Subjugation

Lin Xu's eyes lit up. This Yin soldier squad leader was actually someone he could subjugate!

But he immediately realized that the Yin soldier squad leader had an elite template!

The vast majority of creatures in the Spirit Realm had ordinary templates, including human adventurers.

Only a tiny number of lucky individuals awakened an elite template through innate talent or other means. The simplest way to tell was that their health was at least ten times that of others of their kind, while their growth potential and cultivation ceiling far exceeded those of ordinary people.

For a Spirit Realm being, an elite template also meant that its intelligence far surpassed that of its kind, bringing it closer to a sapient being.

For instance, the ambush Lin Xu had inexplicably encountered this time was likely the result of this Yin soldier squad leader directing things from the shadows.

Thoughts flashed through his mind, and the Bright Light Lamp abruptly shifted from defense to drawing in its target. Its flame streamed out like threads, attacking the Yin soldier squad leader.

The lamp flame coiled upward like a snake. With a furious roar, the Yin soldier squad leader thrust its ghostfire spear forward, and it collided thunderously with the Bright Light Lamp's flame in midair.

The instant the shockwave of spiritual power swept the dense fog aside, Lin Xu formed a hand seal and chanted an incantation. The Soul-Guiding Bell at his waist trembled lightly, sending sound waves winding toward the Yin soldier squad leader like threads and freezing its soul body for an instant.

Before the Soul-Guiding Bell's chime faded, the Dao Rhyme Bright Light Lamp blazed brightly. A large quantity of lamp oil burned up in an instant, transforming into a fire snake that lunged at the Yin soldier squad leader and coiled around its soul body.

The Yin soldier squad leader struggled violently within the snake of candlelight and fire. Its ghostfire armor gave off a piercing sizzling sound, and the edges of its soul body began to twist and crumble.

Ripples spread through Lin Xu's sea of consciousness, where a sun of light flickered unsteadily. He struggled to suppress the will that was trying to break free.

Lin Xu gritted his teeth and activated the Soul-Guiding Bell. Its chime turned sharp and fierce, piercing deep into the squad leader's spiritual consciousness like heavenly thunder.

The struggling Yin soldier squad leader shuddered violently. The ghostfire in its eye sockets shifted from frenzy to struggle, as though a remnant of its will was fighting against its bonds.

But in the next instant, the Bright Light Lamp's flame abruptly contracted into a chain that pierced through the Yin soldier squad leader. With a sharp coil, it dragged the squad leader's soul body into the spirit lamp.

The candle flame flickered violently, as though it might go out at any moment.

Lin Xu steadied his breathing and used his thoughts to direct the spirit lamp's flame to refine it. Another invisible wave of light swept out, seizing souls and spirits and freezing the pursuing Yin soldiers in place.

The Yin soldier squad leader's remnant soul twisted and howled within the lamp flame, but the flame refined it layer by layer. Impurities were stripped from its soul body like black smoke, and the savage consciousness buried deep within it was slowly refined away.

Its once-gloomy soul body gradually became clear, and its shattered armor slowly solidified. A wisp of blue smoke rose from the lamp flame as the Yin soldier squad leader knelt on one knee atop the wick, its illusory figure bowing its head and its ghostfire spear held across its chest.

It took long to describe, but the entire fight had lasted only a few breaths. Refining the Yin soldier squad leader, on the other hand, had taken more than ten breaths.

"This will have to do for now..." Lin Xu raised a hand to wipe the cold sweat from his temple, his fingertips trembling slightly.

The spirit lamp was still hot, and the wisp of blue smoke above its wick lingered without dispersing. The Yin soldier squad leader had already taken its place beside him, standing silently on guard like a guardian spirit.

The five Yin soldiers nearby had recovered from the spell and were about to pounce, but the Yin soldier squad leader intimidated them into hesitating. They prowled about uncertainly, the ghostfire in their eyes flickering.

To refine the Yin soldier squad leader, Lin Xu had spent a great deal of mana and nearly exhausted even the Dharma Coins he had saved up. The spiritual power in his body was now close to depletion, and his sea of consciousness ached faintly from overusing the Bright Light Lamp.

Even so, he had only just managed to refine the Yin soldier squad leader and had not yet had time to purify its soul body.

But he could not worry about that now. He glanced at the Yin soldiers prowling uncertainly nearby. "Go, subjugate them!"

The Yin soldier squad leader gave a low roar and stepped forward, an invisible majesty spreading from it. The five Yin soldiers immediately prostrated themselves on the ground, their ghostfire trembling like dying embers in the wind.

"Good!" Lin Xu had already exited his Thought Overclocking state. At the sight, he laughed aloud. "I didn't expect a haul like this tonight!"

The Bright Lamp Spirit Kindling Art was a gold-grade cultivation art with many uses, and refining Yin souls into guardian spirits was one of them.

But the method was not without limits. At level 1, he could subjugate only one guardian spirit; at level 2, four; and at level 3, nine, and so on.

The Yin soldier squad leader Lin Xu had subjugated had an innate command talent that allowed it to cow five Yin soldiers into submission. That was more guardian spirits than he would gain from raising his class by one level, making it maximum value for the cost.

Delighted, Lin Xu immediately ordered the squad leader to lead the five Yin soldiers in sweeping the path ahead. He followed behind, taking the wandering souls he saw into the spirit lamp one by one and refining them into spiritual light to nourish his sea of consciousness.

As the spiritual light entered his body, the stinging in his sea of consciousness gradually eased. Fine patterns flickered across the Bright Light Lamp's wick, illuminating the outline of the secluded path ahead.

With the Yin soldiers clearing the way, Lin Xu could spare some attention to sense the subtle changes in the flow of Yin Qi around him.

He refined wandering souls to strengthen the Bright Light Lamp's spirituality while advancing his cultivation of the Bright Lamp Spirit Kindling Art, slowly expanding the boundaries of his sea of consciousness. His efficiency rose by nearly thirty percent.

As the night drew to a close, the mist over the wasteland gradually thinned. Standing beneath an ancient scholar tree, Lin Xu slowly finished refining the Yin dew, then opened his eyes and glanced around. The Yin soldier squad leader and its five Yin soldiers stood at attention as before, the spirit lamp's faint light shining on them, while its flame had grown somewhat brighter.

Item: Dao Rhyme Bright Light Lamp

Quality: Cyan, fine

Category: Magic tool

Lamp oil: 49/50

Effects: Bright Lamp Spirit Kindling Art cultivation speed +20%, spellcasting cost -10%, Light Mantra

Description: A magic tool paired with the Bright Lamp Spirit Kindling Art, a standard-issue magic tool of Xuanwei Monastery

After a night of cultivation that had consumed several hundred units of lamp oil, the Dao Rhyme Bright Light Lamp's grade had quietly risen to cyan, fine, and its effect bonuses had increased considerably.

The once-crude lamp had also become more refined in appearance. Fine runes flowed across its surface, giving off a faint spiritual charm.

"I've saved up a string of coins. Time to go back." Lin Xu glanced at the Dharma Coins at his waist, then cast one last look at the gloomy woods.

Dharma Coins were more like the embodiment of some kind of concept. Once a thousand had been accumulated, they would naturally join together into a string, making one string of coins.

In the real world, one Dharma Coin could sell for fifty or sixty yuan, or even more. A string of them was worth fifty to sixty thousand yuan.

"Fifty thousand a month~" The corners of Lin Xu's mouth rose slightly. Sure enough, being his own boss was still the most profitable.

He flicked his fingers, and the spirit lamp's faint light withdrew. The Yin soldier squad leader gave a low roar, and five dark figures quickly vanished into the ground.

One piece of Soul-Nourishing Wood isn't enough... With that thought, he headed toward Xuanwei Monastery's gates. The morning breeze brushed the bronze bells beneath the eaves, startling a flock of roosting crows.

After turning in his task at the Merit Hall and exchanging his rewards for cultivation resources, Lin Xu returned to his small courtyard. By then, the sky was bright.

"Do not enter without my permission." He gave the menial servants explicit instructions, then turned and entered the quiet room to cultivate in seclusion.

Upon entering the transcendent realm, one's need for sleep decreased. It varied from person to person; Lin Xu, for example, needed only to sit quietly and regulate his breathing for two hours each day to restore his vigor.

In the quiet room, candlelight flickered as Lin Xu sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion. The spirit lamp burned once more, and a great sun rose in his sea of consciousness, its radiance rippling like a tide and extending bit by bit into the dark depths.