CHAPTER 24: SOUL CULTIVATION

Ray’s eyes twinkled with endless excitement.

He have finished inspecting all the items inside the interspatial ring, and what he found was nothing short of praiseworthy.

"The book and the map are both treasures!"

"The map reflects its surroundings, and even more incredibly, it divides the surrounding terrain into distinct territories, labeling them according to the population that rules there."

"With this in my hands, I’ll never be lost, and I’ll always know whose land I’m stepping into. For exploration and survival purposes, nothing could be more useful than this map. In terms of worth, it can rival even the finest enchanted silver armor."

"The book is perhaps even more impressive."

The book carried the title "Tyrant’s Soul Cultivation Method."

Its contents were astonishing.

According to its author, Tyrant One, the strength of one’s soul was intimately tied to both their lifespan and physical strength.

To sum it up, a soul of poor quality meant frailty of body and a shortened life, while a strong soul brought vitality, power, and longevity.

Humans were born with innate deficiencies, their souls far weaker than most other races in the vast universe.

Compared to noble and demonic races such as elves, demons, and so on, the souls of humans was pitifully lacking.

For example, a normal elf could outmatch an ordinary human in nearly everything, even in the most important aspect. Their average life expectancy was several hundred years, while the average human lifespan was less than one hundred!

There, however, was a method that could overturn this natural order, a method that was both deceptively simple and infinitely profound.

By devouring the excess energy scattered throughout the universe, humans could patch the flaws of their souls.

This energy, described as the primordial essence, permeated all of creation, unseen yet ever-present. Through refining this essence, a human could gradually elevate their soul quality, endlessly supplementing their deficiency.

Unlike other cultivation methods limited by bloodline or talent, this path carried no upper bound, meaning so long as one could continue refining the primoridal essence present throughout heaven and earth, their soul could grow stronger without end, and they could live forever!

Furthermore, only humans could learn it as they were the spirit of all things. In other words, it was a method specially tailored for human beings.

Ray guessed that Tyrant One was a human himself.

But whether he was from Earth or some other planet was still vague.

"There’s no other method like the Tyrant’s Soul Cultivation, I believe."

A grin spread across Ray’s face.

"Torvin, you are truly my lucky star. You left me so many treasures upon death. I can’t thank you enough. I will use them properly to ensure I can help you reunite with your father in the afterlife in as little time as possible."

Throwing back his head, he laughed loudly. "Pahahahaha!"

"Let’s starts." Ray quietened down and immediately practiced the Tyrant’s Soul Cultivation Method.

His magic power escaped his Niwan Palace.

Niwan Palace had first been mentioned by Red, but at that time, Ray didn’t have a clear understanding of it. After going through the Tyrant’s Soul Cultivation Method, however, he realized it was the core place where one’s soul and magic power were stored. No other part of the body could contain them.

Humans were born with a closed Niwan Palace. For humans, it only opens after they undergo a successful beast taming seal awakening in the Beast Tamer Trial.

"I feel my eyes burning."

The magic power released from his Niwan Palace surged into his eyes, causing great pain.

"It doesn’t feel safe. Should I stop?"

"Eh? It no longer feels like my eyes are burning."

Ray’s eyes widened in wonder as things that had always been invisible to suddenly became visible.

Tiny bluish-black dots floated in the air around him. These dots represented impure primordial essence.

Impure primordial essence was harmful—it should never be stored directly within one’s magic sea. Without purification, it would corrupt the soul, causing irreversible harm.

"According to the Tyrant’s Soul Cultivation Method, I need to refine it before I can absorb it into my Niwan Palace. If I don’t, my soul will eventually be corrupted, and I’ll develop abnormalities."

With a thought, Ray’s magic power surged outward, taking the shape of silver tentacles with blade-like edges. They slashed at the floating dots of impure primordial essence, separating the black impurities from the pure blue essence.

He absorbed the refined primordial essence and guided it into his Niwan Palace using his magic power.

You have practiced the Tyrant’s Soul Cultivation Method for one minute.

The quality of your soul has improved by a discernible amount. It has increased from 72→ 73

Your magic power capacity has increased from 720 → 730

"This is the effect of cultivating for only one minute? Impressive!" Ray was thoroughly pleased by the Tyrant’s Soul Cultivation Method.

He continued cultivating.

You have practiced the Tyrant’s Soul Cultivation Method for a few minutes.

The quality of your soul has improved from 73 → 75

Your magic power capacity has increased from 550 → 750

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You have practiced the Tyrant’s Soul Cultivation Method for fifteen minutes.

The quality of your soul has improved from 75 → 80

Your magic power capacity has increased from 750 → 800

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You have practiced the Tyrant’s Soul Cultivation Method for half an hour.

The quality of your soul has improved from 80 → 90

Your magic power capacity has increased from 800 → 900

The more Ray cultivated, the more he began to notice something peculiar.

"The quality of soul affects the rate of improvement while practicing the Tyrant’s Soul Cultivation Method. The greater my soul quality, the less effective it will be."

When he first practiced it, the quality of his soul increased by one every minute. But now, it was taking more time to experience the same result.

Ray guessed that a weak soul required only a small amount of primordial essence to strengthen, like filling an empty cup with water. But to strengthen a stronger soul, it was like trying to fill a chasm. A lot of primordial essence was required.

And he had to say, Earth’s primordial essence wasn’t only filthy and tiring to refine, it was also sparse.

In half an hour, he had pretty much devoured all the primordial essence he could find in this cave. He would soon have to change place if he wanted to keep cultivating.

However, he could not continue cultivating.

Trouble had come knocking on his door!

The map reflected a bunch of red dots closing in on him.

With a thought, the book and the map vanished from his side, slipping into his interspatial ring. He wore it on his forefinger and stood up, eyes shifting toward the cave’s entrance.

Ripples spread across the water’s surface before it splashed upwards, dozens of beasts bursting out and entering the cave, glaring at Ray venomously.