Profound Fiend Body Tempering Art

To better refine Vengeful Spirits, Zheng Yi had no choice but to forge the Soul Devouring Banner himself and advance it into a higher-tier Soul Devouring Banner.

After all, this artifact had already become his Lifebound Artifact.

It concerned his future path of cultivation; not the slightest error could be tolerated.

For the last book, Zheng Yi wrestled with the choice for a long time before finally selecting the "Profound Fiend Body Tempering Art" from among the many cultivation technique catalogs.

Its name alone made the core of this body-tempering technique clear.

Sha Qi!

This "Profound Fiend Body Tempering Art" required a sufficient amount of Sha Qi to temper the body. Once cultivated to a profound level, it could achieve Iron Bone Silver Skin, greatly enhancing one's defensive power.

Moreover, the higher the grade of Sha Qi refined by the "Profound Fiend Body Tempering Art," the faster the tempering speed. It was an exceptionally suitable technique for Zheng Yi.

One had to know that the "Black Fiend Technique" Zheng Yi cultivated could itself produce Sha Qi. After refining a great number of Vengeful Spirits, it had now transformed into Azure Profound Fiend.

And as time passed, as his realm rose and he refined still more and stronger Vengeful Spirits, it could eventually reach the legendary level of Nine Nether Soul Slaughtering Fiend.

According to the sect's records, once Black Fiend reached the level of Nine Nether Soul Slaughtering Fiend, its Sha Qi could even contaminate Golden Core Stage cultivators.

Not only was its power immense, it could also erode the protective mana of Golden Core True Persons, greatly reducing their strength and diminishing the power of their spells. In battle, this would undoubtedly grant an absolute advantage from the outset.

There was another point: this "Profound Fiend Body Tempering Art" not only required Sha Qi to temper the body, but also required a great amount of blood qi to replenish oneself. The speed at which Sha Qi eroded the body could not be allowed to exceed the amount of blood qi within it.

Otherwise, the final outcome would be for the body to be refined into a desiccated corpse.

Among the techniques on the first floor of the Law Transmission Hall, this body-tempering method was considered one of the more difficult ones. It was already among the finest body-tempering techniques of the Qi Refining Stage.

In the Da Yi Immortal Domain, there were actually many kinds of Pills that replenished blood qi: Blood Qi Pills, Blood Replenishing Pills, Blood Increasing Pills...

And so on. All of them were extremely popular types of Pills.

Whether Demon Path cultivators or Righteous Path cultivators, all needed to replenish their blood qi.

Blood qi was the foundation supporting bodily cultivation. If one's blood qi was insufficient, it would likely be difficult to maintain one's realm.

Only by continuously refining blood-replenishing Pills could one keep the body vigorous enough to sustain cultivation.

Beyond blood qi, the more troublesome matter was finding Sha Qi.

Those places naturally rich in Sha Qi were exceedingly rare treasured lands. Once discovered, they would swiftly be seized by major powers or sects; ordinary people had no qualification to cultivate there at all.

Take the Soul Devouring Sect, for instance. If it occupied a treasured land of Sha Qi, it would first ensure the cultivation of the sect's upper ranks. Even if Zheng Yi was an Inner Sect Disciple, he would have no qualification to enter such a place.

One had to know that Sha Qi was a type of energy that Foundation Establishment cultivators needed to replenish when breaking through to the Purple Mansion realm. Only when Sha Qi had been fully replenished, energy cycled back, yin and yang harmonized, and the five elements revolved could one finally open the Purple Mansion.

Where there was yin, there was yang; extreme yin gave rise to yang, extreme yang transformed into yin. Yin and yang complemented each other, and only then could they cross the river in the same boat, with the Dao following nature.

As a small sect in the Demon Domain, the Soul Devouring Sect possessed several Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators. Its strongest guardian was a Grand Elder at Foundation Establishment Late Stage, and it was precisely lacking a treasured land of natural Sha Qi.

As a treasured land necessary for gathering Sha Qi to open the Purple Mansion realm, it was no longer something ordinary Inner Sect Disciples could use. One had to at least reach the Foundation Establishment Realm to qualify.

Within the Soul Devouring Sect, there were only three Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators in total. Apart from the sect's Grand Elder, one was the sect master, while the other was the Grand Elder who oversaw internal affairs.

As Zheng Yi understood it, the Soul Devouring Sect had more than three thousand cultivators in total, counting both disciples and upper ranks, yet only three had reached the Foundation Establishment Realm. This showed that Foundation Establishment was not something cultivators of ordinary aptitude could attain.

Back in Profound Sky City, Qi Refining Stage cultivators were all Rogue Cultivators.

A Foundation Establishment Realm expert, however, could already be called a great cultivator.

Such Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators could advance to guard a city or govern a Marketplace.

Or they could retreat to become an elder or honored guest of any small sect. If they had blood-related descendants, they could even establish a cultivation clan that endured for centuries and multiplied from generation to generation.

The reason was simple: only Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators of this level could deter the wolf-like forces of Rogue Cultivators.

They could ensure the safety of their own sphere of influence.

As for Sha Qi, the "Black Fiend Technique" Zheng Yi cultivated could solve that problem perfectly.

As for replenishing blood, he thought of something else that might be able to substitute for it.

After registering these three cultivation techniques, Zheng Yi focused his mind and worked hard to imprint every single word within them into his mind.

These cultivation tomes and secret methods could only be studied within the Law Transmission Hall. They were absolutely forbidden from being taken outside or copied, lest the sect's inheritance be leaked.

Fortunately, cultivators underwent bodily transformations one after another, their brain domains developed, and their Divine Souls possessed astonishing memories. Every one of them could be said to remember at a glance.

A true teaching took but a single sentence; a false teaching filled ten thousand scrolls.

Spending three to five hours was enough to firmly commit all this content to memory.

Then, before the guarding disciple, Zheng Yi swore a Heavenly Dao Oath that unless ordered by the sect, he would never pass on the techniques he had learned in his lifetime. Only then did he leave the Law Transmission Hall.

After receiving a cultivation room for an Inner Sect Disciple from the deacon of the sect's Internal Affairs Hall, Zheng Yi could not wait to verify his conjecture.

These rooms were all built atop the sect's Second-Order Spirit Vein, radiating dense spiritual qi.

They could also activate a Defense Formation. No disturbance within would spread outside, nor would outside commotion affect the interior. It was vastly better than the cultivation environment Zheng Yi had had in Profound Sky City.

Still not entirely at ease, Zheng Yi released the Lifebound Artifact within him, the Soul Devouring Banner. It formed a vast black mist that shrouded the entire room, and only when no one's divine sense could probe inside did he stop.

After carefully studying the "Profound Fiend Body Tempering Art" once more, he began circulating it according to its method.

Zheng Yi picked up the Soul Devouring Banner and gave it a slight shake, releasing a mass of Sha Qi that filled the room.

As the cultivation system of the "Profound Fiend Body Tempering Art" circulated through the Meridians in his body, Zheng Yi clearly felt the Sha Qi diffused through the air being drawn toward his body and beginning to cling to its surface.

In an instant, a layer of gray substance covered his skin.

Though it was clearly visible to the naked eye, it was impossible to tell whether it was truly a tangible substance.

As the technique continued to circulate, the Sha Qi dispersed throughout the room rapidly surged into Zheng Yi's body.

Thank you all for your continued reading, favorites, and vote support.