A month later, two Specter Kings of the Husbandry Faction stood atop the ruins of Yellow Stone City, their expressions grim. The taller one was named Hun Bao, and the shorter, Hun Shang.
They governed Echo City, another major city of the Husbandry Faction located close to Yellow Stone City. The two cities often exchanged populations of Soul Star people to ensure genetic diversity and reduce deformities among offspring. This practice made the consumption of Soul Star people more reassuring and breeding plans more sustainable.
However, several months after sending a batch of female Soul Star people to Yellow Stone City, there was no return shipment of male Soul Star people.
The Specter Kings of Echo City initially suspected the Specter Kings of Yellow Stone City of double-crossing them by withholding the Soul Star people. Enraged, they came to confront them, only to discover that the entire city of Yellow Stone had vanished. All its buildings had been reduced to ashes.
Hun Shang furrowed his brow. "Yellow Stone City ranked among the top four in strength among our twelve great cities. Who could possibly destroy it so easily?"
"Moreover," he continued, "they should have at least been able to send out a message. How could it just disappear without a trace?"
Hun Bao snorted coldly. "Do we even need to think about it? It must have been those madmen from the Slaughter Faction! It has always disapproved of our actions. Haven't they attacked us covertly numerous times? This time they've just brought their grievances out into the open!"
Hun Shang frowned. "But the Slaughter Faction typically hacks bodies and souls into pieces. They've never used fire before."
Hun Bao scoffed, "Who knows? There are plenty of lunatics in the Slaughter Faction. It wouldn't be strange for some of them to enjoy arson."
Hun Shang thought it over but still felt something was amiss. However, he couldn't think of any other faction with the power to obliterate all traces of the Yellow Stone City's spectral and Soul Star inhabitants, especially without allowing five Specter Kings the chance to call for help.
"We can't determine this on our own. We should report this to the Great King," Hun Shang suggested quietly.
"You report it," Hun Bao grumbled. "I'm going to find those Slaughter Faction bastards and settle the score!" With that, he gathered his Great Specters and immediately flew off into the distance.
Hun Shang sighed deeply. Hun Bao's temperament had always been volatile and uncontrollable. But given the longstanding enmity between the Slaughter and Husbandry Factions, Hun Bao seeking revenge, even without the destruction of Yellow Stone City as a pretext, wasn't unusual.
"Why do I have this ominous feeling?" Hun Shang mused, taking one last look at the remains of Yellow Stone City before leaving. A sense of foreboding lingered in his mind as he departed from the desolate scene.
Mists surged upwards, shrouding the sunlight once more. Chu Xuan nodded in satisfaction. He had set up a Mist Array and an Illusion Array outside the Yellow Springs Soul Refining Array. With these in place, unless a Nascent Soul cultivator arrived, it would be impossible for anyone to see through the veils of his formations.
Reflecting on his arrival at Soul Star, Chu Xuan realized that initially setting up the Yellow Springs Soul Refining Array without any concealment was exceedingly arrogant.
Had the Slaughter King or the Greedy King noticed the array and led their forces against it, he would have had no choice but to abandon the formation and flee. Such a scenario would not only result in the loss of the precious array but potentially provide the enemy with a means to increase their power—a truly disastrous outcome.
"These few are good," Chu Xuan remarked as he selected several strong ghost commanders from within the Sky-Shielding Umbrella. He personally named them.
"You, with your robust stature, shall be called 'Soul One.'"
"You, with your swift evasion, shall be called 'Soul Two.'"
"You, with your substantial soul power, shall be called 'Soul Three.'"
"You, clever and agile, shall be called 'Soul Four.'"
Chu Xuan nodded slightly, approving of his straightforward naming method.
Soul One and Soul Two were dispatched to infiltrate the Slaughter Faction, while Soul Three and Soul Four were sent to the Husbandry Faction. Under their aliases, they would gather intelligence for Chu Xuan, blending into their respective factions.
As for gathering intelligence on the Soul Star people and the Descent Faction, that too needed attention. However, compared to the Slaughter and Husbandry Factions, these other powers were significantly weaker and unlikely to cause much disturbance. There was no immediate rush to collect information on them. If an opportunity arose, Chu Xuan planned to simply control a Soul Star person to infiltrate them.
Seated outside the Yellow Springs Soul Refining Array, Chu Xuan took up the two advanced soul techniques he had acquired for study. The techniques, named "Great Devouring Palm" and "Inner Furnace Soul Refining Method," complemented each other superbly.
"Great Devouring Palm" involved condensing the soul into a massive palm that could seize an enemy's soul during combat and refine it for one's own use. "Inner Furnace Soul Refining Method" condensed the soul into a furnace to rapidly melt down captured souls, assimilating them efficiently.
Together, these advanced soul techniques offered extraordinary utility, promising to significantly enhance Chu Xuan's prowess in both offense and defense.
"The soul of a cultivator is known as the spiritual soul," Chu Xuan mused. "The sea of spiritual sense holds the spiritual soul, while the spiritual sense protects it. Spiritual sense essentially functions as the limbs of the spiritual soul, allowing for its manipulation and application."
Chu Xuan chuckled lightly. "The soul clans' utilization of the soul still appears somewhat rudimentary."
The two advanced soul techniques, although based on the manipulation of the soul, could be modified slightly to be executed through the spiritual sense instead. As a Golden Core cultivator, such minor modifications were well within Chu Xuan's capabilities.
In less than a day, he had completely transformed the "Great Devouring Palm" and "Inner Furnace Soul Refining Method" into techniques that operated via spiritual sense.
Chu Xuan estimated that these new versions of the techniques would reach high-grade of the Golden Core stage. The "Inner Furnace Soul Refining Method" in particular would remain useful even after advancing to the Nascent Soul stage.
"Time to cultivate! I must master these two spiritual sense techniques as quickly as possible," Chu Xuan resolved. He focused intently, beginning his cultivation. From time to time, he randomly selected a 'lucky spectator' from the Yellow Springs Soul Refining Array to serve as a sparring partner for his practice.
Of course, after serving their purpose, Chu Xuan kindly ensured that these spirits were sent to their final resting place—the Inner Furnace.
Under the earnest tutelage of these partners, Chu Xuan quickly mastered the Great Devouring Palm and the Inner Furnace Soul Refining Method. His spiritual soul grew rapidly in power. Already possessing a Nether Soul Core, his spiritual soul's capacity far exceeded that of his peers at the same cultivation level.
With the Inner Furnace Soul Refining Method, his spiritual soul's capacity increased yet again. Although still far from reaching the Nascent Soul stage, a remarkable transformation occurred. His spiritual soul became exceedingly condensed and began to manifest a unique essence.
When this essence was integrated into the spiritual sense techniques, it immediately enhanced their power. Chu Xuan was both amazed and delighted by this discovery. Considering its function, this essence bore a resemblance to the Nascent Soul essence typical of Nascent Soul cultivators. He decided to call it "Spiritual Soul Essence."
Chu Xuan surmised that the vastness of his spiritual soul was so extraordinary that it had led to the emergence of this Spiritual Soul Essence, a phenomenon unlikely to occur in most Golden Core cultivators.
This was undoubtedly a boon. Going forward in battle, he could harness the Spiritual Soul Essence to strengthen his spiritual sense techniques, often catching his enemies off guard with its unexpected power.