Divine Sense and the soul were the two most difficult aspects for a cultivator to train. The main reason was that they were formless and shadowless, things that could only be understood intuitively, not explained with words.
A cultivator who could create these two types of secret cultivation arts was either one who stumbled upon the profound mysteries through a stroke of luck, or they themselves had already comprehended the most wondrous laws of heaven and earth concerning the cycle of life and soul, capable of paving a way to the Heavenly Dao. But such a cultivator might only exist in the Upper Realm.
Although many sects could also refine ghosts and spectral souls, they were all used as artifact spirits or corpse-ghost puppets, not for one's own cultivation.
"The attack intensity of the 'Soul Spirits' here progresses perfectly from weak to strong. We can currently just about withstand the attacks of the Foundation Establishment 'Soul Spirits'. But if we do this, our progress will definitely be greatly affected. I don't know if Senior Shuang will be able to find us!" Li Yan muttered to himself.
But then he shook his head helplessly. Right now, all they could do was try their best to get out of here.
"As for worrying about whether there will be Nascent Soul-level 'Soul Spirits' later on, thinking too much is useless. We can only take it one step at a time. It's better than staying put!"
Zhao Min had also understood the unspoken meaning in Li Yan's words and said thoughtfully. Her personality was not one to sit and wait for death.
"Senior Sister, guard me. I'll give it a try!"
Having made a decision, Li Yan immediately cast aside all distracting thoughts. After speaking, he had already flown forward.
He had just advanced a few zhang when four drifting figures suddenly appeared before him—two human-shaped and two beast-shaped "Soul Spirits."
They launched a deadly attack on Li Yan, still in complete silence.
The moment the shield around Li Yan's body lit up, another wall of qi blocked his path, preventing the four "Soul Spirits" from continuing their pursuit.
He himself flashed back swiftly, not making a move to kill them.
At the same time, four soul attacks had already landed on the surface of his body. The attacks were silent and traceless. Li Yan only sensed them the moment they hit.
Li Yan gritted his teeth. While blocking three of the soul attacks, he chose the weakest one, which was only equivalent to an initial-stage Foundation Establishment attack.
He let down his guard and allowed that attack to land on his shoulder.
With no defense to block it, Li Yan felt a sharp, fine needle brutally stab into the depths of his soul.
Although Li Yan had been prepared, his heart still clenched violently, as if it had been fiercely squeezed by someone. An uncontrollable, excruciating pain spread throughout his body.
Beads of sweat the size of soybeans instantly broke out on his forehead.
Though he tried his best to control his retreating body, he still stumbled back, "thump, thump, thump..." taking several steps back.
Li Yan's face instantly turned deathly pale.
The excruciating pain from his soul was something that even the agony from when he first started cultivating the Qiongqi Purgatory Art couldn't compare to.
This pain wasn't something tangible that could be alleviated by other means. It was something that couldn't be grasped or touched, a truly heart-wrenching, excruciating pain from the depths of his soul.
At the same time, a gentle force from behind pulled him back.
"Don't take any pills. Quickly use your magical power to heal the wound left by that attack. Let's see what happens!"
Zhao Min's voice entered Li Yan's somewhat dazed mind. Her voice even carried a hint of coolness.
Li Yan, of course, knew what to do. But Zhao Min, fearing his soul was injured and his consciousness was in chaos, still infused her voice with magical power to keep him lucid.
Li Yan forced himself to endure the intense pain and nodded, immediately sitting down cross-legged.
Probing with his Divine Sense, he discovered a tiny, star-shaped crater in the sky of his Sea of Consciousness, almost imperceptible.
Although the crater was minuscule compared to the illusory sky, this was Li Yan's Sea of Consciousness. The source of the pain was crystal clear, and he found the injured spot at once.
Li Yan began to try to slowly repair and consolidate the crater with his magical power. But when his magical power gently brushed over it, Li Yan's body outside trembled violently.
Zhao Min's beautiful eyes stared at Li Yan without blinking, making no move to probe or help.
Li Yan felt that the moment his magical power touched that spot, it was as if a cup of strong liquor had been poured on the already excruciatingly painful wound. The pain was so intense he couldn't control the trembling of his physical body.
Just like that, with his body shaking violently, Li Yan sat in meditation for nearly three hours. Soaked in sweat as if he had been pulled from water, he slowly opened his eyes.
At this moment, although Li Yan's face was filled with exhaustion, his eyes were somewhat bright. Without waiting for Zhao Min to ask, he spoke.
"It really does help the soul. Although this slight improvement is almost negligible, it will definitely accumulate over time!"
When Li Yan said the words "accumulate over time," his face couldn't help but twitch. To be honest, he had no desire to try it a second time.
"Then that's good. This is a secret realm that many people couldn't enter even if they wanted to. Although there's no secret art for cultivating the soul, a place that can temper the soul—if word of this got out, the entire Verdant Continent would probably go crazy for it. At that time, this place would become the core land of only the most top-tier sects, and a single chance to enter would be priceless!"
A rare smile appeared on Zhao Min's jade-like face.
"Alright then. Each time, only one of us will go out while the other stands guard. I'll summon Zi Kun out later as well. Then one can stand guard while two of us cultivate."
Li Yan thought for a moment. Zi Kun would probably need another three to five days to guard Qian Ji, and then Qian Ji would pass the most dangerous phase.
Since this place could temper the soul, he certainly couldn't waste the opportunity. He had to summon Zi Kun.
But just refining the "Black Cloud Frost Condensation Worm" would take Qian Ji an unknown amount of time. It might not come out of seclusion for ten or even twenty years, so it would have to miss this opportunity.
This soul tempering was also of great benefit to Zhao Min's Gu-insects. The strongest Gu-insect she currently had was only at the second rank. In the end, she summoned six of them, including the Crossbow Worm King.
But her six Gu-insects had a miserable time in the following period. In the end, three of them had their souls directly shattered and died instantly.
The two that were severely injured, the two Gu-insect kings, had to spend an even longer time recovering.
Only one managed to survive—the Crossbow Worm King. It was clear that soul cultivation was not something any cultivator could face.
After some research, Zhao Min believed the Crossbow Worm King's survival was likely related to the fact that it had been raised here by the Hellsoul Clan in the first place.
Although things weren't going smoothly, they were still slowly advancing.
And what Li Yan and Zhao Min had never expected was that the amount of time this would take would completely exceed their expectations.
Three months later, within the Tianli Clan, Shuang Qingqing sat by the window, her pair of fair and smooth, stunningly beautiful jade hands tapping incessantly on the tabletop, her fine brows slightly furrowed.
Li Yan and Zhao Min had failed to return in four months as promised. It had now been four months and ten days since they left.
"Grand-master, I wonder what trouble the two Martial Uncles have encountered. How come not a single piece of news has come back?"
Bai Rou stood behind her, also anxious. They had agreed to return to the Desolate Moon Continent together, but Li Yan and Zhao Min had vanished without a trace.
Now, when she said "Martial Uncle," her face was exceptionally calm, without the initial conflict and self-pity.
"Given Li Yan's caution, coupled with Zhao Min, the chances of them encountering an irresistible enemy are less than fifty percent. After all, this is the Verdant Continent; Nascent Soul cultivators don't just wander about. And with their combined abilities, even if they encountered twice the number of Pseudo-Nascent Soul cultivators, they probably couldn't be trapped, let alone both of them at the same time. In the worst-case scenario, at least one of them would escape. For no news to come back is indeed not Li Yan's style. He always leaves behind plenty of backup plans. It seems I must make a trip myself!"
Shuang Qingqing's gaze remained fixed on the window, watching the gentle breeze brush past the tender green leaves. Below the window were terraced medicinal fields, filled with flowers of various colors.
She had also set a time with Shuang Fengyan and could not delay here any longer.
"You stay here and cultivate in peace. I will be back within half a month at most."
Shuang Qingqing stood up, her figure gradually becoming illusory. She was always decisive, leaving the moment she said she would, without a hint of hesitation.
Bai Rou opened her mouth, but in the end, she chose to remain silent. She had wanted to go with her, but she would only be a burden to Shuang Qingqing and wouldn't be of any help at all.
But with Shuang Qingqing gone again, it was actually quite difficult for Bai Rou to calm down and cultivate...
In the underground grotto, Li Yan looked at Zhao Min and Zi Kun, who were in meditation, his mind a tide of thoughts.
'Although this place is dark and sunless, by my calculations, we've been in here for three months, and we've only advanced about seven hundred and sixty zhang in total. Just how long is this alley? The most worrying problem now is that we have no way to send any message to Senior Shuang and the others...'
In these three months, the three of them had indeed benefited greatly here. The recovery after each excruciating pain would bring about a slight change in their souls.
To achieve such a slight enhancement of the soul was something they couldn't have actively done in decades past.
In the past, only when they broke through to a new great realm would their Divine Sense and soul become somewhat stronger, an improvement that came along with their cultivation.
Li Yan felt that in just these three months, his soul could probably compare to that of some Nascent Soul cultivators.
Of course, this was partly because the initial improvements were faster.
Furthermore, with their souls strengthened, their hearts felt more fulfilled. This included their confidence in viewing things, as well as a sense of inflation brought about by the solidification of their divine souls.
It was like a frail person trying to lift some stone locks. At first, just being able to lift them was considered good. But after months or even years of persistent practice, he would watch his strength grow, slowly lifting the stone locks, and eventually doing so with ease.
His heart would naturally become more and more confident, and he would feel that his strength could defeat many people.
In fact, what he saw was indeed his own increased strength, but this was all just in comparison to his former self—a strong sense of self-confidence.
The reality was often not the case!
The most obvious feeling for Li Yan and the others was that their recovery speed, even without taking pills, was more than ten percent faster.
Of course, this also depended on the strength of the "Soul Spirits" themselves.
Take Li Yan, for example. If he was still attacked by an initial-stage Foundation Establishment "Soul Spirit," it used to take him about three hours to recover. Now, he could complete the recovery about half a cup-of-tea's time earlier.
This meant that the solidity of Li Yan's soul had been enhanced, his defense had also improved significantly, and his endurance had likewise increased.
With a stronger soul, the threat of many Dharma cultivators' attacks would be correspondingly reduced.
Coupled with the fact that Li Yan himself was a dual Dharma-Body cultivator, his weaknesses would become fewer, and he would truly walk the path of cultivating both internally and externally.
The same was true for Zhao Min and Zi Kun. Their strongest aspect was also their physical bodies. When fighting Dharma cultivators, their biggest fear was being surrounded from a distance and having their Sea of Consciousness and divine soul attacked.
However, Li Yan was also clear that while their cultivation had progressed significantly in recent months, the effects would likely diminish over time, and improvement would become more and more difficult.
This was a situation that occurred when cultivating any art; the more profound it was, the easier it was to get stuck at a bottleneck.