“As I recall, this should not be the time for an outbreak of dead souls.” Some of them grew puzzled.

“That's right. By looking at the frequencies of past occurrences, this outbreak should only happen 100 years from now. This sudden outbreak caught many cultivators with their pants down, leading to serious casualties. Though, some formidable cultivators did manage to gain a lot from it.”

“Yes. The outbreak of dead souls also means the emergence of treasures. There will be a high number of Beads of Dead Souls. More, there would also be some treasures and ores containing soul power. Only, these treasures will not be easy to find. You'll need both strength and luck.”

“Sigh! I just wonder what caused this outbreak of dead souls. Also, how long will it take for them to disperse?”

“Disperse? That's impossible. This outbreak of dead souls has only just begun. The first wave had taken out countless cultivators. Who knows how many more will die to the second wave? Although this fortress we are in has a fairly good defences, our numbers are too limited. That means our strength is also insufficient. If the dead souls attack and break through, all of us will die.”

“How unlucky. We came to the City of Dead Souls at the wrong time. Why don't we charge out and find a bigger fortress? Either that or just leave this city.”

“Sigh! Your suggestion is not bad. Only, look how many yin-type creatures are out there? Alone, you will not be able to go far.”

“Can't we join forces? We can try to charge out together.”

“It's not that easy. I personally prefer to stay here and wait it out.”

They discussed the issue, but none of them knew why an outbreak of dead souls would happen now. As for Chen Feng, he had already sent his divine sense out, covering a distance of 5,000 kilometres and more. The dead souls, vengeful spirits, blood fiends and other yin-type creatures within that radius had reached a terrifying number. By Chen Feng's estimate, if all the cultivators within this fortress were to join forces and charge out, the number of survivors would not exceed 10. That was despite the fact that the number of cultivators inside this fortress had exceeded 10,000. Additionally, that number was still rising.

Going out means death. For now, we'll have to stay here. Chen Feng nodded to himself. This situation was enough to even give him a feeling of danger. He wondered, what would the hidden Heavenly Immortals do?

Retracting his divine sense, Chen Feng then casually found a room and rested himself. His face was constantly maintaining a look of calmness, seemingly utterly unperturbed by what would happen next. His divine sense also spread out to form an energy barrier to stop the noise from the fortress.

In the midst of chaos, conflicts were inevitable. That was particularly true considering the fact that they were all cultivators with formidable cultivation bases. Due to the outside pressure, those with grudges decided to take action first. Even those without grudges chose to pick a fight with others. With that, it did not take long before the entire fortress fell into a state of chaos. 

They're actually thinking about fighting one another at a time like this? They must have a death wish. Chen Feng scoffed. He did not do anything. He was also not afraid that some cultivators might come disturb him. This force from the Six Daos Sword Faction was very powerful and no one would take the initiative to provoke them.

When the number of casualties rose above 100, the few cultivators with the strongest cultivation bases inside the fortress intervened. A total of 16 soul waves swept through the fortress and the 10,000 plus cultivators there fell silent. Some froze on the spot, incapable of recovering themselves for the longest time. 

“The next wave of dead souls is coming. Everyone should be working together. Only by putting on our strongest display of might will we be able to get through this crisis. Every death here will only decrease our combat power. Are you fellows idiots? If you want to die, you can just leave this fortress!” A thunderous voice rumbled out to shake their souls and none dared to retort.

This person's cultivation base is quite good. Especially his soul power. It exceeds his level. He must have either cultivated a special soul-type secret technique or had come across a fortuitous encounter that improved the quality of his soul. Given his level of strength, there is a high chance that he would be able to break out. Chen Feng grew interested in the cultivator who spoke up earlier. The cultivator's strength was slightly higher compared to the hidden Heavenly Immortals from the Six Daos Sword Faction. 

And so, the situation in the fortress was pacified. Additionally, thanks to some of the stronger cultivators there, the cultivators began gathering up. At the same time, even more cultivators entered the fortress.

As the number of cultivators rose, the atmosphere within the fortress became more subdued. When the number of cultivators rose up to 20,000, even Chen Feng felt shocked. There were tens of fortresses here. If every fortress had this many cultivators, that would mean that the number of cultivators congregating here had reached a terrifying level. More, this area with fortresses was just a small corner of the entire City of Dead Souls.

“Before this, we only knew about this city through what we've heard. Only by entering it on our own did we discover how ma.s.sive this city is. However, there is the power of s.p.a.ce-time involved here. So, this is not an uncommon situation.”

One month quickly went by. 

On this particular day, the tens of thousands of cultivators inside the fortress were going about their affairs quietly when they suddenly stirred. At the same time, some of the disciples from the Six Daos Sword Faction also moved over to find Chen Feng, who immediately knew that a wave of dead souls was coming. 

Walking out from his room, Chen Feng could sense the various emotions swirling within the fortress. Antic.i.p.ation, apprehension, excitement, fear, bloodl.u.s.t. There were various types of emotions there.

Releasing his divine sense, Chen Feng then saw a world-encompa.s.sing army of dead souls sweeping forward like a tidal wave. In the beginning, it was just a small line. However, the small line kept increasing in size, becoming thicker and thicker to finally fill up the entire s.p.a.ce. Dead souls, vengeful spirits, blood fiends, demon souls and various other types of soul and yin-type creatures charged forward while releasing disorderly sounds.

Boom!

The first wave made contact and the ma.s.sive fortress shook. Next, cracks appeared in the sky and countless dead souls and other creatures broke in.

“Do not panic! Get into formation and take turns to defend.”

“Fellow cultivators, hurry up and gather up! Work together to kill off these dead souls. Kill them and obtain their soul sprites. Those are good cultivation materials.”

“We might even get Beads of Dead Souls.”

Although the number of invading dead souls was quite high, the cultivators in the fortress were all in possession of formidable cultivation bases and firm minds. They swiftly formed the most suitable formation for the situation. Some worked on defending the city, some hunted down the dead souls and some repaired the restrictive arrays. It did not take long before all the invading dead souls were killed off.

Only, before they could become overjoyed, even more dead souls smashed into the fortress again, damaging the defensive arrays on the fortress and allowing more dead souls to invade. They began inflicting deaths upon the defending cultivators.

The 100-strong team of True Immortals from the Six Daos Sword Faction had formed a battle formation, with the three half-step Heavenly Immortals directing them. Chen Feng, on the other hand, wandered around as he hunted down the ghastly dead souls.

The bodies of strong dead souls would contain a minor bit of soul sprite. That was their essence power. Upon obtaining the soul sprite, cultivators could refine it to strengthen their soul power. This was also why so many cultivators would come here for an adventure.

Only, in order to obtain soul sprites of a higher quality, they would have to take on stronger opponents. Take their current situation as an example. The 10,000 plus dead souls that invaded the fortress had all been killed off, but they also managed to take down over 100 of the defending cultivators there.

Compared to the endless army of dead souls, this degree of loss was something that the fortress was simply incapable of sustaining.

Chen Feng moved about, brandis.h.i.+ng his sword. Every swing would be accompanied by sword light and a dead soul would fall. On the side of the cultivators from the Six Daos Sword Faction, they had formed an overbearing sword array. Oval in shape, it kept firing out sword light of varying colours, which then gathered up into one river-like stream of swords circling around them. Whenever a dead soul approached them, it would be shredded to bits. Seeing such a ferocious display of might from the Six Daos Sword Faction, the other cultivators gravitated towards them, hoping to seek protection there.

Sou! Sou! Sou! Sou!

Several dead souls with flesh made their way in and one of them slipped into the body of one of the cultivators there. With a banging sound, the cultivator's body blew up into bits and the dead soul proceeded to slip into the body of another cultivator. This time, the targeted cultivator had his soul sucked dry.

Another dead soul sported a long tentacle, which it swept forward to break up a small battle formation by some of the cultivators there.

Additionally, there was also a blood fiend with a mountainous body. Opening its mouth, it sucked and tens of cultivators were pulled in.

The powerhouses within the army of dead souls had finally appeared. Thankfully, the fortress' defensive might had the support of the City of Dead Souls, allowing it to endure the shockwaves from the battle. Without the fortress, the cultivators there – even if they were ten times stronger – would be submerged under the wave of dead souls. 

An invisible wave of energy charged towards the Six Daos Sword Faction's battle formation. It was a soul attack from several dead souls combined; silent, yet incomparably strong. And despite having noticed it, Chen Feng did not take action to stop it.

The arrow-like wave of soul power smashed against the sword energy swirling around the battle formation, resulting in an intense grinding sound. Eventually, the wave of soul power dissipated away. However, some of the dispersing streams of soul power managed to enter the battle formation, causing several of the cultivators there to stumble about for a moment before recollecting themselves.

Following that, however, even stronger waves of soul power appeared. Not only were they attacking the Six Daos Sword Faction's battle formation, they also went after the other formidable groups and cultivators.

Chen Feng found himself targeted by two waves of soul power. He hacked them apart.

Ha ha! Those fellows sure can hold back. Chen Feng chuckled to himself. This attack had killed two of the cultivators from the Six Daos Sword Faction, their souls destroyed by dead soul sprites. Even so, the hidden Heavenly Immortals continued to do nothing.

A blood-coloured bead blew up somewhere not far away from Chen Feng before transforming into a blood-coloured skull the size of a small mountain. Opening its mouth, it then charged towards Chen Feng in an attempt to devour him. Several cultivators who happened to be in its path were all devoured.

A blood fiend at the Heavenly Immortal stage. Not bad. It will help improve my Blood Mustering Bead. Chen Feng swung and sword beams rapidly sliced forward. The skull released a grating shriek as it was cleaved into two and it attempted to flee, but the sword beams then blew up, reducing it into a cloud of blood energy. With a grasping motion from Chen Feng, they all gathered up to become a blood-coloured bead.

Chen Feng had only just finished dealing with the formidable blood fiend when a black net appeared from behind him. Over 100 dead souls had joined forces to fire out this attack.

1 li = 0.5 km