Free Web NovelChapter 337: Chapter 203: Soul Searching Technique
"What about the previous Nascent Soul Sects?"
"Heh, they were the ones who caused the calamity in the Western Realm. So, after all the Nascent Soul True Monarchs perished in the Crimson Demon Land, it only took three to five years for the Western Realm’s cultivators to band together and annihilate those sects to vent their anger. Most of the Sinful Cultivators come from the disciples of these destroyed legacies. Hmph, the Sinful Cultivators delude themselves into thinking they can return the Western Realm to how it was before. They’re truly a bunch of fools who can’t face reality!"
"What makes you say that?"
"Senior, do you think... is there any hope for this Western Realm?" Yan Zhen asked, avoiding the question.
"From the looks of it, it would be difficult indeed," Lü Zhong stated his assessment.
"See? Even you think so, Senior. So tell me, aren’t the Sinful Cultivators fools? They refuse the True Central Sect’s recruitment and insist on opposing a Nascent Soul Sect, all to fulfill an impossible oath!" As Yan Zhen spoke, he bowed his head low, his emotions suddenly spiraling out of control, a mix of anger and shame.
Lü Zhong’s thoughts were sparked, and his gaze shifted to the end of the man’s severed left arm.
There were no palm lines, only a large scar.
’So that’s the reason. He’s a traitor!’
Hunted down and exterminated just for refusing recruitment.
Lü Zhong didn’t believe the True Central Sect’s real reason for hunting the Sinful Cultivators was that simple. Not unless the Divine Souls of everyone in the sect, from top to bottom, had been corroded by the Crimson Spiritual Energy.
"What’s the real reason?"
"I don’t know either. I was just a grunt. It might have something to do with Central Earth."
Yan Zhen, having given up all hope, slumped to the ground and added, "Immortal Prison Pass was originally controlled by Central Earth. Now it’s been handed over to the True Central Sect. Something is definitely wrong with that situation."
"As for the Demon Slaying Talisman, I don’t know its origin either. The only thing I’m sure of is that it definitely wasn’t created by the True Central Sect. After I joined Qingyuan Palace, I visited the True Central Sect once. Heh, that place... it’s more demonic than the Demon Sects themselves. Unfortunately, I’ve sworn an oath and can’t reveal what goes on inside. Otherwise, I would have shared it with you, Senior, so you could know the demonic practices of this supposed Daoist Sect!"
"Alright, that’s all I know. Please, Senior, give me a swift end!"
Lü Zhong listened with a blank expression and, as promised, gave Yan Zhen a painless death.
Gazing at the blood-red Demon Slaying Talisman in his hand, he suddenly felt that the Western Realm was likely a great vortex. Who knew what secrets were hidden behind it all? Once swept in, great troubles would surely follow one after another.
But the resources here were ripe for the picking, making it truly difficult to abandon.
He stopped dwelling on it and reached out, using his power to retrieve Yan Zhen’s Storage Bag.
"This is the one hundred and seventh Storage Bag."
Lü Zhong didn’t know what to say. He casually broke the Prohibition on it and extended his Divine Sense inside.
There was a lot of stuff inside, just like a Loose Cultivator’s Storage Bag.
"Huh? A Soul Searching Technique?"
Lü Zhong had wanted to learn this Secret Skill for a long time, but he’d never been able to obtain it.
Interrogation-type Secret Skills like this were controlled everywhere.
The Changchun Domain was generally open and lenient, but when it came to the private dissemination of the Soul Searching Technique, they were merciless. Every offender was punished by death.
For all these reasons, Lü Zhong had yet to learn this Tier Two Secret Technique.
He never thought he’d get his hands on it just by coming to the Western Realm.
"Whoa, there’s even a modified version of the Soul Searching Technique included!" After reading the Jade Scroll’s contents, Lü Zhong discovered the technique had been altered.
In order to extract the maximum amount of information, this modified Soul Searching Technique was ruthless and vicious. Any cultivator subjected to it would have their Divine Soul utterly destroyed.
The original version, however, had a bottom line, leaving a person a chance at Reincarnation.
He thought for a moment and decided to learn both versions.
Continuing his inspection, he found some Spirit Stones and a random assortment of Spiritual Objects, with a total value of thirty thousand Spirit Stones.
"If I tally it all up, did I make a profit of nearly four... four hundred thousand?" He wouldn’t have known if he hadn’t counted. Lü Zhong was so startled by the number that he stammered.
Even excluding the Bright Moon Essence and the unexpected income from the Storage Bags...
...just from reselling Spiritual Objects on this trip, he had made a profit of one hundred and fifty thousand Spirit Stones. At the decennial grand auction in the Changchun Domain, that would be enough to bid for three or four bottles of Tier Three Pills. The gains this time were nothing short of astonishing.
Suppressing his excitement, he cleaned up the scene.
Considering the True Central Sect’s eyes and ears were all over the Western Realm, Lü Zhong took a long, winding route.
After much effort, he stealthily made his way back to the Transmission Array.
...
Returning to Lintao Pavilion, he found that Shuini had already gone to the Lingyue Domain to begin rebuilding the Heling Sect.
Meanwhile, the Chengde Commerce Association was still in the midst of intense preparations. They had already rented a large Flying Ship from Changchun Valley and would use it exclusively for transporting support materials. A round trip between the two locations would only take a little over a month.
Seeing that Yu Feng’er wasn’t around, Lü Zhong went straight back to the Quiet Chamber in the rear courtyard.
The trip to the Western Realm had been fruitful, and the ingot of Bright Moon Essence was an especially unexpected gain.
Lü Zhong decided to begin refining the Magical Treasure immediately.
By slightly simplifying the refining process, he could forge the Star Mirror with the materials he had on hand. The only drawback was that the final product might only have a Second-Layer Prohibition.
Fortunately, this was not an irreparable flaw.
In the future, by repeatedly nurturing the Magical Treasure with his Pill Fire and refining sufficiently rare spiritual materials into it, the Magical Treasure’s power would grow stronger and stronger. It wasn’t impossible for it to eventually evolve into a Spirit Treasure.
The most important thing right now was simply to have one in the first place.
The refining process of a Lifebound Treasure could be broken down into three steps: refining and purification, condensing the liquid into an embryo, and infusing spirit to give it form.
Lü Zhong first sat in meditation to regulate his breath, simultaneously reviewing the schematics for the Star Mirror in his mind.
Once he was sure he remembered every detail, he took out all the necessary materials.
There were over forty types of additive materials, such as Flashing Flame Sand, Demon Bone Dust Crystal, and Spirit Tempering Liquid. The three main materials were Iron Essence, Silver Essence, and Bright Moon Essence. The additive materials needed to be incorporated during the refining of the main materials, primarily to alter their properties, strength, and purity, as well as to enhance their Spiritual Qi conductivity.
Lü Zhong stared at the materials with a solemn expression. He took a deep breath, then formed hand seals and chanted to cast two enhancing magic skills on himself: the Flying Star Qi Introduction Skill and the Star Pulling Skill. At the same time, he activated the effects of his Star Patterned Robe and the Flying Star Golden Core within his body, beginning to draw down Star Force to augment himself. He pushed his condition to a level approaching the Mid-stage Core Formation.
He adjusted himself until he was certain he was in optimal condition.
Only then did he magically retrieve the two ingots of Iron Essence.
He placed them before him, letting them float in the air.
Generally, Pill Fire was used for refining materials. But since Lü Zhong possessed the Purple Nether Extreme Fire, there was naturally no reason not to use it. In terms of power, the Purple Nether Extreme Fire far surpassed Pill Fire.
The stronger the fire, the more impurities could be burned away, which would save a great deal of nurturing effort later on.
He opened his mouth and spat out a line of purple fire.
Scorched by the Purple Nether Extreme Fire, the Iron Essence quickly began to glow red.
But it showed no sign of melting.
Lü Zhong wasn’t anxious. He cast a few Technique Mantras to activate the Spirit Gathering Array in the Quiet Chamber. Then, while refining Spiritual Qi to recover his Magical Power, he controlled the Purple Nether Extreme Fire to continue refining the Iron Essence.
In the meantime, he continuously added materials like Demon Bone Dust Crystal and Spirit Tempering Liquid.
In the blink of an eye, more than forty days passed.
The Iron Essence finally yielded, showing clear signs of melting.
In its molten state, the Iron Essence was platinum-colored and emitted intense Spiritual Qi fluctuations. It was a stark contrast to its previous, iron-block-like appearance, now looking more like a true Spiritual Object.
More than ten days passed like this before the two ingots of Iron Essence had completely melted.
Looking at the two platinum-colored droplets of liquid writhing in mid-air, Lü Zhong sighed in relief. ’Refining the Iron Essence was already this difficult,’ he thought. ’I can’t imagine how much trouble the Silver Essence and Bright Moon Essence will be.’
But since he had already begun the refining, he could only grit his teeth and persevere.
He stored the droplets of Iron Essence in a Fire Jade box and began to refine the other materials.
Silver Essence, Bright Moon Essence.
By the time he had finished refining the materials one by one, three years had passed.
He didn’t dare to rest, because the next step was condensing the liquids into an embryo.
Following the schematics, Lü Zhong didn’t dare to be the slightest bit careless as he meticulously began to set up the Refining Array. Its function was crucial, as it helped the Prohibitions quickly integrate into the Artifact Embryo. Whether or not he would get a successful Artifact Embryo depended entirely on how well the Refining Array was arranged.
This process took a full month.
Once the setup was complete, he made sure to test it.
Everything was confirmed to be in order.
Only then did Lü Zhong place the refined materials inside.
Three years of intense mental concentration was exhausting even for a Core Formation Cultivator.
But he endured his fatigue, biting the tip of his tongue to forcibly rouse his spirits. He began to follow the sequence given in the schematics, driving Prohibitions one by one into the mutually immiscible droplets of liquid.
There could not be too many Prohibitions, nor too few.
This was because the formation and growth of the Magical Treasure’s Spiritual Veins were entirely guided by these Prohibitions.
If anything went wrong with the Spiritual Veins, the Magical Treasure would be considered a failure.
