Chapter 26: Mysterious Small Bell, Heaven‑Defying Soul Forging

1,300 li east of Phantom Moon City.

In a dense forest, over a hundred black-clad people knelt on one knee, bowing their heads in the same direction.

Before them, a middle-aged man in a blue robe lounged lazily, reclining sideways on a floating palanquin.

One hand holding a scroll, the other propping his chin, he exuded utter leisure and ease.

Yet the black-clad crowd remained silent, none daring to rise without the blue-robed man's assent.

Hahaha!

As if he had seen something amusing, a low chuckle echoed through the woods.

The kneeling black-clad people lowered their heads even further.

The blue-robed man on the palanquin glanced a while longer, perhaps seeing something uninteresting, and with a lack of decorum smacked his lips, closed it, then turned his gaze to the many black-clad people.

His gaze seemed to carry a strange pressure; everyone he looked at lowered their heads even more.

After a while like that, a deep, slightly magnetic voice sounded:

"Have you heard that Hei Tian died?"

"Among the kneeling black-clad, someone immediately replied:"

"Reporting, Sir, Hei Tian's death is confirmed—no corpse remains, and even soul seizure has failed."

The blue-robed middle-aged man snorted angrily, his tone unfriendly as he asked:

"Dead! Did those ten thousand spirit stones go with him? Hmph, he got what he deserved—going out to rob and ending up robbed himself."

He paused, glanced at the black-clad who had just spoken, his eyes hinting at danger, yet he inadvertently said:

"Our palace's scripture hasn't been leaked, right?"

"Reporting, Sir, no—I swear on my own path that there is absolutely none!"

The black-clad who replied found his back drenched in cold sweat from fright in that instant.

He knew he had just circled the Gates of Hell; a moment's hesitation would have sent him to the Yellow Springs.

For the palace's higher-ups, losing the scripture is a capital offense, and their direct superiors share the guilt.

Those ten thousand spirit stones, though many, aren't worth his life, whereas the palace's scripture is an entirely different matter.

The blue-robed man nodded, then issued orders:

"All members of the Soul Refining Palace, heed: the Heavenly Road Plan concerns the future rise and fall of our Soul Refining Palace."

"Everyone must fulfill their duties; whoever delays and messes up palace affairs will be thrown by me into the Soul Refining Vessel to be condensed into a Soul Pill."

"Will obey the palace's decree."

Over a hundred black-clad shouted in unison, yet oddly the forest was utterly silent.

North of Phantom Moon City, in the Chaotic Cloud Mountains, is where Wang Ping hides.

After placing the ten thousand spirit stones into his storage bag, Wang Ping first picked up five medicine bottles.

The five bottles were identical, clearly holding the same kind of pill.

Pulling the stopper, a rich medicinal aroma wafted out.

Wang Ping inhaled lightly; the fragrance entered through his nose, spread through his body, and stimulated the spirit energy in his dantian, making it somewhat active.

Realizing this was likely a cultivation‑boosting pill, Wang Ping quickly replaced the stopper.

His heart stirred slightly; such pills are rarely found in the world, and even the Treasure Gathering Pavilion had none for sale.

Who would have thought to obtain it from Hei Tian's storage bag?

Being something a Late Qi Refining cultivator like Hei Tian would hoard, it's probably extraordinary; Wang Ping guessed it could greatly aid a Late Qi Refining breakthrough.

Pleased, he stowed it away, then turned his attention to the five magical artifacts.

He had no time to study them now, merely picking out the black small bell; the other four he stored in his bag.

Palm‑sized, the small bell was delicate and exquisite, its wholly dark body occasionally flashing with light.

Wang Ping chose it because he sensed the bell was somewhat extraordinary.

Touching it, a chill surged—not the cold of metal, but a yin‑like frigidity.

Ding ding dang dang—!

The bell suddenly shaken by Wang Ping gave a feeling that made one drowsily inclined to sleep.

After a brief thought, Wang Ping's figure vanished; a quarter‑hour later, a fox and a lark appeared in his hand.

Upon reaching the cave abode, he released them; the lark took off at once, while the fox lay motionless on the ground.

Wang Ping didn't mind; he took the bell, infused a thread of spirit energy, and flicked his wrist.

The dark bell emitted a ding‑ding‑dang‑dang sound that instantly reverberated through the stone cavern.

Hearing the bell, Wang Ping's spirit jolted; the lark and fox seemed stunned, utterly still.

Wang Ping shook the bell again, and a wondrous sight appeared: semi‑transparent halves of the lark and fox emerged from their bodies.

These were the animals' souls; the bell could actually draw out the souls of living beings—truly astonishing.

Such a treasure being merely a magical artifact made Wang Ping doubtful, yet no matter how he examined it, the bell remained a mid‑grade artifact.

He carefully placed the bell into his storage bag, intuiting that it was not ordinary.

He could only study it later; next, he picked up a jade slip, which normally contains either a cultivation method or a spell.

Wang Ping was very interested in the technique the black‑clad had used.

That light shield was astonishingly strong; Wang Ping guessed that without the Heaven‑Overturning Seal, even three sword lights he could produce and combine might not break it.

How could he not covet such a technique? The shield's color showed it was fire‑aligned, and he possessed a fire spiritual root, enabling him to cultivate fire arts.

Originally he had a fire spiritual root, but after being cursed with the Reverse Fire Curse, he reversely grew a wood spiritual root.

Full of anticipation, he pressed the jade slip to his forehead and closed his eyes to peruse it.

After a quarter‑hour, Wang Ping lowered the jade slip, his face shocked.

Inside was not the fire-element cultivation technique he had been longing for, but it was stronger than that fire-element cultivation technique by an unknown multiple.

After calming down for a moment, he again placed the jade slip on his forehead; this time a full three hours passed before Wang Ping set the jade slip down.

At the same time, his eyes were tightly shut, and he remained completely still.

Thus another hour passed, and the stones on the floor of the stone cave seemed to be invisibly manipulated by an unseen giant hand, slowly drifting upward.

Next, aside from Wang Ping, everything in the stone cave floated up, and that fox was inexplicably lifted into the air,

A pair of beautiful fox eyes filled with terror, its four short legs flailing wildly in the air, its whole body brimming with unease.

This phenomenon persisted for a full quarter hour before all the floating objects in the stone cave finally settled back to the ground.

Just then, Wang Ping opened his eyes; his eyes were originally clear and bright, but now they shone as fiercely as two small suns.

Silently feeling his own changes, Wang Ping sincerely exclaimed,

"Refining Soul Heart Sutra, indeed formidable."

He picked up that jade slip again, held it before his eyes for close inspection; originally he only wanted to obtain a fire-element cultivation technique, but who would have thought he would obtain a heaven-defying technique from it: the Refining Soul Heart Sutra.

According to the description in the jade slip, the Refining Soul Heart Sutra consists of nine layers.

Each layer requires one soul-refining; upon successful soul-refining, the essence of the soul undergoes a transformation.

Here, the soul refers to the three hun and seven po.

Cultivators refine the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, establish foundation, form golden core, condense nascent soul, all to refine their own three hun and seven po.

Once the nascent soul is formed, the three hun and seven po become the nascent soul, and the nascent soul is the three hun and seven po.

Every breakthrough in a cultivator's realm is a baptism of the three hun and seven po.

During the Foundation Establishment stage, spiritual power transforms into divine sense, and the mind opens up a sea of consciousness to provide a future dwelling for the nascent soul.

In the Golden Core stage, essence, energy, and spirit unite perfectly, condensing into an elixir.

This prepares for later breaking the golden core to form the nascent soul.

The golden core is not merely solidified spiritual power; it is a product of the three treasures united as one.

In a cultivator's lifetime, if they fortunately manage to cultivate to the nascent soul, undergoing three realm-advancement baptisms, the three hun and seven po will then undergo an essential change.

However, the Refining Soul Heart Sutra allows one to possess the possibility of multiple transformations before reaching the nascent soul.

According to the description in the Refining Soul Heart Sutra, before the Nascent Soul stage, only one transformation can be performed.

If a second transformation is forced, the three hun and seven po will directly shatter and the soul will perish.

As for why?

Wang Ping could also guess that without that strength, he would likely be unable to withstand the backlash of soul transformation.

When Wang Ping first finished browsing the jade slip, he simply could not believe that such a heaven-defying technique existed in the world; after he studied it a second time, only astonishment remained.

Therefore, after finishing his second reading of the Refining Soul Heart Sutra, he attempted to cultivate it.

The effect was obvious; in one hour he completed his first cultivation, though he could not yet feel how his soul had changed, his spiritual power increased by one-tenth.

Merely a one-tenth increase, yet the effect was quite noticeable.

According to the description inside the jade slip, each layer of the Refining Soul Heart Sutra has a different cultivation technique.

This jade slip contains only the first layer of the Refining Soul Heart Sutra.

According to the regulations of the Refining Soul Hall, one must not privately divulge the Refining Soul Heart Sutra; every person who cultivates it has a restriction placed within their body, and if anyone dares to perform a soul search, the restriction is triggered, causing the soul to shatter and perish directly.

Wang Ping murmured, "I don't know how Black Heaven managed to engrave it onto the jade slip."

Immediately he thought of the Refining Soul Hall that possesses the Refining Soul Heart Sutra, wondering how formidable their strength must be.

According to the Heart Sutra's record, after undergoing the first transformation, the probability of later forming a nascent soul increases by fifty percent.

Such a probability drives people mad.

With this technique in hand, the Refining Soul Hall would surely have countless nascent soul experts.

What Wang Ping does not know is that, in the Refining Soul Hall, everyone uses this technique to enhance spiritual power in preparation for future foundation establishment.

As for transformation, heh! With a ninety percent mortality rate, only a madman would recklessly undergo it.

However, if the transformation succeeds, within the Refining Soul Hall one will be granted the position of Hall Master, with authority equal to that of an elder.

All these things Wang Ping does not know; he has merely superficially cultivated the first layer of the Refining Soul Heart Sutra.

He is still far from achieving a true transformation.

At the very least, he must first cultivate his spiritual power to the limit of the Qi Refining stage before anything else.

This surprise is too great, leaving Wang Ping unable to calm down for a long time.

After a full three days had passed, Wang Ping's heart finally became tranquil and unwavering.

Next he took out the translation of the Diamond Body; this is a translation obtained from the Spirit Realm, and since obtaining it he has not yet properly studied it.