Chapter 7: Exchanging Soul Beads (Part 1)

Two soul beads quickly merged into his soul before being fed into the Heavenly Altar. To control the altar, a vast number of souls were required, most of which had to be fed into it to better manage the altar. Previously, Guo Shier didn’t dare consume too many soul beads for fear that his soul would become too large and beyond his control. Now, with the Heavenly Altar, he no longer had to worry about this.

In just a short while, Guo Shier had consumed four soul beads. He needed to quickly replenish the missing souls. He had already met the requirement for the original six-tier altar, but after converting it into a Heavenly Altar, more than half of those souls were missing, forcing him to use soul beads to make up the difference. If he relied solely on his own cultivation, who knew how long it would take.

Over ten consecutive days, consuming two to three soul beads per day on average, Guo Shier finally replenished his soul supply. Since he had added so many souls at once, he became somewhat frenzied and extremely excited, much to the alarm of Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan.

Guo Shier stood up and laughed loudly at the sky. Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan immediately turned away, pretending not to see anything. After laughing a few times and finding it boring, Guo Shier asked, “Any news from the master today?”

Luo Zhan replied, “We haven’t gone to the headquarters to inquire. If there were any news, they would inform us.”

Guo Shier said, “Let’s go to the headquarters!” He tilted his body and flew into the air. Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan showed signs of concern. Both sensed that something was wrong with Guo Shier, but they couldn’t pinpoint what, so they followed him.

Along the way, Guo Shier would occasionally burst into strange laughter, which sent chills down their spines. Eagle Demon asked, “Shier, why are you laughing?”

Guo Shier replied, “I’m not laughing…”

Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan immediately broke into cold sweats. They heard clearly that he wasn’t just laughing once—every few minutes, he would laugh several times, and the laughter sounded strange, as if forced out of his throat.

Luo Zhan said, “Let’s go find Senior Li Ran…”

Eagle Demon replied, “Okay, I’ll go first. You and Shier go together.” He flashed and disappeared from his spot, teleporting straight to the headquarters.

Guo Shier wondered, “What’s Uncle Eagle Demon going to do?”

Luo Zhan said, “He’s going ahead first.”

Guo Shier didn’t think much of it. His mind was a bit confused, his soul alternating between confusion and excitement. According to his past life, this was like being under the influence of too much drugs, making it hard to control oneself.

Fortunately, after being tempered by the Soul Scriptures, there wasn’t much danger, but his control was still insufficient. With a little more time under the influence of the Soul Scriptures, he would be able to return to normal. He laughed and said, “Tiantan… gaga…”
Luo Zhan was worried inside but smiled on the outside, saying, “Yes, Tiantan… truly remarkable!” He thought to himself, “What’s wrong with Guo Shier today? Tiantan is indeed remarkable, but there’s no need to lose control like this. Damn it, are all professionals of Tiantan this crazy?”
The two quickly arrived at the headquarters. Li Ran came to greet them. After glancing at Guo Shier a few times, he was shocked—his immense soul power filled Li Ran with awe. He immediately realized that Guo Shier still couldn’t fully control his soul. At the same time, he wondered how Guo Shier had managed to elevate his soul to such a level in such a short time, reaching a level comparable to that of an eighth-tier Altar professional’s soul.
Upon seeing Li Ran, Guo Shier burst into laughter, “Haha, Brother Li Ran! I succeeded! I successfully transformed the Altar into a Tiantan! Haha… gaga…” His last laugh startled Li Ran—what kind of laughter was that? The sound was terrifying.
Li Ran remained calm and said, “Shier, come with me!” He stepped forward, grabbed Guo Shier’s arm, and said to Luo Zhan, “You and Eagle Demon go rest. Just leave him to me.”
Only then did Luo Zhan feel relieved. Knowing how capable Li Ran was, he smiled and said, “Okay, I’ll leave it to you, senior.”
Li Ran smiled slightly, took Guo Shier by the hand, and suddenly tore a rift in space, rushing through it. In the blink of an eye, they arrived in a secret realm.
Guo Shier shouted, “Brother Li Ran, where are you taking me?”
Li Ran said, “Sit down!”
Guo Shier didn’t understand what Li Ran wanted, but he still sat down as instructed, smiling and saying, “You…”
Li Ran said, “Sit cross-legged properly. Don’t move around. Relax your soul!”
Guo Shier laughed foolishly and sat cross-legged. Li Ran sat cross-legged in front of him. A wave of soul energy spread out, leaving Guo Shier stunned—this was the effect of the Soul Scriptures. He never expected that in this strange world, someone other than himself could do this. Then he noticed the difference. This soul energy could indeed calm the soul, but it was far inferior to his own Soul Scriptures, giving a somewhat ambiguous feeling.
The biggest difference was that this energy could attract souls floating in the world. Guo Shier’s expression turned serious—he realized Li Ran was helping him.

It was two full hours before Li Ran stopped. He asked, “Does it feel any better?”
Guo Shier couldn’t help but laugh. “What kind of scripture is this?” He said this in Tibetan, but after three lifetimes, his pronunciation was quite awkward.
Li Ran was stunned and exclaimed in surprise, “You… were a lama in your past life?” He stood up, looking utterly incredulous.
Guo Shier replied, “Not the past life, but the one before that.”
Li Ran said, “No wonder… No wonder. This is a soul-soothing scripture, brought back by a separated soul.”
Guo Shier smiled and said, “I also have a scripture. You can give it a try.” Then he said seriously, “Sit cross-legged properly!”
Li Ran laughed and said, “Alright, let me see what it feels like.” He sat cross-legged as instructed and focused his mind.
Guo Shier began to chant silently, and the soul started to fluctuate. A look of delight appeared on Li Ran’s face. He suppressed his excitement and devoted himself entirely to those soul fluctuations. Another hour passed before Guo Shier stopped chanting.
Li Ran let out a sigh and said, “It’s incredible. It can actually purify the soul. You expanded your soul by swallowing soul beads and then used this scripture to refine it, right? No wonder you could advance so quickly… I originally planned to teach you this scripture after you reached the Void Form Altar, as it can also help with rapid advancement, but it’s not as powerful as yours.”
Guo Shier asked curiously, “Is this scripture also from our world?”
Li Ran nodded and said, “My scripture… is in Sanskrit. Here, take it.” He touched Guo Shier’s forehead with his finger, and a transmission entered Guo Shier’s soul. He said, “When used together with your scripture, its effect will be much greater than it is now.”
Since it was a direct transmission, there was no risk of not being able to learn it. Guo Shier pondered for a moment before saying, “I’ll give it a try.”
Li Ran sat quietly. When the soul started to fluctuate, Guo Shier immediately noticed the difference. Chanting on his own was completely different from chanting with others. In an instant, his soul began to shake violently. The old man trembled nonstop inside the altar and couldn’t help but shout, “So good! So good! More…”
Guo Shier was almost interrupted by him. He tried hard to chant, and gradually, his soul began to grow slowly, with the scattered memories within it fading away bit by bit. This scripture was also short, consisting of 280 Sanskrit characters. Although Guo Shier didn’t recognize them, thanks to the transmission, he could express them accurately through soul fluctuations.

He recited the Prayer for the Dead once silently, then recited his own Soul Scripture once more, alternating between the two. The results were incredibly good. Li Ran also benefited greatly, but his rank was too high; merely passively receiving the Soul Scripture was far from enough. After a while, Guo Shier stopped reciting. Without saying a word, he stretched out a finger and placed it on Li Ran’s forehead, passing on his Soul Scripture to him. Guo Shier was well aware of the principle of reciprocity—after receiving Li Ran’s Scripture, he in turn gave his own. Li Ran nodded and immediately closed his eyes to recite, his soul beginning to fluctuate. Guo Shier was stunned. The fluctuations in his soul were countless times stronger than his own, spreading like a tangible force wave after wave. It felt as though a hammer had struck his soul. He was horrified to see that all the impurities in his soul were destroyed, as if through steel refining, with every impurity turning to nothingness in the high heat. Li Ran couldn’t hide the joy on his face. After a moment, he stopped reciting, pondered for a while, then sighed deeply and said, “Amazing. If I had obtained this Scripture earlier… it would have been incredible. It’s a pity, such a pity…” Guo Shier smiled and said, “This is a Scripture I brought from my past reincarnations. Thanks to it, I was able to reincarnate twice successfully. I hope I can rely on it to reincarnate again next time, hehe.” Li Ran said, “It’s a shame you were confined to Earth in your first two lives and never saw the strong ones in the greater world. This time, at least you’ve come across the path to becoming strong. If you can enter the greater world or reincarnate there, you can gradually grow stronger and eventually become someone like my main soul—a true strongman in the greater world.” Guo Shier said with a bitter smile, “If I can’t leave this small world, will I keep reincarnating here forever, never able to leave?” Li Ran replied, “That’s right. I still have a limited lifespan. There’s no immortality here. When my time runs out, I’ll be gone too. At that point, my split souls won’t be able to escape either. Although there are countless unique things in this small world, without the chance to return to the greater world, it’s all meaningless. Becoming a ruler here is pointless.” Guo Shier said, “I’m lucky to have met you. Otherwise, in my ignorance, I would have remained trapped in this world forever.”

Li Ran nodded and said, “The moment I saw you, I knew I had found the right person. I never expected you to bring me an even bigger surprise—finding another professional who surpasses the Ninth-Level Altar. Haha, with this person, we can leave now.”
Guo Shier nodded and said, “I’m really looking forward to the Greater World. Brother Li Ran, with your strength, will you be considered a strong person in the Greater World?” He was extremely curious. He had seen Qi Wu Zhen’s incredibly formidable strength—a master who could overturn the seas and kill hundreds of thousands of professionals with a single move.
Li Ran smiled and said, “Perhaps we can retain most of our abilities. However, the rules of the Greater World will restrict us. I’m not entirely sure about the specifics, but we will definitely be strong once we go there. We may not be absolutely the strongest, but in the Greater World, we will surely be above most people. You don’t need to worry about that.”
Guo Shier fell silent for a moment before saying, “So… I need to strive to raise my professional rank in the Small World. Being the strongest here doesn’t mean I’ll be the strongest in the Greater World…”