Chapter 64
He spent the remaining five days devouring every ready-to-use spiritual stone, pill, and fluid in his possession.
It paid out, he broke through to Upper-Tier Demon Emperor.
The wall between Middle-Tier and Upper-Tier Emperor was a monster of a threshold, however good the aptitude, however kind the fortune, the climb normally cost decades or centuries.
Between Soren’s breakthrough to Middle-Tier and his arrival at Upper-Tier, roughly ten days had passed.
He could hardly wait for the day the Heavenly Dao Demonic Form was fully liberated.
That would be devouring speed fit to be called terrifying, absurd to the point that even an Upper-Tier Ancestor Realm expert would have to kneel and call him master.
He didn’t leave the fortress right away, instead he turned his thoughts to the Six Paths Form Diagram.
So far, he had only worked on saving the Heavenly Dao Demonic Form, time to activate a second path, insurance against the unexpected.
After weighing it, he chose the Hell Dao.
Converting the Hell Dao Lord into the Hell Demonic Form would grant him potent illusion abilities.
The Hell Demonic Form let him drag enemies into a terrifying Heart Demon Hell, grinding their minds until their Dao Hearts collapsed, paired with the Strategy Encyclopedia, the applications multiplied on their own.
He started at once, an Upper-Tier Demon Emperor’s demonic energy ran dozens to hundreds of times denser than a Middle-Tier’s, so the salvation of the Hell Dao Lord went fast, faster, even, than the Heavenly Dao had gone.
In about two days, the Hell Demonic Form’s Conversion Degree hit 53 points, past 50, the skill’s level stood equal to or above the Lower-Tier Ancestor Realm.
At 53, Soren had the capital to torment a Lower-Tier Ancestor with illusions alone.
After his breakthrough, his raw strength conceded nothing to most Lower-Tier Ancestors either, while the Demonic Forms armed him with demonic techniques far deadlier than muscle.
A mishap during his memory inheritance meant he had never received the original owner’s techniques.
The Heavenly Dao Demonic Form covered the missing techniques, the Hell Demonic Form covered the missing combat techniques.
The still-dormant Human Dao, Beast Dao, Hungry Ghost Dao, and the rest were likewise special demonic skills in waiting.
Soren walked out of the demonic fortress.
Nine days, and not only had his strength climbed, his whole aura had transfigured, more wickedly imposing than before.
Wherever he passed, wisps of demonic energy trailed in his wake, swirling, dissolving only slowly into the air.
On the great plaza, Lysara reported her work from the past several days.
Soren paid a visit to Sylene’s palace, as he was leaving, Ethel gazed after his back, plainly holding something behind her teeth.
In the end, she didn’t say it.
Sylene could see the girl’s whole mind was fixed on Soren, she told Ethel to go with him, saying from now on she need only drop by occasionally to chat and keep away the boredom.
Before they left, she reminded Soren that Ethel was a good girl, pure, yes, but very clever, and she hoped he would value her, the girl would be of great use in time.
Soren knew this mother of his well enough, arguing would change nothing, so he stopped insisting Ethel stay and took her along.
Ethel was delighted the whole way, chattering through anecdotes she’d collected and the fun she’d had at Sylene’s side.
When he learned she was fond of pharmacology, and had traded notes with Sylene, Soren showed a flicker of surprise.
"You know pharmacology?"
"I only read a few ancient tomes my parents left behind, I can recognize the types and effects of some herbs, besides... hehe." She paused, smiling shyly.
"I’ve never touched rare herbs or spiritual fruits, everything I handled before was common medicine, so my so-called experience is all book-learning."
Modest of her, or rather than modest, simply honest.
Soren considered a moment, then set the Strategy Encyclopedia searching for how to break Jared’s curse completely, Great Dao energy interwove, and two methods came back quickly.
Reading them, the corner of his mouth curled, the curse of the Ice Heaven Alluring Fox was not unbreakable after all.
[Method One: Use the Spirit blood of an Ancestor Realm powerhouse of the Ice Heaven Alluring Fox clan as catalyst to protect the body and Dao Soul, then transplant a new heart from a fellow clansman, this breaks the curse completely.]
[This method carries extreme risk, if the target cannot withstand the violent backlash of Ancestor Realm Spirit blood, the body will detonate on the spot. Jared must first break through to at least Upper-Tier Spirit Emperor before attempting it.]
[Method Two: Take one stalk of Heart-Nourishing Tranquility Grass, one Grand Sun Heaven-Bearing Fruit, a segment of Regenerative Divine Wood Root, and one Five-Flavored Flower, and refine them into a pill.]
[The pill’s grade need only match Jared’s strength, a King-grade pill will suffice to break the curse.]
A single stalk of Heart-Nourishing Tranquility Grass suppresses the curse for one year, but compounded with the other ingredients, its efficacy becomes permanent.
Black Dragon Mountain’s environment cannot grow Heart-Nourishing Tranquility Grass, it must be sourced elsewhere.
The remaining herbs can be found within the mountain.
A thought put the Strategy Encyclopedia away, Soren looked at Ethel, following quietly at his side.
He wanted to test whether she truly had a gift for pharmacology.
If she did, cultivating her in that direction made every kind of sense.
Black Dragon Mountain was a natural herbs treasure vault, its herbs past counting, without the Strategy Encyclopedia, even Soren couldn’t identify them all.
Someone who could catalog every variety, master each herb’s habitat, location, effects, and value, would be worth her weight in spirit stones.
"I’m taking you somewhere."
"Mm." Ethel nodded briskly.
That Soren would take her along, unprompted, made her happier than she had words for, her heart fluttering and pounding like a drum.
He split off a Spirit race totem mark and infused it into her body, proofing her against the sonic wave in the mountain’s depths.
Then he wrapped her in demonic energy, and the two became a streak of black light that pierced the void and vanished from the clan territory’s sight.
The crowd broke into whispers, pointing and murmuring, the female clansmen of the Ice Heaven Alluring Fox, especially, envied Ethel to their bones.