After two barely perceptible soft sounds, the soldiers guarding the entrance to Liu Ji's sleeping tent were gently laid down by Xiang Yu, leaning against each other as if they were falling asleep.
Hao Jiu peeked through the bed curtains and confirmed that Liu Ji was still asleep. He also saw the location of the Emperor's Sword.
Xiang Yu crouched down and rushed to the side of the Emperor's Sword with lightning speed, exchanging the Emperor's Sword from the first plane without the divided soul for the one from the sixth plane.
Then he left his sleeping tent, leaped into the sky, landed on his black horse, and disappeared into the night in the blink of an eye.
The black dragon suddenly burst out of Liu Ji's body, and only when it saw that the Emperor's Sword was still beside Liu Ji did it feel relieved.
"It was just an illusion. With this immortal sword in hand, it's time to consider leaving this desolate place," the black dragon murmured.
...
The next day, they met in the north, atop Zhangshan Mountain.
The black horse snorted and wagged its tail from time to time.
Kneeling on the ground beside him was an old man holding a sword. His face was swollen like a pig's, his hair was disheveled and mostly covered by his hair. He kept muttering, "Liu Ji is a scoundrel who broke his promise. Liu Ji deceived me and deserves to die a horrible death. Liu Ji tricked me and he will surely be punished..."
Xiang Yu flicked his finger at the Emperor's Sword, which emitted a resounding hum...
The disheveled old man kneeling on the ground suddenly revealed a strange smile, "Where did the God of Wine find this half-mad body? It's much easier to control, and it suits me quite well, haha."
"Oh, I had nothing to do last night, so I went to Sheyang County in the east to accompany Xiang Yu to visit some old friends. I also prepared a possession item for Shou Jun. I hope Shou Jun likes it." Hao Jiu smiled slightly.
The old man laughed and said, "I like it so much, I like it so much! Possessing a comatose person is too boring! I have been resting for a day and have thought a lot. I feel that it is a great fortune for me to meet the God of Wine and Xiang Yu. From now on, I am willing to help the God of Wine protect Xiang Yu and follow Xiang Yu to conquer the world."
Although I am currently a remnant soul with weak magical power, I believe I will regain my strength in the near future. At that time, I will be able to help King Xiang even more. If we encounter any troublesome minions, the God of Wine won't need to personally take action; just leave them all to me."
"That's for the best. Now let's begin to rescue Xiang Yu's divided soul." Hao Jiu said, then reminded Xiang Yu in his mind, "Xiang Yu, please be careful."
"Don't worry, God of Wine, I won't easily believe this devil," Xiang Yu thought to himself.
"I obey the decree of the God of Wine! Open the barrier!" The old man raised his clone Emperor Sword with both hands.
Xiang Yu's eyes suddenly lit up, and he grabbed it immediately.
In an instant, lightning flashed!
Chapter 177 Thundercloud
Within the hazy gray space, a sword-shaped island floated above a chaotic expanse.
Lightning flashed across the sky, illuminating everything on the island. The most striking feature was the massive altar at the center of the sword-shaped structure, and the three golden figures gleaming upon it.
Snap! Rumble...
A deafening clap of thunder shook the heavens, but the three people sitting cross-legged on the altar remained unmoved, as if they were already used to it.
"Summon lightning to temper the soul!" the three shouted in unison.
Immediately afterwards, three bolts of lightning suddenly descended from the sky, one thick and two thin, striking the three of them!
"ah!"
A moment later, the lightning that had been swirling around the three of them gradually dissipated.
One of the middle-aged men, with an air of otherworldly wisdom, slowly opened his eyes and said in a very weathered voice:
"The spirit of the overlord is commendable, but the path of cultivation is like walking on thin ice. Haste makes waste, and one should proceed step by step."
Another slightly older-looking man opened his eyes as well. "Junior brother, listen to your master's advice. The paths of immortals and mortals are different. Now that we have embarked on the path of immortality, why should we be attached to the mortal world? Besides, didn't your master already severely injure that old scoundrel with the protection of destiny? He will surely die within three years. Why are you in such a hurry to leave?"
The lightning on the third person finally dissipated, and his slightly distorted face gradually became clear—it was none other than Xiang Yu, the Overlord!
"I have said that I will not take a master, but I keep my word and will definitely cultivate diligently to help you two get out of this predicament as soon as possible. Lord Shou and King Wu, please do not try to persuade me any further. I plan to use more lightning to temper your souls next time."
"Haha, it doesn't matter whether you become my apprentice or not. We hit it off immediately, so why care about these empty titles?"
As for escaping this predicament as soon as possible, as I have already said, the spiritual energy outside is scarce. If we cannot reach the level of flying through the air with a sword, it is meaningless to simply leave through this sword barrier.
It should be understood that achieving the Great Dao is not something that can be accomplished overnight. Moreover, we are all souls without physical bodies, and are inherently extremely afraid of lightning.
The method of drawing lightning to temper the soul, which I have spent half my life creating, is profound but also extremely dangerous. I am afraid that you might accidentally destroy your soul, which would be a pity.
"What you say is quite right. However, didn't you also say that if we could find a secret realm with abundant spiritual energy or a cultivator outside, there would be hope of escaping this Thunder Sea prison? As far as I know, there is indeed an immortal outside named Anqi, who may be able to help us. Furthermore, I have seen ghosts and gods outside, and they don't seem to dissipate quickly. I want to go out and try my luck."
As Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King, spoke of this, he couldn't help but sigh to himself, wishing that the ghost or god hadn't disappeared.
Shou Jun nodded slightly, "Since the Overlord is willing to take this great risk, I will not try to dissuade him further. However, the thunderclouds in this barrier are extremely violent, and the safe passage I can open is too small. I am not entirely confident in my ability to resist the lightning, so please do not attempt this risky endeavor..."
Just then, thunderclouds suddenly rolled back in the sky, forming a huge vortex, and a passage leading to the outside world could be vaguely seen in the center of the vortex!
Wu Wang's lips twitched violently. He thought to himself that his master was still so unreliable. He kept telling his junior brother not to go out if he wasn't sure, but his body was very honest and he opened the passage directly!
"This is impossible! I did not open the barrier! Who could have done this!" Shoujun exclaimed in surprise.
Xiang Yu, the Overlord, who had been sitting cross-legged on the altar, slowly stood up. "Perhaps it was my true self who opened it. It turns out that I was just an avatar, and my true self is alive and well. So, reversing time was actually successful? Now, my true self has come to take me away. You two don't need to worry. Perhaps this time we can really escape."
King Wu was completely bewildered, and his expression changed drastically as Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King, stepped into the void and headed straight for the passage!
"Junior brother, what are you doing? Stop! That passage looks wide and straight, but it's actually 99% filled with lightning. The real safe passage is narrow and winding. Although the lightning is much thinner than the surrounding area, it's still more than we can withstand!"
Shoujun's eyes flickered, as if he had realized something. "Wait, Overlord! Let me spare a wisp of my soul to lead the way for you!"
Chirp!
With a flick of his finger, a small wisp of golden divine soul caught up with Xiang Yu at an extremely fast speed.
"Thank you for your help, Your Majesty. I will surely repay you handsomely..."
Snap! Rumble... hiss...
With a muffled groan, Xiang Yu, the Overlord, activated his Soul Tempering Technique with all his might, closely following behind Shou Jun's soul. Due to the difference in their sizes, most of Xiang Yu's body was still radiated by the lightning.
King Wu suddenly stood up, but was pressed down by Shou Jun. "The Overlord is not a reckless man. There should be someone outside helping him. Do you remember the dream he told us? The Overlord received help from the gods and spirits and was almost able to reverse time and save Yu Ji. Perhaps it was not just a dream. Fuchai, come and help your master expand the barrier passage. This should be able to relieve some of the pressure on the Overlord."
"Yes." King Wu suddenly realized, and immediately sat down cross-legged to try to control the barrier with the King.
As expected, after the two cast their spells, the barrier passage in the air expanded even further.
Shoujun's eyes burned even brighter, and he thought to himself, "The Overlord must succeed in getting out!"
At this moment, atop Zhangshan Mountain.
Shou Jun's face lit up with joy. "God of Wine, it seems that someone is also controlling the barrier within this sword. After the two are combined, the barrier passage has expanded a bit, which makes it easier for Xiang Yu's divided soul to come out."
"That must be your clone. I was worried that your clone would prevent Xiang Yu's soul from leaving, but I was just being petty."
Hao Jiu stared at the sword with a solemn expression. If Xiang Yu hadn't reacted quickly, Hao Jiu would have almost concluded that this old ghost was trying to harm Xiang Yu, since there was even lightning emanating from it.
Even if it were just a second later, these two swords would have been stored in the storage space.
It was later learned that the lightning was merely the light emitted by the lightning itself, and had no destructive power.
The old man apologized repeatedly, saying that he had forgotten to tell the God of Wine about the power of the barrier thunderclouds, and that he had assumed that the all-powerful God of Wine could easily rescue Xiang Yu's divided soul, so he hadn't taken the thunderclouds seriously.
Xiang Yu closed his eyes and gripped the hilt of the Doppelganger Emperor Sword. "It's still no use. The distance is too far. I never imagined that this thin sword could cover such a great distance."
"Shoujun, just how thick is this barrier?" Hao Jiu vaguely sensed that something was wrong.
"The only active restriction in the barrier right now is the thundercloud, which is about a hundred feet thick. But if I may be frank, without the help of the God of Wine, Xiang Yu's divided soul alone would probably have a hard time getting through," Shou Jun said somewhat awkwardly.
"Hiss... A hundred-foot thundercloud? My lord, I'll believe you for now that you've forgotten to tell me these things, but don't forget what I said yesterday!" Hao Jiu said and then disappeared.
Only the old man was left standing there, bewildered in the wind. I hope the Overlord's divided soul doesn't get into trouble!
...
Chapter 178 Soul Fusion
"Aww!"
The Overlord's divided soul let out a roar.
The closer to the edge of the barrier, the denser the lightning became, even with the two rulers and the two kings of Wu working together to expand the barrier passage.
Am I really being too impatient? But why can I sense that the other side is so confident?
"Overlord! We've arrived here. There's no difference between going back and going forward now. The only option is to continue forward. This passage cannot be fully opened for too long," the soul of the Lord of the Sea said in the Overlord's ear.
"I know, I have no intention of retreating!" The Overlord gritted his teeth, ready to continue advancing.
Suddenly, a huge golden figure vaguely appeared in the void far away outside the lightning net ahead.
Immediately afterwards, five enormous throwing knives flew in from a distance, and when they reached the thundercloud barrier, they instantly arranged themselves into a pentagonal array, which perfectly covered the outside of the passage.
In an instant, most of the lightning outside the passage struck the flying knife!
"Hahaha... God of Wine! Long time no see!" The Overlord's divided soul accelerated at full speed, rushing through the last section of thunderclouds in one go.
Then I saw Dionysus in front of me wearing the Sagittarius Gold Cloth, with his wings spread and his right hand making Aaron Kwok's classic gesture to his chest!
Upon seeing this scene, the ruler on the altar burned his last wisp of divine soul and used his Ghost Eye Divine Power to its fullest extent, but he only saw the soul of Xiang Yu, the Overlord, disappear in front of him.
Sizzle sizzle...
"Hiss..." Xiang Yu groaned and his body trembled.
"Is Xiang Yu alright?" Hao Jiu came out of the Emperor's Sword space and saw that the old man was unharmed, but Xiang Yu was in some trouble.
This fusion was completely different from the last one, after all, this Overlord's split soul had just flown out of the thunderclouds, and its entire soul body was electrified.
"God of Wine need not worry. Since Xiang Yu's divided soul was able to emerge safely from the thunderclouds, the main body should also be able to withstand the tempering of the soul by lightning. There is no need to worry about the residual electricity; it may even have considerable benefits." The old man secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that the soul fusion had been successful this time.
No one understood the dangers of passing through that thundercloud better than him. Although the thundercloud was mainly designed to restrain him as a prisoner, and Xiang Yu's divided soul was not actively attacked by the thundercloud, passing through it was still not an easy task.
At least, King Wu, who had cultivated with him for so long, would never dare to try it lightly.
It's safe to say that Dionysus played a crucial role in this, but it remains to be seen whether this method can be applied to him.
Upon thinking of this, the old man's gaze toward Xiang Yu became fervent. After the soul fusion, Xiang Yu should be able to obtain the memories of the divided soul.
However, the next moment, the old man narrowed his eyes.
Xiang Yu thought to himself, "God of Wine, I have obtained the memories of this split soul, but it is different from the last fusion. It seems that I can separate this lightning-entwined split soul at any time."
"This is not bad either. It's like having an extra clone. We don't have to worry about that old ghost anymore." Hao Jiu laughed. With this ability, he figured he could easily deal with most ghosts.
"God of Wine, it seems that the Lord of Rebirth has no ill intentions. The Lord of Rebirth in the Emperor's Sword clone also contributed a lot to the successful soul fusion. Judging from the memories of the split soul, the Lord of Rebirth on the other side is a mentor and friend, and his attitude and speech are very different from the original Lord of Rebirth. It's like they are two different people," Xiang Yu said with doubt.