Chapter 10: The Cycle Star

The ten figures from the Upper Realm glanced at the strong members of their respective sects—each originally having thirty to forty people, but now only a dozen remained. They had suffered such heavy losses that even those who had remained calm now looked worried.

Soon, the ten figures gathered in a certain area of the starry sky and set up spatial barriers. The four strong warriors from the Immortal Realm—Zong Xi, Feng Qu, Yan Xuan, and Qiu Rui—along with the three from the Demon Realm—Yi Xi, Chen Yan, and Rong Han—plus the three from the Fiend Realm—Jun Wei, Zhuo Hong, and Qi Jia—stood in separate groups. Even those from the same realm disliked each other.

These ten individuals not only came from different cultivation realms but also belonged to distinct factions within the same realm, so hostility among them was still strong. Yet, in order to catch Qu Yi, they had no choice but to temporarily unite and discuss ways to capture him.

“Everyone, Qu Yi possesses a magical artifact that allows him to travel through space to escape. Moreover, his vital energy seems endless. It’s quite difficult to capture him,” said Zong Xi gloomily.

When Qu Yi arrived at the outer area of the Five Souls Desolation, the ten figures from the Upper Realm transported themselves there via spatial teleportation arrays but failed to find any trace of him. They guessed that he must have used that space-traveling artifact to go elsewhere in the Five Souls Desolation.

“Zong Xi, is that already such a problem? Hehe, we all know Qu Yi’s purpose for coming here—the Five Souls Essence. He wants to use it to delay us, allowing the Five Souls Essence to kill all the strong warriors at the Great Vehicle and Tribulation stages. That way, with only us ten left to chase after him, he’ll have plenty of chances to flee to various parts of the cultivation realm, making it impossible for us to find him again,” said Yi Xi from the Demon Realm with a faint smile.

The other nine immediately gave him disdainful looks. They were also aware of Qu Yi’s plan and somewhat blamed Yi Xi for wasting time with nonsense.

“Hehe, since Qu Yi wants to use the Five Souls Essence to hold us back, then let’s kill those essences. I wonder if he can still escape in the Five Souls Desolation?” Yi Xi ignored the others’ gazes and continued smiling.

The nine’s eyes lit up immediately.

“Yi Xi’s suggestion is good, but it would be even better if we could control the Five Souls Essence. We can probably infer that it can control the spiritual essences on any planet within the Five Souls Desolation. If we can keep track of the situation on each planet at any time, Qu Yi’s movements will be entirely under our control,” said Jun Wei from the Fiend Realm with a faint smile.

Sure enough, the other nine also nodded, smiles appearing on their faces—they had finally found a way to capture Qu Yi alive. At that moment, Feng Qu looked at Zhuo Hong with a smile and said, “Brother Zhuo Hong, I’ve heard that your demon realm has a special technique called the Pursuit Soul Seal. As long as Qu Yi is marked by this seal, no matter where he escapes, you can find him. I think, for the sake of everyone, could you teach us this special soul seal?” Instantly, all nine turned to look at Zhuo Hong from the demon realm. Qu Yi had managed to escape several times thanks to the help of the Boundless Stars, appearing and disappearing without a trace, causing the ten of them a great deal of trouble. Naturally, if they could constantly track Qu Yi’s aura, they could simply keep teleporting after him. “Zhuo Hong, you surely don’t have any ulterior motives, right?” Seeing that Zhuo Hong remained silent for a long time, Yan Xuan from the immortal realm spoke calmly. The others also wanted to ask him questions. Zhuo Hong glared at Feng Qu angrily before smiling at everyone and saying, “Alright, I can teach you the Pursuit Soul Seal. But you can’t expect to get my secret technique so easily just because of a few words.” By now, Zhuo Hong also knew that if he didn’t reveal the secret technique of the Pursuit Soul Seal to the nine, they would surely attack him, and even Jun Wei and Qi Jia, who were also from the demon realm, wouldn’t help him. So, under the pretense of teaching the technique, he wanted to gain some benefits for himself. The other nine also understood that they couldn’t push Zhuo Hong too hard; they would have to pay a certain price to obtain this secret technique. Thus, each of them took out some precious gems, magical artifacts, and cultivation methods to exchange with Zhuo Hong. Soon, Zhuo Hong taught the nine the secret technique of the Pursuit Soul Seal, and they quickly mastered it. After discussing it, the ten from the upper realm decided to deal with the five Soul Spirits first. If they could capture those five, they would be able to determine which planet in the Five Souls Desolation Qu Yi was currently on. The remaining strong warriors from the ten sects, under the leadership of the ten from the upper realm, landed on a planet in the outer area. Then, the ten from the upper realm concealed their auras, making them resemble the true energy fluctuations of the Great Vehicle stage, before moving around the planet with their respective sect warriors. That’s right—these ten from the upper realm planned to use the lives of the strong warriors from the ten sects to lure out the five Soul Spirits, then suddenly strike to capture them. … Qu Yi was currently in the inner area of the Five Souls Desolation.

After emerging from the confined space, when Qu Yi landed on the planet, he was attacked by another spirit at the late stage of tribulation, which he killed once again, thus reuniting his original spirit. From then on, all the spirits on that planet in the inner zone dared not bother Qu Yi anymore.

A month passed.

On a mountain peak, Qu Yi opened his eyes and gazed into the distance, then smiled. “Instrument God, another month has gone by. I think it’s time for me to head back into space and play around with those ten masters from the upper realms.”

According to Qu Yi’s plan, he needed to reappear every about a month so that those ten could notice him, preventing them from guessing that he had already left the Five Souls Desolation and leaving them behind.

“Qu Yi, it’s strange that not a single soul spirit has attacked you in a month. I suppose those ten are now trying to deal with the five soul spirits. With them, they can keep track of your whereabouts at any time. In that case, be even more ruthless and enter the core area of the Five Souls Desolation,” the Instrument God said calmly.

Hearing the Instrument God’s words, Qu Yi thought for a moment and found it reasonable.

“The five soul spirits aren’t easy to catch. This Five Souls Desolation is their paradise. Those ten might end up failing in their attempt to capture them,” Qu Yi said with a smile.

“You’re right. Although the five soul spirits can’t handle those ten, it’s also impossible for them to capture the five. Oh, by the way, Qu Yi, have you ever wondered why there are only five soul spirits in this place, while other powerful spirits can’t break through the final barrier to become soul spirits?” the Instrument God asked casually.

Qu Yi was surprised. Thanks to the Instrument God’s reminder, he realized that indeed, for a long time, there had only been five soul spirits in this place, even though there were many spirits at the tribulation stage, none of whom had transformed into soul spirits.

“Instrument God, are you reminding me to go to the core area of the Five Souls Desolation because of this phenomenon?” Qu Yi asked hopefully with a smile.

Clearly, since the Instrument God had taken the initiative to remind him, it meant it must have guessed something.

“Hehe, maybe, but I’m not sure. Go to the core area first. If you really find something valuable, it should greatly benefit your spiritual realm,” the Instrument God replied indifferently.

Since there might be benefits again, Qu Yi’s face lit up with joy, and he lost interest in asking the Instrument God further.

Immediately, Qu Yi leaped into the air and arrived in the starry sky, then headed toward the central area of the Five Souls Desolation. In the central area lay several planets of roughly the same size; five of these planets were the exclusive habitats of the five soul spirits, while the planet at the very center was the infamous Reincarnation Planet, renowned throughout the cultivation world for its terrifying nature. Qu Yi spent several days using the Planet Teleportation technique to rush from the inner areas to the central area, and as soon as he arrived, he entered the Reincarnation Planet. If there were any important treasures in the central area, they could only be on the Reincarnation Planet. After all, the other five planets, being the habitats of the five soul spirits, likely had all their treasures already seized by those spirits. Therefore, as soon as Qu Yi arrived, he headed straight for the Reincarnation Planet. On the Reincarnation Planet, as if it possessed a sentient will, once Qu Yi’s body entered, it seemed to sense him, and a strange breeze that could absorb cultivators’ souls began to blow across the entire planet.