Chapter 163 - Soul Gathering Beast  

Ever since its emergence on Munro Island, the Cold Ice Flame had not uttered a single word... not even when it took over Shi Yan’s body and consciousness. All it aimed for, was to gain a full control over Shi Yan.

On the other hand, Shi Yan also presumed that this Ice Cold Flame was only crudely equipped with a primitive consciousness that forbade any possibilities of communication. Therefore, it is not difficult to imagine his shock when receiving the first message sent by the flame inside the Blood Vein Ring.

Only now did he realize that this Ice Cold Flame, was in every way capable of communicating with its consciousness. The only reason why it had not made the move earlier, was that, it did not care to talk at all.

Actually, for the Ice Cold Flame, there was absolutely no need to talk to Shi Yan, this weak wretch whose soul could be occupied in a minute.

This time however, when the Ice Cold Flame detected Shi Yan’s soul consciousness entering the Blood Vein Ring, it immediately responded. It showed a mood of intense delight which proved that it must have been attracted by something.

Under an ancient tree, Shi Yan was sitting with a face full of calmness. His soul consciousness had already plunged into the depths of the Blood Vein Ring, causing his eyes to glitter and flash.

“The Soul Gathering Bead! Here’s the Soul Gathering Bead!”

Inside the ring, the Ice Cold Flame was still lost in its reverie, shouting excitedly. It had condensed into a small flame that swayed softly, “The Soul Gathering Pearl! I need it!”

Knitting his eyebrows, Shi Yan held his breath and concentrated. He engaged in a conversation with the flame through his soul consciousness.

“You want the pearl? Wait until you find a way to get out of the ring!”

“You bastard! How dare you insult me! Don’t you believe that I can get out immediately, freeze your soul, and crack it?”

“Wow, can you? Don’t make me remind you that tried to do that for the past three years! But did you succeeded?”

“I would have controlled you if it weren’t for this stupid ring of yours! Mind you, you better let me out soon, or you’ll regret it for your whole life!” Assuming its usual arrogant air, the flame kept shouting words of threat inside the ring, blind of its poor situation.

“Not interested.” Shi Yan’s face was full of contempt as he slowly withdrew his soul consciousness from the ring. However, the ring kept blinking since the Ice Cold Flame had no desire to end this conversation yet. It struggled desperately inside the ring in order to exude its coldness to draw Shi Yan’s attention. However, this attempt failed, and Shi Yan, who did not show the slightest notice, resumed his journey to the southern area of the Clouds Island.

On his way, more bodies of the slaughtered common people came to view, with hundreds of corpses piled in every hidden corners like hills.

Shi Yan’s face took on a sullen look and a deep hatred rose in his heart for the Gu family.

The hair-raising deeds by the Gu’s approached those of the wicked sects; the way that the innocent people were murdered savage, bloody, and utterly inhumane.

The strong soul power he had sensed earlier in the southern part of the island did not last long and disappeared after a short while. Secretly, he tried to detect more souls fleeing from that area but he didn’t found any, which meant that someone must have known that all the souls had been absorbed and thus, turned the evil power off.

The Soul Gathering Bead?

Shi Yan tightly knitted his eyebrows - he had never heard of this pearl. But judging from the tone that the Ice Cold Flame had when it shouted that name -- extremely aroused -- the Ice Cold Flame must know the origin and utility of the Soul Gathering Pearl.

It was tempting to exact some information about the pearl from the Ice Cold Flame, thought Shi Yan, but it was equally tempting to first tone down its rampant flame a bit. Otherwise, the Ice Cold Flame would keep behaving ridiculously arrogantly, even to the extent of throwing threatening words to Shi Yan.

The Blood Vein Ring continued its glittering even more fervently.

Shi Yan gave a scornful smile, knowing that the Ice Cold Flame inside the ring had reached the limit of its patience. Ignoring the glittering ring, he continued his journey.

Inside the ring, after a hard endeavor, the Ice Cold Flame realized that Shi Yan will not talk again in a short time, eventually lost its hope.

All this while, Shi Yan had been observing the ring. Satisfied after seeing the ring fall into a slumber again and not glittering anymore, a proud smile played across his lips as he went advanced on.

Three hours later, Shi Yan jumped into another ancient tree whose thick foliage constituted the best shelter to conceal himself. There, he once again plunged his soul consciousness into the ring.

“So can we talk peacefully now?” Shi Yan asked.

“Sure! Sure!” the Ice Cold Flame immediately replied.

“Good. Then tell me the origin of the pearl. I need to know what it is and how can it be used.”

“The Soul Gathering Pearl is a kind of demon crystal belonging to the Soul Gathering Beast, who is one of the most ancient demon beasts that has ever existed between the heaven and earth. It feeds on all kinds of living beings’ souls and the more souls it absorbs, the more quickly it evolves, eventually becoming extremely powerful. Soul Gathering Beasts of Level Seven, Eight and Nine can produce a kind of demon crystal -- which is exactly the Soul Gathering Pearl -- that can absorb souls and turn them into pure soul power. Very precious, I’d say.”

“Then does it benefit you, the soul power accumulated in the pearl?”

“Of course! It will benefit to all living creatures that have a soul! If we can get this pearl, my soul and life form can evolve to perfection. It’s the same for you. With the soul power gathered from the pearls, your life form can improve too. You may even form a sea of consciousness! “

Shi Yan’s heart jumped to his throat.

The Sea of Consciousness was formed when a warrior enters the realm of Nirvana by gathering his soul consciousness. Its value is beyond imagination. However, unless a warrior enters this realm or above, there is no way for him to have a sea of consciousness. But the Ice Cold Flame had just divulged a piece of news of thunderous importance - with the soul power accumulated in Soul Gathering Pearls, he can improve his life form and obtain a sea of consciousness! If so, this Soul Gathering Pearl will beat even the Divinity medicines and pills!

“How’s that possible, forming a sea of consciousness?“ Shi Yan asked with caution, trying to get more information from the Ice Cold Flame.

“The Soul Gathering Beast is one of the most mysterious demon beasts in this world. Its existence per se, is a miracle. The reason I came to know about this beast and the pearl is that once, many powerful guys had wanted to absorb me. When they tried to take over my consciousness, I obtained their knowledge and memory in return. The origin of this Soul Gathering Beast, I read from a memory of a Divine warrior’s. And that was a hundred thousand years ago. Now that so many years have passed, it’s probably no longer a secret any more...”

“So it’s true that a sea of consciousness can be formed?”

“Sure. There are two aspects in martial arts practice: physical exercise and soul improvement. You warriors are born with a physical body so you begin with the first aspect. Later, you experience a gradual transition to soul improvement. However, for us or those who do not have a physical body, we begin by improving our souls. Then comes the need to seek a physical body.”

After a brief pause, the Ice Cold Flame continued its speech, “So basically, all of us need to struggle for a better body and soul, to repair our defects and climb to the higher rung in the ladder of evolution. In the earth and heaven, there exists many mysterious things that can help us accelerate our improvement. The Soul Gathering Pearl is just one of such a treasure that can strengthen your vitality and improve your life form. The pure soul power in it can restore your soul and facilitate the making of a sea of consciousness that beats every other warriors of your rank!”

Throughout the long years, the Ice Cold Flame had come to obtain a great deal of knowledge and memory from powerful warriors, hence its good command of information concerning human warriors. Its speech had been quite logical and easy to understand, giving new knowledge to Shi Yan about the ultimate truth of a warrior’s life even though he had only heard about it once.

“So this Soul Gathering Pearl really is beneficial for me!”

“Of course. The soul power residing in it is wondrous. Also, when the pearl is drenched in water, it can transform into Soul Mirror - used to beckon powerful spirits from other spaces. In earlier years, there seemed to be a wicked sect that used the Soul Mirror to get powerful spirits from other spaces to fight for them. Normally, those spirits are bound by rules of the heaven and the earth, so once they enter our world, their vitality will be greatly reduced. Therefore, even if they could force into our world successfully, it is still hard to say if they can use their power to the fullest extent. However, it is a different story with the spirits beckoned by Soul Mirror. They can get rid of the rules and give free rein to their soul power, not reduced in the least...”

“Soul Mirror? Powerful spirits from other spaces?” Shi Yan murmured to himself. Suddenly his eyes flashed as he felt the sensation of a cold and wicked air. The sensation seemed similar to the air emitted by the Demon King, Bo Xun. So could it be that someone from the Fourth Demon Area had arrived in this island? But why would they?

And the Gu Family. They had killed every resident in the island they saw so that they could put the dead’s souls into the Soul Gathering Pearl. What is their purpose? Could it be that they were trying to beckon the demons from the Fourth Demon Area? What could they do with the demons?

To destroy the Yang Family!

A train of thought quickly flitted across his mind, sweeping away the doubts. Gradually, his eyes regained the brightness of clarity with his thoughts becoming organized. Now he was sure that the Gu Family was bent on beating the Shura Blood Guards of the Yang’s. As is known to all, the feud between the two families was unshakable. With the assistance of the Soul Mirror, powerful demons of the Fourth Demon Area could be beckoned, and it would be a breeze for a demon above the God Rank to exterminate a powerful warrior of the Third Realm of the Sky Rank. A warrior is utterly destroyed when his soul is devastated by the demon’s soul power, leaving no chance of recuperation left for him. This is even more horrible than destroying his body.

Shi Yan was struck dumb with fear. The Ice Cold Flame’s words corresponded with his long-term observation, which assured him that he had known the fiendish plot of the Gu Family.

The three Shura Kings of the Yangs were all of the Sky rank. Thus, whichever one was sent here would be mercilessly destroyed by the demon beckoned from the Fourth Demon Area, since the gap between their rank was huge.

Shi Yan sank into a thoughtful silence. Only after a long while did he speak again to the Ice Cold Flame inside the ring, “Do you have a way to obtain the Soul Gathering Pearl?”

“Sure I do!” The Ice Cold Flame instantly replied, rather excitedly.

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Translated by: Qian

Edited by: Vick and Bobby

Translated by XianXiaWorld