Book of Thousand Souls

Just past noon, during lunchtime, yet there were still quite a few people in the Magic Soul Market.

Rayne activated Soul Eye and swept his gaze around. What he saw gave him quite a shock.

As far as the eye could see, nearly one-third of the people around him were Transcendents. Their souls had undergone transformation, moving everywhere like clusters of distinct light.

"Does Longshande really have this many Transcendents?"

Rayne could not help but marvel. Birds of a feather flocked together. The Magic Soul Market was probably the place with the most Transcendents in the entire city.

As he wandered through the market, he secretly observed for a while and saw many Transcendent professions.

Iron Guards, Shadow Dancers, Rangers, and Gunners were the most common. More than sixty percent of the Transcendents belonged to one of those four professions. Next came Berserkers, Martial Artists, and Demon Hunters, which were somewhat fewer and accounted for around twenty percent. The least common were Spellcasters, including Plant Tenders, Warlocks, Mechanics, and Wizards, making up roughly fifteen percent.

There were also several Transcendents from the Churches, such as Holy Swordsmen and Earth Nuns from the Three Gods Church of the Empire. Rayne even spotted a Night Watcher who worshipped the Moon Goddess. Curious, he secretly looked at her a few more times.

However, there were also Transcendents whose professions Rayne could not identify. They might have had rare professions unknown to outsiders.

In just over an hour, his eyes had truly been opened.

Besides Transcendents, Rayne saw all kinds of Demon Souls: ones that flew through the sky, ran across the ground, and swam in the water, along with countless others whose names he did not know and whose origins he could not guess. It felt as though he had entered a Zoo, leaving him dazzled.

After looking around for a while, Rayne gradually noticed that the Demon Souls in the market, especially the living ones, were mostly magical beasts, and almost all were low tier. Intermediate Tier ones were rarely seen.

Most of these low tier magical beasts had not been captured in the wild, but artificially bred.

Demon Soul breeding farms in the Empire were a highly developed industry, centered around all kinds of magical beasts. In particular, the Demon Souls needed by several common professions basically all came from breeding farms.

For example, the Iron Guard's "Basalt Rhino," the Berserker's "Cordies Island Rampage Bear," the Gunner's "Night Owl," and the Ranger's "Long-armed Imp" had long since formed a complete breeding process. From reproduction to rearing, maturation, element appraisal, and finally being sent to the market for slaughter to obtain Demon Souls, the entire process took only five to seven years.

Thanks to the stable supply, these Demon Souls were relatively cheap. Different merchants sold them for between twenty and thirty Gold Shields.

Types other than magical beasts were much rarer, so their prices rose sharply, usually exceeding fifty Gold Shields.

According to the sellers, these uncommon Demon Souls generally came from the Death Forest Sea in the western Empire.

It was an enormous primeval forest located within a massive basin equivalent in size to two or three provinces. Three sides of the basin were surrounded by the World Mountain Range and plateaus, while only the east had a narrow plain stretching over two thousand li, leading toward the heartland of the Empire.

When many Transcendents first went out to hunt Demon Souls, they chose the Death Forest Sea. Of course, they only operated along its outskirts and would not venture deep into the forest.

In markets across the Empire's cities, more than half of all Demon Souls came from the Death Forest Sea.

The Winged Serpent he had seen earlier had been painstakingly captured by a Soul Hunter Team in the Death Forest Sea and transported back to Longshande.

Rayne wandered casually into a Demon Soul Shop.

The shop was not large and had no living creatures. It only dealt in Soul Stones, so it was relatively neat and quiet.

Over a hundred Soul Stones were displayed on several shelves for customers to inspect. The shelves were cast from metal and firmly fixed to the floor. Rune Arrays were carved across their surfaces, occasionally giving off energy. They were clearly protected by Magic to prevent the Soul Stones from being robbed or stolen.

Each Soul Stone was roughly the size of a pigeon egg and shaped like an irregular polyhedron.

Soul Stones were Alchemical Creations. Their raw material was a type of white crystal, transparent before it contained a Demon Soul and no different from a glass marble.

Once a Demon Soul was stored within, the Soul Stone's color changed according to the soul inside. They came in every color, like precious gems.

If one got close and observed carefully, one could see something like swirling, flowing pigments inside, revealing the strange forms of the Demon Soul and fleeting Element Runes.

Soul Appraisers identified the condition of Demon Souls through those chaotic forms and Element Runes.

With the aid of Soul Eye, Rayne only needed a single glance to grasp the true information within a Soul Stone.

These Soul Stones had all been appraised by Soul Appraisers before being priced. Most were priced very accurately. Even the occasional mistakes were not far from their true value.

Although Rayne could also hunt for bargains and make some profit from the difference, it was nowhere near as worthwhile as that Intermediate Tier Winged Serpent. To avoid attracting attention, he did not make a move.

After examining the Soul Stones, he saw another shelf beside them. It had no Rune Array protection and was filled with books.

Rayne swept his gaze across them, and one book caught his attention.

"Hm? Book of Thousand Souls Abridged Edition."

Though it was supposedly an abridged edition, the book was as thick as a brick. Rayne stepped forward and picked it up. It felt heavy, not much lighter than an actual brick.

He opened it and saw that its author was a Legendary Wizard named Taimandola, who was also a master Soul Appraiser and had devoted his life to studying Demon Souls.

The masterwork Book of Thousand Souls recorded detailed information on more than a thousand types of Demon Souls, including their classifications, tiers, habits, weaknesses, habitats, possible elements, and the forms, names, functions, strengths, and weaknesses of those elements. The contents were exceedingly detailed, and every Demon Soul and element was accompanied by exquisite illustrations, all hand-drawn by Master Taimandola.

"Damn, this is incredible!"

Rayne was overjoyed. This was exactly the book he needed.

He had Soul Eye and could see through every aspect of a soul and its elements at a glance, but he did not know what those elements were called and could not match them with the elements known to others.

Rayne eagerly flipped through the book, reading as fast as he could. At the same time, he did not forget to use his phone to photograph and save every page he read.

According to Master Taimandola's research, known Demon Souls in the world were divided into sixteen major categories.

The most numerous were not magical beasts, but insects. Fish came second, while magical beasts ranked only third. The other thirteen categories included birds, plants, aquatic creatures, spirits, Aberrant Monsters, elements, undead, humanoids, giants, demons, Demonic Seeds, Dragonkin, True Dragons, and more.

Each major category was further divided into many smaller categories based on their differences, adding up to several hundred in total.

Rayne was amazed. This was practically a taxonomy textbook.

Of course, if judged by the biology of his previous life, Master Taimandola's classifications were a complete mess with no basis whatsoever.

But this was Demon Soul classification, not biological classification. The two had nothing to do with each other.

Rayne found the entry on Winged Serpents in the book. Comparing it with what he had seen, he immediately learned the names of several elements possessed by the Winged Serpent in the market: "Air Cut," "Whirlwind Spell," and "Rapid Recovery." Wind Element Affinity went without saying.

The entire book had several hundred pages. Reading it all would take at least a day.

And this was only the abridged edition. It introduced just over a hundred common Demon Souls, far short of the thousand Demon Souls promised by its title.

Rayne closed the book, went to the counter, and asked, "Boss, how much is this book?"

The shop owner was a lean old man. He looked at the title. "Book of Thousand Souls Abridged Edition, 299 Copper Yuan."

Wasn't that just three hundred?

Rayne grumbled inwardly. He had not expected this other world to use the same kind of psychological pricing tricks, but he still obediently took three one-hundred Copper Yuan notes from his wallet.

Three hundred Copper Yuan for one book was expensive enough to be worse than robbery, but knowledge was priceless. He was willing to pay for it.

After accepting the one Copper Liso in change from the shop owner, Rayne asked again, "Do you have the full version of Book of Thousand Souls?"

"The complete version has twelve volumes. You'd need to go to a specialized bookstore to buy it, or find it in the Grand Library." The owner shook his head, glanced Rayne over, and explained, "The full set costs over ten Gold Shields and is very inconvenient to carry. Few customers buy it, so we do not keep it in stock. Sorry."

Rayne imagined twelve hefty volumes stacked together. They could fill an entire suitcase. Even skimming through them would take ages, and very few people had the patience to read them all, let alone pay money to buy them.

"Alright, thanks for telling me." Rayne left with the book.

After wandering around the market for a little longer, Rayne felt he had seen enough. His stomach was getting hungry too, so he decided to eat lunch outside the market before heading back.

Halfway there, someone was shouting outside a shop by the roadside. "Demon Soul gambling! Demon Soul gambling!"

"A new batch of Gold-Eating Ants just arrived today! They're all alive, and each one costs only one Gold Shield."

"Buy them and slaughter them on the spot! If you get even one Strength Element, it'll be an excellent Secondary Soul worth at least fifty Gold Shields. There aren't many, so hurry if you want one."

Rayne stopped walking, quite interested in this Demon Soul gambling. It sounded much like gambling on raw stones in his previous life.

He just did not know whether it was real or whether there were scams involved.

He entered the shop and saw several large tables covered with glass jars. There were two or three hundred jars, made from specially reinforced glass. Their lids were tightly sealed, leaving only a small hole for ventilation.

Each glass jar held a vicious-looking ant. Their bodies were black as ink and faintly reflected a cold gleam. Their sharply angled bodies seemed forged from iron, and their waving limbs gave off an extremely powerful impression.

A layer of thick, translucent liquid lay at the bottom of each jar. It was probably some special potion. The ants soaking in it had become weak and limp, yet they still desperately scraped at the glass with their forelegs, producing waves of sharp, piercing sounds.

"Such huge ants!"

Rayne was startled. He remembered that the largest Bull Ants on Earth seemed to be only three or four centimeters long.

These Gold-Eating Ants in front of him were each more than ten centimeters long, while the largest exceeded twenty centimeters. They were much bulkier too, weighing at least several hundred times as much as a Bull Ant. If one bit someone, it could probably tear off a large chunk of flesh or even sever a finger.

If someone were swarmed by a group of Gold-Eating Ants, the outcome would definitely be gruesome.

There were seven or eight customers in the shop, all gathered around the glass jars and carefully examining the ants they wanted to buy.

"Do these Gold-Eating Ants really eat metal?" Rayne asked.

"Of course." A middle-aged man who appeared to be the owner answered enthusiastically. "Gold-Eating Ants grow up eating iron ore. A few days ago, this batch bit three miners to death in the mine tunnels North of the City. The mine owner hired an Intermediate Tier Alchemist to deal with them, then sold the whole lot to us. The entire nest is here. Not one escaped."

"Young man, want to buy a few and try your luck?" The shop owner's face was full of smiles.

Rayne did not answer.

Thinking Rayne was hesitating, the owner continued his sales pitch. "Young man, don't underestimate Gold-Eating Ants. Individually, they are indeed weak, but they are still genuine insect magical creatures. Their souls have a certain chance of producing elements, and it's the highly practical Strength Element!"

"Do you know how strong an ant is? They can lift things hundreds of times heavier than themselves. If that strength were placed in a human body, it would be more terrifying than a Giant's strength. The potential is limitless!"

"So many melee professions want the Strength Element. It might not be good enough as a Primary Soul, but it is perfectly suited as a Secondary Soul."

"Just now, a customer bought a Gold-Eating Ant containing a Strength Element and sold it on the spot for fifty Gold Shields. If you don't believe me, ask everyone here."

The owner pointed at the customers selecting ants. Two or three of them spoke up in agreement, confirming that the owner was telling the truth.

Rayne inwardly spat. These people were obviously shills. Did they really think he was that easy to fool?

Perhaps Gold-Eating Ants really could produce Strength Elements, but he could not trust a word from this owner. He had heard that spiel about ant strength until he was sick of it back in elementary school in his previous life.

He had already activated Soul Eye and began inspecting the ants one by one.

Seeing Rayne's indifferent reaction, the owner had no choice but to walk away and greet another customer who had just entered.

Rayne inspected twenty or thirty Gold-Eating Ants in a row without finding any elements. Their souls were also very weak. It took two or three ants together to equal the most ordinary Demon Soul.

Just as expected, it's a scam. One Gold Shield for a lousy ant...

He silently cursed the owner for being a profiteer. Then, after examining more than sixty ants, his gaze suddenly froze, and he cried out inwardly, Damn, there really is a Strength Element!

This Gold-Eating Ant looked much the same as the others. It might have been slightly larger, but it was not the biggest. Yet it unexpectedly contained an element.

After sensing it carefully, Rayne confirmed that it was indeed a Strength Element.

He was wondering whether to buy it and pocket those fifty Gold Shields when a Wizard in a long robe picked up the glass jar containing that ant, took it away, and handed it to the owner.

"Damn, I was too slow."

Rayne curled his lips in frustration. The other party was a Third Tier Wizard with such sharp eyesight, so he was clearly also an impressive Soul Appraiser.

The owner happily accepted the Wizard's Gold Shield, brought over an ironhammer, and poured the Gold-Eating Ant from the jar onto an anvil. While it was still dazed, he brought the hammer down.

Bang!

A loud blast rang out. The ironhammer bounced back as though it had struck an iron block, yet the ant on the anvil was still moving.

The owner had long experienced the Gold-Eating Ants' toughness. He swung the ironhammer down several more times like a blacksmith at work, finally smashing the ant into a flattened lump of flesh. Then he pressed a blank Soul Stone against it.

In Rayne's eyes, the Gold-Eating Ant's soul flew out, seeming as though it wanted to come toward him.

The soul had only just emerged when the closer Soul Stone captured it. The two sides entered a tug-of-war, and the soul seemed on the verge of being torn in half.

"This is bad."

Rayne had forgotten that he could absorb souls.

Fortunately, he had experimented with his phone before and discovered an option to disable charging in the battery icon. He quickly selected it.

Sure enough, once charging was disabled, the Gold-Eating Ant's soul was immediately absorbed into the Soul Stone. The white crystal seemed to have been injected with ink, becoming deep and dark.

Holding the Soul Stone, the owner saw a red rune emerge, then disappear.

The smile on his face instantly froze.

The surrounding customers also saw the strange phenomenon within the Soul Stone and cried out, "Strength Element!"

Only Rayne had known all along, so he was not surprised in the slightest. The Wizard looked pleased with himself as he took the Soul Stone from the owner and continued choosing glass jars.

Several customers were stirred up by the sight and hurriedly chose Gold-Eating Ants to hand to the owner. As one ant after another was crushed to death, however, not a single element appeared.

The Wizard bought two more as well, with no gains either.

Rayne ignored the others and continued inspecting them one by one at his own pace.

But after examining more than a hundred Gold-Eating Ants, he did not find another one carrying a Strength Element. He then patiently checked several dozen more, still without results.

Until only thirty or so remained. Just when Rayne had given up hope and thought this was another ordinary Gold-Eating Ant, three runes suddenly flashed before his eyes.

"Damn! Damn, damn, damn, damn..."