A month later, two Specter Kings of the Husbandry Faction stood atop the ruins of Yellow Stone City, their expressions grim. The taller one was named Hun Bao, and the shorter, Hun Shang.
They governed Echo City, another major city of the Husbandry Faction located close to Yellow Stone City. The two cities often exchanged populations of Soul Star people to ensure genetic diversity and reduce deformities among offspring. This practice made the consumption of Soul Star people more reassuring and breeding plans more sustainable.
However, several months after sending a batch of female Soul Star people to Yellow Stone City, there was no return shipment of male Soul Star people.
The Specter Kings of Echo City initially suspected the Specter Kings of Yellow Stone City of double-crossing them by withholding the Soul Star people. Enraged, they came to confront them, only to discover that the entire city of Yellow Stone had vanished. All its buildings had been reduced to ashes.
Hun Shang furrowed his brow. "Yellow Stone City ranked among the top four in strength among our twelve great cities. Who could possibly destroy it so easily?"
"Moreover," he continued, "they should have at least been able to send out a message. How could it just disappear without a trace?"
Hun Bao snorted coldly. "Do we even need to think about it? It must have been those madmen from the Slaughter Faction! It has always disapproved of our actions. Haven't they attacked us covertly numerous times? This time they've just brought their grievances out into the open!"
Hun Shang frowned. "But the Slaughter Faction typically hacks bodies and souls into pieces. They've never used fire before."
Hun Bao scoffed, "Who knows? There are plenty of lunatics in the Slaughter Faction. It wouldn't be strange for some of them to enjoy arson."
Hun Shang thought it over but still felt something was amiss. However, he couldn't think of any other faction with the power to obliterate all traces of the Yellow Stone City's spectral and Soul Star inhabitants, especially without allowing five Specter Kings the chance to call for help.
"We can't determine this on our own. We should report this to the Great King," Hun Shang suggested quietly.
"You report it," Hun Bao grumbled. "I'm going to find those Slaughter Faction bastards and settle the score!" With that, he gathered his Great Specters and immediately flew off into the distance.
Hun Shang sighed deeply. Hun Bao's temperament had always been volatile and uncontrollable. But given the longstanding enmity between the Slaughter and Husbandry Factions, Hun Bao seeking revenge, even without the destruction of Yellow Stone City as a pretext, wasn't unusual.
"Why do I have this ominous feeling?" Hun Shang mused, taking one last look at the remains of Yellow Stone City before leaving. A sense of foreboding lingered in his mind as he departed from the desolate scene.
Mists surged upwards, shrouding the sunlight once more. Chu Xuan nodded in satisfaction. He had set up a Mist Array and an Illusion Array outside the Yellow Springs Soul Refining Array. With these in place, unless a Nascent Soul cultivator arrived, it would be impossible for anyone to see through the veils of his formations.
Reflecting on his arrival at Soul Star, Chu Xuan realized that initially setting up the Yellow Springs Soul Refining Array without any concealment was exceedingly arrogant.
Had the Slaughter King or the Greedy King noticed the array and led their forces against it, he would have had no choice but to abandon the formation and flee. Such a scenario would not only result in the loss of the precious array but potentially provide the enemy with a means to increase their power—a truly disastrous outcome.
"These few are good," Chu Xuan remarked as he selected several strong ghost commanders from within the Sky-Shielding Umbrella. He personally named them.
"You, with your robust stature, shall be called 'Soul One.'"
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