Time slipped quietly by as Li Fan continued familiarizing himself with divine souls.
With the Nether Soul Hairpin serving as a wonder, Li Fan's soul perception improved considerably. His rate of successful identification nearly doubled, going from one in a thousand to two in a thousand—a truly monumental leap!
"Well, it certainly works. Too bad my original foundation was so poor. Bringing it up to an acceptable standard will require more intensive training."
Throwing himself wholeheartedly into the process of comprehending divine souls, the golden radiance within the Soul-Gathering Pearl drained away at a rapid pace.
Seven days later, once all fifteen lucky alternates who had previously been eliminated returned to the Cosmos Courtyard, the second phase of the closed training officially commenced.
To varying degrees, the trainees had caught wind of how Tantai Tao and the others had met their demise in an "accident," and their expressions were subtly complex. Everyone understood that the waters ran exceedingly deep, however, so no one dared discuss it openly.
Aside from studying the inner formation structure of the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation, the second phase of training focused on further honing the accuracy of sensing traces of the soul covenant. Absolute perfection—a hundred percent accuracy—was strictly required.
For Li Fan and the other alternates who had fallen short from the beginning, this presented quite a challenge. Fortunately, Ji Hongdao had anticipated this and had very "considerately" prepared a separate regimen of special training for these trailing students.
"You were already eliminated, yet through a certain turn of events, you have returned here."
"This is your destiny. Your talent may be inferior, but your luck in life is better than that of those geniuses."
"Destiny... is paramount."
"The reason you were eliminated before was essentially that your ability to sense the soul covenant mark failed to meet the mark. Squandering an entire Soul-Gathering Pearl only proved that you lack aptitude along this path."
"Since that is the case, if we wish to ensure you meet the standard, we have no choice but to take a different approach." Ji Hongdao looked at Li Fan and the others without a shred of expression, waving his broad hand.
From the void all around, several golden chains suddenly surged forth, binding their hands and feet firmly.
Ignoring the students' stunned expressions, Ji Hongdao said coldly, "This method is fraught with peril. If you cannot endure it, becoming a senseless idiot is the best outcome you can hope for. Having your body and soul obliterated or swiftly begging for death would both be mercies."
"The only reason we didn't use this method earlier is that for ordinary cultivators, the mortality rate is simply too high."
"However..." A strange glint flashed across Ji Hongdao's eyes.
"Since you all possess such blessed fates, enduring it shouldn't be much of an issue." He clapped his hands lightly, and their surroundings suddenly transformed.
The roar of crashing waves filled their ears. Li Fan and the others found themselves bound by golden chains atop reef rocks by the shore. Although their limbs were shackled, their vision remained unobstructed. Li Fan narrowed his eyes, surveying the "ocean" before him. The aura drifting from this sea made his hair stand on end.
Listening closely, the crash of the surf seemed intermingled with countless wails and agonizing shrieks. "This is..." Sensing something, Li Fan's expression shifted slightly.
"Before you lies the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals' renowned Sea of Resentful Souls."
"Over thousands of years, whenever Five Elders Association cultivators perished in battle within the territory of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals, their broken souls were absorbed into this Sea of Resentful Souls."
"Accumulating day after day, year after year, no one knows just how many divine souls have gathered within this sea. Every single drop of seawater might be an amalgamation of several, or even a dozen, cultivators' souls."
"Since contemplating them one by one failed to let you identify the soul covenant mark, we shall simply increase the volume."
Ji Hongdao lowered his eyes slightly and spoke in a chilling voice.
As if answering his words, the Sea of Resentful Souls seemed to receive a summons. Waves surged without wind, churning into tempestuous breakers.
A towering wave dozens of feet high suddenly reared up, crashing head-on toward Li Fan and the others chained to the coastal rocks.
The instant the seawater made contact, countless images and overwhelming emotions burst into Li Fan's mind.
Paying no heed to whether the recipient could absorb such a staggering amount of information in so short a time, the condensed divine souls flooded Li Fan's sea of consciousness with ruthless brutality, scrambling over one another.
They forcefully seized every empty corner.
Under this colossal, sudden onslaught, caught off guard, Li Fan nearly lost his composure and his very sense of self.
Cursing inwardly, Li Fan fought with everything he had to anchor his core consciousness amid this raging soul surge.
At the same time, the Dao Transformation Stone within his mind whirred at full throttle, rapidly sorting, categorizing, and processing the vast torrent of information interwoven among the countless souls.
Perhaps because his life was in mortal peril, the Xuanhuang Heart-Refining Incantation also accelerated its circulation at an unprecedented speed.
It devoured every shred of negative emotion—joy, anger, sorrow, fear, and beyond—contained within those divine souls.
With both running in tandem, after what felt like an eternity, Li Fan finally managed to pull through.
Glancing out of the corner of his eye at the surrounding cultivators, he saw that one had failed to endure entirely. Under the impact of the waves from the Sea of Resentful Souls, his physical body had dissolved directly.
His soul had likewise merged into the seawater. As for the vast majority of the survivors, their eyes were glazed over in blank stupor.
Only the occasional twitch of their dark irises showed that their sanity had not been completely extinguished.
Those who, like Li Fan, had already recovered from the impact of the soul surge numbered only two or three.
Yet the twisted, hideous expressions on their faces bore testament to the agonizing torment they were undergoing.
Making sure to mimic their agonized grimaces, Li Fan barely had time for another thought before a second breaker came crashing down in close succession.
Submersion, resistance, recovery—and sinking once more.
In this endless cycle, after who knew how long, the waters finally subsided. The chains vanished, and everyone collapsed weakly to the ground, utterly spent.
"It seems your luck is indeed extraordinary; out of fifteen people, eleven actually managed to survive," Ji Hongdao remarked with a hint of marvel.
"The Dao of destiny is truly profound and mysterious. Though unseen, it undeniably exists. You must know that according to our previous statistics, the survival rate of ordinary cultivators under the impact of the Sea of Resentful Souls is barely one percent."
"Very good!" Ji Hongdao seemed quite pleased. "Today's special training is concluded. Return and rest!"
The crowd let out collective sighs of relief.
"We will continue tomorrow," Ji Hongdao added.
Hearing this, lingering dread gripped everyone, their faces turning pale and grim. Surviving today had been pure luck. Who knew if they could hold out tomorrow?
Inevitably, some began to entertain thoughts of backing out.
After all, compared to any prospects along the path of formations, one's life was far more important.
Yet all those who sought to withdraw received was a frigid reply from Ji Hongdao: "You wish to quit now? It is already too late."
"The Sea of Resentful Souls is extraordinarily precious; requisitioning access even once is no easy feat for our Formation Planning Hall. You either pull through, or you become part of it."
The cultivators whose pleas were denied turned as pale as death, slumping limply to the ground in despair.
Li Fan, however, felt no fear whatsoever.
Chapter 297