Chapter 777 The Origin of the Soul

As Xiao Ling's chilling words fell, the dark gold spear was suddenly pulled out of the Bone Nether Saint's body!
The moment the spear tip left the body, scalding blood gushed out like a fountain, staining a large area of ​​the void red. The originally dark red spear shaft, soaked in blood, gained an even more eerie and malevolent aura.

Bone Nether Saint's body plummeted rapidly like a kite with a broken string, his eyes still filled with endless despair and disbelief. Before he could fall into the ruins, Xiao Ling reached out with lightning speed, grabbed his neck, and forcibly stopped him.

The withered body was like a doll in Xiao Ling's hands, powerless to resist. Its remaining breath was crushed by the pressure of the Dou Sheng, and it was as fragile as a candle in the wind.

Immediately afterwards, Xiao Ling reached into the broken body of the Bone Nether Saint with his other hand. His fingertips were surrounded by a faint spatial power, ignoring the physical obstacles and penetrating straight through the muscles.

With a shrill scream, a soul body shimmering with a gray-black aura was forcibly extracted from the body. It was the original soul of the Bone Nether Saint, which was now struggling wildly in Xiao Ling's palm, but was firmly imprisoned by an invisible force, unable to even put its thoughts of escape into action.

Seeing the terror and pleading overflowing within the soul, Xiao Ling's eyes remained unmoved as he summoned a pitch-black banner with a backhand.

The banners fluttered in the wind, upon which countless vengeful ghostly phantoms roared and churned. A suction force that devoured all things suddenly erupted, forcibly pulling the Bone Nether Saint's soul into it under the desperate gaze of the soul body.

The Myriad Souls Banner trembled slightly, and the runes on its surface flickered, completely suppressing the soul of this high-level half-saint. The shrieking sound from before also stopped abruptly, with only that eerie black light flowing uncertainly on the banner's surface.

This series of actions was fluid and seamless. From the spear piercing the flesh to the suppression of the soul, it took only a few breaths. It was as fast as lightning, but it was all seen by the elders of the Soul Hall below, who did not miss a single detail.

They had previously held out hope that a high-ranking half-saint like Bone Nether Saint could barely withstand Xiao Ling's offensive, even if only for a short while, to buy them time to call for reinforcements from the main hall.

But who would have thought that this half-saint powerhouse who had dominated the Soul Palace for hundreds of years could not even withstand a single move from Xiao Ling under the pressure of a Dou Sheng, and ended up with his physical body destroyed and his soul captured!

A bone-chilling cold shot up their spines and straight to the top of their heads. The faces of the elders turned ashen, and their bodies trembled violently. The ferocious glint they had shown earlier had vanished, leaving only a deep-seated fear.

Only now did they truly understand the immense weight of the phrase "below the Battle Saint, all are but ants." It was not just empty talk, but an absolute law that transcended realms, a desperate reality where the weak had no room to struggle in front of the strong!

After collecting the remains and soul of the Bone Nether Saint, Xiao Ling lowered his eyes and glanced indifferently down. The group of Soul Hall elders who had been so fierce just moments before were now terrified and trembling on the ground, not even having the courage to look him in the eye.

His expression remained indifferent as ice, his eyes showing no ripples, as if the group of Dou Zun experts before him were nothing more than insignificant dust, not even worth his personal attention.

"They've all been dealt with; not a single one has been spared."

The words, spoken in a calm and unassuming manner, carried an undeniable authority and echoed above the ruins.

Before he finished speaking, ten pitch-black figures suddenly materialized from the surrounding void; they were the high-level banner slaves that Xiao Ling had released earlier!
The next second, the banner slaves darted out like ghosts, leaving afterimages in the ruins.

This scene was hardly a battle; it was a one-sided massacre. Although the elders of the Soul Palace were all at the Dou Zun level, their combat strength had already plummeted after experiencing the previous pressure and the backlash from the shattered Soul Lock. Faced with the fearless and unpredictable Banner Slave, they were utterly powerless to fight back.

The screams and shrieks of shattered souls rose and fell, and blood stained the broken iron ground. The once invincible guardians and elders of the Soul Palace were destroyed one after another like fragile porcelain under the attack of the Banner Slave, without even a chance to beg for mercy.

Screams echoed all around, and the surging shockwaves from the clash of fighting spirits made the ruins creak and groan. The sky was filled with rubble and black mist, creating a chaotic scene that was enough to alarm people for miles around.

Xiao Ling seemed oblivious to all this, the faint spatial ripples surrounding him shutting out all the noise.

His expression remained calm, and he walked straight toward the depths of the Earthly Fiend Hall without pausing for a moment. Although the place was badly damaged, with broken walls and ruins scattered everywhere, there was still a faint spatial fluctuation lingering in the depths of the ruins.

Xiao Ling ventured deeper and deeper, the dilapidated corridor gradually came to an end, with broken walls stretching out in front, seemingly indicating that there was no way forward.

However, the deeply hidden spatial fluctuations could not escape his soul perception. An invisible spatial barrier, like a transparent screen, completely concealed the scene behind it. Even though the battle outside shook the heavens and earth, the area inside the barrier remained eerily calm.

"break."

Xiao Ling casually flicked his sleeve, and the spatial power swirling around his fingertips sliced ​​through the void like a sharp blade. With a crisp "crack," the spatial barrier, powerful enough to withstand the impact of a half-saint, shattered and dissipated into streaks of light.

Behind the barrier, a magnificent hall suddenly appeared, with several soul beads emitting a ghostly blue light hanging from the dome, making the space inside the hall both eerie and solemn.

Even though the fierce battle outside shook the area for miles, the main hall remained intact under the protection of the spatial barrier, without a speck of dust, which is enough to show how precious the items stored inside were.

And indeed, this is the core secret realm of the Earthly Fiends Palace, a storage place for the soul's origin created by the Soul Palace with countless resources.

Inside the main hall, countless jet-black chains, like writhing dragons, crisscrossed, hanging from the dome and winding around the pillars, spreading out in a dense, all-encompassing black net. The chains were engraved with soul-devouring runes, gleaming with a sinister light, and the malevolent aura surrounding their surfaces was almost tangible, even causing the air to hiss and crackle from the corrosion.

At the end of each chain hangs a fist-sized ball of soul light. The balls vary in color, some as dim as a flickering candle, others shimmering with a faint glow. Inside, one can vaguely see blurry human figures struggling in pain, which are the original souls of living beings forcibly extracted by the Soul Palace.

These orbs of soul light were tightly bound by chains, and their soul power was being continuously drained. The entire hall was filled with desperate wails and unwilling roars, which were terrifying.

As soon as Xiao Ling stepped into the main hall, the soul orbs that were imprisoned by the dark chains trembled all at once.

As if sensing a glimmer of hope, countless faint gasps of alarm spilled from the ball of light, weaving together into a faint yet urgent sound. There were also intermittent cries for help, carrying hope amidst despair, coming toward Xiao Ling. Clearly, these tormented souls had long regarded him as their only salvation.

But Xiao Ling ignored it all. His indifferent gaze swept over the struggling orbs of light and pierced through the crisscrossing black chains, landing in the center of the hall.

There, a ball of light the size of a head floated in mid-air, its entire body as clear as glass, yet radiating a profound halo, its vast and boundless soul fluctuations spreading out like the tide.

This object is Xiao Ling's ultimate goal for this trip: the origin of the soul.

Xiao Ling's figure flashed like a streak of light, instantly arriving before the primordial soul. He extended his hand, his fingertips hovering three inches away from the soul light, feeling the warm, gentle glow emanating from the swirling light. The soul is the foundation of all living beings.

All things in heaven and earth, and all beings with spirits, possess a soul. Deep within the soul lies an indestructible source of the soul, the foundation upon which the soul is born and continues to exist. It is a strange energy stripped of all impurities and pure to the extreme, and can be considered one of the most fundamental forces in the world.

Legend has it that the Soul Origin can not only refine soul power to its extreme, allowing cultivators' soul strength to increase by leaps and bounds, but it is also said to be able to defy the heavens. If one can gather a sufficiently large amount of Soul Origin and supplement it with an extraordinary opportunity, one might be able to comprehend the true meaning of the soul and step into the legendary "Emperor Realm Soul" that only exists in ancient records.

The soul power swirling around his fingertips probed into the ball of light. After sensing the energy intensity contained within, Xiao Ling raised an eyebrow and murmured to himself.

The number of souls collected by the Earthly Fiend Palace was ultimately too small. Even though this primordial soul essence condensed the soul essence of tens of thousands of living beings, it was still a drop in the ocean for him. Even if he absorbed it all, it would hardly bring much substantial improvement to his current spiritual power.

"Well, it's better than nothing."

Xiao Ling snapped out of his thoughts, a knowing glint in his eyes. The Soul Palace had a vast layout, and the Earthly Fiend Palace was merely one of its outer strongholds. Its true power must be hidden within the three most important Heavenly Gang Palaces.

"If I have the chance in the future, I should go and thoroughly search those three Heavenly Palaces. I believe that the soul essence there is enough to make my spiritual power advance further."

Xiao Ling's eyes flickered slightly, and several condensed steel-like chains of fighting spirit shot out from his fingertips. The chains, gleaming with a faint golden light, darted through the void like serpents, precisely wrapping around the pitch-black chains that encircled the soul's origin.

“Bang bang bang—!”

Several muffled explosions rang out in succession. The dark chains engraved with soul-devouring runes crumbled inch by inch under the crushing force of the Dou Sheng-level Dou Qi, just like rotten wood. The Yin Sha Qi at the broken ends instantly dissipated, turning into wisps of black smoke and vanishing without a trace.

The surrounding imprisoned soul orbs, now freed from their restraints, floated and trembled within the hall, their cries for help growing increasingly urgent, yet they still failed to stir Xiao Ling's emotions in the slightest.

He raised his hand and beckoned, and the wisp of soul essence that was floating in the center of the hall seemed to be drawn in by an invisible force, slowly drifting into his palm.

The ball of light flowed quietly in my palm, and beneath its warm touch was a powerful, heart-pounding surge of spiritual energy.

Although this ball of light contained a great deal of soul essence, it contained no intelligence whatsoever. It was only filled with the resentment, unwillingness, despair, and other negative emotions left behind by countless beings before their complete demise, clinging to it like maggots to a bone.

These negative emotions, accumulated over time, have long since coalesced into an extremely ferocious spiritual force. Even the slightest contact with such a force could cause ordinary cultivators to lose their composure and descend into madness.

Even though Xiao Ling's mental strength has now reached the Great Talisman Sect realm, if he were to rashly absorb this soul essence, which is filled with endless resentment, into his body, the accumulated negative emotions would be enough to disturb his mind.

Matters concerning the soul can never be taken lightly. The higher one climbs on the path of cultivation, the more one must maintain the purity and innocence of the soul, and never allow such defilement and resentment to erode it.

However, Xiao Ling was already confident about this. He had more than one way in mind to resolve these resentments, so he naturally didn't need to worry about this aspect.

Xiao Ling held the flowing soul essence in his palm and slowly sent it into his body, eventually reaching the internal space of the ancestral stone.

"Yan, can you help me purify this?"

Xiao Ling transmitted his voice to the spirit of the ancestral stone.
"This wisp of soul essence is of great benefit to my spiritual cultivation. You've always been the best at dealing with these kinds of resentful impurities, so there shouldn't be any problem for you."

After examining the state of the soul essence, the Ancestral Stone Spirit immediately responded, "Don't worry, Xiao Ling, leave this to me."

Before the Ancestral Stone Spirit finished speaking, a white light surged around it, like moonlight pouring down, enveloping the soul's origin.

In an instant, the soul light fluctuated violently, and the wisps of resentment that were entwined within it were exposed under the cleansing light.

The black mist, which was filled with endless pain and resentment, struggled frantically as if it had encountered its nemesis, but in the end it could not resist the dissolving power of purification. It slowly dissipated along the trajectory of the flowing light, turning into specks of nothingness and disappearing into the Ancestral Stone Space.

"This thing is indeed a shortcut to improving soul power; after refining it, it can rapidly enhance mental power."

"However, this method of acquisition is too insidious and violates the laws of humanity and nature. It's not a big problem for you to take what's readily available, but you must never do it yourself in the future, lest you get tainted by karma and affect your state of mind."

"Don't worry about that." Xiao Ling smiled faintly and replied telepathically, "Although I can't be considered a virtuous person, I would never stoop to such heinous acts as slaughtering living beings to extract their essence."

Having finished speaking, he stopped dwelling on the topic. Since the spirit of the ancestral stone had taken over the purification, and its methods were far more reliable and worry-free than his own use of the strange fire to refine it, he naturally didn't need to waste any more effort.

Setting the matter aside for the time being, Xiao Ling finally turned his gaze to the main hall. The soul orbs that had been previously imprisoned by black chains, but which had now broken free of the chains, were still floating and trembling in mid-air, silently conveying their plea for help to him with hopeful fluctuations.

Xiao Ling pondered for a moment, a playful glint in his eyes, and a slight smile appeared on his lips. He raised his hand and flicked it, and the pitch-black Ten Thousand Soul Banner floated in front of him.

"Considering my fruitful trip and my good mood, I will give you a choice." Xiao Ling's voice was calm yet clear, reaching the ears of each soul orb.

"If you wish to take revenge on the Soul Palace yourself, you may enter my Ten Thousand Soul Banner. I will find an opportunity for you to take revenge in the future, but the price will be that you will be controlled by me for the rest of your lives."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the restless orbs of soul light, and added,

"Of course, I don't force you. Those who are unwilling may leave on their own, vanishing into the world, ending this cycle of suffering." (End of Chapter)