Chapter 662: Exiting the Soul Tomb
"Sign a soul contract?"
When Sheji and Fengming heard Yi Yun's conditions, they felt bitter. Back when they forced numerous Heavenly Dao Union members to sign soul contracts, they had never expected the day of them signing soul contracts would come.
When they saw the soul contract Yi Yun produced, Sheji and Fengming's faced turned white. The soul contract was too demanding.
The soul contracts that the Heavenly Blood Union members signed prevented them from attacking the Martial Alliance or disobeying orders issued by the upper echelons of the Martial Alliance. And these orders had their restrictions, at least not ones that would directly send them to their deaths.
Although signing such a contract resulted in additional intangible restrictions, it was still an acceptable outcome.
However, the soul contract that Yi Yun gave Sheji and Fengming to sign could be said to be a soul contract between master and slave.
Back in the Great Empress mystic realm, Yi Yun had obtained a great deal of inheritance from the Azure Yang Lord. On the second level of the God Advent Tower, there was a wide collection of books that came from the 12 Empyrean Heavens.
Various mystic techniques, cultivation technique, movement techniques, pill refinement techniques and Desolate Heaven techniques were available.
The "Star Transference Heaven Changing Book" Yi Yun used to disguise himself came from this collection.
And the soul contract that Yi Yun chose to use this time also came from the library on the God Advent Tower's second level.
As the Azure Yang Lord's collection, this soul contract naturally was not easily removed. Once it was signed, the soul contract would result in Sheji and Fengming's thoughts being monitored, preventing them from generating any thought of harming Yi Yun, or Yi Yun would be immediately notified, causing them to pay a tragic price.
They were also not given any leeway to resist Yi Yun's orders. They could not even refuse an order for them to die.
Such a demanding soul contract made Sheji tremble. Once signed, she would end up as Yi Yun's female slave.
"I… I… "
Sheji could not accept it. As a warrior, she had a sense of pride, but she was disgruntled to just die in the Soul Tomb that never saw the light of day. This placed her in a miserable dilemma.
Yi Yun did not persuade Sheji and Fengming any further when he saw their reactions, as he said, "I will give you only one chance. I will give you the time it takes twenty breaths to consider. After that, either you choose death or to sign the soul contract. All of you are of little value and importance to me, so I do not want to waste my breath."
"I just do not like being betrayed by others. As for you thinking I would use this soul contract to cause you to do some tortuous things, then you are overthinking it. All of you are not worth me going through the trouble."
"In the future, when my strength reaches a brand new platform, resulting in your strength becoming completely trivial, I will naturally not hold you back. I can return your freedom. The decision is yours. Furthermore, ten breaths of time have already passed!"
Yi Yun spoke very quickly, causing Sheji and Fengming's hearts to palpitate from hearing his words.
They were only given the time it took twenty breaths to make such an important decision, and nearly half the time was spent with Yi Yun talking.
Indeed, Yi Yun did not need to fret too much about killing them. Yi Yun only gave them the time it took twenty breaths, anymore was just a waste of time and completely not worth it.
As for what Yi Yun said at the end, it was not a matter of debate for Sheji and Fengming. According to Yi Yun's growth in strength, the day of their "strength becoming completely trivial" was not too far away.
Finally, due to the pressure that came with the threat of death, Sheji and Fengming obediently signed the soul contract.
At this moment, the tremors in the entire valley began to intensify, as large numbers of rubble rolled down the mountains.
"What's the matter?" Lin Xintong asked.
Many of the human and Desolate race warriors were panicking.
Yi Yun sensed the wanton evil Yin aura in the surroundings and said, "This slumbering ground of the Yin specters is the core of the Soul Tomb. Blood Moon had set up an array formation in the Soul Tomb, and the slumbering grounds is the array's core. When I destroyed those Yin specters a while ago, I also destroyed the array's core, causing large amounts of Yin Qi to surge outwards. This caused a material change in the Soul Tomb. We need to quickly leave this place, because it will be bad if we awaken the guarding servants or zombie kings sleeping in here."
The Blackstone Trials was organized when the Yin Qi within the Soul Tomb was at its weakest, during the slumbering periods of the zombie kings. Now, with the Yin Qi turning dense, the sleeping zombie kings could wake up.
"Let's go!" Yi Yun waved his hand.
Many of the human warriors had yet to recover. They were still in a daze from the Yin specters' attempts at possessing their soul sea. Their souls had been inflicted with damage and they were extremely weak.
Physical injuries were bearable to warriors, but injuries to the soul was a terrible misery.
Before they were even given the chance to take a breather, or consume any pills, they had to escape. It was an arduous torment that the men and women from the large family clans had to endure.
However, no one dared to grumble at this moment in time. They knew very well that any additional piece of nonsense they said might result in Yi Yun abandoning them heartlessly.
If they succumbed to their injuries and could not keep up with Yi Yun, they too would be abandoned.
Just thinking of the conflicts they previously had with Yi Yun, it was already good that Yi Yun did not kick them while they were down, so who would dare grumble?
And at this moment, a weak voice rang in Yi Yun's ear. "Ta… Take me… I do not want to stay… here… I… "
This voice sounded somewhat familiar as Yi Yun turned to take a look. He saw a spiritual soul flame float out of a large Soul Cocoon.
Yi Yun recognized it to be Gongsun Hong's spiritual soul.
After Yi Yun destroyed Gongsun Hong's body with one strike, Gongsun Hong's soul had been extracted by Zhulong for safekeeping. Zhulong had planned on refining Gongsun Hong's soul into a Yin specter, but due to the Life Slip shattering, he changed his mind and fed Gongsun Hong's soul as soulful food to the Yin specter.
Now, despite a significant portion of Gongsun Hong's soul having been devoured by the Yin specter, it had not completely vaporized, surprising Yi Yun.
He had probably lasted this long all from a single indignant thought. Unfortunately, Gongsun Hong's remnant soul was not something that even a god could save. He could still be refined into a Yin specter if he had a complete soul, but now, he could not even become a Yin specter.
As a martial arts genius, who was previously the number one disciple in the Li Fire Sect's martial competition, he had a bright future ahead of him. He could have a lifespan of tens of thousands of years, enjoying a position of stature and power, with a bevy of concubines. However, due to his ambition, his greed of disregarding everything to climb higher caused him to end up in such a tragic state...
This was actually a misery in itself.
"Let's go!"
Yi Yun ignored Gongsun Hong and gave the order.
The spatial hole that opened up due to the God Advent Tower's attack still remained. The group of people followed Yi Yun and rushed towards the Soul Tomb's exterior.
Yi Yun specially instructed the Desolate race warriors to take care of people who had good relationships with him like Wei Chiwei and the Chu sisters.
As for the others, they could only count on their own luck.
During the process of them exiting the Soul Tomb, they encountered various dangers such as sneak attacks from Yin souls. Of course, they did not need to fear them when in peak condition, but now… they could only blame their own luck if they died.
The paths in the Soul Tomb were like a maze, but with Yi Yun's memory, he led the group through it.
There were even times when he would slash his sword to open a new path.
Yi Yun walked in the very front, like the tip of a sword and indomitable. Any Yin souls or Killer Ghosts would be reduced to nothing in front of Yi Yun.
As a large portion of the ghostly beings were dealt with by Yi Yun, it alleviated the pressure on the people behind. If not, with the Heavenly Blood Union members being so weak, the death count would probably have surged.
In such a fashion, Yi Yun led the group of people for a total of four hours. With a final slash of his sword, he cleaved at a spatial barrier that was not considered too firm. As a ray of sunshine tore through the hole in the spatial barrier, it illuminated the faces of everyone.
Although it was a weak ray of sunshine, it undoubtedly was a sign of the warm sun from the outside world.
Many people even had the urge to tear up.
They were finally out!
The group rushed out through the spatial barrier desperately. They touched the rough stony cliffs of the outside world. Despite there being just a trace of warmth from the sunshine that barely illuminated the dark skies, and it being the extremely cold far north, a sense of longing surged in the hearts of many.
The expedition into the Soul Tomb was too repressing and tortuous. All of them had believed that they would be buried in that land of death. Even when they saw the outside world, they still found it unreal. They had a feeling like they were given a second shot at life.
They had finally survived…
Many of their companions had turned to bones in the Soul Tomb.
There were no opportunities or rewards for the Blackstone Trials. There was no ladder to heaven that allowed them to ascend, it was only a trap and death. The only reason they survived was not due to their strength, but because of their good luck. Those who lacked luck, had turned to ashes in the Soul Tomb, along with their ambition...