The longer the cultivators stayed in Beast Soul Valley, the more they realized that heading in a certain direction meant facing greater resistance. At first, some suspected the beast souls were guarding the Phoenix Soul Fruit and deliberately blocking their way. They forced their way forward, and the results were only too predictable: countless lives were lost.
Others believed the Phoenix Soul Fruit was there, but the veteran cultivators who had lived through countless years didn't share that view. They knew the beast souls were merely protecting the Jade Devouring Sky Python as it received the beast soul inheritance. After all, given what they knew of Beast Soul Valley, those beast souls simply wouldn't guard the Phoenix Soul Fruit.
With that in mind, many cultivators deliberately avoided the Jade Devouring Sky Python, and the resistance they faced was much weaker. Gradually, word of this experience spread, so most cultivators who entered Beast Soul Valley later avoided the Jade Devouring Sky Python and headed in other directions.
Of course, some cultivators believed the Phoenix Soul Fruit was hidden where the Jade Devouring Sky Python was receiving the beast soul inheritance. After all, the beast souls guarding that place were the strongest, and it was also the hardest place for other cultivators to reach.
Quite a few cultivators shared this belief, but they couldn't break through the beast souls' blockade. Even when they slew some of them, their attacks only drew in more beast souls. The formation restrictions began activating as well. Many of those who tried to force their way through perished, and they hadn't even gotten close to the Jade Devouring Sky Python.
If the Young Leader had been there, he would have known that only the lingering beast soul of the oldest Heaven-Devouring Wolf could control the formation restrictions.