Soul Searching

Shi Shou's face twisted in dread. Just moments ago, he had sensed something squirming near his left eye, but Song Wen's sudden ambush from behind had left him no room to distract himself.

Prompted by Song Wen's reminder, he suddenly realized that two small insects had burrowed along the edge of his left eye socket, entering his skull and boring toward his brain.

Gu worms.

Two Gu worms at the ninth layer of Qi Refining.

Shi Shou's eyes widened to their limits, filled with stark terror.

He frantically mobilized all the spiritual power in his body, gathering it toward his head. He had to exterminate these insects before they could destroy his brain.

Suddenly, an agonizing, heart-wrenching pain erupted from his chest.

Sweeping with his divine sense, he discovered four more Gu worms at his heart. The moment he had directed his spiritual power upward, they had seized the chance to bite through his blood vessels and burrow into his heart.

Right at that instant, the sound of tearing air rushed from his left.

A cold gleam shot straight for his throat.

Beset by internal and external perils, Shi Shou's composure shattered, his previous arrogance instantly dissolving.

He instinctively commanded his small shield to intercept the Cold Moon Blade.

Suddenly, a piercing agony tore through his mind, causing the spiritual power within his meridians to instantly stagnate.

The Cold Moon Blade skimmed past the edge of the delayed shield and slashed clean across Shi Shou's throat.

His head flew high into the air.

Song Wen's figure moved like a bolt of lightning. Before the severed head could hit the ground, he caught it with one hand and caught the collapsing torso with the other.

At this moment, Shi Shou's soul had not yet departed his flesh; it remained trapped within the Sea of Consciousness inside the severed head.

Song Wen did not immediately devour his soul. Instead, he formed rapid hand seals, intending to bind it within the skull.

The Soul Binding Art.

This was a technique that even mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators could practice, and it was the most common method among demonic cultivators to capture souls.

However, Song Wen underestimated the strength of a Foundation Establishment soul.

Unlike the souls of the mortals he had killed before-which turned dazed and confused immediately upon death, offering themselves freely to his Sea of Consciousness-and unlike Qi Refining cultivators who, though lucid, lacked any power to resist, Shi Shou was different.

Shi Shou was a Foundation Establishment cultivator who had developed divine sense. His soul was far more resilient. Upon the death of his physical body, his soul actually moved of its own accord, evading the Soul Binding Art.

Rather than fleeing, Shi Shou's soul lunged directly toward Song Wen's own Sea of Consciousness.

As it invaded, he even transmitted a malicious thought to Song Wen.

"Ji Yin! To think you would dare try to bind my soul. You truly are a naive newcomer to Foundation Establishment. Did you not know that a cultivator with divine sense can seize another's flesh?"

"Hahaha... Now, this body is mine!"

"Young, with pure qi and blood, a solid foundation, and cultivating the exact same technique... Heaven does not wish me dead! I never expected to find such a perfect vessel in the midst of my despair!"

Song Wen was momentarily startled by the sudden turn of events, but his mind quickly cleared.

His Sea of Consciousness had easily swallowed the split soul of the Golden Core cultivator Wu Ren. The soul of a mere early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator like Shi Shou could not possibly stir any significant waves.

The moment Shi Shou's soul entered Song Wen's Sea of Consciousness, it prepared to unleash its full strength to shatter Song Wen's mind.

Suddenly, a massive black hole manifested before it.

This black hole seemed utterly boundless, occupying Song Wen's entire mental expanse.

An irresistible, terrifying suction force emanated from its depths.

Before this cosmic vortex, Shi Shou felt as insignificant as an ant. In that terrifying instant, he even suspected that Song Wen was the reincarnation of some ancient primordial powerhouse. Otherwise, how could such a terrifying entity exist within his mind?

Just as Shi Shou felt his soul about to be torn apart and scattered into nothingness, a final thought flashed through his mind.

"I wonder what will become of Wan Rou, still bound to that stone pillar... Will Ji Yin spare her, and the child in her womb?"

At the absolute end of his path, a sudden wave of longing arose within Shi Shou's heart-a lingering attachment to his legal wife and his unborn child.

Right at that moment, the devouring force of the black hole abruptly ceased.

Yet the black hole did not vanish. It loomed like an immense mountain pressing down upon Shi Shou, rendering his soul utterly immobile.

Outside, a cold smile appeared on Song Wen's face.

This was his first time attempting to consciously control the black hole within his Sea of Consciousness, and he had actually succeeded.

Shi Shou's soul could not be allowed to dissipate just yet; it still possessed great utility.

Song Wen used the soul energy of his own mind to weave a massive net, completely binding and sealing Shi Shou's soul within his Sea of Consciousness.

As the seal took hold, Shi Shou's awareness gradually sank into darkness.

With the task complete, the black hole slowly receded, vanishing without a trace a moment later.

---

When Song Wen extracted the essence blood from Shi Shou's body, he discovered to his surprise that a strand of pure spiritual power also flowed into his own frame.

This power was rapidly absorbed by his flesh, giving him a sensation akin to consuming a miraculous Spirit Pill. His physical body was steadily growing stronger.

Encountering such an occurrence for the first time, Song Wen was somewhat perplexed.

After thoroughly examining his meridians and ensuring there were no hidden anomalies, he relaxed slightly.

Unable to deduce the cause for the time being, he cast the matter aside.

He turned his gaze toward the eight figures bound to the stone pillars. Aside from Wan Rou, the other seven had long since stopped breathing.

Song Wen methodically devoured the essence blood and souls of the seven deceased sacrifices, finally walking over to stand before Wan Rou.

Wan Rou's injuries were catastrophic. Due to the crushing pressure of the formation, her skin had ruptured in numerous places, staining her garments in crimson. Several vertebrae in her spine were dislocated, and her leg bones were broken in multiple areas.

She looked barely human, kept upright only by the heavy iron chains wrapping her to the pillar.

Seeing Song Wen approach without immediately raising his weapon, a flicker of desperate hope surfaced in Wan Rou's eyes.

She did not want to die. A new life was quickening in her womb, and she desperately wanted her child to enter this world safely and behold its sights.

"Please, do not kill me... In my womb..."

Before she could finish her plea, a hand like tempered steel clamped down upon the crown of her head.

A powerful surge of soul power poured from his palm, charging straight into her Sea of Consciousness.

This mental force was far too vast for her to withstand, instantly drowning her consciousness.

The Soul Searching Art.

This was a secret technique that only Foundation Establishment cultivators could wield. By forcibly prying into another's soul, one could extract fragments of their memory. As for which memories were recovered and whether they held any value, it depended entirely on luck.

Song Wen had purchased this technique from a shop in a market district after establishing his foundation.

Within the demonic path, the Soul Searching Art was a common, ordinary technique that almost every Foundation Establishment cultivator practiced. Disguised as an itinerant rogue cultivator from afar, Song Wen had acquired it with ease.

Compared to Song Wen, Wan Rou's soul was incredibly frail, and she was already grievously wounded. Offering no resistance whatsoever, her memories lay open, and Song Wen successfully extracted a portion of them.

In her memories, she spent the vast majority of her time cultivating quietly within her cave abode, rarely interacting with outsiders and never engaging in conflicts. Because Shi Shou provided her with ample cultivation resources, she never had to venture into dangerous realms for trials. She was a woman who had never known conflict.

Though she belonged to a demonic sect, her temperament was remarkably gentle and mild, devoid of any ferocity-perfectly matching her name.

Perhaps it was precisely because of this nature that even when Shi Shou sought to sacrifice her for his cultivation, she felt no hatred toward him, offering only bitter pleas and tearful persuasion.

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