Library of Heaven’s Path

“The Seal of Souls is the insignia of authority of the Soul Oracle Guild?” Zhang Xuan widened his eyes in shock.

No wonder it was so heavy! Without comprehending the Soul Quintessence, he was not even able to lift it with his Primordial Spirit. It turned out that there was actually such a history behind the seal!

“What’s going on? How did the Jiang Clan obtain the heritage of the soul oracle? Why would it serve the master of the Seal of Souls? Weren’t the soul oracles eradicated by the Master Teacher Pavilion for betraying mankind?” Zhang Xuan was bewildered.

He simply could not make sense of the situation.

As one of the Three Premier Clans, the Master Teacher Pavilion was bound to keep a close eye on the Jiang Clan. They should be able to discern that the Jiang Clan had inherited the heritage of the soul oracles. After all, being skillful at soul arts and being a soul oracle were two different things. So, why would the Master Teacher Pavilion still allow the existence of the Jiang Clan?

Jiang Fangyou hesitated for a moment before saying, “This matter concerns the most crucial secret of the Jiang Clan. It isn’t convenient for us to speak of it here, so I’d like to invite Zhang shi to follow us into the main hall to follow up on the conversation!”

Even though the Guardian Formation did prevent outsiders from eavesdropping on their conversation, this matter had great implications and required the utmost confidentiality, so it was best to take as many precautions as possible.

“Un!” Zhang Xuan nodded.

“This way, please!” Jiang Fangyou heaved a sigh of relief.

Zhang Xuan nodded in response. Since he still had control over the Jiang Clan’s Guardian Formation, he was not worried that they would pull anything on him.

Following behind Jiang Fangyou, they soon arrived in a grand hall.

After Zhang Xuan sat down on the main seat, Jiang Fangyou and the other elders swiftly took their seats by the side.

They swiftly activated the barrier in the hall to isolate it completely from the world. After which, Jiang Fangyou turned his gaze over and said, “Zhang shi, I heard that you once taught a direct disciple named Lu Chong. He has made great advancements as a soul oracle, reaching the level of Great Sage… May I ask if that’s true?”

“There’s indeed such a matter!” Zhang Xuan nodded.

In order to save him back then, Lu Chong had gotten into a huge fight against the 9-star master teachers from the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters. Even though the matter had eventually been resolved, news had still spread far and wide. Thus, it was not surprising for Jiang Fangyou to be aware of the matter.

“If that’s the case… would it be right to say that you are a soul oracle as well, Zhang shi?” Jiang Fangyou asked.

“You can say so!” Zhang Xuan replied candidly.

“Then there’s no mistake…”

Seeing that Zhang Xuan had admitted to it, the crowd heaved a sigh of relief. With an agitated look in his eyes, Jiang Fangyou continued his questioning. “May I know where you acquired the soul oracle heritage from? Could you have, by any chance, met other soul oracles?”

“My heritage originates from a soul who has coincidentally survived through the years. I’m afraid that I haven’t met any soul oracles before!” Zhang Xuan shook his head.

In truth, Mo Hunsheng could not be considered as a true soul oracle anymore. In precise terms, he was simply a fragmented soul possessing a consciousness.

And other than Mo Hunsheng and Lu Chong, he had not met any other soul oracles before.

“You have never met any soul oracles before?” Jiang Fangyou asked with a hint of dejection in his voice.

“That’s right!” Zhang Xuan replied with a doubtful edge in his voice. “Aren’t soul oracles existences shunned by the world? I believe that their heritage should have already been eradicated from the Master Teacher Continent, right?”

“Shunned?” Hearing those words, Jiang Fangyou fell silent. A moment later, he shook his head bitterly and said, “It seems like you are unaware of the truth!”

“The truth?”

“I know that it might be hard for you to believe it, but the truth is that the soul oracles never betrayed mankind!” Jiang Fangyou said earnestly.

“They didn’t betray mankind?” Zhang Xuan was perplexed to hear those words.

This betrayal of the soul oracles was an incident that had been recorded in detail by the Master Teacher Pavilion. There was no one on the Master Teacher Continent who was unaware of their treachery… Yet, Jiang Fangyou was actually denying it?

Jiang Fangyou sighed deeply before beginning on his story. “The Otherworldly Demonic Tribe was simply too strong. Back then, even under the leadership of Kong shi and his seventy-two direct disciples, the forces of mankind were still hardly a match for the Otherworldly Demons… In fact, there was a point in time when an Otherworldly Demon Emperor successfully trapped Kong shi in Chen Cai ¹ . Having lost Kong shi, mankind found itself driven into a corner…”

Zhang Xuan nodded in response to those words. He recalled hearing this matter from Vicious before.

“The war was simply too disadvantageous toward mankind. The Otherworldly Demonic Tribe knew us like the back of their hand, but our knowledge of them was terribly limited. For one, we were completely helpless against their Zhenqi of Slaughter… Even if a human cultivator was equally powerful to an Otherworldly Demon, the human cultivator would swiftly lose their rationality upon coming into contact with the overwhelming killing intent from the Zhenqi of Slaughter, thus making them easy prey for the Otherworldly Demon!” Jiang Fangyou continued.

Zhang Xuan fell into deep thought.

This was something that he could relate to. When he first encountered an Otherworldly Demon during the Master Teacher Tournament in Myriad Kingdom City, the same had almost happened to him. If not for his Heaven’s Path zhenqi, he might have succumbed there and then.

The Zhenqi of Slaughter affected one’s soul directly. Even master teachers would find themselves unable to stand properly in its face, let alone ordinary cultivators.

“In order to salvage the situation, Kong shi made the decision to have cultivators specializing in soul cultivation infiltrate the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe and uncover the secrets behind their soul…”

At this point, Jiang Fangyou’s face suddenly darkened a little. “Despite the dangers, the soul oracles took up the mission. However, in order to win the trust of the Otherworldly Demons, the soul oracles had to make a complete breakaway from the Master Teacher Pavilion. The result of that is what you see in the records of the Master Teacher Pavilion. Deemed to be evil as a result of their malevolent practices and treachery, the soul oracles were massacred by the Master Teacher Pavilion, and their heritage was completely destroyed…”

“This…” Zhang Xuan’s body jolted upon hearing those words.

If what Jiang Fangyou had said was true, the soul oracles had really made a huge sacrifice for mankind!

They should have been the heroes of mankind, but they had been scorned by the very people that they had saved for tens of thousands of years…

As if having read Zhang Xuan’s mind, Jiang Fangyou continued. “Back in that era, mankind had suffered a life worse than livestock under the tyranny of the Otherworldly Demon. They didn’t even have control over their life and death. There was not a single man whose hopes and dreams weren’t to drive them away and grasp control over his life back. The soul oracles viewed their sacrifice as necessary for the greater good, and they had no qualms doing so!

“In order to put up a convincing act before the Otherworldly Demons, the Master Teacher Pavilion mobilized a huge number of master teachers to encircle the soul oracles. In a single night, the entire occupation fell into ruin. The leader of the Soul Oracle Guild was then captured by the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters, and he committed suicide shortly after.”

“The leader of the Soul Oracle Guild committed suicide?” Zhang Xuan questioned in bewilderment.

If the leader of the Soul Oracle Guild had committed suicide, how did the soul oracles manage to infiltrate the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe?

“The suicide was just a front. It looked as if he had committed suicide, but his soul had actually survived the ordeal. He entrusted his heritage to our founder before seeking refuge with the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe!” Jiang Fangyou sighed deeply.

“Having witnessed the complete destruction of the entire lineage of soul oracles, the powerful Otherworldly Demon expert who had sealed Kong shi didn’t doubt the intentions of the guild leader at all. Over time, the guild leader successfully uncovered the secret behind the Zhenqi of Slaughter and found a way to deliver the intelligence back to the Master Teacher Pavilion. He also designed a scheme to assassinate that powerful Otherworldly Demon expert!

“On top of that, he even designed inherently flawed soul cultivation techniques in accordance to the unique traits of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe. His ambition wasn’t just to weaken an Otherworldly Demon or two but the entire Otherworldly Demonic Tribe! However, in order to do so, he knew that he had to convince as many Otherworldly Demons as possible to practice his soul cultivation technique, and it went without saying that the Otherworldly Demons wouldn’t be willing to practice a flawed soul cultivation technique!

“As such, he designed the soul cultivation technique in a manner such that the flaws wouldn’t be apparent to the practitioners⁠. In the short run, practicing his soul cultivation technique wouldn’t cause any trouble, and it would strengthen one’s soul. However, if one continued practicing it, one’s Zhenqi of Slaughter would gradually weaken, eventually resulting in an overall diminishment of one’s fighting prowess!”

“Flawed soul cultivation technique?” Zhang Xuan’s body jolted as realization dawned upon him.

Back then, when he entered the Subterranean Gallery beneath the Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy, he had managed to kill the Goldenleaf King and the Greenleaf King and acquired their possessions. There had been plenty of soul cultivation technique manuals in their storage rings, but to his astonishment, he had found that those techniques were riddled with flaws!

Back then, he had thought that it was weird how the soul cultivation techniques cultivated by the Otherworldly Demons were so mediocre, especially since they had the soul oracles on their side. However, if Jiang Fangyou’s account on the soul oracles was true, everything made perfect sense!

The mediocre soul cultivation techniques of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe were an intentional action by the guild leader, and the aim was to weaken their forte!

To willingly sacrifice themselves and bear a vile reputation just so that mankind had a shot at victory… the soul oracles were indeed the true unsung heroes of mankind!

Zhang Xuan clenched his fists tightly in agitation.

At this moment, he suddenly recalled a matter. “You mentioned a certain powerful expert of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe who had sealed Kong shi earlier. Do you know… what his name is?”