Soul Emperor Awakening

It was a Secret Treasure, alright, but not one that was easy to claim. Touching it, even if you didn’t die, would likely cost you an arm. Forget those with Low Cultivation—even experts with high Cultivation would find it hard to tame. The most they could do was resist its power. As for actually controlling the Yulan Pearl and making it one’s own, that was a task of immense difficulty.

No wonder when the Demon Fox Race was conquered, its people fled but left this Secret Treasure behind. It wasn’t that they didn’t have time to take it; it was that even they were incapable of moving the Yulan Pearl. So, it could only be left here, something to be seen but never touched.

If the Secret Treasure could have been taken, it would have been gone long ago. Why else would it be left here? If it were something like a Celestial Level Martial Arts technique, taking it would have been effortless. The Fox King of the Demon Fox Race could have simply carried it with her; there would have been no need to place it in this room.

Now the mystery was solved. The Secret Treasure was the Yulan Pearl, and it still remained within the ruins of the Demon Fox Race’s home.

The room was completely bare except for the Yulan Pearl. The emptiness made Wei Song give a bitter smile. He could see the treasure, but what was the use if they couldn’t take it? Wei Song certainly didn’t consider himself a heaven-sent prodigy capable of controlling the Yulan Pearl.

Unless his Cultivation was incredibly high, and even then, he might only be able to take it away, not actually use it. These were two different outcomes. It was like capturing someone—you might possess their body, but you couldn’t win their heart. The principle was much the same.

"Brother Lin, it looks like we came for nothing. We can’t even move this thing, and we’ll be captured the moment we step outside. We’re in a tough spot." Wei Song’s expression grew increasingly bitter. He’d taken on so many difficult missions but had never found a Secret Treasure.

Now that he’d finally found one, he could only look but not touch. What a raw deal.

"By the way, is there another way out of here? We can’t use that door. They’re definitely waiting for us on the other side!" Wei Song said with a sigh.

"No, this is the only way in or out. There are no other exits," Lin Xuan said. Based on the memories he possessed, this entrance was the only passage.

"Then what do we do? If we go out, we’ll have to face them. But... what if we just let them have the Secret Treasure? Given their Cultivation, they probably can’t move it either. We could use that chance to escape!" Wei Song suggested what he thought was a decent plan.

Once he opened the door and let them see the Secret Treasure, they surely wouldn’t try to stop him and Lin Xuan from escaping. Instead, they would rush in to fight over the Yulan Pearl. By the time everyone realized it couldn’t be taken, Lin Xuan and Wei Song would be long gone.

The only problem was that they would gain nothing in the end. To return empty-handed would be a complete waste of time. Still, it was better than dying here. He might as well just consider it a sightseeing trip.

Of course, that was all assuming they could even get out. There was no telling if the people they had tricked would be willing to let them go.

"Escape? Why would we escape?" Lin Xuan smiled, his gaze never leaving the Yulan Pearl.

"If we don’t escape, what then? You think the two of us can beat them?" As Wei Song was about to say more, he noticed Lin Xuan staring intently at the Yulan Pearl. He couldn’t help but ask, "Brother Lin, don’t tell me you’re actually thinking of absorbing the Yulan Sacred Fire to get the Yulan Pearl inside?"

"Of course. Otherwise, wouldn’t this whole trip have been for nothing?" Lin Xuan started walking forward slowly. As he drew nearer, a layer of frost began to form on his body. He was still several meters away from the Yulan Pearl, yet he was already being coated in ice!

This alone showed how terrifying the Yulan Sacred Fire was. Freezing a cultivator at the Essence Pill Stage into an ice sculpture in an instant would be no difficult feat for it.

"Are you insane!" Wei Song grabbed Lin Xuan and yanked him back. "Brother Lin, don’t do something so foolish!" he said urgently. "With our Cultivation, we can’t touch the Yulan Sacred Fire! It’s certain death! We’ll just charge out later. I’ll clear a path, and you follow right behind me. I doubt Zhang Bin will dare to make a move on me, and since we won’t have taken anything, we’ll definitely be able to escape."

Wei Song’s words moved Lin Xuan, but his true focus was on the soul resting upon the Yulan Pearl!

On the Yulan Pearl rested a large mass of soul—the last remnant of the Fox King. If he could just absorb it, he would obtain the Fox King’s soul in its entirety!

’This soul is powerful, but definitely not as strong as it once was. Too much time has passed. The soul has clearly diminished in size, so both its memories and the power of its Cultivation have been greatly reduced.’

’According to the Fox King’s memories, she had once been a peerless prodigy of her generation, with a terrifyingly high Cultivation that reached the Spirit King Stage. The Spirit King Stage was far beyond the Core Formation Stage—a leap of two full Realms, in fact. The Realm just before the Spirit King Stage was the Void Spirit Stage!’

’This made the sequence of Realms much clearer: Body Refining Stage, Spirit Refining Stage, Essence Pill Stage, Spirit Pill Stage, Core Formation Stage, Void Spirit Stage, and finally, Spirit King Stage!’

’The Spirit King Stage was far beyond the Core Formation Stage. A cultivator at the Core Formation Stage was nothing but an ant before someone with Spirit King Stage Cultivation, erasable with a mere flick of a finger. Of course, even a Core Formation Stage cultivator facing a Void Spirit Stage expert would be instantly killed. To a powerhouse at the Spirit King Stage, they were less than ants.’

’The previous Fox King had led the Demon Fox Race to its most glorious era. Her own Cultivation had reached the Spirit King Stage, a truly terrifying level of power. She was the only one who had ever been able to control the Yulan Pearl. The current Fox King could not, and that was the difference.’

’Since so much time had passed, Lin Xuan could sense that the soul had weakened significantly. It was definitely no longer at the Spirit King Stage, but he was certain it still held the power of the Core Formation Stage—it might even be at the Void Spirit Stage!’

’Such a powerful soul would grant him an immense boost. Of course, if he really obtained it, he wouldn’t dare use its full power. The resulting explosion of energy would be far more than his body could handle.’

’According to the memories, there was no method for absorbing the Yulan Pearl. But since the Fox King had been able to do it, a method had to exist. So he wanted to take a gamble: absorb the soul and make it his own before the Yulan Pearl could freeze him into an ice sculpture!’

’If he could absorb the Yulan Pearl then, his power would soar!’

’As the saying goes, fortune favors the bold. Now was the time to take a risk. If he couldn’t take it now, waiting until his Cultivation was high enough to return was a hopeless fantasy. It would surely be taken by some other expert by then, leaving him with no chance at all.’

’Therefore, this was his one and only chance to obtain the Yulan Pearl. If he let it slip away, he would never get another!’

"Should I take the gamble?" Lin Xuan licked his lips, his gaze burning as he stared at the Yulan Pearl.

’If I fail, I’ll die. Of course, maybe I won’t. But if I give up, I’ll have no chance at all.’