Chapter 856: The Witch Soul Advances Again

Chased by the middle-aged man earlier, he fled in panic, darting wildly without a clear path, completely losing his sense of direction. The imperial palace was vast, with countless buildings that looked somewhat similar, leaving him utterly bewildered—he could no longer find the location of the banquet hall.

Thus, the esteemed Dean Zhang of the Master Teacher Academy... was lost!

When the physical body was close, he could still sense it, but now the entire palace was filled with formations and powerful experts everywhere. His aura was cut off—how could he find his way?

If he flew high enough, he might find a way out, but after what had just happened, he knew the palace was teeming with experts. If he really took to the air, he would likely be immediately targeted and killed!

More importantly, the middle-aged man from before had surely not given up. Once he showed himself, he might be pursued.

Earlier, in the courtyard, with the cover of formations, he had managed to escape smoothly. But if he were intercepted in the air, with neither speed nor terrain on his side, he might not even be able to flee.

"As long as I keep going in one direction, passing through all the courtyards, I'm sure to leave the palace..."

Unable to find his bearings and afraid to fly out, Zhang Xuan rubbed his brow and had to resort to the most foolish method.

Legend has it that if you're trapped in a pitch-black cave, unable to see the way or the distance ahead, the only way to survive is to keep one hand on the wall and walk straight ahead. No matter how deep the cave, you'll eventually get out.

This was the method he was using now. The surrounding houses were all much the same, layered one upon another. If he tried to retrace his steps, he might run into the middle-aged man, or perhaps go even farther astray, making it even harder to escape.

The only way was to ignore the direction and just follow one path to the end!

No matter how vast the palace, there would always be a way out. Once he left this place, he could get his bearings, find the entrance again, and return to the banquet hall.

"This direction, then!"

With that thought, he dismissed everything else, fixed on one direction, and strode forward.

As a spirit witch, walls and such posed no obstacle; he could pass through them easily. The more troublesome part was the formation in the courtyard, and occasionally experts patrolling within, requiring caution.

However, with the Eye of Clarity and the Heavenly Dao spirit witch, he could perfectly control his aura. Unless it was a Saint Domain expert skilled in souls, discovery was nearly impossible.

After passing through six or seven courtyards in a row, a vast courtyard appeared before him.

"What place is this?"

This courtyard was distinctly different from the one that had housed the stone tablets—it was more spacious, and a huge Sealing Aura Formation stood around it, as if afraid something might leak out.

"Could this palace also harbor some unknown secret?"

The main purpose of a Sealing Aura Formation was to conceal aura, preventing it from dispersing and keeping outsiders from probing inside. Why would this place be set up like this unless it had something shameful to hide?

Not rushing forward, he stood in the courtyard and looked around.

"Looks like a testing ground. Could I have already left the palace?"

In the courtyard stood many strength-testing pillars, making it appear to be a testing ground.

Why would the palace have so many of these things?

He turned around in confusion. At the end of the courtyard were two neat rows of walls, looking like a narrow alleyway, densely covered with carved characters.

"There are seven methods to increase the soul. First, focused thought. Second, facing fear, dread... various emotions. Third..."

Both sides of the walls were filled with various cultivation methods, all concerning the soul.

"These are so simple..."

With a glance, Zhang Xuan understood that the soul cultivation techniques recorded on both walls were very simple, the most basic kind, not even as good as the Heavenly Soul Guidance Technique he had once cultivated.

They were only suitable for cultivators at the Spirit Fusion Realm, just beginning to touch upon the soul.

The walls inside the alleyway had many writings, densely packed and stretching far. After looking for a while, he couldn't help but take a few steps forward.

"The techniques here seem to be more profound..."

He nodded to himself.

The soul cultivation techniques recorded inside were clearly much more profound than those at the outermost part. Although still inferior to the Witch Soul Technique, they were still methods for cultivating the soul, and regular practice could help increase soul power.

"This alleyway is so long. Will the techniques become more and more profound as I go deeper?"

Looking inward, he saw the alleyway stretching deep into the unknown, and Zhang Xuan couldn't help but feel curious.

Just from these few steps, he had noticed that the content on the walls became more profound the further in he went. Would continuing further yield content that could help him?

"There's still half an hour left. Let's go take a look!"

After all, only about ten minutes had passed since he left the banquet hall. He still had some time, so he might as well continue inward.

He hurried forward.

As expected, the further he went, the more profound the soul cultivation techniques became. Although many seemed impractical to him, they were not weak.

"Hmm? Why does this passage seem to have some pressure?"

After walking a bit further, just as he was about to see the end, Zhang Xuan suddenly keenly sensed a pressure around the passage, pressing on his soul.

However, it was very faint, imperceptible without careful observation.

"Whatever it is, I'll finish reading first!"

Knowing there were more profound cultivation techniques ahead, Zhang Xuan didn't hesitate and continued forward.

Whether the cultivation techniques were shallow or complex made little difference to him. As long as he could record them, they would contribute to gathering the Heavenly Dao techniques. Since he was here, he might as well collect them all.

His gaze swept along the walls, and the content written there appeared one by one in his sea of consciousness.

The content at the end of the alleyway was already somewhat similar to the Thousand Hammer Soul Condensation Technique he had seen before. Although still slightly inferior, it was no longer as unbearable as the earlier ones.

"From simple to difficult, this passage should be where the royal family teaches soul techniques to their descendants..."

Seeing this, he finally understood.

At the beginning of the passage were the simplest cultivation techniques, suitable for those who had just come into contact with the soul; the further in, the more profound they became, and at the end, they had already integrated the previous stone tablets.

To be able to learn up to this point, one's mastery of the soul, even if not as good as his, would probably be comparable to that middle-aged man from before.

It seemed those stone tablets were the foundation of the Hongyuan royal family's soul cultivation; no wonder they were guarded so strictly.

"Without the Wu Soul inheritance, the methods for cultivating the soul are still too simplistic..."

After reading the last technique, Zhang Xuan shook his head.

These techniques were indeed not bad for ordinary people, but having received the Wu Soul inheritance, he found them somewhat childish.

It was like finishing graduate school and then looking at high school courses.

However, even such techniques must have taken this royal family countless years to collect and cost them no small price.

Because, although simple, these techniques were very systematic and could fully cultivate a strong expert skilled in soul attacks.

Withdrawing his gaze, Zhang Xuan looked ahead.

At the end of the corridor was a small round door, seemingly reinforced by some power, tightly shut.

He reached out and pushed, finding it very sturdy.

"Hmph!"

Raising his eyebrows, he suddenly activated his soul power.

Crack!

The round door burst open, revealing a spacious hall before him.

Boom!

As soon as he entered, he immediately felt a powerful oppressive force surging straight up, as if about to tear his soul apart.

"Hmph!"

The Heavenly Dao Wu Soul circulated within his body, and his entire soul immediately rippled with a layer of light, sharply reducing the pressure.

Looking up at the hall, he then noticed that what had exerted the pressure on him were four statues.

These statues were extremely tall, some holding long swords, some holding large blades; even before approaching, they gave a strong sense of oppression, as if about to tear the soul apart.

Inside the hall, the spiritual energy was dense, almost tangible, somewhat similar to when he had entered the Huaqing Pool.

"These... are all spiritual energy that nourishes the soul?"

His eyes lit up.

The spiritual energy absorbed by the soul was different from that absorbed by the physical body; it was gentler; otherwise, he wouldn't have been so troubled about Wei Ruyan.

"Although this spiritual energy can nourish the soul... Wei Ruyan is in a deep coma and cannot actively absorb it; even if she came, she couldn't use it..."

Wei Ruyan was in a deep coma and couldn't actively absorb it; she could only rely on plants that nourish the soul for slow nourishment.

Although this spiritual energy was extremely beneficial to the soul, it couldn't actively burrow into a weakened soul to nourish it; to use it, one still needed to actively absorb it.

"She can't, but I can. Why not first increase my soul's strength? With a stronger soul, my chances of saving her will be greater!"

Although this spiritual energy couldn't cure Wei Ruyan, it was very helpful to him; it could completely make his soul body stronger, thus giving him more confidence in saving her.

"Let me first see if I can fuse a new Wu Soul technique!"

With a thought, he immersed himself in his sea of consciousness.

"Correct!"

Fusing the Wu Soul cultivation technique obtained from Mo Hunsheng with the many secret manuals he had just collected, a book dropped down with a low cry.

"The Heavenly Dao Wu Soul of the Void Step Realm..."

Gently opening it, Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up.

By merging the Thousand Hammer Soul Condensation Technique he had seen earlier, the many techniques in the passage, and the technique given by Mo Hunsheng, he had finally obtained the eighth level of the Wu Soul cultivation technique as he wished.

Previously, he had only cultivated to the peak of the Return to One Realm; now, with the technique for the Void Step Realm and the abundant spiritual energy suitable for soul cultivation around him, he hesitated no more and immediately sat down cross-legged.

The technique of the Void Step Realm revolved in his mind, and his massive soul body, like a powerful spirit gathering array, immediately began to devour the scattered spiritual energy around him into his body.

Gurgle, gurgle!

With a series of crisp sounds, Zhang Xuan's soul power underwent rapid changes.

Boom!

Before long, with a thunderous roar, he broke through to the Void Step Realm.

Void Step Realm mid-stage!

Void Step Realm late stage!

Void Step Realm peak!

Half an hour later, his cultivation had reached the peak of the Void Step Realm, and his power had reached a full 20 million cauldrons!

"Excellent!"

With his soul power increased, his thinking became sharper and his spirit more vigorous. Standing up, he then noticed that the dense spiritual energy around him had been mostly consumed by his breakthrough.

The four statues that had oppressed him before had also lost their former luster, as if their energy had been drained and they were on the verge of shattering at any moment.