Chapter 1653: No Punishment, Only Reward

In the Soul Clan’s ancestral land, Soul Que, a young-looking man in black robes, arrived and immediately spotted Amber. With his experience and knowledge, he naturally recognized that the white tiger possessed the bloodline of a Holy Beast.

Normally, this would be a cause for great joy for him and for the entire Soul Clan.

However, at this moment, his joy was overshadowed by surprise and doubt.

Because a human had actually entered the ancestral land!

This was something that had never happened in recorded history.

And it wasn’t just that; the crucial point was that the human's arrival seemed to have stirred the will of the ancestral land!

The reason he had rushed here was not because he sensed Lu Ye's presence, but because he had received an instruction from the ancestral land's will, which explained his swift arrival.

He carefully scrutinized the newcomer. Though Lu Ye's cultivation was not high, only at the Star Constellation stage, his ability to stir the ancestral land's will meant he couldn't be simply judged by his cultivation level.

Ordinary Soul Clan members like Li Shang were unaware of the ancestral land's origins, but Soul Que, as the clan leader, naturally knew. It was precisely because he knew that he dared not show the slightest disrespect.

At this moment, Li Shang watched Soul Que with trepidation. She had secretly left the Soul Clan's ancestral land earlier, violating ancestral teachings, and knew she would certainly be punished upon her return.

She had expected a minor punishment, perhaps a period of confinement after seeing the elder on duty. She never imagined the clan leader himself would appear...

If the clan leader found out about her unauthorized departure, it would be a very serious matter.

The elder on duty might show her leniency, but the clan leader definitely would not!

Feeling uneasy, Li Shang quickly spoke, "Clan Leader, I found a Holy Beast bloodline outside, but I wasn't certain if it truly was one, so I brought it back for your inspection."

As she spoke, Li Shang couldn't help but feel puzzled. It seemed the clan leader's attention was more on Lu Ye than on Amber after his arrival!

Something felt off.

After she finished speaking, Soul Que finally shifted his gaze from Lu Ye, took a deep look at Amber, and nodded slightly. "It is indeed a Holy Beast bloodline!"

Its ability to enter the ancestral land already confirmed this; if it weren't a Holy Beast bloodline, the ancestral land's will would not have allowed it passage.

"That's wonderful! I was afraid I had misidentified it," Li Shang said, her face lighting up with joy. Now, perhaps she could atone for her actions. Although she had sneaked out, bringing back a Holy Beast bloodline was undoubtedly a great service to the ancestral land. She didn't seek rewards, only to avoid punishment.

"Oh, Clan Leader, I also found some scattered clan members," Li Shang quickly added.

"Oh?" Soul Que looked puzzled. "Scattered clan members?"

"Clan Leader, please see!" Li Shang hastily took out the Myriad Souls Banner, respectfully handed it to Soul Que, and then briefly explained what had happened in Xian Yuan City.

Soul Que held the Myriad Souls Banner, listening quietly with a calm expression. Only after Li Shang finished and he understood the full story did he nod. "To abandon their physical bodies, survive for ten thousand years as mere souls, and resist external enemies—such resilience of spirit makes them worthy to join our Soul Clan!"

As he finished speaking, he exerted slight pressure, and the Myriad Souls Banner instantly shattered. Soul Que clearly had no fondness for an object used to capture and enslave souls.

Immediately, soul power surged around him, and the shattered Myriad Souls Banner reformed into a sphere in his hand, which he then tossed back to Li Shang. "Since you brought them back, I'll entrust their placement to you."

Li Shang dazedly accepted it, instinctively replying, "Yes!"

But then she thought, *Me* to arrange them? She was just a minor figure in the Soul Clan; how could she possibly settle so many clan members?

While she was pondering this headache, Soul Que sent a streak of five-colored light towards her. "Go choose a Lotus Land for yourself."

Upon seeing the five-colored light, Li Shang's expression instantly brightened. She reached out and grasped the light, happily saying, "Thank you, Clan Leader!"

Soul Que gave Lu Ye another deep look before departing instantly.

Lu Ye relaxed slightly. He had encountered many Sun Glimmer cultivators, but the pressure exerted by this Soul Clan leader was genuinely immense. Fortunately, the other party seemed quite approachable.

However... the situation here seemed somewhat different from what he had imagined.

Li Shang had always spoken of Amber as the Soul Clan's Holy Beast, so Lu Ye had initially assumed that Amber would be revered by the Soul Clan upon arrival, or at the very least, be given a grand welcome.

To his surprise, this wasn't the case at all. Nevertheless, the clan leader's personal appearance undoubtedly showed Amber's significant importance to the Soul Clan.

He turned to see Li Shang joyfully playing with a five-colored token nearby, her eyes curving in a smile, clearly in high spirits.

"What's that?" Lu Ye asked.

Li Shang put away the five-colored token and beckoned, "Come with me first, I'll tell you on the way."

Lu Ye, Yi Yi, and Amber then followed Li Shang.

Along the way, they saw massive lotus flowers, some in full bloom, others still in bud form, each with a unique posture. Hues of light permeated everywhere, making the entire Soul Clan ancestral land a spectacularly vibrant and fantastical sight.

"These lotus flowers you see are the Lotus Lands," Li Shang explained to Lu Ye as she looked around. "The Soul Clan's ancestral land is a very special place. There are no external territories here, nor any other places to reside. Only these Lotus Lands exist, and our clan members live on them; they are our homes."

"And the Lotus Lands are also ranked," she continued. "You can tell by the number of colors. They range from first to seventh grade; the more colors, the higher the grade."

"Generally, clan members below the Star Constellation stage reside on first or second-grade Lotus Lands. Once their cultivation reaches the Star Constellation stage, they can choose a third-grade Lotus Land. Only those who reach the Moon Radiance stage are qualified to select a fifth-grade one, and as for the Sun Glimmer cultivators, they all live on seventh-grade Lotus Lands!"

As she spoke, she waved the five-colored token in her hand at Lu Ye. "With this, I can choose an unoccupied five-colored Lotus Land!"

As a Star Constellation cultivator, she wouldn't normally be able to choose a five-colored Lotus Land, as those were exclusively for Moon Radiance cultivators. However, with the five-colored token granted by the clan leader, it was no longer an issue.

For the Soul Clan, Lotus Lands were not merely places of residence, but also cultivation grounds!

Even though the entire Soul Clan ancestral land was permeated with energy that aided soul power growth, the Lotus Lands were always where this energy was most concentrated.

Simply put, every Lotus Land was a treasure trove for cultivation, and the higher its grade, the greater the benefits for one's cultivation.

Soul Que's gift of a five-colored token naturally filled Li Shang with joy.

This was not just a reward; it also meant the clan leader hadn't taken her unauthorized departure seriously, so she didn't have to worry about being punished.

It seemed that bringing back the Holy Beast was indeed a great service, earning her not only immunity from punishment but also a reward!

However, finding a desirable five-colored Lotus Land wouldn't be easy. While there were many such Lotus Lands in the ancestral space, the large number of Moon Radiance cultivators in the Soul Clan meant that most of them were already occupied. She would need to search carefully to find an uninhabited one.

She would surely find one, as the number of five-colored Lotus Lands in the ancestral land was slightly greater than the number of Moon Radiance cultivators in the clan.

Thinking more deeply, the clan leader hadn't even mentioned the Holy Beast, which implied it was entrusted to her care. Moreover, with the clan members from Xian Yuan City, Li Shang could entirely establish her own faction within a short period.

While there wasn't much conflict within the Soul Clan's ancestral land, there was competition, and only Moon Radiance cultivators were qualified to form their own factions.

Periodically, there would be competitive trials in the ancestral land, and achieving a good ranking in these trials yielded substantial benefits.

With the five-colored token, the Holy Beast, and the clan members from Xian Yuan City, Li Shang now possessed the resources to establish her own faction. This meant she had taken a significant step ahead of others, with profound implications for her future.

Lu Ye was unaware of these intricacies, as he was a newcomer and didn't know much about the Soul Clan's affairs.

Now, as he followed Li Shang, he listened to her explanations and curiously observed his surroundings.

He noticed many translucent, cotton-like entities drifting about, and there seemed to be quite a number of them. Lu Ye also sensed peculiar soul force fluctuations emanating from these cotton-like forms.

"What are these?" he asked.

Li Shang glanced at them and said, "These are clan members who haven't fully formed yet. Be careful not to touch them; they are very fragile at this stage."

"Is this how your Soul Clan members are born?" Lu Ye asked, astonished.

He had always wondered how the Soul Clan reproduced. Logically, without physical bodies, they shouldn't have the ability to procreate. Only now did he realize the miraculous way Soul Clan members were formed.

"Most are formed this way, though there are exceptions, of course, like those from Xian Yuan City and also Yi Yi!" Li Shang explained with a slight smile. "The ancestral land is omnipresent. If certain special beings in the world die but their souls remain, they might be drawn into the ancestral land. Even then, they enter in this form, without memories of their previous lives. However, generally speaking, those brought into the ancestral land from the outside tend to have significant achievements in the future, as only extraordinary individuals can be accepted by the ancestral land."

"What about you?" Lu Ye asked curiously.

Li Shang shook her head. "I don't know. No one in the Soul Clan knows exactly how they were born. Once we gain sentience, we simply live here."

Besides these unformed Soul Clan members still in the process of development, Lu Ye also saw many other Soul Clan members living carefree lives here.

Compared to the clamor and chaos of the outside world, this place was truly like a secluded paradise.

Many Soul Clan members observed Lu Ye and Amber from a distance. Having never seen beings other than their own kind, they were naturally curious, but their interest remained purely observational...

"How many Moon Radiance and Sun Glimmer cultivators does your Soul Clan have?" Lu Ye suddenly remembered another question.

Given that this secluded paradise was exceptionally suited for Soul Clan cultivation, how much powerful heritage must have accumulated over countless years?

"As for Moon Radiance cultivators, there should be about two to three thousand," Li Shang replied, startling Lu Ye with her answer.

Two to three thousand Moon Radiance cultivators—what kind of concept was that?