Chapter 507: Heavenly Dao Soul Guidance Art

Not only did the voice freeze, but even Sai and the others felt their vision go dark, nearly spitting blood.

First, a thousand copies...

Why did it feel less like passing a trial or cultivating, and more like ordering dishes at a restaurant?

Not knowing if it tastes good, order one to try first...

"The Soul Guidance Art is the foundation for becoming a Soul Shaman. There is only one method, one single manual—no second one!"

After a moment of silence, as if the Soul Shaman lurking in the darkness was also stifled, a cold snort rang out.

"No second one?" Zhang Xuan frowned.

"Correct. All Soul Shamans cultivate this method; there is no other!"

The voice continued: "Begin cultivation now. Successfully guide your soul within ten days, and you pass."

"Fine."

Knowing this was a test, they naturally wouldn't be subjected to the Illusory Sea of Mirages again. The group walked out of the passage and arrived before the stone tablet.

The characters on it, carved by some unknown hand, exuded an uncanny beauty. Even without reading the content, just looking at the script calmed the mind and soothed the soul.

"I'm afraid this really is a six-star soul shaman."

The mere sight of the text produced an effect no weaker than a fifth-level work, indicating that the soul shaman who carved the tablet had reached an extremely profound level in soul research. Now it seemed Luo Zhu was right; the one speaking in the shadows might truly be a six-star, or else he couldn't possess such ability.

He gently touched the tablet.

Whoosh!

A book with the same content appeared.

"Soul Guidance Art: The foundation of Soul Shamans, created by the first soul shaman, Liu Mozi. It allows the separation of soul from body. Drawbacks: ..."

The first page introduced the Soul Guidance Art, followed by its drawbacks.

"Not many—only ten."

Flipping through casually, he found that the manual had few flaws, only ten.

The manuals he'd seen before had flaws numbering in the hundreds or even thousands. With only ten, this Soul Guidance Art had been revised countless times over generations, nearing perfection.

No wonder the fellow said there was only one. Such a perfect manual was rare enough; a second one was nearly impossible.

The Heavenly Dao is unique. The fewer errors, the closer to truth, making it hard to find a different version.

"Let's see what the flaws are."

He looked down.

"First: Upon successful cultivation, all your cultivation will attach to the soul, leaving the physical body an empty shell. It will appear normal, but in truth, the soul drives it, preventing perfect integration..."

After reading the first flaw, Zhang Xuan's expression darkened.

According to this, successfully guiding the soul meant separating soul from body. Even if one could later control the body, it would be like controlling a puppet. Aside from continuing to cultivate Soul Shaman techniques, normal human cultivation would become impossible.

It was like driving a carriage: after successful soul guidance, the body became the carriage, and the soul the driver. The driver could go anywhere and do anything, but no matter how skilled, it could never match the flexibility of the human body itself!

In other words, successful soul guidance meant attaching cultivation to the soul, effectively abandoning one's body and all previous cultivation!

Even if the soul could later persist through possession, it would become neither human nor ghost, unable to see the light...

He had originally thought to obtain the Soul Shaman heritage and learn the profession on the side, but after one glance, his interest vanished.

He continued reading.

Soon, he finished all ten flaws, gaining an understanding of the Soul Guidance Art beyond ordinary people.

"If I cultivate this, success would make me neither human nor ghost; failure would likely get me killed by this fellow..."

Zhang Xuan frowned.

He hadn't known much about Soul Shamans before, so it didn't bother him. But now that he understood the method and its flaws, he felt nothing but rejection.

Not to mention that his Heavenly Dao cultivation method was unparalleled; reaching the world's peak was only a matter of time. Even the result of cultivation—separating soul and body, becoming neither human nor ghost—was not what he wanted.

Moreover, he carried the innate fetal poison. If he didn't reach nine-star master teacher by thirty, even turning into a soul and leaving his body would mean certain death.

The innate fetal poison was something even Confucius couldn't handle. If Soul Shamans could truly solve it, he wouldn't have gone to the depths of the sea, into the wilderness, and down into the underground caverns multiple times, risking everything just to quickly raise his strength.

"I can't cultivate this, but I can't not cultivate either..."

The one hiding in the shadows was at least a six-star soul shaman, far beyond their ability to contend with. Moreover, even if his strength weren't overwhelming, the hidden mechanisms alone could slaughter them all.

If he cultivated, he could no longer become a master teacher, and the fetal poison would kill him at thirty.

If he didn't cultivate, the fellow might turn hostile on the spot and kill him.

Doing it was impossible; not doing it was also impossible!

His head ached from worry.

"Hmm? What if I could improve the Soul Guidance Art, allowing soul and body to both separate and perfectly integrate? Wouldn't that solve the problem?"

After thinking for a while, his eyes suddenly lit up with an idea.

The Soul Guidance Art had flaws. If he could fill those flaws, unify soul and body, and form a perfect Heavenly Dao technique, then he could cultivate it safely!

A Heavenly Dao technique was flawless. Once formed, it would surely avoid the problem of soul and body not unifying after soul guidance.

"But where can I find enough Soul Shaman techniques to supplement it?"

He frowned.

Soul Shaman techniques focused on will and soul. What he had collected before mostly dealt with the physical body and true qi, completely incompatible. Even if combined, they couldn't refine a Heavenly Dao technique.

Only by finding more Soul Shaman cultivation methods could he perfect it.

But Soul Shamans had long been lost; the one in the shadows wouldn't produce more manuals.

"Hmm? Why must I look for Soul Shaman techniques? Any technique or method beneficial to the soul would work!"

Just as he was agonizing, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he slapped his forehead.

He had been on the wrong track all along.

Soul Shamans, in essence, used a special method of soul cultivation to achieve 'immortality' through soul possession. He couldn't find Soul Shaman techniques, but he had collected many methods for cultivating the soul.

Throughout his journey in the Tianxuan Kingdom, every library he collected had numerous introductions to the soul and methods for training mental strength.

Though they were shallow and simple, not worth cultivating, there were so many of them!

Previously, gathering them all together might have been useless, but if he fused them with this Soul Guidance Art that had only ten flaws, what would happen?

His eyes burned with excitement. Zhang Xuan smiled lightly and focused his mind.

"Techniques and books on cultivating the soul and mental strength!"

Whoosh!

With his thought, all such books in the Library of Heaven's Path appeared before him, piled up like a mountain, filling ten bookshelves—no fewer than tens of thousands.

Mental strength and soul were not only the foundation of Soul Shamans but also of martial artists. Such training methods were not rare.

But compared to the Soul Guidance Art, they were far too crude.

Most were about tempering willpower, ascetic practice, and using external temptations to strengthen the inner heart.

"Correct!"

He casually tossed the newly obtained Soul Guidance Art into the bookshelf and gave a low shout.

Whoosh!

Tens of thousands of books merged into a single manual.

He reached out, took it, and quickly opened it.

"The human soul is wondrous; it can integrate with the body for cultivation or separate to become a soul shaman. The two are contradictory yet unified..."

The book recorded a new cultivation method.

After reading it quickly, his breath quickened, and Zhang Xuan's eyes shone with excitement.

Indeed... no flaws!

A Heavenly Dao technique!

By extracting the correct parts of martial artists' mental strength and soul training methods and fusing them with the Soul Guidance Art, he had indeed formed a correct cultivation method.

This method had no problem of soul and body not unifying!

In other words, cultivating this would allow him to become a Soul Shaman without the normal restrictions. The soul would still perfectly integrate with the body, and he could still cultivate martial arts.

The previous flaws were perfectly resolved!

"Excellent! Let's cultivate!"

These thoughts, though complex to describe, took only a few breaths. He memorized the Heavenly Dao Soul Guidance Art, focused his mind, and began to cultivate.

Power surged within him, and his soul was gradually drawn out from his body.

The Heavenly Dao Soul Guidance Art separated soul from body without absorbing spiritual energy or relying on external forces like spirit stones; it was very simple to execute.

Creak! Creak!

It felt like something was being squeezed out of his body, or like leaping from a high mountain—his body became uncontrollable.

Hum!

The world before him changed instantly. Zhang Xuan seemed to see another version of himself standing quietly in place, while he himself floated lightly in the air.

Soul out of body!

As expected of a Heavenly Dao technique; it took only a short time to complete the cultivation.

He looked around with his soul, trying to sense the other's presence, but still found nothing.

It seemed this fellow was well hidden; otherwise, even the Eye of Insight wouldn't have failed to see him.

Whoosh!

He returned to his body.

His vision went dark, and he staggered.

Though the time out of body was short, it left him deeply fatigued.

He circulated his Heavenly Dao true qi through a full cycle before recovering.

Opening his eyes again, he saw Zhao Ya and the others gathered around, looking worried.

"Teacher, are you alright..."

They had just finished reading the Soul Guidance Art once and hadn't fully understood it when they saw their teacher nearly fall, showing concern.

"I'm fine."

Zhang Xuan smiled, but inwardly he was puzzled.

He had just left his body; logically, that Soul Shaman should have noticed. Why didn't he say anything?

Could it be... that the soul formed by the Heavenly Dao Soul Guidance Art was different from a Soul Shaman's, and he couldn't see it?

"Let's test it."

His eyes flickered. Zhang Xuan smiled slightly and waved at the group.

"Everyone, don't cultivate yet. I just read through it, and I think this technique can't possibly guide the soul successfully. Could it be a fake technique to trick us?"

"Fake technique? Nonsense!"

Hearing this, the cold voice snapped.