Supreme Immortal Orifice.
The Soul Path grand formation was already laid out and ready.
This grand formation hovered in mid-air, covering an area of roughly three li in diameter.
The dim, dark radiance emanating from the formation resembled a massive disc — thick at the edges, thin in the center.
Inside the formation, yin winds rose in all directions and the temperature plummeted, while outside it remained as usual.
After exploring the formation several times with his soul sense, Fang Yuan felt satisfied in his heart: "This grand formation was refined from a Soul Path killer move. It's more stable than the original, and its operation can be made far more delicate and precise."
This was a wondrous Soul Path cultivation technique recorded in the Shadow Sect's True Inheritance, capable of allowing one's soul to break through its own limits and reach the Desolate Soul stage!
On the foundation of this Soul Path killer move, Fang Yuan had perfectly refined it using his own attainment in Formation Path.
Everything was ready. Fang Yuan withdrew his hundred-million-man soul into the formation.
A desolate beast's soul core was clutched in the palm of his soul. When his soul arrived at the center of the formation, he crushed the soul core.
The soul core had already been processed in advance, and under the influence of the grand formation it had become extremely fragile.
The moment the soul core shattered, it dissolved into mist that drifted outward.
The grand formation accelerated its operation, causing the mist to rapidly spread, completely enveloping Fang Yuan's hundred-million-man soul.
Over the following several hours, the mist gradually thinned until it dissipated entirely.
Fang Yuan's hundred-million-man soul remained in its original appearance, identical to his current Supreme Immortal Body — solid as substance and lifelike.
However, what Fang Yuan's soul felt and experienced was entirely different from before.
"So this is a Desolate Soul?" Fang Yuan's soul examined its own hands.
He could clearly sense that although his outward appearance hadn't changed much, surging power was churning within.
This was power that his previous state could not have even aspired to.
A hundred-million-man soul could only interfere with physical matter — even being besieged by ordinary wild beasts was dangerous and brought hardship. The combat power of a Desolate Soul was on an entirely different level from a hundred-million-man soul.
"Next is a practical combat test." Fang Yuan's soul flew out of the formation, eager to try.
He had long made his preparations. A desolate beast was imprisoned not far away.
The moment the desolate beast was freed, it saw a blue-ink-colored soul in the shape of an adult human hurtling toward it.
It let out a roar, erupting with killing intent, and opened its massive jaws to bite at Fang Yuan's soul.
At the critical instant, Fang Yuan's soul shot sharply upward, evading the desolate beast's bite, and flew above its head.
Fang Yuan's soul raised its leg, then brought its right foot crashing down like a war axe.
Boom!
With a thunderous impact, the desolate beast — its body as large as a small hill — was severely wounded, sent flying by Fang Yuan's devastating kick.
"Again!" Fang Yuan's soul shot forward in pursuit, throwing punches and kicks.
The desolate beast's intelligence was no match for Fang Yuan's, and with its considerable bulk, it could only endure the beating as Fang Yuan dodged with ease.
Fang Yuan's blows landed squarely on flesh. Before long, the desolate beast was wailing continuously, its fighting spirit shattered, and it turned tail to flee.
Fang Yuan didn't bother chasing it — he would arrange for someone to deal with it later.
A faint sense of excitement lingered in Fang Yuan's soul.
"It really does possess the combat power of a desolate beast!"
"Combined with my fighting ability, in one-on-one combat, no ordinary desolate beast would be my match."
"However, my original human soul could float and travel through the air, but after breaking through to a Desolate Soul, I've completely lost the ability to fly. I'll have to rely on Gu Insects."
The reason Fang Yuan could dart around freely in the air during combat was because his soul was wrapped around various Immortal Gu, along with Immortal Essence stones.
Some soul beasts could fly, and some could not.
According to the Shadow Sect's True Inheritance, when a human soul breaks through to a Desolate Soul, it cannot possess the ability to fly. Humans are simply not born with the capacity.
The souls of Feathermen were different — they could fly. But Feathermen were not a pure human race either.
Even Dark Soul Demon Venerable, whose soul cultivation had reached the absolute pinnacle, fought at the Battle of Yitian Mountain while treading upon the earth, unable to fly.
"The number of Soul Path Dao Marks on my soul has undergone an explosive increase — directly surpassing the ten-thousand threshold!"
Previously, Fang Yuan's soul had very few Soul Path Dao Marks, even after accumulating up to a hundred-million-man soul.
This was because Fang Yuan had cultivated at two great Soul Path sacred sites — Soul Shaking Mountain and Spirit Falling Valley. Using other Soul Path cultivation methods would have added far more Dao Marks to his soul, only then reaching an equivalent level of foundation.
The physical body was a vessel for Dao Marks, and the soul was no different.
It wasn't just the Soul Path that could bear Dao Marks upon the soul — other Paths could as well.
For example, the Time Path.
Xia Cha, an Eighth Transformation Gu Immortal of the Southern Border, had layered a protective measure upon her own soul. Upon her soul was a web of Time Path Dao Marks woven together. This layer of protection had caused Fang Yuan considerable obstruction when he searched her soul in his previous life.
Having broken through the limit and become a Desolate Soul, Fang Yuan could now resume his Soul Path cultivation.
The road ahead would be far broader and more distant than human soul cultivation.
Ten Desolate Souls, a hundred Desolate Souls, a thousand Desolate Souls, ten thousand Desolate Souls...
Fang Yuan's Desolate Soul began its cultivation. The Time Path clone was perpetually calculating, while Fang Yuan's main body continued studying the Dragonman clone.
Even though this clone had been created entirely by his own hand, it still held research value.
The Dragonman clone's soul had originally taken the form of Fang Yuan's Supreme Immortal Body, with a foundation of thirty million human souls.
Now, its appearance had transformed dramatically, matching the Dragonman physical body — complete with a dragon tail, dragon horns, dragon scales, and the Dragonman's vertical pupils.
Moreover, the Soul Path Dao Marks on the soul had been reduced to single digits, with a human soul foundation of no more than several dozen human souls.
This was the result of Fang Yuan's refinement, and precisely the degree he had aimed to achieve.