*Gurgle… gurgle…*
Countless bubbles rose from the murky swamp waters. Wang Yu, concealed by his Invisibility Art, leaned against the slumbering form of a first-grade juvenile Tuolong, meticulously sorting through his spoils.
The storage pouches from the armored guards were common fare, their resources sparse. The total value of all items combined barely reached seven or eight thousand spirit stones, averaging a paltry seven or eight hundred stones per person. Pathetic.
The Silver-Helm guards weren't like orthodox cultivators, nor were they true body cultivators. He had been puzzled by this during his earlier observations, unsure what methods the Lord of Withered Leaf City employed. Their lack of personal wealth was likely connected to this. But that was unimportant now.
The grey-robed elder's storage pouch was the true prize. The old man's profound mastery of spirit sense and his repertoire of spirit sense secret arts suggested that, given his age and mere second-layer Foundation Establishment cultivation, he was no prodigy. These arts couldn't have come from a sect; they were almost certainly the fruits of his own personal机缘 (jīyuàn - opportunity, fortune).
Upon opening the pouch, Wang Yu couldn't suppress a surge of elation.
"A complete cultivation legacy?!!"
It was well known that a complete cultivation method inevitably included matching techniques from low to high levels, methods for refining magical instruments, secret arts, pill recipes... and so on. The amount of information contained was immense. This was why fragmented and incomplete methods were so common in the cultivation world; assembling a complete legacy was exceedingly difficult.
The inheritance jade slip Wang Yu now held, named the [Ancient Soul Art], was of immense value, something capable of founding a sect!
"That grey-robed elder... his fortune truly was profound, to obtain an opportunity like this," Wang Yu murmured to himself.
Pressing the jade slip to his forehead, he used his spirit sense to activate the legacy.
Instantly, a dense stream of textual information flooded into Wang Yu's mind, which he rapidly committed to memory.
A long time later, he opened his eyes, deep in thought.
The so-called "Ancient Soul Art" originated from an ancient sect named [Heavenly Soul Sect]. This sect had excelled in three paths: Spirit Sense, Music, and Artifact Refining. It had long since vanished into the river of history. The Spirit Sense path, also known as the Soul Path, was this sect's supreme legacy!
As for this inheritance jade slip, it came from a demonic cultivator known as the 'Dark Crow Adept'. The grey-robed elder had obtained it from a skeletal remains in a mud pit while exploring the Withered Leaf Swamp, likely a casualty of the last great war.
The jade slip only contained the first and second-grade segments of the Ancient Soul Art legacy. To obtain the subsequent parts, one would have to seek out the ruins of the Heavenly Soul Sect. A few clues were provided within, but they pointed to the Scarlet Kite Demon Domain.
The Dark Crow Adept had also left some of his own arts behind. The grey-robed elder, wary of their demonic nature, had refrained from learning them. Now, they all benefited Wang Yu.
*Spirit Refining Method:* Ancient Soul Art
*Spirit Sense Secret Art:* Mountain-Scouring Demon-Seeking
*Spirit Sense Secret Art:* Soul Shattering Finger
*Spirit Sense Secret Art:* Heavenly Soul Unitary Breath
*Spirit Nourishing Pill Recipe:* Soul Origin Pill
*Spirit Restoration Pill Recipe:* Primordial Return Soul Restoration Pill
*Spirit Sense Artifact:* Glazed Soul Lantern Refining Method
*Spirit Sense Artifact:* Soul Suppressing Seal Refining Method
A full eight second-grade legacies of the Soul Path! From the core method and secret arts to pill recipes and artifact refining methods, it was all-encompassing.
In addition, there were six first-grade legacies. These were of little help to Wang Yu for now, so he set them aside.
Among the aforementioned legacies, Wang Yu had already witnessed most in action. As for the ones he hadn't:
- *Heavenly Soul Unitary Breath* was a secret art for rapidly recovering from soul injuries, also offering protection for the soul and safeguarding the Niwan Palace.
- *Soul Origin Pill* could increase spirit sense.
- *Primordial Return Soul Restoration Pill* could repair the soul and nurture damaged remnants of spirit—a lifesaving pill for the Soul Path.
Both pills were second-grade. If refined to peak quality, they would even be beneficial to Core Formation cultivators. These gains alone constituted a massive windfall.
But there were also the several legacies left by the Dark Crow Adept, special arts that combined the Soul Path and the Music Path, exceptionally rare and uncommon.
*Spirit Refining Method:* Dark Crow Moon-Pleading Art
*Soul-Music Dual Path Art:* Ghost Crow Soul-Devouring Tone (A group-attack type illusory sound killing technique, ranked second-grade peak, superior even to the Profound Yin Hand)
*Soul-Music Dual Path Art:* Heart-Control Demonic Tone (Second-grade high-tier, specializing in attacking spirit sense and mental imagery, capable of controlling others without their detection, unbreakable except by those of exceptionally firm will)
*Soul-Music Dual Path Art:* Sorrowful Wail Heart-Severing Blade (Second-grade mid-tier, attacks the target simultaneously in reality and within the spirit sense)
*Soul-Music Evil Instrument:* Ghost Weeping Flute Refining Method
These five legacies were also not to be underestimated. This Dark Crow Adept was likely a peak Foundation Establishment genius demonic cultivator on the verge of Core Formation, who had unfortunately perished in the Withered Leaf Swamp during the war.
The rewards from killing the grey-robed elder genuinely shocked Wang Yu. *Was this the turnaround after reaching the depths of misfortune?! Had extreme adversity finally given way to prosperity?!*
He suddenly found himself liking the Taihu Spiritual Domain again. The cultivators here were truly wealthy, far better off than the impoverished demonic cultivators.
Beyond the legacies, the inheritance jade slip contained other information.
Regarding the Ancient Soul Art, the wish was for the inheritor to find the Heavenly Soul Sect ruins, obtain the complete legacy, re-establish the sect, and restore its ancient glory.
From the Dark Crow Adept's side, the wish was for the inheritor to seek revenge for him by killing a cultivator from the Blazing Sun Sect named [Xiao Fulong].
These were not Wang Yu's focus.
He was a demonic cultivator. His ultimate goal was to act according to his own will, to freely主宰 (zhǔzǎi - dominate, control) his own destiny. And that required immense power.
*To act through non-action, and thus there is nothing left undone!*
Those dying wishes were just that—wishes. He would help if the opportunity arose conveniently, and forget it if not. It all depended on fate.
At the moment, he leaned comfortably against the juvenile Tuolong, musing inwardly, "So many... so many choices... What should I learn first..."
First, a spirit refining method was essential. The Lunar Nether Pupils was a pupil-technique type secret art; its side effect of drawing Lunar essence to temper spirit sense was certainly inferior to a method dedicated solely to cultivating spirit sense.
Comparing the two methods, the Ancient Soul Art had follow-up parts, making it unequivocally superior to the Dark Crow Adept's Foundation Establishment core method. The choice was obvious.
As for the other techniques left by the Dark Crow Adept, Wang Yu was very interested in all of them. He would learn them all!
But the same principle applied. The Dark Crow Adept's legacy required powerful spirit sense and the Ghost Weeping Flute to be used in tandem to achieve maximum effect. He needed to refine this specialized instrument first.
Consequently, for now, he could only seek out the learnable secret arts within the Ancient Soul Art legacy. The rest would have to wait for future study. He wasn't in a desperate hurry for his innate资质 (zīzhì - aptitude, talent) transformation now; he had plenty of time to delve into these arts.
"I'll start with the 'Heavenly Soul Unitary Breath' secret art."
He called up his five placement slots. Without a second thought, the Profound Yin Hand was relegated once more.
**[Placement Slot 3: Heavenly Soul Unitary Breath]**
`Heavenly Soul Unitary Breath (0/100): Twelve practices per day. Mastery achievable in five years.`
Wang Yu's eyes lit up. Perhaps due to the different type of art, or his increased realm, the time required to master Heavenly Soul Unitary Breath was half that of the Profound Yin Hand.
Removing it, he placed the spirit refining method "Ancient Soul Art" into a slot.
**[Placement Slot 3: Ancient Soul Art]**
`Ancient Soul Art (0/100): Forty-eight practices per day. Mastery achievable in twenty years.`
Slightly lengthy. But as a core method, once placed to mastery, his self-cultivation speed wouldn't be slow. Enhancing his spirit sense would boost the power of all related spells and secret arts. It was a foundational method, worthy of greater time investment.
But he didn't have that time right now. If he wanted to cultivate with full focus, it would likely have to wait until his return to the Reverse Spirit Blood Sect.
(End of Chapter)