The broken earthen jar had no formation or restriction placed within it, nor was it any kind of offensive or defensive magical treasure.
After studying it back then, Li Yan couldn't figure out its purpose at all.
In the end, he simply tossed it into the Earthen Patch along with some other things.
Thinking back on it just now, he finally remembered where he had seen that peculiar posture.
'Su Hong once said that the Hellsoul Clan also participated in the great war against the demons, even infiltrating the Forsaken Continent to assassinate those demon clan cultivators. The ancient tomb on the Feng family's back mountain was originally an ancient battlefield. It stands to reason that the Hellsoul Clan would have participated directly in the war. Looked at this way, a connection between them is plausible...'
Li Yan's thoughts raced.
'The fallen Hellsoul Clan cultivator would carry an object engraved with the same posture as the statue. I can think of two possibilities now:
First, this peculiar posture represents some kind of meaning, which is why the Hellsoul Clan cultivators have a strange fascination with it, to the point of carrying items with these patterns on their person. But I don't have enough information to prove this, for instance, by finding more relics of Hellsoul Clan cultivators.
Second, it's an extreme coincidence. The owner of this statue was precisely the cultivator who fell in the Feng family's ancient tomb.
If it's the first reason, then I must understand the true meaning of this peculiar posture. But without the Hellsoul Clan's scriptures, that will be difficult.
If it's the second reason, perhaps I might find something!'
Li Yan's mind spun. He thought that perhaps by trying to stimulate the negligible soul power within the broken earthen jar, it might resonate with the broken statue.
Thus, an eerie light suddenly lit up in Li Yan's hand, and he channeled magical power from his palm into the broken jar.
Immediately, a faint fluctuation of soul power emanated from within the jar. This was the same situation Li Yan had detected before.
The moment the soul power in the broken jar began to stir, a scene that was both expected and surprising appeared before Li Yan.
He saw the ancient statue, which had been silent for an unknown number of years, instantly react. The Heart-Protecting Mirror on its chest plate first flashed faintly, then suddenly lit up.
'It really works!'
This scene brought a surge of joy to Li Yan's heart.
But he was an extremely cautious person. The moment the Heart-Protecting Mirror on the statue's chest lit up, a thick layer of spirit power shield instantly appeared around his body.
At the same time, he stopped stimulating the soul power in the jar, switching from activation to concealment.
The scenery around Li Yan suddenly distorted. The river water inexplicably began to fly upwards towards the sky, but it did so in complete silence.
In the surrounding pitch-black darkness, the whole scene felt somewhat eerie and sinister.
At the same time, Li Yan felt a powerful force emerge from above his head, pulling him upwards.
Unaware of the situation, how could Li Yan let his circumstances be changed so easily?
He hurriedly circulated his magical power to resist the suction from above, allowing his body to slowly descend again.
But in the next moment, Li Yan's expression changed drastically. The entire world around him began to spin.
His vision blurred, and the broken statue that had been beside him just a moment ago inexplicably vanished.
At the same time, the cliff he sensed with his Divine Sense disappeared in an instant, and the rock beneath his feet was also gone. He found himself plunging headfirst into an icy river.
'Not good!'
Li Yan cried out in his heart. He was imprisoned by an inexplicable, powerful force, and the spirit power in his body erupted wildly.
Li Yan tried to retreat from the river.
But just then, another change occurred. The surrounding river water, which had been bone-chillingly cold, suddenly vanished, and a field of grey light appeared before Li Yan's eyes.
'Spatial teleportation!' A thought that Li Yan couldn't believe welled up in his mind. But before the thought could even settle, the powerful force that had been imprisoning him suddenly disappeared.
With a thud, Li Yan slammed heavily into a hard object.
The impact, even with the protection of his spirit power shield, left him utterly dazed.
After all, the power he had unleashed was a desperate, all-out burst. With the sudden disappearance of the restraining force, his speed had reached a terrifying level.
Li Yan had almost become one of those unlucky cultivators who managed to kill themselves by crashing into something.
Although he was dizzy and disoriented, Li Yan immediately forced himself to suppress the waves of vertigo in his mind.
Two streaks of black light instantly shot out and circled him like lightning. The Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike protected him firmly within.
However, the anticipated attack did not come. Li Yan finally managed to recover his senses.
The magical power in his body flowed rapidly throughout his system, and a cool sensation shot straight into his Sea of Consciousness.
Instantly, the dizziness in his head rapidly subsided.
This was a long, dark alley. Li Yan was currently standing at its entrance, or rather, its end, because behind him was a wall.
This was the beginning of the road, or perhaps its end.
Ahead, a long alley curved endlessly away. On both sides, high grey walls rose up. The sky above was a hazy grey, making it impossible to see how high the walls were.
Although there was light in the long alley, it was also a hazy grey, very dim. The further in one looked, the darker it became, as if a single beam of dim light shone only on the spot where Li Yan stood.
Just now, Li Yan had slammed headfirst into the ground. He had landed upside down.
Li Yan glanced at the ground. The stones here were also grey, the same color as the walls.
If not for the solid ground under his feet and the hazy grey sky above, it would be difficult to distinguish the other three directions, to tell which one was the ground.
The stones on the ground were made of some unknown material. Even with Li Yan's physical strength, he had failed to leave any mark on them.
No wonder he had felt so dizzy; all the rebound force had been borne by Li Yan himself. If a Dharma cultivator had been in his place, they might have actually crashed themselves to death.
Li Yan observed for five or six breaths, continuously circulating his magical power to regulate his qi. Even now, no attack had come, which paradoxically made him even more vigilant.
In the long alley ahead, his Divine Sense could only extend fifty zhang before it seemed to enter a black hole of nothingness, after which he could see nothing.
There wasn't even a ghost of a shadow within fifty zhang. And when he swept his Divine Sense to the left, right, and behind him, it was blocked by the grey walls. His Divine Sense couldn't penetrate them.
Now, Li Yan had no idea what was behind the grey walls or where he was.
'Where have I been teleported to?'
Li Yan quickly withdrew the Divine Sense he had extended down the alley, not daring to force it into the darkness beyond fifty zhang.
Just now, in that void of darkness, a heart-pounding tremor had risen from the depths of his soul.
He glanced at the broken earthen jar in his hand. It was still the same as before, unchanged.
'I couldn't figure out its use before. It turns out it's the key to activate a teleportation formation.'
This time, Li Yan did not continue to stimulate the soul power in the jar. This place was somewhat strange, and he wanted to observe it a bit more.
After a moment's thought, he held the broken jar in one hand, withdrew the Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike, and, with a thick shield of majestic spirit power protecting his body, he suddenly shot straight up.
He wanted to get to the top of the walls to observe the surroundings, hoping to find something.
But just as he flew up no more than fifty zhang, the originally calm, hazy sky suddenly changed.
A faint, sharp sound seemed to descend from the sky. Li Yan's heart tightened, and he hovered in mid-air.
But before he could see what was above him, it felt as if a fine needle had been brutally stabbed into his Sea of Consciousness.
Li Yan only had time to let out a muffled grunt before he plummeted from the sky like a meteorite.
With another thud, Li Yan smashed into the ground again.
This time, Li Yan couldn't even feel the powerful shockwave from his body hitting the ground, because an unbearable, piercing pain was radiating from his Sea of Consciousness.
The pain pierced straight to his soul. It was a torment countless times more excruciating than having his tendons pulled out and his skin peeled off.
Li Yan wished he could pass out; perhaps that would lessen the pain even a little.
He was already clutching his head, letting out agonizing screams on the ground, his whole body writhing.
Pain, excruciating pain. Li Yan felt as if his head had turned into a chaotic mess, as if he would die in the next moment.
After an unknown amount of time, Li Yan's consciousness gradually returned.
By now, his clothes were soaked as if they had been washed in water. He lay limply on the cold ground, gasping for air, his chest heaving violently.
After another full cup-of-tea's time, Li Yan barely managed to take out a bottle of pills, pour one out, and immediately swallow it.
The pills in this bottle were of a very high rank, at least fourth-rank.
Li Yan didn't have many of this kind of pill. They were the kind that were extremely rare in the markets, a type of pill that healed the soul.
"That... that was a soul... soul attack!"
Li Yan lay on his back, looking up at the sky. It was still a hazy grey. After he was struck down, nothing had pursued him, as if nothing had happened at all.
"There's an invisible restriction up there, a restriction for soul attacks!"
Li Yan struggled to his feet. He glanced at the broken earthen jar lying not far away, made a grasping motion, and after trembling a few times, it flew into his hand.
Li Yan circulated the magical power in his body again. After some more time passed, he finally felt life returning to his body.
Then, he condensed a stream of magical power in his palm and channeled it into the broken jar. As the magical power flowed in, the soul power within the jar's belly began to fluctuate again.
Li Yan stared at the broken jar without blinking, his Divine Sense simultaneously spreading out to cover the surroundings. But everything around him remained terrifyingly silent.
A full ten breaths passed, and no strange phenomena occurred. No enemies appeared, nor was he teleported away.
'Soul... Prison... Clan. Soul-type secret arts. Could they be the legendary, extremely rare Soul Cultivators?'
Li Yan thought to himself.
In this world, if one were to say which types of cultivators were the most difficult to deal with and whose cultivation paths were the most bizarre, it would be the Poison Cultivators and the Soul Cultivators.
Poison Cultivators killed without a trace. Their cultivation paths were strange and varied. Some even cultivated through self-mutilation and self-harm in hopes of obtaining greater power.
Soul Cultivators, on the other hand, were even more mysterious. On all the continents, it was rare to see Soul Cultivators appear in the form of sects. They often preferred to act alone and rarely communicated with other cultivators.
Soul Cultivators had super-strong attack power. The most crucial point was that they didn't fight head-on. Instead, they would silently and invisibly destroy their opponent's soul.
This kind of attack left no trace. The spatial fluctuations it caused were minuscule, making it impossible to defend against. By the time you became vigilant, their attack might have already struck your soul.
Just like Li Yan earlier, he had been hit completely unprepared.
Unless you cultivated a technique to protect your soul, or your own soul was inherently strong, you would almost certainly be instantly killed, your soul instantly ground into nothingness.
Their attacks were even more bizarre, sharper, and more formless than sound wave attacks.