Chu Xuan gestured with his hand, and a set of formation patterns fell into his palm.

This formation, known as the Yellow Springs Soul Refining Array, was notoriously infamous within the Nether Dao Sect.

Such a formation should not have been accessible to Chu Xuan, but Wan Wuying, having spent much time hiding in the Ghost Palace, had not come away empty-handed. The Yellow Springs Soul Refining Array was one of his significant finds.

Wan Wuying's skills in formation were so flawed that even the spiritual qi would refuse to enter. After some negotiations, he simply sold the formation to Chu Xuan.

Once deployed, this formation would attract nearby ghosts. Under normal circumstances, it could transform any place into a land rampant with malicious spirits within a century.

However, given the density of ghosts on Soul Star, it would hardly take a century—probably just one year for the land to become fully malignant.

In due time, the ghosts within the affected area would fight ceaselessly under the influence of the array, devouring each other much like nurturing venomous insects. Eventually, ghosts of all ranks—Ghost Soldiers, Ghost Generals, Ghost Commanders, and Ghost Kings—would emerge in abundance.

While the skies of Soul Star were indeed teeming with wandering souls, the quality varied greatly. Chu Xuan intended to use the formation to "purify" them. The weaker ghosts were merely fodder, destined to become nutrients for the stronger.

Soon, the Yellow Springs Soul Refining Array was set up, covering an area of about 200 square kilometers. The formation naturally possessed the ability to attract ghosts. Before long, a myriad of ghosts, like moths to a flame, couldn't help but fly towards the formation.

Two Armed and Four Armed watched with eyes glowing green. "Wow, so much food!" they thought.

Chu Xuan was quite satisfied with this setup. Now, all that was left was to clear out the sentient Soul Clan members in the vicinity.

Otherwise, his Yellow Springs Soul Refining Array would surely be targeted and possibly destroyed by the Soul Clan.

After all, in the eyes of the Soul Clan, these ghosts were a feast, just as demonic beasts were to cultivators.

...

Torrential Flow City, once one of the largest cities on the eastern banks of the vast and turbulent Hun River, had been reduced to ruins after a protracted war.

The river itself had transformed into a sinister, chilling stream, its bed filled with dry bones, bearing no resemblance to the nurturing mother river it once was.

Now, Torrential Flow City served as a minor stronghold for the Slaughter Faction. Three Great Spectre Masters led a horde of Spectre Masters, guarding this location.

Their primary mission was to monitor all the caverns around Torrential Flow City, executing any Soul Star inhabitants on sight. Their secondary task was to kill every foreigner who emerged from the soul transmission matrix.

Exceptionally powerful foreign souls were to be presented as tributes to the Hun Tu, the supreme Great Spectre King of their faction who commanded over ten Spectre Kings, several hundred thousand Great Spectre Masters, and nearly a hundred billion Spectre Masters.

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At that moment, a fierce battle was unfolding within Torrential Flow City. Captain Yun Qi of the Ascendant Faction's Dark Cloud Squad took cover behind a segment of rubble.

After a brief deep breath, he abruptly leaned out from his hiding spot. Soul power burst from the palm of his hand, condensing into a beam of light that he fired at a Spectre Master in mid-air. The soul split apart like a pierced sheet of paper, its remnants drifting skyward, eagerly devoured by other ghosts hovering above.

"Cackle, cackle, cackle, stop your futile struggles!" a corpulent Great Spectre Master taunted as it lunged forward. "Your squad is already surrounded; resign yourselves to becoming my feast!"

Yun Qi immediately activated his soul power, significantly boosting his speed to escape the attack range of the massive ghost. Then, with a grasp, he condensed his soul power into a long spear and hurled it ferociously.

The Great Spectre Master couldn't dodge in time and was impaled, letting out a wail of agony. Rationality faded from its eyes, replaced by a frenzied desire to destroy everything.

"Captain, Old Jin is dead!" a middle-aged man shouted as he released a soul beam, obliterating two attacking Spectre Masters. "My soul power is nearly depleted!"

Yun Qi's heart sank. Old Jin was the vice-captain of the Dark Cloud Squad, a sixth-level Great Soul Master, only slightly weaker than him, a seventh-level Great Soul Master. With Old Jin's death, it seemed their squad was truly on the brink of annihilation.

Yun Qi managed a bitter smile. Just days before, he had received intelligence about an extraordinarily powerful foreign soul captured by the Slaughter Faction in Torrential Flow City, intended as an offering to the Hun Tu.

He had led his capable squad, the Dark Cloud Squad, on a mission to rescue this foreign soul. Saving foreign souls and aiding them in their mission to save Soul Star was precisely the Ascendant Faction's goal.

Yun Qi had timed their assault on Torrential Flow City to coincide with the Slaughter Faction's sortie to exterminate the remnants of Rectitude Hall. They had managed to secure the foreign soul and were about to retreat when the Slaughter Faction unexpectedly returned!

The Dark Cloud Squad was immediately caught in a pincer attack. Such immense pressure was far too much for a small team of only eight members, even though each was a Great Soul Master.

The overwhelming numbers of Spectre Masters were too much for them, as the power disparity between Great Soul Masters and Spectre Masters was not so vast that one could take on hundreds alone.

Furthermore, being encased in physical bodies, the Great Soul Masters were at a disadvantage in mobilizing their soul power compared to the equally ranked Great Spectre Masters.

This was why the Dark Cloud Squad found themselves trapped, unable to break through the encircling Slaughter Faction.

Boom!

A section of the ruins was obliterated. A body was severed at the waist. What fell at Yun Qi and the middle-aged man's feet was half a skull and a box.

The man's soul had already been torn to shreds and devoured amidst the cackling laughter of two Great Spectre Masters. Inside the box was the "feast" intended for the Hun Tu—the foreign soul captured by Torrential Flow City's Slaughter Faction.

"The one carrying the soul who broke through, Xiao Lan, is also dead," the middle-aged man said with a grim laugh. "Captain, now it's just the two of us left."

Yun Qi reached out, intending to pick up Xiao Lan's half skull, but he ended up grabbing the box instead—this was their mission, after all. Two menacing Great Spectre Masters charged towards them, laughing malevolently.

Yun Qi let out a rueful laugh and closed his eyes, resigned to his fate. Was he about to die?

Perhaps it was time. He no longer wished to walk this hopeless, dark path. He regretted ever coming to Soul Star. How much better would it have been to remain on Pegasus Star, living carefree as a playful prince...

In the next moment, the screams of the two Great Spectre Masters suddenly pierced the air. They didn't even have time to beg for mercy before being smashed into nothingness by four oddly shaped weapons.

"Well done," came a voice from above.

Yun Qi and the middle-aged man opened their eyes in shock. They suddenly saw two fierce-looking ghosts tearing through the Spectre Masters.

The two powerful Great Spectre Masters were effortlessly ripped apart and swallowed by the ghosts, who seemed to regard the surrounding Spectre Masters as no challenge at all.

These two ghosts seemed not to have come for battle. Rather, they appeared to have come... to dine?