Hunyuan Immortal Sect

Chapter 536 Blood Sea Altar

As the giant black hand slowly descended from above, Song Xian felt the invisible force growing stronger and stronger, as if the entire world was against him and wanted to crush him into dust.

The sound of bones snapping grew louder and louder. His face was flushed red, and his veins bulged all over his body, as if he was about to explode and die.

The next moment, a crimson vortex condensed around him, enveloping his body. In an instant, the crimson vortex formed a crimson storm as large as a tornado.

A torrent of bloody liquid gushed out from within, surging in all directions like a raging torrent.

In just a few breaths, the thousand-foot radius space sealed by the Xuan light was submerged by the sea of ​​blood. The twisted and swaying black lines around it, like walls, quickly dissipated into nothingness under the impact of the sea of ​​blood.

Wei Fan was submerged in a sea of ​​blood, his body sinking steadily, but he did not show any panic. Instead, he stared at Song Xian with some curiosity, as if he were looking at a strange prey.

As his body continued to sink, the dark light surrounding him grew weaker and weaker, and he was about to sink to the bottom of the sea of ​​blood.

Suddenly, a large amount of black mist surged out from his body, forming a vortex that enveloped him and isolated him from the sea of ​​blood.

As the vortex of black mist gradually shrank, something inside seemed to be disappearing.

In Song Xianzhen's field of vision, it can be clearly seen that after the black mist appeared, the surrounding space fluctuated violently, and a vaguely circular spatial tunnel emerged.

At that very moment, beneath the sea of ​​blood, a divine altar rose from the bottom.

Like a pillar stabilizing the sea, the moment the altar rose, the violently fluctuating space around the black mist instantly returned to calm, while the circular spatial tunnel began to tremble.

Until the altar was fully raised and stood in the sea of ​​blood, the circular space tunnel collapsed instantly.

The black mist that had enveloped Wei Fan vanished without a trace, and only then did he reveal a look of panic.

Its eerie green pupils were constricted, and its mouth was slightly open, as if it were roaring something, but no sound came out.

His body quickly fell to the bottom of the sea of ​​blood, and the protective dark light around him soon disappeared.

Under the corrosive influence of the sea of ​​blood, its body visibly rotted.

Wei Fan waved his hands weakly, like a drowning person unconsciously trying to grab a lifeline.

As his flesh and blood dissolved, his eerie green pupils returned to their normal color.

Wei Fan looked at Song Xian, used his last bit of strength to nod at him, his mouth slightly open as if he were saying something, and then he closed his eyes.

Most of its body had rotted away, revealing its bare white bones.

With a flick of his wrist, Song Xian unleashed a burst of light from the black banner, and the altar slowly sank into the seabed, causing the sea of ​​blood to instantly flow backward back to the surface.

The entire world instantly returned to its original appearance. The air in the mountains and forests was still fresh after the rain, but the nearby trees had disappeared, leaving a barren expanse for miles around, devoid of any vegetation.

Not far away, Wei Fan's rotting corpse lay on the ground.

He flashed to the man's side, put the storage bag hanging from his waist into his pocket, cleaned up the corpse, and then went to the cave where the man was hiding and searched carefully.

After failing to find any secret passages or mechanisms, they left the area.

…………

It was April, the most pleasant season in Bianxi City. Outside Luoyun Mountain, spring was in full bloom, and the plants were thriving.

In the distance, a streak of light swept across the sky at high speed, bringing with it a gust of wind that blew the flowers and plants on the ground to their sides.

Upon returning to his residence at the mountain gate, Song Xian immediately summoned Huang Ye and instructed him to secretly spread the word that he had encountered a cannibalistic Golden Core cultivator in Far East Town. The two fought a fierce battle, and Song Xian, unable to defeat his opponent, escaped injured and returned to the sect to recuperate.

He then summoned Jiang Zichen and ordered him to announce to the public that he was going into seclusion and would not see any visitors, and that he would temporarily take full charge of the sect's affairs.

After doing these two things, he went to the secret room, flicked his sleeve, and a storage bag fell into his hand, which was the item he had obtained from Wei Fan.

As items were taken out one by one, the table was filled with all sorts of things.

Among them are spirit stones, talismans, and elixirs.

There are also some rare materials, such as century-old Ling Shan and earth rock flint.

However, Song Xian ignored all of these. His gaze first fell on a blue umbrella-shaped object, and he reached out and took it.

The green umbrella appears unremarkable on the surface, but a green dragon is painted on the handle, and a line of small characters is engraved at the bottom of the handle: "Green Dragon Umbrella".

When you touch it, the umbrella surface is as smooth as jade, but the handle is slightly rough, like marble, giving it an antique feel.

When the umbrella is opened, the supporting ribs are light gold in color and have a cold, metallic feel to the touch. Each of the ribs has a slight curve and several sections, with obvious protrusions between the joints, just like the joints between human fingers.

Song Xian caressed the umbrella's surface and ribs with obvious affection, as if he were touching the body of a peerless beauty, his face revealing undisguised joy.

This is not an ordinary magic weapon, but a top-tier magic weapon with a beast soul.

The so-called beast soul refers to the divine soul of a demon beast. When refining a magic weapon, the divine soul of the demon beast is extracted and integrated into the refining process, which gives rise to a beast soul within the magic weapon.

It sounds simple, but it's actually quite complicated. First of all, extracting the demon beast's soul is no easy task. Because to integrate the beast's soul into a magical artifact, only demon beasts at least at the Golden Core level have a chance of success.

To do all this, one must first capture a Golden Core level demon beast alive, and use a secret method to forcibly separate its soul from its body before it dies, and then integrate it into the refining of the magic weapon.

Ordinary magic weapons don't require such great effort. Capturing a Golden Core demon beast alive is inherently risky, and extracting its soul is no easy task.

Generally, the idea of ​​incorporating beast souls into a magic weapon is only considered when refining a top-grade magic weapon.

Refining top-grade magic weapons is an extremely difficult task. In addition to the fact that the materials used are very rare and hard to obtain, it also depends on the craftsman's skill and luck.

Even if the materials used in the refining process are rare treasures, it doesn't necessarily mean that a top-grade magic weapon can be created.

If it weren't for a top-grade magic weapon, there would be no point in going to such great lengths to integrate the beast's soul.

A magical artifact infused with a beast's soul does not directly increase its power, but it is an indispensable condition for becoming a spiritual artifact.

For a magical artifact to develop sentience and be upgraded to a spiritual artifact, the beast soul within the artifact needs to awaken.

Only top-grade magic weapons can be upgraded to spirit treasures. Therefore, when refining magic weapons, incorporating beast souls is definitely for the sake of that tiny chance of upgrading to a spirit treasure in the future; otherwise, it is meaningless.

Judging from the shape, structure, and name of this green umbrella, it is not difficult to guess what kind of demonic beast the beast soul inside this magical artifact is.

That's right, it is one of the world's top monster races, the Azure Dragon.

As expected, the umbrella surface should be integrated with the skin of the Azure Dragon, and the slightly golden umbrella ribs should be cast from the bones of the Azure Dragon. Only demonic beasts that have reached the Nascent Soul level have bones that turn golden.

Based on this, the Azure Dragon Beast Soul of the magic weapon must have been a Nascent Soul level demon in its previous life.

As one of the strongest demon bloodlines in the world, and also one of the strongest demon races, the Azure Dragon's Nascent Soul level demon was captured alive, skinned, and had its soul refined.

It is conceivable that the original owner of the magic weapon possessed a high level of cultivation and formidable strength.

Although Song Xian possessed two spiritual treasures, these treasures could only be used after he reached the Nascent Soul stage.

This Azure Dragon Umbrella is perfectly suited to his cultivation level. Although it's not a priceless treasure, a top-grade magic weapon is definitely one of the rarest of magic weapons.

Among a thousand magical treasures in the cultivation world, it is rare to find even one that is of the highest quality.

Not only are the materials for refining difficult to obtain, but the requirements for weapon refiners are also extremely high.

The difference in crafting difficulty between low-grade and high-grade magic weapons is enormous, and the gap is difficult to estimate.

It should be noted that even with the cultivation level of the Celestial Master Tiantong, who roamed the world freely, he only collected two spiritual treasures in his lifetime, one of which was an innate spiritual treasure. In other words, he only had one spiritual treasure that advanced to the level of a magic weapon in his entire life.

This also shows how rare top-grade magic weapons are.

On his way back, Song Xian had already entered the interior of the Azure Dragon Umbrella, where an Azure Dragon Beast Soul was stationed. As soon as his divine sense entered the inner room, he was attacked.

Although the Azure Dragon Beast Soul has not awakened, it will attack all foreign invaders due to the divine thoughts left behind by its original owner.

To subdue it, one must remove the original owner's divine consciousness and leave one's own imprint.

This is not something that can be accomplished in a short time; it requires a gradual approach.

The reason Song Xian had such an undisguised look of joy was not because of the Azure Dragon Umbrella, but because of another item.

After playing with the Azure Dragon Umbrella for a while, he put it away, took a golden goose-neck-shaped bottle, gently opened the cap, and poured out a round, golden pill the size of a steel ball.

Looking at what was in front of him, he unconsciously swallowed and his eyes became burning.

This item is called the Spirit Ascension Pill, a pill used by Golden Core cultivators for cultivation. In layman's terms, it is a high-level Spirit Replenishment Pill.

Unlike the Spirit Replenishing Pill, the Spirit Ascension Pill does not have a distinction between superior, middle, and inferior grades.

As is well known, the grade of a Spirit Replenishing Pill is directly related to one's cultivation level.

For example, a second-grade high-quality spirit-replenishing pill would be much less effective if given to a cultivator in the early or middle stages of Foundation Establishment.

To put it bluntly, the spiritual power gained after refining is not as great as that of a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.

However, the Spirit Ascension Pill is different; it has the same effect on all Golden Core cultivators, regardless of whether they are in the late, middle, or early stages of the Golden Core realm.

When he checked the storage bag he had obtained on his way back and found that it contained Spirit Ascension Pills, he was overjoyed and could hardly believe it was real.

Since Wei Fan had already broken through to the Golden Core stage, he couldn't think of any reason why Wei Fan wouldn't take the Spirit Ascension Pill.

The only reasonable explanation is that the evil spirit that dominates the body doesn't need the Spirit Enhancement Pill. Perhaps its cultivation method has another way to improve its cultivation level. Otherwise, why would it be so insane as to devour the flesh and blood of cultivators and demon beasts?
Of course, this is just speculation. It is also possible that the evil spirit that has taken control of the body is worried that if it consumes and refines this Spirit Ascension Pill, its cultivation will increase and the true consciousness of Wei Fan will awaken.

Judging from the situation in that cave, Wei Fan's self-awareness must have awakened for the first time after breaking through to the Golden Core stage, otherwise he wouldn't have shown such a breakdown.

(End of this chapter)