Returning to the Bai residence, Bai Ye received news that Ye Qian had issued a challenge: defeat her in ten days, and she would marry into the Bai family. Failure, however, meant crippling one's cultivation.

With Ye Qian’s status in the Ye family, winning her over could mean securing the head position of the Ye family.

This news excited the Bai family's younger generation. It was a chance to ascend to greatness, despite the dire consequences of failure. Driven by ambition, rationality often fades.

It was clear Ye Qian sought not only revenge against Bai Ye but also to use this challenge as bait to lure the Bai family into battle, weakening them. After all, with her Dual Heavenly Soul, she was invincible among her peers.

Bai Ye’s dwelling was a humble corner in the Bai estate, a simple house and courtyard with several wooden stakes for punching practice. It was bare and modest.

"Today was really unlucky."

Bai Ye dusted himself off and started to brew medicine over the stove: Chewing Insect Flower, Five-Leaf Green, and Ghost Water Grass, each added to the pot.

After swallowing the medicine, its hot and bitter taste seared his throat like molten lava.

Gasping for air, sweat beading on his face, the medicine's effects began to manifest.

"Should be ready now," Bai Ye murmured, retrieving a piece of parchment from his robe.

The parchment contained a technique called "The Indestructible Vajra". A few years back, a deadly fight outside Luo City left many dead. Locals scavenged the belongings of the deceased, and Bai Ye traded for this technique from an old beggar.

Normally, people awaken their Heavenly Soul by age twelve. Past fourteen, the chance diminishes. Now eighteen, Bai Ye had faced much scorn. The technique promised an ancient method to awaken a Heavenly Soul, reigniting his hope.

He heated nine stones in the furnace till they glowed red, then pressed them against his chest's Lingwu acupoints with tongs.

Hiss!

The searing stones burned his chest, shaking his arms with excruciating pain, filling the air with a burning smell.

Years of boxing had toughened his frail body, allowing him to endure this torment.

Each stone corresponded to an acupoint. When all were in place, a heat wave surged, mingling with the medicine, rushing fiercely towards his Soul House beneath the heart.

Bang! Pfft!

Blood spewed from his mouth as the impact nearly tore him apart.

But it wasn’t over.

Bang! Pfft!

Again.

Bang! Bang! Bang...

His insides churned as if being pummeled, his blood nearly drained...

Suddenly, a crisp sound echoed within.

Bai Ye, focusing intently, observed his Soul House.

An extraordinary change occurred!

His unusually large Soul House burst open, releasing a black mass that roared and charged towards the attacking energy, swallowing it whole. Simultaneously, a beam of light shot from Bai Ye's crown, revealing a fierce and strange soul pattern.

The soul’s appearance sent a ferocious, angry roar echoing in Bai Ye's mind, shaking his very soul!

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Bai Ye’s heart raced.

What was this? A Heavenly Soul?

Despite the pain, he inspected his Soul House to find it shattered, with a massive soul pattern floating inside. The violent energy had vanished, leaving tranquility.

"Indeed, my Heavenly Soul!" Bai Ye, overwhelmed with excitement, took a while to compose himself.

After eighteen years, he had finally awakened!

He examined it eagerly.

A lion-like Heavenly Soul with scales and massive horns, its most striking feature was its enormous mouth, extending to its armpits. How massive could it open?

"Hm?" Bai Ye frowned.

A newly awakened Heavenly Soul should emit a soul halo. Why didn’t his?

Could it be special? He remembered a method from ancient family texts to test a Heavenly Soul.

Bai Ye stimulated acupoints, awakening the soul. It coiled, providing a surge of soul power that flooded his frail body with strength.

This is soul power? Exhilarating!

Bai Ye groaned, not wasting time, channeling some soul power back into the Heavenly Soul to test its capacity.

Moments later, he was shocked.

"This isn’t a newly awakened soul! It’s been alive for eighteen years, my age... Was it awakened at birth? How?"

Bai Ye, puzzled, searched for a book about the continent's Heavenly Souls.

Despite thorough searching, he found no clue about his soul.

Just as he was about to give up, a blurred image on the last page caught his eye.

It resembled his inner soul, with two characters beside it: “Taotie”!

"This Heavenly Soul requires ten years of nourishment with essence blood."

A simple note, with no further details.

Bai Ye had an epiphany.

"So my Heavenly Soul is the Taotie, needing ten years of essence blood... How could a newborn provide that? It makes sense why it's been dormant, feeding all these years."

Bai Ye chuckled bitterly, realizing his troubled fate was due to this soul, which had hidden and slept within him, delaying its awakening.

He set the book aside and meditated.

Whatever the soul, now awakened, he could cultivate like any other soul practitioner.

He checked its grade.

Focusing, Bai Ye delved into the Heavenly Soul.

Suddenly, his consciousness shifted, surrounded by darkness, then stars – each a Heavenly Soul.

This was the Nine Heavens – both above and within the heart.

Among the stars, the Taotie soul shone brightly.

Bai Ye scanned the surroundings and was dumbfounded.

"A fourth-tier Heavenly Soul? Mine... in the fourth tier!"

Most practitioners had first-tier souls. The more talented had second-tier. Luo City's prodigies might awaken third-tier souls, drawing widespread attention. Ye Qian initially awakened a third-tier Snow Fox, becoming Luo City’s beloved talent. Yesterday, she awakened a second Heavenly Soul, the second-tier Butterfly, becoming a Dual Heavenly Soul wielder, unmatched in grace and power.

Bai Ye’s fourth-tier soul, if revealed, would cause a sensation.

"My soul awakened at birth, making it eighteen years old. It must differ from regular souls."

Bai Ye pondered, then decided to push his Taotie soul upwards.

To the fifth tier!

Let's see what eighteen years of essence blood can do!

The soul streaked across the fourth tier.

Thud!

It slammed into the fifth tier’s barrier, shaking it violently. Bai Ye trembled with it.

A terrifying pressure descended from the fifth tier, suppressing the Taotie soul.

The soul roared, struggling, its soul power thrusting like a sword.

As it advanced, Bai Ye felt the immense strain, as if one wrong move would crush him.

"Ah!"

He roared, feeling near shattering, but the breakthrough's proximity spurred him on. The Taotie soul unleashed incredible power.

The seal indented deeply under its force.

Just a bit more!

Bai Ye focused intensely.

Finally!

Thud!

The seal tore, the Taotie soul bursting through, then sealing quickly behind it. The fifth tier’s power enveloped the soul, transforming it!

Success!

Bai Ye, stunned and elated, gasped for air, noticing his palms pierced by his fingernails.

The soul entering the fifth tier caused an anomaly, a beam of light piercing the sky, radiating outward.

Luo City's hidden experts looked up, their expressions unreadable.

Fifth tier!

Unthinkable for many soul practitioners.

A newly awakened fifth-tier soul practitioner would shock Luo City immensely.

Bai Ye meditated further, embracing the fifth tier. The Taotie soul, now enhanced, channeled endless benefits from the fifth tier, enhancing his soul power several-fold.

Yet, Bai Ye didn’t stop. After a brief rest, he drove his soul towards the sixth tier.

To any onlooker, this would seem insane. Most practitioners carefully and cautiously progress, but Bai Ye acted recklessly. Failure could result in injury and weakened strength, with severe consequences!

But Bai Ye felt undeterred, the previous impact hinting at untapped potential. The urge to continue surged within him.

Was this confidence from the soul?

Boom!

The Taotie soul, once again, charged the sixth tier’s barrier!

Bai Ye's face contorted, eyes shut, heart taut, as the soul furiously attacked the barrier.

The dense barrier, far stronger than the fifth tier's, exerted a terrifying pressure directly on his body.

Rip.

Bai Ye’s clothes tore, his breathing ragged, veins bulging on his face and arms.

Whoosh!

A ripple-like aura burst from him, followed by a transparent beam from his crown, barely noticeable to the naked eye, but revealing the essence of myriad Heavenly Souls.

The unleashed soul power nearly destroyed his room, accompanied by a cacophony of cracking sounds.

As the sun set, a dim beam soared into the sky above Luo City, blossoming into a massive lotus imprint...