Ascension Day

"The Evil Sword Immortal? Using the Undying Primordial Spirit to refine a Ten Thousand Spirits Pill?"

Xu Ying’s mind was buzzing. He looked up and saw the four-armed Divine Statue leaning over, staring at the pearl. But this Divine Spirit was also dead, possessing only a physical shell and no Divine Soul.

Its head hadn’t exploded. Light flickered within its head—it was the Soul Summoning Ritual Text Xu Ying had seen earlier!

The characters of the ritual text were glowing, clearly in operation!

Da Zhong shouted, "Just now, the two Stone Dragons were mesmerized by the Divine Statue’s Incense Smoke Qi. What they were chanting was the Soul Summoning Ritual Text! The two Divine Dragons chanted themselves to death! After they die, that Spirit Pearl will suck in their souls, shatter them, and keep only the Undying Primordial Spirit!"

This method was incredibly sinister. The Divine Statue’s head was inscribed with the Soul Summoning Ritual Text, and its body was wreathed in immensely powerful Incense Smoke Qi. When the ritual text activated, it would lure any living being with a soul to the vicinity. Once close, they would be mesmerized by the Incense Smoke Qi and become superstitious.

After becoming superstitious, they would kowtow to the Divine Statue and involuntarily chant the Soul Summoning Ritual Text. As they chanted, their own heads would explode, and their souls would fly out of their bodies.

But it didn’t end there. After they chanted themselves to death and their souls flew out, their souls would be shattered by the script on the altar. They would be utterly annihilated, leaving only the last tiny speck of the Undying Primordial Spirit to become part of the Ten Thousand Spirits Pill!

Da Zhong said, "A soul is composed of the Three Souls and Seven Spirits. The Undying Primordial Spirit is the foundation of a soul, but it isn’t part of the Three Souls and Seven Spirits. It’s extremely minuscule. Only by shattering the Three Souls and Seven Spirits can you obtain a tiny fragment of the Undying Primordial Spirit. To refine one Ten Thousand Spirits Pill, you need at least ten thousand ordinary souls. In ancient times, righteous practitioners would often refine the Ten Thousand Spirits Pill by slaying the Fierce Ghosts and Evil Ghosts that plagued the world."

The master of this altar was clearly not killing Evil Ghosts and Fierce Ghosts. Instead, they were using the Soul Summoning Ritual Text to lure people here, kill them for their souls, and shatter those souls to harvest their spiritual essence!

These were absolutely the acts of a demonic path!

Xu Ying gazed up at the temple floating between the five Immortal Mountains and murmured, "Yuan Qi is still in that temple..."

Da Zhong sighed. "What a horrible death."

Xu Ying said, "Yuan Qi should still be alive, right?"

"Just assume he’s dead. It’s not like we can save him anyway."

Xu Ying fell silent. A moment ago, while riding the Bell and floating in the sky, he had seen altars of all sizes dotting this Immortal Mountain, hidden within the forests.

’If it’s really as Da Zhong said, that the Evil Sword Immortal here shatters people’s souls and uses their Undying Primordial Spirits to refine Ten Thousand Spirits Pills... then how many people must have been killed, how many souls harvested, to create so many of these Spirit Pills?’

"That’s strange. Why didn’t the Soul Summoning Ritual Text I saw just now seem very authentic?"

Da Zhong mused in confusion, "This Evil Sword Immortal is refining so many Ten Thousand Spirits Pills on such a massive scale. They must be a formidable figure among the Ancient Qi Refiners. How could a being like that miswrite several runes in the Soul Summoning Ritual Text?"

Xu Ying was slightly taken aback. It was indeed a bit strange.

’An Immortal, making such a basic mistake?’

Suddenly, a strange fragrance wafted from the altar. It was the scent of the maturing Ten Thousand Spirits Pill.

It was a wondrous scent. An ordinary fragrance appeals only to the nose, but the aroma of the Ten Thousand Spirits Pill targeted the very soul. A single whiff was enough to make one’s soul ravenously hungry, creating an overwhelming urge to rush forward and devour the object!

Two of the Confucius Temple’s Four Divine Dragons remained. As Deities who subsisted on offerings of Incense and Candlelight, they possessed no true Flesh Body. The Incense Smoke Qi was filled with human desires, and since they were spiritual beings composed of Divine Souls, they found this fragrance even harder to resist.

A moment ago, these two Stone Dragons had been mired in grief and fury over their brothers’ deaths, but now they both lunged toward the altar, shouting, "This Spirit Pill is mine!"

As the Stone Dragon behind Xu Ying charged, it immediately revealed its true form. It trod upon clouds of smoke, maneuvering through the air as its Incense Smoke Qi transformed into a volley of Flying Swords, slashing at the other Stone Dragon.

The other Stone Dragon held the advantage in the air, sending its Flying Swords down from above.

The Flying Swords tore through the air, WHOOSH WHOOSH, sending sparks flying as they struck the dragons’ bodies.

The two Stone Dragons battled in mid-air, worked into a frenzy. All brotherly bonds were forgotten; they only wanted to destroy each other and claim the Ten Thousand Spirits Pill.

Suddenly, one Stone Dragon slammed the other onto the altar with a thunderous CRASH. It reached out its claw for the Spirit Pill in the center of the altar and shouted, "I have a premonition! If I eat this pill, I’ll achieve Ascension to Immortality!"

"POP!"

Its head exploded, and its soul flew out, ethereal and faint. Suddenly, with another POP, the head of the Stone Dragon pinned beneath it also burst. The two Dragon Souls floated in the air, still fighting and tearing at each other, screaming, "The Spirit Pill is mine!"

Their souls, however, did not fly toward the Ten Thousand Spirits Pill. Instead, they were drawn toward the four-armed Divine Statue’s head, pulled by the Soul Summoning Ritual Text within.

On the altar, the Stone Dragons stiffened, standing motionless. A few pieces of stone fell from their shattered skulls with a crisp CLATTER.

Xu Ying remained where he stood, watching the scene in astonishment. In just a few short moments, four formidable foes had perished. The young man was left dumbfounded.

"This Ten Thousand Spirits Pill is truly sinister."

Xu Ying cautiously walked forward and asked, "Lord Zhong, what are the benefits of taking a Ten Thousand Spirits Pill?"

Da Zhong replied, "I’ve only ever heard that the Ten Thousand Spirits Pill can heal damage to the Primordial Spirit and mend deficiencies in one’s soul. I haven’t heard of any other benefits."

It paused for a moment before continuing, "My era was already the End of Dharma Era for Qi Refiners, and much knowledge had already been lost. Even my master, despite his peerless genius, couldn’t possibly know everything. To say nothing of me."

Its tone grew somber. Its master, a man of peerless genius, had vanished from the world after suppressing the Demoness. For three thousand years, it had heard no word of him.