Chapter 747: Opening the Earth Soul!
Xu Meijing suddenly spoke, startling Yang Haoran.
However, hearing Xu Meijing's words allowed the stone hanging in his heart to finally fall. Before he could even respond, he suddenly noticed the fluctuations of power emanating from Xu Meijing's body were sometimes strong, sometimes weak, and quite unstable.
When strong, they surpassed his peak; when weak, they were even less than the power fluctuations he currently emitted.
Yang Haoran's expression changed. This scene was not unfamiliar to him, as the very same thing had just happened to Zhong Siyu.
Xu Meijing seemed to be on the verge of a breakthrough!
Not everyone experiences fluctuating power, sometimes strong and sometimes weak, when breaking through a certain realm. This varies from person to person, depends on their own realm, and is also heavily related to the series of preparations they made beforehand. There are many factors, and different factors lead to completely different results.
Therefore, a breakthrough is normal even without fluctuating power. And it's not uncommon for fluctuations to appear.
Considering Xu Meijing's current state, combined with her recent words, Yang Haoran felt that nine times out of ten, Xu Meijing was about to break through.
As long as she successfully opened her Earth Soul, then the ultimate victor of today's great battle would certainly belong to the two of them!
What Xu Meijing hadn't anticipated was that Zhong Siyu, having devoured the ghost entity beneath the Town Soul Tower, was also on the verge of a breakthrough. Thus, Zhong Siyu immediately chose to leave, not clinging to battle, but going to find a place to break through.
And Zhang Changchun and his father, in the end, were successively dealt with by Yang Haoran.
While inside the barrier, Xu Meijing was unaware of these things, because Yang Haoran didn't want her to be disturbed by external factors. Thus, the barrier he set up could isolate some external disturbances, including sound and power fluctuations.
And she had kept her eyes closed, so she had no idea what was happening outside. During this time, she had only one thought in her mind: to break through as quickly as possible so she could support Yang Haoran.
However, what she hadn't expected was that it would take her so long. She worried that Yang Haoran alone couldn't handle everything, and this inner anxiety affected her mind, causing her to suffer a backlash. This was why her face was contorted in pain and fresh blood seeped from the corners of her mouth.
After Yang Haoran opened the barrier, although she hadn't opened her eyes, she could already sense the situation outside. She noticed that only a single Spirit Power fluctuation remained in the area; all other power fluctuations had vanished.
She didn't know what had happened, so she opened her eyes, just in time to see Yang Haoran standing before her, a hesitant expression on his face.
She perceived Yang Haoran's worry, and her heart warmed. Then, she quickly spoke up.
Although she was very curious as to how the situation had turned out this way, why only Yang Haoran remained on the scene, and where everyone else had disappeared to.
But with the breakthrough imminent and no time to be distracted, she didn't ask further. She continued to close her eyes, focusing all her energy on breaking through, completely entrusting her personal safety to Yang Haoran.
At this moment, Yang Haoran felt both shock and joy. His joy stemmed from Xu Meijing being on the verge of opening her Earth Soul so quickly, and his shock, similarly, was due to this very fact.
He had secretly guessed before that Xu Meijing's current strength had likely surpassed his own. He understood Xu Meijing's personality: after acquiring the Soul-Refining Cauldron, she would undoubtedly strive to improve her strength at the fastest possible pace. Xu Meijing certainly wouldn't want her power to be overshadowed by his, so she would definitely try every means to refine Soul Pills to enhance her abilities, and then subtly show off and feel a little smug in front of him.
Now it seemed that Xu Meijing's strength had indeed far exceeded his. Although he wasn't too far from opening his Earth Soul himself, he definitely hadn't reached the point where he could open it with just two Soul Pills.
Yang Haoran didn't envy Xu Meijing, nor was he jealous; he was genuinely happy for her.
However, this matter also filled him with a sense of urgency. Xu Meijing was about to open her Earth Soul, and he, too, needed to redouble his efforts. Otherwise, if the disparity in their strength became too great, it was one thing whether Xu Meijing would look down on him or not, but what would he, as a man, use to protect Xu Meijing if she encountered danger?
Therefore, he felt that his strength couldn't lag too far behind Xu Meijing's; the stronger, the better. Only then could he protect the people he wanted to protect. The death of his parents in the past was a wound he would carry for a lifetime, and he did not want to see that tragedy repeat itself.
"I'll clean up the battlefield and immediately take you out of here. Then, I'll find a quiet place for you to break through in peace. Don't worry about anything else; I've got everything covered."
Yang Haoran responded with a smile, then began cleaning up the battlefield at the fastest possible speed.
He first extracted Zhang Changchun's soul, placing it separately into a Soul-Gathering Bead.
Then, he collected all the various collectibles that had burst out from Zhang Changchun's independent space into his own independent space. Due to the urgency of time, he didn't have a chance to examine what these collectibles were, nor did he care if they were useful to him or not; he simply crammed them all into his independent space.
Following that, he found the Town Soul Tower on the ground not far from Zhang Changchun's corpse. At this moment, without the augmentation of power, the Town Soul Tower had shrunk to palm-size, lying quietly in the crevice of a large boulder.
The Town Soul Tower was the most formidable magical artifact of the Zhang Family. Although he wasn't an exorcist and didn't use magical artifacts, his not needing it didn't mean others wouldn't.
Moreover, his disuse shouldn't negate the artifact's value. Such a powerful magical artifact would be too wasteful not to collect.
Subsequently, he found the Array Disk that Zhang Changchun had used to control the grand array of this area. How Zhang Changchun had obtained this set of Formation Flags, Yang Haoran didn't know, but he was quite clear about the power of this set of Formation Flags.
The previous battle hadn't damaged this Array Disk. Furthermore, since the restrictive barrier in this place hadn't disappeared, it indicated that the Formation Flags hidden within this mountain hadn't been harmed by the great battle either.
In other words, as long as he found the matching Formation Flags, this set of Formation Flags could still be used normally.
Looking at the other corpses on the ground, Yang Haoran couldn't help but sigh with emotion. When they arrived, these people were all fine, but now they had turned into mere shells, shells devoid even of souls, because their souls had already been devoured during the previous battle.
Perhaps on their way here, they thought this mission wouldn't be too difficult, and with such a strong lineup, nothing unexpected should happen. Yet, they probably never dreamed that all of this was, in fact, a meticulously designed trap by Zhang Changchun and his father.
Yang Haoran turned his gaze to Wang Yiming's master, Zhang Changqing, letting out a soft sigh and gently shaking his head. This head of the Lecheng Talisman Order had also fallen here today, without even a soul remaining.
Although Zhang Changqing had some past grievances with him, they weren't significant. Moreover, several years had passed since then, and he had long ceased to dwell on them. As long as Zhang Changqing didn't come looking for trouble, he certainly wouldn't be so bored as to actively seek out Zhang Changqing or the Talisman Order's trouble.
Furthermore, he and Wang Yiming were friends, and Zhang Changqing was Wang Yiming's master, so he didn't want to go against Zhang Changqing unless it was absolutely necessary.
Now that Zhang Changqing was dead, his soul even devoured when Zhang Changchun's father possessed him, their past grievances naturally vanished like smoke.
Thinking of Wang Yiming's master-apprentice relationship with Zhang Changqing, Yang Haoran hesitated for a moment. Then, he collected Zhang Changqing's empty shell into his independent space, intending to give it to Wang Yiming after leaving the area.
He could see Wang Yiming's affection for Zhang Changqing, and he could also see how fond Zhang Changqing was of his apprentice. Therefore, he decided to take Zhang Changqing's body, considering it something he could do for Wang Yiming.
Aside from Zhang Changqing's corpse, he had no interest in taking away the bodies of the others; after all, he wasn't a corpse collector, and taking these bodies held no meaning.
He took out a few Fire Talismans and incinerated the corpses on the ground. Then, he collected all the magical artifacts and other treasures they had used previously, ensuring nothing was left behind. After that, he used the Array Disk to forcibly summon the Formation Flags hidden in the area.
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