225: Ten years

After spending some time, Su Ling and Yang Tieshan finished taking inventory of the resources in this place.

Through Yang Tieshan's explanation, Su Ling learned that all types of resources must be collected at specific times and in specific quantities.

The Sect emphasized a steady, sustainable flow rather than draining the pond to catch the fish.

Every fifty years, the collected resources must be handed over once.

Ten percent of the obtained resources would serve as a reward for the guarding Disciples.

One-third of that would go to the person in charge of the station, while the rest would be shared among the other Disciples.

Additionally, if any new fourth-tier Demon Species or Wandering Souls were born in the canyon, they had to be marked with a Soul Seal and brought under control immediately.

When their numbers approached the control limit, they had to be promptly escorted to Shadow City.

This explained why Su Ling and Lu Tao always saw Disciples hurriedly escorting War Slaves in the city.

"Junior Brother Su, Junior Brother Lu, this place is now officially in your hands."

Three days later, outside the main hall, Yang Tieshan cupped his hands and said solemnly, "I shall take my leave now. When I have time in the future, I will drink with you two Junior Brothers again."

"Senior Brother Yang has worked hard. Safe travels."

Su Ling and the other man returned the gesture as they saw him off.

During these three days, through Yang Tieshan's introduction and on-site inspections, the two had gained a good understanding of Shadow Prison Canyon and were clear on the daily operations of the resource points.

It wasn't complicated: besides daily patrols, the only thing Su Ling needed to watch for was whether any hidden fourth-tier Demon Species or Wandering Souls suddenly advanced to the fifth-tier.

Ordinary Nascent Soul Disciples were definitely no match for such monsters.

This was precisely why resource points had to be overseen by Soul Transformation Disciples.

However, for Su Ling, with the newly arrived and enthusiastic Lu Tao taking the initiative to share the burden, he actually became quite idle.

After seeing off Yang Tieshan, Lu Tao immediately took Peak Nascent Soul Li Yichen out to patrol the canyon.

Su Ling returned to the main hall alone, sitting quietly to regulate his breathing.

When he first arrived, he noticed that the Power of Lost Souls and Yin soul energy here were exceptionally dense; in a sense, it could be considered an Extreme Yin Land.

Although far inferior to the Dragon Whale Return to Ruins from back then, it was sufficient for refining the nine nether soul devouring bow and practicing various Nine Nether Secret Arts.

So Su Ling simply organized the Materials he had purchased earlier, drew some Necro-crystals and Soul Crystal Essences from the warehouse, and began attempting to refine the nine nether soul devouring bow... Time flowed by, and ten years passed in a flash.

Su Ling's cultivation, which had surged due to refining the third Lightning Tribulation, had completely stabilized.

The various secret arts recorded in the Nine Nether Soul Devouring True Scripture had also been practiced to Minor Achievement.

Having experience using the Ghost Soul Arrow, Su Ling had a particularly deep understanding of Soul Devouring abilities, so his progress with the Netherworld Soul Devouring Art was the fastest.

At the same time, he became increasingly adept at controlling the triple characteristics of "Devouring Abyss," "Spirit Devouring," and "Soul Devouring" possessed by the nine nether nascent soul.

There were many unconscious wandering souls living in Shadow Prison Canyon, which were perfect targets for honing his Soul Devouring abilities.

Initially, Su Ling only practiced on first and second-tier Wandering Souls, and the gains were negligible.

Later, he gradually increased his targets until he devoured a Wandering Soul that had just advanced to the fourth-tier, only then noticing that his Divine Soul had truly grown by a sliver.

Roughly one-thousandth.

However, when devouring the second one, this growth began to diminish.

Su Ling then used his token's authority to mobilize ten fourth-tier Wandering Soul War Slaves to refine with his Soul Devouring power, but his Divine Soul strength only increased by five-thousandths.

The entire Shadow Prison Canyon had about five hundred fourth-tier Wandering Soul War Slaves and one fifth-tier existence.

It wasn't that Su Ling hadn't thought about devouring them all to see if his Divine Soul could double.

But these War Slaves were, after all, combat reserves for the future Plane Battlefield; even with his authority, he couldn't act recklessly.

Moreover, after devouring ten fourth-tier Wandering Souls in a row, he vaguely felt a sense of impurity rising in his Divine Soul Nascent Soul, so he had to temporarily set aside the idea and focus on condensing his Divine Soul.

Fortunately, he had never used the Three-Revolution Soul Nourishing Pill previously bestowed by his Grandmaster, and it could now be put to use.

After finishing a bottle of pills, his Divine Soul strength increased rather than decreased, being purified by about ten percent overall and becoming exceptionally condensed and pure; the previous sense of sluggishness also dissipated.

Everything was developing for the better, except for the nine nether soul devouring bow... Over the years, he had repeatedly tried to refine this bow using the Artifact Refining techniques passed down by his Grandmaster, but he always failed at the last moment, wasting many precious Materials in vain.

Not only that, but his Divine Soul strength was also heavily depleted.

To the point where he had to spend a lot of time recovering.

On the other hand, while Su Ling was in seclusion, Lu Tao had become one with the other Disciples.

Fortunately, no fifth-tier Demon Species or Wandering Souls appeared during that time, so Lu Tao was quite content.

He was truly as happy as a little bird released into freedom.

"Forget it, I'll go for a walk."

Looking at the several failed nine nether soul devouring bows before him, Su Ling sighed softly, stood up, left his Immortal Cave, and walked out of the main hall.

"Senior Brother Su, you've come out of seclusion?"

Seeing Su Ling appear, a guarding Disciple immediately came forward to greet him.

"Yes, just coming out for a walk."

Su Ling nodded slightly, looked around, and didn't see Lu Tao, so he asked casually, "Where is Lu Tao?"

The Disciple hurriedly replied, "A few fourth-tier Bone Demons appeared in the lower reaches of the canyon. Senior Brother Lu and Senior Brother Li went to deal with them fifteen minutes ago."

"Lower reaches..."

Su Ling looked into the distance, pondered for a moment, left a sentence, and then soared into the air, "I'll go take a look."

"Yes, Senior Brother Su."

Watching Su Ling's departing back, a trace of envy flashed in the eyes of this Disciple, who was only at the Middle Stage of Nascent Soul.

Second place in the Seven-Nation National War, a Direct Disciple of a Golden Immortal, and advancing from Core Formation Mid-stage to Peak Nascent Soul in just over a hundred years.

This status, this cultivation speed—it was simply terrifying!

But according to what Senior Brother Lu said, Su Ling only had a triple-attribute Spiritual Root of Gold, Wood, and Lightning.

To have such progress, it must be because the Golden Immortal Ancestral Master gave him a large amount of top-tier cultivation resources.

"A Direct Disciple of a Golden Immortal! Tsk tsk..."

The Disciple shook his head and turned to enter the main hall.

Some fortunes simply cannot be envied... In the dark gray sky, an almost imperceptible shadow flashed by.

The Shadow Evasion Art—this secret art was not only extremely fast, but with Su Ling's current strength, its speed was not much different from a high-grade magic treasure like the soaring wing boat.

Furthermore, its stealth was strong enough, divided into three Realms: Spirit Devouring, Dharma Devouring, and Dao Integration.

While flying, detection methods such as light, sound, aura, and Divine Sense would be silently devoured, achieving a form of invisibility.

Over the years, Su Ling had practiced this secret art to the Minor Achievement Realm.

According to Immortal Venerable Clear Ripple, with Su Ling's Divine Soul strength, as long as he reached Minor Achievement, it was almost impossible for Cultivators below Body Integration to discover his existence.

Of course, the cultivation world had an endless array of detection methods.

Besides elements like light, sound, aura, and Divine Sense, there were certainly other means of detection.

An hour later, Su Ling was already approaching the lower reaches of the canyon.

In the seemingly lifeless giant canyon, there were actually many low-tier Demon Species and Wandering Souls wandering about.

Demon Species and Wandering Souls below the fourth-tier had almost only instincts and would not develop intelligence, which was somewhat different from Yao Beasts.

In the cultivation world, Yao Beasts above the third-tier already possessed rudimentary intelligence.

At the fourth and fifth-tier, their intelligence grew significantly, not much different from humans.

Upon reaching the sixth-tier and undergoing the Transformation Lightning Tribulation, even if it was only the first tribulation, their intelligence became indistinguishable from humans.

Some exceptionally gifted Yao Beasts were even more sinister and enduring than humans.

After all, the Law of the jungle was a universal truth.

How could a sixth-tier transformed great demon that fought its way out from among countless Yao Beasts have a low intelligence?