Your Spell Version is Too Low!

Time flowed by in a flash.

In the blink of an eye, three months had quietly passed since the heart-pounding expedition to Black Death Peak.

Qi Yun sat cross-legged within the meditation room of his Qingyou Villa, his aura profound and his mind utterly still.

Before him, a Treasure Mirror quietly floated.

The entire Treasure Mirror was like a polished looking glass, yet it was made of neither gold nor jade. Its material was as transparent and clear as colored glaze, and its frame was engraved with intricate, ancient cloud patterns.

The mirror’s surface didn’t reflect the outside world; instead, it held a hazy, mystical light within.

It seemed to contain microcosms of the past, present, and future, along with their inherent Dao Rhyme.

This was none other than the Three-Life Glazed Treasure Mirror he had obtained from Li Chong!

This mirror was an Exotic Treasure that aided in the cultivation of the Divine Soul, and its powers were truly wondrous.

With the mirror’s light, a Cultivator could clearly perform Introspection, illuminating the location of their Three Souls and observing their every minute change and fluctuation in meticulous detail.

This allowed them to more precisely grasp the profound opportunity and flowing aura needed for the Three Souls to unite and form an intangible Divine Soul.

Over the past three months, Qi Yun had used the illuminating power of the Three-Life Glazed Treasure Mirror, along with the endless supply of incomparably pure, ownerless Divine Rhyme provided by the Platinum Buddha Beads on his wrist.

As a result, his cultivation of the Three Souls had progressed by leaps and bounds.

Through Introspection, he could "see" that the Three Souls deep within his Purple Mansion were no longer the faint, grain-of-rice-sized specks of light he had first perceived.

Now, his Fetal Light, Shuang Ling, and Ghost Spirit had grown strong, full, and had reached a state of Perfection. Each had transformed into a radiant, flowing orb of light about the size of a pigeon’s egg, as perfectly round as a bright pearl.

The orbs of light were each a different color.

The Fetal Light was of Clear Spirit, the Shuang Ling was sharp and piercing, and the Ghost Spirit was deep and tranquil.

Their auras resonated with one another, their lights reflecting in a brilliant display.

They radiated a vibrant spiritual nature and immense Soul Power.

And as the Three Souls grew more formidable by the day, Qi Yun could clearly feel a faint yet persistent pull emanating from the depths of his Ancestral Acupoint Sea of Consciousness.

This pull didn’t target his physical body or his True Essence; it acted directly on the very source of his soul.

It sought to guide these three orbs of soul-light, now mature and full, to break from their usual positions and surge upward.

To enter and take residence in the unfathomably mysterious Ancestral Acupoint Sea of Consciousness.

Once the Three Souls successfully entered the Ancestral Acupoint, they would have to undergo a final tempering and fusion in that ’ocean’ of the Divine Soul—a process of refinement to become one.

Finally, they would condense into a [Divine Soul]—a being that transcends the mortal soul, capable of roaming Heaven and Earth and perceiving the Great Dao!

This was the clear sign of an imminent breakthrough to the Qi Refining Ninth Layer.

Qi Yun slowly opened his eyes. A flash of regret flickered in their depths as he sighed softly.

’If only that jar of Soul-Shaking Potion had arrived on time. With its divine ability to cleanse the soul’s impurities and wash away distracting thoughts...’

’...my odds of breaking through to the Qi Refining Ninth Layer would be a perfect hundred percent, without the slightest risk of obstruction.’

However, the regret was fleeting.

He then shook his head and chuckled.

’Oh well. A man’s ambition is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant.’

’A jar of Soul-Shaking Potion is nice, but how could it compare to acquiring a Foundation Establishment Object like the Taibai Molt, which points directly to the foundation of the Great Dao, and a protective treasure like the Golden Pattern Fireproof Shield, which increases my chances of success in Foundation Establishment?’

’No matter how I look at it, I came out way ahead on that deal.’

Having come to this realization, Qi Yun’s heart and mind calmed once more.

’No rush. I need to be more stable, more solid.’

’Cultivating the Divine Soul is unlike anything else. It’s a matter of life and death, the most dangerous hurdle in the Qi Refining Stage.’

’If the Three Souls fail to unite, the lightest consequence is a damaged Divine Soul and a severed path of cultivation. The worst is having one’s soul scattered to the winds, a complete and utter demise.’

’That’s true and utter annihilation, leaving no room for impatience or wishful thinking.’

He forcefully suppressed the increasingly distinct pull from his Ancestral Acupoint Sea of Consciousness, temporarily reining in the restless impulse to break through.

Qi Yun subtly altered his Spell, continuing to slowly turn the Platinum Buddha Beads on his wrist.

As he turned them, the gentle yet immense and pure Divine Rhyme stored within the Buddha Beads flowed into his body like a ceaseless, trickling stream.

It was greedily absorbed and assimilated by the three pearl-like orbs of soul-light.

Nourished by this vast quantity of Divine Rhyme, the light of the Three Souls grew more condensed and their forms more stable. The very foundation of his soul was strengthening, sliver by sliver, at a rate imperceptible to the naked eye, yet undeniably real.

...

「Another three months slipped by in quiet cultivation.」

On this day, Qi Yun once again slowly opened his eyes.

The moment he did, an extremely faint yet incomparably pure wisp of golden light flashed deep within his eyes before vanishing.

It was a phenomenon that occurred naturally when one’s Power of Soul reached a certain level of abundance.

Yet, his brow furrowed slightly.

His face held none of the joy of an impending breakthrough, but rather a hint of gravity.

"’I can’t keep absorbing Divine Rhyme to grow stronger,’ he muttered, his gaze falling to the Platinum Buddha Beads on his wrist."

Of the original twelve round, full beads, three had now grown dim and lusterless, their stored Divine Rhyme completely exhausted.

’Stronger is better for the Three Souls, of course, but there’s a limit.’

’If I blindly pursue power and make the Three Souls too formidable, the repulsive force between them will grow in tandem. When that happens, not only will they fail to fuse, they might even shatter from the violent conflict.’

’If it really comes to that, I’m afraid I’ll have no choice but to abandon the path of a Magic Cultivator.’

’I’d have to walk the path of a Martial Arts Body Cultivator instead, specializing in the physical body and the union of flesh and spirit.’

The thought made Qi Yun click his tongue in consternation. He gained a more visceral understanding of the power of the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Feeling the nearly irrepressible, vortex-like pull from his Ancestral Acupoint Sea of Consciousness, and the eager, restless throbbing of the Three Souls within him...

Qi Yun knew that his time in seclusion, consolidating his foundation, was over.

Next came the crucial moment: to charge the Qi Refining Ninth Layer and forge his Divine Soul.

Success or failure would be decided now.

The meditation room was so still you could hear a pin drop.

Qi Yun sat cross-legged, his mind sinking completely into his body.

After six long months of accumulation and nurturing, he had adjusted his condition to its absolute peak.

His Essence, Qi, and Spirit were in perfect, brimming harmony, like a fully drawn bowstring waiting to be loosed.

’It’s time.’

With a single Heart Thought, he completely released his suppression of the Ancestral Acupoint Sea of Consciousness.

BOOM!

As if a floodgate had burst open, a vast and majestic suction force surged forth from the Upper Dantian between his eyebrows.

Like a great, invisible hand, it instantly seized the three dazzling orbs of soul-light—the Fetal Light, Shuang Ling, and Ghost Spirit—which were already waiting eagerly in the depths of his Purple Mansion!

Pulled by this force, the Three Souls instantly transformed into three streams of Flowing Light, surging upward along a mystical trajectory straight toward the Ancestral Acupoint!

At first, everything went smoother than he could have possibly imagined.

Under the illumination of the Three-Life Glazed Treasure Mirror, the trajectories of the Three Souls were perfectly clear, and the blending of their auras was exceptionally harmonious.

The immense Power of Soul churned within his Ancestral Acupoint, causing Qi Yun’s entire aura to become ethereal and profound.

He could feel the three orbs of soul-light slowly drawing closer.

Their light began to interpenetrate, to merge.

A grander, more solid core was gradually taking shape.

The Qi Refining Ninth Layer, the Realm of Divine Soul, was within his grasp.

However, just as the Three Souls were about to completely unite...

...at the most critical moment, when the nascent form of the new [Divine Soul] was already faintly visible...

Disaster struck!

Without any warning, Qi Yun’s heart trembled. An indescribable feeling of agitation and chaos surged up from nowhere.

In an instant, all manner of distracting thoughts, illusions, and delusions erupted like a ten-thousand-year-dormant volcano, violently assaulting the core of his consciousness:

The dazzling light from the countless treasures in the Black Death Peak vault, a greedy possessiveness gnawing at his heart like a venomous snake...

Chang Qing’s venomous, resentful gaze from before his death, mixed with the shrill Curses of the Divine Silkworm Sect’s Daoists, echoing in his ears...

Li Hanyan’s cold, profound gaze, which seemed to see through everything, felt as though it were piercing the void to watch him coldly...

Even blurred fragments of memories from his past life surfaced—long-forgotten regrets, fears, and obsessions all transforming into fanged and clawed Heart Demons...

The craving for Foundation Establishment, the obsession with Freedom, the fear of failure... Every emotion was infinitely magnified, weaving together into a chaotic, suffocating net!

’Damn it! A Heart Demon invasion!’

Alarm bells screamed in Qi Yun’s mind, his brow furrowed deeply.

’Everything was almost over. Why would a Heart Demon invade now, of all times?’

’Logically, with the protection of the Great Marvelous True Luo and my unique bloodline, any other accident might have been possible, but a Heart Demon should have been the least likely.’

Taking a deep breath, Qi Yun frantically operated the Bright Lamp Skill, visualizing a bright lamp to try and dispel these distracting thoughts and stabilize his mind.

But these Heart Demons and distracting thoughts were too ferocious, too bizarre. It felt as if they didn’t originate from him at all, but were instead triggered and amplified by some external force!

Under the assault of this sudden internal tempest, the originally harmonious Three Souls began to tremble erratically, their trajectories thrown into disarray.

A powerful sense of repulsion erupted between them!

The nascent Divine Soul that had just begun to form fluctuated violently, growing blurry and indistinct, as if it might collapse at any moment.

Gale-force winds howled through his entire Ancestral Acupoint Sea of Consciousness, and massive waves surged—a scene of utter chaos.

In an instant, the breakthrough went from smooth sailing to the brink of utter collapse!

...

「Meanwhile, in a cold, desolate, and deathly silent hidden location.」

A shadowy figure, shrouded in a voluminous black robe, sat cross-legged before a Magic Altar built of black stone.

Upon the Magic Altar rested an oil lamp, its flame flickering a ghastly green.

And in the very center of the Magic Altar, a sheet of dark yellow Talisman Paper was laid flat. On it, a line of characters representing a person’s date and time of birth was clearly written in Cinnabar.

They were precisely Qi Yun’s!

The black-robed figure formed a strange Dharma Seal with one hand, while the other gripped a crimson Command Flag about a foot long.

The Command Flag’s material was unknown, its color a dark, blood-like red. A ferocious demonic head was drawn on its surface in an even deeper shade.

The figure muttered an incantation, their voice emitting low, obscure syllables.

It was as if they were communicating with some unseen entity in the netherworld.

As the Spell was recited, the hand gripping the crimson Command Flag began to sway rhythmically.

HUU...

HUU...

With every sway, a faint, hair-thin wisp of black energy would peel off the crimson Command Flag.

The black energy twisted, letting out a nearly inaudible shriek before vanishing into the void. It followed some mysterious, karmic link, floating away to an unknown destination.

And each time the Command Flag swayed and the black energy vanished, the Cinnabar script on the Talisman Paper bearing Qi Yun’s birth information would flicker faintly.

Its color seemed to grow a shade darker.

The sudden eruption of the Heart Demon and distracting thoughts within Qi Yun was, without a doubt, this person’s doing.

...