Pushing aside the vines, Longtian did not enter the cave immediately.
He peeked inside, using the sunlight to ensure there were no beasts, before finally making his move.
He thought, “Taking the Little Mortal Fruit is different from taking a Beast Pill.
I cannot be disturbed.
While consuming it, the Spiritual Energy in my body cannot be used at all.
This is the best hidden spot.
My luck is pretty good.”
The cave was pitch-black and somewhat damp.
Longtian gathered Spiritual Energy into his right fist, which barely allowed him to see his surroundings.
“Why is this cave so big?” he wondered.
After walking in, Longtian found that the cave was a bit too deep.
The further he went, the drier it became, completely devoid of moisture.
By the glow of his Spiritual Energy, Longtian spotted a layer of snakeskin.
The snakeskin was massive—at least as thick as a human’s waist.
“Snakeskin?
This is a snake’s lair, and given its massive size, it must be Tier Nine or at least Tier Eight,” he thought.
“I need to leave.
Even though consuming the Little Mortal Fruit to open a Hidden Vein only takes a few short minutes, if that snake returns during that time, it would be fatal.”
Having made up his mind, Longtian turned to leave.
However, just as he turned around, he caught sight of a human figure under the faint glow of his Spiritual Energy.
“Someone is here?” he thought.
His scalp tingled with dread as he slowly approached the figure.
The figure was sitting cross-legged on the ground, its state of life or death unknown.
As he drew closer, the person suddenly opened his eyes.
Those eyes gleamed with a faint, eerie light in the dimness, giving Longtian a jump scare.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude.
Since someone is in here, I’ll leave right now,” Longtian apologized, but the other party didn’t reply.
“I really just stumbled in by accident.
I’ll head out immediately,” he added.
The man still did not speak.
“Huh?
How strange,” Longtian thought.
Longtian tried greeting him a few more times, but those eyes merely glared at him in continued silence, sharp as knives.
Driven by curiosity, Longtian braced himself and took a few steps further inside.
Under the light of his Spiritual Energy, he finally saw the person’s face clearly.
Longtian swore he wanted to laugh.
He really wanted to laugh!
Who else could the figure before him be but the youth in white?
At this moment, the youth in white was completely immobilized; he must have just consumed a Little Mortal Fruit.
“Haha, I’ve searched high and low, only to have you delivered right to my doorstep!
I’ve been wanting to avenge that punch from the other day, but I never had the chance,” Longtian sneered.
“What’s with that look?
Have you forgotten who I am?
It doesn’t matter, as long as I remember who you are.
Those who bring disaster upon themselves cannot live.
If you do too many unconscionable things, retribution will find you sooner or later—and I am that retribution!”
If looks could kill, Longtian would have already been slaughtered by the youth in white a thousand times over.
“Feeling unwilling?
But you must die today, even if it’s not to avenge that punch.
Just for insulting the three sacred characters for ‘blood brothers,’ you deserve to die!
“I hope that in your next life, you and your brother will learn that brothers aren’t meant to be betrayed, but to be protected.
Selfish people will never meet a good end.
Die!
Three Luminaries Burning Eye!”
A blinding light suddenly flared up, illuminating the entire cave.
Longtian felt no pity whatsoever for the man in white; people like him deserved to die.
With a single punch, brains splattered. Get faster updates on g.com.
The man in white died with a look of terror and unwillingness in his eyes.
He had racked his brains to obtain the Secret Manual and the Little Mortal Fruit, yet he never expected to be killed by someone he once considered a mere ant while consuming the fruit.
After killing the man, Longtian searched his body, eventually finding a thin Secret Scripture.
Stowing the Secret Scripture away, Longtian left the cave, worried that the stench of blood might lure the giant snake back.
At the same time, he was highly perplexed: why wasn’t the man in white afraid of the giant snake returning to the cave?
But days later, he would figure it out, secretly cursing his own lack of experience: if the cave truly housed a giant snake, how could vines be growing across the entrance?
This meant the lair had long been abandoned; the serpent was either dead or had moved away.
Having found a new cave, Longtian finally took out the Secret Manual from his robes to examine it.
The Secret Manual was very thin.
It was unknown what kind of paper it was made of; it felt like tree bark, yet resembled bamboo slips.
“Soul Control Skill…
This is actually a Secret Skill for controlling beasts,” he thought in surprise.
A Secret Skill differed greatly from an ordinary Martial Skill.
They mostly played a supportive role, used to enhance a Cultivator’s strength.
It was said that some major families and factions possessed Secret Skills capable of raising one’s Cultivation.
Such techniques were considered precious even among Secret Skills and could save a life in times of dire need.
A Martial Skill was common, a Secret Skill was rare, and Divine Techniques were exceedingly scarce.
After roughly skimming through the introduction of the Secret Skill, a trace of doubt arose in Longtian’s heart.
“Why isn’t there a Level indicated for this Secret Skill?
It only states that there is a certain probability of capturing a beast that is a Third Layer higher than one’s own Cultivation.
Could it be that it can be used in every Realm?”
Shaking his head, Longtian tossed the Secret Skill aside for the time being.
He thought, “I’ll consume the Little Mortal Fruit first, then study this Secret Skill in detail.
If I can truly capture a beast a Tier Three stronger than myself, who among the younger generation of the He Family would I need to fear?
Once I break through to the Fifth Layer, I can subdue an Eighth-tier Beast.
It’s a pity I don’t know if I can learn this Secret Skill; it seems to have very high requirements for the Sea of Consciousness and one’s spirit.”
Muttering softly, Longtian took out the Little Mortal Fruit and swallowed it in one gulp.
As the Little Mortal Fruit entered his stomach, it instantly transformed into a strange stream of Energy.
This Energy was extremely bizarre, seeming to possess the effect of paralyzing the human body.
He estimated that while the Little Mortal Fruit could open a Hidden Vein, the fruit itself was toxic and would numb one’s nerves.
This was exactly why a Cultivator could not gather Spiritual Energy or be disturbed while consuming the Little Mortal Fruit.
“No wonder the youth in white didn’t say a single word until the moment I killed him,” he realized.
“This Little Mortal Fruit is truly tyrannical.
My body is almost completely numb; only my mind is still functioning.”
Longtian felt as if his body no longer belonged to him.
He couldn’t even control his fingertips.
This numbing sensation made him slightly uncomfortable, but for the sake of raising his Cultivation, this minor discomfort was nothing.
The Energy from the Little Mortal Fruit was remarkably strange.
After entering his body, it instinctively rushed straight toward his fifth Hidden Vein.
As the Energy converged, a visible membrane appeared at the entrance of his fifth Hidden Vein.
The Energy from the Little Mortal Fruit formed into a sharp blade, attempting to pierce through this membrane.
Five minutes later, the paralysis faded.
The Little Mortal Fruit’s Energy broke through the barrier and drilled into the fifth Hidden Vein.
“It broke through just like that?”
Feeling the sudden, explosive surge of power course through his entire body, Longtian was so shocked he couldn’t close his mouth.
In the past, every breakthrough had hurt so much that he had to clench his teeth.
Although the Little Mortal Fruit paralyzed the body, it also numbed all pain, making the breakthrough completely painless.
“The Fifth Layer…
This is the power of the Fifth Layer,” he marveled.
“The Little Mortal Fruit is truly a treasure.
It can break open the entrance of a Hidden Vein without needing the impact of Spiritual Energy.”
Inside his body, the five Hidden Veins resembled five starry rivers—gorgeous, resplendent, and dreamlike.
“There are still two days left until the appointed time,” he thought.
“Hunting a Sixth Rank Beast probably won’t be that easy.
Fortunately, I just obtained a Secret Skill.
If I can master it and capture an Eighth-tier Beast, that would be truly badass.”
Longtian took out the Soul Control Skill once more and carefully read through its contents from start to finish.
“The Soul Control Skill demands extremely high requirements from the Sea of Consciousness.
When an ordinary Cultivator opens their Sea of Consciousness, its scope isn’t very large, so their Spiritual Power is naturally insufficient.
However, my Sea of Consciousness wasn’t opened by myself, but by the Stone Stele.
I wonder if that space of mine is considered large.”
Muttering softly, Longtian’s Spiritual Sense entered his Sea of Consciousness.
This was the second time he had observed his own Sea of Consciousness.
The Sea of Consciousness was a blurry, hazy space.
Aside from the Stone Stele in the center and the indistinct clusters of light, Longtian couldn’t see anywhere else.
Yet, just the area he could see spanned a full thousand cubic meters.
This space must be the size of his opened Sea of Consciousness, while the surrounding haze should be the undeveloped regions.
Longtian couldn’t even imagine how vast and boundless his Sea of Consciousness would be once it was fully opened.
“Let’s give it a try.
I wonder if I can condense the Soul Chain within my Sea of Consciousness.”
For the Soul Control Skill, one first had to condense a Soul Chain within the Sea of Consciousness.
This chain could bind a beast’s soul, bringing it under control and forcing it to obey its master’s commands.
“Chain, condense!” he commanded.
Following the instructions of the Secret Skill, Longtian sank all his focus into his Sea of Consciousness, controlling the strength of his spirit to sketch out the shape of the Soul Chain.
To put it simply, it was like using Spiritual Power to draw a picture within the Sea of Consciousness.
However, this tested a person’s Spiritual Power beyond measure; it was not something an ordinary person could achieve.
One minute, ten minutes, half an hour…
Half an hour passed, yet Longtian had achieved nothing.
Let alone taking shape, not even the foundation of the chain had appeared.
“Could it be that my Martial Arts talent is useless when it comes to the spirit?” he wondered.
“Or have I simply failed to grasp how to outline the chain in the Sea of Consciousness?
Have I missed the fundamental concept?”
Half an hour.
Given Longtian’s talent for learning a Martial Skill, half an hour would normally be more than enough for him to at least understand its underlying principles, even if he couldn’t grasp the basics.
Yet, after thirty minutes, he remained utterly clueless about the Soul Chain.
“There’s no rush.
Jingjing, think,” he told himself.
“The Soul Control Skill is a Spirit Secret Skill.
The Spirit is the Spiritual Sense, and the Spiritual Sense resides within the Sea of Consciousness…”
Longtian slowly contemplated its origins, wanting to find his mistake from the fundamental source.
He thought, “To outline the Soul Chain within the Sea of Consciousness, I need to use Spiritual Power to draw it.
But why can’t I succeed?
“Is it because my Sea of Consciousness isn’t strong enough, or is my spiritual will lacking?
Even if I don’t know how large the Sea of Consciousness opened by others is, mine was opened by the Stone Stele.
It should be significantly larger than theirs.
The problem of insufficient Spiritual Power shouldn’t exist.
“Wait!
Sea of Consciousness…
Spiritual Sense…
Spiritual Power.
Why focus on Spiritual Power to draw within the Sea of Consciousness?
If I am drawing in the Sea of Consciousness, what if my Sea of Consciousness *is* the drawing?
Or rather, wouldn’t it work if I used the Sea of Consciousness as the canvas itself?
Yes, that’s it!
The Sea of Consciousness is the foundation, and Spiritual Power is merely the manifestation of its strength.
I actually put the cart before the horse!”
Having clarified the relationship between them, Longtian felt a sudden wave of epiphany.
“Let me try again.”
Longtian no longer deliberately tried to draw with Spiritual Power.
Instead, he directly used the Sea of Consciousness as the canvas.
The Sea of Consciousness belonged to him; whatever he wanted it to become, it would become.
Now, he wanted the Sea of Consciousness to form a chain.
BUZZ!
The previously quiet Sea of Consciousness suddenly trembled, even emitting loud CLANGING sounds.
In Longtian’s Spiritual Sense, the entire Sea of Consciousness transformed into a massive, robust chain.