The sky was a pale violet, with vast stretches of gray-white clouds hanging in the midair like thick fog, restricting the view within the Soul Pacification Grotto-Heaven.
But the layout of this place was excellent — even Demon Venerable Soul had to silently admit as much.
He had disguised himself as a soul beast and successfully infiltrated this grotto-heaven many days ago, gradually uncovering its secrets.
This was a soul-path grotto-heaven, rich in soul-path cultivation resources. It contained at least ten super resource points! In history, there had even been the rare spectacle of two Eighth Transformation soul-path Gu Immortals emerging from the same place — though such a golden age was exceedingly uncommon.
The greatest feature of Soul Pacification Grotto-Heaven was a soul-path Immortal Gu move called Soul Pacification that continuously affected every living being within. This move could calm soul beasts and stabilize the souls of Gu Immortals, making it an exceptional aid for soul cultivators.
Soul-path cultivation encompassed three major aspects: tempering the soul, refining the soul, and pacifying the soul.
The most effective means of soul pacification was the water of Bewildering Soul Lake, known as Soul Pacification Soup — a supreme delicacy among fine wines. This had long been recorded in the Legends of Ren Zu.
The Soul Pacification move within this grotto-heaven was modeled after Soul Pacification Soup. Even Demon Venerable Soul felt the move's effects were quite impressive.
The most numerous inhabitants of Soul Pacification Grotto-Heaven were soul beasts.
The grotto-Heaven had always kept soul beasts in captivity. Now that Destiny had been destroyed and the Five Regions united, the Gu Immortals of Soul Pacification Grotto-Heaven were actively venturing out to collect even more soul beasts to stockpile — all in preparation for the coming war.
Yet the higher-ups, led by Cold Ash Fairy, still deemed it insufficient, frequently dispatching Gu Immortals to seek out more.
Thanks to the Soul Pacification move, even ancient soul beasts that entered the grotto-heaven became remarkably calm and peaceful, without the slightest restlessness.
After resting in the grotto-heaven for several days, An Xun received another order to go out and harvest soul beasts.
"This time, you will command three thousand soul beasts, with one ancient soul beast as your guard. Make a good showing." Before his departure, Cold Ash Fairy personally summoned him for an audience.
An Xun was the tall, thin Gu Immortal from before — Cold Ash Fairy's nephew and the Seventh Transformation Gu Immortal in Soul Pacification Grotto-Heaven who had the greatest potential to advance further.
"This nephew thanks Aunt for her care," An Xun said with difficulty. "But such a massive force of soul beasts — I truly lack the foundation to command them."
Cold Ash Fairy reached out and patted him. "With this move of mine, you'll have twenty days of power. It will let you command this army of soul beasts as easily as moving your own arm."
An Xun was overjoyed and quickly bowed in gratitude.
He understood that this was his aunt personally giving him special treatment, looking out for him. Though Soul Pacification Grotto-Heaven was not lacking in resources and had a deep well of reserves, the cultivation of Gu Immortals still followed a certain order of priority.
Cold Ash Fairy secretly aiding An Xun was her way of ensuring he would stand out in his competition with An Chong, becoming the first Seventh Transformation Gu Immortal to receive major support.
She was family, after all!
An Xun led his army of soul beasts out of Soul Pacification Grotto-Heaven and headed into the Black Heaven to patrol and harvest.
After several consecutive days, his harvest was meager, and he grew somewhat anxious.
"Logically speaking, after a qi tide, living beings suffer greatly. Countless lives die, and their souls should remain behind, forming more soul beasts," An Xun muttered, genuinely puzzled.
Along the way, he encountered barely any soul beasts, but he collected quite a few qi-path immortal materials — a turn of events that left him not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
Soul Pacification Grotto-Heaven was a soul-path grotto-heaven; these qi-path immortal materials were almost useless here. They could only be sold or traded.
What An Xun could not figure out, Demon Venerable Soul understood perfectly: "It seems that after the qi tide, qi-path Dao marks spread across the land, suppressing all other paths. Soul path is no exception, which is why new soul beasts have difficulty forming. Conversely, qi-path immortal materials are becoming abundant everywhere — and they will only continue to multiply."
Demon Venerable Soul perceived this trend and felt a strange stirring in his heart. "I never imagined the qi path would have a chance to shine again!"
The qi path had been in decline for a very long time. But under these circumstances, with qi-path immortal materials mass-producing across the Five Regions and Two Heavens, cultivation resources for the qi path would become abundant and costs would drop. This would inevitably spark a wave of qi-path cultivation.
Demon Venerable Soul, transformed into an ancient soul beast, had been secretly tailing An Xun ever since they left Soul Pacification Grotto-Heaven. He had his own agenda, of course.
He had already explored the grotto-heaven thoroughly enough. Inside, he could not easily make a move. But out here in the open — that was a different matter entirely.
Still, Demon Venerable Soul did not act immediately. He waited patiently for the right opportunity.
Sure enough, after a dozen or so days, An Xun encountered a herd of over a thousand wild soul beasts.
"Finally, a catch!" An Xun was delighted and promptly ordered his soul beast army to charge.
A great battle erupted.
At first, An Xun held a clear advantage. But before long, he discovered that an ancient soul beast had emerged from among the enemy's ranks.
An Xun hastily released his personal guard — also an ancient soul beast.
The two ancient soul beasts clashed, carving out a desolate patch of empty ground in the middle of the battlefield.
The enemy's ancient soul beast was far stronger than An Xun had anticipated. His own beast quickly fell into a disadvantage and was on the verge of defeat.
An Xun panicked and intervened personally to support his beast in combat.
In the end, An Xun paid the price of serious injuries, but he finally managed to destroy the opposing ancient soul beast.
He had not captured the wild ancient soul beast alive, which filled him with considerable regret. But during the fight, he had attempted his subjugation methods many times without success, and ultimately he had no choice but to slay it.
After the battle, An Xun forced himself upright despite his battered body to tally the spoils. After accounting for losses, he had netted over eight hundred soul beasts, among which were not a few ancient soul beasts.