Divine Soul Secret Technique

Chapter 20: Soul Secret Arts

In his previous life, Chen Ye had chosen a very obscure major—archaeology—just to get into university more easily.

The entry requirements for archaeology at non-prestigious schools were lower, and since he was just going to return to his hometown to take the civil service exam after graduation anyway, the major didn't really matter.

Who would have thought that Chen Ye would actually get into it? He found ancient texts that others found incomprehensible to be fascinating. He had originally intended to just coast through, but he ended up graduating at the top of his class, and his advisor even wanted to help him secure a recommendation for graduate school.

It was just that he couldn't use any of that knowledge in his later career; instead, he had to rely on reading people and brown-nosing just to get by.

But life is unpredictable. Who could have imagined that these useless things would become the foundation of his survival after transmigrating?

Those once-useless bits of knowledge allowed him to grasp the methods of cultivation with incredible speed, making him appear to others as a natural-born cultivator. This was perhaps what they called "losing in the east, but gaining in the west."

That said, although the two worlds had some similarities, they were ultimately vastly different.

Take the Bagua, which every cultivator knew of; in this world, there was no I Ching passed down. Only fragments of the I Ching circulated, and they were riddled with the interpretations and revisions of later generations, with various versions having their own pros and cons.

As for Buddhist scriptures, they were even rarer. In this world, those in the Buddhist faith didn't even know the name of the Buddha, let alone Ksitigarbha. The occasional Buddhist text that circulated was often distorted, bearing little resemblance to the classics of his past life.

But at this moment, the golden characters flickering before his eyes were identical to the original text of the Ksitigarbha Vow Sutra, and the name of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva had even appeared.

This was no ordinary matter.

Who exactly had left behind the text of the Ksitigarbha Vow Sutra? And who had read this scripture before?

A surge of excitement rose in Chen Ye's heart, and he couldn't wait to flip through the contents.

He saw the golden characters floating, constantly shifting and rearranging to form new content. But after reading a few pages, Chen Ye couldn't help but frown.

Except for the opening lines, the subsequent content was no longer the original text of the Ksitigarbha Vow Sutra, but rather a profound and mysterious spell.

Upon closer inspection, it seemed the author had read the Ksitigarbha Vow Sutra, intercepted this opening passage as a preface, and the rest was the author's own insights.

Chen Ye couldn't help but feel a sense of disappointment. If this book had been the complete Ksitigarbha Vow Sutra, he could have confirmed that the scriptures he read in his past life had a special connection to this world.

If he could find the author of this book, he might even be able to figure out why he had transmigrated.

But now, with only a few opening lines, it was like the I Ching having been dismantled and recompiled by others; those who wrote the books probably didn't even know the source of the original.

However, Chen Ye's disappointment was fleeting, and he was soon deeply drawn in by the content that followed.

What was recorded in the book was a set of extremely profound spells, subdivided into four volumes: Restrain, Lock, Interrogate, and Punish, all of which acted upon the soul.

Previously, in order to preserve the soul of Mo Ci, Chen Ye had delved deeply into the study of the soul. Now, looking at the records in this book and cross-referencing them, he gained a great deal.

It was just that the deeper he studied, the more Chen Ye felt that this technique was unfathomable. It was a pity that these secret arts were all for the purpose of harming the spirit and shattering the soul; if there were a profound secret art for nourishing and protecting the soul, perhaps his master could be saved.

"Sigh, there's no such thing as a free lunch in this world. I'll have to figure it out myself."

Just as he was pondering, Chen Ye felt his shoulder being patted hard.

Turning his head, he saw Mo Ci's face appearing on the white banner, looking anxious as he said something.

He had ruptured his eardrums to save himself earlier, so he couldn't hear a word now.

Helpless, Chen Ye could only hand a tree branch to the white banner.

Mo Ci angrily curled the branch and quickly wrote on the ground: "While the people from the Qinghe Sword Sect haven't returned, hurry and hide this Cursed Spirit Child."

Chen Ye asked in confusion: "Master, the bloodline sealed inside isn't mine, so what's the use of hiding it?"

Mo Ci quickly wrote again: "Even without a bloodline connection, the Cursed Spirit Child is an excellent physical vessel, far better than just finding someone to possess! I taught you the method to break the curse; hurry and break the original seal, then connect this Cursed Spirit Child to your soul. That way, you'll have an extra life!"

Chen Ye laughed: "My cultivation is too weak, Master. It's hard to say if I can even break the soul connection of this Cursed Spirit Child, and even if I could, it wouldn't be something I could solve in three or five days. With the ability of that Miss Su, she would have already slain that demon long ago. The Cursed Spirit Child's possession only takes a moment; there wouldn't be enough time."

Mo Ci continued to write: "How do you know there isn't enough time if you don't try? The Cursed Spirit Child is a rare find!"

Chen Ye, however, shook his head firmly.

"Master, I am going to ascend to immortality in three years. Why bother preparing for possession?"

Mo Ci glared at Chen Ye, but eventually just sighed and stopped trying to persuade him.

This talk of ascending in three years was just an excuse this rebellious disciple used to justify his own soft-heartedness. However, Mo Ci also knew that once Chen Ye made a decision, he would never waver, so he could only remind him: "In that case, you had better destroy this Cursed Spirit Child quickly. Once that demon comes to possess it, he'll likely refine you with a single grab."

Chen Ye nodded; preparing in advance was indeed the right thing to do.

However, Chen Ye did not intend to just destroy the Cursed Spirit Child like that.

Chen Ye pondered for a moment and said to Mo Ci: "Master, we who practice the demonic arts shouldn't just take losses. I won't touch the Cursed Spirit Child, but I can set an ambush for that demon's soul."

Mo Ci did not think so.

"That demon's cultivation is at least at the Tongxuan Realm. Even if only his primordial spirit remains, killing you would still be as easy as flipping his hand."

Chen Ye naturally knew how powerful the opponent was; the Evil Buddha alone had almost cost him his life.

But he still had one sword talisman left. By catching the opponent off guard, he should have a chance against a soul at the Tongxuan Realm.

Moreover, Chen Ye had just obtained this secret manual, which was specifically designed to target the soul.

Although it was very risky, if he could obtain a soul at the Tongxuan Realm, the benefits would be extraordinary. After calculating repeatedly, Chen Ye felt it was worth the risk, though he needed to hurry and ensure he was fully prepared.

Chen Ye thought for a moment and said to Mo Ci: "Master, you have extensive experience with possession. If I set up a formation outside this Cursed Spirit Child to block the demon's soul from possessing it, how long could it hold?"

When Mo Ci heard this, he felt something was off. What did he mean by "extensive experience with possession"? This brat was secretly insulting his master again!

But now was not the time to argue with him. Mo Ci pondered and wrote: "With your cultivation, even with the help of a formation, it would be difficult to block a spell cast casually by someone in the Tongxuan Realm. But if you can block one strike, there might be a chance. After all, once a soul leaves the body, it is like a rootless tree; the more spells they cast, the faster they dissipate. Even someone in the Tongxuan Realm can't hold on for long."

"The prerequisite is that you can sever the connection between the Cursed Spirit Child and its master, then find a way to trap that fiend's soul, and finally stall for time; the longer you drag it out, the higher the chance of success."

Chen Ye looked at these words and nodded, saying, "It's much as I guessed, though setting up the formation will also take time. If that fiend attempts the possession early... oh well, there is no cultivation without risk."

Having said that, Chen Ye picked up the pitch-black banner. This was a genuine Ten Thousand Soul Banner from the demonic path, a hundred times better than the cheap knock-offs Chen Ye had refined himself. Success or failure would hinge entirely on this magic treasure.

Both Chen Ye and Mo Ci were only thinking about how to deal with the fiend attempting the possession; they seemed to have tacitly assumed that Su Chunyi would definitely be able to slay it, never even considering the alternative.

After all, the Qinghe Sword Sect was the number one sect in the world.