Library of Heaven's Path

There were a few words inscribed on a certain side of the stone platform. These words were written with the hieroglyphs of the soul oracles, and they induced an uncanny feeling when viewed from afar.

Grasp the Quintessence and seize the Seal of Souls!

Zhang Xuan was able to decipher the meaning of the hieroglyphs on the stone platform.

Through the soul oracle manuals that he had acquired from Mo Hunsheng, he was able to achieve a decent level of proficiency in the language.

The seal floating on top must be the Seal of Souls. I can't really tell what tier it is, but it seems to be a rather powerful artifact, Zhang Xuan thought.

He could not tell exactly what tier the Seal of Souls was, but just from the fact that it could halt him in his footsteps and prevent him from approaching it, it was likely to be at least at the level of Ancient Sage Zi Yu's inkstone.

I have to take it. Otherwise, many master teachers will likely lose their lives to this artifact.

Judging from the close relations between Jiang Fangyou and the scholarly young man, there was little question to whom the Jiang Clan would side with should a war break out. The stronger the artifacts of the Jiang Clan were, the greater the damage they would cause.

He did not have the ability to deal with the Jiang Clan at the moment, so all he could do was try to weaken them as much as he could.

Let me give it a try!

Taking a deep breath, he attempted to walk over to the seal.

However, barely after taking two steps, his perspiration was already trickling profusely down his body. It felt as if countless needles were piercing relentlessly into his Primordial Spirit, making it hard for him to push on.

This won't do. My soul won't be able to take it if I force my way forward…

Zhang Xuan hurriedly retreated a few steps from the seal in order to alleviate the pressure on his Primordial Spirit.

It seemed like it was indeed beyond his current capabilities to claim the Seal of Souls.

Since that's the case, perhaps I should try doing as the stone platform says… It says that I would be able to take the seal away by comprehending the Soul Quintessence. Let me give it a try…

Zhang Xuan pondered for a moment, but no better ideas came to mind. Thus, he decided to go along with the instructions inscribed on the stone platform.

In any case, it was just a matter of time before he would have to cultivate the Soul Quintessence, and it was likely to augment his fighting prowess significantly as well. His initial plan was to take away the treasures of the Jiang Clan first and head to a safe place before cultivating the Soul Quintessence, but it seemed like he needed a change of plans right now.

Standing on the spot, Zhang Xuan immersed himself in the Library of Heaven's Path and retrieved the compiled Heaven's Path manual to comprehending the Soul Quintessence.

Touching the manual, he felt knowledge flowing into his mind. Gradually, his understanding of souls deepened.

The reason he was able to grasp the Spatial Quintessence of Sealing so swiftly was because he had already cultivated the 3-dan Heavenly Art of Dimension Unravel. All he had to do was cultivate the fourth dan of the technique, so it did not take him too long.

It was apparent that he had taken significantly more time to comprehend the Time Quintessence, but it still took less than an hour.

As for comprehending the Soul Quintessence, he did have a strong understanding of souls, and his soul was extraordinarily powerful.

In just ten breaths, he had already opened his eyes once more.

Weng!

Vortices suddenly formed within his eyes, dizzying those who dared peer into them.

After cultivating diligently for ten breaths, he had already successfully comprehended the Jiang Clan's Soul Quintessence. If he fought with someone, his soul energy would become a powerful offensive option for him.

…

At the same time…

"Submission of the Predecessors… Someone has managed to comprehend the Soul Quintessence!"

Standing in the midst of the ancestral hall, Jiang Fangyou's face reddened in excitement as he watched the phenomenon occurring around him. "This is wonderful. Wonderful! I never thought that the lass would actually be able to comprehend the Soul Quintessence so quickly!"

It was just a moment ago that he sent his daughter over to comprehend the Time Quintessence when this phenomenon occurred a moment later. Naturally, it stood to reason that the one who had comprehended the Soul Quintessence was his daughter!

"The heavens are truly looking after our Jiang Clan! With this, the fighting prowess of our Jiang Clan will be significantly bolstered! As long as she inherits the heritage of our founder, even when an upheaval happens, our Jiang Clan will still have the strength to protect itself!" Jiang Fangyou tensed body visibly loosened up significantly as he heaved a sigh of relief.

After hearing the news from the scholarly young man, he had been unable to calm himself. However, upon knowing that there would be someone whom he could count on to protect the Jiang Clan, his heart was finally at ease.

The individual who had comprehended the Soul Quintessence would be able to wield the Seal of Souls. Even if they did not mobilize the Ancient Sage of their clan, they would still be able to handle most crises by themselves.

"You can all start preparing for the clan head inauguration ceremony. I'll go take a look at Feifei!" Suppressing the glee in his heart, Jiang Fangyou instructed the elders behind him before heading out.

"Yes, clan head!"

The elders also quickly left the ancestral hall with proud looks on their faces.

The Zhang Clan had Zhang Xuan, and the Luo Clan had Luo Tianya. They had been worrying that their Jiang Clan would be doomed to lag behind the other two Premier Clans, but who could have thought that Feifei would successfully make a breakthrough at this juncture?

As expected, the talents of their Jiang Clan did not lose out to anyone at all!

…

It took around ten breaths for Jiang Fangyou to rush into the treasure vault. The moment that he entered the hall on the first floor, he saw a young lady standing ten meters away from a jade wall. She was still sweating profusely, unable to walk any closer to the jade wall at all.

Taken aback by what he was seeing, Jiang Fangyou hurriedly rushed up to her and asked, "Feifei, what's wrong?"

One who had comprehended the Soul Quintessence should be able to remain unfazed against the pressure of the jade wall… but why did it seem like his daughter was still unable to withstand the pressure?

"Father, you can rest easy. I'll try my best to achieve a breakthrough as soon as possible…" Seeing how her father was still worried despite the reassurances she had given him, even going to the extent of checking on her after just a few minutes, Jiang Feifei could not help but feel a little irritated.

"You haven't comprehended the Soul Quintessence yet?" As if struck by lightning, Jiang Fangyou's body stiffened in disbelief. He could not understand what was happening.

"It hasn't even been ten minutes since I came here. How could I have comprehended the Soul Quintessence so quickly?" Jiang Feifei was rendered speechless.

Had her father lost his mind?

If it was that easy to comprehend the Soul Quintessence, she would have already comprehended it long ago! She would not have dragged it out until then.

"But…"

Jiang Fangyou's body trembled weakly. His mind could hardly keep up with the happenings, and he nearly fainted on the spot.

He had thought that the person who had just achieved a breakthrough and comprehended the Soul Quintessence was his own daughter… However, if it was not his daughter, who else could it be?

Noticing the look on her father's face, Jiang Feifei realized that something was amiss. She quickly stepped away from the jade wall before asking her father doubtfully, "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"After I parted from you, I went straight to the ancestral hall. Just a minute ago, the 'Submission of the Predecessors' phenomenon occurred, so I thought that… you were the one who had made a breakthrough!" Jiang Fangyou explained.

"It wasn't me…" Coming to understand the reason behind her father's behavior, Jiang Feifei was a little startled as well. "Could it be that a member of the side family has comprehended the Soul Quintessence, similar to Luo Tianya?"

"Side family… How can our side family be that formidable?" Jiang Fangyou did not think it likely to be the case.

With a deep frown on his forehead, he mulled deeply over the matter, but he was still unable to figure out what was going on. Shaking his head helplessly, he turned to his daughter and asked, "Did you notice anything amiss while you were cultivating here?"

Jiang Feifei thought for a moment before shaking her head. "No, I didn't notice anything at all!"

She had been completely absorbed in trying to comprehend the Soul Quintessence, so she had not noticed any anomaly at all.

"To be able to trigger the 'Submission of the Predecessors', the person who has comprehended the Soul Quintessence has to be our clan member. Otherwise, there's no way he could possibly pull this off… However, is it really possible for anyone to make a breakthrough without the Jade Hieroglyph?" Jiang Fangyou frowned in incomprehension.

Even with the aid of the Jade Hieroglyph, not a single core member of the Jiang Clan had been able to comprehend the Soul Quintessence in the past tens of thousands of years. Just who in the world could be so formidable as to pull it off without the aid of the Jade Hieroglyph?

All of a sudden, a thought came to Jiang Fangyou's mind. His body trembled in horror as he exclaimed, "Could it be… This is bad. Feifei, follow me up!"

He quickly dashed for the stairs after saying those words.

Uncertain of the reason behind her father's sudden outburst, Jiang Feifei hurriedly followed behind him.

In the blink of an eye, they were already on the second floor. With just a glance, Jiang Fangyou's face turned ghastly white.

A room that should have been filled with treasures had been completely emptied. Not even a shred of rat poop could be seen in the room.

"A thief has managed to sneak into our treasure vault! From the looks of it, it seems like the incident happened not too long ago… I have to activate our Clan Seal!" Jiang Fangyou exclaimed anxiously