A flicker of struggle flashed in the fox soul's eyes.
Xie Zhaolin seized the moment, condensing a wisp of silver spiritual power at her fingertip and slowly pushing it toward the fox soul.
"Feel it. This is pure power…"
The fox soul hesitated, then cautiously absorbed the wisp. Its form grew brighter, and the wariness in its eyes softened. She knew the time had come. Her fingers weaved together, forming a complex rune of contract in her palm.
"Don't resist…"
The rune floated forward and sank into the fox soul's forehead. The moment it merged, an unseen link formed between them.
"It worked!" Joy welled up in her chest. She could clearly sense the fox soul's presence, even catching faint ripples of its emotions.
The fox soul lowered its head, picked up the core fragment from the ground, and laid it at her feet like an offering. The gesture made her chuckle.
"Go on, absorb it. That's your reward."
The fox soul happily wagged its tails and swallowed the shard. Its body instantly grew more solid, even showing faint signs of breaking through.
Satisfied, she nodded. With this soul guardian equal to a mid-stage Foundation strength, her upcoming plans would be far smoother. She looked deeper into the passage, her eyes glimmering with excitement. There were still more high-ranked yin souls waiting for her to subdue. Each servant she added would strengthen her power…
Or become nourishment for her path. Her lips curved upward as she stroked the fox soul's snowy fur. The icy touch carried a strange spiritual rhythm.
"You need a name." She gazed into its starlit blue eyes, recalling a northern legend she'd once read. "I'll call you Shuang Ling, like the first light of dawn on the snowy plains."
The fox soul's ears twitched. It seemed pleased, tails brushing across the stone floor in playful arcs.
"Let's continue, my little Shuang Ling." She patted its head gently. "Bring me your companions—remember, only beast souls."
She stressed the final three words, tracing a wolf's silhouette in the air with her finger.
Shuang Ling tilted its head at the motion, then leapt gracefully toward the array's edge. Before vanishing, it glanced back at her, mischief flashing in its blue eyes. It was more than willing to lure its former kind into her grasp.
Once it disappeared into the passage in a streak of white light, she immediately wove the Nine Nether Soul Locking Array in the shadows of the rock wall.
The bees hovered at the array nodes, each secreting venomous threads of pale violet mist into the air.
Her hand brushed across her storage ring. She remembered the humanoid yin soul from before, the way it used a sword art so much like a Xuantian Sect disciple's technique.
"Beast souls only develop partial wisdom, but human souls sometimes retain their past memories…"
That was the real reason she sent Shuang Ling to lure beast souls. Human souls with memories were harder to control, far less useful than beasts. It wasn't long before faint scratching echoed from the passage. Shuang Ling returned, dragging a half-transparent wolf soul.
One glance, and she frowned. The wolf's left hind leg was nearly gone, clear evidence it had just suffered a brutal battle.
"Next time, bring me a complete one." She tapped her finger to its forehead, sending baleful qi stabbing into its core.
The wolf soul convulsed violently before dissolving into smoke. Most of the essence flowed into Shuang Ling, the rest into her fingertips. The fox lowered its ears, nuzzling her wrist as if to appease her.
The second hunt made her eyes light up.
A jade-green serpent soul coiled in the center of the array, scales shimmering with toxic glow, vertical pupils flashing with savage fury. The instant she cast a seal, the serpent lunged, fangs striking for her throat!
"Stubborn beast!"
She spun aside, seven chains of black qi lashing from her sleeve. The chains pierced its seven-inch weak point, but before she could finish, Shuang Ling pounced from above, sinking its teeth into the serpent's inverse scale. With a sickening tear, the serpent was ripped apart.
The bees swarmed into formation overhead while she slammed her palm onto the serpent's head. "Submit or die!"
Her spiritual sense turned into razor spikes, stabbing deep into its core. At last the serpent ceased its struggle, blood-red runes of contract spreading across its body.
By the fifth soul subdued, she'd already grasped the patterns. Deer forms were docile but weak. Apes were cunning and unruly but skilled in climbing. Cats were the hardest to bind.
"Birds are still the most useful."
Her hand rested on the wings of a newly captured snowy owl soul, its six-foot span gleaming frost-white. Shuang Ling was darting playfully through its feathers.
This owl was today's prize.
Earlier, Shuang Ling had bounded out of the passage, tail raised high, claws sketching excitedly in the air to show what it had found: a rare bird-type yin soul with six-foot wings, feathers like snow, strong enough to fight three humanoid yin souls without falling behind.
She had been intrigued instantly.
Bird souls were rare, and those capable of flight even rarer. But this snowy owl was more than just rare—it was powerful. If she subdued it, she'd gain not just another strong servant but also a way to make up for her biggest weakness: the lack of flight.
"Lure it here," she'd ordered, and Shuang Ling had dashed back into the passage.
Soon, the sound of flapping wings echoed, and the owl burst into view, silver-white wings cutting streamlined shadows through the dim tunnel. Holding her breath, she waited until it entered the array, then activated the soul-locking chains!
Seven black chains erupted from the ground, whipping toward its wings. But the owl reacted with startling speed, twisting sharply and evading most of them. Only two chains wrapped around its left wing. With a furious shriek, it beat its right wing, blasting icy gales through the cavern!
Wind howled, stones rained from above, her robe whipped violently, and the chains rattled under the storm's force, nearly snapping loose.
"What a fiery temper!" She wiped ice from her face, smiling instead of angered.
The harder to tame, the more valuable the prize. She could kill it with a single thrust of baleful qi into its core, but that would waste such a rare beast.
"No choice but to be harsh."
She slammed the chains against the ground, shaking the owl until it reeled. But before she could brand it with a contract, it spread its wings wide. Thousands of feathers turned into silver needles, raining toward her!
"Nether Shield!"
She flung out her sleeve, conjuring a shield of dark mist. Most of the feathers bounced off, but a few grazed her cheek, leaving thin trails of blood.
Shuang Ling darted forward, leaping in front of her. Its fluffy tails expanded like a shield, catching the barrage. The sound of needles piercing fur echoed, and the fox's tails trembled in pain.
Her eyes darkened, heart aching at the sight. Both hands flew through seals, forcing the chains to flare like molten iron, searing through the owl's soul.
The snowy owl shrieked in agony but still refused to submit. Even skewered, its golden eyes burned with defiance.
Then, to her shock, it began devouring the power of the chains themselves. Its soul body withered, riddled with wounds, yet it kept feeding, refusing to yield. Her heart shook—this snowy owl would rather destroy itself than bow its head!