Chapter 419: Sword Soul Embryo
Translator: Swammped Editor: Hitesh_
"There were three places related to Extreme Yin Region and the rooster image. First was the Rooster Valley, second the Fowl Town near Rooster Valley, and the last was the first-ever-born, eleventh grade Demonic Beast King's Yangface mountain range. Rooster Valley and Fowl Town didn't have much significance, so it ought to be Yangface mountain range." In the ordinary seats, an Astral Reaching expert muttered to himself while his neighbors glanced at him with covetous expressions.
"What are you guys doing?"
That man immediately closed his mouth. Unfortunately, spoken words were like spilled water. He couldn't take them back.
"Hehe, nothing. Join us, or die once we're out."
"That's right, join us. At least, it's better than teaming up with Sea of Soul realm experts. This way, you'll still have hope of getting the secrets of the Undying Body."
At this moment, people who were well-versed in the history of Extreme Yin Region were hot in demand. There was no lack of those who had teamed willingly as friends, and neither of those forced to join after being exposed. Anyhow, the significance of this map was too large. Only by teaming up did people have any hope of unraveling its secrets.
The final item of the auction was claimed for a hundred and twenty and twenty thousand upper grade spirit stones, marking the end of the auction. People then started to leave one after another.
"I'm quite expectant. Let's see how many steps they can unravel." In the VIP room, Yin Demon Ancestor was leisurely sipping tea. For the past fifty years, he had studied this map day and night, and managed to unravel more than half of its contents. Unfortunately, in the later stages, the ideas contained in the map were increasingly varying, leaving no room for speculations. There were many clues that couldn't be solved even by studying the history of Extreme Yin Region. Of course, history was not something one could study so easily. There might be some details that didn't seem much important, but could solve the crux of the map.
Outside the auction site…
Murong Qingcheng warned, "Be wary of that Ghost Moon. Soul Sunder Sect studies soul and some other strange aspects, and because of that, they don't care that much about employing underhanded means. Be it their outer sect disciples or even the sect leader, they are all the same."
"I know." Ye Chen nodded. He faintly felt that Duan Lingyun's soul was unstable. This instability didn't imply that it could crumble, but the cultivation of some secret technique. His soul had turned overcast and dark to the extreme. Bright on the outside, but filled with darkness inside- this was an apt description for him. There were many cultivators of demonic Dao on the True Spirit Continent. Demonic Dao also had the distinction of being deep and shallow. Duan Lingyun and his Soul Sunder Sect undoubtedly belonged to that category. Their temperament was influenced by their souls, and gave people an amiable feeling only on the outside.
'Good triumphs over evil'… These were nothing but sweet words. Although temperament was important for cultivation, Heaven's Dao couldn't be fathomed. Those with clear and upright character might not be successful in cultivation, and those with sinister character might not fail in cultivation. It was the same principle that good people might not meet good fortune and evil might not necessarily suffer heaven's retribution.
The only thing Ye Chen could do was to firmly grasp and believe in his own Dao.
The auction went on for the entire morning, and it was already noon at this moment. The restaurants of Three Yin City were packed, and wine and gambling was in full swing.
After eating lunch, Ye Chen and Murong Qingcheng walked out of the booth and parted for their separate rooms.
Inside a spacious and luxurious bedroom, Ye Chen sat cross-legged on the bed and took out the head-sized Demonic Evil Stone.
It seemed like a huge chunk of crystalline coal and felt like ice in his hand. The murky evil Qi inside even froze the water Yuan Qi in the air. Little ice beads sprinkled on the ground, creating a thin and shallow layer of ice.
Ye Chen disregarded the freezing chill coming from the stone. His forehead swelled, letting out sword intent and sucking in large amounts of evil Qi inside.
Zi Zi Zi...
The evil Qi wriggled for a few moments as if it saw a blood leech, then poured into his Soul Sea via his Zhen Yuan meridians.
Raging waves surged in the Soul Sea, and a freezing chill spread amidst the deathly silence.
"Refine"
When Ye Chen refined blood evil stone's evil qi before, he was not relaxed at all. But as of now, his sword soul embryo was much more powerful, and the embryo's form was even shining with the luster of will. Its might second only compared to Sea of Soul Ancestors. He would naturally not care about this evil Qi which had twenty percent less efficacy compared to the blood evil stone. With a mere tremble of the longsword above his Soul Sea, a frightening sword light spread out, dispersing away the chill. The demonic evil stone's evil qi gradually turned into nutrition, strengthening his body.
The evil Qi, unresigned about becoming a prey, struggled with all its might, wreaking havoc in Ye Chen's Soul Sea. At the same time, the demonic evil stone in Ye Chen's hand burst forth with a much larger quantity of evil Qi, contending against Ye Chen's sword soul embryo.
Kacha! Kacha!
Evil Qi was sliced apart by the radiance of sword intent, completely defeating it. It was incapable of putting any sort of resistance before the sword intent.
As Ye Chen refined the evil Qi, he could feel his sword intent becoming increasingly condense. The longsword, which was the sword soul embryo, grew to the size of four fingers from three, and continued to grow even further. The will's silver radiance, which permeated the sword soul embryo, never changed. It didn't need to be refined, but comprehended. As for the halo of sword intent, it actually expanded. To say halo, it was actually the aftermath of sword intent after being emitted by the sword soul embryo- a layer of protective layer after sword intent was emitted outside.
Four fingers.
Four and a half fingers!
Five Fingers!
Once the longsword reached the size of five fingers, it stopped growing. It had reached the critical point. If it continued to grow, it would become a true sword soul.
Cutting off his connection with demonic evil stone, Ye Chen opened his eyes.
Outside, half a day and night had already passed. From yesterday's noon to today's dawn, the sky was clear and bright.
Huff!
Slowly letting out a breath of impure Qi, Ye Chen sized up the demonic evil stone.
The coal-like demonic evil stone had lost more than half of its luster, and had become somewhat transparent. It still had about twenty percent of its evil Qi inside. In other words, in half a day and night, Ye Chen had refined eighty percent of its evil Qi and condensed his sword soul embryo to the peak. He was only a step away from attaining a sword soul.
Taking back the demonic evil stone, Ye Chen stretched a bit, then left the bed.
"My sword soul embryo has reached the limit. I wonder what its might is like."
His vision fell on the potted plant inside the bedroom that was half his height, and his forehead swelled. A formless but substantive sword intent gushed out, piercing through the potted plant.
Creak!
The huge potted plant withered down at an observable speed. It dropped, finally creeping within the pot without a trace of vitality.
A beam of sword intent had completely severed the life of this potted plant. This was a sword intent capable of piercing a Clasping Yuan cultivator's soul.
However, Ye Chen's feelings were not so simple as he walked to the plant.
He scooped out a handful of sand from inside the pot. The soil had turned yellowish, indicating that it had lost all its organic matter. Not only that sword intent had severed the life of the potted plant, it had even destroyed the nutritious value of the soil. Its effect had finally become pragmatic.
"Back when my sword intent was fifty percent completed, it could also sever the life of a potted plant, but that plant would have to be only the length of a palm, and that too a delicate variety that would start to wither if not watered for a single day. Moreover, I had only severed the life of leaves, and not the whole plant. But, this plant was half the height of a person, and also quite tenacious, since it could grow in the harsh environment. But, my sword intent was able to completely sever its vitality and even destroy the soil's nutritive value. How much has it improved from back then? Ten times? No, thirty to fifty times."
His sword intent in the beginning had been formless and insubstantial. When it became substantive, it could destroy some small matter. As its substance accumulated, it could destroy more and more things. Finally, at this moment, its influence had become pragmatic. Like the martial will of a Life and Death King, under such a frightening will, even mountain rocks could crumble and a person could be ripped apart.
"Compared to before, the sword intent's might has increased by around thirty percent. If Ghost Moon hasn't comprehended some profound sense, I can certainly defeat him. But, it's impossible for Soul Sunder Sect, a sixth grade sect, to not have any profound sense skill left behind by predecessors. On the contrary, they will have a lot of them. Ghost Moon has most likely comprehended some left behind profound sense skill, though I wonder how much he has been able to comprehend."
Before comprehending one's own profound sense skill, studying a profound sense skill left behind by someone else was certainly the most sensible option. It could also help increase one's experience. Therefore, Ye Chen didn't have more than fifty percent certainty of defeating Ghost Moon. However, if his cultivation could reach the peak of Late Astral Reaching realm, he wouldn't have to fear the latter.
"With the support of upper grade spirit stones, my cultivation base can quickly progress. Within three days, I can definitely reach the peak of late Astral Reaching realm."
Lightly rinsing his mouth and washing up, Ye Chen went to eat breakfast.
At this moment, the room opposite to him, which was Murong Qingcheng's room, also opened.
Like Ye Chen, she had been cultivating since yesterday's noon, and had completely used the three small demonic evil stones. She had finally condensed her martial will into martial soul embryo, substantially increasing her battle power.
It could be said that Shen Tujue from back then was not an opponent for her, even though she might not be able to kill him. This was because she had already cultivated Great Sky Devil Art to the thirteenth layer. Compared to her, Shen Tujue was quite lacking. After all, how many people could comprehend a peak earth grade technique to the thirteenth layer in Astral Reaching realm? At least in South Rudra Region, the number was pathetic.
Murong Qingcheng, who had just washed and rinsed, didn't have a trace of exhaustion. The hair before her forehead were slightly wet, eyebrows mildly groomed, and eyes shining with expectation. Her pure and clean elegance carried an irresistible enticement. Even Ye Chen couldn't help but raise his eyes.
"Good morning."
Ye Chen suppressed his somewhat surging insides and struck a greeting.
"Let's have breakfast together!"
Murong Qingcheng revealed a smile, bringing a fragrant wind as she approached him. If an ordinary person were to take it in, even his bones would go soft. Of course, apart from Ye Chen, there hadn't been anyone who could walk so close to her. This morning, a small seed had baselessly sown in the heart of the two.
Going downstairs, the two entered a booth, eating breakfast while studying the map together.