Li Ziyu tilted his head back, gazing up into the air. He could no longer make out the shapes of individual Wandering Souls; they were all packed together. Fortunately, Wandering Souls had no physical bodies, existing as beings of energy. Even if two of them overlapped, they wouldn’t be hard.
’How many Wandering Souls did it take to form such a vast "green cloud"? There had to be more than a million.’
[Special Item Unlocked: Soul Coffin]
Just as he was marveling at the sheer number of Wandering Souls, the system’s notification suddenly rang out, making Li Ziyu pause.
’He’d heard that clearly. An item this ti, not a building. Now that’s interesting. It’s the first ti the system has unlocked a special item. But I don’t have ti to check it out in front of all these Wandering Souls.’
"Can you tell why you’re all here?" Li Ziyu suppressed his curiosity about the Soul Coffin and voiced the question that had been on his mind since he entered the cavern. ’These Wandering Souls were obviously born from the Corpse Mountain. Perhaps they know its secrets.’
A solemn silence fell over the cavern at his words. After a few seconds, the Wandering Souls suddenly erupted with violent waves of Soul Energy, as if they’d been provoked.
’This... Did I ask sothing I shouldn’t have?’
The waves battered his soul relentlessly, and it was an agonizing feeling. He could sense the sorrow within the fluctuations.
"They forgot..."
"We’ve been forgotten..."
"Why... why did they forget us..."
A wind kicked up within the tranquil Corpse Mountain. The agitated Wandering Souls had unconsciously triggered a soul storm. Once the storm fully ford, the Undead might be fine, but the souls of Li Ziyu, Liu Xingxing, and the two Catn would surely be torn to shreds.
"Silence!"
Just as the storm was beginning to form, the King of the Wraith suddenly spun around. His human guise fell away to reveal the true form of a Wandering Soul. He raised his ghastly, terrifying face to the heavens and roared. A shockwave of sound swept through the cavern. With a POP, the nascent soul storm dissipated. The emotionally overwrought Wandering Souls jolted back to their senses and hastily contained their Soul Energy.
In truth, they had no desire to kill the living creatures below.
How many years had it been? How many years since they had last seen a living creature? They had lost count.
Ever since regaining consciousness, they had been trapped here. This Corpse Mountain Soul Gathering Ground was less a ho and more a giant cage, denying them their freedom.
This place bound them, preventing them from straying far. So of the more powerful Wandering Souls had managed to break free of these bonds and charge out of the Corpse Mountain Soul Gathering Ground. But the mont they reached the outside world, their souls were scattered to the winds, their energy dissipating back into the fabric of the world.
With the fate of those Wandering Souls serving as a grim example, the others no longer made any futile attempts to leave. They could feel the world rejecting them; they no longer belonged. They could only live here, day after day, year after year. It was a monotonous and dreary existence, a mockery of eternal life in this place that was little more than a cage.
They yearned for contact with the outside world, but no one ever entered the heart of the mountain. And so they waited, year after year, until at last, Li Ziyu and the others arrived.
"My apologies. They lost control of their emotions." Having quelled the Wandering Souls, the King of the Wraith reverted to his human form, turning back to them and speaking gently with an apologetic air.
"Lose control of their emotions? They were trying to take my life!" Liu Xingxing muttered, collapsing to the ground. The bones beneath him made a loud CLATTERING sound.
Perhaps because he was one of the Undead, Li Ziyu, at worst, only felt unwell and looked a little pale. Liu Xingxing, on the other hand, had nearly died. His body was wracked with excruciating pain—a pain that originated from the soul and was nearly impossible to soothe. His vision began to blacken at the edges.
Seeing Liu Xingxing’s poor condition, a Tusked Beastman standing behind the King beckoned. Four Wandering Souls imdiately broke from the main group and floated over to Liu Xingxing. They transford into beautiful won and began to hum softly beside his ears.
Strangely enough, as he heard the gentle lody, the look of agony on Liu Xingxing’s face gradually faded. He grew calm and serene, and the pain in his body subsided.
Once he saw that Liu Xingxing was out of danger, Li Ziyu turned his attention back to the King of the Wraith, waiting for an explanation.
The King of the Wraith sighed. His eyes gazed into the distance as he slowly began to speak, recounting a Chapter of history long forgotten by the Wasteland.
Long, long ago, in a ti beyond mory, all the Races lived together on this land. It was a rich and vast land, nurturing countless lives.
It was a ti of peace and prosperity. Every Race could find its own place to thrive here. They were self-sufficient, and while occasional disputes arose, they were always kept within manageable limits. It was a harmonious era.
Over the long centuries, through a process of splintering and reuniting, four major powers gradually erged: two kingdoms led by Humans, one by the Beastn, and another by the Elental Creatures.
The four great powers coexisted, partitioning the land among themselves, yet no large-scale wars broke out. The King of the Wraith was the ruler of one of the two Human kingdoms. His nation was called the Borhan United Kingdom—a kingdom led by Humans, but open to accepting any and all Races. Any Race could co to Borhan and would not face discrimination or oppression.
"Those were truly good tis," the King of the Wraith remarked, his gaze lost in the Void. He paused, a flicker of mory crossing his features as he recalled the prosperous and peaceful Borhan United Kingdom, and the people whose faces always seed to carry a smile. Then, he continued his tale.
The story took a turn with the other Human kingdom, a nation called Koideng. It was a kingdom composed purely of Humans. The people of the Koideng Kingdom did not cultivate; instead, they relied on external tools and objects to grow powerful. Their combat strength was imnse, but their bodies were frail, and their lives were short.
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