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Deep within the Yunlan Mountains, as far as the eye could see, was a lush, verdant forest. A light mist lingered perpetually, like a terrestrial paradise.
Inside a simple wooden house, an old man in white robes with snow-white hair sat cross-legged on a bed, practicing breathing exercises.
With each inhale and exhale, a large amount of invisible airflow rushed into his chest and was expelled. A gentle breeze surrounded him, constantly swirling.
"Alas… how long will this barrier block me?" the old man sighed deeply.
He shook his head slightly, revealing a helpless smile.
"Heh heh… it seems you need a little help, Yunshan," a hoarse, eerie, and somewhat ethereal voice suddenly sounded in his ears.
"Who's there?" Yunshan's expression changed, and he abruptly rushed out of the wooden house, arriving at the open space in front.
He saw a tall, thin man dressed in black, with black mist swirling around him, obscuring his face, standing quietly in the air, looking down at him condescendingly.
Upon seeing this person, Yunshan couldn't help but gasp, because behind this person were no wings formed of Dou Qi…
Walking in the air, this was the mark of a Dou Ancestor expert.
Although he sensed that the visitor was ill-intentioned, Yunshan did not dare to be disrespectful. He bowed slightly and said:
"May I ask for this senior's honorific name? What instructions do you have for my Yunlan Sect?"
"Soul Hall, Protector Wu… As for instructions? Do you want to break through to Dou Emperor and become a Dou Ancestor?" Protector Wu said with a hint of temptation.
"Dou Ancestor…" Yunshan's breathing quickened.
Breaking through to Ancestor from Emperor had almost become his obsession, but he forcibly resisted the temptation and regained some rationality. He knew that there was no free lunch in this world.
Taking a deep breath, he suppressed the excitement in his heart and asked in as calm a tone as possible: "What kind of power is the Soul Hall?"
"You don't need to know too much about the specifics of our Soul Hall. You only need to know that even in Zhongzhou, we are the strongest power… Crushing your Yunlan Sect is no more difficult than crushing an ant."
Yunshan felt a slight discomfort in his heart at Protector Wu's contemptuous attitude, but he did not refute it. What the other party said was the truth.
Without anyone else, even just the person in front of him could slaughter the entire Yunlan Sect single-handedly.
"Then, may I ask what I need to pay?"
"Souls… What our Soul Hall needs are people's souls. After you become a Dou Ancestor with our support, you only need to hand over the soul of a Dou Emperor every five years…
"Of course, we won't let you work for nothing. Our Soul Hall also has corresponding rewards. The more souls you hand over, the more contribution points you will get… Contribution points can be used to exchange for various cultivation methods, secret techniques, pills, and Dou skills…
"If you diligently collect souls and the total amount you hand over reaches a certain level, there will also be tiered additional rewards… In short, the more you do, the more you get," Protector Wu replied in a calm tone.
Yunshan was tempted. The conditions offered by Protector Wu seemed quite good. Although there was a rigid requirement to "hand over the soul of a Dou Emperor every five years," if he became a Dou Ancestor, this would not be a problem.
He was still a little hesitant: "What if I can't complete the task and can't hand over a soul when the time comes?"
Protector Wu's tone became much more sinister: "Our Soul Hall is not a charity. If you can't hand it over, use your own soul to fill the gap."
Yunshan's heart trembled. This Soul Hall was indeed not an easy force to deal with.
He hesitated, his mind filled with thoughts.
If he agreed, then the Yunlan Sect would probably never be able to get rid of the Soul Hall's control, and would lose a lot of independence.
Cooperating with Protector Wu was no different from seeking skin from a tiger.
Seeing that Yunshan was still hesitating, Protector Wu said: "I am only looking for your Yunlan Sect first for the sake of Yun Potian back then. There are many forces who want to cooperate with us. If you are not willing, I will not force you. I think the royal family of the Jia Ma Empire would be interested…
"When Jia Xingtian breaks through to Dou Ancestor and needs Dou Emperor souls, maybe we can meet again, but at that time, you will probably be in the position of someone else's merit."
There was a clear threat in Protector Wu's words.
Yunshan's expression changed. He was already somewhat tempted, and what Protector Wu said was indeed correct. If he didn't cooperate, then he might become the prey of other forces…
Moreover, Protector Wu, a Dou Ancestor himself, was a great threat that he could not ignore.
After thinking it over and over again, Yunshan finally compromised and nodded: "Okay, I agree to cooperate."
"Heh heh… a wise choice," Protector Wu laughed.
"I wonder how you plan to help me break through to Dou Ancestor? A Breaking Ancestor Pill?" Yunshan asked.
The Breaking Ancestor Pill could be said to be a sixth-grade peak-level pill, and its effects could make many peak Dou Emperor experts jealous.
It could increase the success rate of a peak Dou Emperor expert trying to advance to Dou Ancestor by 10%, and ensure that the person taking it would maintain their strength at the level before the impact, even if they failed to break through to Dou Ancestor, without regressing.
When he heard Protector Wu say that he wanted to help him advance to Dou Ancestor, Yunshan naturally thought of this famous pill.
"Breaking Ancestor Pill? You're thinking too highly of yourself. That kind of pill is not that cheap. If you can give me the soul of a Dou Ancestor, I can help you exchange for it," Protector Wu sneered.
"The soul of a Dou Ancestor…" Yunshan shook his head with a wry smile. This was not a price he could afford.
"I have a Soul Enhancing Pill here, which can also help you break through to Dou Ancestor," Protector Wu tossed a white jade bottle to Yunshan.
Yunshan quickly caught it, opened the mouth of the bottle, and a pungent smell came from the bottle, completely different from the fragrance emitted by ordinary pills.
He frowned, held out his left hand in a palm shape, turned the bottle upside down, and poured out the pill from the bottle.
To his surprise, the pill did not stay on his palm, but passed through his palm and fell to the ground.
Yunshan immediately retracted and probed with his left hand, catching the pill. This time, he condensed enough Dou Qi in his hand.
"This pill…" he showed a very puzzled expression.
Protector Wu explained, as if he had been prepared: "This is a pure soul pill that I refined using a secret method. This jade bottle is also specially made.
"When using it, you need to use a secret method to temporarily separate the soul from the body and take it in the state of the soul.
"As the name suggests, the function of the 'Soul Enhancing Pill' is to enhance the power of the soul, especially for a period of time after taking it, your soul will be terrifyingly powerful… Although it will slowly decline afterwards, this period of time when your soul power is enhanced is the best time to break through.
"During this period, due to the power of your soul, you can draw a wider range of heaven and earth energy, and your control over energy will also be improved.
"So breaking through will be much easier, and the increase in your success rate will be higher than that of the Breaking Ancestor Pill.
"Heh… even the Breaking Ancestor Pill only increases your success rate by 10%, but my Soul Enhancing Pill can increase it by 30%!"
Thirty percent… this increase made Yunshan moved, but he also thought that when he asked about the Breaking Ancestor Pill just now, Protector Wu said that kind of pill would not be so cheap, so the value of this Soul Enhancing Pill was obviously not as good as the Breaking Ancestor Pill.
But it has a higher increase in the success rate, so it must have great flaws, and the side effects may be very large.
"I wonder what negative effects will there be after taking this Soul Enhancing Pill?"
Protector Wu grinned: "First, it will affect your potential and make future cultivation more difficult. If you eat it, your path of cultivation will probably come to an end… But this point can be ignored, because if you don't eat it, you won't even be able to reach Dou Ancestor!
"Second, it is mixed with many souls inside, carrying their spiritual imprints. You need to fight against them and not lose yourself. Otherwise, even if you successfully break through, the you after the breakthrough may no longer be yourself."
Hearing such an answer, Yunshan was not surprised… This was normal.
Yunshan nodded: "I see, then Protector Wu, should you tell me the secret method needed for absorption?"
Protector Wu let out a strange laugh, "It seems you can't wait, then I'll wait for your good news."
He threw a jade slip engraved with the secret method of soul separation to Yunshan, and then turned into a cloud of black mist and disappeared into the sky.
Yunshan held the jade slip and the pill, his face uncertain. This transaction was semi-forced.
After a long time, he sighed. There was no turning back now. No, since Protector Wu came to his door, he had no second choice.
"Blessing or disaster… It's a challenge, but also an opportunity. I hope to take this opportunity to improve the strength of my Yunlan Sect and reproduce some of the glory of our ancestor Yun Potian."
Yunshan made up his mind and prepared to take this strange pill.
He adjusted his state, walked to the mountain wall behind the wooden house, and pressed his palm on a circular stone.
As his Dou Qi was injected, the stone emitted a hazy white light.
A low rumbling sound rang out, and the stone door rubbed against the ground, causing the mountain wall to tremble slightly.
A deep cave appeared on the mountain wall. Without hesitation, Yunshan walked in.
As he entered, spherical decorations on both sides of the passage suddenly emitted blue and white light.
The sound of the stone door rubbing against the ground rang out again, and the entrance to the passage was sealed.
Yunshan walked forward along the passage and came to a relatively spacious practice room.
The furnishings in the room were very simple, with only a stone bed covered with soft magical beast skin.
He sat cross-legged on the stone bed, probed his soul power into the jade slip, and began to read the secret method given to him by Protector Wu.
A large amount of information poured into Yunshan's brain. After a long time, he slowly exhaled and muttered to himself:
"I didn't expect that there would be such a strange method in the world… It's a pity that it can't be used too much, otherwise it will reduce the fit between one's soul and body. If it's not good, the soul will really not be able to return to the body."
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