CHAPTER 42: CHAPTER 42: THE CONCEALED SOUL SECRET TECHNIQUE_1

"If the Awakeners are still so rich after being exploited, how rich the Court must be," Wang Linchi couldn’t help but speculate.

When he left, an Awakener with malicious intentions followed him, but he ended up killing him on the spot with the Soul Seed Page - Fanciful and Fickle; even his head was blown off.

The opponent was an early Black Iron Stage Awakener with mediocre strength.

After looting the corpse, he obtained about ten Excellent Level Soul Kinds, a decent quantity.

After clearing away any traces, he strolled around for a long while, using various methods to ensure no one was following him. Only then did he quietly return to the temporary hideout and emerge in a new disguise.

He had, of course, changed more than just his appearance; he had also disposed of the carrier for the Soul Forging Method.

Having memorized all its contents, he naturally destroyed the physical medium. Why would he need the carrier? What if the other party had placed some kind of mark on it?

He did not purchase resources in the black market. Perhaps the black market itself was a viable channel, but for Wang Linchi, it was unnecessary; he feared potential problems.

He traveled openly on his way back, but his mind was mulling over the contents of the Soul Forging Methods he had memorized.

How to put it? Of the ten methods, seven were flawed or incomplete, one was entirely fake, and of the remaining two, one was complete while the other was fragmentary.

So, the Soul Forging Methods were also a minefield.

Fortunately, Wang Linchi possessed quite a few genuine articles; otherwise, he might not have been able to tell the difference. If he had bought them from the black market back then, he would have only crippled his cultivation.

But the Soul Forging Method from the academy is actually incomplete? This is truly...

Wang Linchi discovered that the complete and cultivable Soul Forging Methods he had purchased from the black market all came with accompanying incantations to enhance Soul Resemblance, known as Soul Secret Techniques.

The Soul Forging Method distributed by the Academy could not enhance an Awakener’s Soul Resemblance at all.

In reality, however, Soul Forging Methods contained such a component—one that allowed the absorption of Soul Kinds to enhance one’s own Soul Resemblance. This also explained why such vast quantities of Soul Kinds were consumed entirely: they were required as auxiliary resources for practicing Soul Secret Techniques.

What is the Court’s motive for doing this?

Logically, these components should be complementary. Why remove one part and deliberately cripple the Awakeners’ strength?

Wait, could it be that if one breaks through to the Black Iron Level without elevating their Soul Resemblance to a certain degree during the White Porcelain level, it results in the Awakener being somehow incomplete or flawed?

Wang Linchi suddenly had this thought. If that were the case, then the black market’s restriction preventing White Porcelain level individuals from entering would make sense.

This was likely the difference between an advanced breakthrough and an ordinary one. Consequently, the gap between ordinary Awakeners and those from major powers would only widen.

It also explained why so many people were stuck at the Black Iron Level. Potential was one factor, but another was likely deficiencies experienced during their own breakthrough.

And by the time one reached the Black Iron Level, everything was already set in stone, so granting them access to such techniques at that point wouldn’t matter.

As for lower-class families at the Black Iron Level and above being able to pass on this knowledge to their descendants prematurely, that might be true, but they were ultimately a minority. Not to mention that one could only awaken through a ceremony at the age of eighteen, and subsequent cultivation primarily focused on the Soul Forging Method. Prematurely imparting these Soul Secret Techniques would not only hinder their progress in becoming stronger but also severely strain their resources.

For lower-class Awakeners at the White Porcelain level, learning Soul Secret Techniques was like high school seniors cramming for exams by trying to learn university-level material in advance. Just because you’re going to university, you can learn it early? In Wang Linchi’s previous life, the worst outcome would have been failing the college entrance exams. Here, if one’s strength was insufficient to enter a Secret Realm, they would die in the Secret Realm.

As for families that had reached the Secret Silver Level, they were all middle to upper-class. They weren’t low-level to begin with, so the monopoly wasn’t as strict for them.

However, it wasn’t as if there were no exceptions. It’s just that even if exceptions existed, they wouldn’t be publicized. This was a secret valuable enough to be passed down through generations, like discovering a surefire way to win the lottery. Would you go around shouting about it for everyone to know? Especially in a feudal society like this, where people held back even with technologies, let alone such a secret.

It was only because Wang Linchi was rather unique; by using the Nine Revolutions Golden Core and the Soul Shield to simulate the Black Iron Level, he had managed to enter the black market with the strength of a White Porcelain Level Awakener.

Perhaps these Awakeners aren’t even aware of these issues, at most believing they were merely a step too late.

After all, even after breaking through to the Black Iron Level, they could still enhance their Soul Resemblance and thereby improve their physique.

Therefore, they wouldn’t notice the difference.

The upper echelons blockade information and monopolize content; how could those at the bottom ever learn of such things?

As for whether this is true or false, I’ll know once I’ve managed to integrate a Soul Resemblance enhancement method.

Wang Linchi only had conjectures; he didn’t have much evidence.

Moreover, these Soul Secret Techniques were unusable for him. Each Soul Secret Technique was paired with a specific Soul Forging Method; trying to match them otherwise was like fitting a square peg in a round hole. Forcibly cultivating a Soul Secret Technique incompatible with one’s Soul Forging Method would not only yield no benefits but would also damage the Soul Resemblance.

His Soul Forging Method was self-created, so he had no corresponding Soul Secret Technique for it at all. If he wanted one, he would have to create it himself from scratch.

This is by no means an easy task.

It’s just that, in this case, the timeline for breaking through to the Black Iron Level will have to be postponed again.

To maintain its rule, it was understandable for the Court to monopolize knowledge.

However, he had never imagined that even the Dean would deceive him.

Wang Linchi speculated that the "Book Mountain and Sea Soul Forging Method" Yan Ming King had given him initially was most likely provided by the Dean, as he had already become involved with the Dean’s daughter by then.

The subsequent Soul Forging Methods were also delivered through the Dean’s arrangements.

Consequently, all the Soul Forging Methods that later fell into Wang Linchi’s hands lacked any accompanying Soul Secret Techniques.

Faced with such a situation, Wang Linchi felt quite helpless. If he had been born into a Great Family or chosen as a disciple by a major Sect, these matters might have been common knowledge. However, for bottom-tier Awakeners like them, this information was a rare secret, likely known to very few.

In this way, the disparity would naturally continue to widen.

And the Court’s rule would undoubtedly become increasingly stable.

There was also another possibility: that the Soul Secret Techniques themselves were flawed and were therefore hidden. But this likelihood was so small as to be negligible. If that were truly the case, they could have simply issued a public announcement instead of secretly crippling the Soul Forging Methods.

"Ultimately, they’re not one of us," Wang Linchi muttered softly.

He didn’t even voice the more blunt thought: that in the Dean’s eyes, he might not even have been considered a person, merely a tool at best.

It was only later, when his value had increased, that he was given a little more.

After returning home, Wang Linchi immediately plunged into intensive research on Soul Secret Techniques.

He had a total of fifteen Soul Secret Technique manuals in his possession. Naturally, the first step was to learn them. How could he even consider modifying them if he didn’t understand them in the first place?

Just as he was engrossed in studying, he suddenly felt a tremor.

"Is someone fighting?!" This was Wang Linchi’s first thought.

And whatever could cause such a huge commotion was likely at the Elite Gold Level.

Therefore, he unhesitatingly began to pack his valuables, preparing to flee. He had no idea what was happening, but he was certain that anyone capable of fighting within the city walls was no ordinary individual.

"Villain! You dare attack a court-appointed Imperial official!"

The ROARING voice made Wang Linchi’s head spin. He was very familiar with this voice—it belonged to the Qinghe Colonel.

This was followed by the CRASHING and BANGING sounds of intense fighting and explosions. The two sides were locked in a fierce battle, and the tremors in his basement grew increasingly frequent. Fortunately, the structure was sturdy enough. Perhaps because he was too far from the site of the conflict, the vibrations weren’t overly strong.

It seems the people behind Fang Cheng have made a move against the Colonel’s son.

Wang Linchi guessed that the Colonel had likely used his son as bait, thereby managing to catch the culprits’ trail.

One had to admit, the Colonel was a ruthless man. Most people would probably have hidden their son. But you could hide someone for a while, not forever.

It was better to lure them out and eliminate them all in one fell swoop.