Chapter 26: Soul Searching Experiment
The underground prison of the Spirit Hall.
This was where criminals wanted by the Spirit Hall were imprisoned; there were also many evil spirit masters held within.
Ruo Ling, relying on the Saint Son's token, made his way through unimpeded.
The spiritual threads' soul-searching ability had already been tested on low-level soul beasts. It was now time to try it on humans.
"Your Highness, Saint Son," the bishop guarding the prison, Emil, hurried forward to greet him.
"Bishop Emil, I'd like to test my soul skill here in the prison, if that's alright," Ruo Ling said with an innocent smile.
"Your Highness wants to test a soul skill?" Bishop Emil was startled.
Normally, soul skill testing was conducted in special facilities, but this was a prison for death row inmates.
Emil hesitated, unsure what Ruo Ling intended to test.
"Your Highness, this is a prison. Only death row inmates are here. It might be better to use the testing grounds instead," he cautiously suggested.
"Bishop Emil, I came here precisely for these death row inmates," Ruo Ling said with a smile. "Because my martial spirit is of the spiritual type."
"So, I want to test it on them. After all, they're already condemned. Even if they go mad, it doesn't matter."
Ruo Ling's voice was gentle, but Bishop Emil couldn't help feeling a chill down his spine.
How could someone speak such terrifying words with such a sunny expression?
Emil trembled slightly.
"There shouldn't be a problem, right? They're all death row inmates anyway," Ruo Ling said again, his gaze deep and penetrating.
"O-of course not, Your Highness," Bishop Emil stammered, quickly nodding his head.
Ruo Ling had been in the Spirit Hall for a year now, and Emil had heard some things about him.
It was said his martial spirit could temporarily control others' souls. Whether true or not, Emil had no wish to be controlled himself.
"Then I'll thank you," Ruo Ling said softly, walking deeper into the prison.
Emil watched his departing figure, hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and ran toward the Pope's Hall.
...
Inside the underground prison.
Ruo Ling paid no heed to Emil's actions. He gazed at the prisoners around him.
The Shadow Crow Puppet appeared and slowly merged back into Ruo Ling's body.
Two yellow soul rings intertwined and fused together, turning into a brilliant purple that shone brightly.
As he walked through the dim prison corridors, the world through his eyes grew darker.
Countless faint white spiritual threads extended from within the cells, stretching endlessly into the shadows.
These threads were faint and dim, yet Ruo Ling was unsurprised.
They were death row inmates, after all; a weakened spiritual state was to be expected.
That only made it easier for Ruo Ling to infiltrate their minds through his spiritual threads.
There was no need to fear losing in a spiritual confrontation.
His scarlet eyes deepened as the intangible threads reached further into the prison.
...
Inside the Pope's Hall.
Bibi Dong frowned at the kneeling Bishop Emil below her.
"You say Xiao Ling went to the underground prison?"
"Yes, Your Holiness," Bishop Emil replied respectfully. "His Highness the Saint Son said he wanted to test his soul skill there."
"Test a soul skill?" Bibi Dong was puzzled.
Ruo Ling only had two soul skills and hadn't gained any new ones—what could he possibly be testing?
"What exactly did Xiao Ling say?" she asked.
"His Highness said his martial spirit was of the spiritual type and wanted to try it on the condemned prisoners. He also said…" Emil hesitated.
"Said what?" Bibi Dong asked impatiently.
"He said, since they're all death row inmates, it doesn't matter even if they lose their minds." Emil gritted his teeth and repeated Ruo Ling's words.
Hearing this, Bibi Dong frowned slightly. She didn't quite understand what Ruo Ling was up to.
She cared little for the lives or deaths of the condemned, but she worried the boy might stray down a dark path.
"Take me to the prison," Bibi Dong sighed.
...
Inside the underground prison.
The air was filled with wails and ghostly howls.
Every prisoner stared in terror at the young boy standing in the corridor.
The flickering torchlight cast his face in sharp relief—strikingly handsome.
His silver hair and crimson eyes carried an inexplicable sense of dread.
Ruo Ling was unaffected by the cries around him. He narrowed his eyes slightly.
The spiritual threads had fully infiltrated the mind of the Soul King before him.
The man's spirit power was exhausted and mind broken; he was utterly incapable of resisting Ruo Ling's invasion.
Control now fully established, Ruo Ling pushed further into the man's soul.
The pain of this brutal intrusion was unimaginable—the Soul King felt as if his skull had been split open.
But Ruo Ling remained indifferent.
He had expected this.
When he had experimented on Soft Bone Rabbits before, the results were similar—all ended up as mindless husks.
He could sense the difference, though. Human souls were far stronger and more complete than those of beasts.
They might not collapse entirely, but they would still endure unbearable torment.
After a long while, Ruo Ling sighed.
He was only a hair's breadth away from penetrating the deepest layer of the Soul King's mind, but his spiritual energy was almost depleted.
He was still too weak. Even though his spiritual strength had reached that of a Soul Sect after his martial spirit fusion, he himself was still just a Grand Soul Master without a second soul ring.
Possessing Soul Sect-level spiritual power was already terrifying enough.
But he was facing the soul of a Soul King, after all.
Shaking his head slightly, Ruo Ling sat cross-legged to recover his strength.
If a Soul King won't do, then I'll try someone weaker!
He turned his gaze toward a few of the weaker Soul Sects nearby.
Just then, footsteps echoed from outside the prison.
Ruo Ling withdrew his gaze from the prisoners and looked back.
Bibi Dong appeared at the corner of the corridor.
"Teacher?" Ruo Ling tilted his head in feigned surprise.
"Xiao Ling, what are you doing here?" Bibi Dong asked, glancing around. Seeing nothing unusual, she glared at him.
"I'm testing my soul skill, Teacher," Ruo Ling said with an innocent expression.
"Testing a soul skill? You're not trying to use your Dark Threads to absorb soul power for cultivation, are you?" Bibi Dong asked meaningfully.
Absorbing others' spiritual power to cultivate—even from death row prisoners—was strictly forbidden within the Spirit Hall.
Such wicked cultivation methods were banned.
"Of course not," Ruo Ling said with a slight smile. "I've already reached level 20. My soul power is at its limit; I can't absorb more to cultivate."
"You're level 20 already?" Bibi Dong was startled, quickly stepping forward to grasp his hand.
Her expression brightened with joy. Eight years old and already level 20—within the history of the Spirit Hall, aside from Qian Renxue, who was innately level 20, Ruo Ling was the first to achieve such a feat.
"Why didn't you tell your teacher sooner?" Bibi Dong scolded gently.
"I just didn't get the chance!" Ruo Ling said sheepishly, standing up from the ground.
(END CHAPTER)
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