Yuantian Pidao

Chapter 499 Devouring Ghosts and Strengthening Souls
In the Cloud City, the Cloud Palace radiates pure white celestial light, enveloping all directions.

Inside the main hall, Jiang Chen transformed into a true dragon, exhaling a breath of qi to continuously dissipate the yin energy. For a time, the sounds of ghosts wailing and gods howling filled the air, but due to the barrier of the formation, these sounds did not travel out.

As time passed, more and more ghostly bodies crumbled, revealing the ghosts hiding within.

Having seen all this clearly, Jiang Chen's Yin spirit manifested, filling the entire hall. He directly activated the Soul Devouring True Demon Art, swallowing all the ghosts whole.

With a hum, the soul light was born and died, and soul liquids of different grades began to be produced, mostly gray and white. In addition, some fragments of true meaning were captured and transformed into balls of light of various sizes.

Upon sensing the emergence of these true meanings, Jiang Chen did not hesitate and directly absorbed them.

Under such circumstances, in just half an incense stick's time, he gained a deep understanding of the cultivation of ghosts, and his whole body was filled with yin energy, just like an old ghost.

"Most of these ghosts rely on instinct to inhale and exhale yin energy, and their cultivation is mostly mediocre. However, some are outstanding and have figured out some crude methods on their own. Some are even quite talented and were born with some strange skills, which is somewhat similar to demons."

As he processed what he had learned, various thoughts flashed through Jiang Chen's mind.

The methods practiced by these ghost cultivators were mostly crude, far inferior to the well-established Nine Revolutions Netherworld Technique. However, it was precisely because of this that it made it easier for him to see through the true nature of ghost cultivation.

If the human immortal path cultivates the three treasures of essence, qi, and spirit, then the ghosts cultivate qi and spirit, emphasizing strengthening the soul with yin qi and controlling yin qi with the soul. The so-called ghost body is essentially a transformation of yin qi.

In this way, in the early stages, ghosts are naturally less restricted by their physical bodies. As long as they have enough blood and food to calm the yin essence in their souls, even if their cultivation methods are crude, their progress will not be too slow.

Of course, in the later stages, the cultivation of ghosts becomes troublesome. While the yin energy strengthens their souls, it also distorts their yin nature. Ghosts that rely solely on devouring blood to restore their yin nature have virtually no future, because they have already accumulated too much negative karma.

"Nourishing the soul with yin energy is ultimately more harmful than beneficial to me now. However, after this absorption, I have basically verified the value of ghosts. Although the strongest of the ghosts I have absorbed is only second-tier, it has indeed strengthened my soul a bit. This is something that human cultivators of the same realm cannot do."

As he digested the soul liquid, Jiang Chen silently felt his own soul growing stronger.

Since his divine soul entered the third stage, the secret techniques and treasures that could promote the growth of his divine soul have become fewer and fewer. The biggest improvement he made was when he devoured a bit of the remnant soul of the Bewitching Lady, but unfortunately it was still not enough, after all, the remnant soul of the Bewitching Lady had weakened too much.

"If these little devils are like this, I wonder what kind of surprises the fox demon can bring me."

With that thought, Jiang Chen summoned the Soul Suppressing Hall.

Since the Yin Earth returned, he has imprisoned the soul of the fox spirit in the Soul Suppression Hall, using this treasure of the soul to refine it every day, break through its soul defenses, and explore the memories in its mind.

Looking at the nearly annihilated soul of the fox spirit in the Soul Suppression Hall, Jiang Chen knew that the time was almost right. He had already obtained a lot of information from the fox spirit's memories during this period, and he had basically reached his limit. Delaying any longer would not yield any greater gains.

Although the fox spirit awakened some memories of its past life, it had forgotten much more, even its own identity. The only thing it remembered vividly was its cultivation and combat skills.

"Refining."

As the dark star manifested and the power of the divine soul surged, Jiang Chen communicated with the Soul Suppressing Hall and added the final spark.

In just a moment, accompanied by a mournful howl, the fox demon's soul vanished instantly, leaving only pure soul liquid and two strands of true intent. Upon seeing this, Jiang Chen was the first to touch those two strands of true intent.

"The Moon Worship Technique, a third-tier inheritance; the Moon Fox Elixir Book, a third-tier inheritance..."

With their divine thoughts intertwined, Jiang Chen discerned the true meaning in these two clusters.

This Moon Worship Technique was the main cultivation method of the fox spirit in its previous life. It mainly involves worshipping the moon and absorbing the power of the moon's essence to cultivate. It is skilled in illusion techniques and also has a certain nourishing effect on the soul. However, its inheritance is not complete and it does not have a complete path to the Purple Mansion. At most, it can support cultivators to enter the middle stage of the Purple Mansion, and there is no further path after that.

There is only one corresponding divine power inheritance, which is the illusionary divine power of the Lone Moon Twin Shadows. Of course, in addition to this precious divine power, there is also a strange secret method in the Moon Worshiping Technique, which can gather the power of moonlight and condense spiritual fire by worshipping the moon.

It was through this method that the fox spirit cultivated the third-tier spiritual fire, the Cold Moon Fox Fire. It possesses the wonder of moonlight and is unlike ordinary spiritual fires, which are scorching and intense. It can not only help calm the mind but also help refine medicinal properties, which is of great benefit to alchemy.

As for the Moon Fox's Alchemy Manual, it is a summary of the fox spirit's alchemy skills, containing both the legacy of predecessors and his own insights.

“Cultivating the Cold Moon Foxfire is not simple. It requires not only a suitable fire source but also a continuous supply of resources. The fact that the Fox Ghost was able to cultivate this fire suggests that it had some background. Ordinary rogue cultivators would most likely not be able to achieve this.”

Having discerned the true nature of the two clusters of true intent, Jiang Chen had some guesses about the origin of the fox demon. He planned to investigate it later using the information network of the Wuchang Sect. The Purple Mansion was already quite remarkable in the cultivation world, and it would leave some traces more or less.

"I will devour these two orbs of true meaning. The Moon Worship Technique can become the resources for my cultivation of the Primordial Qi True Understanding, and the Moon Fox Elixir Book can help me touch the Dao of Elixir."

As the thought crossed his mind, Jiang Chen decided to absorb both of these orbs of true meaning.

"In fact, compared to these two clusters of true meaning, I am more curious about how much help the fox ghost's soul can bring me. Although the fox ghost is no longer the Purple Mansion Demon King it once was, its soul still retains some of the Purple Mansion essence. After transforming into a ghost, its quantity has increased considerably."

Instead of absorbing the true meaning immediately, Jiang Chen turned his gaze to the soul liquid left behind by the fox ghost, which only emitted a shimmering, jade-like radiance.

"swallow!"

The secret technique activated, and without further hesitation, Jiang Chen swallowed the fox demon's soul.

At that moment, he felt a warm glow, a comforting sensation rising from the depths of his heart, making him feel incredibly at ease.

And so, time flowed by silently.

"The fox ghost is truly a great medicine. Compared to before, my soul power has increased by at least 10%. If I can devour a few more Purple Mansion Souls, I will soon have accumulated enough for the third-tier soul path."

As if waking from a dream, sensing the changes in his own soul, Jiang Chen couldn't help but let out a sigh.

Compared to slowly honing one's skills, Soul Devouring is indeed much more convenient. However, in the next instant, Jiang Chen dismissed this idea. Soul Devouring is good, but it needs to be restrained.

(End of this chapter)