C716 Exquisite Beyond Words
The three souls of heaven, earth, and man could practice on Shadow Mountain, drawing upon the subterranean Yin Qi to refine their souls!
Yu Yuan suddenly realized that the trials in the Land of Terror were as beneficial as Zu Ann had described. They could greatly aid him and might even enable him to condense a Lunar Spirit right there.
He sincerely appreciated the Crucible of Evil, akin to a Horcrux, for its immense assistance.
Without the Crucible of Evil, his Subtlety level of cultivation would not suffice to enter the Land of Terror.
This was because he had yet to form a Lunar Spirit.
It was the presence of the Crucible of Evil, and its nature as a Horcrux, that enveloped him in its dark magic light, allowing his real body to reach this place.
Seated on the ground of Shadow Mountain, his real body practiced the Wraithbinding, his spiritual sense capturing the Yin Qi to nourish and bolster the three souls.
This was a marvelous sensation that those who had only entered with their Lunar Spirit could never fully grasp.
Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind.
Hadn't Mo Yan of the Devil Palace studied the glyphs within the Crucible of Evil at the bottom of the Embers Sea to obtain and personalize the Crucible of Evil as his own rare treasure?
Did Mo Yan realize that possessing the Crucible of Evil would allow him to delve into the Land of Terror after condensing his spiritual sense, thereby enhancing all three souls?
The Shadowblade was indeed remarkable, but it wasn't a true Horcrux.
According to Zhou You, Mo Yan reached the Land of Terror with his Lunar Spirit, not his real body.
Mo Yan's father, the second-in-command of the Devil Palace, had sent him to the Embers Sea to refine the Crucible of Evil. He probably knew that once refined, it could take Mo Yan into the Land of Terror, allowing him to strengthen his soul without having to break through to the next level by force.
"Hehe!"
With a sly grin, he mused, "No wonder Mo Yan despises me so much! The Crucible of Evil must be the rare treasure that was intended for his son! His plans for Mo Yan inadvertently favored me; I accidentally refined it and it has made me who I am today!"
After a moment of contemplation, a new idea emerged in Yu Yuan's mind.
"Is it possible to practice both Soul Forging through Enlightenment and Wraithbinding simultaneously in the Land of Terror?"
No sooner had the thought occurred than he acted on it.
His earthly soul followed a distinct path, cultivating through the Wraithbinding technique, while his heaven soul pursued refinement via the Soul Forging through Enlightenment method.
These two extraordinary forms of Spirit Magic, sharing the same origin, operated in harmony without interference, each enhancing the other's effectiveness.
His spiritual sense, emanating from his Mindscape and descending to the earth beneath his feet, drew in Yin Qi more rapidly while he practiced Soul Forging through Enlightenment.
"Brilliant!"
Yu Yuan was ecstatic.
For the days that followed, he went nowhere, dedicating himself to the dual cultivation of Wraithbinding and Soul Forging through Enlightenment within the subterranean palace crafted by Liu Linzhi.
Beneath Shadow Mountain, connected to the Root of the Lunar Meridian, an endless stream of Yin Qi dissipated outward.
Yu Yuan sat in meditation, ceaselessly drawing Yin Qi from the depths to refine both his heaven and earthly souls.
Even his dominant soul partook in the bounty of Yin Qi as it flowed towards his Mindscape.
Half a month later, after a session of deep meditation, Yu Yuan's spirit stirred, and he soared into the little world within the cauldron.
The seven hundred "evil spirits" at the bottom layer, along with those previously there, had all been transformed into "Bane," ascending to the second tier.
The bottom layer was now devoid of "evil spirits."
Looking upward, he noticed the seventh step. Besides the Second Bane, the Frost Queen was present.
The Frost Queen on the sixth level, with the aid of a few drops of azure liquid, had become even more translucent and radiant, resembling a sculpture carved from a single block of blue ice.
In the dimly lit little world of the cauldron, the Frost Queen seated at the seventh level of the Fiendgod Seat exuded a profound and mysterious presence.
Upon closer inspection, Yu Yuan sensed that the Frost Queen's aura bore a striking resemblance to that of his fiancée, Lin Zhuyun, who had successfully consumed a devil.
He chuckled to himself and, after a brief exchange with the cauldron spirit, learned that all the "Bane" within the cauldron could also draw upon the Yin Qi from Shadow Mountain to grow stronger.
"Just like him."
"What a great place!"
Feeling at ease, he vanished in a flash and reappeared outside the cauldron, resuming his cross-legged posture.
Nearby, the armor discarded on the ground after Liu Linzhi's soul had been stripped away caught his eye.
He observed that the blood glow had long vanished from the armor, yet the rose pattern seemed to have subtly shifted.
"Hmm!"
Curious, he approached the armor and bent down to inspect it.
The once blood-red hue of the blooming rose had faded to an extremely faint trace, blurring the image of the rose considerably. Without close scrutiny, it was almost indiscernible.
"The texture of the pattern has changed."
After examining it closely for a moment, Yu Yuan furrowed his brow. Drawing on his memory, he concluded, "Liu Linzhi mentioned that the soul of his beloved woman was sealed within. She was just an ordinary person. What purpose could her soul possibly serve sealed in this rose pattern?"
"Was it merely to express his frustration?"
This thought left Yu Yuan feeling that something was amiss. He pondered briefly before calling forth the Crucible of Evil and said, "Let's try to extract the soul from the flower and take a look."
"Oh, alright."
The dark Crucible of Evil abruptly turned, its mouth facing downward, positioning itself over the armor.
He intended to use the cauldron to envelop the armor and, through the array within the Crucible of Evil, extract the soul hidden within the rose to reveal its true form.
Then, to the astonishment of both Yu Yuan and the cauldron spirit, something unexpected occurred.
Whoosh!
The armor, which had been lying motionless on the ground, suddenly took flight like a frightened bird as the Crucible of Evil neared, heading straight for the stone path where Liu Linzhi and he had descended.
From within the bud of the rose on the armor, a cluster of soul emerged.
It was unmistakably the face of a woman, filled with fear and unease, yet the previous contorted agony was gone.
The ephemeral and hazy woman flashed from the bud only to vanish once more.
"Eh!"
Intrigued, Yu Yuan uttered a soft exclamation and commanded the Crucible of Evil, "Bring it down. I want to see what's really going on!"
The Crucible of Evil shot through the air.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Suddenly, Yu Yuan noticed numerous 'water shadows' cascading down from the ceiling of the cavern within Shadow Mountain.
Hundreds of formidable ghosts and souls plummeted desperately, attempting to intercept the Crucible of Evil.
These ghosts and souls were clearly intent on rescuing the woman trapped within the armor, eager to aid her escape.
Yu Yuan grew even more astonished as he realized that this new wave of ghosts and souls was not the same group that had fled when Liu Linzhi was consumed by the Second Bane.
This meant they were not under Liu Linzhi's command and were not native to Shadow Mountain.
"Foreign ghosts and souls!"
Yu Yuan's spirits lifted, and he couldn't help but laugh, "Liu Linzhi has certainly spun a web of lies to deceive me. His beloved woman, his mortal lover—nothing but tall tales. Not a single word is trustworthy!"
The soul of a mere mortal could not possibly stir such a multitude of foreign ghosts and souls into action!
He also came to the swift realization that a mortal's soul, imprinted within the rose pattern, could not amplify the armor's power, making it impossible for the armor to grow stronger.
Liu Linzhi, with his soul residing within the armor, must consider it his most prized possession!
"It is definitely not a mortal soul!"