Chapter 63 - Advancement of the Magical Treasure

Outside the hill, the yin wind continued to howl, and the sky remained a murky gray, exuding a sense of deathly stillness. Within the hill, Leng Yan had spent another day diligently cultivating. The yin evil energy within his body had been completely refined and integrated into his cultivation technique, while he had managed to condense hundreds of Fiend Thunder.

At that time, Liu He lacked sufficient yin evil energy, so he had to rely entirely on ghost souls for condensation. Here, where the yin evil energy was abundant, Leng Yan only needed one ghost soul as a medium to absorb enough yin evil energy for condensation.

Although Leng Yan hadn’t tested the power of this Fiend Thunder, he was certain that one of these could severely injure a cultivator at the primordial qi realm, assuming the opponent was unprepared.

Having refined all the yin evil energy within, Leng Yan’s mastery of the Nine Yin Fiend God Technique advanced significantly. The Nine Yin Fiend Tiger magical technique, for instance, had become quite formidable, though still slightly inferior to the Water Dragon Technique.

After two days of absorption, the yin evil energy on the hill had become noticeably thin. Leng Yan rose, walked out of the cave, and headed towards Chu Jianfeng.

Chu Jianfeng was enveloped in dense black mist, emitting a sinister aura. Leng Yan was certain that Chu Jianfeng’s proficiency in the Nine Yin Fiend God Technique was far more advanced than his own.

Not wishing to interrupt, Leng Yan waited silently on the side.

After a while, Chu Jianfeng ceased his cultivation, the black mist around him transforming into a black dragon before merging back into his body.

“Sorry about that, I was at a breakthrough moment and got delayed!” Chu Jianfeng said with a smile as he stood up.

“No problem, how’s it going? Which layer have you reached?” Leng Yan asked, also ceasing the operation of his cultivation technique.

“I just entered the third layer. I can now convert ghost souls’ energy to heal my soul’s wounds,” Chu Jianfeng replied.

The Nine Yin Fiend God Technique consists of nine layers: the first layer condenses the yin evil qi vein, the second refines Fiend Thunder, the third absorbs ghost soul energy to strengthen one’s soul, the fourth condenses soul armor, the fifth dispels inner demons, the sixth creates an external incarnation, the seventh forms the yin demon primordial spirit, the eighth performs a demon sacrifice, and the ninth transforms into a demon.

Leng Yan was currently at the peak of the second layer, yet he hadn’t taken the final step of integrating ghost soul power into his soul.

“The yin evil energy here is already thin. Let’s venture deeper,” Leng Yan suggested.

“Sounds good, I also want to reach the fourth layer and condense my soul armor as soon as possible,” Chu Jianfeng agreed with a nod.

Exiting the cave, Leng Yan waved his hand to dispel all the seals placed outside. The two of them then proceeded deeper into the hill.

This area was characterized by a series of hills, resembling tombs. About ten miles ahead of Leng Yan, there was another hill, likely another gathering place for ghost souls.

“Whoosh…”

Another gust of yin wind formed by ghost souls swept forward. Leng Yan extended his hand in a claw-like gesture, creating a vortex in his palm that drew in the ghost souls. Sensing Leng Yan’s formidable power, the ghost souls struggled to flee, but given his superiority over these initial stage ghost souls in the magical power realm, they stood no chance of escape.

There were only a few hundred ghost souls in this yin wind, and Leng Yan captured them all. As his spiritual awareness scanned them, he erased the nascent spiritual awareness they possessed, reducing them to mindless wandering souls.

With a flick of his hand, the Netherworld Ghost Banner appeared, and Leng Yan summoned a fierce soul on the verge of breaking into the Heavenly Realm, tossing the hundreds of ghost souls towards it.

Upon seeing the ghost souls, the fierce soul’s eyes gleamed viciously, its spines bristled, opening its mouth to inhale. In an instant, the hundreds of ghost souls were consumed.

Having absorbed these souls, the fierce soul reached the peak of its transformation. A black unicorn horn on its forehead began to turn white, its fierce visage becoming handsome, and the spines on its body shed to reveal smooth skin.

“He is transforming into an Asura and will develop spiritual wisdom. Quickly plant a seed of loyalty in his heart, or he won’t obey you,” Chu Jianfeng advised. As a disciple of the demonic path, his knowledge of such yin entities surpassed Leng Yan’s.

Heeding Chu Jianfeng’s words, Leng Yan quickly crafted a false memory with his spiritual awareness and implanted it in the fierce soul’s mind before it fully developed its own wisdom.

As the last of the black spines fell, the fierce soul completed its transformation into an Asura.

With a handsome face and well-proportioned body, it was an exceptionally striking figure, distinguished only by the unicorn horn on its forehead.

“Leng Mo greets his master!”

Leng Mo was the name Leng Yan fabricated for the Asura, hence the Asura referred to himself as Leng Mo, while Leng Yan remained the master he was loyal to.

“No need for formalities. Return and cultivate this technique diligently,” Leng Yan instructed, passing the Nine Yin Fiend God Technique to Leng Mo and allowing him to return to the Netherworld Ghost Banner for cultivation.

Leng Mo bowed, stepped back two paces, and turned to enter the Netherworld Ghost Banner. As Leng Mo entered the banner, it began to change. The character “ghost” on the banner cloth suddenly doubled in size, and the flagpole and banner cloth grew significantly larger. Additionally, the surrounding black mist became much denser.

“It has become a high-grade treasure tool!” Leng Yan exclaimed with a delighted smile.

“What? Your magical treasure can advance?” Chu Jianfeng asked, astonished.

“Ordinarily, it couldn’t, but after being reforged by a Senior, it became possible. I just didn’t expect it to advance at this particular moment,” Leng Yan replied joyfully.

Probing the Netherworld Ghost Banner with his spiritual awareness, Leng Yan saw nine fierce souls gathered around Leng Mo, who seemed to have assumed the role of leader.

“Sigh! It’s frustrating to see yours improve like this while mine doesn’t…” Chu Jianfeng remarked enviously.

“Alright, let’s keep moving. Today, I want to evolve all the fierce souls into Asuras and have them cultivate the Nine Yin Fiend God Technique. It’ll become one of my trump cards,” Leng Yan stated, striding forward briskly.

…

Following the usual method, Leng Yan first used a seal to enclose the entire hill. Then, the two of them ventured inside to seal the ghost souls.

Leng Yan released the remaining nine ghost souls, aiming to evolve all of them into Asuras today and have them begin practicing the Nine Yin Fiend God Technique.

The nine fierce souls resembled ravenous wolves, darting among the ghost souls and devouring hundreds with a single gulp.

Leng Yan and Chu Jianfeng each displayed their own Divine Powers, neither lagging behind the other…

“Roar!”

A roar drew Leng Yan’s attention. It signaled that one of the fierce souls was undergoing metamorphosis. Swiftly, Leng Yan sealed the surrounding ghost souls, transmitted a preconstructed memory into the evolving soul’s mind, passed on the Nine Yin Fiend God Technique, and then recalled it.

Two hours later, four Asuras had successfully evolved, making five in total including Leng Mo, while five remained in their fierce soul state.

Leng Yan still had tens of thousands of ghost souls in reserve, prepared to use them as nourishment for the others.

On the hill, a cave was dug out, with the Netherworld Ghost Banner planted at the entrance, fluttering in the breeze. A black vortex whirled on the banner cloth, absorbing yin evil energy and channeling it into the Netherworld Ghost Banner to aid the cultivation of the five Asuras.

Leng Yan released the ghost souls in his possession, continuously feeding the remaining five fierce souls. Finally, after an hour, the last five fierce souls successfully evolved, joining the ranks of those practicing the Nine Yin Fiend God Technique.

However, with twelve individuals now sharing the hill’s yin evil energy, it quickly began to thin out.

Stepping out of the cave, Leng Yan encountered Chu Jianfeng. Leng Yan spoke first, “Continuing like this isn’t feasible. Why don’t we split up for now, but let’s not venture too far?”

“I agree. Staying with you entails too much competition,” Chu Jianfeng replied with a smile.

“Alright, it’s settled. I’ll head to the right. If anything comes up, send me a sound transmission,” Leng Yan suggested, retracting the ghost banner and heading to the right.

“Understood,” Chu Jianfeng acknowledged, moving toward the left.

As Leng Yan proceeded alone, he encountered several groups of ghost souls along the way, sealing them as he went. However, at this point, the Asuras absorbed these souls to little effect. Feeding on ghost souls was no longer beneficial for breakthrough in their realms, so Leng Yan ceased using them as nourishment. Instead, he relied on the Netherworld Ghost Banner to absorb yin evil energy, focusing on supplying them the energy for their cultivation techniques.

Leng Yan required the soul power from these ghost souls to break through to the third layer, with any surplus enabling the ten Asuras to condense Fiend Thunder for emergencies.

“Such strong Fiendish Qi, even more potent than that of Leng Mo. It seems like a mid-to-late Heavenly Realm Asura. Just what I need for breaching the third layer of my cultivation technique, requiring pure soul power, and the soul power of an Asura is exceptionally pure!” While walking, Leng Yan suddenly sensed a powerful Fiendish Qi emanating from a hill ahead. Since this was exactly what he needed most, he couldn’t help but feel pleased.

He hurriedly quickened his pace towards the hill…