Fleeing frantically for his life, he did not have the luxury of choosing his path. Thus, he just moved according to his instincts, heading to wherever it brought him to.
To make things worse, the royal palace was massive, and there were many buildings that resembled one another. Staring at the countless buildings in the area, he couldn’t help but fall into a daze.
To think that the esteemed Principal Zhang of the Master Teacher Academy… would actually get lost!
If he was in close proximity to his body, he might have still been able to sense it. However, putting aside the fact that he was quite a distance away at the moment, the royal palace was filled with formations and experts, resulting in a multitude of auras permeating the area, making it nigh impossible for him to sense his physical body.
Perhaps, he might be able to find his way around if he were to fly to a sufficiently high altitude, but after the previous incident, he knew that there were soul experts around the royal palace. With his presence made known, he couldn’t guarantee that there weren’t soul experts keeping a lookout over the airspace as well.
On top of that, the middle-aged man was likely still looking for him at the moment. He didn’t have the confidence to be able to flee from the other party once more.
He had been able to catch the other party off-guard with the Slaughter Formation earlier, but such a trick was unlikely to work twice.
As long as I head in single direction persistently, I should be able to get out of the royal palace…
Unable to find his direction and daring not to fly high, Zhang Xuan could only resort to the most unsophisticated method in the book.
He had once heard that if a person found themself lost inside a completely dark cave, the best way out was to continue advancing forward along the wall. No matter how deep the cave might be, one should eventually be able to find a way out.
This was the very method he had decided to employ. With all of the buildings identical to one another, if he were to attempt to return via his original route, putting aside the fact that he could very well bump into the middle-aged man once more, it was questionable whether he would be able to find the main hall or not.
Thus, the best option lying before him was to simply continue advancing in a single direction all the way to the end.
The royal palace was large, but he should eventually reach its end. Once he left the royal palace, he should be able to determine his location and find his way back to the palace entrance and the main hall.
Alright, this direction then! Having made up his mind, Zhang Xuan decided on a direction and began to move.
As a soul, he could float over the walls easily. As long as he didn’t go too high, it shouldn’t be easy for the soul experts in the royal palace to sense him.
What was troublesome were the formations in the courtyard and the occasional patrols in the area, so he had to move carefully.
However, it was fortunate that he possessed the Eye of Insight, and the soul cultivation technique he cultivated was the Heaven’s Path Soul Art too, allowing him to conceal his aura. Unless it was a Saint realm expert specializing in the study of souls, he should be able to bypass most patrols without an issue.
After passing by six residences, a bizarrely large residence suddenly appeared before him.
What is this place?
What had caught his eye about the residence was the immense Breath Isolation Formation set up around the area to conceal what was within.
Is there some kind of unspeakable secret concealed inside? Or… could it be that the Bodhi Saint Tree is in there?
The main purpose of the Breath Isolation Formation was to cast a barrier over the auras within, making it impossible for those outside to sense what was inside. For the ground to be protected by a Breath Isolation Formation instead of the usual defensive formations for the other residences, it seemed like there was something really important inside that the royal family was trying to hide.
Curious, Zhang Xuan slipped through the Breath Isolation Formation and began scanning the area.
This seems to be some kind of trial grounds. Am I already out of the palace?
The first thing he noticed was that there were many Strength Measuring Rock Pillars scattered throughout the courtyard, reminiscent of a training ground.
But the royal palace had its own barracks for soldiers to train at. Why would there be so many Strength Measuring Rock Pillars in this large residence?
Intrigued, Zhang Xuan wandered around the residence to take a look, and at the other end, he saw two walls lined side by side to form a narrow alley. Closing in, there seemed to be some sort of inscription on two walls.
“There are seven conventional ways that one can cultivate one’s soul. First, conception of intention. Second, facing one’s negative emotions. Third…”
There were various pieces of knowledge concerning the soul written on the two walls.
These are the bare basics to soul cultivation? Zhang Xuan thought.
The content contained on the walls was extremely simplistic, involving only the very basics of soul cultivation. It couldn’t even be compared to the Soul Guiding Method, which he had learned from Mo Hunsheng back then.
They were only useful to Consonant Spirit realm cultivators, who had just barely begun to start cultivating their souls.
The inscriptions extended from one end of the wall to the other. Reading on, Zhang Xuan began to inch deeper into the alley.
It seems like the cultivation techniques here are slightly more profound, Zhang Xuan remarked.
The knowledge contained on the portion of the wall deeper into the alley was slightly more profound than what he had read earlier on. Even though they still paled greatly in comparison to the cultivation techniques of the soul oracles, there was no doubt that they did have the effect of enhancing one’s soul energy if practiced diligently.
Staring into the depths of the long alley, Zhang Xuan curiously wondered, Does the content get more and more profound the further one proceeds into the alley?
Taking a few more steps in, he realized that the content became even more profound yet again. Perhaps, if he were to travel deep enough, the knowledge there could help to resolve the flaws existing in his Heaven’s Path Soul Art!
I still have some time before the banquet begins… Let’s do it then!
So far, it had only been ten minutes since he had left the main hall. He could still afford to explore a little longer.
Thus, he proceeded forward.
The content on the walls did get more and more profound the further he progressed. Even though it was still useless to him, it was at the level where an ordinary cultivator would consider it as a treasure.
Hmm? Why do I feel a slight pressure on my soul?
Proceeding slightly deeper, just as the end was in sight, he suddenly realized that there was some kind of force in his surroundings exerting pressure on his soul.
However, it was extremely weak. If he wasn’t paying any notice to it, he wouldn’t have even felt it.
Regardless of what it is, I should finish reading through the content on the walls first!
Knowing that there were profound soul cultivation techniques ahead of him, Zhang Xuan proceeded forward without any hesitation.
To him, the number of flaws in a soul cultivation technique didn’t matter. As long as he could gather a sufficient number of them to form a Heaven’s Path Soul Art, that would be enough. Thus, he took in all of the inscriptions on the wall without discriminating among them.
Wherever his gaze fell, the writings inscribed in the area would appear in the Library of Heaven’s Path in the form of a book.
By the time he reached the end of the alley, the complexity of the cultivation technique was already nearing the level of the Thousand Tempering Soul Refinement Art. It still wasn’t particularly profound, but at the very least, it wasn’t as unseemly as those he had seen earlier on.
At this point, the truth finally dawned on Zhang Xuan. From the basics to the advanced, this should be an area where the offspring of the royal family cultivate their soul…
The content at the very start of the alley was aimed at those who had just started cultivating their souls, and the profoundness deepened gradually the further one advanced. At the very end, the knowledge had begun to overlap with the stone tablets he had seen earlier.
Those who had reached this point should have already achieved a deep understanding of souls, not to his level perhaps, but at least on par with the middle-aged man he had encountered earlier.
Considering that these were valuable and rare soul cultivation techniques, it was no wonder the stone tablets he had encountered earlier were guarded by a grade-7 Slaughter Formation, and this residence was concealed by a Breath Isolation Formation.
After reading the final writing on the wall, Zhang Xuan shook his head in disappointment. But still, these soul cultivation techniques are still far too basic…
Ordinary cultivators might find these soul cultivation techniques profound, but as one who had inherited the heritage of the soul oracles, they were still too basic.
To make an analogy, it was like a college student taking on a junior school student’s work.
Nevertheless, one thing praiseworthy about it was that even though the cultivation techniques were simple, they were well-structured and complete, and it was definitely possible to cultivate a powerful soul expert through it.
It must have taken the royal family quite a lot of effort to gather and organize this.
Turning his gaze away from the walls, Zhang Xuan saw an average-sized round door at the end of the alley. Seemingly fortified by some kind of power, it stood tightly-shut.
He moved over to the door and attempted to push it open, only to find that it wouldn’t budge.
Humph! With a frown, Zhang Xuan gathered his soul energy and pushed forcefully.
Kacha!
The round door was blasted open, revealing a vast hall ahead.
Curious, Zhang Xuan moved into the hall.
Hong long!
As soon as Zhang Xuan entered the premises, he immediately felt a massive force crushing down on his soul, threatening to tear it apart.
Humph!
Zhang Xuan immediately drove his Heaven’s Path Soul Art and a golden glow rippled across his soul, significantly reducing the pressure exerted on him.
With his discomfort alleviated, he began to scan the room, and he swiftly found the culprit behind the crushing force on his soul—four glowing statues.
The statues were tall and powerfully-built. Two wielded swords while the remaining two wielded massive sabers. They emanated a powerful aura around them that exerted a huge pressure on those who entered the room. Those who were lacking in their soul cultivation might just find their souls dissipating in the face of that immense force.
One thing that Zhang Xuan swiftly noted about the hall after his recovery was that the spiritual energy in the area was extremely concentrated, to the point that it was nearly tangible. It was similar to the sensation he had felt when he first entered the Lake Eye of the Cleansing Lake.
Wait… This spiritual energy has the property of nourishing souls? Zhang Xuan’s eyes lit up in excitement.
As souls tended to be more fragile compared to physical bodies, they needed to be nourished by more soothing spiritual energy. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been so troubled over Wei Ruyan’s illness.
But while this spiritual energy can nourish souls, given that Wei Ruyan is still unconscious at the moment, even if I were to bring her here, she wouldn’t be able to absorb it either…
While the spiritual energy had the ability to nourish souls, Wei Ruyan couldn’t absorb and assimilate it into her soul given her lack of consciousness. This was also the reason why Zhang Xuan eventually chose to transfer her soul to a saint herb to nourish it.
But while she is unable to do so, I can. If I can strengthen my soul before treating her, I will be able to raise my chances of saving her!
With a stronger soul, he would be able to utilize his means as a soul oracle more effectively, which would be vital in rousing Wei Ruyan’s consciousness.
I should first see if I can compile the subsequent levels of the Heaven’s Path Soul Art first… With such a thought in mind, Zhang Xuan immersed his consciousness into the Library of Heaven’s Path.
Compile!
With a silent command, he compiled the soul oracle cultivation technique he had obtained from Mo Hunsheng with the numerous books that he had just collected.
Flipping it open, Zhang Xuan’s eyes lit up. A perfect Ethereal Treading realm Heaven’s Path Soul Art…
By compiling the Thousand Tempering Soul Refinement Art and the other soul cultivation techniques here along with Mo Hunsheng’s soul oracle cultivation technique, he had successfully produced the Transcendent Mortal 8-dan Heaven’s Path Soul Art!
With a dense concentration of spiritual energy optimized for a soul’s absorption in the area, this was a good opportunity for him to raise his soul cultivation from Perfect Harmonization realm pinnacle. Thus, without any hesitation, he immediately sat down.
Driving the Ethereal Treading realm Heaven’s Path Soul Art, his massive soul seemed to have turned into a Spirit Gathering Formation in an instant. The surrounding spiritual energy was swiftly drawn around him and disappeared into his soul.
Gugugugu!
Zhang Xuan’s soul cultivation swiftly rose.
Hong long!
Before long, with a crisp echo, he had managed to achieve a breakthrough to Ethereal Treading realm.
Ethereal Treading realm intermediate stage.
Ethereal Treading realm advanced stage.
Ethereal Treading realm pinnacle!
Half an hour later, his cultivation had already reached Ethereal Treading realm pinnacle, and his strength rose to 20,000,000 ding!
Great!
With the breakthrough in his soul cultivation, his analytical ability had been enhanced, and his spirit had grown even more lively. By the time he looked at his surroundings once more, he realized that he had devoured nearly all of the spiritual energy in the room.
The four statues before him had also lost their glow, seemingly on the verge of breaking apart after being deprived of their energy source.
