The Deputy Master of the Soul Temple had already retreated without ever engaging in combat—clearly surprising even Xiao Yan and the others. Caught off guard, the man had even torn through space to escape. "He does move rather swiftly," Xiao Yan remarked, frowning slightly at the spot where the Deputy Master had vanished. The Deputy Master was no ordinary contender—reaching the late stage of a Three-Star Soul Saint. Had it not been for Zi Yan's presence today, a fiercely intense battle would have surely ensued. Even after such a battle, Xiao Yan wasn't certain he could have truly defeated him in the manner of a Supreme Sovereign, given that the Deputy Master's prowess far surpassed that of a Supreme Sovereign. "Though defeating him wasn't particularly difficult, he fought desperately to escape, and I simply couldn't stop him..." Zi Yan also felt helpless. A strong late-stage Three-Star Soul Saint was determined to run, and she simply couldn't hold him in place. Moreover, this Deputy Grand Master of the Soul Temple was exceptionally cautious—he didn't even engage in battle and simply walked away. With that, Zi Yan found it even more difficult to retain him. "Well, if he's going to run, let him run. The Soul Temple will eventually figure out that we're responsible. The alliance and the Soul Temple have long been at odds. Recently, the Soul Temple has launched heavy attacks on us. This time, we'll give them a fair share of retaliation, so as not to appear to the outside world as merely being crushed by the Soul Temple, like a turtle that can't move forward." Xiao Yan nodded, lightly brushing his fingers over his storage ring, and smiled faintly. Having captured the Great Heavenly Sovereign and obtained the Sea Heart Flame, this journey had already yielded tremendous results. Additionally, by destroying one of the Soul Temple's key branch palaces, the losses incurred would surely be difficult for the Soul Temple to bear. "The others, just take care of them as you go—don't miss a single one..." Xiang Yan glanced at the Hu Dun Palace elders fleeing in panic under the pursuit of Xiao Yi and Qing Lin. His eyes then shifted to the battlefield between Yao Lao and the Bone You Saint, now clearly in a defensive position, his energy noticeably weakened. Though he maintained his composure, he was still only an advanced half-Saint, far outmatched by Yao Lao, a Dou Saint. Their defeat was merely a matter of time. "Keep an eye on Bone You—don't let him escape." "Understood." Zi Yan nodded slightly, then moved with graceful ease, swiftly darting into action. In the span of just under a minute, she surged through the fleeing warriors like a great dragon charging into a flock of sheep, cutting down every last one. Faced with this near-decimation, Xiao Yan had no energy to spare, so he simply lowered his gaze to the colossal hall beneath, grasped his hand, and the Xuanzhong Chi-Staff materialized instantly. With a powerful strike, he cleaved through the hall, sending forth a vast flame ribbon stretching hundreds of paces—crushing the hall in two and revealing countless black chains winding within. At the ends of these chains hung countless soul-light orbs. Staring at the thousands of soul-forms, Xiao Yan couldn't help but have a flicker of surprise—those soul-people were treating souls as mere nourishment! Xiao Yan lightly waved his hand, and a terrifying gust of wind surged forth like a storm, shattering the chains in an instant. The souls within the glowing orbs slowly opened their eyes, weak and bewildered, gazing around them. Then, one after another, powerful waves of exhilaration surged from their souls—though they didn't know exactly when the transformation had occurred, they felt a profound sense of freedom. For years, they had lived like prisoners, bound here, sometimes even dreaming of death as a luxury. Gazing at the souls fleeing in panic, Xiao Yan couldn't help but shake his head. As he was about to turn around, a sudden thought struck him. His eyes fixed on the ruined grand hall, where he faintly sensed some unusual fluctuations deep within. With a moment's hesitation, he slowly lowered himself. A gentle sweep of his sleeve sent a powerful gust of wind that violently hurled the towering stone pillars—each hundreds of feet high—into the air. Under Xiao Yan's rapid excavation, the ruins split open to reveal a massive crater within moments. Deep within this crater, a luminous orb of approximately half a zhang in size floated suspended. The orb was transparent, and around its perimeter, countless dark chains extended, their ends firmly connected to the souls that had just fled. Clearly, this orb was the essence drawn from the bodies of those souls. "What is this..." Xiao Yan frowned, gazing intently at the orb. From within it, he sensed an extraordinarily terrifying surge of spiritual energy—pure, unadulterated, with no trace of impurities. "This is the soul's fundamental essence," came the voice of Yao Lao from behind Xiao Yan. Turning to see, he found the elder had descended from the sky, having been swiftly dealt with by Zi Yan. The bone-wraith had been efficiently subdued, allowing Yao Lao to make his timely escape. "The essence of the soul..." Xiao Yan slowly murmured. Now, he naturally understood what it meant. The soul was the fundamental essence of all living beings; every creature and natural phenomenon possessed a soul. At the very core of each soul lay a trace of the primal soul essence—the very foundation upon which the soul was born, and arguably the purest and most extraordinary energy in the cosmos. "With so many soul essences—no less than a million souls condensed together..." Master Yao's expression was complex. "This luminous soul orb is likely the accumulation gathered by the Human Hall over the years. The Deputy Hall Master of the Soul Hall was too preoccupied with fleeing to escape, and thus failed to carry this most vital treasure with him." "A million souls," Xiao Yan exhaled gently. The Soul Hall's strategy was indeed ruthless. To secure these primal soul essences, they had sacrificed an entire million souls. And this was only the Human Hall. Across the Central Region, there were numerous other branch halls, each of which also harbored such mysterious phenomena. "This Soul Temple has been a curse for the entire continent..." "Indeed, a curse..." The old pharmacist's face betrayed unmistakable disdain. For the sake of its goals, the Soul Temple had resorted to any means—so ruthless, in fact, that the cruelty was now scarcely distinguishable from draining human blood and flesh. And even more so, in his case, it was even more merciless. "I wonder what the Soul Temple truly intends to achieve by gathering so many soul essences?" Xiang frowned, sensing that this would undoubtedly be a grand scheme orchestrated by the Temple. "By absorbing soul essences, one strengthens one's soul power. Should a person accumulate an immense amount of soul essence and happen to have the right circumstances, they might even reach the legendary 'Emperor Realm' of soul power," the old pharmacist said slowly. "Then you're saying—rather than the entire Soul Temple, it's actually certain members of the Soul Clan who wish to cultivate and elevate their soul power to the 'Emperor Realm' level, which is why they're capturing souls and extracting their soul essences?" Xiang was startled, asking. "It should be like this, but I'm not entirely certain. When I was captured by the Spirit Pavilion, they wanted me to submit to them, and it seemed they needed my alchemy skills to do something specific for them. Yet I didn't agree, so I still don't know exactly what they require of me. Still, based on my own speculation, it probably has something to do with the essence of the soul itself..." The old pharmacist stroked his beard, frowning. Xiao Yan listened intently, his brows furrowed as well. All these signs pointed to the fact that the Spirit Clan was quietly preparing something significant, and gathering souls and refining their essence were merely the initial steps. "What exactly do these people intend to achieve?" Xiao Yan had once met Huang Quan, the immortal-level immortal who had reached the Emperor's realm in soul cultivation. But according to the fragmentary account of the remaining soul, even if a soul truly reached the Emperor's realm, it might still not qualify as a true Battle Emperor. Perhaps, the very thing he mentioned—the essential element lacking in this world—would be the key to unraveling all the mysteries. "Could it be that the essence the Yellow Springs Immortal Saint spoke of as lacking is precisely this soul origin?" Xiao Yan shook his head in bewilderment, sighing deeply as he struggled to grasp the full meaning. Ultimately, he could only ask, "What should we do with this?" By "this," he meant the luminous soul origin orb before him—the one painstakingly gathered by the Human Hall. Its value was incalculable. Once it was taken out, countless alchemists would surely go mad. "This essence was formed through accumulated slaughter and should not have existed in the natural realm. Yet since it has manifested, there is no reason to discard it. Take it then. Your current soul realm stands at the late stage of the Heavenly Realm, still falling short of the ultimate Heavenly Realm perfection. Should you successfully refine and absorb this soul origin, you should be able to reach that peak. This would be of immense benefit to your pursuit of the Pure Lotus Demon Flame..." The Elder of Medicine hesitated before speaking. Hearing this, Xiao Yan was also momentarily stunned, pausing slightly without showing excessive pretense. He turned his gaze toward the soul light orb, raised his hand, and with a gentle motion, shattered the chains binding it. He then slowly traced the surface of the orb with his palm, speaking softly, "I'll settle your grudges..." The simple words suddenly caused the soul light orb to emit a faint glow, as if conveying a multitude of subtle messages.