Chapter 74

At the Qi Sea realm, martial artists have yet to unlock their soul's consciousness sea. Only when one's cultivation reaches the innate realm and becomes a martial master can they possess the power of soul perception, also known as divine consciousness.

If one reaches the Spirit Refinement Martial Ancestor realm, their soul can condense into a primordial spirit, making their divine consciousness even more powerful.

What is known as soul snatching involves using the power of the soul to penetrate the other party's consciousness sea, devouring their soul, and thus occupying their body.

Therefore, when Su Jingyun's soul power surged into Luo Xiu's consciousness sea, his consciousness was also forcibly pulled into his own consciousness sea.

Luo Xiu's soul had already merged with the Life and Death Pearl, and in the grayish consciousness space, a black and white pearl floated.

"What is this thing?"

Su Jingyun's soul power transformed into a human-shaped shadow, appearing in Luo Xiu's consciousness sea.

He saw the Life and Death Pearl in Luo Xiu's consciousness sea, as if he could sense the mysteries of life and death from it.

Su Jingyun himself was a powerful martial lord who cultivated the power of death. The moment he saw the Life and Death Pearl, he immediately knew it was an extraordinary treasure. If he could obtain it, his future achievements would be boundless.

"Haha, the heavens have not forsaken me, to grant me such an opportunity!"

Su Jingyun laughed heartily and reached out to grab the Life and Death Pearl. He had already discovered that the soul of this Qi Sea martial artist had merged with the pearl. By refining the pearl, he could not only obtain the treasure but also refine the other party's soul and possess a body.

However, at that moment, the Life and Death Pearl emitted an ancient and沧桑的 aura. Before Su Jingyun's hand could touch the Life and Death Pearl, it disintegrated and vanished.

Immediately, a devouring force radiated from the Life and Death Pearl, pulling Su Jingyun's soul directly into it.

Luo Xiu watched in shock, and in the next moment, his consciousness entered the world inside the Life and Death Pearl.

Above his head was the endless cosmic river, with star-like light points representing the life traces of various beings in the universe.

The ancient cycle of life and death hung in the air, eternal and unchanging.

Despite the Life and Death Pearl passing through one generation after another, the cycle of life and death, which governs all things, remains unchanged.

"Weak successor..."

The voice of the cycle's spirit echoed through the vast cosmic river.

The last time Luo Xiu came here, he obtained the nine original rule diagrams of the All-Heaven Life and Death Wheel and the cultivation method of the Fast Sword Technique. The former is something every successor of the Life and Death Origin can obtain, while the latter is a gift of the original rule he received upon breaking through the Qi Sea realm.

The cycle's spirit had said that only when his cultivation broke through the Qi Sea and reached the innate realm would he return here to receive another gift of the original rule.

However, he had not yet reached the innate realm but had returned here again.

The last time, it was because his life was threatened, and this time, it was because he nearly had his soul snatched.

"Weak successor, you should be grateful that the one who tried to snatch your soul was just a minor martial lord, and only a fragment of a broken primordial spirit," the cycle's spirit's voice showed no emotional fluctuation.

"If it had been a powerful martial emperor, you would likely already be dead, and the cycle of life and death would have chosen a new successor."

"Under the protection of the Life and Death Origin rule, I can only help you once when your life is first threatened and when you are first targeted for soul snatching. I hope you take good care of yourself, weak successor..."

The cycle's spirit did not give Luo Xiu a chance to speak. After it finished, a dizzying sensation enveloped him, and then his consciousness returned to his body.

When Luo Xiu opened his eyes, he saw Lu Mengyao looking at him with concern.

Thinking about the near soul snatching, he still felt a lingering fear.

In the end, it was because his strength was too weak. If it weren't for the Life and Death Pearl, he, a mere Qi Sea martial artist, would have been successfully soul-snatched by Su Jingyun.

A pure soul force emanated from the Life and Death Pearl and was absorbed by Luo Xiu's soul. He knew this was the soul force contained in the fragment of Su Jingyun's broken primordial spirit.

As for the consciousness within Su Jingyun's primordial spirit, it was directly erased by the original rule inside the Life and Death Pearl.

It was also Su Jingyun's misfortune that the cycle's spirit only protected the successor during the first soul snatching. Su Jingyun just happened to be the first, and thus his fate was sealed.

After a moment, Luo Xiu absorbed the soul force and was pleasantly surprised to find that he could vaguely sense things within a radius of over a hundred meters without using his eyes.

"This is... soul perception?" Luo Xiu was both surprised and delighted. According to his knowledge, only martial masters who had reached the innate realm possessed this soul perception ability.

And some weaker innate martial masters did not even have this ability.

But he, a sixth-level Qi Sea martial artist, already had this ability.

Although Su Jingyun was dead, the death aura in the cave did not dissipate.

"You wait here."

Luo Xiu had absorbed and refined all the death aura in the valley, so he planned to explore the cave.

The cave was filled with death aura, which Lu Mengyao could not resist, so he asked her to wait outside.

"Be careful." Lu Mengyao nodded. She didn't know what Luo Xiu had done, but she could sense that it was something significant, making her feel that she understood him less and less. This fourteen-year-old boy seemed full of mystery.

She knew that Luo Xiu must have some secret, otherwise, she couldn't explain why his cultivation and strength had improved so rapidly in less than a year.

The cave was cold and damp, and the death aura became more intense and pure the deeper he went.

Suddenly, Luo Xiu felt a sharp pain in his foot. Looking down, he saw a fingernail-sized fragment that had pierced his foot.

The material of the fragment was special. As he continued deeper, he found several more similar fragments. If combined, they should form a Tier Earth battle weapon.

Luo Xiu speculated that this battle weapon was one Su Jingyun had used in life. He must have encountered a formidable opponent, not only shattering his battle weapon but also dissipating his physical body, leaving only a fragment of a broken primordial spirit.

After a while, Luo Xiu reached the deepest part of the cave, following the source of the death aura. He saw a fist-sized black stone.

Next to the black stone, he saw a severely damaged skeleton. The skeleton's left hand wore a storage ring, and there were some fragments of battle weapons or armor on the ground.

This skeleton was likely the remains of the powerful martial lord Su Jingyun.

Luo Xiu cautiously approached, ensuring there was no danger, before reaching out to grab the black stone.

The moment he touched the black stone, a bone-chilling aura surged into his body, making him feel numb and stiff.

"It's a Yin Stone. Weak successor, your luck is not bad," the voice of the cycle's spirit suddenly appeared in Luo Xiu's mind.

The cycle's spirit usually ignored him, but its sudden appearance indicated that this Yin Stone was extraordinary.

"The Yin Stone contains Yin Qi, a form of death power. Absorbing and refining it can significantly enhance your cultivation."

"Are there many types of death power?" Luo Xiu asked, puzzled.

"In a way, yes, and in a way, no. Pure life power or death power already belongs to the realm of rules. Below the rules, there are many types of forces that contain the aura of death."

"For example, in Yin and Yang, Yin contains the aura of death, while Yang contains the aura of life. Even at the rule level, the rules of life and death are above the rules of Yin and Yang."

"The Yin Stone before you is of average quality, but it is sufficient for a Qi Sea martial artist like you."

Luo Xiu didn't fully understand what the cycle's spirit was saying, but he knew that the Yin Stone would greatly benefit his cultivation.

Luo Xiu immediately stored the Yin Stone and removed the ring from the skeleton's left hand. Inside the ring were over ten thousand medium-grade essence stones and several hundred high-grade essence stones.

There were also two jade slips, which caught Luo Xiu's attention.

According to his knowledge, jade slips were only inscribed by martial lords of the Spirit Refinement realm or higher using divine consciousness. One must reach the innate realm and possess soul perception to read the content of the jade slips.

Therefore, truly high-level things were recorded on jade slips, and the lowest level of content recorded on jade slips was said to be at the seventh-grade martial art level!

Besides the essence stones and two jade slips, the storage ring contained no battle weapons, medicines, or array artifacts.

Luo Xiu could now release soul perception, so he took out the two jade slips and attached his perception to them. The information recorded on the jade slips flooded his mind.

One jade slip contained array knowledge, with the highest-level array already reaching the sixth-grade array master level.

This indicated that the deceased Su Jingyun was not only a powerful martial lord but also a sixth-grade array master!

The other jade slip contained a seventh-grade martial art, the Netherworld Mystic Luo Technique.

It also included accompanying martial techniques and movement techniques.

Luo Xiu had heard that a complete martial art must include a cultivation method, martial techniques, and movement techniques.

Compared to the martial techniques, movement techniques, and cultivation methods of the Martial Hall and the Free and Easy Sect, which were separate, the All-Heaven Life and Death Wheel was a complete martial art. However, he needed to comprehend the cultivation method, martial techniques, and movement techniques from the nine original rule diagrams.

After storing these items, Luo Xiu carefully searched again but found no other valuable treasures, so he left the cave.

The Yin Stone was stored, so the bone-chilling aura no longer spread.

Seeing Luo Xiu emerge from the cave, Lu Mengyao didn't know what had happened inside, but she didn't ask since Luo Xiu didn't mention it.

According to the jade slip, the valley was enveloped by a sixth-grade trapping array set up by Su Jingyun. The entrance to the valley was the array gate, which could only be entered but not exited.

To break the sixth-grade trapping array, there were two methods: forcefully breaking the array or finding the array gate.

However, to forcefully break a sixth-grade trapping array, one needed at least the cultivation and strength of a martial lord.

"We need to leave here, so we must break the array in the valley."

After informing Lu Mengyao, Luo Xiu began to study the jade slip containing array knowledge.

He had previously studied the basics of arrays from Zhang Haifei, reaching the level of a third-grade array master in theory. Therefore, although the array concepts in the jade slip were complex and obscure, Luo Xiu could still understand them.

While studying the array, the first original rule diagram of the All-Heaven Life and Death Wheel would appear in his mind. The strange patterns and runes seemed to come alive, arranging and combining in various ways.

Unconsciously, ten days passed, and Luo Xiu slowly opened his eyes.

In the past, when he looked at the original rule diagrams, it was like reading a book from the heavens, unable to understand the meanings of the patterns and runes.

It wasn't until he obtained the array basics from Zhang Haifei's ring and cross-referenced them with the array path that he understood many things he previously didn't.

By gradually deepening his understanding, he finally comprehended much of the first original rule diagram, and his array knowledge theoretically reached the level of a fifth-grade array master.

The reason it was "theoretically" was that Luo Xiu's cultivation was too low. Even with materials and array flags, he couldn't set up a fifth-grade array or refine a fifth-grade array artifact.

Not to mention a fifth-grade array, with his cultivation, he could only set up a third-grade array at most.

However, with his current array knowledge, leaving the trapping array was no longer a problem.