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

Endless grayness, unchanging.

Yao Mengkang mechanically swung his fist, the vast blood energy within his body surging and roaring, the solidified fist energy bursting forth, shattering a three-eyed soul beast that roared and pounced in front of him into pieces.

The remnants of the soul beast transformed into pure soul power, which spread out. Part of it was absorbed into Yao Mengkang's body by circulating his cultivation technique and merged into his spiritual sea, which had already expanded to its limit. The other part was silently absorbed by the mysterious stone bead hidden deep within his chaotic chakra.

He stood with his fist clenched and gently exhaled a breath of stale air.

The turbid air leaving the body even carried a very faint gray tinge, a trace of the "breath of silent souls" that had long permeated this place.

The ninth level of the Meridian Opening Realm, with a spiritual sea of ​​millions of feet.

This is a foundation powerful enough to shake the entire Central Region of China, unprecedented in history.

In the outside world, Yao Mengkang's name has already spread far and wide, attracting various forces to compete for him.

But here, in this ghostly place filled with nothing but grayness, deathly silence, and endless low-level soul beasts, this power, aside from making it easier for him to hunt soul beasts, feels more like a helpless irony.

"They can't kill them all, they simply can't kill them all..."

Yao Mengkang muttered to himself, but his voice echoed not at all in the empty, deathly silence of the abyss.

At first, the continuous hunting could bring a sense of exhilaration as one's strength gradually increased, but over time, all that remained was a deep-seated exhaustion and numbness.

It's not physical exhaustion, but mental exhaustion.

He looked around, but the hazy mist obscured his vision, leaving only the vague outlines of jagged rocks, like lurking giants.

This is the depths of the Silent Abyss, a "relatively safe" area.

Safety is only relative to those high-level soul beasts that can easily tear apart cultivators at the Divine Bridge Realm.

The creatures roaming here are mostly low-level soul beasts that act solely on instinct, with strength roughly equivalent to the Spirit Sea to Yuan Dan level, posing no fatal threat to him.

The real danger is the omnipresent "Breath of the Silent Soul".

This eerie power is pervasive, subtly eroding the souls of living beings.

If it weren't for the stone bead constantly absorbing the essence of these lonely souls, he would probably have become like those corrupted cultivators in the records, his soul muddled and ultimately reduced to a pitiful creature who only knew how to kill or completely vanished.

"The assessment... should have ended long ago."

Yao Mengkang sighed, a bitter smile appearing on his face.

He was originally there to take the entrance exam for the Heavenly Dao Academy, but unexpectedly ended up in the depths of the Silent Soul Abyss.

Forget about getting back, he can't even find his way out now.

He tried many times, but no matter which direction he went, he would inexplicably circle back to this area, as if an invisible net was trapping him here.

They have no chance to enter the Heavenly Dao Academy.

I couldn't help but feel a little regretful.

The Heavenly Dao Academy was, after all, one of the holy sites for human cultivation in the Central Divine Continent, and its resources and heritage were unimaginable to outsiders.

If he can enter, it will undoubtedly be of great benefit to his future spiritual practice.

"Are we just going to be trapped here forever, surviving by killing these mindless soul beasts?"

A wave of irritation washed over me.

He forced himself to calm down, sat cross-legged, and tried to find clues to escape.

The stone bead is incredibly mysterious and is his greatest asset in crossing over to this world; perhaps it can provide a solution.

Just as his mind sank into the Chaos Chakra and touched the quietly floating stone bead, the stone bead suddenly vibrated very slightly.

A vague thought was transmitted, not as clear guidance, but more as a warning, reminding him that beyond the boundaries of this "safe zone" there existed something that even Shi Zhu considered extremely dangerous.

Yao Mengkang felt a chill run down his spine, completely abandoning any thoughts of reckless wandering.

---

At the same time, outside the Silent Soul Abyss, in the vast and boundless Central Divine Continent, at the Heavenly Dao Sect's mountain gate.

Atop a towering peak shrouded in mist, a magnificent white jade palace floats suspended. Inside, the air is thick with the chilling aura of swords, as if the very fabric of the room is imbued with an invisible sword intent.

Seated in the main seat was a man in a green robe. His face appeared young, but his eyes were as deep as an ancient abyss, and with each blink, countless sword shadows seemed to appear and disappear.

He simply sat there, yet his entire being naturally exuded a powerful sword intent that could cut through everything and reveal one's true nature, so much so that the disciples standing in the hall dared not even breathe.

It was Mingxin Sword Master who had returned to the Heavenly Dao Sect.

When Mingxin Sword Master spoke, his voice was calm, yet it carried a sharpness like the clash of metal and stone.

"Issue the order: all peak Spirit Sea Realm disciples still within the sect, prepare immediately. Three days later, I will lead the team into the Silent Soul Abyss!"

An elder hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"Sword Master, the Abyss of Silent Souls is extremely dangerous. Is it appropriate to send a disciple at the Spirit Sea Realm deep into it...?"

"Only through hardship can one achieve success."

The Sword Master Mingxin interrupted him, his tone indifferent.

"The meaning of 'Silent Soul' is both a crisis and an opportunity to hone one's sword heart. Those who fear it are unworthy to inherit the lineage of my Heavenly Dao Sect. As for being lost... if you can't even withstand this little bit of erosion, you deserve to die."

He paused, as if remembering something, and added:

"Tell them that besides the sacred remains and the divine status, there may also be other ancient treasures and soul beast essences within the abyss, all of which are opportunities. Whether they can obtain them depends on their individual abilities and luck."

"Yes!" The elder dared not say anything more and bowed to accept the order.

The Sword Master Mingxin looked out of the hall, as if piercing through endless space and landing on that desolate place shrouded in gloom.

A boy's image flashed through his mind inadvertently. He had met him once in a small border town. His name seemed to be... Yao Mengkang.

His physical constitution seems decent, but unfortunately, his cultivation level is too low.

The thought flashed through my mind and then vanished, and I stopped paying attention to it.

---

The Abyss of Silent Souls, the true depths.

The grayness here is no longer mist, but a viscous, liquid-like energy, deathly still and icy cold, containing an corrosive power powerful enough to make even saintly beings tremble with fear.

If an ordinary cultivator were here, their soul would be frozen and disintegrated in no time.

However, in this absolutely desolate place, there is a small area that appears "peaceful".

Two figures stood facing each other.

On one side stood a middle-aged man in a black robe, with a scraggly beard and casually disheveled hair. He exuded no powerful aura, yet seemed to blend into the darkness of the entire Silent Soul Abyss. Standing there, he was the center of this world.

Lord of the Underworld, a powerful figure at the Throne Dao Realm, Li Hanshan.

Standing opposite him was a humanoid creature.

Its body was composed of the purest soul power, solid as flesh and blood, with clear features, except that its eyes were pure black with no whites.

The soul power emanating from it was as vast as the sea, reaching the level of the eighth realm of sainthood!

This is a humanoid soul beast that has reached the Saint Realm!

In the outside world, it would be enough to rule over a region and make all living beings bow down.

At this moment, however, the humanoid soul beast's body was trembling almost imperceptibly, and its pure black eyes clearly revealed an undisguised tension, and even... a trace of fear.

The viscous gray energy surrounding it subsided and dissipated silently when it approached within three zhang of Li Hanshan, daring not to offend him in the slightest.

"Your Excellency... the matter you raised concerns the survival of my race... please allow me to consider it further..."

The voice of the humanoid soul beast, carrying the unique tremor of soul power, echoed in this desolate place, making it even more eerie.

Li Hanshan didn't speak, he just looked at it calmly.

That gaze wasn't sharp, yet it seemed to penetrate all appearances and look directly into the very essence of one's soul.

The pressure on the humanoid soul beast increased, and the fluctuations in its body, formed by soul power, became somewhat unstable.

The world outside only knew that the Lord of the Underworld was a Seventh Realm King, but only these ancient beings deep in the Silent Soul Abyss vaguely knew that his combat power could not be judged by ordinary standards!

For him, conquering the throne and becoming a saint was as easy as eating and drinking!

If outside cultivators were to see a being called a Saint Realm expert behaving in such a manner before a throne, they would be utterly astonished, their understanding of cultivation realms completely overturned.

In the midst of this suffocating silence, Li Hanshan seemed to sense something, and his eyebrows twitched very slightly on his usually calm face.

He didn't turn his head; his gaze remained fixed on the tense humanoid soul beast before him. However, his divine sense seemed to penetrate the layers of the Silent Soul Abyss spatial barrier, sweeping over a certain "relatively safe" area.

A barely perceptible smile curved his lips, tinged with amusement, as he muttered to himself, his voice so soft that only he could hear it:

"Huh? This kid... he's come to this godforsaken place too? That's interesting."

The extremely nervous humanoid soul beast was stunned when it heard Li Hanshan's nonsensical words. It became even more uneasy and couldn't figure out what this terrifying being was thinking.

Li Hanshan withdrew his divine sense and refocused his attention on the important matter at hand, as if he had just discovered a trivial but interesting little episode.

Meanwhile, at the edge of the "safe zone" in the Silent Soul Abyss, Yao Mengkang, who had just suppressed his irritation after the stone bead's warning and was preparing to continue the tedious hunting and cultivation, suddenly felt a strange chill run down his spine for no apparent reason.

He suddenly looked up, warily surveying the surroundings in a hazy, deathly silence.

Apart from a few low-level soul beasts wandering in the distance, sensing his presence but too afraid to approach, there was nothing else.

"Is it an illusion?"

He frowned, suppressing the strange feeling in his heart.

"Or... has staying in this godforsaken place for too long really made me hallucinate?"

He took a deep breath, and the air he inhaled contained the aura of a silent soul, which made his sea of ​​consciousness feel slightly cool, and the clear light flowing from the stone bead seemed to brighten a little.

The road ahead is uncertain, and we are trapped in a dead end.

His connection with the Heavenly Dao Academy was severed, but an even larger vortex, far beyond his imagination, had unwittingly drawn this small cultivator at the Meridian Opening Realm into it.