Chapter 849: Soul Training

The next day, at the training ground by Mirror Lake.

All members of the Wind Pavilion had gathered there, a dense, endless crowd. Though the Wind Pavilion had been declining before Zhou Yuan's arrival, it still possessed a considerable foundation, proving the adage that even a decaying ship retains some valuable parts.

At this moment, countless gazes, filled with profound reverence, were fixed on the tall, slender figure standing on the bluestone in front.

"Greetings, Pavilion Master!" Thousands of people bowed in unison, creating a sizable display.

Zhou Yuan waved his hand, then sat down cross-legged. Today, he would prepare for the Heavenly Flame Festival by training the spirits of the Wind Pavilion members.

"Summon your spirits," Zhou Yuan's voice resonated in everyone's ears.

Upon hearing Zhou Yuan's command, everyone sat down cross-legged. Lights flickered at their brows, and in the next moment, thousands of spirits rose from the crowns of their heads, hovering above them. The simultaneous appearance of thousands of spirits was a spectacular sight, even making Zhou Yuan click his tongue in awe. His gaze swept across them, revealing that only the frontmost two hundred or so spirits appeared exceptionally solid, indistinguishable from real people. These were spirits that had reached the Solid State! Behind them, all other spirits appeared somewhat translucent, indicating they were still in the Ethereal State. However, judging by their luster, they seemed to be in the late stage of the Ethereal State.

The thousands of spirits gathered together appeared exceptionally chaotic. Gusts of strong winds constantly howled on Wind Island, and as the gales swept through, some Ethereal State spirits immediately shrieked and swayed precariously, as if about to be blown away. Consequently, the entire scene became extremely disorderly.

It was clear that while the Wind Pavilion members usually had excellent control over their bodies and Genesis Qi, they paid very little attention to their spirits. This was normal, however. Apart from individuals like Zhou Yuan, who cultivated both spirit and Genesis Qi, those who solely cultivated Genesis Qi rarely focused on their spirits. In their view, as long as their spirit power was sufficient, they might as well spend that time absorbing and refining more World Genesis Qi.

Zhou Yuan gazed at the chaotic scene with some helplessness. With a flick of his sleeve, dozens of beast soul crystals shot out. As the soul crystals shattered, dozens of beast souls roared forth. All these beast souls had been at the fifth-grade level in life. "Exterminate these beast souls," Zhou Yuan commanded.

Dozens of beast souls charged menacingly towards the Wind Pavilion members' spirits. However, the latter group looked panicked, for they were currently only in spirit form, unable to mobilize Genesis Qi. Their control over spirit power was also exceptionally clumsy, and so, in an instant, the formation of thousands of spirits was scattered by just a few dozen fifth-grade beast souls. Fortunately, not everyone was useless; some did possess a degree of control over spirit power. Thus, threads of spirit needles began to condense, engaging in battle with the beast souls. After about half an incense stick's time, the beast souls in the field were finally all annihilated.

Zhou Yuan, observing this scene from the bluestone, had a darkened expression. Thousands of spirits, if only they possessed a slight understanding of how to wield spirit power, could have easily obliterated those beast souls. This clearly showed how poor the Wind Pavilion members' utilization of spirit power was. In such a state, what right did they have to contend with the other three pavilions for the Heavenly Sun Flame?

The chaos in the field subsided. Seeing Zhou Yuan's darkened face, the Wind Pavilion members knew their performance was abysmal. They immediately quieted down, not daring to utter a sound. Behind Zhou Yuan, Ye Bingling also felt somewhat embarrassed. In the past, she and Chen Beifeng had managed the Wind Pavilion, but neither deferred to the other, which only led to the pavilion being in disarray. As for why these people had such poor control over spirit power? It was simply because in previous Heavenly Flame Festivals, they had always just aimed to pick up scraps, and when the other three pavilions saw the Wind Pavilion being so "sensible" (i.e., not putting up a fight), they didn't mind leaving them some leftovers.

Zhou Yuan let out a sigh, feeling quite disheartened. He had anticipated that the Wind Pavilion members' spirit cultivation might not be great, but he never expected it to be this terrible. If their Genesis Qi cultivation could be considered barely passable, then their spirit cultivation could truly only be described as abysmal. Presumably, after so many years of cultivation, their instances of using spirit power in combat were few and far between. Hoping that their unstable spirit cultivation would allow them to compete with the Fire Pavilion? Zhou Yuan felt it would be better for him to challenge them alone.

Shaking his head helplessly, Zhou Yuan said in a deep voice, "Starting today, you will train for three hours daily, in groups of two, mutually wielding your spirit power for attack. I don't demand that you master spirit power to an astonishing degree, but at the very least, you must achieve basic control over it! Otherwise, it would be better not to attend this Heavenly Flame Festival and disgrace yourselves!"

Hearing Zhou Yuan's tone, which spoke of great disappointment, everyone looked sheepish. "Each commander will oversee their subordinates. I will conduct another inspection in ten days. If you are still in this state, your month's worth of Return Origin Treasure Coins will be deducted!" Upon hearing Zhou Yuan's words, everyone's hearts trembled. This punishment was not light, for their monthly salary as Wind Pavilion members was seventy Return Origin Treasure Coins. Losing a month's worth would be an enormous loss.

The various commanders dared not delay. They immediately roared commands, urging their subordinates to spread out into pairs across the training ground around Mirror Lake, commencing their spirit training. Watching this fervent scene, Zhou Yuan's darkened expression finally lightened somewhat. He knew it wasn't entirely their fault; with the position of Wind Pavilion Master vacant for many years and no one to lead them, it was inevitable for them to become a disunited group.

"It seems I also overestimated everyone's spirit cultivation," sighed Yi Qiushui, who was nearby. Yesterday, she had been refuting Ye Bingling, but unexpectedly, she was proven wrong today. Zhou Yuan also sighed inwardly. Although they had now begun to intensify their training, mastery of spirit power could not be achieved overnight. He felt that if he were to rely on them to withstand the Fire Pavilion during this Heavenly Flame Festival, the difficulty would likely be considerable.

At this moment, some residual spirit power from all directions surged through the air. Zhou Yuan flicked his finger, sending out several sparks that instantly incinerated the residual power. Those sparks were naturally transformed from Soul Flame. Zhou Yuan watched the dissipating sparks, lamenting in his heart, "In spirit combat, Soul Flame truly possesses the greatest destructive power."

"If only the spirit power of the Wind Pavilion members could be condensed and transformed into Soul Flame, that would be truly formidable..." Zhou Yuan pondered, then gave a wry smile, realizing he was indeed being quite fanciful. Soul Flame could only be generated by spirits that had reached the Transformation State. Therefore, no matter how many people were here, it would likely be impossible to condense even a wisp of Soul Flame.

He shook his head, about to stand up. However, at that very instant, he seemed to suddenly recall something. His body stiffened, and a strange light emerged in his eyes. For at that moment, a Genesis Art flashed through his mind: "Soul Lantern Art..." One of the Seven Cangxuan Arts, the Soul Lantern Art, the peak-preserving art of Spirit Rune Peak!

During the Sacred Battle in the Cangxuan Sect back then, Zhou Yuan had clearly seen that although Ye Ge had not reached the Transformation State for his spirit, he had managed to forcibly condense Soul Flame by relying on this very art! Zhou Yuan's eyes flickered, containing a hint of excitement. A moment later, he took out a jade slip and etched some materials onto it with his spirit power: Earth Soul Bone, Yin Sunflower Wood, Nether Bull Blood... All sorts of materials, over a hundred in total, and all of them were essential for cultivating the Soul Lantern Art.

"Qiushui, these materials should be acquired at the fastest possible speed, regardless of cost," Zhou Yuan said, handing the jade slip to Yi Qiushui. Yi Qiushui observed Zhou Yuan's solemn expression. Although she didn't know what he intended to do, she took the slip and nodded seriously.

Zhou Yuan exhaled deeply. He had originally planned to cultivate the Shadow Immortal Art as his next Genesis Art, but with the sudden arrival of the Heavenly Flame Festival, he had no choice but to postpone the Shadow Immortal Art slightly and prioritize the cultivation of the Soul Lantern Art.