Chapter 441: Soul Stone

After Lan left, the stoic and the happy-go-lucky men quickly got everyone on board the Golden-Winged Eagles and sat out.

There was enough space for fifty people on each eagle, and there was a Primordial Beast present on every one of the beasts, to ensure that they stayed tamed throughout the entire trip.

Xue Wei did not care too much about the trip. If he were to unleash his bloodline pressure, the Eagle would be as obedient as it was towards Lan previously, but he was not the only Sovereign Beast around.

Although Vermilion Birds were rare, quite a few of them had been sent to the Army Camp, and three were amongst the soldiers who had gotten picked for the war.

Two of them, Xue Wei had never met or known before, but the final was the Chi Branch member, and Xue Wei had to admit that he was quite skilled.

If the Vermilion Birds who had been sent to the Ascended's Realm were like him, then things would have been so much easier. Fortunately, they had gotten through the Ascended's Realm with a multitude of treasures and items that could sustain them for many years to come, but he was still as much of a money-grubber as always.

Lan was many millennia old, so old that he might even have forgotten when he was born. Even if they had treasures to sustain themselves for some years, it was nothing compared to their lifespan.

Initially, the others had thought that Xue Wei was overly dramatic, but after hearing about Hui Yue and Lan's background, the others suddenly understood the severity of the issue.

Although they could use whatever resource they wanted to right now, one day, that might not be the case, so all of them had to work hard to rob resources from the opponents and win merits that could be exchanged for more items that they could use later.

As they were seated on the backs of the eagles, Xue Wei took out a top-ranked essence stone and placed it in his hand as he began cultivating.

Seeing him cultivate even in such an environment, everyone could not help but admire him. Many were looking around, looking down, observing everything, as it was very difficult to be on a flying beast, but upon seeing Xue Wei's action, all of them became serious.

They were not here for the joy of examining the surroundings; they were on the way to the battlefield. It was better to grasp every moment and cultivate, even the slightest difference in strength could prove fatal in a life and death battle.

The first to follow Xue Wei's lead was Lin Xiao and Hei Gou. After them came Luoluo and Bai Tianyi, but they had needed more time because they needed to find the right resource to consume.

They were different, after all, being spirits, who needed to consume spiritual energy.

They both found a soul stone in their storage treasures. Soul stones were much like essence stones, but they differentiated in the energy stored inside.

Soul Stones were usually found in graveyards and places with much death. They absorbed the souls of the deceased and made it into spiritual energy.

Anyone who cultivated spiritual energy considered them a treasure, but they were much more rare than essence stones, as essence stones were a product created by nature, but soul stones were a creation of death. They were immensely rare to come across in the mortal world.

Everyone looked at Xue Wei, Lin Xiao, Hei Gou, Luoluo, and Bai Tianyi with jealousy. Not only did they have top-ranked essence stones, they even had soul stones!

This was quite the shock for them, but after realizing that Lan was such a frightening figure, they quickly accepted that they were not normal, and began cultivating on their own.

Some of them used resources to increase their cultivation speed; others just depended entirely on the heaven and earth essence that was present.

Looking at how everyone on the backs of the Golden-Winged Eagles began cultivating, the two men who were leading them nodded their heads in approval. They could not relax, as they had to stand vigil. If their enemies ambushed them, someone had to sound the alarm.

But they were aware that the battlefield these soldiers were going to was much more bloody than what anyone could prepare them for.

The battlefield was not a big flat plane where the two armies were facing one another, charging against each other and having such battles.

The Demon Phoenix Continent and the Xiyang Continent were close to one another; one only needed to sail for three days to reach the Xiyan Continent. As such, most of the time, the battles were taking place on the small islands that were between them, on the coastlines of the two continents, and in the airspace above the sea.

There were thousands of small skirmishes a day, and many died and were injured every day. These soldiers, although they would be joining the army full of fighting spirit and energy, were unaware of how many would be able to return alive when the war finally ended.

The war had already been ongoing for so long, and it was likely that although it was not in the final stages, it would take years to get the final result.

During these years, many geniuses had died, and even more would die. They could not stop this vicious cycle.

The King of the Xiyang Continent was human. Most of the influential experts on the Xiyan continent were also humans, and their greed was what had started this war.

All of them had the dream of enslaving the Vermilion Bird Clan, and even after so many years, this dream had never died.