Chapter 530: Free-Range Souls

Wang Lin's gaze was cold. He pointed his right hand into the Void Realm, and the lion soul immediately trembled, turning into a streak of black light without a word, flying toward the Soul Banner in Shisan's hand, drilling inside and disappearing.

"This beast is acceptable; it can serve as the main soul for your Ten Soul Banner! But you must remember that there are no shortcuts in the Soul Refining Technique. Although you Sealed this beast, it retaliated—this is a lesson!" After leaving these words, Wang Lin turned and walked toward the depths of the valley.

Shisan looked ashamed as he gazed at the Soul Banner in his hand, lost in thought.

Time flew by. A month passed in the blink of an eye. The men in the valley, fully armed, hurriedly left the valley under a night so dark they couldn't see their own hands.

Ouyang Hua and Shisan served as the main attackers, leading the clansmen straight toward the underground karst cave.

Wang Lin did not follow, nor did he even release his Divine Sense. This was a trial. If these people failed, it would only prove they were unsuitable, and Wang Lin would leave to seek development elsewhere in Ancient Demon City.

Five days later, Wang Lin was meditating deep in the valley. He slowly opened his eyes and looked into the distance. Before long, bursts of clamor came from afar. A long line of people, spreading like a spiritual snake on the path outside the valley, was slowly heading toward him.

This long procession was made up of outsiders whose faces revealed fear. These outsiders, both male and female, were all adults. Their hands were tied with ropes, seven people per group, and each group carried a log as thick as a bucket. Their hands were tied to this log as they slowly advanced.

Ouyang Hua walked at the front. There was blood everywhere on his clothes, and although his face was haggard, excitement surged within him.

Around this long procession, the people who had departed from the valley were now escorting them. If any outsider walked too slowly, they would go up and scold them.

Shisan walked at the rear of the procession. His entire demeanor was completely different from before he left. At this moment, he was no longer ostentatious but had become somewhat composed, with a strong look of determination on his face.

As he walked, several people followed him, but they all kept their distance, and their eyes flashed with awe.

In this battle, Shisan could be said to have stolen the show, especially when, working with Ouyang Hua, he successfully bypassed the enemy's Formation, entered their interior directly, and caught the enemy completely off guard.

The opposing Elder was instantly summoned by Shisan's lion main soul and devoured in one gulp. Moreover, in front of all the outsiders, he immediately used the Soul Refining Technique to refine the soul of the newly deceased opposing Elder and Seal it within his Soul Banner.

At the same time, Ouyang Hua was not slow either, using the Soul Refining Technique to refine and Seal the souls of the enemy casualties one by one.

This scene was an extremely heavy blow to all the outsiders!

The long procession quickly arrived outside the valley. After bringing all the outsiders into the valley, the women inside immediately and skillfully retrieved wooden buckets from their homes.

Inside the wooden buckets was a green liquid, from which bubbles emerged, emitting an unpleasant odor.

Every outsider was forcibly held down and made to drink several mouthfuls of this green liquid. After drinking it, these people immediately looked blank-eyed. A moment later, clansmen from the valley led these blank-eyed people away, whispering something into their respective ears.

Wang Lin saw this scene through his Divine Sense and felt no surprise. In Luo Yun's memory, his ancestor had detailed that among the scattered tribes in the Demon Spirit Land, there was only one way for them to absorb new members: by drinking a bowl of Separation Demon Soup!

The purpose of this Separation Demon Soup was to make them forget everything. Afterward, someone would whisper a new name and tribal matters into their ears. Once they fully absorbed this information and woke up again, they would completely become a member of the tribe.

In Wang Lin's view, this Separation Demon Soup was nothing extraordinary; it was far inferior to Divine Abilities like the Bewitching Soul Technique.

If a Cultivator drank this Separation Demon Soup, it would have almost no effect.

Ouyang Hua rushed toward Wang Lin's location immediately. While still some distance away, he stopped and respectfully said, "Junior Ouyang Hua requests an audience with the Immortal Senior."

After receiving Wang Lin's permission, Ouyang Hua immediately felt invigorated. He respectfully walked into the depths of the valley, where he saw Wang Lin sitting cross-legged from afar.

He approached, took something out of his embrace, and respectfully said, "Immortal Senior, this is a Demon Crystal that Junior found in the opposing tribe. I specially offer it to the Immortal Senior!"

Wang Lin's eyes flashed. With a summon from his right hand, the object in Ouyang Hua's hand immediately flew up and landed in Wang Lin's grasp. He examined it closely; the object was unremarkable, resembling a rough, black stone.

Wang Lin squeezed it with his right hand, and a cracking sound was heard. The black stone immediately shattered. As the fragments scattered, a thumb-sized Demon Crystal was revealed inside!

"Second-Rank Demon Crystal!" Wang Lin held the Demon Crystal, looked at it a few times, and swallowed it whole!

Ouyang Hua kept his eyes straight, lowered his head, and remained silent, his face consistently showing respect.

After swallowing the Demon Crystal, it immediately Fused with the Demon Crystal in Wang Lin's Dantian, becoming a Fifth-Rank Demon Crystal!

Wang Lin glanced at Ouyang Hua, patted his Storage Pouch with his right hand, took out a Jade Slip, swept it with his Divine Sense, and threw it to Ouyang Hua, saying plainly, "For the Soul Refining Technique, you only have the Incantations for the first three stages. Unless you render merit, I will not give you the subsequent parts. You have offered a Demon Crystal, rendering one merit, so I bestow upon you the Incantation for the fourth stage. Cultivate diligently, and do not leak it to outsiders, or I will certainly reclaim everything!"

Ouyang Hua suppressed his intense joy, quickly agreed after receiving the Jade Slip, and immediately excused himself.

After the other party left, Wang Lin's eyes flickered, and he muttered to himself, "It seems this step was the right one. As this valley tribe gradually grows stronger and encroaches on the surroundings, the more Demon Crystals I will obtain. Furthermore, the more people there are in this valley tribe, the more people will Cultivate the Soul Refining Technique, and the closer the day will be when I restore the Ten Billion Soul Banner!"

Wang Lin is currently implementing Free-Range Souls!

All those who Cultivate his Soul Refining Technique, the souls they refine and Seal, will all become his property with a single thought from Wang Lin, whenever he needs them.

Finally, when the time is ripe, Wang Lin will execute the Soul Harvest. At that time, the Ten Billion Soul Banner will see the light of day once more!

The number of clansmen in the valley tribe instantly increased several times, with the number of men exceeding fifty. The outsider women were divided up, and among them, several slightly attractive women were brought by Ouyang Hua, hoping to gain merit, and presented to Wang Lin.

Unfortunately, this time he was given the cold shoulder.

Those newly joined clansmen also began to Cultivate the Soul Refining Technique one after another, and a wave of Cultivation immediately surged throughout the entire valley.

Except for those who regularly went out hunting every day, the vast majority of the clansmen were wholeheartedly Cultivating.

Some women even secretly Cultivated this technique. Ouyang Hua had initially been somewhat opposed to women Cultivating, but after being reprimanded by Wang Lin via Sound Transmission, he immediately changed his mind and strongly advocated for women to Cultivate.

Consequently, throughout the valley, except for the children, everyone, regardless of gender, began to Cultivate frantically.

The Soul Refining Technique was easy to start, and coupled with the power of Shisan and Ouyang Hua, it immediately became the coveted goal of everyone.

Time flowed silently. Half a year passed in the blink of an eye. During this half year, the people of the valley often went out. Each time they went out, either alone or in a team, their goal was to craft their respective Soul Banners, or to kill wild beasts and refine their souls.

In half a year, besides Shisan, four other people also reached the Third Stage and needed to craft a Soul Banner.

Wang Lin's rules were already known by the people of the valley: only by rendering merit would they receive the Incantation for the next stage, and there were only three ways to render merit!

First, offering Demon Crystals! Second, finding traces of Outsiders! Third, relying entirely on one's own ability to refine ten Ten Soul Banners filled with souls, and among these ten Soul Banners, at least four must contain a main soul.

Meeting one of these three requirements would earn them the Incantation for the fourth stage bestowed by Wang Lin. As for the Incantation for the Fifth Stage, the requirements were even stricter.

So far, only Ouyang Hua has met the requirements and obtained the Incantation for the fourth stage.

Even Shisan has only refined seven Soul Banners. The most difficult part is the main soul; given his strength, he only has two main souls so far. That second main soul was still the Elder from the underground karst cave half a year ago!

Consequently, the calls to attack other tribes grew stronger and stronger over the past half year. Only by attacking other tribes could they obtain Demon Crystals, main souls, and a large quantity of souls.

It must be said that Ouyang Hua's words from back then had come true. The arrival of Outsiders every 5,000 years always brought endless bloodshed to the Demon Spirit Land.

Because of Wang Lin's arrival, the tribe in this valley completely transformed from a quiet existence into an aggressive tribe eager to start massacres in order to obtain stronger Incantations.

As the calls grew louder, after this half year passed, a new campaign began again!

This time, the clansmen in the tribe, regardless of gender, almost poured out of the valley, except for a few left behind to look after the children. They did not gather to attack one location but dispersed into three groups, simultaneously attacking three tribes.

Only this way could their needs be met; otherwise, if they attacked a single location, the Demon Crystals and main souls could not be fairly divided!

Within the Demon Spirit Land, no one noticed that such a force was vigorously growing, nor would anyone pay attention to these savage tribes.

Furthermore, almost none of those Outsiders chose to stay within a tribe like Wang Lin did. They had long since gone to different Prefectures, obtained different identities, and started a 500-year struggle for military merit and for the Ancient Demon!

—

Thank you everyone for your monthly votes. Seeing these monthly votes makes Er Gen feel as motivated as if he drank Fuyan Jie; I will definitely write three chapters today!

Also, let me talk about tomorrow's goal. The book above is lifting up its cute, pink, mischievous Little Tender Chrysanthemum. Er Gen feels a tickle in his heart looking at it, wanting to reach out and touch it to see how tender and spirited it is.

How about it? Fellow Daoists, lend me a hand! I want to poke this cute little pink chrysanthemum with my finger! Exploding the Chrysanthemum is a bit difficult right now, but poking it should be fine, right? Hehe.