Chapter 117: Forbidden Soul Arts

Everyone’s attention was drawn to Fifth Grandpa’s words, and they all turned to look at him. Suddenly finding himself under everyone’s gaze, Fifth Grandpa steadied himself and said as he recalled the matter, “I wonder whether any of you still remember a certain secret technique. It is used between people who share a bloodline, generally between twins.”

“You mean Yin Yao may have encountered that situation?!” Third Grandpa asked hurriedly.

“That shouldn’t be possible. As far as I know, Silver Fox had only one daughter. Yin Yao, do you have an older or younger sister?” Second Grandpa thought for a moment before rejecting Third Grandpa’s conclusion.

Yin Yao shook her head firmly. “My mother has only one daughter—me!”

Fifth Grandpa raised a hand, signaling everyone to wait and hear him out before continuing the discussion. “I’m only describing a similar situation that I know of. Don’t rush to conclusions. This occurs between twins for certain special reasons: one child is born normally, while the other directly places its soul inside the body of the child who is successfully born. The special reason is that the mother cannot sustain both children. Moreover, only the upper echelons of the great families on the Void Continent know of this secret technique.”

“You may find it strange. How could an unborn child use such a technique? In truth, it is a very peculiar phenomenon. If one of two children must be abandoned, but the child being abandoned refuses to leave, its obsession can cause this to happen involuntarily. Of course, the prerequisite is that the mother knows this secret technique. As the child born safely grows up little by little, the soul residing within her body will gradually awaken, and the secret technique will automatically appear in her mind.”

“As time passes, the child who exists only as a soul will choose a suitable moment based on the surviving child’s strength and release its soul, borrowing its sibling’s body. At the same time, the other child will inexplicably fall unconscious, with all its spiritual power exhausted.”

By the end, Fifth Grandpa’s tone had grown solemn, and his voice rose. Indeed, what he had described was almost identical to Yin Yao’s current situation.

Yin Yao was shaken. What Fifth Grandpa had described was exactly like her own experience. The only difference was that she was not aware of having a twin. Yet, judging from his explanation, she suddenly began to wonder whether she truly had an older or younger sister. After all, that person existed as a soul and resided within her body. But who could answer this question for her?

At that moment, Yin Yao desperately wished that Silver Fox were by her side. As her mother, Silver Fox could not possibly be unaware of how many children she had carried. If she could simply say whether she had been pregnant with twins, Yin Yao would be able to determine who the woman was that stole all her spiritual power each night.

Everyone kept glancing at Yin Yao from time to time. There was no helping it—the situation was simply too similar. Yet Yin Yao had firmly insisted that her mother had only one daughter. In truth, everyone understood that this might not necessarily be the case. Yin Yao had no way of knowing whether another soul resided within her body.

Fifth Grandpa’s words naturally prompted the other elders to make further connections. They knew of this secret technique. It was not merely a secret technique, but a forbidden art—something that was not allowed to be used. That was why they had failed to recall it at once. Given Silver Fox’s status and position within the Spirit Fox Clan at the time, she would certainly have known of it. In other words, the forbidden technique Yin Yao had encountered might very well be this one.

The longer the soul-child occupied the surviving child’s spiritual power, the stronger she was. By using the surviving child’s spiritual power, she could temporarily reconstruct a physical body and live again, though only for a limited time. In the end, this phenomenon generally led to one of three outcomes.

First, the surviving child eliminated the soul-child and gained complete control of the body.

Second, the opposite occurred: the soul-child reclaimed the body.

Third, both children continued to share a single body.

There was actually one more possibility, but it had never appeared in any clan. The soul-child might discover a way to reconstruct a body and create an entirely new one for herself, thereby severing herself completely from the child who had survived.

But that would be an act against the laws of heaven. No one could defy heaven and continue living.

Now, if Yin Yao had truly encountered such a situation, and the soul-child had been able to appear for the first time and seize half of Yin Yao’s day, dividing the time between them equally, that was enough to prove how powerful she was. She had been cultivating as a soul within Yin Yao’s body all along.

This also meant that Yin Yao’s situation was extremely dangerous. She might very well be heading toward the second outcome: being erased while the soul-child was reborn.

Concern, anxiety, and even affection filled everyone’s eyes as they looked at Yin Yao. She was grateful for their concern, but she did not like the way they were looking at her.

She was not weak.

“Grandpas, do all of you believe that what I encountered is this forgotten secret technique?” Yin Yao took a deep breath and gave the six elders before her a faint smile.

The elders seemed unwilling to tell her this cruel truth. None of them spoke. They only looked at her, wanting to say something but hesitating.

Seeing their reaction, Yin Yao smiled again.

In the elders’ eyes, that smile was helplessness. But in Ji Xuanyu’s eyes, it was disappointment—Yin Yao’s disappointment in her own family for not believing in her.

Were they afraid that she would be erased by that woman?

But they did not understand. Yin Yao was not someone who would admit defeat. She never did anything without confidence.

He believed in Yin Yao—unconditionally.

Bai Yun’s eyes filled with tears. Why had Sister Yao encountered such a situation? If this really was what had happened, she would gain another cousin. But how could Bai Yun not understand what the final outcome might be? As the clan leader’s daughter, she knew something about forbidden arts. She naturally understood whether the existence of another sister would be a blessing or a disaster.

“What if I have encountered this situation?” Yin Yao looked at everyone, her voice growing cold. “Although I don’t understand this secret technique, I can still imagine what the result would be. Do you truly not believe in me? Do you really think I will lose? Lose to someone who exists only as a soul?”

Yin Yao’s sudden coldness left everyone stunned for a moment.

Hearing her words, Third Grandpa blurted out what he had been thinking. “Girl, Third Grandpa believes in you! What are you afraid of? You still have Third Grandpa! If you can’t beat her alone, Third Grandpa will help you!”

His concern filled Yin Yao with warmth. Yes, this was exactly the attitude she wanted from Third Grandpa—not silence, accompanied by gazes full of pity.

Seeing a trace of a smile appear on the girl’s face because of his words, Third Grandpa was delighted. But he still spoke honestly.

“Girl, your grandpas know that you aren’t afraid and that you won’t admit defeat. But I still need to warn you. If this truly is the situation, you must not underestimate your opponent. The soul-child’s strength can be judged by how much of your time she can seize. As her strength increases, she will take more and more of your time. Unless you are stronger than she is…”

“Girl, don’t be upset because your grandpas seem not to believe in you. They simply realized this possibility and concluded that the other child must be powerful. That is why they are worried. You said that your spiritual power mysteriously disappeared when you advanced that day. I think she was the one who took it. Your breakthrough can also drive her breakthrough. If her innate talent is no worse than yours, then part of the reason you were able to take advantage of your momentum and enter the Void Sovereign Realm that day may have been thanks to her!”

Third Grandpa spoke earnestly. He could not allow Yin Yao to misunderstand the others. He had to make everything clear.

Looking at the concern in everyone’s eyes, Yin Yao did not know what to say for a moment. She truly was not afraid. But everyone was deeply worried about her, afraid that her strength was insufficient and that the mysterious woman would erase her.

That was understandable. After all, nearly twenty years of living as a soul within another person’s body—even if that person was one’s own blood relative—would likely twist anyone’s desires and drive them to ruthless acts. No one would willingly live in the world as something neither human nor ghost.

To reassure everyone, Yin Yao replaced her cold expression with a smile and comforted them. “All right, I know everyone is only worried about me. But what I want even more is for you to believe in me. Besides, I may not actually have encountered this situation, have I?”

“That’s right. Enough, old brothers. Don’t dwell on it so much. We still have no proof. Look on the bright side.” Third Grandpa loudly echoed Yin Yao’s words, doing his best to keep her from feeling too much pressure.

“Yes, yes.”

“Ah, it’s nothing. Girl, don’t take it to heart.”

“Hey, Old Fifth, this is all your fault. Why did you scare the girl?”

Everyone wisely stopped mentioning the matter. But that did not mean they had forgotten it. Behind the scenes, it would come down to who could act fastest.

Ji Xuanyu and Yin Yao exchanged a quick glance, immediately understanding each other. They nodded.

Yin Yao might not be in a convenient position to investigate the matter, but Ji Xuanyu was.

After the gathering ended, everyone returned to their own quarters. Yin Yao devoted herself to cultivation, while Ji Xuanyu left to investigate according to her wishes.

Night fell. As expected, Yin Yao once again lost most of her spiritual power. The little that remained was barely enough to sustain her life.

Third Grandpa came alone to Yin Yao’s room. He was worried about her.

Yin Yao lay flat on the bed. A faint layer of mist surrounded her. Looking closer, he saw the illusory image of a nine-tailed fox encircling her.

But shouldn’t the power Yin Yao had inherited have belonged to a white fox? The last time he had watched her advance, the phantom of a white fox had appeared. How had a nine-tailed fox now appeared to protect her?

Could the power she had inherited actually have come from a nine-tailed fox rather than a white fox?!

Third Grandpa thought that if he had not been so worried about Yin Yao this time and made a special trip to see her, he might never have discovered this. Perhaps Yin Yao herself still did not know that she possessed the power of a nine-tailed fox.

What kind of power had Yin Yao inherited?!

Author’s Note

I wasn’t feeling well yesterday, so I’m very sorry for not updating. I had originally planned to make up for it with two updates today, but I still have things to take care of and don’t know whether I’ll have enough time. If I do, I’ll definitely make it up!