Chapter 760: The War Emperor's Connection to the Thousand Soul Hall

Chapter 760: Chapter 745: The War Emperor’s Connection to the Thousand Soul Hall

As soon as Ghost Venerable Ye Youming broke out of the Seal, he immediately locked onto Shen Lang and suppressed him. Duanmu Xie was knocked unconscious without a chance to even resist.

It was highly unlikely that the renowned Netherworld Ghost Venerable, one of the three great Ghost Venerables of the Thousand Soul Hall, would go back on his word like this.

But Ghost Venerable Ye Youming truly had far too many reasons to deal with Shen Lang.

Even though Shen Lang had rescued him from the Seal, the young man’s calm and composed demeanor, as if he had everything under control, deeply annoyed him. He was utterly infuriated. ‘Shouldn’t these guys be respectful, trembling in fear, not even daring to breathe loudly in my presence, the presence of the Netherworld Ghost Venerable, one of the three great Ghost Venerables?!’

If that were just a minor annoyance…

…then Shen Lang seizing the Heaven-Slaying Trident during their earlier negotiation had truly made Ye Youming want to eliminate him for good.

Crucially, there was more…

Right here in the Hungry Ghost Dao, under the very noses of the Thousand Soul Hall’s Ghost Venerables, Shen Lang had used a Heaven-defying Technique like the Star Absorption Technique. The sight had almost subconsciously sparked killing intent in the Ghost Venerable!

In Ye Youming’s eyes, this bizarre Cultivation Technique, which suppressed Soul Bodies in a way that completely defied the boundaries of Martial Arts Levels, was a grave threat to the Thousand Soul Hall!

With just a King Martial Realm Second Heaven Cultivation, he could use this technique to easily devour a Peak King Martial Realm Evil Ghost King. Then, after Ye Youming had subdued the other three Emperor Martial Realm Ghost Kings, Shen Lang had effortlessly absorbed them as well!

Even a titan like Ye Youming felt his heart pound in fear at the sight!

‘If he’s allowed to develop for a few hundred or a few thousand more years, who in the Thousand Soul Hall will be able to stand against him?!’

But what truly made Ye Youming eager to strike was those Silver Eyes of Truth that could see through all falsehoods!

In the eyes of Ghost Venerable Ye Youming, the current Shen Lang was like a “Ginseng Fruit”—defenseless, yet a huge threat to the Thousand Soul Hall!

If he didn’t devour it now, when would he?

As Ye Youming reached out to grab him, space itself seemed to fracture. Even with Shen Lang’s physical strength, he felt he could hardly bear the pressure!

When an Emperor Martial Realm powerhouse made a move, the world itself seemed to change. The entire Hungry Ghost Dao felt as if it was about to collapse!

“You can’t touch me! I’m with the Thousand Soul Hall!”

Just as Ye Youming’s claw descended, Shen Lang suddenly spoke.

Ye Youming grunted in surprise, and the giant palm he had extended was instantly withdrawn. His control was perfect!

“Heh heh heh… Brat, are you really out of options? Is pulling cheap tricks like this all you have left? Do you think I can’t tell whether or not you have the aura of the Thousand Soul Hall on you?”

Although Ye Youming didn’t believe him, Shen Lang had piqued his curiosity.

In any case, with Shen Lang’s level of cultivation, he was no different from an ant. Ye Youming wasn’t afraid of any tricks the boy might try to pull.

In the face of an absolute gap in power, all schemes and plots were nothing but a joke.

At that moment, Shen Lang caught his breath and said, “Of course I don’t have the aura of the Thousand Soul Hall. It’s the Holy Land of the Soul Race, after all. Ninety-nine percent of its Cultivation Techniques and Magical Treasures are suited for Soul Body type beings to cultivate. I am a living, breathing human.”

“But I really am with the Thousand Soul Hall. If you want proof, it’s very simple…”

“Hmm?” A hint of curiosity entered Ye Youming’s voice. It seemed the “proof” Shen Lang mentioned had truly captured his interest.

Shen Lang’s gaze was calm as he stated nonchalantly, “First, I know His Majesty, the Ghost Emperor’s peerless Secret Skill, the ‘Soul-Devouring Infinite Technique’.”

“Impossible!” Ye Youming’s aura flared with rage.

‘This damn brat is trying to fool me with something like that? He must be tired of living!’

But Shen Lang continued nonchalantly, “Second, I know Wenxiang Ghost Venerable’s exclusive Secret Skill, the ‘Nine Transformations of the Soul Heaven’.”

“Third, I…”

“Bullshit! Utter bullshit!” Before Shen Lang could finish, Ye Youming roared like a madman. “Even I have never had the chance to study His Majesty, the Ghost Emperor’s ‘Soul-Devouring Infinite Technique’! Who the hell do you think you are? How dare you claim to know it?”

“Hai Wenxiang, that old hag, is the only person in the world who knows the ‘Nine Transformations of the Soul Heaven’! Even I and that old ghoul Mu Ming have never had a chance to touch it! How could you possibly have come into contact with these things? Do you have no fear of me performing Soul Extraction and Refining on you, putting you in a state where you can neither live nor die?!”

Shen Lang rolled his eyes. “Wenxiang Ghost Venerable mentioned the Netherworld Ghost Venerable many times, but she never told me you were so short-tempered, old man… Whether I know them or not, can’t you just verify it?”

“If I’m lying, you can just perform Soul Extraction and Refining on me.”

“In fact, I don’t just know His Majesty’s Secret Skill. I know the Secret Skills of all three of you Ghost Venerables… Wenxiang Ghost Venerable’s ‘Nine Transformations of the Soul Heaven,’ Mu Ming Ghost Venerable’s ‘Formless Celestial Ghost,’ and your ‘Ten Directions Demon Prison,’ Netherworld Ghost Venerable.”

“…” This time, Ye Youming was truly stunned. He was silent for a long moment.

A Ghost Venerable who had roamed the world unchallenged for tens of thousands of years—what had he not seen?

What storms had he not weathered?

But after hearing Shen Lang’s words, Ye Youming was still shocked into speechlessness.

Ye Youming felt like his head was about to explode…

The peerless Secret Skill of the Thousand Soul Hall’s Ghost Emperor, the “Soul-Devouring Infinite Technique,” was passed down from the Hall’s most mysterious Soul Ancestor.

Other than the next Ghost Emperor, it was impossible for anyone else to learn it!

Not even the three great Ghost Venerables could touch it!

This was a fact known to almost every Martial Artist in the world!

‘If this boy in front of me really has learned the ‘Soul-Devouring Infinite Technique’…’

‘…doesn’t that mean he might be the next Ghost Emperor?’

‘That’s bullshit!’

‘The boy’s a human, not a soul!’

‘The Thousand Soul Hall is the Holy Land of the Soul Race. I’ve never heard of a human holding a key position there, let alone a human becoming the Ghost Emperor!’

‘Besides, that old ghoul Mu Ming was invited to the Barbaric lands by Zuo Wentian of the Celestial Purity Sect a few years before me, and he never returned… Could it be that he went back to the Thousand Soul Hall after I came to Yumu Cave Blessed Land?’

‘Even if he did return, with that old fellow’s stingy character, there’s no way he would teach his Secret Skill, ‘Formless Celestial Ghost,’ to a human boy like this!’

‘Back then, I offered to trade a Demon God Fragment for it, and that undying old bastard still refused!’

‘As for Hai Wenxiang… has that old hag lost her mind?’

‘The ‘Nine Transformations of the Soul Heaven’ is only suitable for Supreme Yin Energy Bodies to cultivate. In other words, only a female Soul Body—and one born in a yin year, yin month, and on a yin day—can cultivate it. How could she possibly teach it to this boy?!’

‘Even if she taught him, he couldn’t possibly cultivate it!’

‘And as for my own ‘Ten Directions Demon Prison,’ that’s even more fucking bullshit!’

‘I only lost a bet to His Majesty, the Ghost Emperor, and showed him the Cultivation Technique once. No one else in the entire Thousand Soul Hall has ever seen the ‘Ten Directions Demon Prison’ Heart Method! How could it have ended up in this boy’s hands?’

‘What the fuck has happened in the last ten thousand years?’

‘This world has gone mad!’

Ye Youming felt a splitting headache coming on…

Although he hadn’t yet seen Shen Lang demonstrate these Secret Skills, Ye Youming was already mostly convinced.

After all, Shen Lang’s life was in his hands. Why would he come up with a lie that could be so easily exposed?

‘No, I still have to be sure! This brat is sinister and cunning. If he’s really just spouting nonsense and I actually believe him… I’ll lose a tremendous amount of face!’

At this thought, the four streams of black Yin Qi binding Shen Lang instantly vanished.

“Brat, your words are quite frightening. I’ll give you a chance now to prove what you just said… But you’d better think it through. If you can really prove it, you can consider your life saved.”

“But if you dare to deceive me, I will perform Soul Extraction and Refining on you for three thousand years, then suppress you in the depths of the Thousand Soul Hall’s fiery prison, letting you be tormented by Hellfire for millennia until you’re reduced to dust and ashes!”

“At that point, you won’t even have a chance to regret it!”

Shen Lang stretched his neck and shook his legs, taking a moment before replying, “All I know is, if you attack me, Lord Ghost Venerable, you will be the one to regret it, not me.”

“Alright, what I mean to say is, we’re all family here, so why must we be like this? I will now demonstrate the ‘Soul-Devouring Infinite Technique.’ Watch closely, Lord Ghost Venerable!”

As Shen Lang spoke, his hands began to twist as if they were boneless, and he started chanting the Heart Method of the “Soul-Devouring Infinite Technique.”

To ensure Ye Youming could hear the Heart Method of the Ghost Emperor’s Secret Skill, Shen Lang deliberately chanted it loudly.

Streams of black characters continuously emerged from his body, swirling around him like a shower of petals.

Waves of sinister aura radiated from Shen Lang, making the already gloomy Yin Qi of the Hungry Ghost Dao even more terrifying and dreadful!

Shen Lang wasn’t deceiving Ye Youming; there was no benefit in doing so.

Strictly speaking, the War Emperor could indeed be considered a disciple of the Thousand Soul Hall.

This was because the War Emperor had grown up in the Thousand Soul Hall. He had spent the first half of his life there, studying its various Cultivation Techniques and Array Restrictions.

Later, after becoming the War Emperor, in order to obtain the Thousand Soul Hall’s techniques, he nearly emptied the War God Hall’s treasury, leaving a group of its old-timers on the verge of tears.

After tremendous effort, relying on favors, treasures, and offering equally powerful Cultivation Techniques in exchange, the War Emperor finally obtained the “Soul-Devouring Infinite Technique” and the “Ten Directions Demon Prison” from the Ghost Emperor.

As for Ghost Venerable Hai Wenxiang’s techniques, the War Emperor didn’t have to pay any price.

In fact, the War Emperor had been raised by Hai Wenxiang.

Though the Wenxiang Ghost Venerable, who was seen as the most terrifying by outsiders, had no blood relation to the War Emperor, the old-timers of the Thousand Soul Hall, the War God Hall, and even the Myriad Beasts Mansion all knew that Hai Wenxiang was the War Emperor’s grandmother.

Not only did Hai Wenxiang hold nothing back in teaching him everything she knew, but she also gave the “Formless Celestial Ghost,” which she had previously obtained from Mu Ming Ghost Venerable, to the War Emperor.

She had even paid a great price to acquire the world-renowned Secret Skills from the Myriad Beasts Mansion and other powerful Sect Influences to teach the War Emperor…

Later on, after the War Emperor became the Master of War God Hall, he read through all of the Thousand Soul Hall’s various Classics. He even learned many of the Thousand Soul Hall’s Array Restrictions, which became source material for his research and creation of the “Five Emperors Dragon Fist.”

Back when the War Emperor ruled the world and all bowed in submission, in his quest to study all the world’s Secret Skills, he delved not only into those of the Thousand Soul Hall and the Myriad Beasts Mansion but even the Secret Skills of the Divine Capital Nine Palaces, which had rarely ever appeared in the world.

He had even become sworn brothers with powerhouses from many strange races that rarely showed themselves, making them willingly share their clan’s Secret Techniques with him.

The various Secret Techniques of the Thousand Soul Hall were just one part of his collection.

And so, right in front of Ghost Venerable Ye Youming, Shen Lang slowly began to perform the Ghost Emperor’s Secret Skill, the “Soul-Devouring Infinite Technique”…