Techniques for Cultivating Soul Skills

After Jia Lie Ao died, Xiao Yan and Hun Ruoruo, already at the center of the incident, naturally became the targets surrounded by numerous Guards.

Fortunately, this was not a place where the Jia Lie Family alone had the final say. When the Xiao Family's Guards noticed something was wrong, they had already sent for reinforcements. Whether in numbers or strength, they were not inferior to the Jia Lie Family in the slightest.

Moreover, according to the accounts of the mixed crowd of onlookers, Xiao Yan and Hun Ruoruo had not touched Jia Lie Ao from beginning to end. They had not even activated their Dou Qi, so they simply did not meet the conditions to be the killers.

Besides, Jia Lie Ao had always looked like a sickly wretch with weak vitality. He indulged himself in pleasure day and night, and with his Dou Zhe strength piled up through medicine alone, he might not have been able to withstand such excess.

It was not impossible that he had simply dropped dead.

Thus, the matter temporarily came to an end after Jia Lie Ao's corpse was carried away.

Xiao Yan felt no ripples in his heart over Jia Lie Ao's death. The other party's family had long been at odds with the Xiao Family, and Jia Lie Ao himself was notorious. His death was simply his death. What truly frightened and unsettled Xiao Yan was Hun Ruoruo's invisible method of killing, as well as her disregard for life.

This was the first time he had seen her kill someone. She wore a smile, as though human lives were no more than grass, yet such a ruthless and powerful woman was wholeheartedly helping him. Her attitude toward him was even almost ambiguous.

Xiao Yan truly could not see through the reason for it. Even when he asked Old Man Yao, he received only an ambiguous answer.

According to Old Man Yao, although she had acted ruthlessly, she had not committed any evil or harmed any innocent people. There was nothing to criticize. Dou Techniques were neither righteous nor evil; it all depended on how one used them.

"Neither righteous nor evil..." Xiao Yan let out a breath of stale air and slowly climbed onto the bed.

He calmed his mind and focused, gathering all the scattered Dou Qi throughout his body into his Dantian. Then, having made up his mind, he immersed himself once more in that Soul Dou Technique.

Although Xiao Yan had completely failed to see Hun Ruoruo's movements during her demonstration, he could continuously revisit the scene in his mind. He could even observe everything that had happened from a bystander's perspective, leaving him astonished.

Hun Ruoruo said this method was called "Imprinting," a cultivation technique exclusive to her clan. All it required was someone with powerful Soul Force and mastery of the Dou Technique to perform it once face-to-face.

Entering the scene left behind by the "Imprinting" once more, Xiao Yan no longer felt any discomfort from studying the Soul Dou Technique. Familiar with the process, he passed through the illusory crowd and walked straight toward Hun Ruoruo, staring intently at the Girl.

After only a few breaths, an extremely faint Purple Light flashed, and Jia Lie Ao across from her fell at once.

"Sure enough, I still can't see anything unusual."

After cultivating for quite some time, Xiao Yan actually felt that he had grasped some sort of opportunity. Yet no matter what, he could not figure out where the core of this Soul Skill lay. He could only stare at the Girl's eyes again and again, repeatedly examining that fleeting Purple Light.

Purple Light?

Xiao Yan's gaze sharpened, as if he had caught hold of something. He activated what little Soul Force he had left, pouring all of it into the "Imprinting" and beginning the second demonstration.

Even with Hun Ruoruo's Soul Force assisting him, Xiao Yan's current soul strength allowed him to rehearse it only twice. The emptiness and weakness whenever his Soul Force was drained were far more agonizing than physical pain.

Fortunately, every time his drained Soul Force recovered, it became a little stronger than before. At least this suffering was not in vain.

His guess was about to be confirmed. Xiao Yan stood nervously opposite Hun Ruoruo, silently counting in his heart.

"Three."

"Two."

"One!" Xiao Yan's eyes widened as he stared fixedly at Hun Ruoruo before him. He actually stood directly in the spot where Jia Lie Ao had been—

He realized that if he wanted to grasp the key to Soul Piercing Strike, rather than constantly imitating and watching, he might as well personally experience the impact of that power!

With a soft pop, Xiao Yan's mind went blank. His body outside his consciousness convulsed unconsciously, as though enduring tremendous pain. An unprecedented chaos and distortion made stars burst before his eyes, while the veins all over his body bulged section by section.

"Argh!"

A faint purple glow lit up between Xiao Yan's brows. Strange and profound ripples gradually spread through the room, only to be blocked by the isolation barrier Old Man Yao had set up in advance.

Not long afterward, Xiao Yan's consciousness returned. He blankly sensed the "Imprinting" mark fading from his mind. Though cold sweat covered his body, the corners of his mouth involuntarily stretched to his ears.

"Sure enough, I did it!"

His cultivation of the Soul Dou Technique had finally gotten on the right track.

Feeling the profound ripples in his mind, Xiao Yan's joy carried a trace of worry, filling him with complicated emotions.

This Soul Dou Technique was unlike ordinary Dou Techniques. Once unleashed, if the opponent's Soul Force was weak, they would become an idiot even if they did not die. Meanwhile, he himself would lose all combat ability after exhausting his Soul Force. It was truly a trump card to be used only at the bottom of the box.

Once used, it had to guarantee a fatal strike.

Xiao Yan roughly estimated that, based on his current Soul Force, if he brought this Soul Piercing Strike to the beginner level, even a weak One-star Fighter might be turned into an idiot.

"Judging by your expression, have you mastered that Soul Piercing Strike?" A mass of white mist floated from the Storage Ring, slowly gathering into the form of an elderly man dressed in blue-and-white robes.

Having long grown accustomed to Old Man Yao's ghostly appearances, Xiao Yan scratched his head. "At most, I've only just entered the doorway. If I truly used it, I'm afraid I'd pass out before my opponent was even hit."

"Heh heh, you brat are quite modest. Though you received that Girl's help, cultivating a Soul Dou Technique is still a major challenge for you right now."

After chuckling teasingly, Old Man Yao revealed a gratified expression and praised him. "Reaching the level of having just entered the doorway has already exceeded my expectations. Not bad."

Cultivating a Soul Dou Technique differed from cultivating ordinary Dou Techniques for Xiao Yan. It was an unknown field that he had never touched since birth. To gain an initial understanding in such a short time, luck, talent, and outside help had all been indispensable.

It was precisely because of this that Old Man Yao rarely offered Xiao Yan praise, and did not worry in the least that he would become complacent because of it.

This truly was something worth being proud of.

Xiao Yan knew that luck had played a large role in this, so he laughed awkwardly before asking in confusion, "From what Teacher says, will cultivating this Soul Dou Technique become easier in the future?"

"Of course. Once you break through to become a Dou Zhe and learn Alchemy, the speed at which your Soul Force grows will naturally be far beyond what it is now."

"Come to think of it, Ruoruo doesn't seem to be an Alchemist, does she? Why does she possess such powerful Soul Force?"

"Well..." Old Man Yao rolled his eyes and changed the subject. "No one can explain talent. Some people might even be born with a Heavenly Soul. You brat should not envy others."

"Heavenly Soul? Souls have ranks as well?"

As Xiao Yan's birthplace, Wutan City had allowed him to grow up safely while seeing all manner of human affairs. Yet the area's terribly scarce resources had ultimately restricted his horizons far too much.

At this moment, the youth was like a child overflowing with curiosity toward an unknown world. He always had countless questions, hoping to receive answers.

Old Man Yao naturally understood this well.

With a teasing expression, he said meaningfully, "When you break through to become a Dou Zhe, I'll tell you everything at once. That way, you brat won't follow behind me every day asking this and that."

"..." Xiao Yan said nothing and simply collapsed onto the bed.

Why did every one of them enjoy speaking in riddles so much?