"Urgh-"
An utterly stifled groan escaped Qing Chen's throat. Veins bulged like earthworms at his temples, throbbing violently.
All color drained from his face, leaving it as white as though pasted with window paper.
It was as though his vitality had been drained dry in an instant; he could barely even remain seated.
Yet at this brink, when the agony was almost tearing his consciousness apart,
he clenched his teeth, and the hand gripping that wisp of soul intent tightened all the more, all the more resolute.
Thread by thread, he unraveled the cocoon.
Strand by strand, wisp by wisp, he slowly but firmly tore that fragment of soul essence out of his own sea of the soul.
The process was no different from a mortal slicing off his own flesh with a dull blade-except this torture acted directly upon the soul.
Time lost its meaning.
Only that continuous, seemingly endless tearing agony remained real.
Qing Chen felt his soul shuddering madly, his consciousness repeatedly teetering on the brink of collapse.
Only that sliver of yearning for power and obsession with the path to immortality in his heart barely preserved the last trace of clarity in his mind.
He knew that if he failed to cross this hurdle, everything would end.
Only by enduring this torment of wrenching and refining his soul could he condense the "demon seed" recorded in the Demon Seed Golden Lotus secret art and continue strengthening his soul!
Only a powerful soul would allow him to cultivate the Brahma Demon-Refining Art! To pry open a crack leading to a higher level!
According to the secret art's brief description, once he achieved Foundation Establishment, this demon seed could transform into Foundation Establishment Demon Fire!
Not only would its power against enemies be terrifying, but he could also