Chapter Eleven: The First Trial of Soul Searching

The sky had already brightened, and the streets were filling with more and more pedestrians. Yet Lei Yan’s supernatural perception remained fixed on the small medicine basket, no larger than half a foot. Memories of his first duel with Qing Ling flickered through his mind. As his thoughts withdrew, his perception shifted toward the woman carrying the basket. She had a delicate face, clad in a flowing yellow gown that brushed the ground, a red silk ribbon tied around her waist. Her steps were gentle, almost ethereal.

“A cultivator,” Lei Yan’s heart stirred. His ability immediately discerned that she was a nascent Golden Core stage cultivator.

“Zhu’er, sister, go find someone to repair the medicine basket. I’ll wait for you at the celebration shop ahead. Hurry and be back soon,” a woman in a blue dress said.

“Alright, I’ll be right back,” the woman in yellow replied, swiftly running down a side street.

“Two cultivators, no less,” Lei Yan thought, still focused on the woman in yellow, having overlooked the one beside her. Unexpectedly, she too was a cultivator, and a mid-stage Golden Core at that.

The woman in blue seemed to sense something. She sent out her spiritual awareness toward Lei Yan’s location. But by then, Lei Yan had already dragged Bai Hu out of the tavern. After a brief glance exchanged with the woman in blue, he headed straight for the nearby inn.

“Strange. He’s only a late Foundation Establishment stage, so why does he have spiritual awareness? Could it be the person beside him...” The woman in blue murmured, following Lei Yan with her spiritual awareness, though her feet carried her toward the celebration shop.

Inside the inn, Lei Yan dragged Bai Hu into a guest room.

“Lei Yan, you don’t keep your word. I’m still hungry...” Bai Hu burped, complaining.

“Stop fussing. I have serious matters to attend to. When you’re hungry again, we’ll eat,” Lei Yan said with a helpless shake of his head. The feast on the table earlier had been devoured solely by Bai Hu, and what irritated him most were the dishes, now polished so brightly by Bai Hu’s licking they could serve as mirrors.

Bai Hu responded with a grunt, stretched lazily, and lay down on the floor, closing his eyes.

Ignoring Bai Hu, Lei Yan formed several hand seals and cast a silent barrier. “Golden Ghost, Wood Ghost, obey my command. Bring the two cultivator women outside here.” Then he sat cross-legged on the bed, quietly waiting.

In an instant, two gusts of wind swirled into the room, carrying the two women inside.

The women paused slightly upon landing. The one in yellow immediately gasped.

“Zhu’er, sister,” the woman in blue warned sharply, then raised her eyes to Lei Yan. “Who are you, sir? Why have you captured my sister?”

Bai Hu’s half-closed eyes peeked open briefly, glanced at the two women, then drifted back to sleep.

“Ladies, my apologies for the intrusion. I have some questions; would you be willing to answer? Please, have a seat,” Lei Yan said, standing slowly and gesturing with his right hand.

“No need to sit. Speak quickly,” the woman in blue replied coldly.

“It’s quite simple. Where did the medicine basket in your hands come from?” Lei Yan cut straight to the point.

“Hmph. This is our lady’s beloved medicine basket,” the woman in yellow said angrily.

“Your lady? This is clearly Ling’er’s medicine basket. Could it be just a resemblance...” Lei Yan dared not dwell deeper, took a deep breath, and looked at them again. “Who is your lady?”

“Ah...” The woman in blue sighed faintly. From Lei Yan’s tone, she deduced he was searching for someone, and it seemed connected to this new lady. She gently stopped the woman in yellow, who was about to speak. “This seems to concern our... Isn’t it rather rude to ask so directly?”

“So, you’re unwilling to answer,” Lei Yan’s eyes flashed with a hint of menace.

“Hmph. This is the territory of the Falling Cloud Cavern. If you act recklessly here, I guarantee you won’t leave alive,” the woman in yellow snorted coldly.

“So, you are disciples of the Falling Cloud Cavern, and your lady is the mistress of the Cavern, correct? I no longer need your answers,” Lei Yan guessed. Suddenly, he recalled the soul-searching technique he’d read about last night. Although the method was extraordinary and he hadn’t fully grasped it, to uncover Qing Ling’s matter, he had no choice but to try.

“What do you intend to do?” The two women instinctively took a step back at the murderous gleam in Lei Yan’s eyes. With their true energy sealed, they were no different from ordinary women.

With a thought, a jade slip floated out from the demon artifact. Simultaneously, Lei Yan’s supernatural perception probed into the jade slip. Though the soul-searching technique’s content was incomplete, he read every word carefully.

“Controlling the soul force to expand allows perception of the external world. Contracting the soul force defends against external perception. Directing the soul force into another’s mind enables soul-searching.”

Lei Yan had intended to learn how to use the soul-searching technique but was surprised to find this passage. From it, he inferred that both supernatural perception and spiritual awareness were applications of soul force. All along, he had not understood what supernatural perception truly was—it was, in fact, soul perception.

Soul-searching and imprinting techniques were largely similar. Soul-searching used soul force to search, while imprinting left a soul mark on the target’s core. At this moment, Lei Yan’s understanding deepened; everything became clear.

“Soul-searching involves soul force, which is profoundly mysterious. Mastery requires constant practice. The first step is soul probing—locating one’s own soul. Though it seems simple, it is not. Even cultivators at the Golden Core stage only instinctively manifest spiritual awareness without truly knowing their soul’s location, let alone controlling soul force.”

“Locating one’s own soul, huh.” Lei Yan gave no further thought and ordered the Golden Ghost to guard the two women before sitting cross-legged.

Familiar with supernatural perception, Lei Yan immediately detected the flickering blue light. “Is this the soul? Is the soul force this luminous power?” Evidently, his conclusion was correct: the luminous power was soul force. Though still faint and unchanged, it was his own soul force.

“Is that all?” Lei Yan sighed slightly. This was why he had abandoned the attempt the previous night—the jade slip only described the first step of soul probing and nothing beyond. Yet this time, he had new hope from the phrase, “Controlling the soul force to enter another’s mind to perform soul-searching.”

“Controlling soul force—expansion is supernatural perception. Then how to enter another’s mind?” Lei Yan pondered deeply. Suddenly, a flash of insight struck him. “To enter another’s mind, soul force can’t just spread flat like supernatural perception—it must change shape, perhaps into a cone, to suit penetration. But can the shape really be changed?” With this thought, Lei Yan slowly guided the blue light toward the periphery of his body.

He first tried to make it spin—a planar rotation.

“Rotate, rotate,” Lei Yan silently urged himself, his will steadily controlling the soul force’s turning.

Time passed. Lei Yan remained seated, neither releasing the two women nor paying attention to them. Their anxiety grew, but their attempts to flee were thwarted by the ever-watchful Golden Ghost, which had sealed their movements.

“Zhu’er, sister, this isn’t a solution. Try to break the seal within your bodies,” the woman in blue whispered softly, closing her eyes. The woman in yellow followed suit.

Bai Hu’s eyes had opened several times, but each time he saw Lei Yan training, he closed them again.

Time flew. A full day passed.

Lei Yan persisted with his approach, failing repeatedly but never ceasing attempts.

“It moved!” A surge of joy welled within his heart. The soul force he controlled had shifted slightly on the plane. Though faint, this confirmed his theory.

Encouraged, he became more adept at manipulating the soul force’s planar rotation. Within moments, he could freely control its movement.

“Next, shape it into a cone,” Lei Yan decided. The rotating soul force slowly bulged upward. This time, it was effortless.

Opening his eyes, he fixed his gaze on the two women. He knew the true test of the soul-searching technique had come. Rising gradually, he approached them step by step.

The two women, in the midst of breaking their seals, suddenly awoke, terror filling their eyes as they watched Lei Yan approach.

“You! What do you intend? We are disciples of the Falling Cloud Cavern. If anything happens to us, the sect leader won’t spare you,” the woman in blue shouted.

“Bastard, let me go!” the woman in yellow cried out.

“Let’s start with you,” Lei Yan said casually, stopping beside the woman in yellow. With a thought, a strand of soul force spiraled out from his mind, piercing into her brain.

A fierce backlash sent Lei Yan flying backward. The blue light in his mind swirled chaotically, waves of radiance roiling violently. At that instant, the five-colored glow within him suddenly contracted, rushing toward the blue light. The chaotic aura steadied instantly with the addition of the multicolored light.

Blood spurted from Lei Yan’s mouth.