, they were arranged in a formation designed to protect the old man!
Protected from the frigid qi, the old man breathed a sigh of relief as he continued to speed away, and even had a bit of killing intent flickering in his eyes as he looked back at Bai Xiaochun.