Hall of Souls

Biodata

Organization and Hierarchy

Personnel Ranks

The Hall of Souls distinguishes between its central leadership, high-ranking combatants, and branch personnel. Branch leaders also use the titles “Hall Master” and “Vice Hall Master”; these are not necessarily the leaders of the entire organization 402 1007.

Branch Network

• Authentication: Black tokens identify authorized personnel. A genuine token supplied by Wu Hall Master allows Nalan Ye to pass as a Protector of the West Underworld Human Hall 621.
• Internal competition: Members envy successful raids and challenge rivals to undertake dangerous assignments. Wu Hall Master deflects one such challenge by suggesting that Zhe Hall Master fight Nalan Ye instead 1007.
• Restricted intelligence: Yao Chen’s place of imprisonment is treated as an organizational secret. Even Wu Hall Master has never visited the main hall 600 1064.

Notable Members

• Hun Miesheng — Founder and central Hall Master. Continues serving the Soul Clan after the branch network’s destruction and is eventually executed following the Soul Clan’s defeat 1057 1082 1161.
• Hun Qing — Central Vice Hall Master. Commands the Bodhi Ancient Tree ambush and later dies fighting Nalan Ye at the Corpse Burial Branch Hall 1024 1056 1060.
• Wu Protector / Wu Hall Master / Old Crow — Leader of the West Underworld Human Hall and Nalan Ye’s secret ally. Hun Miesheng promises him promotion to Heavenly Venerate and Earthly Hall Master; the Great Love Emperor later appoints him Soul Hall Master 687 1118 1161.
• Seventh Heavenly Venerate — Leads forces in the Medicine Garden, oversees an Earth Grade Branch Hall, and receives souls and plunder from Wu Hall Master 807 1007.
• Black White Heavenly Venerates — Enemies responsible for destroying Yao Chen’s former physical body; participate in the assault on Starfall Pavilion 854.
• Star Plucking Old Ghost — Receives orders to enlist Ice River Valley against Burning Flame Valley and later calls for a joint assault on the Starfall Great Array 680 854.
• Vulture Protector — Confronts Xiao Yan and attempts to recruit Yao Chen by offering status, rare ingredients, and high-tier pill recipes 390.

Methods and Resources

Soul Capture and Extraction

The Hall of Souls captures soul bodies across the continent, including both innocent victims and criminals 763.

• Prisoners are restrained on chains in dedicated holding areas such as Soul Locking Square 675.
• Captives can have their soul origin extracted. Yao Lao requires its restoration before he can receive a new physical body 697.
• A register records 473 souls rescued from the West Underworld Earth Hall, giving the Great Love Alliance evidence with which to approach victims’ families and factions 835.
• Its indiscriminate collection alienates numerous powers, including Wind and Lightning Pavilion, despite that faction’s later dealings with the Hall 807.

Soul-Based Cultivation and Combat

• Specialized cultivation methods: The Hall possesses Heaven Rank cultivation methods, but Wu Protector states that it has none corresponding to the Nine Attributes. Nalan Ye connects this to its members’ soul-body cultivation 200.
• Soul attacks: Hun Qing’s accumulated Soul Power disables three Ancient Tree Puppets by overwhelming their weak souls 1060.
• Emergency power extraction: Corpse Burial Branch Hall’s formation forcibly merges captive souls into a mass of power. Absorbing it provides immense strength but introduces lingering consciousnesses that threaten madness and inner demons 1057 1060.
• Soul-eroding runes: A secret technique left by Hun Miesheng on Hun Qing releases tiny black runes that invade and erode Nalan Ye’s soul 1059.

Concealment and Security

• Members commonly wear black robes and surround themselves with black mist, concealing their faces while making their affiliation recognizable 807 1007.
• The West Underworld Earth Hall uses a space barrier and the Mountain Range of Dead Souls’ yin qi for protection. The surrounding mist obstructs vision and soul perception, helping fleeing personnel escape pursuit 671 675.
• Branch personnel attempt to kill accidental visitors to prevent their locations from reaching the Great Love Alliance 1055.

Arrays of Extinguishing Spirits and Severing Life

• Constructed through several thousand years of work by successive generations of Hall personnel 1134.
• Remain intact even after the Great Love Alliance sweeps away the visible branch network 1134.
• More than two thousand arrays are later used by the Soul Clan to slaughter Central Plains inhabitants and gather blood and souls for sacrifice to an Outside Territory Evil Clan 1151.
• Void Devouring Flame secretly alters their control through Soul Clan members under its influence. Its subsequent conflict with Hun Tiandi causes some arrays to lose control and self-destruct 1151 1152.

Equipment

• Soul-seizing iron chains — Standard equipment for Dou Zong Protectors. Chains made from soul locking iron bear unusual runes and inflict special damage on souls; the passages also call them Soul Locking, Soul-Hooking, and Soul-Snaring Chains 390 674 1030 1055.
• Soul Bottles — Small black vessels specifically designed to contain soul bodies. Wu Hall Master uses one to deliver souls captured during a Pill Tower raid 1007.
• Request for Aid Tokens — Allow branch personnel to request reinforcements from the organization’s Dou Sheng 1071.

History

Foundation and Northwest Operations

Hun Miesheng established the Hall of Souls under Soul Clan backing. Its influence spread across the Central Plains and beyond, persisting for thousands of years 710 1057.

In the Northwest Territory, Wu Protector cultivated ties with Yun Shan. Yun Shan obeyed his instruction not to interfere in affairs below Yun Lan Mountain, while the Hall also approached the Ten Thousand Scorpion Gate. After Nalan Ye united the Gamma and Chuyun Empires, the organization approached him as another regional power 193 201.

Wu Protector rewarded Nalan Ye for killing Han Feng with Bodhi Transformation Saliva and sought his help destroying Canaan Academy. He withdrew to reconsider after Nalan Ye warned that the academy possessed several Dou Zong experts 240.

Yao Chen’s Captivity and Rescue

Vulture Protector attempted to recruit Yao Chen, promising a position above his own and access to rare alchemical resources. Yao Chen refused because of the organization’s atrocities. He was subsequently captured, with the Heavenly Flame Venerable identifying his likely captor as a Great Protector 390 402.

Nalan Ye cultivated his relationship with Wu Hall Master while preparing to rescue Yao Chen. The rescue force eventually penetrated the West Underworld Earth Hall, where Xiao Yan found his teacher bound in Soul Locking Square 580 675.

The rescue brought Burning Flame Valley and Starfall Pavilion into open conflict with the Hall. The Vice Hall Master ordered Star Plucking Old Ghost to enlist Ice River Valley, while Wu Hall Master secretly coordinated with Nalan Ye even as they appeared to fight one another 680 709 710.

War with the Great Love Alliance

The Great Love Alliance used the rescued victims’ register to rally opposition and planned its Opening Alliance Ceremony as bait to draw the Hall into battle. Nearly a hundred enemies, including five Venerables, appeared outside Starfall Pavilion 835 854.

The assault faltered as Hall Protectors were wounded or captured, the Seventh Heavenly Venerate fled, and Ice River Valley negotiated its withdrawal. Wind Venerable and Yao Lao pinned down the Black White Heavenly Venerates while Heavenly Flame Saint unleashed the Nine Palaces Heavenly Fire Great Array 865.

After repeated unsuccessful attacks, the Hall began assembling a broader coalition. Heaven Nether Sect, Flower Sect elements, Ice River Valley, Wind and Lightning Pavilion, and Yellow Springs Pavilion were linked to its efforts against the Great Love Alliance. Pill Tower’s participation on the Alliance side helped turn the larger war into a stalemate 951 952 1007.

Bodhi Ancient Tree Ambush

At the Bodhi Ancient Tree, Hall personnel captured souls from the incapacitated Pill Tower party, including Ten Thousand Swords Venerable. Xuan Kongzi killed two Protectors after awakening, and Xun Er ordered the Ancient Clan to intervene once Xuan Yi identified the Pill Tower as the Great Love Alliance’s ally 1024 1030.

The Ancient Clan’s intervention forced the Hall’s frontline fighters to retreat. Hun Qing nevertheless had two additional Dou Sheng supporting him, exposing the greater strength behind the operation 1030 1031.

Destruction of the Branch Network

Following the Bodhi Ancient Tree conflict, the Hall and its affiliated sects intensified attacks on Great Love Alliance cities. Nalan Ye then discovered the Corpse Burial Branch Hall and killed Hun Qing, despite the Vice Hall Master consuming the branch’s accumulated soul power 1055 1060 1062.

Nalan Ye organized a counteroffensive against seven Earth Grade Branch Halls and allied enemy sects. The attacking Dou Sheng encountered no Hall Dou Sheng reinforcements, even when a defender activated a Request for Aid Token. Nalan Ye knew that the Hall’s Dou Sheng had been transferred to operations against the Medicine Clan 1064 1071 1072.

By the time Yao Lao and Xiao Yan emerged from seclusion, the Hall’s Central Plains network had been swept away. The Great Love Alliance controlled the region and was hunting scattered survivors 1074 1075.

Surviving Leadership and Soul Clan Operations

The branch network’s destruction did not immediately eliminate its senior leadership. Hun Miesheng continued fighting for the Soul Clan, leading an incursion into the Ancient Realm and participating in later operations against Nalan Ye 1082 1107.

Old Crow’s report locating the Tou She Ancient God’s Cave Mansion earned praise from Hun Tiandi. Hun Miesheng promised to rebuild the ruined Hall and promote Old Crow to Heavenly Venerate and Earthly Hall Master 1117 1118.

The Hall’s hidden sacrificial arrays also survived its organizational collapse and subsequently enabled the Soul Clan’s mass slaughter in the Central Plains 1134 1151.

Postwar Reconstruction

After the Soul Clan’s defeat, Hun Tiandi, Void Devouring Flame, and Hun Miesheng were executed. Great Love Alliance forces spent the following year pursuing the remaining Soul Clan and Hall of Souls members 1098 1161.

At the Great Love Emperor’s wedding, Old Crow asked to join the Alliance. Instead, the Emperor appointed him Soul Hall Master and ordered him to rebuild the Hall as an ostensibly hostile organization secretly under Alliance control, promising support for his cultivation 1098 1161.

Relationships

• Soul Clan — Original patron and source of the Hall’s political protection. The Hall supplies it with intelligence and maintains infrastructure later used for mass sacrifice 710 1117 1134.
• Great Love Alliance — Principal wartime enemy and destroyer of its branch network; later the intended secret controller of its rebuilt form 1074 1161.
• Nalan Ye / Great Love Emperor — Maintains an undercover relationship with Old Crow while publicly leading the campaign against the Hall 709 1053 1098.
• Yao Chen and Xiao Yan — Lifelong enemies following Yao Chen’s persecution, bodily destruction, captivity, and soul-origin extraction 697 854 1074.
• Pill Tower — Rival whose strongholds and members are targeted for plunder and soul capture; becomes a major participant in the war against the Hall 1007 1024.
• Ice River Valley, Nether Sect, and Yellow Springs Pavilion — Coalition partners that attack Great Love Alliance territory alongside the Hall and are subsequently destroyed in the Alliance’s counteroffensive 1062 1074.