The morning light had just spilled over the crenellations of the city wall, turning the dirt road at the city gate into a long, dark golden ribbon.
Xiao Yan gray cloak billowed gently in the morning breeze behind him, while Lin Wan'er followed in the carriage behind. Apart from the two of them, no one else accompanied them.
Their purpose was to first go to Birch City, which is not far from Tianbei City, and then take a flying Magical Beast to the location of the Wind Lightning Pavilion.
Without Chen Yuanzhou and Lin Li seeing him off, Xiao Yan had already drunk with them the day before.
Emboldened by the alcohol, Chen Yuanzhou rambled on for a few moments, saying that he had once received an invitation to the Wind Lightning Pavilion's trials, but he was struck down by Thunder Force Fire Path after only passing the first test, an experience he would never forget.
Lin Li spoke very little, only repeatedly reminding everyone to Xiao Xin in everything.
The official road was sparsely populated with pedestrians and caravans; it was late spring, the off-season for travel to and from the Northern Province.
The wheat in the fields by the roadside had just sprouted ears, and the morning breeze stirred up layers of green waves. The air was filled with the unique sweet and pungent smell of freshly turned soil and the faint smoke of firewood drifting from afar.
Occasionally, caravans would come from the opposite direction, and upon seeing the markings of Xiao Yan and the Lin Clan's carriage, they would all make way for them.
Lin Wan'er sat quietly in the carriage. The curtain was half-lifted, revealing half of her profile—she hadn't taken the initiative to talk to Xiao Yan much along the way.
She's been like this for the past few days; if Xiao Yan doesn't ask, she won't say anything.
But every mealtime, she would peek out of the carriage, either holding dry food or a bowl of hot soup from a thermal food container.
Xiao Yan took the bowl from her, and she immediately pulled her head back, remaining quiet as if afraid of disturbing something.
On the morning of the third day after leaving Tianbei City, Xiao Yan and Lin Wan'er arrived at Birch City.
This city was more than twice the size of Tianbei City, with walls reaching a height of fifteen zhang (approximately 33 meters) and entirely constructed of bluish-gray granite.
A huge thunder emblem—the symbol of the Wind Lightning Pavilion —hangs above the city gate, indicating that this city is directly under the jurisdiction of the Wind Lightning Pavilion.
Xiao Yan reined in his horse at the city gate and glanced up at the emblem.
The invitation Chen Yuanzhou gave him had the same design printed on it. He put the invitation away, dismounted, handed the reins to the stable boy at the city gate, and led Lin Wan'er toward the city center.
The main street of Birch City is much wider than that of Tianbei City, with shops lining both sides of the street.
Xiao Yan didn't linger on the street; he went straight to the flying transport company located next to the city center square.
This is a three-story brick building with the flag of the Wind Lightning Pavilion hanging on the flagpole in front of the door.
The lobby was bustling with people, and several employees in uniform were busy behind the counter.
Xiao Yan walked to the counter, and a young shop assistant looked up, glanced at him, and asked, "Where are you going?"
" Wind Lightning City."
How many people?
"Two."
The waiter looked down and flipped through a page of the ledger:
"The last transport team to Wind Lightning City departed late; the cost for two people is 600 gold."
The flying Magical Beast is the Iron Winged Eagle. The journey takes four days, with a one-night stop at Falling Eagle Gorge for supplies. Upon arriving at Wind Lightning City, the Iron Winged Eagle will remain there for three days. If you do not return within those three days, it will fly back on its own.
Xiao Yan did not haggle, and took out six hundred gold coins from the Black Dragon and placed them on the counter.
The clerk counted them, tore off a receipt with a special mark, and handed it to him.
After leaving the flight transport company, Xiao Yan stood at the entrance for a while.
People came and went in the square, and a few small flying Magical Beast swept overhead, casting brief shadows.
Lin Wan'er stood beside him, also looking up at the flying Magical Beast.
The airfield outside the Birch City is a large, flat open space enclosed by a wooden fence, with a thick layer of sand on the ground to cushion the impact of flying Magical Beast taking off and landing.
Seven or eight flying Magical Beast of various sizes were perched on the open ground. The largest one, Iron Winged Eagle, lay in the center of the field. Its gray-brown feathers resembled layers of iron plates, and its folded wings looked like two huge shields.
Its hooked beak was longer than Xiao Yan's arm, and a tuft of dark red crest feathers stood upright on its head.
Xiao Yan handed the receipt to the foreman, who glanced at it and pointed to the back of the Iron Winged Eagle:
He helped Lin Wan'er step onto the wooden ladder and climb onto the broad back of the Iron Winged Eagle.
A saddle made of vines and wood was placed on the eagle's back, with windproof covers nailed to both sides of the saddle—windproof cloaks made of animal hides and wooden frames, capable of blocking most of the high-altitude air currents.
Xiao Yan had Lin Wan'er sit in the innermost seat, while he sat on the outermost seat.
Once everyone was seated, the Iron Winged Eagle let out a low hiss and flapped its wings violently.
The massive wings slapped against the air, producing a deep roar, and the sand on the ground was blown into a cloud of grayish-yellow dust.
The eagle's back bounced violently a few times before gradually stabilizing after passing through the low-altitude turbulence.
Birch City shrank rapidly beneath our feet, its streets becoming thin lines on a chessboard, and its walls transforming into a gray-white square.
The Iron Winged Eagle continued to climb, passing through a thin layer of clouds, and suddenly the view opened up before it—a sky so blue it was almost blinding above, and an endless sea of white clouds below.
The sea of clouds was as flat as a wasteland that had just been covered in snow, with only a few particularly tall mountain peaks peeking out from the clouds in the distance, like isolated islands on the sea.
Xiao Yan turned his head and took out the " Soul Refining Technique ".
The Dou Technique seized from Yin Li's Storage Ring is missing some profound core chapters, but it is still extremely useful to Xiao Yan!
The creator of the Soul Refining Technique wrote a sentence at the beginning of this secret manual:
"The soul is the essence of humanity. The physical body may be destroyed, but the soul cannot be extinguished. The ultimate Soul Power can break all laws."
He had read this sentence before, but his understanding of soul attacks mostly relied on the natural advantage of Soul Division, and he did not delve into the true meaning of the general principles.
Now he infused a wisp of Soul Power into the scroll, and the words on the scroll slowly lit up under the stimulation of the Soul Power, casting a faint golden light in his sea of consciousness.
Xiao Yan closed his eyes and began to circulate his Spiritual Soul Power according to the method recorded on the scroll.
Spiritual Soul Power is different from Dou Qi. Dou Qi flows through the meridians, leaving traces and rules to follow.
The Spiritual Soul Power, however, permeated the sea of consciousness like mist, formless and intangible, and elusive.
The vast majority of cultivators never even touch the threshold of soul cultivation in their entire lives; they can only instinctively use their soul perception but cannot actively temper their soul itself.
The reason why the Soul Refining Technique is listed as a secret method by the Yellow Springs Pavilion is because it is one of the few Dou Technique that can systematically cultivate Spiritual Soul Power.
From the most basic enhancement of soul perception to soul defense, and then to active soul attacks—soul searching, soul piercing, Soul Projection, and the most difficult Nine Nether Soul Spike —each level involves cutting into the soul itself, and each breakthrough is a tempering of the soul.
Xiao Yan channeled his Spiritual Soul Power, allowing it to slowly circulate within his sea of consciousness.
The nascent form of the Soul Spike floated in the center of the sea of consciousness, its surface no longer entirely covered in blurry mist, but exhibiting a semi-transparent crystalline texture.
However, there were still a few fine cracks inside the crystal, which were the aftereffects of forcibly separating the soul fragments.
If these cracks are not repaired, the Soul Spike may disintegrate from the inside when it actually collides with an enemy.
He focused his attention on one of the cracks and used his Spiritual Soul Power to fill it in little by little.
This process is extremely tedious, like repeatedly threading an invisible needle through a crack that is not visible to the naked eye.
The crack is less than one percent the width of a hair, and each filling can only advance a negligible amount.
The Iron Winged Eagle continued its steady flight, the sea of clouds slowly receding beneath its feet.
Lin Wan'er also curled up in the saddle and fell asleep, her soft breathing mingling with the sound of the wind.
Xiao Yan remained seated cross-legged, motionless.
Two hours later, the first crack was finally completely filled.
Xiao Yan opened his eyes, his brow slightly burning – a normal reaction to excessive circulation of his Spiritual Soul Power.
He raised his hand to rub his temples, took out a water pouch from his Storage Ring, took a sip, and then closed his eyes again.
This time, instead of continuing to repair the cracks, he turned his attention to the nascent Soul Spike itself in his sea of consciousness.
The reason why the cultivation threshold of the Nine Nether Soul Spike is so high is that it requires the condensation of a "materialized" Soul Spike in the sea of consciousness - not Soul Projection, not an extension of perception, but a real, materialized soul weapon that can be used to attack outside the body.
Once this Soul Spike is formed, it can ignore the opponent's physical defenses and directly attack the Soul Origin.
If used skillfully, it can momentarily plunge the enemy's soul into a state of temporary blankness.
For him, this secret technique has an additional use— the Soul Division can carry out Soul Spike, allowing him to launch a sneak attack on the soul level independently.
This means that in the midst of battle, while the main body attracts attention from the front, the Soul Division can be used to deliver a Soul Spike strike from behind, thus increasing the chances of turning the tide of battle.
Of course, all of this is Soul Division on the ability to return to one's original focus.
Before his Soul Division returned to normal, he could only use his Spiritual Soul Power to activate the Soul Spike.
Xiao Yan focused his mind and channeled his Soul Power into the nascent Soul Spike. Nourished by the Soul Power, the Soul Spike trembled slightly, and the unrepaired cracks on its surface swayed gently.
He didn't rush to accelerate, but Xiao Xin controlled the flow of his Soul Power, as if he were pouring water into a cracked porcelain bottle—too fast and it would crack, too slow and it would be useless, it had to be just right.
Unbeknownst to him, the Soul Power within his body was also subtly changing.
The Soul Power within the meridians rises and falls like the tide, with each rise and fall accompanied by a barely perceptible increase.
He had just broken through to level 55 before leaving Tianbei City, and his realm was not yet fully stable.
At this moment, with the repeated circulation of Spiritual Soul Power, the Soul Power Spiritual Soul Power the dantian is also being driven to flow faster.
The speed at which Soul Power circulates in the meridians is getting faster and faster, and the Soul Power accumulated in the dantian is becoming more and more abundant.
Xiao Yan sensed this change—his cultivation level was approaching level 56, driven by his soul cultivation.
This is not surprising. The essence of Soul Refining Technique is the tempering of the soul, and the strength of the soul, in turn, promotes the growth of Soul Power.
He had already touched the thin barrier between level 55 and 56 when he sparred with Lin Li, but at that time his injuries had just healed and he did not have enough strength to break through it.
Meanwhile, the soul cultivation that lasted for several hours during the flight was equivalent to polishing that barrier in another way.
He took a deep breath and slightly increased the pace of the Soul Power circulating within his body.
A slight tremor came from the dantian, and the Soul Power in the meridians seemed to have encountered some kind of resonance, and began to spontaneously accelerate its circulation.
Xiao Yan did not force his way through the barrier, but instead allowed his Soul Power to rise naturally in line with this rhythm.
Breakthroughs are something that cannot be rushed; the more eager you are to break through, the more likely you are to leave hidden injuries on your meridians.
The Iron Winged Eagle flew past noon and then into the afternoon. The color of the sea of clouds changed from snow-white to light gray, and then from light gray to dark blue. The setting sun edged the clouds with a golden light, turning the entire sea of clouds orange-red.
Xiao Yan's body suddenly trembled slightly.
The Soul Power accumulated in the dantian finally broke through the barrier at this moment, flowing smoothly through the meridians for a complete cycle. The width and resilience of the meridians increased slightly but significantly, and the capacity of the dantian also expanded accordingly.