Secret Art: Wraith Resurrection!
Huo Yuhao's gaze swept over the Crazy Lion Gang, and the gang members who were like lambs to the slaughter under the constraints of their contracts. His voice was calm. "Elder Wu, killing is certainly satisfying. But if we want to truly control this Black-Corner Region and ensure the academy has no more worries, we need manpower."
"And they have no chance of resisting." Huo Yuhao smiled slightly.
Even setting aside the restrictions of the oath, preventing them from having any thoughts of betrayal, Huo Yuhao could still control their consciousness and lives even if they didn't break the oath. After all, this thing, though called Soul Oath, was actually modified by Huo Yuhao using the slave contract taught to him by Elder Yi.
The chains binding their souls use their own Soul Power, and even if their Soul Power grows stronger in the future, the chains will also grow stronger. They can never break free of them by their own power.
The Soul Lock are connected to their Soul Core; once the Soul Lock are broken, their souls will instantly collapse.
When the last sect leader who participated in the siege, pale-faced, signed the soul contract in the face of the suffocating Dou Zong of the Bai Lao and Xue Protector, all the Dou Emperor forces in this chaotic land submitted.
"Elder Huo, shall we return to the academy now?" Bai Lao looked at Huo Yuhao. After continuously casting the Contract and Soul Search, Huo Yuhao's face was already somewhat pale, and his brows revealed undisguised exhaustion.
Huo Yuhao shook his head and told the Bai Lao the location of the Soul Hall branch hall that he had discovered from Xue Protector's memories.
"No rush. Let's go somewhere first." He glanced at Bai Lao, a meaningful glint in his eyes. "Xue Protector's lair holds the Soul Origin they've collected over the years—which might be of some help to me."
He transmitted the hidden Spatial Coordinates directly to Bai Lao via Mental Sharing.
"You actually know so much about spatial power!"
Bai Lao was somewhat surprised, but Huo Yuhao had already brought him too many unbelievable things. Therefore, he did not ask any further questions, but stretched out his palm and tore open the void!
"Sizzle--!"
A spatial rift, far larger than before, suddenly appeared! The violent spatial storm felt like a tangible blade scraping across my cheek.
"Go!" Bai Lao shouted, and his powerful Dou Qi instantly enveloped Huo Yuhao and Wu Tian.
With a slight thought, Huo Yuhao Xue Protector, who followed closely behind like the most loyal hunting dog. The four figures instantly disappeared into the space, and the spatial rift rapidly closed behind them.
A nauseating stench permeated the cold, black stone hall. Eerie green soulfire flickered in the skull lamps on the walls, casting distorted shadows onto the towering stone pillars.
"Tsk--I never expected that a mere Northwest Branch Hall would have such a rich fortune." Bai Lao's withered fingers brushed over a Storage Ring carved from strange black jade, inside which various treasures were piled up like mountains.
A rare look of surprise flashed across his aged eyes. "The Soul Hall —it's truly rolling in money."
Huo Yuhao stood in the center of the hall, his immense spiritual power like an invisible spider web, meticulously scanning every corner. Soon, he discovered his target— the Soul Origin.
Huo Yuhao nodded slightly. "It was indeed somewhat unexpected. It's a pity—" He closed his eyes and reviewed the memories deep within Xue Protector's soul once more, confirming that there were no other branch halls.
A moment later, Huo Yuhao opened his eyes, a hint of barely perceptible regret in his eyes. "The Soul Hall has strict rules, and the locations of its branch palaces are kept strictly secret. Even Xue Protector doesn't know where Iron Protector's lair is hidden."
Without Xue Protector, a Dou Zong, to oversee things, the remaining Soul Envoy and Deacons of this branch hall are no match for Bai Lao, a Peak Dou Zong.
Facing this group of the Soul Hall members, Wu Tian finally got his chance to vent his anger. Several sharp streaks of blood-red Dou Qi qi flashed by, accompanied by a few screams that stopped abruptly, and the entire branch hall fell into complete silence, with only the crackling sound of the burning soul fire remaining.
"Is this the Soul Origin?" Looking at the transparent ball of light connected by several pitch-black chains, Wu Tian felt a Sisi unease and deliberately kept his distance from it.
"That's right," Bai Lao said slowly, "This mass of Soul Origin should be composed of tens of thousands of souls!"
"Tens of thousands of souls?" Wu Tian frowned and cursed, "So many for just one branch hall? How many branch halls are there across the entire Battle Qi Continent? You beasts!"
Huo Yuhao walked to the Soul Origin and sat down cross-legged. He stretched out his hands and pressed them lightly on the viscous Soul Origin. A very faint white light enveloped his hands.
[Purification Light]!
Buzz! The entire transparent ball of light seemed to boil instantly, as if it were being heated. Wisps of black energy emanated from it, representing the negative emotions hidden within the Soul Origin.
After stripping away all the negative emotions, Huo Yuhao didn't let them dissipate, but instead gathered them up and sorted them out.
Then, Huo Yuhao silently chanted an incantation, his palm turning from white to gold, and forcefully slapped the mass of Soul Origin.
In that instant, Huo Yuhao extracted clusters of soul energy and injected them into each strand of negative emotion.
[The Wraith Resurrection!]
As if by miracle, through these negative emotions, fragments of the souls of these departed beings reappeared in the world! Though they were so tiny that they could not retain even a trace of consciousness.
"This----this----!" The shock in Bai Lao and Wu Tian's hearts was beyond words. They stared blankly with their mouths agape, unable to utter a single complete word.
Soon, these fragments of soul dissipated again. Perhaps because they took one last look at the world before disappearing completely, all their negative emotions vanished. Only a faint trace of gratitude remained in the void.
This soul technique directly consumed about 90% of Huo Yuhao's spiritual power. At this moment, an unprecedented weakness filled Huo Yuhao's body and mind.
However!
"Ha, haha. Hahaha!" Huo Yuhao suddenly laughed. The laughter wasn't loud, but anyone could tell that Huo Yuhao was very happy at that moment.
There was no hysteria, no unbridled joy, just the purest, happiest smile.
Bai Lao and Wu Tian exchanged a glance, and for some reason, they also felt very happy and laughed out loud.
After a moment, his emotions calmed down. Looking at the Soul Origin that had shrunk considerably, Huo Yuhao manipulated his mental power to envelop it.
With the vast spiritual power as a bridge, Huo Yuhao's soul, like a greedy vortex, began to frantically absorb the energy contained within.
A warm and pure torrent of soul energy surged into the Spiritual Sea! Like a bowl of hot soup on a winter's day. Huo Yuhao breathed a sigh of relief, the weakness in his spirit and soul greatly alleviated.
The Spirit Condensation Formula was rapidly activated, guiding this massive energy to devour and refine the will of the Soul Hall experts hidden within it.
The soul, which had been somewhat dimmed from the act of sacrificing its own to save someone, is now healing and growing stronger at a visible speed under the cleansing and nourishment of this immense and pure energy!