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"The Soul-Devouring Absolute Death Formation is an ancient and extremely vicious array. Any living being trapped within its domain will have the energy in their blood forcibly drained. The Spirit Hall actually arranged such a massive formation beneath itself. Once activated, all life within ten thousand miles could perish. What exactly is the Spirit Hall trying to accomplish?"
Yao Chen's soul grew colder and colder. Unconsciously, he seemed to have uncovered the Spirit Hall's greatest secret. The continent-wide hunt for soul bodies might only be a smokescreen—the Spirit Hall's influence extended throughout the entire continent.
If every Spirit Hall concealed such a Soul-Devouring Absolute Death Formation beneath it, once activated, Yao Chen could hardly imagine how many casualties would occur across the entire Dou Qi Continent.
"Elder Yao, no matter how much you think about it, it's useless. Compared to the entire Spirit Hall, your strength is still too insignificant—let alone the Soul Race behind the Spirit Hall."
Qian Renhan spoke frankly. He did not care much about how many living beings the Spirit Hall might sacrifice in a blood ritual across Central Continent. To these mortals, he felt no connection. In the Douluo world, when he ascended to the Pope, the two empires waged war, resulting in countless civilian casualties. He took the attitude of ignoring the Spirit Hall as long as they didn't bother him or look for trouble.
After the original Soul Emperor was sealed by Xiao Yan, he also said that the actions of the Ancient Clan and the Xiao Clan were essentially no different from those of the Soul Race. If consuming an imperial-grade embryo pill required a blood sacrifice of the entire Central Continent to become emperor, then Xiao Xuan and Gu Yuan would definitely do so—not for any other reason but because this is a cruel fantasy world, where life is the most worthless thing.
Qian Renhan asked, "Elder Yao, activating such a huge formation must consume an enormous amount of energy, right?"
Yao Chen nodded slightly, his tone less enthusiastic than before. "Naturally. Refining pills requires immense Dou Qi, and casting formations also demands a considerable expenditure of Dou Qi."
Following the opposite direction of the cold airflow, Qian Renhan arrived at the center of the altar—the source of the formation's power. Upon opening it, a massive, mountain-like chunk of pure, energy-radiating cold marrow appeared before his eyes.
The cold marrow emanated an extremely dense chilling energy wave. The entire Wraith Mountain Range's sky-covering coldness originated from this marrow, which diffused through underground fissures to permeate the entire mountain range.
In the natural world, there are fierce flames of extraordinary heat like the Hell Fire that can destroy all. Likewise, there are other rare and different treasures, and this chunk of cold marrow is such a unique heavenly treasure.
Qian Renhan sat cross-legged atop the cold marrow, activating the Ancient Emperor Technique and began absorbing the marrow's energy. After all, this was exactly what he had come to the Wraith Mountain Range for.
"This natural phenomenon is a Heavenly Grade technique. Could it be that Qian Renhan has already reached the Half-Saint realm?" Yao Chen was shocked. The technique was only a few years old, yet his cultivation advanced so rapidly. But considering Qian Renhan's capabilities, it still made sense.
As time passed, Qian Renhan's cultivation reached the late stage of a three-star Dou Saint, and the cold marrow had shrunk by one-third.
When the cold marrow had shrunk by half, Qian Renhan's cultivation peaked at the late stage of a three-star Dou Saint. If he consumed all the cold marrow, he would certainly advance to a four-star Dou Saint.
However, Qian Renhan gave up absorbing more. He left a margin—whenever encountering heavenly-grade materials or treasures, one must never sever their roots completely. If he absorbed all the cold marrow, the fog that had blanketed the Wraith Mountain Range for thousands of years would dissipate, and the climate would undergo drastic changes. On Blue Star, this would be tantamount to a mass extinction event.
Sustainable development—whether in the Douluo world or on the Dou Qi Continent—Qian Renhan always adhered to this principle.
Seeing this scene, Yao Chen, who had been anxious yet observant, greatly improved his opinion of Qian Renhan. While Qian Renhan's conduct resembled the Spirit Hall's in some ways, he still maintained limits.
"Let's go, Elder Yao. Wherever you wish to go, I will take you."
"Central Continent, Starfall Pavilion."
Qian Renhan extended his finger and said, "Enter my ring. Traveling this way will be much more convenient."
Hearing this, Yao Chen was slightly surprised. The storage ring could hold a cultivator's pills, gold coins, medicinal materials, and formulas. The first three were difficult to carry, but the last two could be freely browsed...
Only after the medicinal materials were placed into the storage ring did Yao Chen suddenly realize that Qian Renhan's ring was practically empty. Aside from a few gold coin cards, a pile of gold coins, and some of the most common pill formulas in Central Continent, there were no Dou Techniques at all.
With another wave of his hand, Qian Renhan used the vast space of the Ancient Clan Half-Saint's storage ring to also take the Soul-Devouring Absolute Death Formation with him—an asset that would definitely be useful sooner or later.
Then, tearing through space, Qian Renhan flew toward the Starfall Pavilion. During the journey, he asked about Huohuo's experiences. Nothing much had changed except that the Xiao family's ancient jade was exchanged two months after his departure. A sudden appearance of an Ancient Clan expert traded for it using a low-level Profound Tier technique manual. One had to admit, the Ancient Clan was indeed skilled at trade, earning Qian Renhan's genuine admiration.
The Xiao family didn't recognize the value, but could the Ancient Clan be any less discerning? The illustrious Tuoshe Ancient Emperor Jade was traded for nothing more than a low-level Profound Tier technique manual, not even a high-level Profound Dou Technique.
That low-level manual was probably the Ancient Clan's most worthless scrap—no one would want it even if thrown on the street—yet it was exchanged for the most precious treasure of the Dou Qi Continent, the Tuoshe Ancient Emperor Jade. Qian Renhan wondered if Xiao Xuan, who was imprisoned in the Tomb of Heaven, knew about this—would he wipe out every Ancient clan member inside?
During this time, Qian Renhan also asked why the efficacy of the pills he concocted through his unique method was always somewhat inferior to the original pills. Yao Chen, being a peak-grade eight refinement master, was naturally not comparable to those like Han Feng. Through careful observation, he found the reason.
Refining pills isn't just about combining ingredients and fire. It requires continuously adjusting the flame's temperature, repeatedly tempering the medicinal materials to extract the most refined and potent essence from them.
Though Qian Renhan's method could extract all the medicinal power from the entire plant, it couldn't eliminate the less effective elements within that power. So, even if Qian Renhan succeeded in refining the pills, their potency could never match those made by top-tier refinement masters.
Still, Yao Chen highly praised Qian Renhan's imagination and innovative spirit. To break conventional theory and create a new path in pill refining was impressive—after all, in ancient times, refinement masters also advanced their techniques gradually through trial and error, evolving into the current refining methods.
At Starfall Pavilion, Xiao Yan was recounting past events to Elder Feng.
Xiao Yan clenched his fists tightly, a faint murderous gleam flashing in his eyes. After a moment, he suppressed the turmoil within his heart, took a deep breath, and slowly said, "Elder Feng, I'm sure you already know about Teacher's past, right? He was indeed harmed by Han Feng, not because of any refining accident or backlash."
"Bang!"
Upon hearing this, Elder Feng's face instantly darkened, his expression turning icy. A murderous intent surged violently from his body, causing the temperature in the surroundings to drop significantly.
"That bastard Han Feng! Yao Chen raised him from a forsaken infant to adulthood, passing on all his skills—and yet he dared betray his master? A wretched beast, his conscience must've been eaten by dogs! I should have slapped him to death back then!" Elder Feng's face burned with rage as he shouted furiously.
"That old man Yao Chen warned Han Feng many times, saying that fellow had a corrupt heart and to be cautious of him. But Han Feng wouldn't listen and had to suffer such a huge loss before learning his lesson!"
At that moment, space rippled slightly. Qian Renhan easily passed through the protective formation around Starfall Pavilion and found Xiao Yan and Elder Feng. Stepping inside, he said, "Xiao Yan, long time no see."
(End of chapter)