Vol. 1 - Ch. 332 - A Peculiar Soul

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After absorbing all the pure Yin Qi, many clansmen showed significant improvement. Those who had already reached the Innate Realm, such as Chen Xingba and Chen Tianshun, made especially significant progress.

If they could steal a few more ancestors from other clans, it seemed possible that another Qi Manipulation Realm soul could emerge among them soon.

For now, though, this was little more than wishful thinking. Every major clan treats its ancestral shrine as one of its most sacred and closely guarded sites, rarely, if ever, permitting outsiders to set foot inside.

The fact that this attempt succeeded at all was purely thanks to the cooperative relationship between the Zhao and Chen clans.

Still, Ji Yang now had three additional saplings growing as well. Though the rate at which they could draw in souls was slow, the clan was bound to see further gains from them eventually.

Below the shrine, clansmen carried in the beast they had captured midway through their journey and prepared it for sacrifice.

They hadn't simply slain it along the way to better preserve the Qi and Blood within its body. The journey back had been long, unlike the short trips within Chaotic Burial Mountain itself.

Beside them, Chen Xingzhen's eyes flickered with surprise. This particular beast, with its horns and scaled hide, was a breed he had never seen before.

There were countless varieties of ferocious beasts across the world, so it hardly mattered whether he recognized this particular one. In the end, it would simply serve as an offering for the Divine Tree.

As if sensing its fate, the beast below thrashed violently, struggling with all its might, but to no avail.

As blood sprayed from the beast's body and seeped into the ground, Ji Yang's roots sensed it at once and absorbed the flow swiftly.

"The taste of an Innate Realm beast really is exquisite..."

Watching his Qi and Blood points climb rapidly, Ji Yang let out an inward sigh of pure satisfaction.

But before that thought could fully settle, he suddenly sensed that something was off. His Qi and Blood points had stopped rising at 18 points.

This left Ji Yang thoroughly puzzled. Based on his many years of experience with sacrificial offerings, an Innate Realm beast should have yielded at least twenty Qi and Blood points, if not more.

Eighteen points was more in line with what a Late-Stage Blood Coagulation Realm beast would provide.

Furthermore, the spiritual energy that this particular Innate Realm beast contributed was pitifully meager only two points. This was far less than what an Innate Realm beast should have provided.

Ji Yang searched below to see if he had missed something, but after a thorough search, he found nothing more.Could this really have been an Innate Realm beast?

Ji Yang had a moment of doubt, though he thought it unlikely that Chen Tianyu and the others could have misjudged something like this. Besides, there was a major realm's difference between the Innate Realm and the Blood Coagulation Realm.

As Ji Yang pondered this, he suddenly noticed a soul body rising abruptly from the body of the freshly slaughtered beast below.

The soul was fragmented and incomplete, with only half present. Yet, the moment it took shape, it immediately turned and fled.

Seeing this, Ji Yang was even more astonished. Typically, an ordinary soul stripped of all memory would fall into a state of confused wandering after death, drifting aimlessly near a memorial tablet or a grave.

However, once drawn in by his extraordinary locust tree, such a soul would inevitably begin drifting toward his residence without realizing it.

However, this fragmented soul hadn't been drawn in at all. Instead, it had turned and bolted the moment it appeared.

Just as the soul was about to escape the shrine entirely, an invisible barrier flared into existence, sealing the soul inside once more.

The soul tried shifting directions repeatedly, but found itself utterly unable to break free. In the end, it simply gave up, freezing in place, dazed and unmoving.

Watching this unfold, Ji Yang found the whole situation rather intriguing. This soul seemed to exist somewhere between full lucidity and complete confusion.

As he looked at the beast's body, Ji Yang began to suspect that perhaps it wasn't an Innate Realm beast, but rather a Blood Coagulation Realm beast. The number of points he had absorbed certainly seemed to support that idea.

However, once the fragmented soul merged with the beast, it seemed to break through its natural limitations and temporarily display the strength of an Innate Realm beast.

Without hesitation, Ji Yang released the soul, hoping to glean some useful information from it.

However, as a flash of white light swept past, the soul dissolved into pure, concentrated Yin Qi. This energy was remarkably potent, suggesting that the soul's previous owner must have been an Innate Realm martial artist.

Though he hadn't managed to extract any useful information, Ji Yang wasn't particularly disappointed. Having witnessed the entire process firsthand, he suspected the clan would encounter this kind of beast again someday.

Still, the notion that a Blood Coagulation Realm beast could display Innate Realm strength through this method truly came as a surprise to him.

This world was truly home to no shortage of remarkable talents and hidden dangers, scattered as thick as fish swimming upstream.

Even with his own advantages, it would be foolish to ever grow complacent.

…

Time flowed swiftly, and in the blink of an eye, more than five months had slipped by.

After completing its previous round of trading, the clan settled back into a period of calm, as did Chaotic Burial Mountain and Yong'an City.

Initially, many smaller clans were concerned because, once a clan grows powerful enough, it often encroaches on smaller clans to strengthen itself. Yet the Chen Clan seemed to show no interest in doing so.

During this time, many outsiders tried to enter Chaotic Burial Mountain to see what the Chen Clan was doing.

However, the white mist barrier proved impossible to penetrate, and the Chen Clan of Chaotic Burial Mountain only grew more shrouded in mystery as a result.

Wary of this growing enigma, many clans traveled to Yong'an City to establish friendly relations with the Chen Clan.

Chen Tianjing welcomed every one of them without exception.

Though these smaller clans typically had only one or a few Innate Realm martial artists, they provided the Chen Clan with useful information, which allowed the clan to better keep watch over the surrounding region.

During these exchanges, the clan stumbled upon a few unexpected windfalls, such as learning valuable information about ferocious beasts from a small clan.

Deep within Chaotic Burial Mountain, hidden from outside eyes, all remained peaceful and undisturbed for the time being.

Aside from their regular lessons at the academy, most of the clansmen spent their days practicing combat techniques and cultivating their bodies.

Supported by abundant clan resources and guided by the Divine Tree, the clansmen's cultivation realms advanced at a remarkably rapid pace.

【Clansman Chen Tianmo has broken through to Early Stage Innate Realm. Deduction points: +3.】

【Clanswoman Chen Qingxiu has broken through to Mid-Stage Blood Coagulation Realm. Deduction points: +2.】

【Clansman Chen Hanxin has broken through to Early Stage Body Tempering Realm. Deduction points: +1.】

【Clansman Chen Hanning has broken through to Early Stage Body Tempering Realm. Deduction points: +1.】

Within the ancestral shrine, a new notification appeared before Ji Yang's awareness every few days.

It felt as though the years of careful cultivation and nurturing were finally bearing fruit all at once over the past six months. With the clan now free from external threats, everything seemed to be falling into place naturally.