From Five Animal Exercises to being hailed as a saint and ancestor

Watching Xuan Yuanpo use his pure sword intent to obliterate the aura of the silent soul and benefit from it, Yao Mengkang felt a surge of curiosity.

He has a chaotic stone bead residing within him, making him immune to erosion.

But he still wanted to personally experience the feeling of killing a soul beast and the so-called enhancement of his divine soul.

"Junior Brother Xuanyuan, let's continue deeper and find another soul beast. I'll give it a try."

Yao Mengkang spoke up.

Xuanyuan Po nodded; he also needed more soul beasts to hone his sword intent and enhance his divine soul.

Without further delay, the two continued along the chosen path.

Along the way, they discovered several more places where Soul-Soul Flowers, Soul-Giving Grass, and Soul-Soul Calamus grew, and these spiritual herbs were all older than those they had collected before.

Finding a nearly 100-year-old calamus was an unexpected delight.

After traveling for about half an hour, they encountered churning gray fog ahead, and an even colder and more violent aura locked onto them.

"They're here!"

Xuan Yuanpo's eyes narrowed.

As the mist dissipated, a more solidified soul beast, its body wreathed in gray-black energy that had almost materialized into chains, was revealed.

A ghostly blue flame flickered in its empty eye sockets, and the soul pressure it emitted had reached the level of the Spirit Sea Realm!

"I'll do it." Yao Mengkang stepped forward, gesturing for Xuan Yuanpo to hold the fort.

With a thought, his blood and qi surged within him, and the Five Animal Frolics technique was activated instantly!

The bear's solidity! The deer's agility! The tiger's might! The ape's nimbleness! The bird's clarity!

Five distinct artistic conceptions flowed from his fists and feet, some fierce and unparalleled, others ethereal and unpredictable, striking the soul beast.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The attack, imbued with profound meaning, was indeed effective; the soul beast's form was constantly shaken by the blows, emitting angry roars.

However, Yao Mengkang soon discovered that the artistic conception of the Five Animal Frolics leaned more towards the simulation and application of the physical body, qi and blood, and the way of nature, although it was mysterious.

However, when targeting pure soul beasts that fear direct attacks from the spirit and will, the killing efficiency seems... not very high.

At least, it is far less direct and effective than Xuan Yuanpo's sword intent, which is so pure and designed solely for killing.

The soul beast, though badly injured after being struck several times, remained ferocious. Strands of gray-black soul chains lashed out at Yao Mengkang like poisoned whips, carrying a chilling power that corroded his soul.

Yao Mengkang moved like smoke, easily dodging the attacks, already having a plan in mind.

Although the Five Animal Frolics has a broad scope, a sharper "intention" is needed to deal with this beast!

His eyes narrowed slightly, and he no longer held back.

His consciousness sank into the Chaos Chakra, triggering the Star Rune that he had obtained from the Meteorite Secret Realm and which had already begun to merge with his soul!

In an instant, Yao Mengkang's entire demeanor changed drastically!

A vast, ancient, and seemingly boundless atmosphere, as if originating from the endless starry sky, spread out!

He pointed his fingers like a sword, and a point of brilliant starlight gathered at his fingertips, as if a miniature galaxy had been condensed!

"Shattered Star!"

With a single finger, he pointed out silently, yet it seemed to have drawn upon the power of the stars in the darkness!

That point of starlight seemed to traverse space, appearing directly in front of the core light cluster of the soul beast!

There was no earth-shattering explosion, only an extreme sense of "annihilation" and "end"!

"Pop..."

With a soft sound, the massive body of the Spirit Sea Realm Soul Beast suddenly stiffened, and the dark light cluster at its core melted and vanished instantly, like ice and snow thrown into the scorching sun!

Its entire body, like a candle flickering in the wind, quickly dissipated into pure gray-black energy.

Just as the soul beast was annihilated, a strange energy far purer and more abundant than that absorbed by Xuan Yuanpo and Su Xiaoman before, mixed with a massive amount of silent soul energy, surged towards Yao Mengkang like a torrent!

Yao Mengkang neither dodged nor avoided the energy, allowing it to flow into his body.

really!

That boundless, surging breath of the silent soul was enough to make even ordinary cultivators at the Spirit Sea Realm change color.

The moment it entered his body, it was completely absorbed by the slowly rotating stone bead in the Chaos Chakra, like a mud ox entering the sea, without causing the slightest ripple.

After the breath of the silent soul was stripped away, the remaining wisp of extremely pure soul essence, exuding a cool aura, naturally merged into his divine soul.

Yao Mengkang felt an unprecedented clarity in his mind, his consciousness seemed to become more refined, and his range of perception had subtly expanded.

Although the increase was not huge for his already powerful soul, the pure and side-effect-free sense of improvement was real!

"It feels...not bad."

Yao Mengkang carefully considered this change, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

"Looks like I'll have to kill a few more soul beasts."

A question couldn't help but arise in his mind.

After killing this soul beast, one can purify and enhance one's soul, although it is accompanied by the erosion of the breath of the silent soul, but if a method can be found to eradicate it.

Or if there are treasures that can ignore the erosion, wouldn't this Silent Soul Abyss be an excellent place to enhance the power of the soul?

Why has such a "chance" been almost never heard of by outsiders?

All the major powers describe the Silent Soul Abyss as a dangerous, deadly, and forbidden place, rarely mentioning the opportunities it contains.

Is it because the breath of the silent soul is too troublesome, and the cost of eradicating it is too great? Or is it because... there are some other restrictions or secrets?

Meanwhile, in the area where the top ten disciples of the outer academy were located.

After a fierce battle, with Li Han's help, they defeated two more soul beasts.

Everyone experienced the complex sensation of both spiritual enhancement and eerie erosion.

After a short rest, everyone sat down together to discuss the matter.

"This soul beast, though troublesome, provides a real boost to one's soul after defeating it!"

Wang Le said excitedly that he felt his mental energy had become much more active.

Mu Qingqing's beautiful eyes gleamed with wisdom as she began to analyze the situation.

"That's right, and I've discovered that the core attack methods of this soul beast are soul impact and mental erosion. Fighting against it is itself a way to temper our will and the resilience of our soul."

"If we can find an effective way to eradicate the subsequent erosion, this place might not be a dead end for us, but rather a treasure trove to temper our souls!"

Her words surprised everyone.

Zhou Tiancan scratched his head and said in a muffled voice:

"Qingqing is right! Especially for a slow learner like me who hasn't even opened my ancestral meridians yet, this is a godsend!"

There was a hint of urgency in his voice.

He primarily cultivates his physical body, and his Dragon Spine Meridian is already fully opened, making him incredibly powerful. However, his progress in the spiritual realm is slow, and he hasn't even clearly grasped the threshold of the Ancestral Meridian yet.

He had been wearing the spirit-nourishing stone tablet that Yao Mengkang had given him for over a month. Although it had been helpful, it was still just one step away from achieving the desired effect.

The pure soul power brought by this soul beast gave him hope.

Disciples such as Xu Zijian and Shi Hao, who had not yet opened their ancestral meridians, nodded in agreement, their eyes filled with eagerness.

Li Han, hidden to the side, said in a hoarse voice:

"Risks and opportunities coexist. Eradicating erosion requires unwavering determination and is not something that can be accomplished overnight."

Mu Qingqing looked at everyone and said resolutely:

"In that case, why don't we take the initiative?"

"While searching for the three types of spiritual herbs needed for the assessment, we will also actively seek out suitable soul beasts to hunt!"

"We can complete the mission, take this opportunity to temper our souls, and even help Tiancan and the others break through to their ancestral meridians!"

The proposal was unanimously approved.

Compared to passively encountering danger, actively seeking out battles within a controllable range is undoubtedly a wiser choice.

With the agreement reached, the ten disciples regrouped and, with a clear objective, once again ventured into the deeper and more dangerous areas of the Silent Soul Abyss.

This time, their eyes showed less fear and more a desire and determination for power.

The cruelty and opportunities of the Silent Soul Abyss are shaping the paths of these young cultivators in their own unique way.

The question of why the opportunities here are not revealed to the world has been planted in Yao Mengkang's heart like a seed.