Chapter 404: Soul Path Cultivation Method, Departing to Celebrate

"Congratulations, Master, on the great success of your divine art! You have broken through to the peak of the Jin Dan realm! The condensation of a Nascent Soul is just around the corner!"

"You will surely enjoy boundless longevity and dominate the Immortal Realm!"

The Shi Tian Shu rushed over excitedly, cupping its hands in salute and offering repeated congratulations.

Yet amidst its words, its gaze kept darting toward the wine jar; even the Profound Water Crocodile and the Yin Yi Shuangfeng had rushed over, displaying fawning expressions as they rubbed vigorously against Qin Ming.

With his cultivation breaking through, Qin Ming was in high spirits.

"Today my mood is excellent, so a celebration is in order; rest assured, none of you will go without."

He then directly brought out a jar of Demonic Flame Wine and tossed it to the three beasts: the Shi Tian Shu, the Profound Water Crocodile, and the Yin Yi Shuangfeng.

The Shi Tian Shu hugged the wine jar, happily found a scenic spot within the Small Xiao Lingjing, and began tasting the wine alongside the other two beasts.

It took out three sea bowls, first pouring spirit wine for the Profound Water Crocodile and the Yin Yi Shuangfeng, then filling a full bowl for itself.

In an instant.

Pitch-black demonic flames erupted from the wine bowls, emitting a soul-seizing luster.

The Shi Tian Shu raised its wine bowl, licked its lips, and said to the Profound Water Crocodile and the Yin Yi Shuangfeng with great heroism: "In this moment and scene, this Great Master doesn't know what to say."

"In short, Master has grown stronger again, his thigh is getting thicker, and our truly good days are not far off."

"Come! Second Brother, Third Brother, bottoms up!"

"Drink the fiercest wine! Cultivate the most fierce immortality!"

The Shi Tian Shu then imitated Qin Ming, draining the Demonic Flame Wine in one gulp.

Boom! A biting, knife-like scorching sensation surged up its throat straight to the crown of its head; the sensation was simply unparalleled.

In an instant, the Shi Tian Shu nearly choked on the burning sensation of the Demonic Flame Wine and almost spat it out.

But it could not bear to spit it out; it clamped its mouth shut tightly with both hands and forced it down with a 'glug'.

"Cough! Cough! This wine is truly damn potent!"

The Profound Water Crocodile and the Yin Yi Shuangfeng exchanged a glance, then began savoring it carefully.

Qin Ming observed from the side; after they drank the spirit wine, their demonic energy auras increased significantly, yet they did not break through again.

He estimated that they had previously swallowed the Bilo Huang Quan Pills, which were refined using the Jin Dan of a Demonic Sect Holy Son, causing the medicinal effects to overlap with those of the spirit wine.

Therefore, for these three demonic beasts, this Demonic Flame Wine could only satisfy some cravings of the mouth and stomach.

Qin Ming paid them no further mind, letting them be.

Afterwards, he returned to his cave dwelling to continue sitting in meditation and cultivating, consolidating his cultivation realm.

After his magic power cultivation broke through to the peak of the Jin Dan realm, the Longevity Magic Power within Qin Ming's body increased by a full two times.

His flawless Jin Dan had even grown larger by a circle.

He now possessed surging magic power comparable to that of an early-stage Nascent Soul realm cultivator; the only thing lacking was the divine abilities of a Qin Zhenjun to mobilize the elemental energy of heaven and earth.

Consequently, his divine sense grew stronger once more; the distance it could cover had reached a range of three hundred li, lacking only a sliver to match that of a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.

"With such terrifying intensity of divine sense, I can use it to attack people directly; ordinary Jin Dan cultivators cannot withstand my divine sense attacks."

"It seems I must seek a secret technique for divine sense attacks; then, I will be able to catch people off guard."

"Now that my soul power has surged greatly, even ordinary Qin Zhenjun will suffer a heavy loss."

Suddenly, Qin Ming thought of something, and a rusted iron shard appeared in his hand.

This object was precisely the inheritance item recording the 'Yuan Sha Zhong Mo Zhen Jing'.

This iron shard, merely by its ability to cause spirit plants to become demonic and give birth to spiritual intelligence, was sufficient to demonstrate its terrifying nature.

Back then, it nearly destroyed the entire Immortal Realm of the Lingxi Archipelago; one must know that the Ghost Jujube Tree he had planted, at the cost of countless Jin Dan demonic creature corpses, even though it had now advanced to a third-grade top-tier spirit plant, still had not given birth to spiritual intelligence.

Yet that demonic plant back then could parasitize inside other living beings and move about at will.

Qin Ming invaded the iron shard with his divine sense to examine it.

Moments later, within the 'Yuan Sha Zhong Mo Zhen Jing', his gaze fell upon a cultivation method named the 'Ming Hun Jue'.

The 'True Demon Illusion' he had always used was a disguise secret technique recorded within this art.

The 'Ming Hun Jue' was a soul cultivation method of the Demonic Path, however, the preliminary cultivation process of this art was extremely bloody.

To increase and grow soul power, one needed to capture large numbers of cultivators and use specific soul-supplementing magical tools to collect living souls.

Then, using a soul-feeding secret method to devour them, thereby strengthening the cultivator's soul power.

Of course, cultivating this demonic art also placed high demands on the cultivator's own soul; otherwise, during the soul-feeding process, mixed with countless resentful thoughts, one would be unable to withstand the power of so many living souls.

Light consequences would be mental confusion, becoming addicted to killing, and falling into the abyss.

Severe consequences would be qi deviation and exploding to death.

Only after the soul had grown strong enough to meet certain conditions could one cultivate the divine abilities and secret techniques within this 'Ming Hun Jue'.

"My current soul is comparable to the Nascent Soul realm, and I have even reached the stage where divine sense condenses into form."

"I can directly skip the preceding soul-devouring steps."

"The illusion techniques, divine sense attack secret methods, and soul transformation secret methods recorded in the 'Ming Hun Jue' are perfectly suited for my current cultivation."

Immediately, Qin Ming formed a hand seal with his fingers and began cultivating this 'Ming Hun Jue'.

Furthermore.

With Qin Ming's breakthrough to the peak of the Jin Dan realm this time, his lifespan also increased by one hundred and twenty years, reaching two thousand seven hundred and fifty years.

An old tree sprouts new buds; the years flow long and leisurely.

In the blink of an eye, more than half a month quietly passed.

Inside the cave dwelling, after half a month of cultivation, Qin Ming had already mastered several divine abilities and secret techniques within the 'Ming Hun Jue'.

He opened his eyes, black as ink, emitting a deep and gloomy dark light that seemed as if it would swallow a person's soul.

Having completed the cultivation of the art, Qin Ming intended to test just how effective these soul path secret techniques and divine abilities truly were.

Immediately, he searched throughout the Small Xiao Lingjing, his gaze finally landing on the Shi Tian Shu.

Ever since the three Shi Tian Shu beasts finished drinking that jar of Demonic Flame Wine, they had been thoroughly drunk for over half a month, unconscious to all worldly affairs.

At this moment, it was lying prone atop a huge boulder by the lake in the Small Xiao Lingjing, sticking its butt up and snoring loudly.

Qin Ming's lips curled into a faint smile as he unleashed the illusionary secret technique from the Nether Soul Art.

In an instant, his vast divine sense surged forth like a tidal wave; the Shi Tian Shu was still in deep slumber, drool trailing from its mouth, yet it seemed to sense something and slowly began to wake.

In its dazed state, it seemed to hear a familiar voice calling out, "Brother Rat, you're finally awake?"

"Come over and play."

The Shi Tian Shu gradually opened its eyes, and a patch of snow-white fur entered its line of sight.

There, not far away, lay a good-looking little silver fox, gently swaying its body and its three fluffy, slender fox tails; the Shi Tian Shu instantly sobered up from its drunken stupor, its spirit revitalized! It scrambled up with a start, first pinching itself to confirm it wasn't dreaming.

Then, a grin spread across its face as it walked cheerfully toward the little silver fox, saying somewhat sheepishly, "Hehehe, Little Silver Fox, how come you're here? You didn't even tell me beforehand..."

But the little silver fox looked at it with a pitiful, vulnerable expression and said, "This humble female accidentally got injured; could Brother Rat help me up?" "Ah, this..." Upon hearing this, the Shi Tian Shu's tiger-like body trembled violently; gazing at the silver fox's soft curves and graceful figure, its heart surged with excitement.

"How did you get injured? Tell me all about it—which blind fool dared to hurt you?"

"To lay such heavy hands on a weak woman is truly detestable!"

"Little Silver Fox, do not panic; this great lord possesses an ancestral secret technique for massage and bone-setting; let me rub it for you, and you'll be fine."

Having said this, the Shi Tian Shu reached out and helped the little silver fox up from the ground.

Immediately, a soul-stirring fragrant scent rushed into its nose.

Feeling the delicate, soft touch in its embrace, it felt as though it had reached the absolute peak of rat life!

But just at that moment.

Suddenly, the scene before the Shi Tian Shu's eyes shifted abruptly; the delicate little silver fox in its arms instantly transformed into a venomous flood dragon covered in dark green-black scales!

The Green-Faced Venomous Flood Dragon's face was smeared with black blood, resembling a fierce ghost crawled up from hell; it opened its massive jaws and viciously bit toward the Shi Tian Shu!

"%@【】+#/*?!"

Terrified, the Shi Tian Shu shuddered all over and hastily flung the Green-Faced Venomous Flood Dragon from its hands, sending it flying thousands of zhang away.

"What evil spirit is this?!"

"Damn it, you actually dared to ambush this great lord!"

The Shi Tian Shu spat out a mouthful of qi, summoned a black steel trident, and radiated the powerful aura of a peak third-stage Demon King, intending to tear the venomous flood dragon into ten thousand pieces.

What angered it most was that this ghostly entity had transformed into a little silver fox to deceive it, and had even exploited its soft spot.

The Shi Tian Shu was furious to the point of exploding; it launched a full-power attack right from the start, causing ripples to spread through the nearby space.

The black steel trident in its hand easily pierced through the Green-Faced Venomous Flood Dragon, yet the latter's body seemed insubstantial, dissolving into a wisp of black smoke.

The next instant.

The scene before the Shi Tian Shu's eyes shifted once more; this time, the grass beneath its feet suddenly split open, and the entire Small Xiao Lingjing collapsed and disintegrated.

Black clouds churned, and demonic qi soared to the heavens.

Beneath its feet lay an endless crimson abyss, and its body, as if beyond its control, plummeted downward uncontrollably.

The Shi Tian Shu turned pale with terror; just as it was about to unleash its divine abilities, it discovered that all its demonic power was locked, unable to be used in the slightest.

Even more astonishing was what came next: from within the bloody crimson demonic abyss, countless demonic creatures suddenly crawled out, grabbing hold of it entirely and dragging it down forcefully, as if trying to push it into the abyss.

Terror filled the Shi Tian Shu's face, and it instinctively screamed in panic, "Master, save me! I'm going to die!"

Qin Ming: "..."

Seeing this, he immediately withdrew his illusionary divine ability.

In an instant, the terrifying scenes in the Shi Tian Shu's eyes faded away, restoring the Small Xiao Lingjing to its pleasant vista of lush fragrant grass and shimmering lake waters.

The Shi Tian Shu was still lying on the grass, flailing about as if reluctant for the experience to end.

Seeing the illusions recede like a tide, its heart suddenly realized with a jolt!

Such a terrifying illusion!

Qin Ming's figure appeared beside it, and he couldn't help but laugh, "Alright, stop flailing; you are a dignified peak third-stage Great Demon King; what kind of spectacle is this?"

"So it was Master's illusionary divine ability; it was truly too frightening; I almost believed it was real, eh hehe!" The Shi Tian Shu climbed up from the ground and wiped the cold sweat from its forehead.

Having made a fool of itself before Qin Ming, it wore an extremely awkward expression.

After this test, Qin Ming was extremely satisfied with the illusionary techniques of the Nether Soul Art.

With his divine soul comparable to that of a Nascent Soul cultivator, the illusions he cast were such that even a peak third-stage Great Demon could not resist them; truly incomparably sharp.

However, this time the Shi Tian Shu was completely unprepared; had it been alert beforehand, it wouldn't have looked so undignified.

In short, the Shi Tian Shu had been living too comfortably lately, enjoying all sorts of delicious food and drink, causing its vigilance to slacken considerably.

Of course, it also had something to do with the strong aftereffects of the Demonic Flame Wine... After this incident, the Shi Tian Shu became thoroughly sober.

Qin Ming, however, wore a strange expression and said to it, "I heard you possess an ancestral technique for massage and rubbing; how is it I never knew about this?"

"Ah? Hehe, I was too drunk, the wine hadn't worn off yet; I truly embarrassed myself before Master." The Shi Tian Shu scratched its head sheepishly.

It then understood Qin Ming's implication and, being sensible, hopped onto his shoulder and began to massage and knead with cautious steps.

"Master, how is this pressure?"

"Mm, barely acceptable."

"Seeing how hard you're working, I'll take you to another banquet in a couple of days."

"Ah? That's wonderful! Where are we going?"

"To Su Yuqing's place in Zhongzhou."

"I was just worrying about what gift to give him then; this Demonic Flame Wine comes in perfectly handy."

Several days later.

Qin Ming transformed into a green rainbow and arrived at the Wuxing Mountain Market.

The Su family was hosting a celebration for the Four-Stage Su Danwang, and the Mirror Snow Pavilion was among those invited.

Old Jia led the crowd below with a face full of spring breeze; today he had changed into a blue robe with golden threads and a large red brocade pattern, looking exceptionally spirited.

He was currently in the pavilion organizing his subordinates and matters regarding the gifts.

Qin Ming had also let him go all out with this, after all, he himself still needed to send a private gift.

Old Jia was an elder of the Mirror Snow Pavilion; when he was initially dispatched by headquarters to Great Jin, he too had wished to make a grand display of his abilities.

But alas, reality dealt him a blow to the head; without background or roots in Great Jin, relying solely on themselves made it nearly impossible for them to develop.

Thus, after struggling for several decades, they remained huddled within the Lingxu Market in the southern region of Great Jin, conducting only petty and trivial businesses.

However, ever since 'Shopkeeper Lu' was sent down from above, things were different, bringing about earth-shaking changes.

Whether in terms of capability or vision, Shopkeeper Lu far surpassed their group of low-stage cultivators.

So much so that he could even establish a friendship with a Qin Zhenjun of the Nascent Soul stage.

In just a few short decades, he had managed the Mirror Snow Pavilion branch into a renowned commercial house within Great Jin.

Although still far from being a true top-tier power, this was already extremely difficult to achieve.

Now that the Mirror Snow Pavilion had begun migrating to the Litian Xiancheng in Zhongzhou, it would only develop better and better.

It might even surpass the headquarters in the Southern Wilderness. Some time ago, when Old Jia received the Su family's invitation letter at the shop, the scene directly made others green with envy; neighboring shops within the Wuxing Mountain Market all came to offer congratulations, many with the intention of currying favor.

This was because the Su family, as one of the four great Jin Dan families, was renowned throughout the Great Jin Immortal Realm for reaching the pinnacle of pill refinement arts.

If one could obtain a cooperative sales channel for their pills, even if only for low-stage pills, it would be something extraordinary.

Half a day later, Qin Ming led a majestic procession of several dozen people from the Mirror Snow Pavilion, carrying large and small bundles of bright red gifts, and stepped onto the formation array heading to the Litian Xiancheng in Zhongzhou.

(End of Chapter)