Chapter 1441: Stepping into Soul Cultivation

Li Yan emerged from a shop, his expression placid, betraying none of his inner thoughts. After a glance at the bustling crowds on the street, he quickly entered another establishment.

Given that the cultivation methods of the entire True Earth Domain originated almost entirely from the Soul Suppression Palace, any techniques that circulated publicly were certainly not their core arts. The Soul Suppression Palace would never permit such a thing. The various cultivation methods and soul arts found in the market were mostly those collected by soul cultivators who had been drawn into this realm in the past, or techniques they had developed themselves.

Li Yan had not yet opened the two Void Shadows to retrieve the Soul Crystal Sprouts from Wu Lei and the others. Moreover, due to their age, the sprouts could only be used in alchemy and were no longer suitable for direct trade.

Thus, his only recourse was to spare no Spirit Stones and purchase a variety of cultivation methods. He planned to study them thoroughly, combining them with the techniques and soul arts he had acquired through soul-searching.

His Soul Power had already reached the level of a Nascent Soul Realm soul cultivator. What he needed to do now was to quickly improve his application of soul arts.

It would be best if he could purchase a high-powered soul art. If not, even mastering basic soul arts to the minor or major accomplishment stage would be just as formidable. Back when he was below the Golden Core stage, the Gui Water Immortal Sect had only provided him with a cultivation method, leaving him with only basic arts to practice.

In any case, his requirement was to avoid a situation where, during the assessment, a Nascent Soul soul cultivator like himself would have trouble even executing basic soul arts…

Three days later, Li Yan’s figure appeared in a place called Soul-Severing City.

Inside Soul-Severing City, in a market that rented out Cave Residences, an attendant was pointing at a magically projected map in the air, explaining effusively.

“…Senior, now let’s look at this Cave Residence. It’s designated ‘Earth-B Four.’ A cultivator just happened to move out this month. That senior rented this place for four hundred years and successfully broke through to the Mid-stage Spirit Transformation Realm. Senior, you said you wanted something in the upper-middle range, and this Cave Residence is truly the best choice. The Spirit-Gathering Formation inside was personally inscribed by Great Master Mingke…”

Li Yan listened to the man’s eloquent speech with a smile, while his own eyes scanned the other points of light on the map.

This map depicted the terrain within a twenty-thousand-li radius of Soul-Severing City. The entire True Earth Domain was only just over three million li across, so the area any single faction could control was generally limited. This was especially true for places rich in Spiritual Energy and cultivation resources, which were coveted by many powers.

The scenery on the aerial map was a perfect replica of real mountains and rivers; the rivers and streams within it even flowed and gurgled ceaselessly… The trees and green grass on the mountains seemed to sway gently in a phantom wind, presenting a vibrant scene of green mountains, clear waters, and flourishing life.

Even the scenery of Soul-Severing City itself was rendered with lifelike detail on the map, complete with ant-sized figures walking back and forth.

Two colors of light twinkled on the map: red indicated that a residence was occupied, while white meant it was vacant.

When Li Yan had entered and stated his need to rent a Cave Residence, the attendant had immediately become enthusiastic. From then on, he had been endlessly recommending one place after another.

First were several Cave Residences within the city, followed by the Heaven-A rank Cave Residences outside the city. After listening for only a short while, Li Yan had to interrupt him.

Every Cave Residence the attendant recommended was outrageously expensive. The prices were so high they startled even Li Yan. A Cave Residence within the city, occupying an area of fifty zhang (TN: A zhang is a Chinese unit of length, roughly 3.33 meters), cost two hundred thousand Mid-grade Spirit Stones for just ten years. Even the Heaven-A rank Cave Residences outside the city were not much cheaper.

Li Yan thought for a moment and then stated that he only needed a choice in the upper-middle range…

Listening to the man’s torrent of recommendations, Li Yan suddenly raised a hand and pointed to a white dot on the map in the air.

“What is the rental price for this Cave Residence?”

Seeing the white dot Li Yan was pointing at, the heart of the still-speaking attendant sank. That was a D-rank Cave Residence, and in an extremely remote location at that. The price would naturally be much lower.

“Senior, didn’t you say you wanted something in the upper-middle range? That one is just D-rank…”

A quarter of an hour later, under the attendant’s somewhat resentful gaze, Li Yan held an azure token in his hand and left Soul-Severing City, flying northwest.

He flew for more than ten thousand li, during which he was stopped and questioned twice more, before finally coming to a halt, hovering above a low hill.

Li Yan looked around. Aside from this hundred-zhang-tall hill, the surroundings were a vast expanse of weeds and vegetation. It was a sprawling hilly landscape that stretched boundlessly into the distance…

Within a hundred-li radius of this low hill, however, there was a decent convergence of Spiritual Energy. The slopes of the hill were also covered in lush greenery. There were no rivers nearby, only an endless sea of weeds of varying heights and numerous types. The occasional, echoing bird call was the only sound, making the place seem rather cold and desolate.

But it was precisely this remoteness and desolation that Li Yan favored. The nearest Cave Residence to this one was over a thousand li away, which Li Yan found quite satisfactory.

Li Yan did not descend immediately. He observed his surroundings carefully before flying down towards the hillside. At the same time, with a flick of the token in his hand, he activated a large-scale defensive restriction formation that covered a hundred-li radius around the hill.

As Li Yan descended, a semi-transparent, yellow-glowing passage suddenly appeared within the canopy of a tree on the hill. Li Yan stepped inside…

After entering the Cave Residence, Li Yan immediately began another thorough inspection. The place had clearly been inhabited before, so his main priority was to check for any hidden formations. The Cave Residence was quite spacious, five to six hundred zhang in size, all contained within the mountain’s belly. It was fully equipped with various chambers.

However, Li Yan rarely engaged in alchemy or artifact refining. Of the Hundred Arts of Cultivation, he practiced almost none, as he simply had no extra time. Moreover, aside from Zi Kun and Qian Ji, he did not raise many demonic beasts or spirit pets. The Gu-insects and Snow Mosquitoes required specific environments, so there was no need to take them out and place them here.

This was especially true now, in the True Earth Domain, where every attempt to communicate with his storage space via Divine Sense was an extremely draining affair. If he could avoid communicating with his storage space, he would not casually use his Divine Sense.

As a result, eighty percent of the rooms in this Cave Residence were essentially useless to him.

After a quick look around, Li Yan took out “Mo Kai” (TN: A name, likely of a formation plate or artifact) and began to set up his own restriction formations within the Cave Residence. The benefit of renting a Cave Residence was that the market proprietors provided the Spirit Stones for the daily consumption of the outer hundred-li formation. Of course, the wool still came from the sheep’s back, but as long as it wasn’t attacked, the daily operation of the formation didn’t consume too many Spirit Stones.

A key reason for renting here was that if one was attacked, cultivators would come to intervene, and might even directly attack the assailant. However, if someone had provoked an enemy and hoped to use the rented Cave Residence to fend them off, the situation would be entirely different. But if you explained the situation to the proprietors beforehand, and the power behind the market, after consideration, agreed to help, they could act on your behalf, though the cost would be considerable. If the power behind the market felt it wasn’t worth it and was unwilling to offend the other party, they would flatly refuse to rent out the Cave Residence. But if you acted deviously, attempting to conceal your purpose for renting, and trouble arose later, the cultivator who rented the residence would face a grim fate—a two-pronged pursuit from both their enemy and the power behind the market.

After arranging the Cave Residence, Li Yan finally felt satisfied. This time, he had rented it for a period of ten years, which had cost him nearly one hundred thousand Mid-grade Spirit Stones in one go.

Once Li Yan entered the cultivation chamber, he immediately sat cross-legged on a Prayer Mat. He then took out a Soul Slip and infused it with Soul Power. Soon, information materialized within the slip.

Inside the Soul Slip was a space that could be communicated with via Soul Power. Once Soul Power entered, one could use it to inscribe characters and patterns. To retrieve this content, one simply needed to extend their Soul Power into the space. However, one didn’t actually “see” the content inside, but rather sensed the traces left behind by Soul Power, then assembled and deciphered these traces themselves. These traces could be patterns or form written words.

Li Yan immersed his Soul Power and began to study it carefully.

Inscribed within the Soul Slip was a soul cultivator’s introductory cultivation method called the “Soul-Condensing Art.” This was the technique Li Yan had finally chosen after several days of searching in the market.

This method was a way to transform the soul into a state of “spirit,” that is, from formless to tangible. However, the version of this cultivation method sold in the shop only covered the cultivation levels from Qi Condensation to Spirit Transformation; the subsequent parts were missing. According to the shop assistant, the later parts might not have been created yet, suggesting it wasn’t an incomplete manual.

When cultivated to the Nascent Soul Realm, this method could only manifest a smoke-like form. If condensed into a human shape, the features would be indistinct and highly illusory. Nevertheless, it would be able to leave the physical body and cast some soul arts on its own.

For Li Yan, this was already an excellent cultivation method.

At the same time, Li Yan bought some basic soul arts, essentially of the offensive and defensive varieties. He had no time to practice auxiliary soul arts. He would practice these cultivation methods and soul arts by cross-referencing them with the basic techniques from the gray-robed elder’s memories.

Although these items could be easily bought in the market and might seem prone to being leaked, this was not the case. Foreign cultivators could not even enter the market; the inspections were extremely strict. They might even be discovered and killed while approaching.

As he studied the cultivation manual, the Soul Power within Li Yan’s body slowly began to change, and he soon sank into a state of cultivation…

In cultivation, there is no sense of years. Time is like willow catkins in the wind, transforming into a pond full of white snow over the seasons, drifting with the current, until the autumn leaves fall and scatter, becoming a lone boat that once again drifts away…

In a flash, eight years passed. On the summit of a back mountain of the Broken Army Sect, Shangguan Tianque, clad in white, and Ren Yanyu, in red, stood side by side.

At this moment, Ren Yanyu’s aura was contained yet gave off a feeling of being as deep as an abyss, as vast as the sea. She had already successfully reached the Spirit Transformation Realm.

“Senior Brother, there has been no word from Elder Li. Could he have been captured by the Golden-Winged Great Peng clan? Donglin Tingyue only said that they were separated during the pursuit, but during that time, Elder Li had sent a voice transmission to the three of them. Jia Fugui and that Dark Blaze Demondog both communicated with Elder Li, exchanging replies, but then lost contact. Why did the three of them return in the end, while Elder Li went missing? I find this matter exceedingly strange!” Ren Yanyu said softly.

As she spoke, her delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly, her face already showing displeasure.

She had achieved Spirit Transformation three years ago and had immediately chosen to enter seclusion to recover from her injuries. At the time, Shangguan Tianque had not informed her about Li Yan’s situation. It was only after emerging from seclusion today that she learned of the matter. Worry immediately filled her heart, and at the same time, she grew dissatisfied with the Donglin Family. They had caused Li Yan’s disappearance, and their explanation was incoherent.

With the current strength of the Broken Army Sect, if they were to make a move, the Donglin Family could surely be annihilated with ease, provided the Blood Lantern Sect did not intervene.