Chapter 1 A Startling Discovery

Looking at the few strands of silvery mist slowly swirling in his mind, faintly shimmering with countless specks of light, so mesmerizing like the Milky Way, Shi Feng couldn't help but feel astonished and surprised.

In God's Domain, magic arrays are generally composed of magical elements, but some magic arrays are not only composed of magical elements but also mixed with other things.

And the magic array before him had mixed in a soul...

"I never thought the rumored Soul Magic Array would actually exist!" Shi Feng observed the silvery mist swirling in his brain, a rare trace of excitement in his eyes.

He had only heard of the Soul Magic Array; he had never truly seen it.

Rumor had it that this kind of magic array was one that could change players, although some people said it was a magic array that could devour players, with many different accounts.

But one thing was certain.

It could elevate a player's soul, just like raising the soul of an NPC.

Logically speaking, this was absolutely impossible for players, but the Soul Magic Array turned this impossibility into a possibility, allowing originally mediocre expert players to grow into titans within God's Domain, just a hair's breadth away from advancing to the sixth-order divine level.

Although the outside world rumored that the Soul Magic Array was just a humble claim by these titans, and that even without the Soul Magic Array, these people could still become titans in God's Domain, so players in God's Domain just listened to it as a joke.

But now, he had actually seen it...

Of course, if players hadn't reached the level of advanced magic arrays, they would probably find it difficult to discover that this was a magic array, at most taking it as a special soul imprint.

"Fortunately, I discovered it early. If I had only noticed it after a few days, I'm afraid this opportunity would really be gone." Shi Feng looked at the Soul Magic Array, where the faint silvery mist was beginning to dissipate, and breathed a deep sigh of relief.

The Soul Magic Array before him used souls and magical elements as energy, constantly consuming souls and magical elements. While magical elements were easy to replenish, souls were not, so the Soul Magic Array couldn't last long.

Of course, as long as this Soul Magic Array persisted, those Sacred-Shaped monsters would also be able to detect his presence, a mixed blessing of an opportunity.

Thinking of this, Shi Feng couldn't help but start to seize the time to study the Soul Magic Array in his brain.

The Soul Magic Array in his brain was simply imprinted in his mind. The magic array itself had not been activated. To bring out the true effect of the Soul Magic Array, he had to activate the magic array, or else this Soul Magic Array would only give him a little more thought, unable to improve his soul at all.

"This Soul Magic Array is indeed not simple. Just the master-level magic arrays I've detected now number more than forty, not to mention a dozen or so advanced master-level magic arrays and three magic arrays that are just a step away from the grandmaster level. And to activate this Soul Magic Array, one must guide it with one's own spiritual will. A slight mistake will cause one's soul to be devoured. No wonder it's called a magic array that devours players." After observing for more than half an hour, Shi Feng clicked his tongue in amazement.

The soul is ethereal and intangible, something that cannot be described, let alone increased or decreased, yet the galaxy-like magic array before him could easily do it, which was simply unbelievable.

But that wasn't all.

The real trouble was the price of wanting to activate the magic array, a single step to heaven or hell.

If this were any ordinary expert player, they probably wouldn't hesitate much and would just try it. After all, the loss was nothing compared to the gain, because it couldn't be much worse than it already was—a third-order class at worst. But at his level, the difference between loss and gain was completely different.

With his current level, as long as he didn't challenge too high a difficulty, advancing to a fifth-order class wouldn't be a problem. But if his soul was permanently damaged, then fifth-order would really become a problem. After all, the higher the rank, the more secondary the weapons, equipment, and bloodlines became; personal strength was the most important thing.

"Give up?" Shi Feng looked at the Soul Magic Array constantly dissipating in his mind, feeling somewhat hesitant.

Activating the Soul Magic Array was different from activating ordinary magic arrays. This magic array directly acted on his soul. There was only one chance to activate it. Activating it incorrectly would devour his soul. Only by activating it completely could he elevate his soul. It wasn't as simple as learning and drawing.

"No! It's not like there's no chance!"

After hesitating for a moment, Shi Feng suddenly thought of a possibility and immediately took out the damaged Heart of Augus from his bag.

Such an opportunity to elevate a player's soul was rare. If he succeeded, then challenging the higher difficulty fourth-order class advancement quest later on would be easier, not to mention it would greatly help with higher-rank advancements in the future, even more so than a legendary equipment. It would be too much of a pity to miss it.

And there were two ways to greatly increase the success rate of successfully activating the Soul Magic Array.

The first was to be familiar with those magic arrays, but the Soul Magic Array was too complex. Not to mention a few days, even if he had more than ten days, he might not be able to fully understand it.

The second was to enhance the player's mental state, allowing the player to guide the magic array more precisely.

These two things were very difficult for others, but not impossible for him.

As a sub-epic material, the damaged Heart of Augus could release Eternal Energy as long as it was used. Eternal Energy was far superior to magic power, allowing a player's mental state to directly reach its best. Whether it was to better familiarize himself with the Soul Magic Array or to guide the magic array with his mental will, it would be a great help.

This would greatly increase his chances of successfully activating the Soul Magic Array, no longer leaving him hanging by a thread.

The only downside was that the damaged Heart of Augus had a cooldown time of up to three months.

Of course, there was also a way to immediately end the cooldown time, which was to use a God Crystal. However, for an opportunity that could elevate his soul, it was still worth exchanging it for a God Crystal.

Immediately, Shi Feng took out one of the few God Crystals he had on hand and placed it into the Heart of Augus, beginning to activate the magic array inside the Heart of Augus.

Instantly, strands of purple mist overflowed from the Heart of Augus, instantly engulfing Shi Feng's entire body, giving Shi Feng a burst of comfort, his mind clear and calm, as if everything in the world had become simple.

"Good! Let's begin!"

Shi Feng looked at the Soul Magic Array in his mind, took a deep breath, and began to thoroughly study the magic arrays on it.

Two hours...

Four hours...

Six hours...

Originally, it would have taken several days, even more than ten days, to possibly understand a little of the Soul Magic Array, but Shi Feng only spent more than seven hours to not only familiarize himself with everything but even faintly grasp one of the magic arrays that could slightly manipulate the soul, a magic array that was just a step away from the grandmaster level.

"The magic arrays have all been thoroughly familiarized. Next is to guide the magic arrays with my spiritual will!" Shi Feng looked at the familiar Soul Magic Array in his mind, feeling slightly nervous.

Although he was familiar with the magic arrays, truly guiding them was another matter. After all, the Soul Magic Array required splitting his mind into several strands to guide them simultaneously, making the operation very difficult.

Then, after Shi Feng rested for a few minutes, he began to guide the magic arrays in his mind with his spiritual will.

One magic array successfully activated...

Two magic arrays successfully activated...

Three magic arrays successfully activated...

As the magic arrays continued to activate, the difficulty of activation also increased, and the mental consciousness gradually split from the initial three strands into six strands. Fortunately, this wasn't too difficult for an expert like Shi Feng, allowing the activation of the magic arrays to proceed in an orderly manner.

Time passed, and before he knew it, more than twenty minutes had passed in the outside world. The sweat flowing from Shi Feng's forehead had almost soaked the light armor on his body.

"The last one!"

The seventeen strands of spiritual will that Shi Feng had split were now gathered on the last magic array, which was also the core magic array that Shi Feng was most familiar with.

Bang!

A crisp sound suddenly echoed in his mind.

The last core magic array suddenly shattered the moment it was completed, and the other magic arrays also shattered along with it, forming a chain reaction like dominoes.

Instantly, the swirling strands of silvery mist also exploded with the shattering of the magic arrays, turning into countless brilliant starlight flowing into Shi Feng's mind...

"Did it succeed?"

Shi Feng looked at this scene in his mind, stunned.