Chapter 9: Hunting for Soul Cores

Soul cores also have attributes, corresponding to metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—these are the results of soul beasts’ comprehension of the five elements in the universe through evolution.
Monks entering the Heart Soul Star Region, due to their different cultivation methods, possess varying attributes in their vital energy, which in turn determines the types of soul beasts they hunt. Only by finding a soul core with an attribute matching their own can they successfully refine it and advance their soul realm.
Otherwise, a monk practicing metal-related cultivation methods will find a soil attribute soul core useless to them, and the same applies to others.
For Qu Yi, as he cultivated all five elements simultaneously, he didn’t need to target specific soul beasts; he could refine any soul core. However, he needed to find five soul cores of each of the five elements to advance his soul realm.
In other words, to progress from his current late-stage merged soul realm to the early-stage tribulation realm, Qu Yi had three options: normal cultivation, which would take a very long time; scanning the Four Elements Path, which would take 500 years; or obtaining one soul core of each of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth from the early-stage tribulation realm and refining them simultaneously to achieve rapid advancement.
The soul cores inside the four soul snakes were of soil attribute, while those inside the eight-clawed soul fish were of water attribute. Thus, Qu Yi already had the soil and water soul cores of the early-stage tribulation realm.
After obtaining the soul core of the hundred-legged soul turtle, Qu Yi immediately flew out of the cave and continued exploring this gray planet.
“Tool God, please help! You’ve been lying on that soft chair all along—why don’t you use your spiritual sense to search for any soul beasts nearby?” Qu Yi transmitted his message to the Tool God as he flew through the air.
At this point, Qu Yi planned to search for early-stage tribulation realm soul beasts with metal, wood, and fire attributes and obtain their soul cores.
After a while, the Tool God replied via spiritual sense, “Okay. Fly 10,000 miles eastward. There’s a cliff there, and beneath it is a cave with three golden-furred sword-toothed soul tigers inside—each at the early-stage tribulation realm.”
Upon hearing this, Qu Yi raised his eyebrows and instantly transformed into a bolt of lightning, rushing over.
……
A cliff over a thousand meters high jutted from the cliff face like an arch bridge, surrounded by dark mist and biting cold winds.
A hundred meters below the cliff was a cave, inside which stood three golden-furred sword-toothed soul tigers, all at the early-stage tribulation realm.
Suddenly, Qu Yi’s figure appeared outside the cave, his vital energy radiating outward, alerting the three sword-toothed soul tigers inside.
Roar!

The three-headed Sword-Toothed Soul Tigers roared simultaneously and rushed out of the cave, staring coldly at Qu Yi.
“Human, you, a human cultivator in the later stages of fusion, instead of cultivating properly in the realm of cultivation, actually dare to come to the Soul Star Region to hunt soul beasts. You really have quite the audacity,” said one of the Sword-Toothed Soul Tigers coldly.
Qu Yi smiled and said casually, “Yes, I’m bold, and I also have a large capacity—I can easily consume all three of you, Sword-Toothed Soul Tigers.”
Roar!
The three-headed Sword-Toothed Soul Tigers understood Qu Yi’s intention—he truly intended to fight them one against three. What an insult!
Suddenly, the three-headed Sword-Toothed Soul Tigers opened their mouths wide, and three golden-glowing auras flew toward Qu Yi, enveloping him.
This was the Sword-Toothed Soul Tiger’s soul attack spell, Golden Soul Sword Thrust.
Inside the golden clouds were countless soul energies, each one like a sharp sword, all aiming to pierce Qu Yi’s vital spirit, trying to leave it riddled with wounds.
But before the three-headed Sword-Toothed Soul Tigers could laugh, Qu Yi didn’t even use his true energy to protect his vital spirit. Instead, he directly thrust his Golden Spear at them.
With the protection of the spear’s true energy, Qu Yi didn’t need to defend himself at all!
The Golden Spear emitted powerful golden true energy, striking the Sword-Toothed Soul Tigers instantly, giving them no chance to transform before killing them in one blow.
“Hehe, three more soul cores—Golden-element soul cores in the early stages of tribulation. I’ve got them,” Qu Yi said with a smile, holding three soul cores in his hand.
The three-headed Sword-Toothed Soul Tigers were killed before they could even roar, so the other powerful soul beasts on this planet were unaware of Qu Yi’s arrival.
After obtaining the Sword-Toothed Soul Tigers’ soul cores, Qu Yi immediately flew away to search for other soul beasts.
……
In the inner region of the Soul Star Region, there was a planet covered entirely in red soil. Along the equator, volcanoes stood at regular intervals, and their eruptions spread across the entire planet, creating its unique landscape.
At one of the volcanoes on the equator lived a group of Fire-Stepping Soul Cats, numbering no less than ten thousand. Among these ten thousand cats were three leader Soul Cats, all in the early stages of fusion cultivation.
At that moment, Qu Yi’s figure appeared in the sky near this volcano.
Indeed, after searching other planets and finding no fire-type soul beasts, Qu Yi flew through the stars to this planet and found this group of Fire-Stepping Soul Cats.

Qu Yi casually released the aura of his true essence, which naturally attracted the group of Fire-Stepping Soul Cats. The three leaders of the Fire-Stepping Soul Cats immediately flew into the air, watching Qu Yi warily.
“Human, what do you want here?” one of the Fire-Stepping Soul Cats demanded sternly.
Qu Yi took out his Golden Spear and smiled, “Is it necessary to ask? Of course, I’m here to kill you three.”
The Soul Heart Star Region was a place of slaughter—either humans killed soul beasts or soul beasts devoured humans.
Upon hearing this, the three leaders of the Fire-Stepping Soul Cats became furious. They opened their mouths wide and spat out flame-like mist, filled with violent soul energies. This was the Fire-Stepping Soul Cats’ soul attack spell, Soul Flame Explosion.
As long as these soul energies touched the surface of a human cultivator’s true essence, an explosion would occur, splitting the true essence into cracks. These three bursts of Soul Flame Explosion would be enough to completely destroy Qu Yi’s true essence.
Yet to the surprise of the three Fire-Stepping Soul Cats, Qu Yi didn’t defend himself against their soul attacks. Instead, he excitedly flew forward with his Golden Spear, a cruel smile on his lips.
“Aren’t you afraid of our soul attacks?”
The three leaders could hardly believe that Qu Yi was unafraid of soul attacks and still aimed to attack them. With that last thought in mind, they were all killed one after another by Qu Yi’s unmatched speed, pierced by his Golden Spear. Naturally, the defense of their true essences was handled by the Artifact God.
Qu Yi seized the three Fire-type soul cores from the early stage of tribulation and immediately said with a smile, “Artifact God, I’m so fortunate to have you with me.”
This was true. Other cultivators in the Soul Heart Star Region had to eliminate the soul energies that infiltrated their bodies before they could cast spells to attack soul beasts. But Qu Yi didn’t need to do that at all. He could simply use his magical artifacts to attack the soul beasts, with the Artifact God taking care of the soul energies in the background.
“Fortunate? I don’t even have time to sleep. Oh, there seem to be dozens more Fire-Stepping Soul Cats below with soul cores in their bodies. Let’s go down,” the Artifact God said lazily.
Immediately, Qu Yi’s gaze turned to the ground. There, over ten thousand Fire-Stepping Soul Cats were staring at him angrily, yet with fear in their eyes.
With the three leaders in the early stage of tribulation dead, these weaker Fire-Stepping Soul Cats knew they had no chance against Qu Yi.
Guided by the Artifact God, Qu Yi suddenly descended and, amidst the panicked and chaotic crowd of Fire-Stepping Soul Cats, killed the more than forty of them that had soul cores in their bodies, seizing all of them.

“The Fire-Stepping Soul Cat, I won’t disturb you anymore,” Qu Yi Fei called out cheerfully from the air. Immediately afterward, Qu Yi teleported away. On the ground, the panicked group of Fire-Stepping Soul Cats, once they calmed down, suddenly scattered in all directions. They had been terrified by Qu Yi’s precise attacks—he had managed to kill all those Fire-Stepping Soul Cats with soul cores without error. Such strength had left them completely overwhelmed.

…

In the inner region of the Soul Star Zone, there was another extremely peculiar planet. In the realm of cultivation, its size was comparable to that of a large planet. On this planet, the land took the shape of the three characters “I love you,” with oceans covering the rest. The land was entirely covered in forests, with no mountains, grasslands, canyons, or basins in sight.

Qu Yi had visited many planets in the inner region but hadn’t found any with wood-type soul beasts. By chance, while navigating through the stars, he spotted a large planet with alternating blue and green colors ahead. Intuiting that there might be a wood-type soul beast here, he rushed over immediately.

Above the land shaped like the character “love,” Qu Yi’s figure appeared. As soon as he stopped in midair, the Spirit Tool God sent a message: “Qu Yi, you’re really lucky. There indeed is a wood-type soul beast in the early stage of tribulation below.”

Hearing this, Qu Yi was overjoyed. After flying through the stars for two years, he had finally found a wood-type soul beast—everything was resolved at last. “My luck is indeed good,” Qu Yi affirmed to himself before teleporting away.

In a forest that stretched for thousands of miles, it was the territory of the Azure-Eyed Soul Lion, a soul beast in the early stage of tribulation with extraordinary strength. Yet even the most powerful soul beasts have their weaknesses.

At that moment, Qu Yi appeared right in front of the Azure-Eyed Soul Lion out of nowhere. “Who’s there… It turns out to be a human in the late stage of fusion. Haha, I was just hungry when you showed up—truly a kind person.” The Azure-Eyed Soul Lion was startled by Qu Yi’s sudden appearance, but upon realizing he was only at the late stage of fusion, it became relaxed again.

With his hands behind his back, Qu Yi walked lightly on the ground, smiling casually. “You lion really know how to enjoy life, monopolizing such a large territory all by yourself. I happen to be in need of a soul core right now—oh, that is, the wood-type soul core you have. So, I’d like to say this: you can end your happy life now. Hand over the soul core.”

Upon hearing this, the Azure-Eyed Soul Lion immediately opened its mouth wide and roared, “Human, I had originally planned to swallow you whole. Now that you’ve completely enraged me, I’ve made up my mind—I’ll swallow you bit by bit and make you suffer endlessly.” Suddenly, the Golden Spear appeared in Qu Yi’s hand.