Feeling the sudden change, Xiao Yan was also startled, but at this moment, he dared not be rash. He could only stabilize his mind and watched the changes within his body. The earth-core soul marrow, after being tempered, flowed into Xiao Yan’s body, transforming into a scalding-hot stream that dispersed and evaporated swiftly. A peculiar deep green mist began to rush up, passing through his body until it reached the center of his forehead, where it intertwined with the soul force dwelling there. As the mist interwoven with his soul, Xiao Yan quickly detected a terrifying yet powerful strange energy that rapidly permeated into his soul. At the same time, the strength of his soul seemed to surge like it had consumed some kind of elixir, increasing at an alarming rate!
With the rapid enhancement of his soul power, the intense pressure in the middle of Xiao Yan’s forehead grew stronger. He didn’t expect that the earth-core soul marrow would have such a significant effect on his soul power! Facing the growing pressure, Xiao Yan was at a loss, only watching as the increasingly powerful soul and the surging green mist continued to flood in. His soul still continued to grow, and at this moment, Xiao Yan truly felt what it meant to feel a splitting headache. The temples on both sides of his head swelled high, like small drums, continuously pulsating.
“Explosion!” Such a suddenly powerful soul was gradually exceeding Xiao Yan’s ability to endure. So, at a certain moment, Xiao Yan could no longer bear it. In the depths of his mind, a deep, low, explosive sound suddenly burst out, causing his eardrums to ache painfully.
*Boom!* Under this explosion, Xiao Yan’s consciousness became muddled, his vision filled with golden light, and his mind completely chaotic. This strange condition persisted for quite a while before gradually improving. When Xiao Yan regained his clarity, the excruciating pain in his mind had gradually diminished. He vaguely sensed that his soul was several times stronger than before, but it still hadn’t entered the so-called “soul realm.”
“Is the earth-core soul marrow ineffective?” Xiao Yan was startled by this realization. Even if his soul power was strengthened, it was still impossible to enter the soul realm. As long as the soul couldn’t reach the soul realm, he would never be able to refine genuine eighth-grade pills!
Just as Xiao Yan was perplexed, he suddenly noticed that the surrounding natural energy seemed to be stirred by some strange force. In the midst of this disturbance, faint, yet deeply impressive streams of energy were quietly seeping out from the space, surging towards the center of his forehead. Only then did he realize that the peculiar attractive force was emanating from his forehead!
“It really works!” Seeing this, Xiao Yan breathed a heavy sigh of relief. He had placed all his hopes on this soul transformation. A mere increase in soul power was far from satisfying him. The vital energy continuously poured into Xiao Yan’s forehead, eventually merging with the soul dwelling there. In this fusion, Xiao Yan’s soul felt like it was wrapped in warm, spiritual fluid. The pleasant sensation almost made him want to groan out loud.
This level of vital energy infusion was clearly not enough to push Xiao Yan’s soul into the soul realm. Thus, after the continuous absorption for nearly an hour, the strange force in the center of Xiao Yan’s forehead suddenly intensified. Finally, an invisible wave spread out, passing through the stone room, the stone hall, and spreading across the sky over the mountain peak…
*Boom!* With the spread of this wave, the world around the mountain suddenly erupted like a boiling pot of oil…
The sudden disturbance in the heavens also drew the attention of all the beasts on the mountain. However, this strange vital energy was too ethereal for them to sense, except for a few high-level, immensely powerful beasts. The rest were left baffled, unable to feel anything unusual…
In front of the stone hall at the top of the mountain, Xiong Zhan was slightly startled by the sudden change. His gaze swept across, settling on the stone room where Xiao Yan was in seclusion. A look of surprise flashed in his eyes.
“Is this… the so-called vital energy? It is said that only grandmasters of alchemy who have entered the eighth grade can absorb it…”
Xiong Zhan’s eyes flickered, though he looked coarse, his knowledge was not shallow. After all, the Pill Realm used to be the base of the Pill Tower, now in decline and gradually evacuated.
“I didn’t expect Xiao Yan to be telling the truth; he really is about to enter the eighth grade,” Xiong Zhan muttered to himself, then slowly nodded. If Xiao Yan truly becomes an eighth-grade alchemist, Xiong Zhan would definitely have to seek his help one day. An eighth-grade alchemist is rare even on the Dou Qi continent.
“All my young ones, hear me! No one is to approach within a hundred miles. Drive them all out!”
With these thoughts, Xiong Zhan suddenly stood up and roared, his voice echoing throughout the mountains. Upon hearing his command, the countless beasts in the Herb Mountain Range roused, and low growls started driving away the competitors who had trespassed into the area…
Xiao Yan, of course, had no idea about the commotion outside. He was completely immersed in the dense vital energy, feeling a pleasure that penetrated to the depths of his soul, like drunkenness, making him unwilling to wake up. In the center of his forehead, due to the influx of a vast amount of vital energy, profound changes were occurring.
A soul, usually intangible and difficult to describe, is the essence of a living being, very mysterious. Usually, even for someone of Xiao Yan’s level, the soul in the center of the forehead is something akin to a void. But after their control, when these soul forces leave the body, they have many applications.
However, after the earlier changes, the soul force in the center of Xiao Yan’s forehead was no longer in a void-like state. Instead, it coalesced together, occasionally trembling like a heart. Perhaps because of the vital energy, the soul in the center of his forehead showed a more vigorous vitality. As the vital energy continued to flood in, the soul kept squirming, as if something was being nurtured within, but Xiao Yan always felt that something was missing. After pondering for a long time, he gave up. As the world around him fluctuated, more and more vital energy flowed in from the sky, filling the small stone room. The originally empty room was now brimming with vitality.
Inside the stone room, Xiao Yan’s expression became increasingly grim as more and more vital energy flooded into his forehead. No matter how much vital energy entered, the soul in his forehead remained in a constant state of flux, as if that final step was always out of reach. His eyebrows were furrowed tightly; if that final step couldn’t be taken, he would never reach the eighth grade!
“What’s missing?” Xiao Yan’s thoughts raced. His soul was like a cocoon, needing guidance to take that final step and transform.
“Guidance?” Suddenly, a thought struck Xiao Yan. “Right, I need the guidance of a soul cultivation mantra!”
Understanding this, Xiao Yan breathed a sigh of relief, but then he frowned again. He only had the most basic part of the soul cultivation mantra, unsure if it would be enough…
With a heavy heart, Xiao Yan had no other choice. He quickly focused his mind and recited the mantra, like a chant, softly from his lips. “Ultimate Soul… Close off the Heavenly Spirit… Absorb Vitality, Forge the Soul…”
As the short mantra gradually echoed in Xiao Yan’s mind, the constantly moving soul in his forehead sped up, and something was gradually taking shape…
Time passed like water. In a blink, Xiao Yan had been in the stone room for nearly eight days. During these eight days, the strange phenomena in the heavens gradually dissipated, and the stone room fell silent once more…
Outside the stone room, Zi Yan sat on the stone steps, her little hand supporting her cheek, her eyes wandering aimlessly, utterly bored by the wait.
“Why isn’t it done yet? I heard the Pill Realm is going to close soon.”
*Bang!* As Zi Yan muttered, a deafening roar suddenly sounded from the stone room. The hard ceiling of the stone room burst open, and a beam of invisible light shot out, pausing mid-air, as a vast soul force, like a tidal wave, swept out…
Feeling this vast soul force, Xiong Zhan’s face outside the stone hall changed, shock flashing in his eyes.
“Did he succeed?”
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