Gentlemen, it's time to enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Chapter 468 The Uses of Five-Colored Sand
The path of spiritual practice is fraught with obstacles.

If the Profound Realm tests a cultivator's destiny and comprehension, to see if they can grasp that glimmer of inspiration, then the step from Profound Realm to Divine Transformation tests a cultivator's lifelong accumulation of "good karma" and "trustworthiness."

Before the appearance of the Soul Cleansing Flower, cultivators who wanted to break through this realm either had to risk their lives to force their way through, or they had to find a hundred Daoist friends of profound understanding to whom they could entrust their lives to, so that they could join forces to open the illusory realm of the soul trial for them.

One hundred Transcendent cultivators—this is already an astonishing lineup. What's even more difficult is that if even one of these one hundred harbors malicious intent and tampers with the formation when it's activated, it will be a situation of certain death.

How can I gain the friendship of one hundred like-minded people?
How can you be sure that all one hundred people are without any ulterior motives and are willing to protect you?

This invisible threshold has blocked countless exceptionally talented individuals, causing them to waste their lives in the Profound Realm and ultimately perish.

Chen Ye had read some ancient books, which recorded that every breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage was held as a grand ceremony. Whenever a cultivator from a sect wanted to break through to the Profound Realm, they would invite friends and people from all over the world to witness the ceremony.

However, later on, all the major sects figured out more reliable methods, so this kind of thing happened less often, and only rogue cultivators needed to use it.

For example, the Incense Burning Sect uses the Soul Cleansing Flower, which is recognized as the best and safest breakthrough method in the world today.

The Qinghe Sword Sect has a Sword Tomb, but this method is extremely dangerous. Given the Qinghe Sword Sect's strict selection criteria, not many disciples can emerge from the Sword Tomb.

Other sects have similar methods, but the Yellow Springs Sect has only been established for a short time and has not yet accumulated experience in this area.

Chen Ye originally thought that he would also need to obtain a Soul Cleansing Flower to break through to the Nascent Soul stage, but he never expected that he would have to use the methods of the Demonic Sect to break through in the end.

Perhaps this is what is called fate.

After all the twists and turns, he was still the same little devil who started as a rogue cultivator.

The devils were softer than I thought; under the tortures of hell, they could barely endure half a day before confessing everything.

Chen Ye recorded all the secret techniques inherited from the demonic sects, carefully checked and verified them, and after confirming that there were no falsehoods or traps, he used the Fengdu Emperor to send these secret techniques back to the Yellow Springs Sect.

With Qu Heng, the founder of the Demonic Sect, around, these secret techniques should be organized by him soon, and then a suitable candidate should be selected for Chen Ye.

Chen Ye didn't need those who cultivated these secret techniques to have high levels of cultivation, nor did he need to grasp their essence. He only needed enough proficiency to be able to mimic the movements and activate them, which would be sufficient to open the inheritance array. This was similar to how he, despite being only at the Tongxuan Realm, was still able to snatch the Venerable Lord qualification from Deng Xing, who was at the Huashen Realm.

However, even if the goal is simply to achieve proficiency, getting everyone to the required standard in a short period of time is by no means easy. The only solution, perhaps, is to use the Arrow of Time.

This spell is extremely insidious when used against enemies, as lifespan is, after all, the most precious thing for a cultivator.

However, on the path of cultivation, this Arrow of Time is an unparalleled shortcut.

Chen Ye left the specific arrangements entirely to Qu Heng. He trusted his grandmaster and believed that he would understand his meaning and make proper arrangements for him.

After delivering the message, Chen Ye composed himself and began to deal with the mess in Zhulu City.

During his thorough search, he discovered that the old demon Wan Hai was surprisingly lucky. Despite the devastating kick from the Kui Niu, he had managed to survive and wasn't instantly crushed into mincemeat.

However, his good fortune came to an end.

Chen Ye dug him out of the rubble without any expression.

The old demon had barely uttered a thank you when Chen Ye reached out and extracted his soul.

Now that Qinglan, the big fish, has taken the bait, the old demon of ten thousand bones is no longer of any use. Chen Ye was too lazy to say anything more to him, and with a wave of his Ten Thousand Souls Banner, he absorbed the old demon's weakened soul into it.

All evildoers meet their end in death; going to hell to settle their sins is the best fate.

After all this, only one day remained until the ten-day deadline set by the Great Sage Overturning the Sea.

However, Chen Ye has now unified the Demonic Sect, even though this Demonic Sect is dead.

The mission is complete. They are now waiting for the return of the Demon Lord Feilian so they can report back to the Great Sage Fuhai.

Taking advantage of this brief moment of free time, Chen Ye took out the Book of Life and Death and the Five-Colored Sand, two treasures.

The greatest gain from this trip deep underground was these two magical treasures.

Even if the Book of Life and Death is incomplete, its basic functions are still intact, and it can still reflect the lives of all living beings in the world.

With the combined power of Chen Ye's Heavenly Punishment Hell, probably no one in this world can escape his pursuit.

But the five-colored sand really puzzled Chen Ye.

He opened his palm, and grains of sand emerged from it, like a handful of flowing, miniature galaxies. Billions of tiny grains of sand shimmered with five-colored light, gathering and dispersing at his will, sometimes forming swords, sometimes shields, ever-changing in countless ways.

However, aside from this sense of complete control, Chen Ye could not find any other use for it.

After studying it for a long time, Chen Ye could only come to the conclusion that it was "indestructible".

These colorful sand grains were extremely fine, but each one was incredibly hard. Chen Ye tried various methods, but none of them could cause any damage.

Chen Ye couldn't help but recall the legend of the Black Moon Demon Lord. If the Supreme Black Moon was indeed built using this five-colored sand as a base, then it could indeed be as powerful as described in the story.

"Supreme Black Moon... Furnace Body Refining Technique... An evil creature that is a hybrid of beast and human..."

Chen Ye carefully considered the details before and after the Five-Colored Sand recognized its master. Since he and Demon Lord Feilian attracted the Five-Colored Sand at the same time, it meant that the two must have had something in common at that time.

The only thing they could say they had in common was the "furnace body-refining technique".

At the time, the two were researching how to modify the secret technique to turn it into a magical art of creating humans from clay.

"So, this five-colored sand should be related to the furnace body-refining technique, or... to the clay-creation technique?"

He did not immediately manipulate the handful of colorful sand, but instead placed it aside, letting it float quietly, emitting a faint five-colored glow.

Chen Ye needed to conduct some experiments to verify his conjecture.

The severely damaged furnace was dug out of the ruins. Although it was in a terrible state, it could still be used with some minor repairs.

Chen Ye didn't really want to create a baby; he was just verifying his conjecture, and that was enough.

Following the original method, materials were placed into the furnace, spiritual energy was injected, and the "Furnace Body Refining Technique" was activated.

However, this time it is the original version transmitted by the Old Demon of Ten Thousand Bones.

No matter what Chen Ye did, the five-colored sand remained still and showed no reaction whatsoever.

“That makes sense. If the version by the Old Demon of Ten Thousand Bones also has a reaction, then we won’t be able to wait for Fei Lian and me. So let’s try the improved version.”

Chen Ye modified a few runes and began to cast his improved version.

This time, the colorful sand did indeed react. The handful of colorful sand, which had been motionless, seemed to be summoned and trembled with a buzzing sound.

Immediately afterwards, all the grains of sand came to life, transforming into a dazzling five-colored ribbon that began to slowly dance around Chen Ye.

They sometimes approached and sometimes moved away, filled with a sense of intimacy and joy, as if welcoming a master of the same origin.

"It's true."

This confirms that the five-colored sand is indeed related to Chen Ye's improved "Furnace Body Refining Technique".

In that case, we can proceed to the next step of the experiment.

With a thought, he separated a small pinch of five-colored sand and sprinkled it evenly into a handful of ordinary soil, like gold dust. Then, he threw this handful of soil mixed with divine sand into the furnace and activated the "Furnace Body Refining Technique" once again.

The furnace fire scorches this handful of soil, attempting to forcibly twist it into flesh and blood.

In past experiments, although the process could be carried out with difficulty, the results were extremely crude and horrific. The so-called "flesh and blood" that was transformed was nothing more than a clump of rotting flesh that was constantly writhing and had a chaotic structure, emitting a nauseating stench.

Even more fatally, once Chen Ye stops supplying spiritual energy, this lump of rotten flesh will immediately lose all vitality, rapidly die, and then completely disintegrate.

This is because these flesh and blood do not conform to the structure of normal life, and the result of forced transformation is naturally collapse.

But this time, the situation is a little different.

The transformation process became unusually slow, so slow that Chen Ye thought he had made a mistake, but he could indeed see strands of fiber appearing outside the soil, like new shoots breaking through the earth.

These threads began to slowly intertwine, initiating an orderly, structured combination.

Chen Ye could clearly see these threads transforming into blurred meridians, growing muscle textures... The whole process was no longer a crude combination based on his imagination, but rather like following an incredibly precise blueprint and carrying out rigorous construction.

Chen Ye closed his eyes and used his divine sense to sense the changes in the furnace, which must be related to the five-colored sand.

Chen Ye quickly made a discovery.

The multicolored sand mixed into the soil, under the stimulation of the "Burning Furnace Body Refining Technique," is constantly releasing an extremely special spiritual energy. This spiritual energy is not simply energy, but has transformed into countless invisible streams of information, like the most precise instructions, meticulously controlling every detail of the soil's transformation.

Chen Ye was deeply shocked.

These multicolored sands are like miniature databases, recording and storing "templates" of certain life forms. When influenced by his secret art of "creating life," they automatically activate, releasing the recorded blueprints of life forms to assist the spell and guide inorganic matter towards the correct life form!
Only life forms transformed in this way conform to the laws and are capable of independent existence.

Chen Ye was so excited he wanted to burst out laughing. He never expected this treasure to have such a wonderful use. If life could really be created using the template of the five-colored sand, wouldn't the creation of people from clay be a thing of the past?
Chen Ye took a few deep breaths to calm himself down and continued to focus on observing the entire transformation process.

After an unknown amount of time, when nearly half of the spiritual energy in his palm was depleted, the transformation process finally came to a slow halt. The handful of soil had disappeared, replaced by an embryo the size of a fist, crystal clear, with visible internal blood vessels pulsating.

It floats quietly, emanating a faint yet real breath of life.

Chen Ye slowly stopped transmitting spiritual energy.

In the past, this meant the instant failure of the experiment; the moment the spiritual energy was cut off, the embryo would die immediately and decompose rapidly.

But this time, the embryo did not collapse immediately. Its faint heartbeat continued for another ten breaths, and it even instinctively curled up for a moment before finally extinguishing its life force due to exhaustion, eventually slowly moving towards death and silence.

Ultimately, it all returned to deathly silence.

This "life" that he personally nurtured was too weak and still incomplete.

The multicolored sand does indeed record the form of the origin of life, like a map containing endless mysteries that can guide matter toward vitality. But now it seems that this blueprint itself is a discarded draft, a fragment that has been torn apart and barely pieced together.

This embryo does not belong to any kind of life in the world, and it is also missing many parts, so it is also a stillborn fetus.

Chen Ye refused to give up, so he summoned back all the five-colored sand and poured it into the new soil like a dazzling galaxy, starting the refining process once again.

However, the result was no different.

When a new, slightly larger embryo takes shape, its fate is no different from the previous one. It too, after a brief period of activity, dies rapidly.

The handful of colorful sand in his hand was incomplete. The life template it could release was severely damaged. Following this broken blueprint, no matter how much material was used, the final result would always be a severely flawed waste product.

"What a pity..." Chen Ye sighed deeply, his voice full of regret.

Chen Ye didn't know where the Black Moon Demon Lord got the five-colored sand back then. If it was all used to refine the Supreme Black Moon, where would he find all the Black Moon fragments now?

Over the course of a thousand years, times have changed, and even the Black Moon Demon Lord's successor, the Old Demon of Ten Thousand Bones, only possesses a fragment of the Black Moon. How could Chen Ye possibly find the complete set?
If not all of them are found, the life structures recorded in these colorful sands will be incomplete, and they will be of little use compared to before.

Looking at the multicolored sand in his palm, which still shimmered like a galaxy, Chen Ye felt that this thing was somewhat useless—tasteless to use, but a pity to throw away.

"No, we can't think like that." Chen Ye shook his head; giving up easily wasn't in his nature.

Chen Ye realized he was getting stuck in a rut. He shouldn't have relied on the five-colored sand to take a shortcut; everything in the world is just a tool. It seemed that when the secret art of creating humans from clay was first created, the five-colored sand wasn't essential.

After this secret technique was created, the creator felt that a tool was needed to complete it, so he created the five-colored sand.

Chen Yefu suddenly had a flash of inspiration and laughed loudly: "Look at my brain, I actually got stuck on a dead end. Since the life structure in the Five-Colored Sand was 'recorded' by someone, it means that it itself has the function of being 'written'! Why should I be fixated on the incomplete content inside it?"
"As long as I find this method, I can completely delete the incomplete content and then reveal the complete human life structure again."

The so-called five-colored sand is just a storage device for inputting and outputting information.

If the content is corrupted, can't you just delete it and rewrite it?
I can completely erase all those messy and incomplete life templates inside, and then re-imprint a complete "human" life structure into it.

This workload may be beyond imagination, but this path is undoubtedly the right one.

Of course, one must take things one step at a time. Chen Ye knew very well that he didn't yet know how to "delete" or "record" information in this "storage device."

We'll probably need to look up records about the Black Moon Demon Lord and study them carefully.

However, finding the right direction is a good thing.

Just as he smiled, the voice of Demon Lord Feilian came from behind him: "What's making you so happy?"

Chen Ye turned his head and saw Fei Lian Demon Lord dragging three puppet-like demon heads out of the void.

Chen Ye asked, "Is everyone here?"

Demon Lord Feilian nodded and replied, "All done. From today onwards, you are the Supreme Lord of the Demonic Sect."

Chen Ye smiled wryly; this Supreme Being was too fake.

However, it's time to report back to the Great Sage Overturning the Sea. Hopefully, after obtaining the remnant soul of Youluozi, he will ascend directly and not linger in the mortal realm any longer.

(End of this chapter)