Chapter 1449: Choosing a Technique (Part One)
When Li Yan heard this, his heart tensed up once more. This Great Master Lan wasn’t finished yet. The crucial thing was that every one of her questions made Li Yan feel like he was sitting on pins and needles, deeply unsettled.
“Please, Senior, ask away!”
Li Yan could only force a smile onto his face, standing with his hands clasped.
“Hmm, the soul arts displayed by the soul spirits in the formation are partly instinctual attacks, and partly…”
Great Master Lan was very direct, immediately beginning her questioning again… However, after hearing her subsequent questions, Li Yan slowly began to relax.
These questions were only about his various feelings and judgments inside the long alley after he broke through. Great Master Lan’s focus had shifted back to her grand formation.
Once his heart had relaxed, Li Yan thought carefully before answering each question.
Much of his answers were actually based on his experiences in the Underground Long Alley of the “Hellsoul Clan.”
Great Master Lan listened carefully to Li Yan’s various replies, and occasionally, her purple eyes would light up.
After Li Yan had answered several questions, Great Master Lan did not immediately press on. Instead, she thought for a moment, then looked at Li Yan with her pair of purple eyes and suddenly made a request.
“Young friend, what do you think of this? You should have understood the sect’s rules by now; every disciple has five missions per century.
I can issue a very high-level mission, one that would typically be undertaken by a Spirit Transformation level cultivator.
Then, I will discuss with the Mission Hall to ensure that only you can accept this mission. Afterward, it will be considered as the completion of your five centennial missions.
Although the content of the mission will be painful, it will definitely not be dangerous. It is simply for you to cooperate with me in researching this formation for fifty years. Regardless of success or failure, the mission will be considered complete.
If, after a hundred years, I still need your cooperation, we can proceed with another round of missions under the same conditions. What do you think?”
Great Master Lan stared at Li Yan with a burning gaze. She wouldn’t believe his answers based on just a few words.
What Li Yan said could only serve as a reference for her. If he could cooperate with her to study the formation, she could test it according to her own will, which was what she truly needed.
Firstly, she could use Li Yan’s innate sharp senses to continuously adjust the formation. This would be even more effective than finding a Void Refining realm cultivator, as this was true innate perception.
If a truly strong expert were to participate in the research, their cultivation would be high, and their senses would be stronger, but that would be because of their high cultivation level, passively using their own magical power and soul power to judge.
Moreover, even if she could find other Void Refining experts to participate, there were only a few Void Refining realm soul spirits left in the sect now.
It would be difficult to squander them like this. With the two Body Integration Supreme Elders in seclusion, there was no one who could nurture them.
But Nascent Soul realm soul spirits were different; the sect had quite a few. Even consuming a few Spirit Transformation realm soul spirits a month was not a big problem. As long as she was willing to buy them, she could get them at any time.
When Li Yan heard this request, he immediately understood Great Master Lan’s meaning. He had sensed some problems with this formation when he was breaking through it.
Although this Great Master Lan didn’t know that he had seen the real version of this restriction formation, she had still keenly sensed something—that he would be of help to her.
At the same time, the terms of the deal she proposed were actually quite fair. Five missions in a hundred years, Li Yan had guessed before, would definitely not be easy, and might even be life-threatening.
But Li Yan would not agree to Great Master Lan, at least not right now. His own soul cultivation had problems.
Although his soul cultivation method and soul arts had improved, compared to a true Nascent Soul soul cultivator who had cultivated for several hundred years, his performance when casting arts was still clumsy.
Once he was with such an old monster, the chances of his flaws being exposed would only increase.
If Great Master Lan became suspicious, it was possible she would discover that he was not a soul cultivator. At that time, his fate would be self-evident.
What he needed most now was to cultivate diligently, at least to become a true Nascent Soul realm soul cultivator, reaching a point where there were no more flaws in his every move.
After seeming to ponder for a moment, Li Yan slowly replied.
“Senior Lan, the purpose of my joining the Soul-Suppression Palace is just as you have seen. I am merely a rogue cultivator, and I have discovered some of my own conditions.
However, due to a lack of cultivation resources, despite my continuous cultivation, my realm has only barely reached the Initial-stage Nascent Soul.
Therefore, it’s not that this junior is ungrateful, but that my most urgent need right now is to quickly increase my strength.
So, for the time being, I cannot help you, Senior. However, within the hundred years, I will definitely have to complete five missions, and I will certainly consider the condition you proposed first.
And by that time, my strength will have grown, and I will be better able to exert the power of my soul!”
After speaking, Li Yan bowed deeply to Great Master Lan.
Li Yan didn’t want to go, but he also didn’t dare to offend her. This was a Void Refining realm expert, who likely held a very high position within the sect.
A hundred years was not very long for a cultivator; it could pass in a single period of seclusion. Especially since he had the restriction of five missions, he would definitely have to come out in between.
After hearing Li Yan’s words, Great Master Lan’s eyes narrowed. Just as Li Yan was getting nervous, she slowly nodded.
“There is some truth in your words. The disparity between your soul power and your realm is indeed too great. If this continues, it would be a bit of a waste.
After you come out of seclusion anytime within the hundred years, you can come find me. At that time, just go to the Subduing Stars Hall area and ask anyone for my whereabouts.”
After Great Master Lan finished speaking, she did not delay any longer, immediately turning around and pushing the door to leave, being extremely decisive.
She had many things to do every day. This cultivation formation was just one of the artifacts she was refining. She had been studying the formation since the Spirit Transformation realm, for nearly two thousand years now.
No matter how urgent it was now, it couldn’t be rushed. If Li Yan’s cultivation could be improved a little, it would actually be more helpful to her.
After all, he had just entered the Nascent Soul realm. It was this point that made Great Master Lan feel it was a bit of a pity, and why she did not force Li Yan.
She only told Li Yan that he could go and find her directly later, but did not leave him any keepsake. Her keepsakes were not so easily obtained.
She didn’t want the matter she had requested of him to be left undone, while this boy used her keepsake to act with borrowed authority, secretly handling many matters for himself. That was something she was unwilling to see.
Li Yan watched Great Master Lan leave with a respectful expression. Only after her figure disappeared into the crowd in the main hall did he let out a long sigh of relief.
The pressure brought by a Void Refining cultivator made Li Yan feel suffocated. Just by standing there casually, she seemed like a lofty god, while he was just a small ant on the ground.
Great Master Lan could decide his life or death with a mere thought, and he wouldn’t even be able to muster the slightest bit of resistance.
Recalling the scene just now, Li Yan felt waves of lingering fear.
With just a slight use of her soul power, his concealment in terms of soul cultivation was completely exposed. If she had been able to use her divine sense, he would have been in great trouble this time.
In addition, this Great Master Lan was the type of person who was single-mindedly focused on her favorite cultivation practices. And thankfully, before he came, he had really cultivated his realm to the Initial-stage Nascent Soul.
Thinking back, if he had come more than ten years ago, there would have been even more flaws. Then this time, Great Master Lan might not have thought it was due to his lack of cultivation resources. How would he have explained himself then?
But even so, he had still revealed some clues today. If she were to just say the word, he would be considered to have broken the sect rules and could be immediately arrested for investigation.
Li Yan felt a cold chill run down his back. His move to enter the Soul-Suppression Palace this time had truly been a risk.
After more than ten years of preparation, and relying on the fact that he had already formed his Nascent Soul and had a very good foundation in soul power, his courage had grown considerably.
But the facts proved that he had just taken a solid walk along the edge of life and death.
“I was still a bit too hasty. I thought I had made preparations for over a decade and it should be fine. But in reality, I should have waited until both my technique and soul arts were more stable, and even until I reached the Mid-stage Nascent Soul…”
Li Yan was thinking a lot at this moment. He even considered whether he should leave the Soul-Suppression Palace. He didn’t know that Great Master Lan well and was afraid that she might have other thoughts after she went back.
“Fellow Daoist Li, is Great Master Lan leaving already?”
A voice suddenly broke Li Yan’s train of thought, waking him from his lingering fear. The fat middle-aged cultivator had walked in at some point and was now looking at him with a smiling face.
He hadn’t even dared to stay at the doorway just now, fearing that Great Master Lan would misunderstand. Instead, he had moved far away and personally stood guard at a distance, not allowing anyone to approach.
But in just a quarter of an hour, he saw Great Master Lan push open the door and leave, seeming to be pondering something, but that Li Yan did not follow her out.
Now that he had entered the room, he seemed to be making a casual remark, but in reality, he wanted to get key information from Li Yan. However, he didn’t dare to directly ask why Great Master Lan had come.
Earlier, he had also overheard a few words, something about Great Master Lan having seen the recording of his assessment and then specifically seeking him out.
Coupled with the somewhat dazed expression on Li Yan’s face when he saw Great Master Lan, the fat middle-aged cultivator immediately guessed that Li Yan and Great Master Lan did not know each other.
People like them were extremely shrewd. They could often figure out the truth of many things with just a glance.
For someone to be worth Great Master Lan personally seeking them out, as long as Great Master Lan did not order their immediate capture, it meant she had no ill intentions toward Li Yan.
As long as there was no ill will, that was enough!
“Oh, Fellow Daoist Gao! Great Master Lan was just looking for me to confirm some things. Now that the matter is settled, I shall take my leave!”
Li Yan had also returned to normal.
Having calmed down, he knew that no matter what, he could not leave the Soul-Suppression Palace immediately. Otherwise, it would truly be a case of giving himself away.
He raised his arm, cupped his fist at the fat middle-aged cultivator, and also put on a smile, as if replying casually.
But what he said was like saying nothing at all, yet it also seemed to say something.
“Hehehe… Fellow Daoist Li, please feel free. If there is anything you don’t understand, you can come and find me at any time!”
Li Yan said no more, nodded, then turned and walked slowly out of the room.
Watching Li Yan’s disappearing back, the fat middle-aged cultivator waved his hand to close the door again, then sat down behind the long table, his face showing a thoughtful expression.
Li Yan’s seemingly casual reply was worth pondering over…
Li Yan left the room, went directly out of the main hall, identified the direction, and immediately flew off towards the north.
Inside the Technique Transmission Pavilion, after registering, Li Yan, under the guidance of a cultivator, stepped into a small teleportation formation in a corner of the first floor of the pavilion.
A slight shimmer of light flowed before his eyes, and in just an instant, he had arrived on the second floor of the pavilion. This space was slightly larger than the first floor, about a hundred zhang in size.
Inside, rows of bookshelves were neatly arranged. There were no books on these shelves, but rather, fist-sized red light clusters, neatly arranged on the shelves.
From a distance, it looked like rows of red gems had been placed there, reflecting a magnificent and splendid light throughout the space.
The second floor was very quiet. After Li Yan stepped out, there was a slowly rotating vortex behind him. People entered and exited this place through here.
Li Yan’s gaze swept around, seeing some people standing quietly in front of the bookshelves, or moving their feet lightly, trying not to make a sound.
The floor Li Yan was teleported to was usually set up for those who had been in the sect for less than a hundred years. This was also the only area of the Technique Transmission Pavilion he could currently enter.
The Soul-Suppression Palace’s control over its techniques was extremely strict. It wasn’t that you could obtain all the sect’s techniques just by joining.
This was also divided into levels. Those who joined the sect within a hundred years could only obtain some ordinary techniques or some incomplete manuals.
However, considering that there were cultivators like Li Yan who joined the sect with skills learned elsewhere, the techniques here, although not the core techniques of the Soul-Suppression Palace, were all complete manuals, some of which could even be cultivated up to the Void Refining realm.
So, you could choose one, and it would be enough to support you all the way up.
But for techniques on this level, most people would only use them as a transition. Once a hundred years had passed, they would definitely be replaced with the core techniques of the Soul-Suppression Palace.
Few sect disciples would cultivate an ordinary technique to the extreme. What would be the point of that?
After scanning the entire floor, Li Yan raised his leg and walked towards the first row on the back side. He wanted to start from the last row and pick out a cultivation technique suitable for himself.
In the eyes of others, he was a Nascent Soul realm cultivator, already a high-level soul cultivator. In reality, he was just a little soul cultivator who had just started for over a decade.
The technique he needed was one that could perfect the shortcomings of his cultivation from Qi Condensation to Nascent Soul.
Some people here also noticed Li Yan’s appearance, but they only glanced at him. Seeing that he was a stranger, no one paid him any mind.
Li Yan soon stood at the last row. He began to slowly look along the shelf, horizontally.
Besides the flashing red light clusters on the shelf, next to each red light cluster, there was also a six- or seven-inch-tall plaque.
The plaque flickered with a faint fluorescent light, likely made from the bones of some demonic beast. Inscribed on it was an introduction to the adjacent red light cluster.
“Soul-Splitting Art, Technique Level: Qi Condensation to Nascent Soul. Price: One hundred two-hundred-year ‘Soul Crystal Sprouts’ to acquire.
Upon successful cultivation of this art, the three Huns can be split into one hundred and eight fragments… If one wishes to hunt the souls of others, they must first split their own soul, transforming soul into crystal…”
“Seven Pos Rainbow Light, Technique Level: Qi Condensation to Spirit Transformation. Price: One hundred and fifty five-hundred-year ‘Soul Crystal Sprouts’ to acquire.
This art cultivates the seven Pos into the seven colors of red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple. Upon success, it can create seven clones with different personalities, linked to the main spirit’s three Huns. When separated, their changes are myriad; when combined, their power is infinite…”
Li Yan looked at the introductions on the bone plaques one by one, occasionally stopping to carefully read one, and then slowly moving on…
Here, if he took a liking to a certain technique or soul art, he only needed to extend his soul power and inject it into the red light cluster to view the detailed content of the technique inside.
With a cultivator’s memory, let alone one technique, even ten or a hundred could be easily memorized.
He could forcibly memorize it here first, then go back and comprehend and cultivate it bit by bit.
As for the use of the memorized techniques, the Soul-Suppression Palace also had a set of strict restrictions, which had been told to Li Yan one by one by the cultivator when he entered on the first floor.
All techniques within the palace were absolutely not allowed to be passed on to outsiders. Violators would be severely punished. Having one’s cultivation crippled was a light punishment; having one’s soul scattered and being prevented from entering the great dao of reincarnation was normal.
Even if a disciple of the palace went out to establish a sect or a family, the techniques they could impart had to be approved by the Soul-Suppression Palace, determining which could be passed down and which could not.
Of course, the price for those that could be passed down was how much tribute had to be paid to the Soul-Suppression Palace each year, what kind of share of the sect’s burden this sect had to bear, and so on.
Here, as soon as you looked at a red light cluster, because a wisp of your soul power was left during registration on the first floor, your soul power brand would be left in the red light cluster you viewed.
When you went down to leave on the first floor, the token would buzz. The disciple had to settle the payment with “Soul Crystal Sprouts” or spirit stones before they could leave.
Otherwise, the consequence of trying to get a free meal was to wait for the Arc Arrow Hall to come and arrest you!
Li Yan continued to walk in front of the shelves, occasionally brushing past others, with both parties not disturbing each other.
Li Yan looked at the introductions of the techniques one by one. At first, he found it quite novel, but later, even someone as ruthless as him felt a little chilled.