Chilling Yin Energy

Chen Ye currently wished he could beg Su Chunyi for another batch of alchemy materials, just so he could let go of his reservations and splurge on an attempt to condense two dantian energy seas.

But as soon as the thought arose, he immediately suppressed it.

One shouldn't be too greedy; asking for more materials at this juncture would be tantamount to blatantly holding her for ransom.

He had finally managed to build a rapport with this high-ranking disciple of the Qinghe Sword Sect, and they were at a critical stage of warming up to each other; he must not offend her out of a moment's greed.

Furthermore, there was no rush; the ancient texts made it clear that the energy sea was something that could be dismantled and re-condensed at any time.

With this in mind, Chen Ye put away his impulsive thoughts and focused his attention on refining the Qi Condensation Pill.

The Qi Condensation Pill was not difficult to refine; even if he were given a large pot to boil it slowly over several days, he would eventually succeed.

However, the materials provided by Su Chunyi were all rare, high-quality goods. How could Chen Ye bear to be so perfunctory and waste them recklessly?

Following the instructions in the ancient texts, he carefully set up a formation within the cave, intending to draw upon the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to create the best possible conditions for alchemy.

Seeing this, Su Chunyi wanted to step forward to help, but she soon discovered that the formation Chen Ye was setting up was vastly different from what she had learned.

What surprised her even more was that the effect of this formation in gathering spiritual energy seemed even better than what her own sect taught. Although the advantage was not significant, if she were to do it herself with the same materials and the same amount of time, the final yield would likely only be about seventy percent of his.

Are rogue cultivators this capable these days?

Su Chunyi was full of doubts and really wanted to ask for the details, but she was afraid of being misunderstood as someone trying to steal another's secret techniques.

It was Chen Ye who noticed Su Chunyi's strange expression early on. He gave a hearty laugh and said without reservation, "Miss Su, if you have any questions, just ask. You've helped me immensely by lending me these classics, and I was just wondering how to repay you."

Hearing him say this, Su Chunyi's concerns vanished, and she immediately began to inquire in detail.

Chen Ye told her everything he knew without holding anything back.

The main function of this formation was to gather spiritual energy, ensuring that the surrounding spiritual energy was dense and rich during the alchemy process. This effectively reduced impurities and pill toxins in the medicine, significantly enhancing its efficacy.

Theoretically, this was a simple formation known to everyone, but when Chen Ye set it up, he boldly cut out many incantations, making the overall structure more concise and clear, which in turn improved the results.

Su Chunyi listened intently, frowning slightly as she offered her own insight, "This does indeed gather more spiritual energy, but I fear the energy drawn in might be somewhat impure."

Spiritual energy is not a single, pure substance. In the eyes of a cultivator at the Qiling Realm, all things in the world appear in different colors, which are actually the external manifestations of different types of spiritual energy. Alchemy, artifact refining, and cultivation each require different attributes of spiritual energy, so formations that gather spiritual energy naturally have their own biases.

According to the theory of the five elements generating and overcoming each other, when water-attribute spiritual energy is not needed, one must use the Kun trigram as the foundation, supplemented by jade and other items to suppress the water-attribute energy.

This is a complex but not entirely precise science; it wouldn't lead to the absurdity of breaking a sect's grand formation by throwing a pebble, nor could one set up a world-shaking, heaven-covering formation with just a small stone.

The "impurity" Su Chunyi referred to was that Chen Ye's formation had cut out most of the steps used to filter spiritual energy, blindly pursuing quantity while ignoring quality. As a result, the spiritual energy drawn in was not only mixed with the five elements, but even some corrupt and filthy energy, such as yin energy, would be absorbed along with it.

Chen Ye replied, "It doesn't matter. The Qi Condensation Pill is a low-level pill after all; mixed spiritual energy won't affect its quality. The key is the speed of refining. The faster the speed, the better the effect of the pill."

Just as Su Chunyi was about to continue asking for advice, a bone-chilling, yin-cold wind suddenly roared into the cave. The wind wailed, sounding like a child crying in the dark night, or a woman's shrill scream, or even the final, weak gasps of someone on the verge of death...

Chen Ye and Su Chunyi's expressions changed drastically.

This was definitely not an illusion, nor was it a feat of nature; it was the work of actual ghosts.

These were the lingering souls of humans, drawn here by Chen Ye's formation. By now, these souls had long lost the ability to think, leaving behind only the resentment from their lives, constantly emitting terrifying and horrifying sounds.

Such lingering souls were not worth mentioning to Su Chunyi, let alone Chen Ye, but the problem was: where did these deeply resentful souls come from?

Human souls are inherently fragile. Even for a cultivator with the cultivation level of Mo Ci, the soul would dissipate rapidly after death. The fact that these chaotic, resentful roars and so many lingering souls could remain intact meant that there must be an unusual place nearby.

The two looked at each other, both understanding what the other was thinking.

Chen Ye put down his pots and ladles, and with a solemn expression, said to Su Chunyi, "Miss Su, let's go and investigate the source of this yin wind first."

Su Chunyi nodded. She hadn't expected that ghosts were lurking near this cave. Although they were only lingering souls, it was better to disperse them as soon as possible to avoid harming the innocent.

Chen Ye muttered incantations, formed hand seals, and drew talismans to ward off evil. His eyes instantly turned a brilliant gold; he was becoming increasingly proficient with the Spirit Eye Technique. Looking at Su Chunyi, she merely blinked, and her autumn-water-like eyes shimmered with layers of dazzling golden light.

"Ah, this..."

Chen Ye sighed inwardly. As expected of a cultivator whose realm was far higher than his own, her speed in casting spells was much faster than his.

However, speed didn't matter; the result was the same.

In Chen Ye's eyes, several faint black lines appeared, which were the manifestation of the yin energy.

Chen Ye and Su Chunyi walked side by side, following the winding path of the yin energy. They didn't go far; after bypassing two small peaks and traveling less than ten miles, a huge mountain hollow came into view.

But when they cast their eyes toward the hollow, the expressions of Chen Ye and Su Chunyi turned extremely ugly.

For in that hollow, hundreds of rotting corpses were piled up, their deaths miserable and terrifying.

These corpses were in varying stages of decay; some had already turned into a pool of rotting flesh, while others still retained some human form. Clearly, they had died at different times, and this was obviously an atrocity that had been going on for a long time.

If one looked closer, one would find that the hearts had been dug out of all these corpses.

Chen Ye couldn't help but shudder, and Su Chunyi made no attempt to hide the anger in her heart.

"This is the Blood Refining Technique of the Demonic Sect! A demon is using human blood to practice."

Su Chunyi's words felt like a physical blade pressed against his skin, making Chen Ye feel cold all over.

Chen Ye sighed inwardly; it was no wonder the righteous path killed the Demonic Sect so ruthlessly. Sometimes, the methods of the Demonic Sect were too much even for their own kind to bear.

Among the corpses in the pit, there were even three-year-old children, and Chen Ye wanted to kill the perpetrator himself.

Chen Ye said, "Miss Su, look at the corpses on the very top; they have likely been dead for several days. That demon might not be nearby."

Su Chunyi replied, "It is fine, I can find it."

I saw Su Chunyi form a sword seal with her right hand, and ten thousand streaks of sword light transformed into threads, weaving into a web in the void that shrouded the pit of corpses.

The sword light was so fast that even Chen Ye's spiritual eyes could not see it clearly, nor did he know what purpose this sword web served.

A moment later, the sword web transformed into millions of runes, bursting forth like fireworks.

The light and shadows scattered, yet they left behind a bright path of light pointing directly ahead.

Su Chunyi said to Chen Ye, "That Devilish Cultivator is three hundred miles to the northeast!"

Chen Ye: ...

A three-hundred-mile tracking range; Master, it seems we Devilish Cultivators are still too inexperienced.