Soul Hall

Biodata

Background / History

Disappearance and Recruitment of Xiao Yan

After the Soul—or Hun—Clan went into hiding a hundred years earlier, the Soul Hall disappeared from public view. Its name became taboo, surviving chiefly in scattered ancient records 3.

A Soul Hall deacon approached Xiao Yan after his humiliation by Nalan Yanran. He identified a seal on Xiao Yan’s hidden soul power as the cause of his declining Dou Qi and offered help in exchange for ten years of service. Xiao Yan accepted, received a Soul Seed, and became the Hall’s outside agent. Six months later, an elder at headquarters observed his breakthrough to Da Dou Shi and declared that their plan could proceed; the plan’s details were not disclosed 3.

Demonic Research and the Purifying Spirit Hall

Hai Bodong accused the Black-Corner Region emissaries of instigating an Otherworldly Demon rebellion ten years earlier. According to him, they cultivated wicked arts with demonic qi and sought to refine Soul Pills from the Source of the Otherworldly Demon 15.

The Purifying Spirit Hall arose as a dissident faction within the Soul Hall. Its members advocated purifying Otherworldly Demons through soul arts rather than refining Soul Pills. The evil faction hunted them down and nearly destroyed the organization. Fa Ma escaped, concealed his identity, and founded the Spirit Gatherer Association while gathering support for its restoration 16 17.

Yao Chen’s hidden letter identified a deeper objective: the evil faction intended to release the sealed Ancient Otherworldly Demon Lord. He also revealed that he had planted a pawn inside the Soul Hall, without identifying that person 17.

Cooperation in the Jia Ma Empire

Despite these revelations, a Soul Hall Steward helped Xiao Yan fight the demon-empowered Yun Shan, initially bargaining for information about the Otherworldly Demon’s whereabouts. Soul Hall and Purifying Spirit Hall techniques were subsequently used together against him 22 23.

The Soul Hall envoy ultimately burned his soul origin to destroy Yun Shan and the demon core within him. His sacrifice challenged the defenders’ belief that every Soul Hall member was evil. The people later erected a white-jade statue in the imperial capital, and Fa Ma acknowledged that the Hall contained genuine heroes despite its wrongdoing 24.

Central Plains Operations

The Ninth and Sixth Elders assisted Xiao Yan with Heavenly Flame fusion. The Sixth Elder later invited him to the Otherworldly Demon Hunting Competition, awarded him the championship prizes, and offered him membership. Xiao Yan declined formal membership but agreed to cooperate against the demons 29 36 37 38 39.

Following Xue Wuya’s confession, the Soul Hall investigated Blood Soul Hall’s sacrificial altars and gave Xiao Yan access to regional branch resources. The Sixth Elder argued that conclusive evidence was necessary before attacking altars hidden within major factions’ territories, especially because Blood Soul Hall had a Dou Sheng backer 40.

The Hall then supplied thirty Dou Zun experts for the battle at the Ye Family Ancestral Grounds. Its surviving forces helped Xiao Yan break the Thirteen Soul-Sealing Formation and continued hunting the escaped Otherworldly Demon hall masters. By the Ancient Ruins expedition, the restored former Main Hall served as the Central Plains Alliance headquarters 41 43.

Organization and Members

Internal Divisions

Documented Personnel

Methods and Abilities

Soul Contracts and Soul Seeds

• Terms: Xiao Yan’s contract requires ten years of service and forbids betrayal or disclosure of the Hall’s secrets 3.
• Establishment: A Soul Seed is planted between his brows; its black mark sinks beneath the skin, while the contract’s contents appear in his mind 3.
• Secrecy: Outside agents are instructed not to reveal their connection unless absolutely necessary 3.
• Application: Xiao Yan activates the seed to release black mist and later forms a protective barrier of soul markings under the Steward’s guidance 6.

Soul Absorption Technique

• Allows Xiao Yan to absorb and convert energy from a demonized village chief, advancing from peak Da Dou Shi to early Dou Ling 5.
• Exploits a target’s weakened soul defenses during a breakthrough; demonic corruption can produce an energy crystal useful to the technique 5.
• Its use leaves Xiao Yan troubled by the suffering souls he has absorbed 5.

Combat Soul Arts

• Soul Hall arts can disrupt an opponent’s Dou Qi circulation; Hai Bodong advises protecting the sea of consciousness when confronting them 16.
• The Steward’s Ten Thousand Souls Devour releases attacking soul phantoms. These phantoms can also be shaped into a pillar or sword 22 23.
• The corrosive properties of the Steward’s soul qi counter Otherworldly Demon corruption 23.
• Ten Thousand Souls Become One burns the user’s soul origin to form a purifying Soul Blade. The envoy uses it to immobilize and annihilate Yun Shan’s demon core at the cost of his own life 24.

Heavenly Flame Control

• The Hall uses evil arts to bind the Green Lotus Core Flame before Xiao Yan frees it through purification 16.
• The Ninth Elder steadies Xiao Yan’s vital energy and guides the fusion of three Heavenly Flames 29.
• The Sixth Elder assists four-flame fusion, including through the Ten-Thousand-Spirit Soul-Devouring Formation 36 37.

Intelligence and Infiltration

• Hai Bodong describes the Hall’s intelligence network as continent-wide 16.
• Yao Chen warns that its infiltration reaches even people close to Xiao Yan 17.
• Shadow guards investigate escaped demon hall masters using highly developed concealment techniques 41.

Locations and Facilities

Otherworldly Demon Hunting Competition

Championship Rewards

• Heaven-Burning Pill — Peak eighth-tier pill intended to stabilize Four-Star Dou Emperor cultivation, with a chance of aiding advancement to five stars 39.
• Mystic Treasure Bodyguard Armor — Can withstand a strike from a Peak Dou Zun 38 39.
• Ten Thousand Souls Devour Soul-Devouring Claw — Peak Earth-tier Dou Technique. One account describes it as a Dou Qi imitation of a soul beast’s claw that does not require consuming souls; a later account presents its soul-devouring properties as sinister and records Xiao Yan’s decision not to practice it 39 40.

Equipment and Resources

• Soul Hall tokens — Establish branch affiliation or elder-level access. Documented designs include skull imagery and flame patterns 16 36.
• Contamination-detection token — Given to Xiao Yan for Black Wind Village; reacts strongly to the demonized chief 4 5.
• Black Soul Pearls — Carried by the Steward and Ninth Elder; the latter leaves one with Xiao Yan 22 29.
• Soul-Gathering Crystal — A cultivation aid containing countless imprisoned, visibly suffering souls 40.
• Defensive soul artifacts — Used by the Peak Dou Wang guards at the Fog Forest cave, but destroyed by Xiao Yan’s fused Heavenly Flames 17.
• Transmission jade slips — Carry invitations, deployment orders, and authorization to mobilize branch resources 38 39 40.

Relationships

• Xiao Yan — Initially a contracted outside agent, later an opponent of the evil faction and a cooperating ally of several elders. He refuses the Sixth Elder’s subsequent invitation to join formally 3 17 29 39 40.
• Yao Chen — Purifying Spirit Hall member targeted for his purification techniques and alchemy. Leaves an unidentified pawn within the Soul Hall 17.
• Fa Ma — Survivor of the Purifying Spirit Hall’s destruction. Later fights alongside a Soul Hall envoy and publicly honors his sacrifice 17 24.
• Hai Bodong — Enemy of the Black-Corner Region emissaries, who ambushed and sealed him. Supplies Xiao Yan with evidence of their demonic research 15.
• Blood Soul Hall — Investigated as a separate organization colluding with Otherworldly Demons; no formal subordinate relationship to the Soul Hall is established 39 40.
• Ye Family — Implicated in Blood Soul Hall’s rift scheme. Later evidence reveals that the first Otherworldly Demon hall master’s remnant soul controlled the family 40 43.
• Yao Clan, Pill Tower, and allied Central Plains factions — Cooperate with Soul Hall forces against the resurrected demon hall masters and subsequent corruption 41 43.

Notable Quotes

“Remember your identity. A Soul Hall Walker has no need for mercy!”
— Soul Hall Steward, ordering the Black Wind Village purge 4.

“Xiao Yan! Remember your promise. Protect this continent!”
— Soul Hall envoy, before burning his soul origin 24.

“Do not doubt those you employ, and do not employ those you doubt.”
— Sixth Elder, granting Xiao Yan access to branch resources 40.