Chapter 2244 – Absorbing the Spirits

“This…”

The crowd frowned upon hearing those words.

There was some sense to what Ao Feng had said. There were a lot of phantasmagoric spirits around, and each of them possessed strength comparable to that of a God King.

If they were trapped, not only would they be unable to obtain what they wanted, their team could very well be completely wiped out.

Under such circumstances, they would surely have to sacrifice someone in order to break out of the encirclement, but given that they were strangers who were united by shared interests, who would be willing to give up their life to save the others? That was clearly asking the impossible!

“Taunting the phantasmagoric spirits and dividing their attention—this is the most viable solution we have at the moment. If you don’t even trust me for that, what’s the point of us working together?” Ao Feng waved his hand in dissatisfaction.

The crowd fell silent yet again. They might have only forged this alliance a moment ago, but if they weren’t willing to trust the leader, it would be better for them to go their own ways.

“Why don’t we practice a collaborative formation and force our way through the phantasmagoric spirits?”

“A collaborative formation? First and foremost, the time we have in this area is severely limited. Second, it’s only a matter of time before the other Conferred God Kings learn of the existence of the Condensed Earth Essence. It will only complicate things if we spend too much time on building up a formation.”

“Indeed. It would take at least half a month for all of us to master a collaborative formation and be in sync with one another. We don’t have that much time to waste.”

“If we had the time to do that, we’d be better off searching for other treasures around the area. We would be able to earn much more than a pinnacle God Essence Pill that way!”

…

The group devolved into an argument.

They did not expect something that was supposed to be simple to have so many complications.

At this rate, their team might just fall apart before the mission had even started.

“Fine, let’s do this. I’ll charge at the forefront whereas the rest of you will take the flank to protect me from the attack of the phantasmagoric spirits. Is that fine?”

Having known that a group that was put together last minute would surely be unreliable, Ao Feng could only compromise.

These God Kings were hoping to obtain treasures without taking on any risks, but how could there be such a good thing in the world?

“That sounds fine with me!”

The crowd quickly agreed to Ao Feng’s new plan.

By this point, Ao Feng could not be bothered to plan out any additional strategies. Taking in a deep breath, he said, “Let’s get to it then!”

Right after saying those words, he dashed ahead.

Hula!

Exerting the strength of a Conferred God King, he flitted forth like a bolt of lightning. His hand morphed into a claw as he swiped it across the space ahead of him, jolting the phantasmagoric spirits ahead of him back into spiritual energy.

“Follow me!” Ao Feng bellowed.

The remaining God Kings quickly followed suit.

Zhang Xuan and Luo Qiqi stuck close to the crowd.

It had to be said that Ao Feng was indeed quite powerful. He could defeat the God King realm phantasmagoric spirits with a single strike each, leaving nothing behind at all.

Oh? These phantasmagoric spirits seem to be quite useful to my soul cultivation, Zhang Xuan thought as he blocked off the attacks coming from the phantasmagoric spirits coming from the sides.

These phantasmagoric spirits were basically spirits, similar to the beings he had enchanted. He realized that if he absorbed them, it could augment his soul cultivation quite a bit.

While his soul had reached Conferred God King realm pinnacle after receiving the World’s Conferment, he still needed to reinforce his soul cultivation quite a bit before attempting for a breakthrough to the God Monarch realm.

If he could assimilate these spirits, there was a good chance that he could reinforce his soul cultivation significantly.

Let me give it a try!

With such thoughts in mind, Zhang Xuan tried to absorb one of the spirits that Ao Feng had shattered into his glabella.

If the spirit still had consciousness, absorbing it would be equivalent to possession, making it extremely troublesome to assimilate. However, the shattered spirits had already lost their consciousness, making them pure souls, which was extremely easy for Zhang Xuan to absorb.

Right away, Zhang Xuan could sense his soul cultivation strengthening a fair bit, and his eyes lit up in excitement.

Not bad!

It was fortunate that he had chosen to join the group. Even if he failed to obtain the Condensed Earth Essence in the end, it would still have been a fruitful trip for him.

With Ao Feng charging at the forefront and thirteen God Kings blocking the phantasmagoric spirits by the side, there were a lot of dissipated spirits lingering in the area.

Within just ten minutes, Zhang Xuan could already sense his soul growing rapidly.

But unknowingly, the group also ended up falling into the encirclement of the phantasmagoric spirits, just as Ao Feng had predicted.

The mountain stream was filled with plants and herbs that had lived for countless years, and the surrounding conditions were ideal for nurturing phantasmagoric spirits. As a result, there were a large number around.

Despite having fought for a while, the number of phantasmagoric spirits only seemed to continue to increase.

Some time later, Zhang Xuan finally stopped absorbing the spirits.

Over time, the effectiveness of absorbing the spirits gradually reduced, and finally, he reached a satiated state. At this point, he would need even purer spirits in order to further advance his soul cultivation.

“The Condensed Earth Essence is right ahead!” Ao Feng shouted as he continued charging forward.

Turning his gaze ahead, Zhang Xuan saw a sphere of a milky white substance floating above a lake.

It was only the size of a fist, but concentrated spiritual energy was rippling from it. The spiritual energy harnessed within the milky white substance was probably several times greater than in pinnacle God Essence Pills.

Zhang Xuan could feel the zhenqi in his body pulsating in excitement, desiring to absorb it in.

It’s indeed good stuff. It’ll be useful for me… Zhang Xuan’s eyes lit up.

Just as he had thought, if he consumed it, he should be able to push his zhenqi cultivation to Conferred God King realm intermediate stage or advanced stage easily.

It was just that…

He had been absorbing the spirits all this while and had not contributed much to the group. Given that Ao Feng and the other God Kings had put so much effort into this, he felt embarrassed snatching it right away from them.

After all, he was a master teacher, not a burglar.

In any case, there were likely more than one of those spheres of Condensed Earth Essence lying around the area, so he would just to look around the area later on.

While others would have to forge a path through the phantasmagoric spirits in order to obtain the Condensed Earth Essence, he did not have to go through so much effort.

When it came down to it, he could simply draw out his soul and disguise it as a phantasmagoric spirit. This way, he should be able to easily slip through them and obtain the Condensed Earth Essence with ease.

Hong long!

As if to protect the Condensed Earth Essence, the number of phantasmagoric spirits only continued to increase the closer they got to it. As a result, the pressure that the group was under increased exponentially.

Within just a few minutes, there were four God Kings who had sustained severe injuries, and even Ao Feng had blood seeping from the corners of his mouth.

To make matters worse, the phantasmagoric spirits had grown much stronger. All of them had reached God King realm pinnacle, and they charged at the group fearlessly. Furthermore, they were extremely skilled at soul offense, causing the fighting prowess and morale of the group to be significantly reduced.

“At this rate, we might just lose our lives here,” a God King cried out.

Almost everyone in the group had a grim look on their face.

They had thought that with so many of them putting their strength together, they should be able to overcome the phantasmagoric spirits with ease. Who could have known that they had underestimated the difficulty of the mission?

“We need to back out now, or else there’s no way we’ll be able to escape with our lives!” another God King shouted.

In that instant, all the members of the group began to hesitate—should they retreat and abandon the mission or push on?

Even though they were very close to the Condensed Earth Essence, the pressure they faced was also growing with each passing second. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before they were wiped out.

“We have already come this far! How can we give up when we are already so close to the goal?” Ao Feng bellowed ferociously. “Everyone, just wait here for a moment for me. I’ll fetch the Condensed Earth Essence and come right back!”

With a furious roar, he began running forward, and all of a sudden, he began morphing into a massive golden dragon.

With imposing momentum, he charged right toward the Condensed Earth Essence in the air.

He knew that he could not reach the goal in his human form, so he had transformed back to his original body without any hesitation!