Chapter 139: The Soul Devouring Sect and the Divine Soul Sect!
"Mm, get up. Although we haven't spent much time together, I can tell that your talent is extraordinary."
Hulei helped Jiang Lin up and raised his hand, opening the highest level of the surrounding restrictions. A blurry Dou Qi barrier appeared, ensuring that the sounds and images inside could not escape.
"Since I have already passed on the Soul Refining Technique to you, I will now tell you about your master ancestor. In the future, I will take you to meet him."
Having passed on almost everything he could to Jiang Lin, Hulei decided to reward him with some information about their lineage of weapon refiners.
"There are eight human clans with a very long history in this world. In the Central Continent, they are referred to as the Ancient Eight Clans. The spirit clan I mentioned to you earlier is one of them, and your master ancestor belongs to another clan known as the Soul Clan, a powerful group of weapon refiners."
The reason Hulei was able to obtain the Soul Clan's orthodox soul cultivation technique was simple: his own master was a Super Sixth-Rank Xuan-level Weapon Refiner from the Soul Clan.
"The Soul Clan...?" Jiang Lin paused, suddenly recalling a soul force in his recent reading of weapon refiners' secrets. He remembered the notorious Soul Palace, a faction known for its dark deeds.
"That... Soul Palace, which is located outside the Black Corner Region, the one that's done all sorts of evil?"
Hulei went silent immediately, his face contorting with some discomfort. However, after a long sigh, he said to Jiang Lin, "The relationship between the Weapon Refiners' Guild and the Soul Palace is somewhat complicated. You can think of it as both factions being backed by the Soul Clan. But, as I've warned you not to use the darker aspects of the Soul Refining Technique, the Soul Refining Technique actually has two branches."
"The Soul Devouring Sect, and the Divine Soul Sect."
Nothing in the world is inherently evil or righteous. Even within the Soul Clan, not everyone is a villain. There are still a small number of Soul Clan members who are steadfast in the Divine Soul Sect.
"The Soul Devouring Sect, as the name suggests, strengthens one's soul by devouring others' souls. The advantage is that the effect is fast, and the improvement is visible to the naked eye. The downside is... it has significant side effects for non-Soul Clan cultivators, but for the Soul Clan, the side effects are minimal."
The fact that the orthodox soul cultivation technique could be passed down shows that the Soul Refining Technique's greatest effect requires the cultivation of imperial blood from the Soul Clan. For others, it's just a regular soul refining method.
"The Divine Soul Sect, also known as the Ancient Soul Cultivators, is said to be the oldest soul cultivation method, emphasizing the perfection of the soul, the emptiness of the five elements, the purity of the soul, and the transformation of the soul into divinity."
The Divine Soul Sect continuously strengthens the soul through self-cultivation. This is the orthodox method of the Soul Clan before they became the imperial clan. However, as the saying goes, 'success or failure depends on imperial blood.' Because of imperial blood, the Soul Clan discovered that others' souls were practically a different species. Normally, soul cannibalism would greatly pollute the soul, but because of their imperial blood, the Soul Clan was able to devour souls with minimal side effects. After that, the Soul Palace was established.
"Your master ancestor is one of the rare Divine Soul Sect cultivators within the Soul Clan. He is a true Ancient Divine Soul cultivator. So, I advise you to follow the Divine Soul Sect, or your master ancestor won't recognize you as his disciple. I passed down both volumes of the Soul Refining Technique to you because, in a sense, it can also be considered a weapon refining method. How to use it and how to understand it depends on your own fate."
The reason Hulei passed down both volumes of the Soul Refining Technique to Jiang Lin was that the first volume contained soul cultivation content, and the second volume focused on soul usage methods. This involved techniques like Soul Capture, Soul Binding, and other methods central to the Soul Devouring Sect. But Hulei clearly did not want Jiang Lin to follow the path of the Soul Devouring Sect; he wanted him to understand more about soul techniques and deepen his understanding of soul forging.
"As for the Soul Palace, we can't interfere. In this dark age, everyone is struggling to protect themselves. All we can control is ourselves. Also, the Soul Palace mainly targets alchemists, so it's not something we need to concern ourselves with." When Hulei mentioned this, there was a slight expression of schadenfreude on his face.
Aside from the Central Continent, few people knew that the Weapon Refiners' Guild was backed by the Soul Clan.
"The Soul Palace, which everyone despises, will not bother us unless we provoke them. Besides, once you become a Sixth-Rank Xuan-level Refiner, you might even be able to make some deals with the Soul Palace. After all, some ultra-large Sixth-Rank Xuan-level weapons require such immense soul power that some clever methods have been developed."
Hulei had no reservations when it came to Jiang Lin. He regarded him as his personal disciple, aligning him with his own master's faction.
Jiang Lin's face twitched slightly. "So, are we really directly associating with the world's biggest villain faction now?"
"Master, you've told me so much about breaking conventional morality, and you're not worried I'll run away with all this information?" Jiang Lin said helplessly.
Hulei had called the Soul Clan master a good person but then turned around and mentioned the evil deeds of the Soul Palace. Now, it seemed that the Weapon Refiners were the beneficiaries. Great, now we're all big villains.
"Hey, I just hope you don't hold on too tightly to a simplistic sense of right and wrong. In Tiangong Pavilion, our faction is known as the 'Ink Sect,' which is already considered the good guys." Many evaluations are relative, and compared to the other sinister Soul Clan factions, Hulei's faction is considered a rare righteous one.
After all, while others capture you for soul refining, we don't. If we do capture you, it's just to refine weapons.
"Okay, okay, Master, you've successfully reformed my worldview. Ink Sect it is, and let's just focus on getting things done." Jiang Lin said with a helpless smile. He had originally wanted to be a good person.
But as Hulei said, dark soul techniques should not be used unless provoked. Otherwise, they would have no choice but to invite others to the Emperor's Flag for a conversation.
Jiang Lin could already imagine himself laughing menacingly while summoning the majestic sight of the Emperor's Flag.
Though the Soul Clan master opposed soul devouring, he didn't mind soul binding and weapon refining. Jiang Lin's last shred of the "Master Ancestor Filter" had broken. Now, the Soul Clan as a whole was a faction of villains. The master ancestor was just less obvious, instead being upheld by his peers, comparable to a saint.
"Hahaha, it's best if you can accept it. If you can't, it's fine. The Soul Forging method will subdue every stubborn Xuan-level refiner."
Hulei laughed heartily, then pulled out a small jade slip from his hand, which he tossed directly to Jiang Lin.
"The Soul Forging method is inside. You can take a look. If there's anything you don't understand, just ask me. This Soul Jade Slip is yours. With your soul strength at the mid-Mortal Realm, you can already leave inscriptions inside it."
(END CHAPTER)
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