Longevity: Start by refreshing your entries through farming.

Chapter 934 Holy Soul Hall, Soul Beasts (Happy New Year)
After Qin Ming entered the light gate, he discovered that it was actually a vast space, like an independent little world.

Furthermore, the area was filled with spirit-patterned stone pillars unique to the Soul Clan, and surrounded by gray mist. Even with Qin Ming's powerful divine sense, which was comparable to the late stage of the Integration Realm, he could only see the situation within a few miles.

Countless terrifying guardian statues stand silently in every corner of the gray fog space.

One of the stone steps leads straight up to the sky, to the deepest part of the gray fog. On both sides of this stone step, at intervals, there are powerful statues of gods, just like those at the outer entrance, standing with divine weapons in their hands.

Qin Ming had no doubt whatsoever. If an outsider were to rashly enter this place, it would definitely provoke an attack from these terrifying stone statues, causing them to perish on the spot.

Even cultivators at the Void Refinement stage would find no possibility of escape before these bizarre and terrifying stone statues.

These seemingly endless stone steps appear to lead to some mysterious place, where the outline of a huge building can be vaguely seen standing above the gray mist.

Qin Ming and his servant were on high alert, and together with Frost Shadow of the Soul Clan, they walked up the stone steps.

Along the way, he could sense an extremely strong suppressive force that was repelling the entry of high-level cultivators.

Perhaps because of the frost shadow, the stone statues in this space did not attack Qin Ming.

After a long time.

Qin Ming and his servant finally approached the end of the stone steps and saw what lay deep within—a massive architectural complex.

At the end of the stone steps, on a platform, stands a massive obelisk, tens of feet tall, with several runes inscribed on it in the script of the Soul Clan.

The Devouring Rat turned to Frost Shadow, its face full of anticipation, and asked, "What does it say on this?"

"Could the Soul Clan's secret treasure be hidden inside?"

The moment Shuangying saw the inscription on the monument, she couldn't control her emotions and choked up as she replied, "It says 'Hall of Holy Souls,' which means this is the most important core forbidden area of ​​our Soul Clan, where the heroic spirits of the entire race throughout the ages, as well as the holy souls of our ancestors, are enshrined."

"Wasn't it said that there were good treasures hidden here? How did it turn into the Hall of Heroes?" the Devouring Rat said casually upon hearing this.

But the next moment, it realized it had spoken out of turn, and quickly went over to pat her shoulder and say a few words of comfort: "Miss Shuangying, please accept my condolences. At least you have a place to pay your respects, unlike me, a mere fairy, who has never even seen what my biological parents look like."

Shuangying calmed herself down and said to Qin Ming, "Lord Azure Emperor, although my mother has never mentioned anything about the Holy Soul Hall to me, as a forbidden area of ​​our clan, concerning the inheritance of our Soul Clan, it must contain not only the ancestral tablets and other secret treasures of our clan."

Qin Ming nodded, which was actually similar to what he had thought.

Upon hearing this, the Devouring Rat immediately perked up and hurriedly said, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's quickly and properly handle and store the important items inside."

"Miss Shuangying, as you know, all those old monsters from the demon and human races already know about the Soul Clan's secret treasure. They will all come here soon. We can't let them get it for nothing."

Shuangying felt that what the Devouring Rat said made a lot of sense, and after spending so much time together, she trusted it completely.

Ever since.

The master and servants then headed into the Holy Soul Hall. However, Qin Ming was more concerned about the location of the 'Soul Cleansing Pool' than the Soul Clan's secret treasures inside.

According to the information provided by Lü Lu on the jade slip, the Soul Cleansing Pool is hidden in the deepest part of the Holy Soul Hall, and can only be entered by activating a stone talisman.

They carefully passed through several grand halls, which did indeed contain the Soul Clan's secret treasures, but all of them were under restrictions.

Now is the crucial moment to unleash the Devouring Sky Rat's full power.

It took the lead and broke through the restrictions, and soon several rare spiritual treasures were collected into its possession.

"They're actually ten-thousand-year-old Fire Lotus Grass and fifty-thousand-year-old Void Blood Jade Marrow!"

"These are all auxiliary materials for refining seventh-grade spirit pills and talismans. If such treasures exist just on the outskirts of the Holy Soul Hall, what must it be like inside?"

The Devouring Rat was holding large and small boxes in its arms, its mouth almost splitting open with a grin.

However, they soon discovered that the treasure hunt was not as smooth as before.

Because the deeper into the Soul Palace, the higher the restrictions are, and there are also stone statues guarding it, even when a blackish-gray 'soul beast' appears.

The stone statues did not attack Qin Ming and his servant because of the presence of Frost Shadow, but these soul beasts were different. It seemed that they were not placed here by the Soul Clan, but rather that they arose after some kind of change occurred in this secret realm that had been abandoned for millions of years.

Shuangying seemed to have some impression of soul beasts, and quickly hid behind the Devouring Sky Rat, reminding it, "Senior, be careful. These soul beasts are extremely terrifying. They specialize in attacking the souls of cultivators and feed on their spirits."

Upon hearing this, the Devouring Rat also sensed the power of those soul beasts and its heart pounded with fear. It pulled her behind Qin Ming again.

"Don't worry, my master is incredibly shrewd; a mere soul beast is no match for him."

hoo hoo hoo!
But as soon as it finished speaking, a phantom of a soul beast several meters tall appeared in a pavilion in front of it, unleashing a terrifying aura as it pounced towards Qin Ming.

Qin Ming merely released his divine sense to scan the beast and discovered that this tiger-shaped soul beast actually possessed the strength of a sixth-order perfected level. Coupled with its own strange abilities, it was much stronger than an ordinary Void Refinement Perfected level.

After all, this beast can ignore most cultivators' defensive measures and directly attack the cultivator's core primordial spirit, affecting their mind.

However, this beast did not pose a significant threat to Qin Ming.

next moment.

Qin Ming's powerful divine sense, comparable to that of a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, materialized from nothingness into a giant hand tens of feet in size, which seized the ferocious soul beast in one swift motion.

The soul beast was subdued instantly, but it was still howling in Qin Ming's divine sense grasp, seemingly trying to break free.

Qin Ming's eyes turned cold, and he immediately lost all interest in taking it back to study. With a thought, he grabbed it and smashed it to pieces with a "bang".

All of a sudden.

Black mist emanated from the main hall, but it was only at the moment that sixth-order perfected soul was annihilated.

In Qin Ming's hand appeared a jet-black, transparent soul bead, within which the soul of a tiger-shaped soul beast could be faintly seen.
He held the bead with a strange expression. This bead, which the black vines had absorbed after casting the Thorn Technique, was remarkably similar in effect to the soul bead.
Furthermore, Qin Ming could sense that the moment this bead appeared, the Yanfu Immortal Vine in the Desolate Realm transmitted an intense longing towards him.
This is truly a rare occurrence.

Not only that, even the old demon Qingyang came out and said to Qin Ming, "Hehe! Young friend Qin, would you allow me to appraise this Soul Pearl? It seems to be of some help in restoring my spiritual body."

Qin Ming could tell from its reaction that this item had a great effect on both the Old Demon Qingyang and the mysterious black vine.

After a moment's thought, he said, "Right now, we only have this one Soul Bead. I estimate there will be more Soul Beasts in the Soul Hall later. I'll kill one for you then."

Upon hearing Qin Ming's words, the Old Demon Qingyang was delighted and immediately nodded in agreement.

Behind her, Shuangying's face was filled with shock. Only she knew the power of this soul beast. Her mother had told her that the Soul Clan's gradual decline and extinction were related to the soul beasts.

The young cultivator before them was able to kill a sixth-order perfected soul beast with just a wave of his hand, which was enough to demonstrate his great strength.

Even among the ancient Soul Clan, very few could achieve this.

Qin Ming put away the soul bead and then threw it into the Desolate Realm to feed his natal spirit plant, the Yanfu Immortal Vine.

Countless black vines danced like tentacles, rapidly absorbing the sixth-order perfect soul bead.

In an instant, the entire black vine seemed to have gained immense benefits, continuously sprouting new branches and producing golden and silver flower buds. Countless runes swirled around the black vine, clearly indicating that it had received considerable benefits and accelerated its growth.

The natives in the desolate realm, seeing this scene, thought it was a manifestation of the immortal vine, and they all began to worship it lavishly.

Qin Ming hadn't expected that the soul bead contained within the soul beast would have such a miraculous effect on his natal spiritual plant.

If he could collect a few more of these, he might even be able to advance his natal spiritual plant to the next level. In that case, his journey here from afar would have been worthwhile.

After feeding his natal spirit plant, Qin Ming turned his gaze back to the pavilion and found that the presence of high-level spirit beasts here was indeed different from the others.

Its decorations and the objects inside are much higher than those outside.

Suddenly.

After the soul beast disappeared, the Devouring Sky Rat found something in the very center of the pavilion and quickly pointed at it, saying:

"Master, look! What's that?"

But in the center of the hall, where the soul beast had originally appeared, an ancient stone pillar had suddenly appeared, inscribed with runes of the Soul Clan.

At the top of the stone pillar, there was an exquisite purple jade box.

Qin Ming didn't need to think much to know that this must be the treasure stored in this pavilion.

He immediately went over, preparing to pick up the purple jade box and open it, when he saw the Devouring Sky Rat running over in an extremely eager manner, rubbing its little hands together and saying:
"Master, I've recently performed a great service and my luck is on fire. May I open this first treasure box?"

"Very well, then I will grant your wish." Qin Ming immediately handed the jade box to it.

The Devouring Rat accepted the purple jade box, its heart pounding with excitement, and it didn't forget to say to Frost Shadow beside it:

"I wonder what kind of treasures your Soul Clan has been hiding, but don't worry, Frost Shadow, you'll definitely get a share. Hehehe!"

Having said that, it directly broke the seal of the spirit pattern and opened the jade box in its hand.

Suddenly, a cloud of purple mist appeared, and an incredibly rich aroma of spiritual fruit wafted over.

Upon closer inspection, everyone saw a purple nut the size of a walnut lying inside, its surface covered with animal-shaped patterns, even appearing incredibly strange.

Qin Ming recalled the spiritual plant inheritance, and the name of a legendary immortal fruit appeared in his mind.

"It's actually the 'Purple Qi Dragon Source Fruit'. Did you do this on purpose, kid?"

"Although this fruit is a sixth-grade top-quality spiritual fruit, it is only effective on demonic beasts. It can greatly enhance physical strength and improve the strength of demonic souls."

"Even in the ancient demon realm, wouldn't they be forced to do so?"

The Devouring Rat blinked, holding the purple spirit fruit in its hands. Upon hearing about the fruit's special effects, it couldn't help but be overjoyed!
“Then, Master.”

Qin Ming waved his hand and said, "I'll bestow this opportunity upon you as compensation for your previous great contributions."

"However, next time, I won't let you open the treasure chest."

After cleaning up the battlefield, the master and servant did not linger and continued to venture deeper inside.

However, as Qin Ming went deeper into the area, he discovered that the sixth-order soul beast he had just encountered was merely an appetizer.

In some areas of the Holy Soul Hall, there are even soul beasts of the seventh rank or higher, whose strength is comparable to those of the Integration Stage or above.

Qin Ming could only take a detour, let alone retrieve the treasures inside.

Fortunately, these powerful soul beasts seem to be subject to some kind of restriction; they will not appear unless they enter the corresponding range.

……

Another half month passed.

Within the Wasteland of Soul Burial, two more groups of people found clues to the Soul Clan's secret treasure and entered the gate of light that Qin Ming had opened.

These two groups were led by Elder Kui Mu of Xinggong, and included the patriarchs of the three major sects of Tianyuan Domain. They also brought several disciples at the Refinement stage.

On the Star Palace side, there was only Zi Chen Divine Lord.

Those ancestors seemed to have used some kind of method to suppress their cultivation levels to below the Integration Stage, thus deceiving everyone and entering the Soul Clan's secret realm.

"Fellow Daoists, I've already made it clear beforehand that after we find the Soul Clan's treasures, our Star Palace will choose three to take with us. After all, I went to great lengths to find Master 'Jade Pill Master' to refine these 'pseudo-spiritual pills'."

After Elder Kui Mu led the group inside, he turned to the three patriarchs and spoke calmly in an unquestionable tone.

Lingyuan, the patriarch of Lingmiao Sect, smiled and cupped his hands, saying, "That's natural. Whether it's the Soul Clan's secret treasure or the provision of this pseudo-spiritual pill, it was all facilitated by Xinggong. Take these three treasures first, and we three old folks will naturally have nothing to say."

The Fire Ancestor of the Taiyi Sect and the Carriage Ancestor of the Ten Thousand Beasts Valley also nodded in agreement.

Elder Kui Mu's face also showed a satisfied expression.

"However, it seems that someone entered this place before us. Could it be that..." Ancestor Chequ noticed the abnormality, and the light gate outside with the statue of a god was open.

The rest of the group also easily noticed this.

Elder Kui Mu surveyed the surrounding gray mist space, then frowned and said, "It's alright. Regardless of who enters this realm first, they will all exit from here. I've already taken precautions; none of them will be able to escape."

After discussing and observing the situation for a while, the group went inside.

(End of this chapter)