The soul was an existence of extreme yin, and it could be considered similar in nature with the power of the dark origin energy. With the nourishment of the dark origin energy, Xiang Shaoyun's filthless soul further solidified. His soul power grew rapidly, reaching a level comparable to the soul of a third-stage Soul Foundation Realm cultivator.

The Nether Soul Domain also grew rapidly, its durability reaching a brand new level. With the current strength of his Nether Soul Domain, he could trap and kill a bunch of Sovereigns easily. Every single one of the ghostrunes had also undergone a thorough transformation. They now looked much fiercer and extraordinary, and their cultivation levels had also grown.

That was especially true for Gui Qi, who reached the eighth-stage Devil Emperor realm from the sixth stage. His pair of ghostrune wings was now dreadfully bewitching. Even so, the clump of dark origin energy had not reduced in size by much. That was because in this unique environment, the dark origin energy could endlessly replenish its energy from its surroundings.

At this point, Xiang Shaoyun had formed a tiny level of affinity with the dark origin energy. His will could now penetrate it deeply.

"Withdraw!" Xiang Shaoyun waited no longer and tried pulling the dark origin energy into his astral cosmos sea.

This time, he succeeded, and the entirety of the dark origin energy converged in his astral cosmos sea.

Xiang Shaoyun isolated the dark origin energy at a corner, not allowing it any sort of contact with the rest of his astral cosmos sea. The so-called origin energy was energy with zero impurity. If it made contact with other energies, its purity might be ruined, losing the perfect balance of its makeup.

The astral cosmos sea was something Xiang Shaoyun had personally formed. Thus, he could alter it as he wished. It wasn't a problem for him to make some empty space to store the dark origin energy.

But he soon found that after leaving the space of endless darkness, the dark origin energy started constricting, and there were indications that it was going to gradually dissipate. If it continued, it would become smaller and smaller until it eventually vanished.

At that discovery, Xiang Shaoyun muttered, "Looks like I need to increase my cultivation as quickly as possible before refining the entirety of this thing into my dark star. But for now, I should look for an exit."

After deciding on a direction, he started flying at full speed. He believed that this place was definitely not boundless in size. However, even after flying for an unknown amount of time, he still did not find anything. He almost sank into despair.

Here, there were no other sources of energy he could absorb. The only thing he could do was replenish his energy using spirit crystals while cultivating his other stars at the same time.

He finally couldn't take it any longer and took out the chakram as he muttered, "I'll split the space again! I refuse to believe I can't find an exit!"

He did so immediately. Powering the chakram with all his strength, he struck at a random direction.

...

Castle of Darkness.

This was one of Dragon Phoenix Academy's nine great cultivation zones. The castle was perfectly conserved, built with unique architecture. Each unit of the castle contained the unique architecture of a different race. The ancient construction at the center of the others was the actual place of importance within the Castle of Darkness.

It was rumored that the central building used to be a super expert's exclusive residence. His inheritance was contained within, which granted the building an extraordinary significance.

Within the Castle of Darkness, the most commonly seen life form was a beast called the dark bat. They occupied the castle, and the moment someone approached, they would attack in great numbers.

Fortunately, they mostly restricted their activities to the central keep and its vicinity. They wouldn't easily approach the other buildings around the keep. Thus, the castle's outer buildings became the cultivation spots of the Dragon Phoenix Academy disciples.

A space of darkness shrouded the entire Castle of Darkness. Hence, the dark energy in the air was extremely dense. Staying at the castle would allow a cultivator to grow rapidly. Apart from that, the disciples could also earn contribution points by slaughtering the dark bats.

The dark bats could reproduce easily. If they were allowed to grow unchecked, they would occupy the entire Castle of Darkness sooner or later. Thus, the academy had their disciples hunt the dark bats to suppress their quantity and maintain the current balance.

Among the many disciples, the strongest dark cultivator was the Severing Saber Manor's young master, Xiao Xie. The Severing Saber Manor was an incredibly mysterious organization. They had always been low-profiled, and few people knew much about them.

They specialized in saber techniques, and they enjoyed collecting famous sabers. That was how their organization came to be named the Severing Saber Manor.

Xiao Xie was one of the academy's top 10 genius disciples, his saber mastery seemingly unrivaled. He was also a self-proclaimed inheritor of the Saber Devil. It was obvious he had remarkable combat prowess.

Currently, Xiao Xie was within the Castle of Darkness. He was slim and tall, his chin pointed, his eyes sharp. No one dared to meet his gaze. He was dressed in a tight-fitting black outfit, and a monstrous and massive saber hung on his back. His entire person emanated a sinister sensation.

Standing on a heroic-looking black qilin, he exuded overbearingness. The black qilins were one of the strongest demonic clans in existence. They possessed incredible combat prowess and were second only to the true dragons, the white tigers, the phoenixes, and the black tortoises. A qilin was a beast with the head of a dragon, the horns of a deer, the body of a lion, the tail of a horse, and the claws of a wolf. Each part of its body was filled with power.

Each qilin represented a different symbol. For example, the fire qilins represented prosperity, the water qilins represented safety, and the black qilins represented disaster. It was generally believed that a calamity would follow the appearance of a black qilin.

One could say that the black qilins represented evil, and they were exceedingly hard to tame. Just the fact that Xiao Xie had a black qilin mount proved that he was a person with extraordinary fortuitous encounters. At present, he was staring at the central castle, seemingly wanting to charge there all by himself.

"Darkstorm, you think we should go?" Xiao Xie asked his black qilin.

The black qilin replied, "I can sense a thick killing intent in there. It is most definitely not the rumored place of inheritance. Instead, it feels more like a place of imprisonment."

"Place of imprisonment? Then, one can only imagine the strength of the person imprisoned there. How I long to personally witness a person like that. Too bad there are too many dark bats here. With our strength, it will be too hard to get through them," said Xiao Xie with regret.

"There is no point. Even if we managed to get in there, we wouldn't reap any harvests. On the other hand, the sky above us is filled with a type of pure dark energy. If you can charge into the void in the sky, you will be able to reap great harvests," said the black qilin with his head raised.

Xiao Xie raised his head as well. His eyes blazed with passion as he said, "The mysterious void is what everyone longs for. When I reach the Heaven Battling Realm, I will definitely charge up and see just what kind of treasures are contained within!"

At that moment, a streak of light trailed through the sky, heading straight toward the central keep.