Ye Fan said, "Tell me everything you know about the Soul Profound Meaning, and I’ll guide you on how to cultivate it."
"Oh," Su Qingxue said, a little disappointed. It seemed she could never escape the matter of cultivating her soul, so she began to explain the Soul Profound Meaning to Ye Fan.
Her soul was like a sacred codex containing countless secrets, which she relayed to him one by one. The more Ye Fan listened, the more astonished he became. The contents were so profound that not even the treasured tome of the Holy Clan could compare in terms of sheer richness. Of course, this didn’t mean the Holy Clan’s tome was inferior; after all, sometimes, ultimate power is what matters most.
Ye Fan had yet to fully explore the Holy Clan’s tome, having only discovered a small portion. The vast majority of it remained sealed by a shocking power, making it inaccessible to him.
"What formidable power!" Ye Fan exclaimed in shock. "If this ultimate power is developed, the future will be boundless!"
It was then he realized the Soul Clan’s cultivation system was vastly different from that of other clans. The Soul Clan focused primarily on the Soul Altar, stacking one layer upon another. Su Qingxue had only just uncovered her Soul Altar, which meant she possessed a single layer. The power of a single-layered Soul Altar was nothing to scoff at. He recalled that even Qiu Ji’s Soul Altar only had three layers.
Three layers could rival, or even surpass, a Main God. And the Soul Clan’s Soul Altar had ten layers in total! After the tenth layer, there was the final stage: the unification of the Soul Altar. That was the most terrifying state of existence. Once someone achieved the unification of the Soul Altar, few in the world could stand as their rival; they would likely be invincible.
At that moment, Ye Fan said, "Honey, your Soul Clan’s sacred codex has been fully unlocked. Just follow their cultivation method! In the future, I might even have to rely on you."
"Ah!" Su Qingxue exclaimed, genuinely startled that Ye Fan was pushing her to practice such a bizarre Cultivation Technique.
"I don’t want to!" she declared.
"Why not?" Ye Fan asked helplessly.
"I refuse to cultivate such a deviant and unorthodox technique! I want to cultivate a conventional realm!" Su Qingxue found it difficult to accept such a strange method and immediately rejected Ye Fan’s kind intentions.
Ye Fan could only say helplessly, "Honey, this isn’t some deviant technique. This is the ultimate cultivation treasure of the Soul Clan. Compared to this method, your so-called conventional cultivation realms are worse than trash!"
This was Ye Fan’s blunt assessment, and since it was the truth, he told her directly.
"Oh... fine then," Su Qingxue pouted, her reluctant expression making it clear she was still unconvinced, much to Ye Fan’s frustration.
He then asked, "Honey, could you let me take a look at this Cultivation Technique?" Although he had already made significant progress in soul cultivation, Ye Fan remained unsatisfied. He believed the Soul Clan’s method was the best, and he was right.
"Darling, if you want it, just take it," Su Qingxue said. She felt no attachment to the technique. In her eyes, even if she practiced it herself, she wouldn’t have the slightest interest.
Ye Fan recorded the cultivation method in his spatial storage. He then tried to persuade her again, "Honey, just follow this method. If you still have no interest after a year, I’ll teach you a different one."
"Okay," Su Qingxue nodded reluctantly.
At this rate, it won’t even take a year for her to get on the right track. By then, she’ll advance from a first-rate genius to a super-genius. It can’t be helped; her innate potential is too great. Her path is destined to be extraordinary.
After bidding farewell to Su Qingxue, Ye Fan went into seclusion to cultivate the Soul Clan’s Soul Refining Domain. The Soul Refining Domain focused on constructing the Soul Altar. Thinking the method was simple, Ye Fan allocated seven days for the task, believing that would be more than enough time. However, after seven days passed, he was still utterly clueless.
"As expected of the Soul Clan’s ultimate treasure," Ye Fan sighed. "It looks simple, but it’s anything but. What a headache!"
It took him another month to identify the problem: the cultivation techniques of the Soul Clan and the Holy Clan were mutually restrictive. He could only cultivate one at a time. Although the two techniques had no direct connection, the difficulty became apparent only when he truly tried to practice them both. For this reason, he put away the Soul Refining Treasure. Even though he wanted to master both, he knew he couldn’t act recklessly.
He took out the Wordless Heavenly Scripture, a tome whose contents were meant to be revealed by the Divine Talismans. Unfortunately, after so many years of study, he had found it to be nothing more than a piece of scrap paper. Now, as he opened it alongside the Soul Refining Treasure, characters finally began to appear on its pages.
Ecstatic, Ye Fan initiated a contest between the Wordless Heavenly Scripture and the Soul Refining Treasure—a clash of two immense powers.
「Three years later.」
Ye Fan emerged from his seclusion. He had spent three years forging his Soul Altar to the third level. He had no idea what had transpired in the outside world during that time, but he knew his one-year promise to Su Qingxue had long since passed. He hurried to her place of seclusion.
"Honey, are you there?"
The moment the words left his mouth, a fist met his face.
"Honey, why did you hit me?" he said, dumbfounded. "I don’t think I did anything to offend you!"
"You have the nerve to ask?" Su Qingxue retorted. "What happened to one year? You disappeared into seclusion for three years without a word. Tell me, were you deliberately messing with me?"
"How could I ever dare to oppose my dear wife? I just lost track of time!" Ye Fan said, his voice lacking confidence. He knew he was in the wrong this time. "Honey, how is your cultivation of the Soul Refining Treasure coming along?"
This was his real question. He had already prepared himself for the worst-case scenario, ready to accept it even if she hadn’t practiced at all.
But Su Qingxue replied, "Thanks to you, I’ve already reached the second level of the Soul Altar!"
"That’s great! That’s wonderful!" Ye Fan was overjoyed. It seemed Su Qingxue had truly embraced the Soul Refining Treasure. Reaching the second level meant she was now comparable in strength to a Divine General. Her cultivation speed was even faster than his had been.
As expected of the cultivation method of the ancient Soul Clan hegemons. An expert’s touch is unmistakable!
"What about you? What did you gain?" Su Qingxue asked him.
"I also constructed a Soul Altar," Ye Fan replied.
"How many levels?"
"Not too many, just three. The so-called ’Gathering of Three Souls at the Summit’!"
"You’re bullying me!" Su Qingxue burst into tears. She had spent three whole years building two levels, yet Ye Fan, a newcomer who wasn’t even a Soul Clan Martial Artist, had managed to construct three.
At this, Su Qingxue truly began to cry. Ye Fan quickly comforted her for a good while before she finally calmed down. In truth, she was only momentarily upset. Deep down, she was nothing but happy and proud of his breakthrough and wasn’t truly angry.
After finally consoling Su Qingxue, Ye Fan was in high spirits. From this day forward, he possessed a new ability: the Soul Altar Power. With this skill, he could catch enemies by surprise in battle and secure victory. It was impossible for him not to be happy.
However, having been isolated for three years, he had no idea what had happened in the world. He decided to find a few Main Gods and ask about the current situation. At the same time, the lineage of the Evil God had mostly recovered. Ye Fan now had the absolute confidence to fight a Divine Monarch. He felt his strength had risen to a new level. He believed that his soul, combined with his physical body and cultivation realm, was enough to challenge a Divine Monarch, though he didn’t know for sure if it would be effective.
Therefore, he decided he needed a couple of sparring partners. Just then, the Red Sand Main God and the Great Wilderness Main God arrived. As prominent figures among the Main Gods, Ye Fan set his sights on them.