Chapter 510

The *Soul Canon* is the supreme sacred scripture of the Soul Race.

This classic text provides a detailed record of the secret origins and lineage of the Nine Nether Soul Race, and it also encompasses various basic, universal soul arts.

In terms of status, it is the spiritual cornerstone that the Soul Race holds as a golden rule; in terms of rarity, however, it is as common as a daily reference book, existing as something every member of the Soul Race possesses.

Otherwise, it would not have fallen so easily into the hands of others.

After Hua Changxi was able to construct a fairly large and stable "Soul Domain" with a wave of her hand, she picked up the *Soul Canon* again to flip through it, wanting to find a few more soul arts that humans could practice to learn.

"The *Soul Ballad*..."

The *Soul Ballad* is a soul melody; the score is only three lines long, and there are no restrictions on the instruments used to play it.

This melody has the effect of soothing, purifying, and sublimating the soul. Its sound is like a clear spring from the depths of the Nine Nethers, capable of washing away the restlessness and impurities in the souls of all races, allowing exhausted spirits to return to tranquility and letting dust-covered souls regain their luster.

Therefore, this soul melody is not only beloved by the Soul Race but is also a heavenly sound sought after by other races that possess souls.

Even the various races of the Nine Nethers, for whom slaughter and plunder are daily routines, can find resonance in the melody of the *Soul Ballad* and feel the comfort and nourishment coming from the depths of their souls.

This melody appears simple, being merely one of the most basic introductory soul arts, but the difficulty of practicing it is even greater than that of various profound secret arts.

Precisely because of this, few of the Soul Race can play the *Soul Ballad*.

In order to hear the heavenly sound, other races of the Nine Nethers, and even some Nine Nether powerhouses, have practiced it, but unfortunately, almost none have succeeded.

As for where the difficulty of playing the *Soul Ballad* truly lies, not only are the various races of the Nine Nethers completely baffled, but even the Soul Race has never truly fathomed it.

"Is it really that difficult?"

Isn't it just three lines of music?

Seeing that the first soul art recorded in the *Soul Canon* was described as being so difficult to practice, Hua Changxi immediately felt a sense of defiance and doubt.

Having practiced the *Soul-Absorbing Melody* and mastered it in a short time, she was now quite confident in her musical cells. Since the place where she was sitting cross-legged happened to be a forest of soul bamboo, she reached out, plucked a bamboo leaf, and placed it to her lips.

"Hoo~"

There was only the sound of blowing air.

"That's not right, I can't blow it like that. This is a soul melody; I have to use soul power to play it."

Hua Changxi mobilized her soul power, surging it toward her lips, and as her lips exerted force, she injected the soul power into the bamboo leaf.

The next instant, a clear and ethereal soul sound rang out leisurely, as if drifting from the depths of the void, gentle yet piercing directly into the spirit.

Hua Changxi's eyes suddenly lit up, and she couldn't help but cheer in her heart: "I really am a musical genius!"

Thinking this, she played with even more dedication.

It was just that she was completely unaware that as she mobilized her soul power, threads of gold, almost impossible to capture with the naked eye, were injected into the bamboo leaf along with the soul power.

The *Soul Ballad* echoing in the valley was clear, graceful, and pleasant, with lingering echoes.

Even Hua Changxi herself, upon hearing it, felt a gentle power washing over her mind and spirit, as if her soul were being cleansed and nourished over and over again, leaving her feeling completely comfortable.

The most shocking discovery she made was yet to come.

Since stepping into the fifth level of the Nine Nethers, the black flames entrenched above her Nascent Soul had become increasingly manic.

Whether she recited the Heart-Clearing Mantra or forcibly used her cultivation to suppress them, the black flames remained unsteady, showing signs of potentially surging out of control at any moment.

But as the melody of the *Soul Ballad* flowed, the originally rampant black flames strangely stilled.

They no longer jumped wildly, but instead, as if smoothed by some invisible force, they docilely lay dormant around her Nascent Soul.

In just a short while, the various negative emotions accumulated in her heart were as if a basin of cool, clear cold water had been poured over her head, washing them away completely and leaving only clarity and serenity.

Having gained a means to control the black flames, Hua Changxi was truly pleasantly surprised.

"It truly is a heavenly sound..."

Thinking of the soul bamboo leaf used to play the *Soul Ballad*, Hua Changxi hurriedly went forward to collect a few more.

"Hm?"

While collecting the soul bamboo leaves, Hua Changxi noticed that the white mist deep in the soul bamboo forest had thinned out a lot.

In the memories of Lady Chi Yan, she could not go everywhere in the Soul Nightmare Valley; one of those places was the depths of the soul bamboo forest.

Hua Changxi looked at the soul bamboo forest where the white mist was dissipating, hesitated for a moment, and still stepped inside.

After stepping into the places where the white mist was thin, there was no discomfort, but once she was in a place where the white mist was thick, Hua Changxi immediately felt her five senses vanish, scaring her into quickly retreating.

"Why did this white mist disperse?"

The dispersal of the white mist seemed to happen when she was playing the *Soul Ballad*. Thinking of this, Hua Changxi took out a soul bamboo leaf again and began to play the *Soul Ballad*.

As soon as the soul melody sounded, Hua Changxi's eyes suddenly widened.

She saw that the thick, dense, sky-covering white mist was actually dispersing in layers at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Although surprised, Hua Changxi still walked toward the depths of the white mist while playing the *Soul Ballad*.

The soul melody was clear and graceful, lingering and circling in the secluded valley, seemingly resonating with the soul power within the valley, blending and growing together.

Suddenly, the soul melody stopped abruptly.

At the same time, Hua Changxi also stopped in her tracks, her aura instantly tensed, and her gaze locked tightly onto the massive, flickering shadow in the white mist ahead.

Elephant trunk, rhinoceros eyes, ox tail, tiger feet...

With just one look, two words surfaced in Hua Changxi's mind—Nightmare Tapir.

The Nightmare Tapir, one of the top ten supreme fierce beasts of the Nine Nethers, specializes in devouring the souls and dreams of others. Because of its innate supernatural ability—invisibility—it often devours the souls of others before they even react.

It was a good thing she previously thought that the Nine Nether powerhouses did not dare to snatch the Soul Nightmare Valley because they feared Lady Chi Yan. Now she knew that what the Nine Nether powerhouses truly feared was this Nightmare Tapir in front of her, though she did not know if it was at the King realm or the Emperor realm.

The Nightmare Tapir fully appeared, staring straight at Hua Changxi.

Hua Changxi felt her scalp tingle from being watched, and she was ready at any moment to summon the black broken blade to fight to the death or flee.

"Bang~"

The Nightmare Tapir moved, not to launch an attack, but to flick a fruit emitting a holy white light to Hua Changxi's feet.

Seeing the fruit, Hua Changxi's pupils shook again.

Nine-Orifice Exquisite Soul Heart Fruit!

This fruit looks like a miniature, crystal-clear heart, with nine natural spiral patterns on the surface, pulsing slightly like blood vessels, emitting a soft and holy soul light.

It is not ordinary vegetation; it does not take root in the soil but is only likely to be conceived by absorbing the essence of soul power from the depths of the Soul River for hundreds of millions of years.

It is rarely encountered in ten thousand years, or even longer; its rarity has long surpassed the word "precious," and it can be called a supreme sacred object that only exists in legends in the world of soul plants.

As for its efficacy, it is even more miraculous.

Anyone who consumes it can trigger a qualitative change in their primordial spirit (soul body).

First, Nine Orifices Clarity.

The nine patterns on the fruit correspond to the nine orifices of the spirit. After consumption, one can penetrate these nine barriers one by one, causing the spirit's perception to increase several times over. Even extremely subtle soul power fluctuations that ordinary people cannot perceive at all can be observed with keen insight; in the path of soul power, it can be called opening the Heavenly Eye.

Second, Soul Body Solidification.

Ordinary soul bodies are naturally weak, fear Yang energy, and will dissipate if they are not careful.

But after consuming the Nine-Orifice Exquisite Soul Heart Fruit, the soul body will become incomparably solid, its toughness will be greatly enhanced, and it will not easily disintegrate even if it encounters a heavenly thunder strike.

For the Soul Race, after consuming this fruit, their soul body's defensive power among the same rank is enough to rival those other races that have innate advantages such as flesh bodies, ghost bodies, demon bodies, and nether bodies, no longer being constrained everywhere due to a fragile soul body.

For human cultivators, its efficacy is also very prominent.

Human primordial spirits usually need to be cultivated to the Out-of-Body realm, and only after the primordial spirit has grown to a certain degree can it leave the body to wander.

But if one has consumed the Nine-Orifice Exquisite Soul Heart Fruit, as long as one successfully condenses a primordial spirit, one can ignore the realm restriction and leave the body directly!

Hua Changxi looked at the Nine-Orifice Exquisite Soul Heart Fruit at her feet, swallowed her saliva, and then looked up at the Nightmare Tapir.

Seeing that she did not move, the Nightmare Tapir made a "bang" sound and threw another Nine-Orifice Exquisite Soul Heart Fruit over.

Hua Changxi felt her eyelids twitch, her throat dry.

Seeing that she still did not move, the Nightmare Tapir threw another one over.

Hua Changxi: "..."

Having given three Nine-Orifice Exquisite Soul Heart Fruits and still not receiving a response, the Nightmare Tapir became angry: "Human, you are too greedy."

Hua Changxi was startled by the words "human" and her heart pounded. She looked at the Nightmare Tapir, which had not launched an attack, and then at the fruit at her feet, and asked uncertainly: "Senior, do you want to hear the *Soul Ballad*?"

The Nightmare Tapir snorted: "What else?"

If it weren't for the fact that people who could play the *Soul Ballad* were too rare, it would have swallowed this human's soul in one bite.

Having received a definite answer, Hua Changxi quickly picked up the three Nine-Orifice Exquisite Soul Heart Fruits, picked up one, and ate it right in front of the Nightmare Tapir's stunned gaze.

Too busy to taste it, and with no time to perceive the changes in her soul body, Hua Changxi finished a Nine-Orifice Exquisite Soul Heart Fruit in two or three bites, and then said: "Senior gave me three Nine-Orifice Exquisite Soul Heart Fruits, so I will play three songs of the *Soul Ballad* for you."

The Nightmare Tapir looked at Hua Changxi, snorted, seemingly too lazy to waste words with her, and flicked its front claw, causing a funnel as tall as a person to appear in front of Hua Changxi: "Three times."

Hua Changxi looked at the Nightmare Tapir, which had the look of "if she refuses, it will bristle," and sensibly picked up the soul bamboo leaf and began to play.

As soon as the *Soul Ballad* sounded, the Nightmare Tapir's fierce expression suddenly became serene, and then, it comfortably closed its eyes, intoxicated by the melody.