C676 Tempering Earthly Soul

On their return journey, Yu Yuan and Xie Bin traveled together. Xie Bin's mood had soured after losing the Glacial Storm Seal; he wore a grim expression and was inwardly grappling with his frustration.

Shortly after departing from Dedsend Lake, Yu Yuan, not wanting to attract too much attention, stowed the Crucible of Evil. Some time later, a Golden Carriage appeared, soaring towards them. Chen Langzhi of the Chen family stood atop the carriage, smiling and waving at the pair.

Yu Yuan and Xie Bin exchanged a glance, momentarily taken aback, before deciding to board the Golden Carriage. The carriage made a swift turn and sped off towards Afnetalos.

Chen Langzhi offered a respectful bow to Xie Bin and exchanged pleasantries. He then turned to Yu Yuan and inquired, "Did you encounter Qi Yunhong?"

"How did you know?" Yu Yuan responded, astonished.

"We sensed the Illusion Orb's presence shortly after you left Afnetalos," Chen Langzhi explained. "But considering Mr. Xie's restored powers and his possession of the Glacial Storm Seal, I assumed he wouldn't fear Qi Yunhong. I came to check on you, with no intention of intervening."

After a brief pause, he added, "It seems you're both unharmed."

Chen Langzhi, as part of the Chen family, was privy to all events transpiring in Afnetalos. He was well aware that Xie Bin, guided by Yu Yuan, had gone to the Azure Vault to rent a training room. There, Yu Yuan had assisted Xie Bin in extracting the Solar Spirit fragment from the Glacial Storm Seal and used the Crucible of Evil to help him reconstitute his Heaven soul.

Yu Yuan, under the alias "Chen Xi," had visited the Obsidian Thunder Sect's training hall with Liu Ying. He was also informed of Lee Yu becoming Xie Bin's disciple and was up to date with subsequent events.

What he was unaware of was Ann Ziqing's quiet entanglement with Yu Yuan and Xie Bin. To rescue Ann Ziqing, they had inadvertently entered the Illusion Orb and were transported out of Afnetalos to Dedsend Lake.

He was also oblivious to the fact that Ann Ziqing was the mastermind behind the trap. At Dedsend Lake, Ann Jieshan had confronted four extraterrestrial Otherkin, seizing the Obsidian Thunder Sect's prized Glacial Storm Seal and the Soulsear Bolt that enveloped Dedsend Lake.

The situation in the Scarlet Dunes is dire, with many lives lost. Chen Langzhi shifted the conversation, "The Ashen Shadowmist is billowing out, obscuring the view for those outside, making it impossible to discern what's happening within. Few of those who have ventured in recently have made it back out. Even more alarming is that the Ashen Shadowmist continues to expand, seemingly on the verge of engulfing Afnetalos."

Xie Bin's mind was preoccupied with the loss of the Glacial Storm Seal and how to recover it. He had lost interest in the plight of the Scarlet Dunes, and he told Yu Yuan, "I'll soon be leaving Afnetalos to return to the Obsidian Thunder Sect on the Euwrea Continent. Lee Yu and a few others will accompany me."

"You?" Yu Yuan expressed his surprise.

"I'll quickly reforge my Solar Spirit. The sect still has some resources left, and the remnants of the lightning pool there will aid in my cultivation." Xie Bin resolved to step back from the sect's recruitment efforts in Afnetalos, focusing solely on advancing his own power and reclaiming the Glacial Storm Seal.

Half an hour later, Chen Langzhi arrived in the city, driving the Golden Carriage. Once the carriage came to a halt, he earnestly suggested to Yu Yuan, "Would you like me to escort you to the teleportation circle that leads directly to the Forgotten Ruins? It might be safer for you to return there."

"No, I plan to stay in Afnetalos a bit longer," Yu Yuan declined with a shake of his head.

"If you're staying in Afnetalos, that's fine. The Ashen Shadowmist is unlikely to spread quickly. And for safety's sake, you should remain within the Azure Vault," Chen Langzhi advised. "The rune circle there is in sync with the city's defenses, and the Illusion Orb won't be able to whisk you away unnoticed."

"Mm, understood," Yu Yuan nodded in agreement.

Xie Bin observed the interaction, unsurprised by the Chen family's concern for Yu Yuan. Having inquired about Yu Yuan through the Crucible of Evil, he knew of Yu Yuan's rescue of Chen Qingyan.

He naturally assumed that the Chen family's special attention to Yu Yuan stemmed from this connection.

Subsequently, Yu Yuan and Xie Bin went their separate ways. Xie Bin would return to the Obsidian Thunder Sect to handle some affairs before leading Lee Yu and the others out of Afnetalos, traveling via teleportation circle to the Euwrea Continent.

Yu Yuan heeded Chen Langzhi's advice and found himself a training room within the Azure Vault, where he dedicated himself to cultivating his spiritual sense both day and night.

He pushed himself to the point of forgoing sleep and food in his pursuit of cultivation.

After several days, his Mindscape was brimming with strands of spiritual sense, saturating his earthly soul and leaving him feeling dizzy and disoriented.

He abruptly awoke, halting the condensation of his spiritual sense, and furrowed his brow in deep contemplation.

Had he encountered a bottleneck in his cultivation journey?

He meticulously reviewed the various spells he had practiced. "The Nine Glories Wheel" served as the foundation of his cultivation, while "Soul Forging through Enlightenment" could enhance the intelligence of the heaven soul, aiding in the eventual formation of the Solar Spirit. The "Evil Body Refining," on the other hand, was meant to strengthen his physical form.

Yet, upon reaching the Subtlety stage, he realized he lacked a specific spell for the focused condensation of spiritual sense and the refinement of the earthly soul.

He had habitually relied on his spiritual sense to scrutinize himself and incrementally refine and bolster it with the Soul Essence Pill, neglecting the deliberate tempering of his earthly soul.

In the Subtlety stage, refining the spiritual sense was not enough; one must also invest time and effort to refine the earthly soul.

This earthly soul was destined to evolve into a Lunar Spirit. Without proper refinement and a solid foundation, transitioning into the Lunar Spirit realm could prove to be a significant challenge.

"I don't possess a spell specifically designed for cultivating the Lunar Spirit."

Rising from his seated meditation, Yu Yuan pondered his next steps. He needed to seek out a unique spell to nurture his earthly soul into a Lunar Spirit.

Otherwise, he would continue to encounter bottlenecks, as he was now, and remain in a state of confusion.

Each sect boasted its own distinctive spell for refining the earthly soul and its transformation into a Lunar Spirit.

The Order of Healing, Yu Yuan's former sect, was not focused on cultivation but on the art of medicine making.

The collection of spiritual spells and arcane techniques within the Order of Healing were gathered from other sects and were not originally their own.

In his past life, Yu Yuan had not even taken the first step in cultivation, so he had paid little attention to the spells that could purify the earthly soul.

With the Terror Claws' treasure in my grasp, I am effectively the heir to their legacy and have no need to seek assistance from outsiders. The Terror Claws may be renowned for their formidable physical strength, but there must also be a spell for refining the earthly soul and transforming into the Lunar Spirit.

With a mere thought, I summoned the Crucible of Evil and communicated with its artifact soul in the training room, sharing my purpose.

As the sect's most cherished relic, the Crucible of Evil's artifact soul was already sentient and intimately familiar with all the sect's devilish spells.

Sure enough, once the Crucible of Evil expanded, it enveloped me within its confines.

In the cauldron's own little world, I observed the inner walls where glyphs writhed and shifted, morphing into tiny characters before my eyes.

Employing my spiritual sense, I perceived these minuscule characters and swiftly deciphered a dark art for refining the earthly soul — the Wraithbinding!

As my spiritual sense engaged with the glyphs, specks of light emerged within the earthly soul, which held my memories, imprinting the words deeply, one by one.

"Wraithbinding!"

The artifact soul of the Crucible of Evil, observing the glyphs' movements, manifested a spell and exclaimed, "For some reason, my memory lacks the origins of this spell. It seems that it did not originate from the Terror Claws but was inscribed within the cauldron instead."

"Ah! You, as the artifact soul, are unaware of the spell's provenance?" I exclaimed in surprise. "How can this be?"

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