C716 Unimaginable
While practicing in Dark Mountain, one can draw upon the earth's Yin Qi to purify their soul!
Yu Yuan suddenly realized that the trials in Horror Land were indeed as Zu Ann had described. They would prove immensely beneficial, and he might even succeed in forging a Yin God there.
He genuinely appreciated how the Soul Artifact known as the Evil Cauldron was of tremendous aid to him.
Without the Evil Cauldron, his Penetrating Stage cultivation wouldn't suffice to gain entry to Horror Land.
After all, he hadn't yet refined his Yin God.
It was the presence of the Evil Cauldron, with its enveloping dark demonic light, that allowed him to reach this place in his true form.
Seated on the soil of Dark Mountain, he practiced the Ghosting Arts, his spiritual consciousness seizing the Yin Qi to nourish and bolster his three souls.
This was a wondrous sensation, elusive to those who had only refined their Yin God.
Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind.
Mo Yan from the Devil Palace had once studied the Demonic Mark at the bottom of Ember Waters, cultivating within the Evil Cauldron to make it his own.
Did Mo Yan realize that possessing the Evil Cauldron, once he had reached the Penetrating Stage, would allow him to delve deep into Horror Land and enhance all three souls simultaneously?
The Kyara Demon Blade was indeed a remarkable object, yet it wasn't a true Soul Artifact in the fullest sense.
Zhou You had mentioned that Mo Yan, too, had reached Horror Land with his Yin God, not with his true body in tow.
Mo Yan's father, the Devil Palace's second-in-command, had orchestrated his son's mission to refine the Evil Cauldron in Ember Waters. It was highly probable he knew that mastering the Evil Cauldron would transport Mo Yan to Horror Land, enabling him to fortify his soul without the need for a forceful breakthrough.
"Hehe!"
With a sly smile, he mused, "No wonder Mo Yan detests me so! The Evil Cauldron was likely the prized gift that man had reserved for his son! His plans for Mo Yan inadvertently favored me; by a twist of fate, I ended up refining it, and in doing so, I forged my own destiny!"
With his thoughts realigned, another idea began to take shape in his mind.
"Is it possible to practice both the Soul Forging Technique and the Ghosting Arts simultaneously in Horror Land?"
With the thought, he sprang into action!
His Earth Soul, tracing a distinct pathway, cultivated using the Ghosting Arts. Meanwhile, his Heavenly Soul embarked on a different path, seeking refinement through the Soul Forging Technique.
These two extraordinary Soul Arts, sharing the same origin, operated in harmony without interference, even enhancing one another!
As his consciousness soared from the Consciousness Little World and descended to the earth below, the Yin Qi he drew upon while practicing the Soul Forging Technique seemed to accelerate.
"Exquisite!"
Yu Yuan was ecstatic.
In the days that followed, he stayed put, dedicating himself to the underground palace Liu Linzhi had forged. Forgoing sleep and sustenance, he single-mindedly pursued mastery of both the Ghosting Arts and the Soul Forging Technique.
Beneath Dark Mountain, connected to the wellspring of Yin Qi, an endless stream flowed forth.
Yu Yuan sat in meditation, ceaselessly drawing upon the Yin Qi from below, intensively tempering both his Heavenly and Earth Souls.
Even his primary soul got a piece of the action, siphoning Yin Qi as it flowed into the Consciousness Little World.
Half a month later, after a session of deep cultivation, Yu Yuan felt a subtle shift in his spirit and leaped into the miniature world within the cauldron.
The bottommost seven hundred 'evil spirits,' along with those previously refined, had all been transformed into 'evil devils' and ascended to the second tier.
The bottom layer was now devoid of 'evil spirits.'
Looking upward, he noticed on the seventh step, aside from the second devil, the Ice Concubine was present.
The Ice Concubine on the sixth level, with the aid of a few drops of azure liquid, appeared more crystalline and translucent, as if sculpted from a solid block of blue ice.
Seated in the dimly lit cauldron's miniature world on the seventh tier, the Ice Concubine exuded a mysterious and profound presence.
Upon closer inspection, Yu Yuan sensed that the aura emanating from the Ice Concubine bore a striking resemblance to that of his fiancée, Lim Zhuyun, who had triumphed in devouring a devil.
He chuckled to himself and, after a brief exchange with the cauldron soul, understood that all the 'evil devils' within the cauldron were drawing strength from the Yin Qi, empowered by the cauldron's presence in Dark Mountain.
Just like him.
"What a great place!"
Feeling at ease, he vanished in a flash, reappearing outside the cauldron and resumed his cross-legged posture.
Nearby, a suit of armor discarded on the ground after Liu Linzhi's soul spirit had been stripped from it caught his eye.
He noticed the blood light that once adorned the armor was gone, yet the rose pattern seemed to have subtly shifted.
"Hmm!"
Curiosity piqued, he approached the armor and bent down for a closer look.
The rose, once a vivid blood-red, now bore traces so faint that the flower itself appeared blurred. Without close scrutiny, it was nearly indiscernible.
"The texture of the pattern has changed."
After examining it for a moment, Yu Yuan's brow furrowed. His memory served him well, and he quickly concluded, "Liu Linzhi mentioned that the soul of his beloved woman was sealed within. But she was an ordinary mortal; what purpose could her soul serve sealed in this rose pattern?"
"Was it merely to express his rage?"
This thought left Yu Yuan uneasy. After a brief contemplation, he called forth the Evil Cauldron and said, "Let's extract the soul from the flower and take a look."
"Oh, alright."
The dark Evil Cauldron abruptly swiveled, its mouth facing the armor.
Intent on covering the armor with the cauldron, he aimed to use the array within the Evil Cauldron to separate the soul from the rose and reveal its true form.
Then, to the astonishment of both Yu Yuan and the cauldron soul, something unexpected occurred.
Whoosh!
The armor, which had lain motionless on the ground, sprang to life like a startled bird as the Evil Cauldron neared, soaring towards the stone path where Liu Linzhi and he had descended.
From the bud of the rose on the armor, a cluster of soul spirit suddenly emerged.
It was unmistakably the visage of a woman, filled with fear and unease, yet devoid of the previous agony and distortion.
The ethereal and hazy woman flickered within the bud before vanishing once more.
"Huh!"
Driven by curiosity, Yu Yuan uttered a soft exclamation and commanded the Evil Cauldron, "Bring it down. I must see this for myself!"
The Evil Cauldron sped off.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Out of nowhere, Yu Yuan noticed a multitude of 'water shadows' cascading from the summit of Dark Mountain.
Hundreds of formidable ghostly beings plummeted in a frenzied attempt to intercept the Evil Cauldron.
These spirits were clearly intent on rescuing the woman trapped within the armor, aiding her bid for freedom.
Yu Yuan grew increasingly astonished as he realized that this wave of ghostly beings was distinct from those who had previously fled when Liu Linzhi was consumed by the second Evil Demon.
This meant they were not under Liu Linzhi's command and were not native to Dark Mountain.
"Foreign spirits and ghosts!"
His spirits lifted, Yu Yuan couldn't help but chuckle, "Liu Linzhi has surely spun a web of lies to deceive me. His beloved woman? A lover from the mortal realm? It's all utter nonsense!"
The soul of a mere mortal could never draw the attention of so many extraneous spirits and ghosts!
He swiftly came to the understanding that a mortal's soul, imprinted within the rose pattern, could not enhance the armor's power, making it impossible for the armor to grow stronger.
Liu Linzhi, on the other hand, had his soul anchored in the armor, evidently considering it his most prized possession!
"Absolutely not the soul of a mere mortal!"
