Chu Xuan shook his head, wondering if anyone had managed to develop a technique for harmonizing breaths, which was essential for resolving the conflicts between different cultivation methods. Breath harmonization techniques are suited for smoothing over such conflicts.
Essentially, these techniques involve introducing a large and balanced quantity of spiritual qi, making the conflicting spiritual qi from various techniques a minority, thus significantly reducing the conflict.
Considering potential future conflicts between techniques? The solution was simple—cultivate another harmonization technique! As a demonic cultivator, solutions were always more abundant than difficulties.
Chu Xuan specifically summoned Wang Zhenxu to inquire about the progress of the breath harmonization technique. It had been ten years since their last meeting.
Wang Zhenxu, once vigorous, now sported a few strands of white hair at his temples, perhaps due to his continuous management of Black Blade's vast array of affairs. Nonetheless, he arrived promptly at Chu Xuan's summons.
"Immortal, I have kept an eye on everything at the Enlightenment Institute, but sadly, there has been no progress with the breath harmonization technique," Wang Zhenxu reported somewhat awkwardly.
Three thousand of Blue Star's most talented geniuses had been gathered at Black Blade's headquarters in East Lake. Their primary task was to research cultivation techniques, and their daily needs were managed by others.
Wang Zhenxu had even constructed a massive building complex specifically to accommodate them, which Chu Xuan had personally named "Enlightenment Institute."
Chu Xuan dismissed him with a wave of his hand, "I see, you may go."
Chu Xuan sighed lightly. The Enlightenment Institute could serve as one approach, but he couldn't rely solely on it. He also needed to make his own attempts.
After a brief period of cultivation... well, he found himself succumbing to cultivation deviation once again.
"Perhaps it's best not to cultivate for a while. I should take a trip to the Soul Star," Chu Xuan thought, smiling wryly. "Maybe someone will come along offering a high-level soul technique."
A throng of Soul Star natives fled in desperation. Behind them swarmed soul clans, akin to locusts in their numbers, including formidable specters. Leading them were two mighty specter kings.
The Soul Star people, burdened by physical bodies, could not match the speed of the Soul Clan. Periodically, some fell behind and were easily captured by the pursuing Soul Clan. The two specter kings advancing closely behind them cast mocking glances.
"Stop running! You can't escape!"
"The caverns nearby have long been occupied by our Husbandry Faction! Not a living soul remains!"
"Why flee our city built by the Husbandry Faction? Every day is carefree, with no worries of food or clothing, and the chance to mate daily. Isn't that a good thing?"
These various voices invaded the minds of the Soul Star people, slowing them involuntarily. The leader of the Soul Star people, a man of striking perfection, growled, "They're using soul techniques! Protect your spirits immediately!"
The fleeing Soul Star people, their expressions grave, each employed defensive soul techniques.
The voices, akin to demons whispering through their brains, began to gradually fade from their minds. The handsome man looked at his fellow Soul Star people, his heart filled with bitterness.
They were the ones confined by the Husbandry Faction just as the specter king had said. No worries about food or clothing. Able to mate every day.
But the Husbandry Faction never treated them as humans, merely as livestock. The male Soul Star people were required to mate at least five times a day to spread their seed and produce new Soul Star people.
If one could mate with a beautiful female each day, it would not be so bad. But the attractiveness of their mating partners was not theirs to decide.
The Soul Clan's only standard for valuing female Soul Star people was their fertility.
The more fertile, the more valuable. If a male Soul Star person failed to achieve five matings a day, they faced the lash of the Husbandry Faction's Soul Clan.
However, if they exceeded the daily quota and reached ten times, then they could rest for a day. Many Soul Star people, after being reared for a long time, lost their reproductive ability, both male and female.
A few days ago, they seized an opportunity and escaped from the Husbandry Faction's city through the sewers.
But they had not gotten far before they were discovered by the Husbandry Faction's Soul Clan and relentlessly pursued.
Initially, there were over a hundred of them. Now, only twenty or thirty remained. They had reached a point of utter desperation. It seemed they would soon be overtaken.
"Damn it... those Soul Star nobles, truly deserving of death!"
The handsome man cursed inwardly. He was known as Yun Shen, one of the great nobles of Soul Star. He profoundly detested those nobles of the past.
Not out of newfound conscience, nor because he thought the nobles had gone too far. Using souls as fuel was no issue at all. They were just the lower classes, after all.
But why hadn't they completely erased the consciousness within those souls? In the end, it allowed the Soul Clan to overturn the tables.
Damn it! I am a descendant of nobility! I was meant to live a life of luxury and privilege! Now, I've been reduced to nothing more than a beast of burden! And it's foreseeable that soon, I'll be a dead beast of burden.
At that moment, Yun Shen suddenly noticed the sky ahead was unusually bright. The vengeful spirits and wraiths that usually haunted the sky had vanished.
He was astounded. He wasn't born within the Husbandry Faction's city. Instead, he was captured as an adult and turned into a breeding machine.
During his youth, he lived in an underground city, venturing to the surface several times a year. In his memory, the sky was always dark, swirling with endless vengeful spirits and wraiths.
Yet now, beams of light pierced through that sky. What was that? The legendary... sunlight?!
"Sunlight! It must be sunlight!"
Yun Shen pointed toward the distance and shouted, "If we can reach the sunlight, we'll be saved! The Soul Clan can't step into the sunlight!"
The other Soul Star people saw the light too, and their spirits lifted. The pursuing Husbandry Faction's Soul Clan looked particularly grim. The Soul Clan had an innate fear of sunlight.
Originally, the Soul Star nobility used sunlight to confine and punish them, forcing them to stay in cages.
"Increase speed! Capture them all before they reach the sunlight!"
The leading two specter kings roared. The chase intensified.
Yun Shen and the Soul Star people, with four more succumbing to exhaustion and captured by the Husbandry Faction's Soul Clan. But the sunlight was now within reach!
Yun Shen roared and dashed into the sunlight. Warm sunlight enveloped his entire body. This pleasantly warm sensation was something he had never experienced before.
Behind Yun Shen, eight others also charged into the sunlight. They were equally astounded.
"Think you can escape my Husbandry Faction's grasp just by entering the sunlight?"
The specter king sneered. With a wave of his hand, the specters behind him immediately dispersed.
Clearly, they intended to completely encircle the area. He could encircle them for ten days, half a month, fearing not that these folks would refuse to emerge!
Seeing this, Yun Shen's expression immediately darkened. Temporarily safe. But what next?
"Eh? More food delivered to my door?"
A voice suddenly rang out.