Hall of Souls

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Hall of Souls (魂殿)
Alias(es)	Soul Hall; the “One Hall” in “One Hall, One Tower, Two Sects, Three Valleys, Four Pavilions” 521 522
Affiliation	Subordinate organization of the Soul Clan 774 806
Occupation/Role	Collecting soul forms for the Soul Clan; operating concealed branch halls across the continent 522 610 788
Base of Operations	Central Plains, with agents and subordinate factions active in the Northwest Continent and Black-Corner Region 80 288 370
Leadership	Hall Master Hun Miesheng; Mo Shang later receives temporary authority over its Central Plains forces 522 740
Status	Active; its army withdraws from the second Starfall Pavilion battle under Saint Hun Qing 805 806
First Appearance	A Hall expert pursues a fleeing soul body near Xiao Fan 75

Organization and Hierarchy

• Standing: One of the Central Plains’ foremost factions and among the strongest powers operating openly on the Dou Qi Continent; the ancient clans living in separate worlds are excluded from that comparison 521 777.
• Purpose: Its formidable public position conceals its role as a soul-collecting subordinate of the Soul Clan 788 806.
• Branch autonomy: Individual branch halls have limited resources and compete through their members’ accomplishments rather than functioning as one internally unified faction 537.
• Promotion: Strength, demonstrated value, and earned merit determine advancement. Patronage also matters, as Mo Shang’s success earns Eagle Protector a promotion and attracts rival sponsors 404 537 790.
• Discipline: Under the Third Heavenly Venerate, anyone failing to assemble before the third toll of the mobilization bell is executed. The bell’s signal penetrates the halls’ restrictive barriers 727.

Hall Structure

Division	Position and Function
Heavenly Dipper Halls	Three superior halls: Heaven, Earth, and Human, positioned above the twenty-four Earth Fiend Halls 679.
Heaven Hall	Highest seat of authority within the organization. Its orders admit no negotiation, and its resources support the recovery of injured Heavenly Venerates 740 778.
Human Hall	Lowest-ranked Heavenly Dipper Hall, managed by the Great Heavenly Venerate and Second Heavenly Venerate 679.
Earth Fiend Halls	Twenty-four branch halls. Even their masters remain below the organization’s true inner circle; lost branches can be replenished 654 679.
Subordinate sects	Local organizations such as Black Skull Tomb provide footholds outside the Central Plains 80.

Notable Personnel

Member	Position and Documented Strength
Hun Miesheng	Overall Hall Master. Xiao Fan recalls him as a Five-Star Dou Sheng possessing a child flame of the Nihility Devouring Flame; the later Seven-Star realm mentioned in that recollection is not an advancement witnessed in these passages 522.
Third Heavenly Venerate	Initial Half-Saint who commands the first Starfall Pavilion assault and appoints Mo Shang to oversee Central Plains affairs. Reduced to a soul form by the aftermath of the later battle 736 740 806.
Blood River	Fourth Heavenly Venerate; Four-Revolution Dou Venerate 708 709 732.
Qiu Di	Eighth Heavenly Venerate; peak Eight-Star Dou Zun. Leads the Hall’s expedition into the Saint of Creation’s ruins and becomes a patron of Mo Shang 696 727.
Left Elder	Heaven Hall elder whose authority supports the “Saint-Slaying” campaign; nine-revolution Peak Dou Zun 778 796.
Mo Shang	Xiao Fan’s clone and covert infiltrator. Rises from recruit to branch master and Acting Hall Master of the Central Plains forces; displays Eight-Star Dou Zun strength during the second Pavilion campaign 80 654 740 790 793.
Eagle Protector	Forces Xiao Fan to join, implants a Soul Imprint, and sponsors Mo Shang’s development 80 104 404 409.
Protector Wu and Vulture Protector	Agents involved in the Misty Cloud Sect operation; both kill and consume the souls of their own regional allies 370 387.
Old Man Mu Gu	Dou Zun operative who seeks Xiao Yan’s Flame Mantra and participates in the Sacred Pill City operation 616 621.
Yin Gu and Hundred Ghosts	Senior participants in the Sacred Pill City fighting. Yin Gu is killed by Xiao Fan; Hundred Ghosts escapes using exploding soul forms 637 644.
Jiu Yin	Elder who initially probes Mo Shang’s authority, then chooses to support him after sensing his strength 790 791.

Branch Halls and Strongholds

Location	Details
Black Skull Tomb	Subordinate sect in the Black-Corner Region where Eagle Protector installs Xiao Fan as a recruit 80.
Nether City branch	Han Feng identifies this Western Region branch as Yao Lao’s prison. Venerable Feng rejects his claim about its defenses, stating that it must have at least two Venerable Elders 546.
Dead Soul Mountain Range branch	Concealed prison holding Yao Lao behind a powerful spatial barrier and suppressive formation. The rescue later destroys a branch hall and kills Black Heavenly Venerate 647 648 653.
Senluo Hall / Eternal Luo Hall	Earth Fiend branch assigned to Mo Shang; the appointment passage calls it Eternal Luo Hall, while later passages use Senluo Hall. Before his internal purge, its cultivated force includes nine Dou Zongs and twenty Dou Emperors 654 679 680.
Sea of Bitterness Hall	Earth Fiend branch guarded by two One-Star Dou Zuns and one Two-Star Dou Zun. Xiao Fan and Mo Shang kill its guardians, seize its soul origin and resources, and erase the hall 680.
Soul Realm	Mo Shang’s location during part of his training and deployment preparations. He suspects the Nihility Devouring Flame’s influence there weakens his connection with Xiao Fan 600 612.

• Concealment: Branch locations are closely guarded and ordinarily inaccessible to outsiders. The enormous mobilization against Starfall Pavilion later exposes many previously hidden strongholds 522 789.
• Security: Facilities use spatial barriers, formations, guards, and coordinated soul perception. Guards encountered by Eagle Protector are estimated to be High-Rank Dou Zongs 409 643 647.

Techniques and Methods

Soul Capture and Extraction

The Hall specializes in detecting, restraining, and exploiting soul forms, making it particularly dangerous to disembodied souls such as Yao Lao 372.

• Soul sensitivity: Agents can detect leaked soul energy, preventing Yao Lao from safely contacting allies through soul power 372.
• Chains: Experts wield black, sometimes rune-marked chains for attacks and restraint. Yao Lao’s prison chains continuously drain his soul power 76 493.
• Suppressive formations: Even after extraction stops, Yao Lao’s prison formation prevents his soul power from recovering, forcing him to conserve strength through sleep 648.
• Stored soul origin: Branch halls extract and accumulate soul origin from captives. In its ordinary form, this material replenishes depleted soul power but does not raise the user’s soul realm 680 681.
• Preferred victims: More than half of the soul forms captured by the organization are alchemists 721.

Soul Devouring and Sacrifice

• Direct consumption: Protector Wu devours Yun Shan’s soul, while Vulture Protector consumes the Misty Cloud Sect elders’ souls once their usefulness ends 387.
• Sacrificial enhancement: A secret technique feeds sacrificed souls into another soul form, which members then devour to increase their power 388.
• Limits: The enhanced soul is damaged, the process consumes many victims, and only a small portion of the expended energy can ultimately be absorbed 388.
• Explosive soul forms: Hundred Ghosts sacrifices exploding souls to delay pursuit and escape Xiao Fan 644.

Black Mist and Battlefield Control

• Confinement: Protector Wu creates a black-curtain cage to trap Xiao Yan 387.
• Soul interference: Another black-mist technique restricts soul perception and is identified by Yao Lao as a method for confusing or countering souls 387.
• Spatial sealing: During the first Starfall Pavilion battle, the Hall seals the surrounding space, trapping even faction scouts near the battlefield 733.
• Weakness to Heavenly Flames: Xiao Yan’s flames are particularly effective against Protector Wu’s mist, while Xiao Fan burns away a Hall Dou Zun’s sinister energy in the Saint of Creation’s ruins 387 697.

Three Stars Supporting the Moon Formation

• Core: The Third, Fourth, and Eighth Heavenly Venerates form the formation together 736.
• Application: Other Hall members pour their Dou Qi into it to reinforce the group’s defense 736.
• Limit: It cannot withstand Yao Lao’s Dou Sheng-level heavenly-flame attack; half the assembled force is annihilated and all three leaders are gravely injured 736.

Recruitment and Training

Coercive Recruitment

• Forced membership: Eagle Protector covets Xiao Fan’s flames, fails to obtain them, and forces him into the organization instead 104.
• Soul Imprint: The protector brands Xiao Fan’s mind as a safeguard against disobedience 80.
• Talent scouting: Sand Protector offers Xiao Fan recruitment during a confrontation at Jia Nan Academy, presenting the academy as a waste of his abilities 288.

Prodigy Trials

• Combat trial: Participants kill opponents, take their points, and survive. Mo Shang insists on participating despite receiving permission to bypass it 537.
• Final ordeal: Selected prodigies are transported through a formation for a dangerous trial promising improved chances of reaching Dou Zun 557.
• Blood Pool: A formation refines the vital blood and essence of more than a hundred Dou Zongs into a pool capable of raising participants to Peak Dou Zong, or potentially Dou Zun 563.
• Expected mortality: Violent energy and trapped souls make the pool lethal; the supervising “Heavenly Venerable” predicts no more than five survivors 563.
• No genuine withdrawal: When one participant tries to leave, the supervisor throws him into the pool, where his body and soul are consumed 563.

Cultivation Support

• Alchemy resources: Branch support provides Mo Shang with abundant formulas and medicinal ingredients, helping him reach peak Seventh-Tier Alchemist proficiency 563.
• Controlled instruction: Eagle Protector’s father refuses Mo Shang access to Yao Chen but offers guidance from seventh-tier alchemists instead 409.
• Conditional patronage: The Heavenly Venerates promise to recommend Mo Shang for their rank if his administration satisfies them, while privately treating the appointment as a test rather than proof of trust 740.

Equipment and Identifying Features

• Black robes: Members repeatedly wear robes of the same design; Xiao Fan learns to identify the organization from that style alone 428.
• Masks: Mo Shang’s jet-black mask conceals his face even from soul-power probing 404.
• Identity tokens: New recruits receive a cold, durable, pitch-black metal token 80.
• Hall Master’s tokens: Branch-master tokens contain protective power that activates in danger; crushing one can alert experts within the hall 654 680.
• Authority tablet: The Third Heavenly Venerate gives Mo Shang a black jade tablet authorizing him to administer Central Plains forces 740.
• Warships: Fleets travel through spatial rifts and countercurrents. Gu Chen recognizes the vessels used in the second Pavilion campaign as associated with the Soul Clan 727 790 791.
• Sky-Reaching Warship: A major vessel lost to Yao Chen after the first Starfall Pavilion defeat; Mo Shang later travels aboard a warship bearing the same designation 740 790.

Relationships

• Soul Clan — Parent power and true beneficiary of the Hall’s soul collection. Saint Hun Qing exercises authority over its senior leaders 788 806.
• Yao Chen / Yao Lao — Long-standing target who rejected its suspicious invitation. The Hall Master personally orders that he be kept alive as an important captive 545 721.
• Xiao Fan — Enemy responsible for numerous senior casualties and branch losses; simultaneously infiltrates the organization through Mo Shang 653 680 793.
• Xiao Yan and the Xiao Clan — Targets of investigations seeking the Tou She Ancient God Jade. Agents are ordered to search the clan and recover the item believed to be with Xiao Fan or Xiao Yan 370 374.
• Han Feng — Collaborator whose betrayal of Yao Lao is supported by the Hall. Sand Protector serves as his liaison, and the organization secretly assists his Black-Corner Region development 288 546.
• Misty Cloud Sect — Regional instrument controlled through cultivation support and threats to revoke Yun Shan’s granted power. Its leader and elders are ultimately consumed by their Hall patrons 370 387.
• Pill Tower — Major enemy because of the Hall’s persecution of alchemists. Tower experts oppose its operations in Sacred Pill City and support Starfall Pavilion 610 616 721.
• Starfall Pavilion — Principal military opponent after Yao Lao’s rescue; targeted both for revenge and to demonstrate the Hall’s supremacy 721 796.
• Heaven Demon Phoenix Clan — Tactical partner against Xiao Fan near Sacred Pill City. Cooperation is strained by resentment and competing calculations over casualties 637 639.
• Ten Thousand Scorpion Sect — Receives intervention from a Hall expert who mocks Xie Biyan for previously rejecting its terms 428.

History

Early Encounters and Forced Recruitment

Xiao Fan first encounters the Hall when an expert pursues a fleeing soul body through a mountain range. The chase forces him to abandon escape, restrain the soul with Chaos Flame, and eventually attack the stronger pursuer alongside his temporary captive 75 76.

Eagle Protector subsequently recruits him by force, implants a Soul Imprint, and places him at Black Skull Tomb. Xiao Fan outwardly submits while using the identity Mo Shang to conceal his real identity and planning to gain independence 80 104.

Misty Cloud Sect Operation

The Hall directs Yun Shan to investigate the Xiao Clan and recover its valuable jade. Vulture Protector privately hopes to secure both Yao Chen and the Tou She Ancient God Jade before Protector Wu can claim them 370.

During the battle against Xiao Yan, Protector Wu kills and consumes Yun Shan, declaring Yao Lao more valuable than the sect leader. Vulture Protector likewise devours the sect’s elders. Yao Lao’s capture drives Xiao Fan and Xiao Yan to strengthen themselves and seek Central Plains allies for a rescue 387 442.

Sacred Pill City and Branch Losses

The Hall deploys numerous experts around the Pill Gathering. Mu Gu attempts to seize Xiao Yan’s Flame Mantra, while the broader force searches for an undisclosed target linked to Xiao Yan or Xiao Fan 616 621.

The operation ends in major losses against Xiao Fan. Yin Gu is killed, Mu Gu and Hundred Ghosts escape injured, and Mo Shang leads the remaining members back to report the failure 637 639 644.

Yao Lao’s rescue subsequently destroys a prison branch and kills Black Heavenly Venerate. Xiao Fan and Mo Shang also secretly eradicate Sea of Bitterness Hall, taking its accumulated soul origin and resources 653 680.

Saint of Creation’s Ruins

Qiu Di leads the Hall into the ruins and attacks Xiao Fan. Their fighting destroys the Main Hall, while other Hall members attempt to seize the Dou Sheng skeleton 696 697 700.

Mo Shang notices the bones turning crimson and withdraws. His companion ignores the warning, is drained of blood and Dou Qi, and dies as the remains awaken and unleash the Great Heaven Creation Palm 700.

First Starfall Pavilion Assault

The Third Heavenly Venerate orders an assault after learning of the Hall’s extensive losses. The expedition includes more than a dozen Dou Zuns and over a hundred Dou Zong and Dou Huang fighters 714 727.

Yao Lao’s breakthrough to Dou Sheng reverses the battle. His single attack overwhelms the Three Stars Supporting the Moon Formation, destroys half the Hall force, and gravely wounds its three Heavenly Venerates. He permits the survivors to leave rather than provoke the organization’s full strength 736.

The injured leaders withdraw their Central Plains forces and enter seclusion. Mo Shang receives temporary administrative authority, creating an opportunity to extend Xiao Fan’s infiltration 740.

“Saint-Slaying” Campaign

Mo Shang consolidates personnel for another campaign while Starfall Pavilion deliberately spreads rumors that Yao Lao’s cultivation is unstable. Heaven Hall approves the attack, overriding objections from elders who fear provoking a Dou Sheng 776 778.

The mobilization exposes hidden strongholds across the Central Plains. Members join in hopes of earning rewards for capturing Yao Lao’s soul, expecting Mo Shang to bear responsibility if the campaign fails 789.

At Starfall Pavilion, Mo Shang outwardly threatens Xiao Yan while covertly confirming his identity through black flame. The battle is part of Xiao Fan’s plan to weaken the Hall, but its senior commanders also use the assault to force Yao Lao to reveal his condition 793 796.

The outcome is described as inconclusive. Saint Hun Qing withdraws the Hall army, then reprimands the Third Heavenly Venerate—now only a soul form—and questions Mo Shang about his black flame. Xiao Fan intends to use the resulting opportunity to infiltrate the Soul Clan itself 805 806.