C444 The Artifact Soul Was Available

"Could this be the Artifact Soul of the Crucible of Evil?"

It was common knowledge that almost all Divine Artifacts were inhabited by an Artifact Soul.

As the most treasured possession of the Terror Claws, the Crucible of Evil was expected to house an Artifact Soul as well.

However, there were rumors that the cauldron had suffered significant damage following the fall of the Terror Claws.

Before laying eyes on the Crucible of Evil, Yu Yuan had been led to believe that it was completely destroyed.

He reasoned that if such a Divine Artifact had been gravely damaged, its Artifact Soul was likely no longer in existence.

Without its Artifact Soul, the stature of the Crucible of Evil as a Divine Artifact would have inevitably plummeted.

Upon entering the cauldron and utilizing the Evil Body Refining technique to draw in psionic power, he breached the middle elixir field's Profound Gate and carved open the eight extra-channels, yet he detected no sign of the Artifact Soul.

He had come to the conclusion that the world-renowned Crucible of Evil must have lost its Artifact Soul.

While absorbing spiritual energy with the Evil Body Refining Technique, Yu Yuan had not anticipated a rapid advancement, nor had he expected to immediately clear the eight extra-channels after piercing through the Profound Gate.

He was aware that he couldn't linger inside the Crucible of Evil for too long, as Liu Ying awaited his return.

But events unfolded so swiftly that he had no time to contemplate.

Only when he halted his cultivation did he awaken to the realization that he had entered the early period of Veil Breaking.

He discovered that the eight extra-channels were now freely flowing, and his physique, having undergone another cycle of purification and tempering, had integrated the Crucible of Evil into his Vitality Profound Gate.

All these occurrences left him feeling bewildered, as though he was being guided by an external consciousness.

Yu Yuan, ever perceptive and astute, suspected that the Artifact Soul of the Crucible of Evil might not have been annihilated by the cauldron's severe damage after all.

Perhaps it had merely retreated into hiding after a devastating blow.

Or it could be exceedingly frail, akin to the dormant sword spirit within the arm bone, requiring a lengthy period of accumulation to make its presence known once again.

"If the Artifact Soul is truly still there!"

Yu Yuan's heart raced at the thought.

A Crucible of Evil with an Artifact Soul was a completely different entity from one without it!

With the Artifact Soul present, the Crucible of Evil would remain a Divine Artifact, with the potential to regain its peak powers!

Since a Divine Artifact could continue to evolve, it might even surpass its former glory, becoming more formidable than ever before!

"I've always been lucky. I hope the Artifact Soul is still intact, not obliterated with the fall of the Terror Claws!"

As he pondered, Yu Yuan's focus shifted away from the Vitality Profound Gate.

A powerful hunger then overtook him.

His stomach growled, as if to prompt him to eat quickly, to nourish the nascent little world of Qi and Vitality with a rich and abundant supply.

The lower elixir field refined spiritual energy, while the middle elixir field cultivated Qi and Vitality.

The Qi and Vitality in the middle elixir field largely depended on food intake rather than the absorption of divine force.

Cultivators would breathe in and out, drawing divine force into their bodies. Upon establishing the little world of the Golden Sanctum, they would infuse the spiritual energy into the Golden Acupoints, gradually refining, settling, and solidifying it.

Before reaching the Veil Breaking Stage, cultivators could sustain their corporeal bodies with divine force and rarely felt intense hunger.

However, upon entering the Veil Breaking Stage and opening the middle elixir field, they would need to use vital energy—vitality—to nourish, forge, and temper their bodies.

In Euwrea, sects commonly consumed pills that, once ingested, transformed into vitality and integrated with the middle elixir field.

This vitality, further refined by the Profound Gate of the middle elixir field, would permeate the flesh, bones, and organs, significantly enhancing one's physical strength.

Meanwhile, in the Land of Quiescence, institutions like the Devil Palace, Ruby Hand, Skyblight Cult, and Colddeath typically relied on food consumption for their empowerment.

Mighty spirit animals, Fellbeasts devoid of spiritual wisdom, and even alien beasts from beyond our world are considered food. They are devoured whole, their flesh refined to harness the abundant vitality within, which is then assimilated into the middle elixir field.

For ages, the evilkind have also employed this method to fortify themselves.

The cultivation practices of two continents diverge significantly at the Veil Breaking stage. Not only do the methods and sources of obtaining vitality differ, but the emphasis placed on the Veil Breaking stage varies greatly as well.

The three great upper sects, along with the remaining six of the seven lower sects, often hasten through the Veil Breaking realm. They avoid lingering too long, swiftly moving on to challenge the mud pellet acupoint of the upper elixir field and rapidly coalesce their spiritual sense.

Only the Forgeroses sect dedicates substantial time and effort to rigorously temper the body during the Veil Breaking stage.

This is because the cultivators of the Land of Quiescence, who claim orthodoxy, have historically undervalued the strength of the corporeal body, reluctant to expend excessive energy on its refinement.

They place greater importance on the Golden Sanctum of the lower elixir field and the mud pellet of the upper elixir field.

The formation of the Lunar Spirit simply requires the earthly soul to refine the spiritual sense step by step until it takes shape.

The Solar Spirit, on the other hand, is a corporeal entity, formed by the spiritual energy amassed by the heaven soul. When combined, it creates a Psicrystal-like body.

Through repeated refinement of spiritual energy and the heaven soul, the Solar Spirit emerges, capable of soaring freely through the cosmic expanse.

There's no need to gather vitality for the Solar Spirit to undergo its transformation. Consequently, many orthodox cultivators are reluctant to invest excessive time and energy in the Veil Breaking stage.

Eager to swiftly advance to the Subtlety stage, condense the Lunar Spirit, and progress to the realms of Spirit Walk, Solar Spirit, and Unbound, they seek speed above all.

In the Land of Quiescence, practitioners of the dark arts often prefer to meticulously hone their bodies within the Veil Breaking realm, ensuring every morsel of flesh, every meridian, and every bone is thoroughly tempered.

Many powerful dark arts are a fusion of vitality and spiritual energy, often requiring the former to enhance the latter. Consequently, practitioners place great emphasis on refining their corporeal bodies within the Veil Breaking Realm. Among the techniques, Evil Body Refining stands out as exceptionally rigorous, renowned across the three continents.

While undergoing refinement within the Crucible of Evil, Yu Yuan had harnessed the psionic power that streamed into the cauldron, abundant with the essence of vitality. But now, having integrated the Crucible of Evil into his middle elixir field and finding himself at the bottom of the sea, he was suddenly overcome with a sense of hunger.

"A bunch of ungrateful wretches!" he muttered to himself, surveying the shattered island and its strewn boulders, yet finding neither the Ethereal Vial nor the Fallen Star Eyes, nor the Abyssal Leviathan awaiting him.

Yu Yuan had assumed his time within the Crucible of Evil was brief and expected others to have waited for him. While it was one thing for the others to have left, he couldn't fathom why the Fallen Star Eyes and Liu Ying had also disappeared.

Dozens of miles away, a blue shadow undulated beneath the sea, drawn toward the collapsed island by the extraordinary stir of vitality, only to divert its course upon detection.

However, as Yu Yuan emerged from the cauldron and shrank the Crucible of Evil using Evil Body Refining to store it within his acupoint, the blue shadow halted abruptly. The overwhelming vitality that had emanated from the Crucible of Evil vanished without a trace. The island's collapse had scattered rocks far and wide, and an odd force concealed Yu Yuan from view.

The Blood Altar, responsible for the island's devastation, paused briefly, then sensed an absence—Yu Yuan's presence had evaporated. No life stirred, no vitality fluctuated.

After a moment, the Blood Altar detected a fresh surge of vitality from a great distance. Abandoning its pursuit of Yu Yuan's location, it redirected itself elsewhere.

Soon after, Yu Yuan floated above the remnants of the island, searching in vain for any sign of the Fallen Star Eyes or the Ethereal Vial.

He paused in thought for a moment before projecting his consciousness into the small domain of the Golden Sanctum.

Immersed in consciousness, he found himself within a vibrant red rainbow, merging with the essence of sunfire.

This sunfire, which he was gradually refining, originated from one of the Abyssal Leviathan's eyes, suggesting a delicate link to the creature.

He attempted to attune himself to it...

After some time, his eyes brightened as he discerned a direction by following the trace of sunfire.

"The Abyssal Leviathan is present; the others must be nearby as well."

Without hesitation, he set off.

"Whoosh!"

In the water, his form shot through like a bolt of lightning, reaching speeds seven to eight times his original pace!

A smile swiftly spread across his face as he took his time to understand the myriad differences between his current state at the Veil Breaking Stage and his previous state in the Golden Sanctum.

Upon entering the Veil Breaking Stage and undergoing bodily refinement, one would expect to feel increasingly heavy.

Yet, in the sea at this moment, his pores seemed to be enveloped in mist, making him unexpectedly buoyant. Even without moving, he could float effortlessly.

He wouldn't rise to the surface, nor would he sink to the ocean floor.

When he desired to move, a slight manipulation of spiritual energy, aided by his vitality, allowed him to dart away at a velocity several times faster than before.

Indeed, this was the marvelous sensation that came with ascending to a higher realm.

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