Daoheart Salvation

In the Slaughter Hall, after Yang Huai finished his morning cultivation and refined another two spirit fruits over a thousand years old, he came before an empty beast pen.

With only a slight stir of his Swordheart Clarity talent, it seemed as though his eyes could see the phantoms of terrifying exotic beasts emerging from within the empty pens. Their resentment ran deep. As though sensing Yang Huai's gaze, they transformed in an instant into wisps of black mist that clung to his innate spiritual perception.

Such resentment was difficult to detect and invade without spiritual perception. Once one truly opened their spiritual senses, however, they became easier to draw in.

Layers of illusory flames of light emerged around Yang Huai. Behind him, a vast saintly figure seemed to condense into form, and the Dao rhythm of light scattered those malicious thoughts in an instant.

Within the beast cages, the pitch-black phantoms seemed to have suffered grave harm, letting out furious roars.

Seeing this, Yang Huai gathered another spiritual radiance around himself. Deep within it lingered traces of clear, pure essence. In an instant, it shrouded the depths of the beast pens. The black mist phantoms caught within froze briefly, awakening from their frenzy, but soon roared in boundless fury, their resentment surging even more fiercely.

At the heart of that black mist, the red light erupting from the eyes of a deer spirit with a human head was almost tangible. If not for the beast cage's seal, it would likely have charged out to trouble Yang Huai.

"It didn't work after all. It seems my Dao cultivation isn't deep enough to save them!"

Yang Huai sighed softly. He had originally wanted to sweep away the resentment and slaughterous aura filling the hall, but it seemed useless now. His budding kindness had gone to waste.

The minor secret art he had used just then was called Daoheart Salvation.

Yuan Xiuxiu had taught it to him yesterday. It relied solely on one's own Daoheart to soothe vicious souls and evil Baleful Intent, helping them dissolve their obsessions and awaken their true nature. Yet if one was careless with this secret art, they could be harmed by the accumulated resentment, so it could not be forced.

After taking only a few steps, Yang Huai suddenly stopped again.

"No, it seems to have done something!"

In the depths of the beast pens, a portion of the faint, feeble black mist quietly returned to its true nature beneath the spiritual radiance formed by Daoheart Salvation and dissipated into heaven and earth.

It was simply that those wisps of black mist were too weak.

Looking closely, they were the resentments of extremely frail creatures. The black mist revealed the forms of spirit rabbits and spirit birds. They were small in size and weak in spirituality.

This discovery delighted Yang Huai greatly. Saving even a few of them was still a good thing.

"At least they won't be making such a racket."

Yang Huai mused to himself.

Ever since awakening his Swordheart Clarity talent, his innate spiritual perception had become extraordinarily sharp. Things he previously could easily neither "see" nor "hear," he could gradually see and hear now. These remnants of souls and resentful thoughts lingered throughout the Slaughter Hall day after day, and they truly were an eyesore to him.

Seeing some hope, Yang Huai deliberately avoided those fierce, deeply resentful spirits and instead sought out weaker demon beasts and vicious beasts, using Daoheart Salvation to gradually save them.

These weak "resentful spirits" were muddleheaded to begin with and possessed little intelligence, making them easier to save.

Flame Daoist also noticed Yang Huai's actions in the hall. He was mildly curious, but once he realized that the secret art Yang Huai was using seemed intended to save the resentments of living beings, he immediately lost interest.

He was interested in arts that refined souls and slaughtered spirits. In his view, secret arts that helped the dead pass on were practically a waste of time.

He could not help but rebuke him.

"As a seeker of the Dao, even if you have spare time, you cannot neglect your aspirations by playing with trifles and wallowing in secret arts and techniques. You should strengthen your Daoheart and cultivate diligently at all times!"

Yang Huai found it difficult to explain. Saving these malicious thoughts was also a way of sweeping the dust from his own heart and letting his thoughts flow freely.

Yet that was not something he could say, so he could only nod and agree for now.

Fortunately, after cultivating for a while, the tedious feeling of continuously refining his magic power deep within his heart gradually faded. He prepared to resume refining spirit fruits and tempering the Innate Geng Metal Spirit Bones within his body.

He now had as many as one hundred and sixty-three Innate Geng Metal Spirit Bones in his body. Only forty-three remained before he could fully cultivate the Metal Origin Five Aggregates Diagram.

After watching Flame Daoist leave, Yang Huai suddenly heard a crisp, tiny voice by his ear.

"Big brother, do you want to deliver them from suffering?"

"I have a scripture that can save these resentful souls!"

Following the sound, Yang Huai looked around. After a brief sweep, he frowned and lowered his gaze. Beneath the beast pen beside him, he saw a fox with entirely silver-white fur. Yet each of its four paws bore a tuft of fiery-red fur, exceptionally soft and sleek.

It stared at Yang Huai with a pair of expressive eyes brimming with spiritual charm.

Yang Huai merely glanced at it before turning to leave, too lazy to pay any attention to this fox demon.

A fox demon's mouth was a liar's ghost!

"Hey, don't go! I really do have a superior art of salvation that can deliver dead souls into transcendence!"

The Silver Fox could no longer keep up its soft, delicate voice and began shouting.

Yang Huai only quickened his departing steps.

Within several beast pens nearby, spirit beasts pricked up their ears as they watched. From one pen came the voice of a giant bear that had been lazily sprawled out all this time.

"Little Sister Silver Fox, stop shouting. Those humans are all hard-hearted as stone. Shouting won't help!"

At that, the Silver Fox dejectedly sprawled on the ground.

"Then we're finished. Neither of us will keep our hides. We never should have disobeyed Her Ladyship and come out to play with you!"

The giant bear's slow voice came again.

"It's fine. It won't hurt. Besides, you have three lives!!"

The Silver Fox froze, then shuddered.

"Doesn't that mean I have to die three times?"

The Silver Fox and giant bear chatted within their beast pens, unaware that in a side hall behind the pens, two figures were listening intently.

"Did you hear that? It said it has to die three times. A three-tailed spirit fox!"

"Senior Brother, we've struck it rich!"

Flame Daoist could barely contain himself as he looked at the other man beside him.

Hou Feng Daoist shot him a glance. He seemed deep in thought, his face rather gloomy, and he snapped at Flame Daoist irritably.

"I heard it. What are you so happy about?

Didn't you hear them mention Her Ladyship? We may have landed ourselves in serious trouble!"

"What serious trouble?"

"Have you forgotten which Her Ladyship is around Wanqu City? She's an honored guest of the Kingdom Lord!"

Flame Daoist froze, then remembered something, his eyes going blank.

"The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox?"

There was only one fox clan Her Ladyship around the Xi Huang Kingdom. Even the divine true beings of the Xi Huang Kingdom dared not casually provoke that Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox. If people learned that the Slaughter Hall had imprisoned members of the Celestial Fox clan, that would be a disaster.

Even if the patriarch of Qingping Daoist Temple came, he likely would not be able to contain the fallout.

Flame Daoist immediately deflated.

"Then should we release them?"

After a brief pause, he shook his head.

"No, we can't release them. At least, we can't be the ones to release them!"

Hou Feng Daoist frowned as well.

After all, these were not spirit beasts of the Slaughter Hall. They were spirit beasts the Rockfolk Tribe had placed in the Slaughter Hall's care. Releasing them just like that would damage the Slaughter Hall's credibility, and they would also have to compensate the other party for their losses.

If word got out, it would ruin their reputation too.

"We can't keep them, and we can't release them. Is our kitchen supposed to sit here and wait for the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox to come knocking?"

Cold sweat began to seep from Flame Daoist's back.

At the same time, he felt a touch of relief. Fortunately, the Slaughter Hall's patriarchs had been prudent enough to build such a secret chamber separately at the side. If they had slaughtered these two beasts in a muddle, it would have been disastrous. The whole Qingping Temple might have suffered terrible misfortune.

"Let's discuss this!"

The two fellow disciples had no idea what to do for the moment and could only leave the side hall first.

On the steps before the Slaughter Hall, Yang Huai glanced in confusion at Hou Feng Daoist and Flame Daoist, who hurried out of the side hall. They came out so hastily that they did not even spare him a glance.

Yang Huai did not concern himself with them. He simply sat cross-legged on the steps, tempering the medicinal potency hidden deep within his flesh. As he rapidly refined the medicinal power, he also honed his magic power and refined his innate qi.

At that moment, he was comprehending another method capable of refining harmonizing yang qi, called the Heavenheart Pure Yang Visualization Method.

This refining method was also a soul visualization method. By visualizing the Pure Yang Talisman that represented pure yang spirituality, one could continually comprehend pure yang spirituality from it, capture it, and merge it into one's magic power, thereby refining innate harmonizing yang qi.

The hardest part of this qi-refining secret art was actually comprehending the pure yang conception within the visualization diagram and drawing out a thread of innate pure yang intent from it. Once one succeeded in comprehending it, one could naturally gather the pure yang spirituality of heaven and earth and let it develop into a strand of innate pure yang qi.

Yang Huai gradually entered an excellent state.

But soon, he opened his eyes helplessly. His cultivation had been interrupted.

He looked toward a distant beast pen, from which a weeping voice emerged.

He tried to calm himself and ignore it, but the sound was like demonic music pouring into his ears, making it impossible for him to settle his mind.