256: Soul Forging Technique

For Wu Muzhen, he was somewhat reluctant to introduce others to Xiao Shi.

Once more people started working for Xiao Shi, his position as the number one subordinate would inevitably be threatened to some extent.

However, he also understood.

It was impossible for him to be the only one in Tianji Hall working for the Hall Master.

Since the Hall Master had now encountered something he couldn't handle himself, it was better to proactively recommend talent to him.

To be the number one subordinate of Tianji Hall, one had to have the breadth of mind befitting a number one subordinate.

In fact, with Xiao Shi's identity as the Hall Master of Tianji Hall, he could completely develop most of the Tianji Hall members into subordinates like Wu Muzhen.

But he knew.

Not all of these Tianji Hall members were loyal and reliable.

Among them, there were bound to be some with ulterior motives.

The more Tianji Hall members he contacted, the more likely he was to leave clues and traces.

Once these clues and traces were pieced together by those with intentions, it could very likely endanger him.

"Ultimately, it's still because my own strength doesn't allow it..."

Xiao Shi sighed.

If he had the power to suppress these Tianji Hall members, then there would naturally be nothing to worry about.

However, any one of these Tianji Hall members was an incredibly strong expert.

This made Xiao Shi extremely cautious in his interactions with them.

However, this time it was a Tianji Hall member recommended by Wu Muzhen.

In terms of safety, it was definitely safer and more trustworthy than Xiao Shi contacting other Tianji Hall members himself.

Soon.

After Wu Muzhen's arrangements, Xiao Shi met this high-ranking member of the Star Luo Army in Heavenly Secret City.

This was a burly, bald man with a scar on his face, looking somewhat fierce.

His long-standing high position made him exude the aura of a superior in every gesture.

But the moment he saw Xiao Shi, just like when Wu Muzhen first met Xiao Shi, his eyes were fervent, and he bowed respectfully to Xiao Shi, proclaiming loudly, "Greetings, Hall Master!"

Xiao Shi floated above Heavenly Secret City.

His entire body emitted a dazzling, brilliant light, making him appear like a god.

"Are you Xu Lu?"

He gazed down at the bald man below.

"Yes!" Xu Lu nodded respectfully.

"Wu Muzhen told me you can get information on the Prison Guards in Star Luo Province?" Xiao Shi asked.

Xu Lu turned to look at Wu Muzhen, his eyes full of gratitude.

He knew very well that without the other's recommendation, he might never have been able to contact the Hall Master of Tianji Hall in his entire life.

He immediately nodded respectfully.

"I can."

"How long will it take?" Xiao Shi continued to ask.

Xu Lu thought for a moment.

He knew that this was his first time working for the Hall Master of Tianji Hall, and he had to do it well, without any mistakes.

At the same time, it couldn't take too long.

"Two days!" He felt this time was most suitable.

Xiao Shi nodded.

His figure flickered, and he vanished from in front of Xu Lu and Wu Muzhen.

After Xiao Shi left, Xu Lu immediately thanked Wu Muzhen gratefully.

"Brother Wu, I've noted this great kindness of yours!"

"However... Lord Star Luo has always valued the Prison Guards.

If the Hall Master wants their whereabouts to kill them, I'm worried... this might be detrimental to the Hall Master."

Xu Lu knew very well that although the Hall Master of Tianji Hall was unfathomable, the strongest in Star Luo Territory was, after all, Star Luo Lord!

Upon hearing this, Wu Muzhen said to him with a serious expression, "Old Xu, if you want to continue working for the Hall Master in the future... you need to understand that when the Hall Master gives you a task, don't overthink, don't overdo, and don't try to second-guess, understand?"

Xu Lu's heart trembled.

Only then did he realize he had committed a taboo.

He deeply clasped his fists and bowed to Wu Muzhen.

"I'll need Brother Wu's guidance a lot in the future."

Wu Muzhen nodded with satisfaction.

From Xu Lu's performance, he was clearly not as adept at handling things in this regard as he was.

The threat was not significant.

His status as the number one subordinate remained as stable as an old dog.

"No problem, no problem."

Two days later.

Xiao Shi obtained the whereabouts of many Prison Guards from Xu Lu.

He discovered that, apart from staying in prison, their usual Going out activities primarily involved going to areas controlled by Demonic Path forces to apprehend members of Demonic Path forces.

However, these operations into Demonic Path forces' areas always involved many people together, never alone.

Many times, the Warden would even personally lead the team.

It was almost impossible to hunt them this way.

The Prison Guards in the city were even more impossible to kill.

Fortunately, a batch of Star Luo Army soldiers would soon be transferred to Prison City to serve as Prison Guards.

Xiao Shi felt this was a good opportunity.

He began to examine the data of these Star Luo Army soldiers who were about to be transferred to Prison City, searching for suitable candidates.

In the intelligence provided by Xu Lu, there was not only information on their whereabouts, but also their strength, cultivation, personality, and some life stories.

Soon, Xiao Shi found a suitable candidate among these Star Luo Army soldiers.

"He's the one!" His gaze fixed on a Star Luo Army soldier named Wang Xiao...

The night was as dark as ink, a full moon hung in the sky, casting a pale white glow, and the stars were sparse.

In the canyon, a figure was moving at an extremely fast speed, shuttling through the gorge.

This was a young man in armor with an indifferent expression.

His narrow eyes were as sharp as blades, emitting a bone-chilling coldness.

His body also exuded a strong Evil Blade aura and bloodlust.

One look and it was clear he was a very murderous person.

When he arrived at the middle section of the canyon, "Hmm?" His figure suddenly paused.

He looked up at the sky.

Under the night, a figure shrouded in a black cloak was suspended in mid-air, the black cloak flapping in the night wind.

Wang Xiao's narrow eyes narrowed slightly.

He hadn't expected that in Star Luo Province, someone would dare to hunt him.

To this, he not only showed no panic, but a sinister smile curled at the corner of his mouth, and the Evil Blade aura and bloodlust on his body spread, like a roused fierce beast.

Xiao Shi looked down at Wang Xiao below, his mind recalling the intelligence he had seen about him earlier.

This person was cold and extremely murderous.

Any enemy who fell into his hands had never survived.

In the Star Luo Army, he even had the title of "Fiend Star."

Because of his excessive bloodlust, Star Luo Lord worried that he would eventually fall into the Demonic Path if he continued like this.

Therefore, he was specifically assigned to Prison City for tempering, to help him learn to control his murderous nature.

The moment Xiao Shi and Wang Xiao's gazes met, whoosh! Both their figures vanished simultaneously.

Boom! The next second, their arms collided fiercely, stirring up terrifying vibrations.

"You only have one chance to strike," Xiao Shi's voice came out chillingly from within the cloak.

Wang Xiao did not respond, but the Evil Blade aura on his body became even denser.

He raised his hand and grabbed, and a blood-colored battle saber appeared in his hand.

The hilt of the entire blood-colored battle saber was a ferocious beast's head biting the blade, and the grip was black bone.

This battle saber exuded astonishing fluctuations.

Evil Blade aura permeated the air.

It was clearly no ordinary weapon.

"Kill!" Wang Xiao brought down the battle saber in his hand with a roar, unleashing a beautiful, bloody saber light.

Before it even landed, Xiao Shi already felt a rich, incomparable bloody Evil Blade aura from this saber light, rushing into his brain, constantly stirring up murderous thoughts in his mind, thereby causing his own murderous thoughts to surge.

This was a method capable of affecting one's consciousness!

An ordinary person subjected to the impact of this bloody Evil Blade aura would be directly overwhelmed by murderous thoughts, thus losing their consciousness.

Even Martial Soul Realm cultivators of the same stage often found it difficult to avoid.

Although it wouldn't last too long, in a battle, even one second of lost consciousness would be enough for Wang Xiao to cut off the opponent's head.

But this time... the bloody Evil Blade aura emanating from his battle saber failed!

He was shocked to find that the opponent's eyes remained clear, completely unaffected.

Xiao Shi extended his right hand, his palm open, facing Wang Xiao.

Boom!! A burst of compressed air reverberated in front of him.

However, Wang Xiao did not hear this reverberating sound.

In his mind, an even louder tiger's roar echoed!

His entire soul felt a stinging pain under this tiger's roar.

This was after he had already, at the first instant, placed the blood-colored battle saber in his hand vertically in front of him, blocking Xiao Shi's palm strike.

But even so, his body fell like a meteor, crashing heavily against the canyon wall, kicking up a sky full of dust.

Whoosh! Xiao Shi's figure flickered, giving Wang Xiao no time to catch his breath.

After reaching Wang Xiao, he punched at him.

Wang Xiao's pupils constricted.

He endured the stinging pain in his soul and continued to block with the blood-colored battle saber in his hand.

Boom!! When Xiao Shi's fist smashed onto his battle saber, an even denser bloody Evil Blade aura suddenly emanated from the battle saber.

"Dare to touch my Evil Blade, you're courting death!" Wang Xiao sneered in his heart.

But this time... he still didn't see any change in Xiao Shi's expression!

Instead, within Xiao Shi's fist, a tiger's roar once again exploded in his mind.

"This... impossible!!" Wang Xiao's expression changed drastically, his face turning pale.

His entire soul felt as if it had suffered a heavy blow, and in the severe pain, the scene before his eyes became distorted and blurry.

"Still quite resilient..." Xiao Shi chuckled.

He raised both hands simultaneously.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom! He unleashed more than ten punches in one breath!

The dense fist shadows all struck Wang Xiao's blocking battle saber in less than a second.

Every punch unleashed was imbued with Soul Power, causing a tiger's roar to explode and echo in Wang Xiao's mind with every punch he threw.

Whoosh! When Xiao Shi stopped, Wang Xiao's body showed no serious external injuries, but his expression had solidified, his pupils were unfocused, and he had no breath.

His entire soul had been directly shattered by the continuous tiger roars exploding in his mind.

"I told you, you only have one chance to strike."

Xiao Shi reached out and picked up the items that had dropped after Wang Xiao's death.

Now that he had integrated the Blood Art Crimson Tigers Roar into the Crimson Tiger Soul, every bit of his Soul Power automatically carried the Crimson Tigers Roar!

Even a simple punch or kick, as long as it was imbued with Soul Power, would carry the Crimson Tigers Roar with every attack!

In the past, Crimson Tigers Roar, as his killing move in the Blood Martial Realm, could at most be used once in battle.

But now... he could make every attack, regardless of strength, contain the Crimson Tigers Roar!

And the power of the Crimson Tigers Roar was also far greater than it was in the Blood Martial Realm.

It specialized in attacking the soul!

Even a powerful Soul Awakening Martial Soul Realm cultivator like Wang Xiao was no match for Xiao Shi.

This was even with Xiao Shi not using many of his techniques and killing moves this time, in order to verify the strength of his Soul Power.

If he had gone all out, he felt he could have instantly killed the opponent.

"But this guy's saber is quite interesting."

Xiao Shi snatched the blood-colored battle saber from Wang Xiao's hand.

It had to be said that the bloody Evil Blade aura released by this blood-colored battle saber could easily affect the opponent's consciousness in battle.

The reason it was ineffective against Xiao Shi was because Xiao Shi's own Evil Blade aura... was far superior to that of this blood-colored battle saber!

Therefore, he would not be affected.

But if it were those whose own Evil Blade aura was not as strong as this blood-colored battle saber, their consciousness would be easily affected.

And Xiao Shi could see that the Evil Blade aura in this blood-colored battle saber would grow with continuous slaughter.

At the same time, the owner of this blood-colored battle saber could also combine their own Evil Blade aura with the blood-colored battle saber, thereby releasing powerful slashes.

The stronger one's own Evil Blade aura, the stronger the power of the slash, and the greater the impact on consciousness.

This also made Xiao Shi understand why Wang Xiao rarely encountered opponents in the Soul Awakening Stage.

An ordinary Soul Awakening Martial Soul Realm cultivator whose consciousness was affected by the Evil Blade aura would easily be cut down by him with one saber strike.

This Evil Blade was a good weapon for Xiao Shi.

In his hands, it would definitely be more powerful than in Wang Xiao's hands!

In addition to the gain of this blood-colored battle saber, Xiao Shi quickly looked at the items dropped by Wang Xiao after his death.

[Name: Soul Forging Art (Earth Grade)] [Type: Secret Manual] [Grade: Martial Soul Grade] [Description: This is a secret manual capable of forging Soul Power and enhancing Soul Power.

This secret manual has a total of two Soul Power forging methods.] [Note 1: Forging Soul Power quality.

This Soul Power forging method can enhance the quality and strength of Soul Power.] [Note 2: Forging Soul Power quantity.

This Soul Power forging method will rapidly increase the quantity of Soul Power.] "Indeed!" "The items dropped by killing Soul Awakening Stage Martial Soul Realm cultivators are basically items that can only be used in the Soul Awakening Stage."

Xiao Shi was now completely certain of this point.

Although this [Soul Forging Art] was only an Earth Grade secret manual, its effect was extremely extraordinary.

It could be used to forge the quality and strength of Soul Power, or the quantity of Soul Power.

Xiao Shi knew that both Soul Power quality and strength, as well as quantity, were extremely important.

The former concerned the strength during the Soul Awakening Stage.

The latter concerned whether one could step into the Soul Consciousness Stage.

According to the information Xiao Shi currently knew, the key to stepping from the Soul Awakening Stage into the Soul Consciousness Stage primarily lay in the quantity of Soul Power.

When the quantity of Soul Power reached a certain level, it would gradually transform into Soul Consciousness.

Without this [Soul Forging Art], Xiao Shi could only slowly accumulate Soul Power.

But with this [Soul Forging Art], he could increase his Soul Power through forging its quantity, and quickly strive to enter the Soul Consciousness Stage!