Chapter 613: 炼体准备、霞尊?路边一条

With a single sentence, Venerable Xia settled the matter.

Although the subordinate forces below were somewhat unwilling, they said nothing more. Instead, they exchanged glances, each harboring their own thoughts.

The sudden emergence of a powerful individual from the Wei clan was too bizarre. They were well aware of all the Soul Transformation cultivators in Yunzhou and even the surrounding regions, and no one with such strange methods had ever appeared. Their uncertainty was understandable.

As they pondered, Venerable Xia, seated at the head, spoke.

“I have already decided on this matter. When you return, first reduce your spheres of influence and do not provoke the Wei clan any further.”

“This…”

“Within three days at the latest, I will give you all an explanation.”

Yes, an explanation! As the nominal foremost expert in Yunzhou and its de facto ruler, all immortal cultivation forces were under the control of Yunwu Mountain. Even the markets jointly established by rogue cultivators had to regularly submit a portion of their income as taxes to Yunwu Mountain. Similarly, Venerable Xia had an obligation to protect them. This was the meaning behind the word ‘explanation’.

Having received a satisfactory reply, the three Nascent Soul cultivators from the subordinate sects were quite pleased, with the exception of the sect master of Purple Haze Gate, whose expression remained gloomy.

Competition in the Mountain Sea Realm had always been fierce. Nascent Soul cultivators who might hold some status in other Minor Thousand Worlds often needed to depend on Soul Transformation experts to acquire sufficient cultivation resources, but this usually relegated them to the role of mere henchmen.

After everyone had left, Venerable Xia furiously smashed the gilded table in front of her into smithereens. A red glow flickered in her eyes, making her seem as fearsome as a beast.

“Qing Qing… it must be that wretch of yours causing trouble, trying to get back at me for sending Situ to ruin your plans, isn’t it?”

Venerable Xia muttered to herself, and soon came up with a solution. She gently rubbed her face with her delicate hands, restoring her usual ethereal and stunning appearance. Then, she took out a Ten-Thousand-Mile Conjoined Mirror and activated it. As spiritual power flowed into it, the mirror quickly revealed a handsome white-haired man, whose style was quite similar to Wang Yu's, except for his eyes, which seemed devoid of any emotion, lending him an eerie quality.

This man was Patriarch Heartless, Li Chunyi, a successor of the Grand Forgetfulness Dao, and the master of the Minor Zenith Palace. He was tasked by the Immortal Palace to manage the use of the ascension channels. Despite his cold gaze, his words were extremely warm.

“Xia'er, has something happened? This is the first time you've sought me out at this hour.”

“Brother Chunyi, I knew nothing could escape your notice. A strange Soul Transformation expert has appeared in Yunzhou these past few days, rampaging and plundering. I suspect they smuggled themselves in from a remote realm, ignorant of the Mountain Sea Realm's rules. It's also possible they were sent by those specters who hate you. Xia'er is quite uncertain~”

“Oh, is that so? I will come personally in a few days. Xia'er, just gather some information, and leave the rest to me.”

Although the man in the mirror wore a doting expression, his unchanging, placid eyes made him appear even stranger. Such was the Grand Forgetfulness Dao: first, reach the extreme of emotion, then forget emotion. It was renowned throughout the Vast Immortal Realm, but Li Chunyi's state and cultivation method clearly seemed somewhat amiss.

As the communication ended, Venerable Xia narrowed her eyes: “That dog, his eyes are truly chilling. Hmph—you wish to kill your wife to prove the Dao before merging with it, but why wouldn't I want to devour your Heartless Intent?”

***

Five Elements Corpse Market, Wei Clan.

After several days of arrangement, the previously desolate and quiet market was now completely filled with spiritual energy, so dense it resembled morning mist. One couldn't help but take a deep breath, feeling refreshed and invigorated.

In the center of the five corpse pits, Wang Yu had set up a small transformation array, utilizing the power of the unique formation to nourish himself and compensate for the depletion caused by sixty years of strenuous cultivation. While in seclusion on the moon, he had attempted the Fiery Tempering Golden Body technique, refining himself for a full sixty years before finally accumulating enough to break through, fortunately reaching the peak of the fifth stage. Although his realm had ascended, the wear and tear on his body required a large replenishment of vital essence, or the use of such Inverse Five Elements Corpse-Nourishing Grounds to restore his physical foundation.

The Undying Nether Dragon Art inherently incorporated numerous profound corpse dao essences, making this type of environment most suitable for his recuperation; otherwise, he wouldn't have gone to such great lengths to set it up.

Breakthroughs in body cultivation become increasingly difficult at later stages. However, there was an effective theory for breakthroughs. Through years of synthesis, Wang Yu discovered that daily practice of the Undying Nether Dragon Art was essentially accumulating vital essence and divine marrow, slowly enhancing the physical body while storing a large amount of 'foundation' within. These were hidden within the flesh, muscles, and bones, unseen in daily life. But when the body was in an extremely weakened state, by intensely pushing it, one could always extract a substantial amount of usable power from these crevices. It was precisely this 'foundation' that allowed the body to receive ample nourishment with each breakthrough after destruction, continuously increasing the physical body's load capacity.

This was the fundamental principle behind body cultivators' continuous strengthening: Consume powerful tonics (accumulate 'foundation') — Temper the self (damage the body) — Break through a realm (consume 'foundation')! Each time a body cultivator seeks to break through, they need to store sufficient 'foundation' within their body to meet the breakthrough requirements. As for efficiency and results, that depends on the quality of their cultivation method. What seemed simple actually contained a great deal of theoretical knowledge. Tempering must not be excessive, otherwise there's a risk of damaging one's origin. Similarly, nourishing must not be overly abundant, as it could lead to an abnormal state of saturation in the body, where the 'hunger' of blood and muscle cells can no longer be felt.

Every single aspect required careful consideration of its theories and details. Since the fundamental path of refining spirits into immortals was currently difficult to advance, this aspect only required time to accumulate spiritual power. The path to perfected Soul Transformation would be unobstructed. After all, he had already condensed the Frost Moon Plate, an Intent Weapon, which was now fully integrated into his Yin Soul. In the future, it would serve perfectly as an anchor point for a Void Refinement blessed land. Only the purest elixirs for accelerating spiritual power accumulation were lacking. Therefore, he had no need to worry about it.

Thus, he could devote his entire focus to body cultivation. Although Minor Thousand Worlds could not accommodate Sixth-stage beings, he could complete his accumulation in advance, allowing him to begin breakthrough preparations as soon as he ascended. He was still in the accumulation phase, needing considerable more cultivation before he could attempt a breakthrough. Sixth-stage body cultivators corresponded to Void Refinement stage cultivators. The difficulty of breaking through was exceedingly high; it was rare to find one among millions.

Simply put, one needed to overcome three major hurdles.

First, after the Golden Blood Divine Marrow filled the dragon spine, one must use the Nine Condensations and Nine Dispersions method to significantly enhance the body's foundation, and then condense a drop of Primordial True Marrow. The Nine Condensations and Nine Dispersions was a well-known method, which Wang Yu had completed more than once. It was essentially a breakthrough secret technique of extremely high quality. It involved dispersing all Golden Blood Divine Marrow throughout the body to enhance the foundation, providing the necessary consumption for the transformative breakthrough to Void Refinement, and then continuously consuming powerful tonics to restore the dragon spine to fullness. Repeating this cycle, nine condensations and nine dispersals, led to perfection!

Second, the Immortal Body! Upon reaching perfected Fifth Stage, the Immortal Body was already partially formed. The next step was to integrate the power of the entire body and precisely control the Immortal Light to condense a structure similar to an alchemical furnace. This had two layers: external and internal. Externally, refine the divine body for immortality. Internally, nourish vitality for longevity. This stage was called the River of Time Furnace. Once successfully condensed, it could continuously refine the body cultivator's physique, eliminate excess parts, and strengthen the body and divine marrow. It aided the transformation of Golden Blood Divine Marrow into the stronger Primordial True Marrow. It could stabilize a cultivator's vital essence origin, causing life force to drain extremely slowly and significantly increasing a cultivator's lifespan limit.

The third step, Sky Devouring! Void Refinement cultivators needed to open a blessed land minor realm within their bodies, which had a significant requirement for comprehending spatial principles. Successful creation also allowed them to enter the spatial principles, a benefit of their realm. However, body cultivators had not yet reached the stage of comprehending principles. This system could rival orthodox paths due to the 'Sky Devouring' effect, which required refining a world with complete Five Elements rules and integrating it into one's own system by absorbing it into the five viscera. Therefore, even without comprehending principles, one could possess the confidence and power to contend with it. The Sky Devouring step seemed incredibly difficult; under the Immortal Palace's rule, it was impossible to devour a Minor Thousand World with human inhabitants. However, this was not actually the case. The Qiankun Minor Realm opened by Void Refinement cultivators also met the devouring requirements. Essentially, what was needed was the nourishment of Five Elements principles and world origin. Even without devouring a minor realm, one could achieve a breakthrough by fulfilling these essential requirements. Furthermore, the three steps of body cultivation could be performed separately. They did not need to be accomplished all at once. As a result, there was a vast difference between body cultivators at the perfected Fifth Stage. The Undying Nether Dragon Art not only required Five Elements principles, but more precisely, it needed Inverse Five Elements, or rather, Yin Five Elements principles to fill the five viscera. Wang Yu valued this corpse-nourishing ground, partly as preparation for the third step. Sky Devouring was merely an ancient method; adapting to circumstances and making alternative choices was more suitable for the current situation. The Mountain Sea Realm was enormous. The Yin Five Elements land he cultivated, when developed to its fullest, would be sufficient to meet his breakthrough needs. After all, it was only a Sixth Stage breakthrough, not something that required the immense power of an entire world to overcome the hurdle.

Getting back to the main topic, while Wang Yu instructed the Wei clan to collect numerous corpses for cultivating the Yin Five Elements corpse-nourishing formation, he also requested the purchase of large quantities of high-grade demonic beast flesh and blood essence to continuously nourish his physical body. He was slowly progressing with his Nine Condensations and Nine Dispersions cultivation. His financial needs were naturally covered by him. After all, given his realm, at least Fourth-stage demonic beast bodies were needed to provide effective foundational accumulation. The Wei clan, having experienced drastic changes, could only temporarily assist him with miscellaneous tasks. As for spiritual artifacts that accelerated spiritual power accumulation, these were beyond their reach. Wang Yu merely instructed them to inquire about such items, while his main body remained immersed in cultivation.

***

Thus, three months passed in a flash, and the day of the clan assembly arrived.

In the Shadow Heaven Hall, hundreds of Wei clan members gathered, their faces glowing with excitement, their discussions buzzing non-stop.

“Our Ancestor's generosity is immense! There are actually twelve Fourth-stage spirit veins within the market, enough to supply hundreds of Nascent Soul cultivators with daily practice. He even used a unique method to transform the core area into a Fifth-stage spirit vein zone—truly astonishing!”

“You must have just returned recently.” Some Wei clan members, their faces full of pride, explained effusively: “Our Ancestor is a Soul Transformation Venerable! I heard he left the Mountain Sea Realm a thousand years ago to seek the Great Dao, had fortuitous encounters in the outer realms, and only returned recently. We've all stumbled upon good fortune!”

“Indeed, indeed. The Wei clan should be supreme in Yunzhou.”

There was too much inflated talk. This was also related to Wang Yu's overly domineering actions. In just three months, except for the Thousand-Mile Barren Land, half of Yunzhou had fallen under his control. Resources poured in effortlessly, and the number of Wei clan members was not large. Everyone received immense benefits, an enormous wealth that they couldn't have accumulated in a lifetime of hard work before, and it was still increasing daily. Arrogance and overconfidence were to be expected.

Wang Yu merely let Wei Shuyue manage affairs, intervening if possible, but otherwise not worrying about it. He had no intention of keeping a low profile; the more arrogant the Wei clan cultivators became, the more resources they would seize from Yunwu Mountain. Unfortunately, he still hadn't managed to lure out Venerable Xia. As for attacking Yunwu Mountain, Wang Yu prudently held back. Their home ground likely had at least a Fifth-stage grand formation, and there was no need to take risks without understanding it.

After today's clan assembly, he would use the Mirage Moon: Mind Obscuration technique. By modifying the memories of all Wei clan members, he could securely assume the identity of the Wei clan's ancestor. Then, he could undertake greater actions, gathering more cultivation resources for himself. This involved a subtle utilization of the Yin principle. He was confident that no one in the Mountain Sea Realm would detect anything amiss. Even if someone captured a Wei clan member and soul-searched them, they would only see Wang Yu's portrait, which had been hanging in the ancestral hall for a thousand years. The identity of Wei Wuxian now completely belonged to him!

The Great Yin, representing the moon, held immense influence over souls. Nurturing, nourishing, manipulating, or modifying them was as simple as eating and drinking. Though far from proficient in wielding principles at his current level, he could still largely act as he pleased.

Having secretly completed the memory modification using the Moon Gaze: Mind Obscuration technique, just as Wang Yu was about to make his appearance, he suddenly raised an eyebrow. A powerful aura, reaching the Fourth Layer of Soul Transformation, had abruptly surged into his range of perception.

“They choose to come at this time? It seems they've found powerful reinforcements. I wonder if Patriarch Heartless will come in person.”

As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Wang Yu's hands itched for action. He was not one to be idle. After escaping the Ice Prison Realm, even after experiencing the pressure of the Immortal's Gaze, he still felt much more relaxed. It was as if a great mountain had been lifted from his back. His emotions were quite active.

“Fourth Layer Soul Transformation, hmm… I’ll start by using twenty percent of my power to test the level of these foreign cultivators, and also to gauge my own position.”

With his left hand clasped behind his back, Wang Yu took a step forward. He instantly appeared in mid-air, causing the Wei clan members below to erupt in excitement.

“It's the Ancestor!”

“The Ancestor looks exactly like the portrait in the ancestral hall!”

“Nonsense, with preservation arts, what changes could there be?”

“Ancestor! Ancestor! Ancestor!”

Just then, a mass of flowing clouds arrived instantly. The figure that materialized was Venerable Xia. She narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing Wang Yu, and asked suspiciously.

“You are Wei Wuxian? How did you leave the Mountain Sea Realm a thousand years ago? And by what means did you return?”

Three months was ample time for Venerable Xia to thoroughly investigate the matter, not to mention that he had deliberately spread this 'legendary experience'.

Wang Yu made a calming gesture with his hand. Immediately, the area in front of the Shadow Heaven Hall fell silent. He observed Venerable Xia, the moon symbol in his eyes glinting even brighter. Without even engaging in combat, he made his assessment.

“How dare an ant question a giant?”

“—You!”

Such outright insult—when had Venerable Xia ever endured such affront? But before she could retort, a massive seal, containing a terrifying ice prison, descended from the sky. It was the Ice Prison Demonic Seal! A common attack that Wang Yu was already on the verge of discarding.

Venerable Xia, however, was utterly shocked. She felt the surrounding space sealed by the demonic seal, even completely frozen, rendering her immobile.

“Fifth… stage… perfected divine ability?!?”

She only managed a single shriek before being instantly crushed into a paste. Only her golden, flickering Nascent Soul escaped the demonic seal's judgment.

Seeing this, Wang Yu made a judgment in his mind. All realm, no skill. Her combat prowess was likely inferior even to Chitian's.

Conclusion: A mere nobody.