Divine Transcendence

Chapter 338: Soul Pill

Yuan Ming, upon this thought, continued to inventory his spoils.

Among the two jade slips in Elder Hai's storage bag, one recorded the Flower Transplantation Technique, and the other contained a technique named "Yin Luo Technique."

Unlike the Flower Transplantation Technique Yuan Ming had obtained earlier, the version in Elder Hai's possession was not only more complete but also included many of Elder Hai's personal insights and experiences.

The complete Flower Transplantation Technique could not only place demonic cores into a cultivator's dantian to aid in breakthroughs but also enhance a cultivator's strength through beast body transplants.

However, the latter had many drawbacks. The first was the issue of rejection. According to Elder Hai's research, forcibly transplanting a demonic beast's body parts into a human would cause severe rejection reactions, ultimately leading to the transplant recipient's death. Therefore, special elixirs and auxiliary methods were necessary to maintain a certain success rate.

Additionally, there seemed to be a special correlation between the person receiving the transplant and the demonic beast, though the exact rules were unclear. The only certainty was that spiritual roots were a crucial influencing factor.

Secondly, after a successful transplant, the cultivator's soul would often be affected by the residual thoughts of the demonic beast. This influence was somewhat similar to the aftereffects of consuming Insect Elixirs, but the former could not be eradicated. Even if temporarily suppressed, it would resurface after some time.

Lastly, after the transplant, the cultivator's cultivation would be unable to advance. Even if only the body was transplanted and not the demonic core, the cultivator's cultivation would stagnate for life.

Between the lines, Yuan Ming discovered that Elder Hai often mentioned someone with considerable resentment. It seemed that it was because of this person that he had to resort to using the Flower Transplantation Technique.

The other jade slip contained Elder Hai's main cultivation technique, the "Yin Luo Technique."

This technique, which Elder Hai had obtained during a secret realm exploration, was a rare yin-attribute technique with six levels, capable of being cultivated up to the Golden Elixir stage.

Yuan Ming glanced through it and found it temporarily unusable, so he put it away for now.

In this battle at the mine, Yuan Ming didn't acquire many physical artifacts. The greatest gain was the wish power generated by the cultivator mine slaves.

Additionally, there were the mortal followers on the flying boat and a boatload of ores.

Xu Che's appearance was an unexpected delight. Yuan Ming could delegate many tasks to him in the future, as long as he continued to provide wish power, there was no fear of betrayal.

Yuan Ming did not plan to take these mortals back to Quicksand City. Firstly, the influx of thousands of mortals would be too conspicuous. Secondly, the Black Wind Desert was not a safe place. He couldn't rescue these followers from one peril only to send them into another.

Therefore, he planned to take these people out of the Black Wind Desert and find a secluded place in Zhao Country to settle them.

Although every mortal in the Black Wind Desert bore a brand, it was a trivial matter for Yuan Ming to remove it.

Thus, during the journey, Yuan Ming carefully concocted a potion that, when applied to the branded area, would erase the mark.

Once the flying boat left the Black Wind Desert, Yuan Ming sent Xu Che to the Zhao Country market to buy sufficient medicinal herbs and remove the brands from all the mortals.

Afterward, Yuan Ming led these mortals to a remote valley, spending considerable time helping them clear the land and build houses, eventually forming the rudiments of a village.

Of course, not all mortals wished to stay. Those who wanted to leave were given enough gold and silver to return home and were allowed to depart.

After establishing the village, Yuan Ming appointed Qiao Sabei as the village chief, Bai Qi as the head of the village guards, and Rong Zhuang as the priest of the Dark Moon God Temple. The three of them were responsible for village affairs, making decisions together, while Yuan Ming would occasionally send someone to inspect the situation.

Qiao Sabei and the others were naturally grateful. The other mortals, having witnessed the Dark Moon God's assistance in building their home, became even more devout in their faith.

To prevent chaos, Yuan Ming only left them with essential survival supplies like rice, cattle, and sheep, without any gold or silver. As for the flying boat and the ores on it, he hid them in another valley, camouflaging them for future retrieval.

...

After settling everything, Yuan Ming, accompanied by Xu Che and Zuo Qinghui, left amidst the worshipful farewells of the mortals and quickly returned to Quicksand City.

Although he hadn't been away from Quicksand City for long, he had encountered so many events that seeing the familiar underground city felt like a lifetime ago.

Yuan Ming shook his head and led the two into the city.

The city gate's guards had been significantly reinforced, with stricter inspections of those entering the city. Several wanted posters were posted near the gate, featuring the likes of Liao Zhong and Fang Dafu.

Yuan Ming was not surprised. Liao Zhong, as a steward of the City Lord's Mansion, had colluded with the Returning to Origin Sect to hunt down Quicksand City cultivators, especially targeting Yue Rong. The City Lord of Quicksand City would naturally not let this slide.

Zuo Qinghui had met Yue Rong and revealed his true form during the mine battle. To be safe, Yuan Ming immediately used his spiritual consciousness to envelop the three of them, casting an illusion to alter their appearances, allowing them to enter Quicksand City smoothly.

Yuan Ming arranged for Xu Che to stay in the outer city, instructing him to connect with Hu Ji and manage the affairs of the Dark Moon God Temple there as the temple's envoy.

"Xu Che, in the coming days, ensure that these followers live peacefully and pray often to the Dark Moon God," he instructed.

"Yes, my lord," Xu Che replied respectfully.

After giving a few more instructions, Yuan Ming and Zuo Qinghui returned to the inner city. After purchasing some items, they immediately returned to their residence to prepare for the condensation of the Soul Pill.

Condensing the Soul Pill required absolute tranquility, without any disturbance.

Yuan Ming first set up the Five Elements Illusionary Formation, then instructed Zuo Qinghui, Hua Zhi, and Vajra to stand guard outside before beginning to arrange the Northern Dipper Star Soul Formation.

Three days later, everything was ready.

Yuan Ming stepped into the Northern Dipper Star Soul Formation and activated it with a hand seal.

With a soft "buzz," beams of black light shot out from the formation, enveloping the entire secret room and forming a black light array.

Yuan Ming sat cross-legged, circulating the Death Moon method, mobilizing the abundant soul power in his sea of consciousness, letting it flow slowly.

A vast wave of spiritual power spread out, stirring a strong yin wind within the secret room, but it was all contained by the Northern Dipper Star Soul Formation, not leaking out at all.

Yuan Ming's hands moved rapidly, casting spells according to the steps for condensing the Soul Pill. A faint white light emanated from his forehead, illuminating his face in a radiant glow.

The flow of soul power in his sea of consciousness quickened, converging towards the main soul, continuously compressing and refining.

The operation of the Northern Dipper Star Soul Formation also accelerated, exerting pressure on the sea of consciousness to assist in the compression of the soul power.

Time passed quickly, and the vast soul power in Yuan Ming's sea of consciousness rapidly diminished, soon consuming more than half.

"Ha!" He suddenly let out a low shout, forming a hand seal with both hands, his body remaining motionless.

Yuan Ming's face contorted in pain under the white light, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead, but the white light from his forehead grew increasingly bright, making it hard to look directly at.

The soul power in his sea of consciousness surged and condensed, gradually forming a faintly visible round bead.

Yuan Ming's face lit up with joy as the Soul Pill finally began to take shape. Now, he only needed to continuously infuse it with soul power to fully condense it.

"Hmm, could it be that my soul power is insufficient?" Yuan Ming opened his eyes.

After the Soul Pill's shadow took shape, it quickly absorbed the soul power in the sea of consciousness. Even the vast soul power accumulated after breaking through the fifth level of the Death Moon method was not enough.

However, he was prepared. He immediately summoned the Stealing Heaven Cauldron and placed it in front of him.

The next moment, a large amount of wish power from the Dark Moon God's followers in Quicksand City, as well as the mortal mine slaves in the valley, was transmitted. His split soul fully operated the Heart Cleansing Formula, refining all the wish power and injecting it into the sea of consciousness.

Not only that, but the split soul also merged its soul power into the main soul.

The secret room's door fluctuated, and the second split soul, residing in Zuo Qinghui's body, flew in, entering Yuan Ming's sea of consciousness to transfer soul power to the main soul.

Zuo Qinghui's cultivation was already quite profound, so the temporary departure of the second split soul would not cause a significant drop in cultivation.

With so much assistance, the soul power was finally replenished. The light on the Soul Pill's shadow quickly transformed into a substantial crystalline glow, and the Soul Pill gradually solidified.

Moments later, a round bead appeared in the sea of consciousness, emitting a brilliant light, continuously rotating and pulsating like a strong heart.

Thump thump... thump thump thump...

A powerful wave of spiritual power emanated from the Soul Pill, causing the Northern Dipper Star Soul Formation to tremble.

Yuan Ming's eyes shone with joy, and he couldn't help but laugh heartily.

After so many days of hard work, the Soul Pill was finally refined, marking a solid step towards breaking through to the Golden Elixir stage!

After a brief moment of elation, he quickly calmed down and carefully comprehended the wonders of the Soul Pill.

The Soul Pill was a product of condensed spiritual power, gathering all the soul power in the sea of consciousness. The main soul now resided within the Soul Pill, feeling incredibly secure.

The soul power within the Soul Pill was exceptionally stable. If attacked by techniques like Soul Collision, the Soul Pill alone could withstand it. If someone cast an illusion on him, its effect would be greatly diminished.

Conversely, when he cast Soul Collision or illusions, the Soul Pill would provide significant support.

"No wonder the Grand Elder highly esteemed the Soul Pill technique. The effect of condensing soul power into a Soul Pill is no less than that of forming a Golden Elixir with magical power," Yuan Ming thought.

The Soul Pill technique was not yet complete. He continued to operate the Death Moon method, and the Soul Pill began to move, soon leaving the sea of consciousness and traveling down the body, finally entering the dantian.

The Soul Pill continued to rotate, influencing the magical power in the dantian, which slowly gathered around it, forming layer upon layer.

Yuan Ming nodded in satisfaction. The Soul Pill technique indeed greatly aided in forming the Golden Elixir. The Soul Pill could rotate on its own without his control.

Over time, all the magical power in the dantian would attach to the Soul Pill, forming a virtual elixir, making it much easier to form the Golden Elixir later on.