Essence Soul

The moment Xiao Wu saw Ye Xinyu walk in, she startled like a frightened rabbit and instantly pulled away from Tang San's embrace.

"Th-then, don't misunderstand. I was just..."

Looking at Xiao Wu's shy expression, Ye Xinyu teased her with a grin.

"It's fine, carry on. I didn't see anything."

Though she said that, she was actually rather curious. Their relationship had seemed fairly ordinary before—how had they suddenly gotten together and started hugging? Things were progressing fast.

Tang San felt a little awkward as well.

"Um, Sister Xiao Wu, get some rest. I'll go back to my own bunk first."

After Tang San left, Xiao Wu explained again in a small voice.

"Um, there really isn't anything between us..."

Ye Xinyu merely shook her head.

"Mhm, I know. If there's nothing else, I'm going to start meditating. Don't disturb me, thank you." With that, she lay back down on her half of the bunk.

Seeing this, Xiao Wu did not explain further. She merely tightened her grip on the wooden comb.

Meditation did not require any particular posture. Even lying down would not affect it, so long as one did not fall asleep.

"Are you sure you won't reconsider? Honestly, that hundred-thousand-year soul beast is quite suitable for you. It has only been in human form for a few years and is very weak. It is definitely no match for you. Besides, with my help, when you reach Rank 40 to Rank 50, you should be able to absorb its soul ring and soul bone."

The moment she entered meditation, a seductive female voice sounded by her ear.

"Forget it. Don't bring this up again." To be honest, she was somewhat tempted by the Rakshasa God's persuasion. But the other party had already taken human form. This was practically the same as asking her to kill a person.

She still felt somewhat resistant to killing.

Casting aside her distracting thoughts, Ye Xinyu completely entered meditation.

Meanwhile, within the distant imperial palace of the Heaven Dou Empire.

Under the moonlight, a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old boy stood before a window with his hands behind his back.

Though the boy was not very old, his features were exceptionally handsome. The exposed skin on his body was as fair as snow—delicate and smooth. It was hard to imagine that he was a man.

At that moment, an armored man behind him was respectfully reporting something.

"A thousand-year soul ring..." After a long while, a strange gleam flashed through the boy's eyes.

"Ghost Leopard, make preparations. Tomorrow, I'll go take a look myself."

The man named Ghost Leopard froze for a moment before hurriedly saying, "Young Master, that would be inappropriate."

The handsome boy merely waved his hand.

"My mind is made up. There is no need to persuade me further. A first soul ring that is a thousand years old, and from a Support-type martial soul at that—such talent is worth a personal visit. Besides, no other faction has discovered her yet. We should bring her into Spirit Hall as soon as possible."

"Furthermore, most of Spirit Hall's authority is now controlled by Bibi Dong. If I wish to contend against her in the future, I can only recruit a large number of people loyal to myself."

As he said this, the handsome boy could not help but sigh softly.

If Grandfather had not indulged Bibi Dong, she could not have taken control of Spirit Hall so quickly. In the current Spirit Hall, aside from the Worship Hall and the Elder Hall, which were not under Bibi Dong's control, she had basically taken everything else into her hands.

"Also, pass down the order. Do not let this news reach Spirit City."

Several days passed in the blink of an eye. Within the Chaos Pearl space.

Looking at the scene before her, it had only been a little over half a month since her last visit, yet everything in front of her had already undergone tremendous changes.

The aura emitted by the plants and nearby soul beasts was clearly far stronger than before. What she felt most distinctly was the vital energy. The vital energy of heaven and earth here seemed to be reviving as well; she could clearly sense that its density was far greater than before.

"Teacher, sorry to trouble you."

After hesitating again and again, she had ultimately decided to acknowledge the Rakshasa God as her teacher. However, it was only a relationship between teacher and disciple. How could she possibly believe every casual word spoken by an evil god?

This was good enough—an arrangement of mutual exploitation.

As an invisible ripple slowly spread outward, the Rakshasa God's voice drifted over a moment later.

"Done. I've transmitted the distribution of soul beasts within ten li of this area to you. Take a look yourself."

As soon as the words fell, she felt a torrent of mixed information rush straight into her mind. Only after several breaths did she recover, but the shock in her eyes had only deepened.

"No, there are over a hundred Hundred-Year Soul Beasts within just ten li?"

"That is roughly how many I sensed. Some of them are poisonous soul beasts, so just be careful." As she spoke, the Rakshasa God could not help but feel somewhat astonished. This plane was absurdly vast. Even with her spiritual power fully spread out, she could only glimpse a small part of it; she had no way of seeing the entirety of this plane.

Perhaps this was fate, but she did not ask any further questions.

"By the way, do you want to rapidly increase your strength?"

Ye Xinyu, who had just taken a few steps, froze.

"No, Teacher, if you had a method like that, why didn't you say so earlier?"

"You cannot blame me for that. I did not know about your situation here before." The Rakshasa God's voice continued.

"I have a secret technique that can extract the energy within a soul beast, condense it, and then consume it to rapidly raise your cultivation. It is similar to a soul master absorbing a soul ring. However, because it only purely increases cultivation, its effect is not as good as absorbing a soul ring. The Essence Soul condensed from a Hundred-Year Soul Beast can roughly equal three months of arduous cultivation for an ordinary person. However, you must completely absorb that energy before using it a second time. Otherwise, it will make your foundation unstable."

At this point, the Rakshasa God spoke again.

"Don't give me that 'I couldn't bear to do it' nonsense. I don't believe that crap."

"Uh, that wasn't it." She simply did not want to kill them—it was not that she did not dare. In this world where the strong preyed on the weak, strength was everything. Besides, killing soul beasts was only natural. Spirit Hall prohibited soul masters from excessively hunting soul beasts merely for the sake of long-term development.

But this was her territory. She could do whatever she wanted, and no one could stop her.

"This kind of cultivation gained through devouring always feels a little unstable to me. Forget it." Ye Xinyu paused. "But, Teacher, can this thing you mentioned be used on other people?"

"Used on other people?" The Rakshasa God frowned slightly.

"It can, but refining this stuff is quite troublesome. Why would you make it for someone else?"

At that, a glimmer of delight flashed through Ye Xinyu's eyes.

The protagonist planned to build her own faction. Did that have any potential?