Chen Xingyun began to cultivate, while Ning Beichen watched with extreme vigilance. However, it wasn't in his physical form, but in his soul state, as he was worried the giant soul might launch a surprise attack.
This wasn't Ning Beichen being unnecessarily cautious; he had a strong premonition that the entity would appear and had a way to evade the storm.
As expected, Ning Beichen's guess was correct. Not long after, he saw a sneaky figure emerge, and it was the giant soul that had attacked them the previous night.
Ning Beichen even suspected that the soul's immense size was due to the mysterious substances within this well. Perhaps this place was its lair; otherwise, how could it have evaded the storm?
Ning Beichen pretended not to see it. When the entity was about to get close, Ning Beichen instantly drew the bronze ancient sword he had prepared and slashed at it.
The giant soul, unaware that Ning Beichen had been waiting for it, had no defenses whatsoever, or perhaps it was overconfident.
It stealthily approached Ning Beichen's soul from behind, intending to ambush him.
However, before it could act, it felt a sword pierce its body, pinning it directly to the wall.
"Little brat, trying for a second time? Do you really think I'm blind?"
Ning Beichen turned back and sneered at it.
The giant soul, pinned to the wall by the bronze ancient sword, couldn't break free, filling it with terror. The harder it struggled, the tighter the bronze ancient sword suppressed it.
"Struggle, little one. The more you struggle, the more excited I get."
Ning Beichen said with a sinister grin.
What was a mere soul? It dared to try and ambush him, Ning Beichen. As long as one was brave enough, even a vengeful spirit would need to take a break.
Whether the soul was angry or not was unknown, but it was clearly struggling more intensely.
Unfortunately, the origin of the bronze ancient sword was unknown. It seemed to be something from a higher plane, possessing control over souls. No matter how the soul struggled, it couldn't break free.
Moreover, the more the soul struggled, the more excited not only Ning Beichen felt, but it seemed the bronze ancient sword itself was even more exhilarated than its owner.
After a while, Ning Beichen noticed that the giant soul seemed to have become smaller and fainter, though he couldn't be sure if it was his imagination.
At this point, the giant soul stopped struggling, appearing resigned.
Only then did Ning Beichen boldly walk up to it, hands on his hips, adopting a smug and triumphant stance.
"Can you speak?"
"Were you trying to devour us when you ambushed us?"
Ning Beichen was no longer in a hurry. He sat down in front of the soul and leisurely asked.
The giant soul ignored him, but Ning Beichen wasn't anxious. He even took out a pack of cigarettes from his jade gourd and lit one.
Now, Ning Beichen was playing the waiting game with it. After all, he wasn't the one suffering, so why should Ning Beichen be in a hurry?
"If you don't speak soon, your soul will be gone."
Ning Beichen glanced at the soul, which had grown even fainter.
"It doesn't matter to me if you don't speak. I don't really want to know anyway. I just feel a bit sorry for you!"
"It must have been difficult for you to survive this long, right? With storms everywhere, I don't think you'd want to disappear just like this."
Ning Beichen said.
Although he wasn't issuing direct threats, his words were filled with them.
In other words, if you don't speak, I'll just watch you die. If you speak, there might be a sliver of hope.
Ning Beichen finished one cigarette, but the soul remained defiant, appearing ready to face death.
However, by the time Ning Beichen finished his third cigarette, the soul finally spoke.
"Let me go, and I promise I won't attack you again."
"Heh."
Ning Beichen responded with a chuckle.
"You've got quite a plan, haven't you? Let you go? What makes you think I'll let you go? Is it your peerless beauty, or do you look like a lump of dough?"
"Come on, give me a reason. Why should I let you go?"
Ning Beichen mocked.
The soul was immediately rendered speechless, as it had no idea how to answer. Perhaps it hadn't communicated with humans for too long and had forgotten how to speak.
"Actually, letting you go isn't impossible. But what about the ambush? You don't think we'll just let that slide, do you?"
Ning Beichen said.
At this point, the giant soul began to ponder. However, the longer it thought, the dimmer its body became, like a light bulb about to burn out.
"I... I can help you."
Just as Ning Beichen was beginning to doubt if the entity would vanish, he finally heard its voice again.
"I know you're here to cultivate your souls. I can help you cultivate."
"Help us? You mean I can cultivate too? Isn't it said that one must reach the Venerable realm to cultivate souls?"
Ning Beichen's eyes lit up, and he asked with surprise.
"Others cannot, but I can."
The soul replied to Ning Beichen.
"Then how can I trust that you're not lying?"
"Even if what you say is true, that you can truly help us cultivate our souls, what if you suddenly attack us while we're cultivating?"
Ning Beichen said.
The soul once again fell into a state of silent contemplation, causing Ning Beichen's eyelids to twitch.
If what this thing said was true, Ning Beichen wouldn't want to kill it.
However, he didn't dare to withdraw the bronze ancient sword yet. Until he found a way to restrain it, or foolishly believed its words, Ning Beichen would never do something as foolish as the farmer and the snake.
Fortunately, the entity didn't remain silent for too long. After only a few minutes, it spoke again.
"I have no other way. However, since I am a soul, you can leave your imprint within my soul. This way, I won't be able to retaliate against you."
Ning Beichen's eyes lit up upon hearing this.
If he left his imprint within the soul, it would be equivalent to controlling its life and death. Was this entity sincere? Or was there some deception involved?
However, Ning Beichen chose to believe it, as the entity seemed somewhat naive and unlikely to be so cunning.
"Then release your soul's guard. I will leave my imprint within it."
Ning Beichen tentatively said to it.
Originally, Ning Beichen was just testing the waters to see if the entity was sincere or deceptive. However, the soul actually lowered its defenses, which made Ning Beichen hesitate.