Art of the Ancient Dragon Emperor - Chapter 30

Chapter 30: The Key: Soul Guidance Art

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation

Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

“Deal? What deal?” Lin Han watched the beautiful lady before him yet his expression was indifferent.

Seeing Lin Han’s indifferent expression made exasperation grow in Lin Ruyan’s heart.

‘Is this stupid Lin Han pretending to be indifferent or is he really entirely uninterested in a beauty like me?’

However, Lin Ruyan felt that the former had a higher possibility since she could see the smiling expression threatening to tug at Lin Han’s eyes.

“Very well, Lin Han, you’re actually pretending to be so calm in front of me!” Lin Ruyan said, feigning anger.

“No, I treat everyone like this.” Lin Han waved his hand dismissively, the smile on his face accentuating his look of innocence.

“Okay, enough with the jokes.”

Lin Ruyan scrunched her nose before her beautiful eyes gleamed as she smiled. “Actually, I’m not the one that wants to make a deal with you. It’s actually another person so I’m only here to help him pass a message.”

“Who is this person?” Lin Han’s eyes flashed with confusion.

“An uncle of mine called ‘Uncle Ghost’.” As Lin Ruyan spoke, her eyes too flashed with confusion. “Uncle Ghost has always been mysterious, he basically never interacts with other people. I wonder why he asked me to seek you out this time. He said that I only need to tell you two words and then you’ll definitely follow me to go see him.”

“What words?” Lin Han’s expression shifted.

“Spirit Master,” said Lin Ruyan slowly, enunciating both words clearly.

What?

Spirit Master?

Lin Han’s flashed with barely-concealed shock but he quickly calmed down. He looked at Lin Ruyan and said, “Bring me to him.”

“Okay.” Lin Ruyan had not understood what ‘Spirit Master’ represented since she was only here to pass on Uncle Ghost’s message.

…

An hour later, night fell.

Lin Han stepped into an old courtyard while Lin Ruyan stood at its entrance and said, “Uncle Ghost is inside. Don’t worry, he won’t hurt you.”

“Okay.”

Lin Han nodded his head before walking deep into the courtyard.

The courtyard under the night seemed reserved and tranquil, the moonlight seemingly unable to penetrate the darkness of the small courtyard.

A spooky atmosphere permeated the entire courtyard.

Lin Han thought to himself, ‘How did this Uncle Ghost know I’m on the path of cultivating as a Spirit Master.

‘Besides, this deal he’s talking about, could it be related to the cultivation of a Spirit Master?’

Could this Uncle Ghost be a mysterious Spirit Master?

Even if he had a million questions, Lin Han knew that all his questions would be answered once he saw this ‘Uncle Ghost’ Lin Ruyan spoke about.

Under the night, the sprinkling of stars in the sky shone down on the deserted courtyard, making it look dim but serene.

Lin Han continued walking inwards, slightly warier now.

Suddenly, as Lin Han expanded his perception, he discovered a peculiar aura and he turned around quickly.

Unbeknownst to him, a strange figure enveloped in a black robe had appeared behind him.

Shock flashed through Lin Han’s eyes; within the hood of the robe were two green will-o’-the-wisps that burned like a pair of ghostly eyes that stared at him.

“Elder, you are?” Lin Han felt a chill run through his body but he greeted the figure with a fist salute.

“I’m the Uncle Ghost that Young Miss spoke about,” a hoarse voice said from within the black robe.

Young Miss?

That should be referring to Lin Ruyan.

Lin Han’s eyes gleamed before he went straight to the point and said, “Senior Uncle Ghost, what deal did you want to make with me?”

“I merely want to form good ties with you,” said Uncle Ghost slowly.

“Good ties?” Lin Han was confused.

“You must be distressed about how to truly enter the path of cultivating as a Spirit Master, right?” Uncle Ghost seemed to have seen right through Lin Han as he spoke with a husky voice and a smile on his face.

“You’re right.” Lin Han nodded his head.

This Uncle Ghost was too mysterious; he could be a Spirit Master with a profound cultivation base.

Besides that, he harbored no ill intentions towards Lin Han, so there was no need to hide his cultivation as a Spirit Master from this person as he had already discovered it.

“You were awakened as an Innate Spirit Master so there definitely exists a Spirit Master cultivation method that’s especially yours deep inside your soul. Maybe it was passed on to you from your ancestors or maybe it was granted to you by the Heavens… No matter which one it is, if you want to obtain that cultivation method, you’ll need to go through a soul guiding process.”

As Uncle Ghost spoke, he suddenly placed a finger right in the middle of Lin Han’s eyebrows before a glimmer of light entered Lin Han’s mind directly.

The next moment, before Lin Han could react, Uncle Ghost had already retracted his hand.

However, Lin Han had managed a glimpse at the very last moment; the hand that had appeared from under Uncle Ghost’s robe was actually made entirely of bone!

Could it be that this black robe was wrapped around a…

“Follow the ‘Soul Guidance Art’ I just gave you and I hope you’ll be able to find your own cultivation method as a Spirit Master in your soul,” said Uncle Ghost slowly, his voice hoarse.

Soul Guidance Art?

At this moment Lin Han could “see” that there was a new mysterious incantation in his memories.

Soul Guidance Art was like a key for Spirit Masters in cultivation. Although it was not valuable, it was essential to opening the chains around one’s soul in the very beginning.

At this moment, Lin Han finally had a clear understanding.

It seemed that he could not find his own cultivation method from the Golden Spirit Fire because he did not have this “key”.

“Thank you, Senior Uncle Ghost.” Lin Han gave him a solemn fist salute before saying, “If Uncle Ghost meets any difficulties in the future, I’ll definitely do my best to help you within my means.”

Lin Han knew this Uncle Ghost had seen his potential as a Spirit Master and had therefore decided to establish good ties with him.

It did not matter if it was out of kindness or out of personal gain. No matter what, this Uncle Ghost had helped him a lot.

Lin Han was by no means an ungrateful person but he was not a saint either. Therefore, when he had made his promise, he had specified that he would help if he was capable.

A promise like this carried a small scheme that Uncle Ghost could naturally pick up on. He roared with laughter before saying, “I never expected that you would be such a cunning young man.”

Uncle Ghost naturally did not take the matter to heart.

All he needed was his good ties with Lin Han.

Forget the tiny Yan Kingdom, Spirit Masters were extremely rare even in the entirety of the Lingwu Continent so each Spirit Master was a treasured existence.

This also meant the competitions between Spirit Masters were dangerous and deadly so gaining one more friend was better than gaining an enemy.

…

In the dead of the night, Lin Han bid goodbye to Lin Ruyan and Uncle Ghost before directly returning to his own pavilion, eager to begin practicing ‘Soul Guidance Art’.

This time, he could obviously feel the difference in his soul; it was as if his soul was merging with the Golden Spirit Fire according to its own rhythm.

What made Lin Han even more overjoyed was that under the guidance of Soul Guidance Art, his soul was finally entering the Golden Spirit Fire.

“Boom”

Within the Golden Spirit Fire, Lin Han no longer saw the image of the wide Ancient Land, instead, he saw an ancient book floating inside it.

The ancient book was in a spirit form and it seemed like it had been there for eternity, unaffected by the passage of time.

Lin Han’s expression shifted and the ancient book slowly flipped to its first page.

“Hum”

At this moment, a spirit-like eyeball suddenly appeared floating above the first page.

Information immediately rushed into Lin Han’s mind.

“The path of cultivation for a Spirit Master begins at the lowest—Level One Spirit Master through to Level Nine Spirit Master. The ‘Soul Divine Book’ is the first mysterious book for Spirit Masters then and now. It has been passed down from ancient times and has nine pages. Every time you achieve a new boundary, you can flip to the next page and each page contains a specialized Divine Ability for Spirit Masters.”

Lin Han’s eyes glimmered; this spirit-like eyeball floating above the first page was definitely a type of specialized Divine Ability.

This also meant that he had successfully become a Level One Spirit Master!

The next moment, Lin Han communicated with the spirit-like eyeball floating above the first page of the ‘Soul Divine Book’. He immediately understood its function, which was to peep at the statuses of Warriors’ cultivation bases.

Lin Han originally thought this ability was a function of the Art of the Ancient Dragon Emperor but it seemed now that it was his soul’s ability instead.

Lin Han then tried to flip to the second page of the ‘Soul Divine Book’ but he could not get it to budge no matter what since his spiritual power was lacking.

Lin Han immediately understood that his soul needed to be at a certain level of strength before he could flip to the second page and become a Level Two Spirit Master.

Lin Han had learned from Uncle Ghost that to cultivate his soul, he first needed to catch some natural Spirit Beasts.

However, Spirits Beasts, just like Spirit Masters, were incredibly rare in Lingwu Continent and extremely hard to find.

Secondly, if he wanted to cultivate by himself, his progress would definitely be very slow.

Before he left, Uncle Ghost had told Lin Han that Spirit Masters had stages, which were Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, and Pinnacle.

At this moment, Lin Han could feel that his soul and mind were incredibly weak.

Lin Han knew that since he had just successfully guided his soul, he was unfortunately only a Level One Beginner Spirit Master, which was also the weakest Spirit Master.

In this regard, Lin Han was not the least disappointed.

He had successfully guided his soul and obtained the ancient mysterious book, ‘Soul Divine Book’. Besides that, he had also activated his first specialized Divine Ability as a Spirit Master, which was that floating spirit-like eyeball. Lin Han had named it “Sky Eye”.

With his Sky Eye open, he could see through the void now. However, Lin Han knew that as his spiritual power grew, this Sky Eye Divine Ability would definitely not be limited to only peeping at the cultivation bases of Warriors.

Lin Han then continued to cultivate the Art of the Ancient Dragon Emperor in his pavilion.

He wanted to break into the peak of fifth tier martial arts, maybe even sixth tier, before the Martial Arts Tea Party.

Otherwise, forget the mysterious and powerful Lin Gutian, even Lin Duanjian at the third rank could easily defeat and kill Lin Han.

The next day.

The elder from the Inner Residence once again paid him a visit, bringing with him five hundred taels and one Element Condensation Pill.

Lin Han was overjoyed; he immediately swallowed the Element Condensation Pill but he realized that after it was absorbed by the Art of the Ancient Dragon Emperor, his True Element had only increased a little.

This instance shocked Lin Han.

After a brief consideration, Lin Han discovered the reason. His cultivation of the Art of the Ancient Dragon Emperor meant that he was cultivating an extremely vigorous and boundless Dragon Power True Element.

Therefore, a successful breakthrough required a lot of powerful energy.

It was evident that one Element Condensation Pill was no longer enough to fulfill his needs.

Lin Han was slightly worried at this but he was also happy at the same time.

The more powerful energy the Art of the Ancient Dragon Emperor required, the more powerful he would become after achieving its breakthrough. Once he broke through, he would definitely sweep through the Warriors on the same rank as him.

“The Martial Arts Tea Party is four days away. I should seek out breakthrough opportunities since waiting with my clan is no longer an option.”

Lin Han’s eyes glazed over with determination.

He was going to enter Broken Sky Forest once more and this time he needed to venture in deeper. He needed to look for spiritual medicine to aid his breakthrough process.

Once he set his mind to this, Lin Han walked out of his pavilion and headed in a certain direction.

Before entering the Broken Sky Forest, he needed to prepare himself properly since he wanted to venture deep into the forest this time, which was extremely dangerous.