Sanctuary Paradise

Chapter 803 Soul Sealing and Mind Control

Three hours later, in a private room.

[Notification: Teleportation complete. The Pioneer has returned to their private room.]

"No, Lingyu, don't wake me up tomorrow morning. I'm going to sleep in tonight..."

A pale golden beam of teleportation flashed by, and inside the room, a weary Xin Lailai collapsed onto the bed, too lazy to even change her clothes, and simply fell into a deep sleep.

Meanwhile, Ling Yuzi, who was in the soul space holding the Soul Cultivation Manual, watched this scene, tilted his head slightly, pondered for a while, and then silently counted down in his mind.

‘10…9…8…7…6…5……’

Wow——! !

Before the countdown was over, in the private room, Xin Lailai, who was already snoring, suddenly opened her eyes as if possessed. She sat up abruptly on the bed and stared intently at the communication channel as if she were under a spell, her pupils bloodshot.

No!

That damn Death Hunter has gotten even stronger! How can they just fall asleep like this?!

Seriously! Why the hell would anyone choose a godforsaken place like the Dead Sea Ruins with a lower level?! And why the hell would they just happen to run into a small-scale Abyss Hole event?!
The thought that while they were carefully leveling up in a derivative world, the Deathbringers were accumulating a massive amount of skill points by slaughtering their way through the army of abyssal creatures made Xin Lailai feel a strong urge rush to her head, and even the drowsiness in her mind became less noticeable.

We must make up for these gaps within the given time!

Finally, his gaze became incredibly firm as he looked at the numerous books and alchemy manuals stored in his storage space. He silently took them all out and began to frantically absorb the knowledge within them, gritting his teeth.

Meanwhile, Ling Yuzi, who was in the soul space, blinked and nodded slightly as he watched Xin Lailai, who was frantically grinding away at various spells and alchemy knowledge with bloodshot eyes and a ferocious expression, as if she had been injected with chicken blood.

Sure enough, they're exactly the same when it comes to never admitting defeat.

……

……

Four days later, in a private room.

[Hint: Do you want to consume 5 Soul Coins to upgrade "Basic Soul Arcane Arts: LV.29"?]

[Confirmation complete, upgrade to begin...]

[Upgrade complete. Basic Soul Arcane Arts has been upgraded to LV.30]

[Note: Since the Pioneers have not yet mastered "Intermediate Soul Science", the current "Basic Soul Arcane Science" can only be upgraded to LV.30.]

[Note: Based on the Pioneer's current Soul Science specialization, the Pioneer needs to raise "Basic Soul Arcane Arts," "Basic Soul Rune Arts," and "Basic Soul Weapon Arts" to LV.30 before "Advanced Soul Science" can be upgraded to "Intermediate Soul Science."]

The cold notification sound echoed in her ears. Inside the room, Xin Lailai, who had been grinding since 4 a.m. because the active effect of the "Diligent Scholar" title was still on cooldown, and who maintained a healthy sleep schedule of 8 hours every two days, looked at the information that popped up on the brand interface and breathed a sigh of relief.

It was worth the four days and four nights he and Lingyuzi spent grinding to improve their proficiency; they finally managed to raise one of their three branches of Soul Studies to LV.30.

As for the "intermediate soul science" mentioned in the prompt, that can only be achieved slowly. You have to understand that their soul weapon science is still at LV.12, and if you add the LV.20 soul rune science, at the current pace, they will have to wait until the end of this expedition world progress before they have a chance to grind it all to LV.30.

It's no wonder that so few contractors choose the Soul path, even though they already possess considerable strength once they've developed.

Just look at their situation and you'll know. Even with dual souls and learning-enhancing equipment and titles, their progress in soul studies is barely keeping up with their needs. If it were an ordinary soul-type contractor without these advantages, they would probably have to wait until the late fourth or even fifth tier before they could grind all three soul study branches to LV.30.

As for choosing two fewer branches and specializing in only one to reduce pressure?

This approach can indeed save a lot of energy in the early stages, but at the cost of being stuck at the ninth level for life... which is the level of "intermediate soul science". This is because if you want to advance to "advanced soul science" and even further to "top soul science", you need to master at least three branches of soul science.

Of course, you could also max out one branch of Soul Studies and then go back to study the other two. The problem is that their current Soul Studies follows the knowledge system route certified by Paradise, so they can quickly improve by directly grinding proficiency and spending Soul Coins.

However, the knowledge system improvement path of Paradise Notary is a one-off deal. That is, its initial direction is fixed after they have chosen the number of specialization branches. It is like the foundation of a tall building. Once it is built, unless a huge price is paid, it is basically impossible to talk about changing the foundation after the building is completed.

Ultimately, within the Paradise's notary system, the concept of "skill" is more crucial than the word "knowledge" itself. For instance, when they mastered "Advanced Soul Studies," it seemed like they simply chose three branches of soul studies, but in reality, under the intervention of the notary system, they laid the foundation for their abilities on the extraordinary path of the soul system in one fell swoop.

In this situation, if they want to learn other branches of soul studies in the future, although there will be no obstacles, they will no longer be able to improve quickly like knowledge-based skills such as soul magic through the proficiency mechanism certified by Paradise. Instead, they will have to learn step by step from scratch, just like the native inhabitants of the Void and the native world who do not have the advantage of being marked, and spend a lot of time gradually improving themselves.

"Unfortunately, the requirements for the LV.30 Soul Arcane Technique are already beyond our current capabilities; otherwise, this expedition would probably have been much easier..."

After a brief moment of relaxation, Xin Lailai looked at the information on the branding interface again, gazing at the upgraded Soul Arcane Arts, a hint of regret flashing in her eyes.

……

[Elementary Soul Arcane Arts: LV.30 (Soul & Knowledge)]

Proficiency: 13/5000
1. Soul Absorption Technique: Can be achieved by absorbing...

...

...

5. Soul Sealing Technique: Consumes 100000 Soul Energy or 10 Soul Crystals (complete) to construct a "Soul Sealing Formula" in the Soul Space. Once constructed, this formula can be used to release "Soul Sealing Imprisonment," immediately consuming 10000 Soul Energy to lock onto a unit and imprison it, isolating its soul from its body and rendering it unable to control its physical form. This control has no judgment process; if the target forcibly breaks free, it will suffer varying degrees of soul damage and "Soul Tear" effects based on the "Imprisonment Strength" and the target's soul strength. The current Imprisonment Strength is 160 points (increased by 60% with Soul Inscription).

*Note: Under the "Soul Tear" state, related attributes such as reaction ability, soul stability, mental resistance, etc. will decrease, and you will continuously suffer "Soul Bleeding" damage.

*Note: The "Soul Sealing Technique" places a huge burden on the soul space. Based on the current strength of the soul space, only one "Soul Sealing Technique" of the lowest strength can be constructed. (One "Soul Sealing Technique" can only be normally supported after the soul strength reaches 120 points. Because the pioneer's soul space has been promoted to the "Imaginary State", it can support one after the soul strength reaches 100 points.)

*Note: Due to the Pioneer's soul strength being less than 120 points, the soul load caused by the current "Soul Sealing Technique" will increase significantly. It requires a 72-hour cooldown after each use before it can be used again, otherwise it will cause the Pioneer to experience "soul collapse" symptoms.

*Note: Due to the Pioneer's Soul Strength being less than 120 points, the binding strength of the currently used "Soul Sealing Binding" will be reduced to 50% of its original value. ...

Soul Secret Technique: Soul Sealing.

This is a secret technique for the soul that they carefully selected.

Compared to other secret arts that can be unlocked at the beginner level of Soul Arcane Arts LV.30, the Soul Sealing Secret Arts is one of the very few top-tier soul secret arts that can be mastered and used by them at this stage.

After all, reaching the LV.30 level means that the corresponding secret techniques are already comparable to the top tier of the fifth rank and above. With their current soul strength, they can easily tell that most of these secret techniques are beyond their reach.

This is why they chose the Soul Sealing Secret Technique, a secret technique that combines control and debuffs. If they had chosen pure damage-dealing soul secret techniques, their effectiveness would have been significantly reduced, and they might not have performed as well as the Soul Destroying Secret Technique they currently possessed. On the contrary, the functional secret techniques like the Soul Sealing Secret Technique, even though their effectiveness has been reduced considerably, can still perform well in their current battles due to their unique mechanics.

The only regrettable aspect is that, as a functional soul technique, its effectiveness diminishes, rendering it ineffective against a master swordsman like the Deathbringer, especially when the opponent is still afflicted with the "Soul-Stabilizing Rune" and "Soul-Returning Technique" provided by them.

"The remaining skill, the Diligent Scholar's cooldown, will take some time to recover..."

After briefly confirming the status of the Soul Sealing Technique, Xin Lailai didn't rush to construct the Soul Sealing Formula in her soul space. Instead, she glanced at the cooldown time on the title interface, pondered for a moment, and then took out another item from her storage space:
……

【Soul Secret Art: Mind Control】

Origin: Sanctuary Paradise

Quality: Tier 4

Category: Knowledge Skill Scrolls

Effect: After use, users can learn "Soul Secret Technique: Mind Control" by independently interpreting its contents.

*Note: This secret technique can only be learned after reaching LV.30 in Soul Arcane Arts, LV.20 in Soul Rune Arts, and a Soul Strength of 100 or more, and after mastering "Soul Arcane Arts: Soul Absorption" and "Inspiration Arcane Arts: Tranquility".

……

Soul Secret Technique: Mind Control. This was a powerful secret technique they obtained from the Honor Shop after their experience on White Star. However, due to its high learning requirements, it was temporarily shelved in their storage space.

Now that they have reached the learning requirements for both Soul Arcane Arts and Soul Rune Arts, Xin Lailai naturally cannot let this Soul Arcane Art lie dormant in their storage space any longer.

Moreover, and most importantly, although the learning conditions for the Mind Control Secret Technique are so high that it requires Soul Arcane Arts to reach LV.30 to master, it is only a fourth-tier secret technique, and the requirement for soul strength is only 100 points. In other words, they are currently capable of unleashing its full power.

[Note: "Soul Arcane Art: Mind Control (Knowledge Skill Scroll)" has been used]

Om-! !

As the scroll in her hand unfurled, invisible soul fluctuations emanated from it, transforming into a vast amount of soul science knowledge that surged wildly into Xin Lailai's mind. Xin Lailai skillfully sat down cross-legged, calmed her mind, and entered a state of deep meditation, quickly digesting this knowledge.

Half an hour later, Xin Lailai, who was lying on the carpet, slowly opened her eyes, let out a long sigh, gently rubbed her temples, and looked at the branded interface at the edge of her vision:
[Hint: You have mastered the "Soul Secret Art - Mind Control"]

……

[Soul Secrets]

1. Anesthesia magic.

2. Mind Control Technique: Consumes 50000 Soul Energy or 5 "Soul Crystals (Complete)" to construct a "Mind Control Mark". Once constructed, the "Mind Control Mark" can be placed on a designated target, inflicting a "Mind Penetration" effect that has no judgment process and ignores saving throws of Rank 4 and below. After "Mind Penetration" is completed, the "Mind Control Mark" can completely control the thoughts and actions of the affected target without their awareness, and read their thoughts and memories. The current durability of the "Mind Control Mark" is: 8000 points (Soul Inscription increased by 60%), the "Mind Penetration" strength is: 80 points (Soul Inscription increased by 60%), and the stealth rank is: Rank 5 (Soul Inscription increased by 1 rank).

*Note: A single target unit can be affected by a maximum of 1 "Mind Control Mark". When the "Mind Control Mark" penetrates the target's mind by more than 50%, the "Mind Control Mark" will form a deep bond with the target's soul essence. If the "Mind Control Mark" is forcibly removed at this time, the target unit will suffer "super-huge" soul damage or directly enter the "soul collapse" state.

*Note: The upper limit of "Mind Control Mark" and the depth of memory reading are related to the current "Mind Penetration Strength" and the target's "Soul Strength". Based on the current "Mind Penetration Strength", the upper limit that "Mind Control Mark" can affect is targets with a Soul Strength of no more than 150 points, and the upper limit that it can completely control is targets with a Soul Strength of no more than 100 points.

……

Mind Control Technique, as the name suggests, is a purely functional technique aimed at controlling the mind of an enemy.

Without a doubt, this secret technique is unlikely to be useful in combat. Its mind-penetration mechanism makes it unsuitable for fast-paced battles where life and death are decided at the first encounter.

However, outside of combat, it can play a rather chilling role.

It's important to understand that this is a mind control technique that can ignore immunity effects at the fourth rank and below. This means that even a level 20 swordsmanship master could only slow down the penetration of the "mind control mark" and would not be able to change their fate of being completely controlled by it.

Combined with its stealth tier of 5, at their level, apart from a very few overlord-level BOSSes and outsiders, there is almost no one who can avoid being hit.

With such an ability, when they encounter worlds with local forces in the future, their ability to manipulate the situation in secret will inevitably reach an extremely terrifying level. They may even be able to easily "turn" the spies planted by those old schemers into their own pawns, which can be said to have directly raised their old schemer methods to a whole new level.

"Tsk, how come after all this, we're starting to look like the rule-breakers?"

Xin Lailai looked at the description on the branding interface and mentally made a couple of comments.

With their methods of soul-capturing, mind-controlling, and various incarnations and puppets, if they wanted to pretend to be rule-breakers now, they could probably act even more convincingly than ordinary rule-breakers.

"Very well, let's just use their own spear against their own shield."

After making a brief complaint, Xin Lailai put the matter of the mind control technique aside with a clear conscience.

Ultimately, they were pioneers, so isn't it normal for them to learn some self-defense techniques like these?

Some pioneers could even turn people directly into their summoned creatures. What's wrong with them learning some mind control techniques?
Moreover, isn't the best way to target violators to figure out their methods?
Hmm... you mean they're even more skilled than the rule-breakers? That's because the rule-breakers aren't capable enough, what does it have to do with them? They're just a bit too eager to learn, what bad intentions could they possibly have?

……

(End of this chapter)