Soul Emperor Awakening

Lin Xuan once again executed his Flowing Clouds and Water Body Technique, effortlessly slaying a lunging Tiger Fish. He landed perfectly on a wooden plank he had thrown out, using it as a foothold.

Normally, he could glide a long distance relying on his Body Technique, but he couldn’t maintain it indefinitely, so he needed landing spots. This was especially true during combat, where it was difficult to negate momentum. Unless one could fly, a foothold was essential.

Now, Lin Xuan was using a wooden plank as his foothold. He had barely landed when another Tiger Fish lunged at him. Lin Xuan swung his White Pupil Rod, stabbed it, and easily killed the fish. The impact sent him flying backward, but with a flick of his foot, he hooked the plank and dragged it along with him, making it look effortless.

He had no fear of sinking into the Demon Sea. With the plank as a base, he could attack and defend without any pressure.

Lin Xuan then abandoned the plank and leaped toward a nearby Spiritual Artifact. He precisely tossed another plank down beside it, then grabbed the weapon. Just as he did, another Tiger Fish lunged, but he dealt with it easily.

’Spiritual Artifacts... they’re really a dime a dozen out here...’ Lin Xuan mused, looking at the longsword in his hand. It was covered in rust, but based on the state of its soul, it was undoubtedly a Spiritual Artifact.

There were seven or eight Spiritual Artifacts right here—items others desperately craved—truly a dime a dozen. The catch was, you had to be able to identify them. Otherwise, with a few hundred scattered weapons here, hauling them all back to find only seven or eight were Spiritual Artifacts would be beyond frustrating.

’If only there were higher-grade weapons here...’ Lin Xuan was looking for Top Level Spiritual Artifacts, or even something at the Divine Artifact Level.

Spiritual Artifacts were no longer enough to satisfy him. After all, who wouldn’t want a better weapon? A better weapon meant greater power, which would drastically increase his chances of successfully challenging those at higher cultivation levels.

More importantly, a stronger weapon could house more souls. This was why he always had to remove the White-eyed Tiger’s soul before performing Soul Possession with another. A Spiritual Artifact could only contain one soul at a time, not multiple.

Compared to possessing his own body, possessing a weapon had a more pronounced effect and didn’t put as much strain on him physically. Overall, each method had its own advantages. At the very least, he could now utilize more souls than ever before.

For example, his body could only withstand a Fifth Layer Soul Possession—that was its absolute limit. However, possessing a weapon with an additional soul wasn’t much of a problem, since the weapon, not his body, would bear the pressure.

His body was like a carriage. It could be pulled by normal horses without issue, but if you tried to hitch it to a dragon, it would fall apart. Everything had its breaking point. Possessing a weapon was different. Although it still exerted some pressure, it was far better than piling it all onto his body.

That’s why he wanted a Divine Artifact. But such items were incredibly rare and couldn’t be sought out; one could only hope to stumble upon them. Even Spirit Pill Stage experts would covet such a weapon, to say nothing of ordinary people.

He soon glided back and landed steadily on the boat, ignoring the wooden planks he’d left behind. A small boat could be cut into dozens of planks, and their value was low. The fact that they could be used to retrieve even a single weapon, let alone a Spiritual Artifact, was a fantastic bargain.

This place was dangerous; every extra moment spent here increased the risk. So, the trade-off was more than worth it. However, no one else dared to try such a maneuver. Only someone like Lin Xuan, or perhaps a Spirit Pill Stage expert, would have the courage.

Lin Xuan drifted over and handed the weapon to Zi Yi. "That’s the first one," he said. "Aren’t you guys going to make a move?"

Lin Xuan saw them staring at him, dumbfounded. His methods were too advanced for them to replicate, especially with that bizarre Body Technique. Where would they even find such a high-level Body Technique? Even if they had a decent one, they wouldn’t dare attempt such a feat. It required too much experience.

’He must have spent time in the Demon Cloud Sea, or at least has a lot of experience with combat on water. How else could he be so agile?’ they thought.

"Alright, we’ll get started now." Zi Yi looked at Lin Xuan with a complicated expression. They were the same age, yet Lin Xuan displayed abilities that far surpassed his peers. It was truly hard to imagine.

’Some people are formidable in combat but struggle when they change environments. Ling Tian, for example, is very strong. But if he entered the Demon Cloud Sea for the first time, he would be completely lost and would need time to adapt. Otherwise, he might even die!’

With Lin Xuan’s help, they collected all the Spiritual Artifacts in the area. Lin Xuan himself had retrieved more than half of them, which made the guards lose face. Their cultivation was higher, yet they had been outdone by a young man whose cultivation was not even at the Essence Pill Stage.

Looking at all the retrieved weapons, Zi Yi was thrilled. Spiritual Artifacts equated to merit, so how could she not be excited? The guards’ attitude toward Lin Xuan had changed, but that didn’t mean they weren’t skeptical about the weapons. They were all covered in a layer of rust—who could tell if they were truly all Spiritual Artifacts?

In any case, they wouldn’t say anything. The Vice Pavilion Master had spoken, so what could they say? Doubting Lin Xuan was tantamount to doubting the Vice Pavilion Master’s judgment, and that was not a good idea.

"Thank you so much for your help this time, Young Master Lin. Once we return to the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion and reforge these, we will definitely give you a portion as a reward!" Zi Yi said, beaming. It was as if she could already see the many Spiritual Artifacts in her hands.

’Normally, our crudest method would have been to just grab all the nearby weapons and haul them away. From there, it would all come down to luck. Sometimes we’d fish out several hundred weapons and end up with only one. You can imagine the frustration.’

Especially with so many Demon Beasts around, every step was fraught with terror.

Soon, they reached the next area. After a sweeping glance, Lin Xuan pointed out the locations of the Spiritual Artifacts. The haul here was larger, with at least eight or nine of them—slightly more than before.

One after another, they quickly collected nearly thirty Spiritual Artifacts in just over a day. The Demon Cloud Sea was perpetually dark, making it nearly impossible to distinguish between day and night. But for powerful cultivators like them, there was little difference.

The higher one’s cultivation, the less they were affected by environmental factors. Things like darkness were a trivial concern.

"This should be enough for the most part. Let’s prepare to head back." Zi Yi wanted more, but the current number was acceptable. They usually only stayed here for a few days before returning. Staying too long was impossible, as it was a drain on both their Elemental Power and Spiritual Power. After all, they had to constantly be on guard against the ever-present Tiger Fish, keeping their minds taut at all times.

Just as they were about to leave, Lin Xuan turned his head to the side, frowning. "It looks like someone is heading this way..."

When the others looked up, they saw several boats speeding toward them. They were being pulled by Tiger Fish, rapidly closing in.

"Go!" Zi Yi’s expression changed instantly. She ordered her men to row away at once. The guards immediately put all their strength into it, quickly paddling the boat to make their escape.

No matter who it was, in this region, humans were sometimes far more terrifying than the Demon Beasts!