Ye Xuan and his companions were blinded by a flash of white light. Feeling dizzy and disoriented, they came to their senses to find themselves standing on a vast expanse of land.

Yun Aoxue and Xia Qixi were by his side, but as for the others, there was no sign of them anywhere in sight.

’Where are we?’

Ye Xuan frowned, his eyes sweeping across the surroundings in astonishment.

He had expected to be teleported to a treasure hall or some ancient ruin. But what lay before him was a land of utter darkness under an equally black sky. Thick, dark clouds loomed overhead, creating a sense of extreme oppression.

"Where are we?" Yun Aoxue suddenly frowned and spoke. "The Heaven and Earth Profound Qi is so thin here."

Ye Xuan took a moment to sense his surroundings. The Heaven and Earth Profound Qi was indeed incredibly scarce here, nearly ten times thinner than in the outside world.

This meant that once they consumed their Profound Power, it would take them at least ten times longer than usual to recover.

Aside from the lack of Heaven and Earth Profound Qi, they were surprised to discover a special energy in the air. This energy had a powerful nourishing effect on their Soul Power. The moment they arrived, the Soul Power in their minds grew more active, slowly strengthening on its own without any need for cultivation.

"Ye Xuan, where are we? Why is it just the three of us? Where did everyone else go?" Xia Qixi asked.

"I don’t know where this is, but the others should be here as well, just somewhere else. The teleportation array we used was directional, so only people within the same pillar of light would arrive at the same location."

SQUEAK!

As Ye Xuan was explaining, the Little Purple Mink suddenly appeared on his shoulder. It stared at the scene before it, its brow furrowed, a deep loathing emanating from its eyes as if it utterly detested this place.

"Wow, what a cute little thing." Both Xia Qixi and Yun Aoxue’s eyes were immediately drawn to the Little Purple Mink, unable to look away.

"Little Purple, you’re awake? What’s wrong?"

The Little Purple Mink had been sleeping soundly ever since it ate the two Seven-Colored Lotuses. Now that it was awake, its aura had clearly increased by an astonishing amount. For some reason, however, upon sensing its surroundings, it began to radiate a ferocious energy, as if it felt a bone-deep loathing for this place.

SWOOSH!

Without answering Ye Xuan’s question, the Little Purple Mink shot back into the Storage Ring, unwilling to remain in the outside world for even a moment longer.

Unsure of what was wrong with the Little Purple Mink, Ye Xuan didn’t dwell on it.

"Let’s go."

The environment here was eerie, and Ye Xuan had no desire to linger.

SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

The trio moved forward swiftly. Suddenly, a few Demon Beasts appeared in the distance. They were completely black and seemed to be made of a smooth, mist-like substance. Strange runes flickered within their hazy bodies as they staggered across the land.

’What kind of Demon Beasts are these?’

The three of them froze, stunned. They had never seen a Demon Beast with a body made of mist.

The moment they spotted the strange Demon Beasts, the beasts saw them in return. Their pitch-black pupils instantly turned blood-red as they closed in on the trio, roaring furiously.

Ye Xuan drew his Dragon Pattern Sword and stepped in front of Xia Qixi and Yun Aoxue. A brilliant flash of sword light cut through the darkness, instantly cleaving the closest Demon Beast in two.

To Ye Xuan’s astonishment, however, after being sliced in two, the creature’s misty body writhed and fused back together before pouncing at him once more.

Still in shock, Ye Xuan threw a heavy punch.

With a wet tearing sound, the misty Demon Beast was blown into fragments by the punch, but it showed no signs of dying. Instead, its sharp claws slammed into Ye Xuan, the impact nearly knocking him off his feet.

’Just what are these monsters?’

Ye Xuan had never seen a Demon Beast that wouldn’t die after being sliced in two or even blasted to pieces by a punch.

Elsewhere, Yun Aoxue and Xia Qixi were each fighting a Demon Beast of their own. The creature’s bizarre nature left them flustered and on the defensive, forcing them to retreat continuously.

RIIIP! A Demon Beast’s claw suddenly raked across Yun Aoxue’s shoulder, tearing her robes to shreds and exposing the fair skin beneath.

’Begone!’

Shocked and enraged, Yun Aoxue summoned her martial soul—a torrent of turquoise water that appeared above her. Wreathed in the power of her martial soul, she slammed her palm onto the Demon Beast’s head.

ROAR!

The Demon Beast, which had seemed impervious just moments before, suddenly shrieked in agony. Its blood-red eyes twisted with pain.

’Could it be that the power of a martial soul is effective against these beasts?’

A thought struck Ye Xuan. Just as he was about to channel the power of his martial soul, one of the Demon Beasts locked its eyes onto him. A bizarre ripple of energy flashed in the depths of its pupils. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Ye Xuan immediately felt a sharp pain lance through his mind, as if an invisible needle had stabbed deep into his sea of Soul Power.

Ye Xuan paled in alarm. His Soul Power had already reached the Peak of Fourth Grade, and with the special Soul Skill he cultivated, not even a Fourth Grade Soul Refiner like Zhu Tianlan could necessarily harm his sea of Soul Power. Yet this strange Demon Beast had breached his mental defenses with a single glance.

While he was still reeling, the Demon Beast lunged at him again, its features twisted with savagery.

With no time to hesitate, Ye Xuan forcefully channeled the power of his martial soul and slammed his fist into the Demon Beast’s head.

A shocking scene unfolded. The Demon Beast that had been impossible to kill just moments ago let out a pained shriek when struck by the punch infused with martial soul power. Its head instantly exploded, and its misty body dissipated into nothing.

As it vanished, a black streak of light flew out from where its head had exploded.

"What’s this?" Ye Xuan frowned slightly. With a flick of his right hand, he snatched the black light out of the air. Opening his palm, he found that it was a black bead, about the size of his pinky finger, with a deep, dark luster.

With no time to examine it, Ye Xuan charged toward the other Demon Beasts, shouting a warning, "Don’t look them in the eye! These things are strange. Use your martial soul’s power to attack their heads! They seem to be afraid of it!"

Heeding Ye Xuan’s warning, Xia Qixi and Yun Aoxue quickly channeled the power of their martial souls. As they attacked, the previously unkillable Demon Beasts shrieked in pain and were all slain within moments.

Inside each of the slain beasts’ heads, they found a black bead. In total, they collected five of them.

"What are these? Are they Demon Cores? What strange-looking Demon Cores!"

Xia Qixi and Yun Aoxue examined the beads, their expressions filled with doubt.

Demon Beasts typically had Demon Cores, and Profound Beasts had Soul Crystals. Could these beads be the Demon Cores of these creatures? But they had never seen Demon Cores that looked so strange.

Ye Xuan was just as confused, but then, as if remembering something, his eyes lit up with excitement.

"Could this be..." he murmured, his face alight with excitement.

"Ye Xuan, what is it?" Yun Aoxue and Xia Qixi asked, unable to contain their curiosity.

"If I’m not mistaken..." Ye Xuan looked at the black bead in his hand and quietly infused a trace of his martial soul’s power into it. As Xia Qixi and Yun Aoxue watched in shock, the black bead in Ye Xuan’s hand began to shrink, eventually vanishing completely.

"It’s gone?" They both stared in astonishment. "Ye Xuan, what was that?"

"Haha, so that’s what this is." Feeling a change within himself, Ye Xuan broke into a faint smile. He didn’t answer them directly, instead saying, "Try infusing some of your martial soul’s power into one of the beads. You’ll see."

Puzzled, Yun Aoxue and Xia Qixi did as he said, infusing a bit of their martial soul’s power into the beads. A faint wave of Soul Power immediately emanated from the black orbs, flowing through their bodies and into their seas of Soul Power. Both of them could clearly feel a distinct increase in their Soul Power.

They both drew in a sharp breath.

"What in the world is this? It can directly increase our Soul Power?" Yun Aoxue and Xia Qixi asked in unison, their faces filled with shock.

"These must be Soul Beads," Ye Xuan said.

"What are Soul Beads?"

"Soul Beads are a unique treasure, similar to the Demon Cores from Demon Beasts or the Soul Crystals from Profound Beasts. Refining Demon Cores can increase our Profound Power, and absorbing Soul Crystals can strengthen our martial souls. As you’ve just seen, absorbing Soul Beads can increase our Soul Power."

Ye Xuan’s eyes gleamed as he continued, "I’ve heard that Soul Beads are usually found inside Soul Beasts. That means the strange creatures we just killed weren’t Demon Beasts at all. They must have been the legendary Soul Beasts."

"Soul Beasts?" Xia Qixi and Yun Aoxue exchanged a bewildered glance. It was clear they had never heard the term before.

Ye Xuan wasn’t surprised by their reaction.

In truth, the existence of Soul Beasts was mostly a secret on the Celestial Profound Continent, and the vast majority of people had never even heard of them. Even Ye Xuan himself had only heard rumors and had never seen one in person.

That was why he hadn’t recognized them at first.

He had seen Soul Beads before in the Profound Domain during his past life, which was why he was able to identify them now.

"Here, these two Soul Beads are for you." Ye Xuan tossed the remaining two beads to Yun Aoxue and Xia Qixi.

"Don’t you need them?" they asked, taken aback.

"These are probably Tier Three Soul Beads. They’re not much use to me."

The boost from Soul Beads had its limits. A Soul Bead could directly increase a Soul Refiner’s Soul Power, but only up to the bead’s own tier.

For example, a Tier Three Soul Bead could help Xia Qixi and Yun Aoxue reach the Peak of Second Grade, break through to the Third Grade, and eventually even reach the peak of the Third Grade.