Acceptance of Disciples, Ten-Thousandfold Returns: Starting from Battle Through the Heavens — Part 6

All of a sudden, who knew how much time had passed? At the instant his soul completely finished merging, his entire soul seemed to undergo a complete transformation.

His soul, originally at the peak of the Mortal Realm, instantly transformed and entered the Spiritual Realm.

A terrifying soul storm instantly swept in all directions with Qin Hao at its center.

Upon sensing that terrifying aura, Zi Yan, who was in the air, changed expression drastically. Her figure retreated at once, and the shock in her eyes could not be concealed.

"Phew..."

The moment the transformation was complete, Qin Hao slowly opened his eyes. Light gleamed in them as he exhaled a breath of turbid air.

"A Spiritual Realm soul! This feeling... it's simply too powerful!"

Sensing the changes in his soul, a flash of excitement appeared in Qin Hao's eyes. Clearly, he had not expected such a tremendous benefit after killing that Azure Shadow Eagle.

Soul realm was extremely important to an alchemist—one could even say it was one of the most crucial factors.

On the Dou Qi Continent, more than ninety-nine percent of alchemists possessed Mortal Realm souls. For those in the Mortal Realm, becoming a seventh-tier alchemist was already the limit.

A Spiritual Realm soul was an important prerequisite for becoming an eighth-tier alchemist. If one's soul realm was insufficient, then no matter how extensive one's theoretical knowledge or how skilled one's techniques were, one still could not reach the level of an eighth-tier alchemist.

Likewise, a powerful soul realm was also of enormous help to one's strength.

Just look at the original story—after Xiao Yan used the Heaven-tier Dou Technique Ghost Possession, his strength soared as if he were riding a rocket.

After his soul completed its transformation, Qin Hao felt that his strength had once again crossed a massive threshold.

The only regret was that Qin Hao possessed only the soul realm itself, without any soul cultivation techniques or Dou Techniques. If he had corresponding soul cultivation techniques and Dou Techniques, he would be able to truly unleash the full power of a Spiritual Realm soul.

At that point, not to mention a Dou King, even a Dou Emperor would not frighten him.

Unfortunately, soul cultivation techniques and Dou Techniques were simply too rare. Even in the original story, they only appeared a few times.

The most famous were the Taiyi Soul Art acquired by Xiao Yan and the inherited Dou Technique, Yellow Springs Heavenly Fury, of the Yellow Springs Demon Saint.

However, for the current Qin Hao, neither the Taiyi Soul Art nor Yellow Springs Heavenly Fury was something he could lay a hand on.

The Taiyi Soul Art was the reward for the champion of the Pill Tower's alchemy competition in the original story, and it was currently in the Pill Tower's possession. Although he was now a peak fourth-tier alchemist and could be considered exceptionally gifted in a place like Canaan Academy—

Compared to the top young alchemists of the Pill Tower, however, he was clearly still lacking. Trying to obtain that thing from the Pill Tower in advance was practically impossible.

As for Yellow Springs Heavenly Fury, it was the inherited Dou Technique of the Yellow Springs Demon Saint, located in the deepest part of the Nine Serene Yellow Springs. That was the forbidden ground of the Nine Serene Nether Python Clan, one of the three top Magic Beast clans. It was even further beyond his current reach.

Very soon, Qin Hao shook his head and suppressed those distracting thoughts. No matter what, the transformation of his soul this time was already an enormous unexpected surprise.

Then, his gaze fell upon Zi Yan as she descended from the sky.

"Zi Yan, thanks!"

A smile appeared on Qin Hao's face when he saw Zi Yan.

The process of soul fusion and transformation was extremely dangerous. If he had been disturbed, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

"Qin Hao, wh-what happened to you?"

Zi Yan had finally recovered from her shock at the terrifying soul storm. Her gaze landed on Qin Hao as she stared at him with a doubtful, uncertain expression.

"Nothing much. I simply had a sudden insight, and my soul realm made a breakthrough!"

Qin Hao said.

"A breakthrough in your soul realm? Isn't that far too ridiculous? Wait, if your soul realm has broken through, doesn't that mean your alchemy skills will improve tremendously too? Then you can refine higher-tier pills, right?"

Zi Yan was initially stunned, but then she seemed to realize something. Her eyes lit up as she immediately looked at Qin Hao expectantly.

"As for alchemy... barring any surprises, I should be capable of refining fifth-tier pills now!"

After thinking for a moment, Qin Hao nodded.

His alchemy had already reached the peak of the fourth tier, only a step away from becoming a fifth-tier alchemist.

Now, his soul realm had leaped from the late Mortal Realm, past the peak of the Mortal Realm, and directly entered the early Spiritual Realm. From the Mortal Realm to the Spiritual Realm was a qualitative leap.

For an alchemist, a stronger soul realm meant better control over the heat, more precise timing during the refinement process, and more meticulous command over every aspect of refining.

A Strong Start! Zi Yan's Proposal!

It was unquestionably an enormous boost to his alchemy. Qin Hao was therefore absolutely confident that he now had the ability to refine fifth-tier pills. With sufficiently complete inheritance guidance, even sixth-tier pills were not entirely beyond his chance of success.

After all, this transformation of his soul had been far too extraordinary. Using a Spiritual Realm soul to refine fifth- or sixth-tier pills was, in a sense, practically cheating.

"That's wonderful! I can finally eat higher-tier pills!"

Zi Yan said excitedly.

"Besides, your strength has increased so much. In that case, we can be a little bolder. I know several places with good things, but the Magic Beasts guarding them aren't easy to deal with!

"I originally planned to wait until our strength improved before causing them trouble. But now, with the two of us joining forces, there shouldn't be any problem!"

Zi Yan continued.

"Oh? Good things? What good things?"

Qin Hao asked curiously. He knew about Zi Yan's treasure-hunting talent. Anything she called a good thing was certainly no ordinary item.

"Azure Origin Fruit, Jade Marrow Ganoderma, Profound Ice Grass... and Blood Spirit Ginseng!"

Zi Yan immediately rattled off a string of medicinal ingredients.

The instant Qin Hao heard the names of those medicinal ingredients, his eyes lit up.

That was because the worst of the items Zi Yan had named were all ingredients needed to refine fifth-tier pills.

Among them, Azure Origin Fruit and Jade Marrow Ganoderma were two of the three main ingredients for refining the fifth-tier Fighting Spirit Pill.

As for the last one, it was none other than the Purple Spirit Fruit guarded by this Azure Shadow Eagle.

In other words, if they could obtain those items, they would have gathered the main ingredients for refining the Fighting Spirit Pill. The remaining supplementary ingredients would be much easier to acquire and could be exchanged for easily at the academy.

Furthermore, the Blood Spirit Ginseng Zi Yan mentioned last was one of the main ingredients for refining the sixth-tier Emperor's Extreme Pill. Its value was extraordinary.

"Are you sure the Magic Beasts guarding those ingredients are all opponents we can handle? Especially the Blood Spirit Ginseng—there won't be a sixth-tier Magic Beast, will there?"

Qin Hao asked for confirmation one last time.

"How could that be? Don't worry, the Magic Beasts guarding those ingredients are all fifth-tier Magic Beasts. There definitely aren't any sixth-tier Magic Beasts. If there were, I certainly wouldn't provoke them!"

Zi Yan patted her chest and guaranteed.

"Is that so? Then let's give it a try!"

After hearing Zi Yan's assurance that there were no sixth-tier Magic Beasts, Qin Hao nodded and agreed to her proposal.

Zi Yan might have had a childish temperament, but Qin Hao knew very well that she was definitely not someone who failed to understand the gravity of a situation. She certainly would not joke about such a matter.

Before that, however, the two of them naturally had to collect the spoils from the battle just now.

Qin Hao first went over to the Purple Spirit Fruit tree, plucked the nine ripe Purple Spirit Fruits, and placed them into jade boxes he had prepared beforehand.

Then, he began processing the Azure Shadow Eagle's corpse.

The Azure Shadow Eagle was a fifth-tier Magic Beast. Although calling it covered in treasures would be somewhat exaggerated, as a fifth-tier Magic Beast, it still possessed quite a few valuable materials besides its Magic Core.

After dealing with the Azure Shadow Eagle's corpse, the two of them found the Azure Shadow Eagle's nest.

Less than ten minutes later, Qin Hao and Zi Yan emerged from the Azure Shadow Eagle's nest, both wearing satisfied smiles.

As a fifth-tier Magic Beast, the Azure Shadow Eagle had collected quite a few good things in its nest.

There were dozens of Magic Cores alone. Although the highest were only fourth-tier Magic Cores, there were plenty of them.

They also found two storage rings in its nest, likely left behind by cultivators who had died at the Azure Shadow Eagle's hands.

However, the contents of those storage rings had clearly been ruined quite a bit by the Azure Shadow Eagle.

What remained were all things useless to the Azure Shadow Eagle, such as clothes and various everyday necessities.

Still, Qin Hao found two gold cards and several scrolls of Dou Qi cultivation techniques and Dou Techniques among them.

Although the highest was only at the mid Mystic tier, and their attributes were clearly not very compatible with Qin Hao, they were still decent gains for him. He could exchange them for things he needed at the academy later.

Their first battle after entering the Magic Beast Forest could be considered a strong start. Not only had Qin Hao avenged his predecessor and settled the karmic ties, leaving his mind unburdened—

His soul had also transformed, and he had gained quite a few spoils. Naturally, Qin Hao was immensely satisfied.

"Where's the next target?"

Qin Hao looked toward Zi Yan. When it came to familiarity with the Magic Beast Forest in the back mountains of the Inner Academy, no one in the entire academy could compare to Zi Yan.

"Let me take a look!"

With that, Zi Yan took out a map from her storage ring. It was a simple map of the Magic Beast Forest near the Inner Academy, marked with numerous symbols by Zi Yan. They were clearly the results of her explorations.

In a sense, it could also be considered a treasure map, though this treasure map was rather dangerous.

"This one. The closest place to us is this big ape's territory! I originally didn't want to provoke this fellow for the time being, but now that your strength has increased so much, we'll use him as our first target!

"There's an extremely rare natural treasure in that big ape's nest!"

After studying the map for a while, Zi Yan pointed to a location and spoke.

"A natural treasure? What is it?"

Hearing that, Qin Hao immediately asked with curiosity.

"If I'm not mistaken, it should be the legendary Earth Core Body-Tempering Milk!"

Zi Yan said. As she spoke, a trace of drool even trickled from the corner of her mouth. Clearly, she greatly coveted the Earth Core Body-Tempering Milk.

"Earth Core Body-Tempering Milk? It's actually such a treasure. What Magic Beast guards it?"

Qin Hao's heart stirred slightly upon hearing its name, and he immediately asked.

Naturally, Qin Hao knew about this item. It had even been mentioned in the original story. For cultivators at the Dou Spirit and even Dou King levels, it was considered a rare heavenly treasure.

"It's a large white ape. I think it's called a Snow Demon Sky Ape. It has a trace of ancient Magic Beast bloodline, so it isn't easy to deal with!"

After thinking for a moment, Zi Yan replied.

Zi Yan's bloodline was extremely noble. Among all the Magic Beasts on the Dou Qi Continent, aside from Zhukun, who was trapped within the Ancient Emperor's Cave-Dwelling, none could compare with her.

However, because she had accidentally consumed a Transformation Herb, she had become somewhat "underdeveloped," and her bloodline had not fully awakened. Thus, her cultivation was currently about the same as Qin Hao's, and she had only recently become a Dou King.

Her strength was clearly not yet as formidable as it had been when Xiao Yan arrived at the Inner Academy in the story. She relied more on the Ancient Void Dragon Clan's mysterious spatial abilities, leaving her opponents helpless against her.