The cave was deep, its entrance hidden behind a thick curtain of vines. The interior wasn't damp, but instead unusually dry, the air faintly tinged with the scents of earth and minerals. On the stone walls, tiny frost-like salt crystals had condensed, shimmering with a faint phosphorescence under the moonlight streaming in through the cracks.
Chen Yi sat cross-legged atop a flat stone pedestal at the cave's deepest point. His eyes were half-closed, his breathing long and steady, a blue-golden aura of life drifting all around him. After almost three hours of cultivation, the soul power within him—once nearly depleted—had recovered to about seventy percent.
"Ha—"
A turbid breath slowly escaped Chen Yi's lips. Once outside his body, the breath didn't dissipate immediately, but swirled in the air for several seconds before gradually fading away.
He opened his eyes; in the cave's dim glow, his pupils shone especially bright.
"The Blue Silver Emperor Soul Bone… truly deserves its reputation," he murmured with emotion. "Without this almost endless regenerative ability, I wouldn't have dared to take such risks today."
Thinking back on the two bloody battles of the day, Chen Yi felt no fear; rather, an odd excitement welled up within him. It was a deeper understanding of life after facing death, a visceral experience born from the full release of his power.
Suddenly, Chen Yi laughed, a little self-deprecatingly. "A Mother's soul bone really is useful."
The cave was enveloped in silence, broken only by the occasional chirping of night birds and the whisper of a distant stream. As Chen Yi stood up to stretch his muscles and bones, an ancient, abnormally clear voice suddenly echoed within the cave.
"The Strength Clan's collection has a few things worth noticing."
The voice was flat, as if the speaker were right beside him. Yet when he looked around, Chen Yi found no one else in the cave. Stranger still, the voice hadn't traveled through the air, but sounded directly inside his mind.
Chen Yi seemed used to this. Without a hint of surprise, he sat back down and asked, "Oh? What do they have?"
"The most important is a soul bone," the Grand Elder's voice sounded again.
"The left leg bone comes from a Vigorous Orangutan at least twenty thousand years old, of extremely high quality and strength."
Chen Yi was a little surprised at that.
Soul bone? Does the Strength Clan really have a soul bone hidden away?
But thinking it over, he felt relieved. In the original story, the Huyan family could provide a skull soul bone for Huyan Li, and amongst the four single-attribute clans, the Strength Clan had the deepest heritage, so it wasn't odd for them to have heirloom soul bones. After all, soul bones were precious, but in great clans with centuries of inheritance, some accumulation was inevitable.
"However," the Grand Elder's voice continued, tinged with irony,
"the Strength Clan's bloodline can't have just one soul bone. After all, they were heads of one of the four great branch families of the Clear Sky Sect, and at their peak, must have gathered more than a few soul bones, even if some were of lesser quality."
Chen Yi pondered. "What do you mean…?"
"When the Clear Sky Sect retired, not only core children but also many treasures accumulated by related families over the years were seized."
The Grand Elder's tone was calm, as if stating something of no concern to himself.
"Strength Clan's soul bone was either ignored by the Clear Sky Sect, or was well hidden at the time."
Chen Yi hoped it was the latter. Otherwise, with the Clear Sky Sect's personality, such a compatible Vigorous Orangutan soul bone would not have escaped their grasp.
After a pause, Chen Yi suddenly asked, "How does this soul bone compare to the one the sect prepared for the eighth elder?"
A brief silence filled the cave. Chen Yi waited patiently. He knew the Grand Elder was weighing his words and that Elder Zhu Hai's injury was a matter of deep concern for the entire sect.
Back then, Zhu Hai had suffered a grave wound to his left leg while covering the retreat of his friends, damaging not only his limb but also the "left leg" of his main martial soul, almost beyond repair. For years, the sect had searched for a way to restore him.
After Chen Yi obtained the Blue Silver Emperor's right leg bone, he had proposed an idea: using the massive life energy of the Emperor's soul bone as the core, and with a high-grade leg soul bone as the carrier, it might be possible to regenerate Zhu Hai's left leg and repair his martial soul.
But this would require extremely stringent conditions—only a soul bone of excellent quality, high age, and strong enough to withstand the Blue Silver Emperor's infusion would suffice.
At last, the Grand Elder's voice sounded,
"In terms of the soul bone's quality and integrity, this Vigorous Orangutan left leg bone is even better. Its power attribute matches Zhu Hai's martial soul very well, and the laws of strength it contains are quite complete.
However, the 'Blue Vine Left Leg Bone' found by the sect is even older—about forty thousand years—and its bloodline is deeper still.
More importantly, the life aura within the Blue Vine bone is much stronger and resonates more readily with life energy.
So, each has advantages and disadvantages. The more choices, the better."
Chen Yi fell silent. He understood what the Grand Elder meant: restoring Zhu Hai's left leg wasn't a matter of limb regeneration, but of returning his martial soul's origin. The choice of soul bone was paramount; the more suitable one would offer Zhu Hai genuine hope.
Over the years, the sect had refined countless precious medicines and pills, and while Zhu Hai's body had slowly recovered under their nourishment, true restoration was always just out of reach.
"I understand."
Chen Yi spoke quietly, his tone firm. "There will be a way."
He then changed the subject. "Where to next?"
"That's up to you," the Grand Elder replied, as direct as ever.
"I'm only responsible for making sure you don't die. I won't interfere unless your life is at risk."
Chen Yi didn't answer immediately, but closed his eyes and began to recall the day's battles. The life-or-death struggle with Tai Tan, especially the heightened mental focus under pressure, had greatly benefited him, tempering his spiritual power as never before. He felt his spirit had become more solid, his previously formless power beginning to transform from "formless" to "substantial"—an important step toward the realm of "substantial form."
Compared to incremental meditation, this kind of spiritual harmonization was far more efficient in mortal combat.
"I want to find more opponents," Chen Yi opened his eyes, and his gaze glowed in the darkness. "Strong ones. Through battle, I'll temper my spirit and hone my combat skills."
The Grand Elder answered without hesitation: "Very well."
Then the voice faded.
Chen Yi shook his head, stood with a smile, and walked to the cave entrance. Lifting the drooping vines, he let the fresh scent of post-rain earth and the night wind wash over him. In the distance, mountains and forests swayed under the moonlight.
Which way to go?
He looked around, finally resting his gaze on an ancient tree with a bent trunk in front of the cave. He walked under it, lifted his foot, and lightly kicked a fallen branch.
Snap.
The branch broke and, as it landed, its tip pointed firmly—southwest.
Chen Yi gazed in that direction, his eyes thoughtful.
Southwest… If he recalled correctly, that was the domain of the Wind Sword Sect.
The Wind Sword Sect was one of the Seven Great Sects, specializing in sword-type martial souls, famed for speed and attack. Though not quite as strong as the top three, it was still a formidable force among soul masters. More importantly, Wind Sword had neither old grudges nor deep friendship with the Body Sect, making it an ideal candidate for "exchange."
"Southwest… Wind Sword Sect…" Chen Yi repeated softly, a faint smile curving his lips.
Then I must go see for myself.
Let's see if the Wind Sword's blades are fast enough, sharp enough.
Let's see if my thunder can shatter the winds that sweep the world.
In the next moment, Chen Yi strode southwest, the moonlight shining on him, casting his shadow long behind.
"Wind Sword Sect… a fine choice."
…
Bonus chapter at 300 PS