Chapter 1447: Entering the Soul-Suppression Palace

For a cultivator with such aptitude, it would be a lie for the young man to say he wasn’t jealous, but he had no way to fail Li Yan’s assessment.

This was because every time the assessment formation operated, the images inside would be recorded and preserved. This was a separate formation that Great Master Lan had specifically added.

Her purpose was so she could come over periodically to check on how others used the formation, gain inspiration, and continuously improve it.

Otherwise, if she went through all this effort, spending a huge amount of “Soul Crystal Sprouts” to purchase soul spirits and leaving this formation here, the feedback she received would be limited. She couldn’t just rely on the verbal accounts of the disciples here, could she? What would be the point then?

The young man’s face remained impassive. Earlier, through the arts Li Yan had displayed in the long alley, he could see that some of his techniques did indeed bear the shadow of the Soul-Suppression Palace.

Although he was not very familiar with the Soul-Slaying Sect’s techniques, he knew that this sect had originally branched off from the Soul-Suppression Palace.

Therefore, with the shadow of the Soul-Suppression Palace in Li Yan’s techniques, he naturally believed Li Yan’s identity in his heart.

In fact, any cultivator who could walk freely in the “Earth-True Domain” was basically of unquestionable identity. They had to be soul cultivators to do so.

Therefore, the main purpose of screening cultivators was simply to confirm whether they were soul cultivators. Of course, outsider soul cultivators still had to be treated differently.

“Hehehe… Fellow Daoist Li’s techniques are truly exquisite. I’m impressed, truly impressed! My name is Wang Chengfeng. I’ll arrange for someone to take you to the ‘Strange Sparrow Hall’ now. If you have any problems, Fellow Daoist Li, feel free to come and find me.”

The young man suppressed the various thoughts in his heart and said to Li Yan with a smile.

“Then many thanks, Fellow Daoist Wang!”

Li Yan’s face was still pale, and his whole body was still trembling slightly. It was clear that he had consumed too much soul power just now.

Seeing Li Yan in this state also made the young man feel a little better. The other party had also risked his life to achieve such a surprising result.

So, he immediately summoned a Golden Core disciple, gave him some quick instructions, and had the disciple lead Li Yan away.

Watching the still slightly trembling figure retreat, a sharp glint flashed in the young man’s eyes several times.

“This person’s performance in breaking through the trial was vastly different from others. I should report this matter to Great Master Lan as soon as possible!”

The young man thought quickly to himself. Although Great Master Lan would personally come over every so often to carefully inspect the assessment recordings, if he informed her in a timely manner, he would surely gain her favor. An opportunity to curry favor with Great Master Lan was not to be missed.

Later, he could interact with this Li Yan a few more times. Based on their conversation just now, Li Yan seemed to have a very peaceful personality. He could try to get to know him first and see how things go.

He still needed to determine whether Li Yan possessed a secret art or was just born with a powerful soul, giving him a higher starting point in cultivation than others…

High in the sky, Li Yan followed behind a Golden Core cultivator. He carefully observed his surroundings while constantly pondering the previous assessment in his mind.

When he finally came out, he had also seen the strange look on the young man’s face. Li Yan wasn’t sure what that young man had seen.

When he was melting the ice and snow, he had been trying his best to control his soul power, striving to maintain it at the level of an Initial-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.

If he were truly a soul cultivator, he wouldn’t be afraid of exposing his true soul power. However, his level of soul arts was not on the same level as his soul power at all; the disparity was too great.

If it weren’t for his foundation in “Soul-Tugging Execution,” which gave him considerable experience in soul attacks, with only ten-odd years of practicing soul arts, the best he could do was pretend to be a Golden Core realm soul cultivator.

Before coming, he had even considered that if the assessment involved fighting someone, he might even use the Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike, but at most he would only use…

That way, Li Yan felt he could make his impersonation more convincing. He was most proficient with “Wave-Hiding Soul-Slaying Art,” truly able to control it at will and accurately limit himself to any realm below Nascent Soul.

But the content of the later assessment was both a pleasant and alarming surprise for him.

For this trial, with Li Yan’s current soul strength and his preliminary understanding of soul cultivation methods, if the attacking soul spirits were all at the Initial or Mid-stage Nascent Soul level, Li Yan felt he could charge out a distance of five to six hundred zhang. If they were replaced with Late-stage Nascent Soul soul spirits, Li Yan wouldn’t have much confidence.

After all, the Late-stage Nascent Soul realm was vastly different from the first two stages. Li Yan had never experienced it firsthand, so he didn’t dare to make any bold claims.

Although Li Yan felt he could charge out a very long way, how could he really do that?

When the long alley first appeared, it had startled Li Yan. But when he was truly charging through, Li Yan discovered that there was a big problem with the soul spirits in this long alley.

First, the power of their attacks was not as formidable as he had imagined, which was somewhat beyond Li Yan’s expectations. If all the attacks were of this power, Li Yan felt he might even be able to charge to the end of the alley in one go.

He remembered when he was in the Hellsoul Clan’s Underground Long Alley, every soul spirit there possessed the peak combat power of its realm. Their attacks were extremely fierce, and they could even coordinate with each other.

Even when Li Yan was initially dealing with just a group of Foundation Establishment soul spirits, it had caused him, a Golden Core realm cultivator, to suffer greatly, feeling so much pain he wished he were dead. Of course, this was also related to his soul strength not being sufficient at the beginning.

But the soul spirits that appeared here today, although also quite fierce, seemed too frenzied. They gave Li Yan an uncontrollable feeling.

The power they unleashed was constantly being consumed by some unconscious, frenzied actions, wasting a lot of soul power.

Moreover, the soul spirits in this formation all attacked on their own. Many of their attacks canceled each other out under the influence of their mutual techniques.

Although Li Yan had never encountered Nascent Soul-level soul spirits in the Hellsoul Clan’s Underground Long Alley, by looking at the power of these Nascent Soul realm soul spirits’ attacks and combining it with his past experience, he could still guess at a different outcome.

If he were in the Underground Long Alley today and encountered these Nascent Soul-level soul spirits, he might really run out of soul power and be defeated after advancing about five to six hundred zhang.

During the process of breaking through, Li Yan became even more certain of other things.

Where the soul spirits in this formation would basically appear, and how far the next soul spirit would be from his position—the results of his guesses had almost no error.

“Someone is using a formation to imitate that place from the ‘Hellsoul Clan,’ but its true power is only about half.

If the Soul-Suppression Palace is related to the ‘Hellsoul Clan,’ how could they lose such an important inheritance?

Could it be that because the Soul-Suppression Palace also consists of soul cultivators, they obtained some similar technique manuals when they were in the lower realm, which led to this imitation…”

Li Yan continuously pondered what had just happened.

But due to his lack of true understanding of soul cultivators, he still hadn’t realized that what he considered a decent performance had, in fact, already surpassed the limits of his realm, raising suspicions in others!

Behind the mountain gate, the sky had become clear and vast, as if washed clean.

This time, after flying out of the building, Li Yan finally took a careful look at his surroundings.

Looking out from inside the mountain gate, the gate that reached straight into the clouds seemed like an invisible barrier stretching across the land.

Outside the mountain gate, black qi swirled, as if the space between heaven and earth was filled with an endless black, yin wind, giving people an extremely sinister and eerie feeling.

It was as if stepping out of the mountain gate was stepping into the ghostly realm of the underworld. This was the psychological intimidation the mountain gate presented to enemies.

Inside the mountain gate was a vast valley, with many cultivators coming and going. Li Yan sensed the fluctuations in the world and also noticed many Nascent Soul cultivators shuttling back and forth.

This situation was like the Malevolent Spirit Sect, where Golden Core cultivators flew around all day. This level of cultivator was not too many, but not too few either.

Only here, Nascent Soul cultivators were no longer some ancestors, but just a group of ordinary cultivators.

When those people saw Li Yan and his companion, they mostly glanced at the disciple in front, then let their gazes linger on Li Yan for a moment longer, but no one came forward to ask questions.

The valley was about a thousand li in scope. Although the sun shone brightly, and the surroundings were filled with blooming flowers and green grass like a painting, presenting a peaceful and quiet scene, Li Yan still had a feeling of unease. It was a feeling several times more dangerous than when he was outside the mountain gate.

They were flying at a decent speed. After flying for some distance, the disciple seemed to have sensed what Li Yan was thinking.

With a neither servile nor overbearing attitude, he spoke softly.

“Senior, this is still considered the mountain gate area, but it’s called the Inner Mountain Gate. I believe Senior has probably heard about our sect’s situation before, but this might be… The sect was built within a perilous land. The Inner Mountain Gate we are flying through now was actually the place where the miasma in the perilous land was most rampant back then.

But now, these deadly things have long been integrated into the Sect-Protecting Grand Formation and are still continuously accumulating.

They will only be released all at once to deal with enemies. At that time, even a Void Refining cultivator might not be able to gain an advantage here.”

The Golden Core disciple’s orders were to lead this senior to the “Strange Sparrow Hall” for registration, which meant that this senior would soon become a fellow disciple of the same sect.

Although it was the “Strange Sparrow Hall,” which had the lowest status among the three halls, he was, after all, a Nascent Soul realm disciple.

Only the core Golden Core realm disciples from the other two halls might not need to be too concerned about his cultivation level and could be less respectful in their attitude when meeting him.

But he was just an ordinary disciple of the “Arc Arrow Hall,” and naturally couldn’t compare to those core disciples.

Therefore, knowing what the other party wanted to know was just a matter of a few simple words for him. There was no harm in doing such a favor, as he might need the other party’s help one day.

“Oh? You’re saying the place we’re flying through now is actually within that layer of miasma?”

“Yes, Senior!”

Li Yan indeed asked with some surprise.

Only then did he understand in his heart. No wonder he felt a little uncomfortable here. It was an instinctive resistance born from being in danger.

From the gray-haired old man’s memories, he had also obtained a lot of information about the Soul-Suppression Palace. When they were exploring this perilous land back then, even the Supreme Elder, who was already at the Void Refining realm, was not very confident about entering.

Among them…

“With the help of favorable weather and geographical conditions, the Soul-Suppression Palace has forged this place into an iron wall. It would be very difficult for other sects to break through from the front if they wanted to replace it…”

The Soul-Suppression Palace’s area was divided into five regions. In front was the thousand-li mountain gate, and behind it was a vast, flat plain. That plain was divided into three areas for the Arc Arrow Hall, the Subduing Stars Hall, and the Strange Sparrow Hall.

There was no obvious distinction between them. At a glance, the various buildings, though not dense, were scattered like stars, resembling a huge city.

The Arc Arrow Hall was in charge of punishment and slaughter, serving as a sharp sword for the Soul-Suppression Palace, both internally and externally.

The Subduing Stars Hall was in charge of alchemy and artifact refining, a crucial place for the Soul-Suppression Palace. Treasures like the “Soul Slip” and “Void Shadow” were all created by them.

The Strange Sparrow Hall was essentially the outer sect, responsible for various miscellaneous affairs of the sect, as well as external trade and transactions. Although its status was not as high as the other two halls, it actually held considerable power.

For instance, medicinal pills and magical treasures refined by the Subduing Stars Hall had to be traded with the outside world through the Strange Sparrow Hall. They were not allowed to trade with other sects individually.

But if it was medicinal pills, magical treasures, etc., needed by cultivators within the sect, then everything depended on the Subduing Stars Hall’s disposition.

You could even provide the raw materials and find a cultivator in the Subduing Stars Hall to refine pills or artifacts for you individually, but the fee would certainly be very high.

Although the Strange Sparrow Hall controlled external trade, cultivators from other sects who wanted to enter the Soul-Suppression Palace needed to have their identities verified by the Arc Arrow Hall first.

But the various cultivation resources needed by the Arc Arrow Hall had to come from these two halls.

In fact, the three halls were in a relationship of mutual restraint and cooperation. No single one could dominate.

And behind this great plain, there was an isolated mountain peak that reached into the clouds. At the top of the mountain was the core of the entire sect, the location of the Soul-Suppression Palace.

The Palace Master, the Supreme Elder, and the guard army resided there. They almost never appeared throughout the year, and few people ever saw them.

And behind this isolated mountain peak was a large area shrouded in black fog that never dispersed throughout the year.

The black fog was like a natural barrier, stretching between heaven and earth, making it impossible for people to know what was within the black fog.

As for the current layout of the entire sect, the disciples of the Soul-Suppression Palace all knew that when this perilous land was first discovered, it did not look like this.

Apart from the valley at the mountain gate in front, the area behind it was an endless mountain range with dense vegetation.

But later, after…

The area behind the isolated peak was an unexplored perilous land. Although there were some explored safe areas, it was mostly unknown and dangerous, and disciples were not allowed to enter.

To prevent some disciples from secretly approaching and sneaking in, the sect set up a protective formation there, turning the area behind the mountain into a forbidden land of the sect.

Thus, the Arc Arrow Hall was in the east, the Subduing Stars Hall in the center, and the Strange Sparrow Hall in the west, all overlooked by the isolated peak behind them.

This gave the Soul-Suppression Palace on the mountain an added sense of hierarchy and majestic pressure, which was invisibly engraved in the heart of every disciple of the Soul-Suppression Palace.

The two of them flew continuously, accompanied by other brilliant long arcs of light in the sky, a scene of immortal prosperity.

Below were exquisite pavilions, surrounded by rich, cloud-like spiritual energy. This spiritual energy was as thick and white as milk, forming long and short, irregular bands of spiritual energy between heaven and earth.

Traveling here, one’s chest and abdomen were constantly filled with a comfortable spiritual energy that joyfully shuttled through the body.

Occasionally, the crisp chirping of spirit birds would echo through the world, making one feel that even the sunlight in the sky was full of vibrant life.

It instantly made one feel refreshed and sigh at what a beautiful paradise this was.

After the Golden Core cultivator had led Li Yan for over half an hour, flying over region after region, they finally landed in front of a magnificent building in the western part of the plain.

In front of this building was a large, wide square of more than ten acres. The two of them landed on the steps before the main gate.

At this moment, many cultivators were coming and going at the gate. Most of them just glanced at Li Yan, and seeing his unfamiliar face, they paid him no more mind and went straight on their way…

“Senior, this is the deacon’s main hall of the Strange Sparrow Hall. Please follow me!”

After the Golden Core cultivator finished speaking, he led the way through the crowd and walked into the gate…

A quarter of an hour later, inside a room, Li Yan stood before a large table, holding a black jade bracelet.

The Golden Core disciple was long gone. In the room, there were only Li Yan and a fat, middle-aged cultivator behind the table.

“Fellow Daoist Li, the sect rules that should be mentioned have all been recorded in the Soul Slip. What I’ve told you are the precepts that you must pay special attention to.

Not a single one of these precepts can be broken. Otherwise, you will surely be taken away by the Arc Arrow Hall for severe punishment. Once there, even the King of Hell would have a layer of skin peeled off.

What are we soul cultivators most proficient in? Of course, it’s extracting souls and refining spirits. The people in the Arc Arrow Hall have hundreds of ways to do just that. It’s absolutely several times more terrifying than entering the eighteen levels of hell.

Alright, as people from the same hall, I’ve said what I can. Also, every cultivator has five missions within a hundred years.

The missions you accept must correspond to your own level. Otherwise, even if you complete the mission, it won’t count as a centennial mission.

The Mission Hall is a place shared by the three halls and one palace and is not under the jurisdiction of the three halls. If Fellow Daoist Li is interested now, after leaving the main hall, fly north for another five hundred li, and you’ll find it with a little inquiry.”

After the fat, middle-aged cultivator said this, he actually picked up a teapot on the table and drank from it mouth-to-mouth with a gurgling sound. A smile appeared on Li Yan’s face.

“May I ask Fellow Daoist Gao, what are those missions?”

“All sorts of things. Like hunting down fleeing evil spirit cultivators, raising soul spirits of the same level, exploring perilous lands, and so on. There are even missions for planting ‘Soul Crystal Sprouts’!”

“Oh, thank you very much, Fellow Daoist Gao!”

The Soul-Suppression Palace certainly wouldn’t support idlers. Five missions in a hundred years might seem few, but Li Yan could guess that such missions would not be simple.

Like the mission of planting “Soul Crystal Sprouts” mentioned by the fat, middle-aged cultivator.

Something even mortals could do, yet it appeared here, and the other party mentioned it knowing his realm. This meant that this mission had special requirements and would definitely not be that simple.

But Li Yan didn’t want to go and accept any missions right now.

In his black jade bracelet, there were four sets of black Soul-Suppression Palace disciple robes and a few bottles of soul power recovery pills.

Fifty three-hundred-year “Soul Crystal Sprouts,” one thousand mid-grade spirit stones, a soul stone with the sect rules recorded on it, as well as fifty blank soul stones and a red sect token.

These were the items issued by the sect to newly joined disciples. They seemed quite good, but Li Yan, who had just joined the sect, was anxious to go to the Technique Transmission Pavilion right now.

There were only two things Li Yan was most anxious about in his heart:

One was to obtain the Soul-Suppression Palace’s cultivation methods; he needed to increase his cultivation level as soon as possible. The other was news about leaving the “Earth-True Domain,” but this was something that couldn’t be rushed for the time being.