Soul Imprint Art

"Tell me everything that happened before and after the secret vault was robbed yesterday, exactly as it occurred!

"Do not conceal a single detail!"

Enveloped by the pressure of a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator, He Weizhen trembled from head to toe. How could he dare speak even half a false word? He immediately poured out the entire course of events like beans spilling from a bamboo tube.

After hearing him out, He Sheng frowned slightly and pressed further:

"When He Yiyang disappeared, did anyone else vanish with him?"

He asked because, in Brother Piao's memories, his elder brother He Yiyang was plainly a useless drunkard who spent every day drowning in wine and dreams. There was no way he possessed such decisive, ruthless planning and execution.

He Sheng guessed that someone must have been conspiring behind the scenes, or perhaps He Yiyang had been used by someone.

He Weizhen thought for a moment, then said tremulously:

"R-Replying to Senior, He Yiyang indeed did not disappear alone.

"His most beloved concubine is gone as well. And his wife's younger brother—his brother-in-law, Ji Yunlai—has also vanished without a trace."

"His concubine and brother-in-law?"

He Sheng's eyes immediately lit up. He thought to himself:

"The secret vault was robbed yesterday. He Yiyang and the others have been gone for, at most, a dozen or so hours. With three of them traveling together, they must have been slowed down by one another. They can't have gone far."

Compared to Foundation Establishment cultivators, Qi Refinement cultivators were naturally far inferior when it came to fleeing.

For a late-stage Qi Refinement cultivator, even flying nonstop on a magical artifact, they could travel at most sixty or seventy li in an hour.

And they could not keep it up for more than a few hours before exhausting their spiritual power.

"Although He Yiyang is a late-stage Qi Refinement cultivator, Ji Yunlai is only at the fourth level of Qi Refinement, while that concubine is merely an ordinary mortal.

"The three of them could have fled only a few hundred li at most. For me, using Subtle Ripple Water Escape, I can catch up with them in half an hour!

"The key now is how to find their trail."

He Sheng carefully searched through Brother Piao's memories and swiftly came up with an idea, his spirits rising.

But when he came back to himself, he saw that the clan elders were still standing dumbly in the main hall, all of them staring straight at him.

Whoosh!

Even though He Sheng had not felt the slightest fondness for the He Family thus far, the fire in his heart surged all the same.

The enemy had already come knocking at their door, yet none of them were going to take charge, arrange defenses, or calm the clan members. Were they standing here waiting for divine soldiers to fall from the heavens?

"What are you useless lot standing around for?

"The enemy has already attacked, and you're not protecting the clan members?

"Get the hell out of here!"

He Sheng's furious shout, coupled with the majesty of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, exploded like a thunderclap.

The crowd jolted in fright and instantly scattered like birds and beasts, rushing outside.

The sight made He Sheng sigh to himself:

"In this cultivation world, being a cut above others in cultivation truly works wonders. Whoever has the harder fist speaks the truth."

Just like now—these people did not even know who he was, yet because he was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he could take the guest's place as the host!

This made him feel even more strongly that Brother Piao's former obsession with "bloodline above all else" had been utterly brainless. It had simply planted the seeds of disaster for the He Family!

But none of that mattered to him. Right now, he only wanted to recover that "hundred-million-plus deposit" as quickly as possible!

Once the He Family's clan elders had left, He Sheng also prepared to depart. But the moment he turned around, a youthful voice came from behind him.

"Senior."

Only then did He Sheng remember the fine-browed youth whom he had brought in with him.

Turning around, he saw the youth step out of the shadows in the corner and speak to him earnestly:

"This junior knows that Senior is an old acquaintance of the He Family. May I ask, Senior... is the He Family beyond saving?"

"Oh? How do you know I am an old acquaintance of the He Family?"

"Senior led me and several members of the main branch here without encountering any obstruction. Even Long Sun Mountain's protective grand formation had no effect on Senior whatsoever.

"Moreover, Senior knows Long Sun Mountain like the back of your hand and came straight to the main peak's great hall."

The fine-browed youth calmly laid out his evidence one by one, and He Sheng nodded repeatedly as he listened.

Not easy. The He Family actually still had someone normal, and he was quite clever too.

"Come with me."

With a wave of his hand, He Sheng wrapped the fine-browed youth in spiritual power and headed toward the Scripture Transmission Tower halfway up the mountain.

By now, word that the Black Mountain Group had attacked had spread throughout Long Sun Mountain. The mountain was in chaos everywhere, and not a single person could be seen inside the Scripture Transmission Tower.

As its name suggested, the Scripture Transmission Tower was where the He Family stored its cultivation arts and inheritances.

He Sheng led the fine-browed youth straight up to the second floor. From a bookshelf in the center, he took out a jade slip and handed it over.

"Your talent is excellent, and your temperament is upright and unyielding. You have the makings of a sword cultivator. Unfortunately, the He Family has no sword cultivation methods.

"However, this Thousand-Fathom Jade Severing Art, obtained from the Xu Clan, can condense metal-element Sword Qi. It is suitable enough for your cultivation."

When He Sheng had previously examined the fine-browed youth's cultivation aptitude, he had not known what that sword cry represented. Still, it was likely some special aptitude related to the sword.

As for this Thousand-Fathom Jade Severing Art, it was an intermediate-grade cultivation method acquired from the Xu Clan, and it was indeed suitable for him.

"Senior..."

The fine-browed youth took the jade slip, wanting to say something, but He Sheng merely took out a token and handed it to him.

"He Ziyang, take this token to the Returning Origin Cave in the back mountain. Cultivate there properly from now on."

During their earlier journey into the mountains, the fine-browed youth had revealed his name. Only then had He Sheng learned that this boy was a disciple from a collateral branch of the He Family so distant it could not have been more distant.

This was because the He Family's current generational characters followed the sequence Wei, Tuo, Yi, Zheng, Hong, Chuang, Rui, Cheng. There was no "Zi" generation at all.

Brother Piao himself belonged to the "Yi" generation, but after becoming clan head, he had cast aside the generational character and taken the single name "Sheng."

It both restored his name from his previous life and displayed his noble status.

"An Ever-Victorious Token?!"

He Ziyang cried out in shock at the token in his hand. Though he was merely a collateral disciple and rarely came to Long Sun Mountain, he had seen this token—belonging exclusively to Clan Head He Sheng—more than once during the clan's grand sacrificial ceremonies.

He Ziyang looked up at He Sheng, his face filled with disbelief.

"Go."

He Sheng merely waved a hand, offering no further explanation.

He Ziyang left alone, leaving He Sheng as the only person in the Scripture Transmission Tower.

He had guided He Ziyang simply because the boy pleased his eye and because he appreciated his character. It had merely been a casual act.

The Returning Origin Cave, meanwhile, was a secret ground of the He Family, located at the heart of the spirit vein in Long Sun Mountain's rear mountain. Not only was the spiritual energy within extraordinarily dense, but layers upon layers of defensive formations had been laid there as well.

"Time to handle the real business."

With a thought, He Sheng drew a jade slip over from some remote corner.

Soul Imprint Art!

This was a secret art derived from the Blood Soul Art. Once cultivated to a certain level, it could use things such as soul lamps and life plaques to trace someone's whereabouts.

This secret art had originally come from the Xu Clan. Brother Piao had considered it far too wicked, so after giving it a cursory look, he had tossed it into the Scripture Transmission Tower without ever cultivating it.

That was because the Blood Soul Art was a notorious demonic-path evil technique. Though the Soul Imprint Art was not as domineering and insidious as the Blood Soul Art, it was still no righteous method.

He Sheng picked up the jade slip, pressed it to his brow, and carefully comprehended the secret art.

"So long as I cultivate the Soul Imprint Art to Minor Mastery, I can use the other party's life plaque or a token stained with their natal essence blood to refine a soul imprint.

"With the power of the soul imprint, I can clearly sense the other party's location within a hundred li.

"If they have not concealed their own blood aura, then even from a thousand li away, I can roughly sense their direction!"

A distance of over a thousand li was naturally enough. After all, He Sheng had just concluded that the three of them, including He Yiyang, could not possibly have fled beyond a thousand li so quickly.

He Sheng hesitated no longer and immediately began attempting to cultivate the Soul Imprint Art.

This secret art was not difficult to begin with, especially for He Sheng, who had already reached the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment. He could master its basics in an instant.

A short while later, He Sheng, having already begun the Soul Imprint Art, looked toward the Time-Reversing Water Clock.

[Art]:

[Soul Imprint Art: (Beginner): 1/100]

(Total cultivation time: one day)

He Sheng focused his thoughts on the plus sign behind Soul Imprint Art, and cultivation information immediately appeared.

[In the first month, you took your first steps upon this path.

Though this Soul Imprint Art was derived from the demonic sect's Blood Soul Art and had shed part of its insidious, baleful aura, its core principles still lay in the tyrannical manipulation of the divine soul and blood aura.

Relying on the powerful divine sense of the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment, you easily crossed the threshold of entry. You only felt an unusual force of attraction appear within your divine soul, while your perception of the soul-blood of living beings around you became exceptionally keen.]

[In the second month, your progress advanced a thousand li in a single day. You charged straight into the realm of Minor Mastery and initially grasped the method of refining Blood Soul Imprints.]

[Another two months passed. Your understanding of the Soul Imprint Art deepened further, and by drawing inferences from one instance, you comprehended a soul-searching technique from the tracking art of soul imprints.

Though the soul-searching technique was not some profound method, you could not help but marvel that you were also something of a little genius when it came to cultivating soul-type arts!]

[Another three months passed, and your Soul Imprint Art entered the Proficient realm. Not only had you mastered the method of refining Blood Soul Imprints, you had also initially grasped the method of refining Life Soul Imprints.

However, as your cultivation deepened, you discovered that the difficulty of cultivating the Soul Imprint Art had abruptly soared.

The further you cultivated it, the greater the burden on your divine soul. Moreover, it required powerful divine sense to finely control the balance between blood aura and soul power.

Fortunately, as a cultivator at the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment, your divine sense was sufficient to support your continued cultivation of this art.]

A soul-searching technique?

He Sheng had not expected that after throwing all his remaining general cultivation time into it in one go, he would gain such an unexpected harvest. But having previously comprehended Subtle Ripple Water Escape, he did not find it all that strange.

"Within a side hall of the He Family ancestral shrine are life plaques refined from the essence blood of the clan's core members.

"As long as I find He Yiyang's life plaque, I can use the essence blood within it to refine a Blood Soul Imprint."

As his thoughts turned, He Sheng did not immediately head for the He Family ancestral shrine. Instead, he swept up all the techniques and manuals in the Scripture Transmission Tower before transforming into a streak of watery blue light and flying toward the He Family ancestral shrine.

With He Sheng's current cultivation, as long as he did not wish to be discovered, the remaining heap of Qi Refinement cultivators in the He Family naturally could not detect him.

In just a few dozen breaths, He Sheng had arrived in a side hall of the He Family ancestral shrine. Iron plaques hung all around, each bearing a strange red gleam at its center. These were the life plaques of the He Family's core members.

Without much effort, He Sheng found He Yiyang's life plaque.

Holding the plaque, he formed hand seals with his fingers and spat out a thread of essence blood, which instantly fused into the plaque.

Then, as he circulated the Soul Imprint Art, the life plaque melted like wax, turning into a dark crimson line of blood that twisted its way into He Sheng's brow.

In an instant, a profound connection took shape within his sea of consciousness. It was as though an invisible thread had crossed mountains and seas, tightly binding itself to He Yiyang's soul.

"It's done!"

With the Blood Soul Imprint complete, the direction became clear on its own.

He Sheng hesitated no longer and immediately fled westward along that profound connection.

Whoosh!

It was still Subtle Ripple Water Escape, but this time he was not traveling through a river. He Sheng used the water vapor between heaven and earth to rapidly weave through the air.

Although it was somewhat slower than traveling through a river, he could still cover more than a thousand li in an hour.

After roughly half an hour, He Sheng felt the distance rapidly closing.

The burning sensation from the Blood Soul Imprint on his brow grew ever clearer, even beginning to sting faintly. Evidently, the end point drawn by the Blood Soul Imprint lay ahead.

A few dozen breaths later, He Sheng drew in the light of his water escape and landed amid a reed marsh swaying in the wind.

He immediately spread out his divine sense, locking onto his target in an instant—then froze.