The passage to enter the ancestral land is close to the Nine Provinces, so Lu Ye made a detour back to the Nine Provinces for a look and chatted briefly with Number Nine.

The last time Lu Ye decided on the matter of World-Merging with Old Tang and Wu Zhuo, and recently, the news has spread. A large number of Heaven’s Augury Pillars have been installed within the Qingli Dao World, opening paths leading to the Nine Provinces. The entire Qingli Dao World is now undergoing a mass migration. Once the migration is mostly complete, the Heaven’s Augury Pillars will guide the Qingli Dao World to converge on the Nine Provinces. Finally, the true World-Merging will occur, and by then, the Qingli Dao World will fully merge into the Nine Provinces, indistinguishable from one another, greatly enhancing the foundation of the Nine Provinces.

This matter is mainly handled by Wu Zhuo, with Number Nine assisting from the shadows, and everything is going smoothly.

Without lingering too much, Lu Ye continued forward with Yiyi and Amber, arriving at the location of the entrance. Using the guidance of the seven-color Divine Lotus, he opened the passage and entered the Soul Race ancestral land.

Yiyi and Amber naturally returned to Lih Shang’s Lotus Land for cultivation, while Lu Ye headed directly to the stellar space pond.

Shortly after, he met Xuyuan again.

The main purpose of Lu Ye’s trip to the Soul Race ancestral land was to cultivate his Soul Suppressing Secret Technique. Previously, he had suffered too many losses; when competing with those veteran Sun Blaze Realm cultivators, he was often at a disadvantage in soul power confrontation. This was not solely because his psyche cultivation was inferior to others; the main reason was that he hadn’t had the chance to cultivate his Soul Suppressing Secret Technique.

If soul power is likened to a person’s strength, then when competing with those veteran Sun Blaze cultivators, Lu Ye was barehanded while others wielded their own weapons; those weapons were their Soul Suppressing Secret Techniques, naturally putting Lu Ye at a disadvantage.

This is a path any Sun Blaze cultivator must tread, and it involves meticulous effort. One can say that the cultivation journey for a Sun Blaze consists almost entirely of refining one’s Soul Suppressing Secret Technique.

The advancement of the Sun Blaze Realm is not only about accumulating mana; more importantly, it involves the deepening of the psyche, since this realm is about the cultivation of Essence Qi.

Lu Ye knows quite a bit about the Soul Suppressing Secret Technique, having consulted Ma Bin, and discussed it with Su Yuqing.

But across the stellar space, the most authoritative in terms of psyche undoubtedly remains the Soul Race. No matter how strong anyone else is, they ultimately fall short compared to the Soul Race. Soul power cultivation is the foundation of the Soul Race.

Having spent several days with Xuyuan, listening to his profound yet straightforward explanations of the various mysteries of the Soul Suppressing Secret Technique, Lu Ye has benefited greatly.

The first challenge when attempting to cultivate the Soul Suppressing Secret Technique is making a choice.

Everyone’s Soul Suppressing Secret Technique is different, and only by finding the most suitable one can they achieve success more efficiently. If a particular Soul Suppressing Secret Technique is not suitable for oneself, forcing cultivation will naturally hinder growth.

Lu Ye is now facing this choice...

He is perplexed.

His perplexity isn’t due to a lack of choices, but rather, having too many options.

Under normal circumstances, the Soul Suppressing Secret Technique chosen by Sun Blaze cultivators is typically their most skilled soul skill.

When cultivators reach the Divine Sea Realm, they develop a psyche, nurturing their own soul body. Regardless of the cultivator’s school of thought, most will cultivate some soul skill as a means of confronting adversaries.

Building a Soul Suppressing Secret Technique based on one’s most skilled soul skill is undoubtedly the best and most suitable choice.

So what is Lu Ye’s most skilled soul skill?

In introspection, Lu Ye observes the complex patterns on the burning leaves of the Talent Tree and falls into thought...

These spirit runes on the Talent Tree, when activated with mana, are spirit runes; but when activated with soul power, they become divine runes!

For example, Divine Sharp Edge can be activated with mana and enhanced the Boulder Mountain Saber’s lethality. It can also be constructed with soul power to form a psyche offensive, attacking the enemy’s Divine Sea.

It could be said that most spirit runes also serve as divine runes, and for him, each divine rune is a soul skill.

This poses a dilemma, as he finds no difficulty in constructing these divine runes; none seems particularly skilled, yet all seem highly skilled.

Observing Lu Ye deep in thought, Xuyuan smiled slightly from the side: "Choosing a Soul Suppressing Secret Technique shouldn’t be rushed; such matters always require careful consideration."

"It’s not that I don’t have a suitable option..." Lu Ye returned to his senses, and with a thought, his soul power surged, "Elder, please take a look at this."

Xuyuan immediately focused his ocular power to observe. Soul power, typically invisible and intangible unless overly concentrated, is not visible to most people. However, the Soul Race is different; even the weakest Soul Race members can clearly see the flow of soul power. This ethereal force is clearly visible to them.

At this moment, in Xuyuan’s vision, he sees Lu Ye’s soul power pouring out, rapidly spreading, and the extremely fine lines interconnect, with a blink, forming an elliptical orb in front of him.

Xuyuan looked stunned...

Having interacted with Lu Ye so many times, he never knew Lu Ye was also a spirit runes master!

He could clearly see Lu Ye was currently constructing a divine rune, but the speed was simply astonishing. The countless Yin-Yang Dual Origins appeared instantaneously, perfectly integrating, without a single mistake. Even a Sun Blaze cultivator shouldn’t possess such speed.

He couldn’t understand how Lu Ye achieved this.

The only thing that puzzled him was that the divine rune Lu Ye was constructing... why did it look like an egg?

This wasn’t over, because Xuyuan could sense that the egg he was watching was just an outer shell, and inside more Yin-Yang Dual Origins were continuously evolving and integrating, creating even more wondrous transformations.

Crack... a gentle sound echoed, and the eggshell shattered like a real object, and a giant figure emerged from within.

It spread its wings, gently flapping, and hovered above Lu Ye’s head, crying out, its powerful soul power surged across the area as if it was truly alive!

An ethereal, golden shadowy substance flowed over its body, resembling burning flames.

"Fire Phoenix!" Xuyuan immediately recognized it, the winged creature soaring into view was undeniably one of the Four Auspicious Beasts, the Fire Phoenix.

"Elder, can this technique be considered a Soul Suppressing Secret Technique?" Lu Ye asked, having constructed such a soul skill in an instant seemed to barely consume him.

Xuyuan’s eye twitched, uncertain how to respond.

What do you mean, can or cannot? This is absolutely possible!

A Four Auspicious Fire Phoenix used as a Soul Suppressing Secret Technique, the power from this alone could easily defeat opponents who are difficult to resist!

But...

After a brief contemplation, Xuyuan said, "This technique is extremely intricate, and should you truly treat it as a Soul Suppressing Secret Technique, the mental and physical expenditure for its cultivation would be significant."

In cultivating a Soul Suppressing Secret Technique, the more complex the soul skill based on its foundation, the greater the costs of cultivation, and the slower the progress.

This is naturally expected.

Lu Ye’s Talent Tree has plenty of spirit runes, and quite a few can become divine runes. However, simpler spirit runes, like Divine Sharp Edge or Sacred Guard, aren’t suitable to use as the foundation for a Soul Suppressing Secret Technique, because they’re too straightforward and monotonous. If Lu Ye truly picked these, the cultivation would be quick but may not have much impact in combat with adversaries.

So, while it seems Lu Ye has many options, he actually doesn’t have that many. The Fire Phoenix Divine Runes is the best choice, as it’s far more complex than normal divine runes. Using it as a base makes cultivation tougher and slower, yet, once mastered, its contribution in battle can outperform the likes of Divine Sharp Edge or Sacred Guard.

"Plus, this soul skill is all offense and no defense, which is somewhat extreme. You must understand, for a technique to be dubbed as Soul Suppressing, its core purpose is to safeguard the psyche. Most Sun Blaze Soul Suppressing techniques focus on defense because no one can predict encountering foes stronger than themselves. By firmly guarding your psyche, you can better perform in combat." Xuyuan added.

Lu Ye nodded, "That’s true." He suddenly asked, "What did Elder choose as the foundation for your Soul Suppressing Secret Technique?"

Xuyuan smiled slightly and replied, "We Soul Race cultivate differently from humans, all Soul Race post-Sun Blaze use themselves as the foundation for Soul Suppressing Secret Techniques. There are no other options."

"Using oneself as the foundation?" Lu Ye was slightly surprised.

Xuyuan explained, "Soul Race lacks physical flesh, our soul bodies are our form, so this is our sole option."

Lu Ye couldn’t help but recall his battle with Zixuan earlier. Right before Bi Chen’s death, he activated his own Soul Suppressing Secret Technique, which Xuyuan casually blocked. At the time, Lu Ye hadn’t seen any evidence of Xuyuan deploying any techniques, and now he understood why.

For the Soul Race Sun Blaze, the Soul Suppressing Secret Technique resides within themselves, negating the need for any additional techniques.

Lu Ye could consider this, using his own soul body as the foundation for a Soul Suppressing Secret Technique, but by doing so, in a soul battle others could employ their Soul Suppressing techniques, and he would only have his unprotected soul body to confront them. The risk is considerably higher, conclusively not worthwhile.

Seeing Lu Ye deep in thought, Xuyuan smiled slightly, "You should visit the Hero Souls Forest. Over there, you might find some surprises."

"Hero Souls Forest?" Lu Ye showed a curious expression; although he had multiple visits to the Soul Race ancestral land, he hadn’t heard of the Hero Souls Forest before.

"It’s where the deceased Soul Race Sun Blaze rest. Upon death, their bodies dissipate, but the numerous soul skills they cultivated persist and remain. There, you can witness a variety of soul skills, and perhaps find one suitable for yourself." Xuyuan elaborated, "Every Soul Race Sun Blaze heads there before forging their Soul Suppressing Secret Technique, a rite of passage signifying the Soul Race’s land of legacy."

This is clearly an exclusive area for Soul Race Sun Blaze, ordinary members aren’t allowed entry. Though Lu Ye is human, the Soul Race never treated him as an outsider.

With Xuyuan’s kind invitation, Lu Ye naturally couldn’t refuse, although he knew whatever he gains from the Hero Souls Forest, his eventual choice of Soul Suppressing Secret Technique would still be one from his own Talent Tree. But if it’s just for broadened horizons, then surely it’s acceptable.