Chapter 40: Chapter 40: Hall of Souls Trial Grounds

    ?

    Hun Lao Gui pointed to the curtain door. From the outside, it was impossible to see where the curtain led, only that beyond it was utter darkness, with not a single ray of light able to

    penetrate.

    "Where does that door lead?"

    "To the Hun Realm."

    "The Hun Realm?"

    Hun Lao Gui stood up like a zombie and slowly said, "This is a passage to the Hun Realm. Only soul bodies can pass through it. However, you don''t qualify to go to the Hun Realm yet. Therefore, you will be transported to the trial grounds of the Hall of Souls in the Black-Corner Region."

    "The cultivation in the Hall of Souls is not only about cultivating Dou Qi but also places emphasis on cultivating the soul and practicing Soul Skills. You may also choose to undergo trials in Soul Skills, to battle with the soul."

    Xiao Yan''s eyes narrowed as he looked at Hun Lao Gui. Although he was only sixteen years old, he knew quite a bit thanks to the mysterious storage ring.

    In addition to Dou Skills, there were also Soul Skills in this world, which were methods specifically designed to cultivate the soul and use Spiritual Strength to fight. However, Soul Skills were extremely rare; even among the numerous collections in the Soul Ring, there were only a handful of books on the soul, and the Soul Skills were limited to a few incomplete volumes that were impossible to cultivate from.

    For Xiao Yan, who was an alchemist, the strength of his soul was of the utmost importance. He had always wanted to find a suitable Soul Training Method or Soul Skill to cultivate his soul.

    Yet, not to mention the whole of Wu Tan City, even the biggest trading house in the Jia Ma Empire, the Miteer Clan, did not have any Soul Skills. Not even the Jia Nan Academy was known to have any Soul Training Methods or Soul Skills.

    He had originally thought that the Soul Training Methods and Soul Skills had been lost in the Dou Qi Continent. Now, it seemed that they were not lost, but rather kept secret and not circulated!

    Thinking back, Xiao Yan realized that Hun Huzi had never used Dou Qi, but had always used Spiritual Strength. At that time, Hun Huzi was most likely just a soul body, not a physical entity.

    "Scared?"

    Xiao Yan just smiled and walked directly into the pitch-black passage.

    He didn''t ask what would happen if he couldn''t pass the trial; he had thought about it for two years. At one point, he had even considered becoming a frog, hiding at the bottom of the well that was the Jia Ma Empire for the rest of his life, and forgetting about the rest.

    But as two years passed, his heart gradually filled with a sense of unwillingness. After living a life of mediocrity in his past life, how could he accept defeat again in this life?

    The moment he entered the Hun Realm passage, the token in his pocket automatically flew up and emitted a spiritual light that illuminated the entire space.

    Suddenly, his leg muscles bulged with power. He had actually cultivated a Huang Class Agility-Type Dou Technique, which allowed him a moment of explosive speed!

    Xiao Yan didn''t take him seriously at all and leisurely put the token away. He had already guessed what was going on.

    "Die!" Zhang Hong Guang felt a sense of triumph seeing that Xiao Yan didn''t react. He was an experienced member of a mercenary group, recommended here by his group leader, who had told him that passing the trials of a relic would reward him with a powerful Dou Technique.

    With a shout, he unleashed a sword strike that sliced through the air like a raging fire in a ruthless and domineering manner, not holding back at all, aiming to decapitate Xiao Yan with a swift cut to the neck!

    Xiao Yan stepped forward instead of retreating. Zhang Hong Guang''s movements were as trivial as those of a child in the face of his superior Spiritual Strength. Clenching his five fingers into a fist, he smoothly dodged the incoming blade and struck directly at Zhang Hong Guang''s neck bone. He didn''t hesitate to deliver a fatal blow.

    He showed no mercy like he would in a clan competition or a duel at Jia Nan Academy. The Hall of Souls was not a place for kindness but rather governed by the most primal law of the

    jungle.

    Since you came here out of greed to attack me, I have no reason to spare you.

    Moreover, he could tell that there was likely no way to surrender on this fighting platform.

    Zhang Hong Guang trembled on the ground for a few moments. Then he stopped breathing, and a wisp of his formless soul fragment was absorbed into the surrounding space. He couldn''t form a soul body with his Dou Practitioner cultivation.

    The number on Xiao Yan''s Soul Command changed from 1 to 2.

    "So these are soul points."

    Xiao Yan confirmed his speculation. From his conversations with Hun Huzi and Hun Lao Gui,

    he understood that they were members of the Hun Clan, and the Hall of Souls was a filial

    organization of the Hun Clan.

    The Xiao Clan in Wu Tan City had a similar setup. After coming of age, his two older brothers, Xiao Ding and Xiao Li, took some basic Dou Techniques and Qi Methods, along with a small number of resources, to form a mercenary group in Rock Desert City.

    The goal of this mercenary group was to recruit members and send the valuable resources they obtained back to the clan, continuously expanding the clan''s influence. He guessed that the relationship between the Hun Clan and the Hall of Souls was similar.

    What Xiao Yan didn''t know was that even the Jia Nan Academy was originally founded by a descendant of the Lei Clan, a Dou God Clan.

    Of course, the Hall of Souls was much larger than any mercenary group, and its influence was probably hidden in every corner of the Dou Qi Continent. It was even possible that traces of the Hall of Souls could be found within the Jia Nan Academy.