Chapter 609: Soul Dao Technique, Off to Offer Congratulations

"Congratulations, Master! Your divine art has reached perfection, and you've broken through to the Golden Core peak! Nascent Soul formation is within reach!"

"You shall live ten thousand years without end, dominating the cultivation world!"

The Devouring Rat excitedly ran over, clasped its fists in salute, and bowed repeatedly in congratulations.

Yet its gaze kept flickering toward the wine jars; even the Blackwater Crocodile and the Silver-Winged Frost Bees came over, displaying submissive expressions and rubbing against Qin Ming insistently.

Qin Ming's cultivation breakthrough had put him in an excellent mood.

"Today I'm in a good mood—perfect for celebration. Don't worry, you won't be left out."

He then pulled out a jar of Demon Flame Wine and tossed it straight to the three beasts.

The Devouring Rat clutched the wine jar, happily found a scenic spot within the Little Spirit Realm, and began drinking with the other two beasts.

It took out three sea bowls, poured spirit wine into each for the Blackwater Crocodile and the Silver-Winged Frost Bees, then filled its own bowl to the brim.

In an instant.

Jet-black demon flames rose from the wine bowls, radiating a soul-shaking luster.

The Devouring Rat raised its bowl, licked its lips, and declared with grandeur to the Blackwater Crocodile and the Silver-Winged Frost Bees: "At this moment, I don't even know what to say."

"All I know is our Master has grown stronger again—his thigh is getting thicker, and our true days of glory can't be far off."

"Come on! Brother Two, Brother Three—down the drink!"

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

The Devouring Rat immediately imitated Qin Ming and swallowed the entire bowl of Demon Flame Wine in one gulp.

Boom! A piercing, blade-like heat surged straight from its throat to the crown of its head—the sensation was simply unparalleled.

In that instant, the Devouring Rat nearly choked on the searing heat of the wine.

But it refused to spit it out, clamping both hands over its mouth and forcibly swallowing with a loud "Gulch!"

"Cough! Cough! This wine is damn intense!"

The Blackwater Crocodile and the Silver-Winged Frost Bees exchanged glances, then sipped slowly, savoring the wine.

Qin Ming watched from the side; after they drank the spirit wine, their demonic energy surged noticeably, yet no further breakthrough occurred.

Probably because they'd previously consumed the Bi Luo Huang Quan Pill, forged from the Golden Core of a Demon Sect's Holy Son—its effects overlapped with the wine.

Thus, for these three beasts, the Demon Flame Wine was merely satisfying their appetites.

Qin Ming paid them no further attention and let them be.

He then returned to his cave to resume meditation, consolidating his newly attained realm.

After his magic power broke through to the Golden Core peak, his Longevity Magic Power doubled entirely.

The Immaculate Golden Core swelled by another full circle.

He now possessed magic power comparable to a Nascent Soul beginner—only lacking the ability to command heavenly elemental energy like a Nascent Soul True Person.

His spiritual sense also strengthened further, now covering a range of three hundred li—just a hair's breadth from matching a Nascent Soul mid-stage cultivator.

"With such a terrifying spiritual sense, I could directly attack others. Ordinary Golden Core cultivators wouldn't survive my spiritual assault."

"I should find a secret technique for spiritual sense attacks—then no one could guard against it."

"My soul power has surged so greatly that even ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators would suffer greatly."

Suddenly, Qin Ming recalled something and pulled out a rusted iron fragment from his storage ring.

This was the artifact carrying the inheritance of the "True Scripture of Yuan Sha's Demon Seeding."

Merely its ability to corrupt spiritual plants and awaken their sentience was enough to prove its terrifying nature.

Once, it nearly destroyed the entire spiritual energy Archipelago's cultivation world. After all, despite using countless Golden Core demon beast corpses to cultivate the Ghost Jujube Tree, it still hadn't awakened sentience—even after advancing to a third-rank supreme spiritual plant.

Yet that original demonic plant could parasitize other living beings and move freely.

Qin Ming plunged his spiritual sense into the iron fragment to examine it.

Moments later, his gaze settled on a technique within the "True Scripture of Yuan Sha's Demon Seeding" called the "Ming Hun Jue."

The "True Demon Illusion" he had long used was one of the disguise techniques recorded in this scripture.

The "Ming Hun Jue" was a demonic soul-cultivation art, but its preliminary cultivation process was exceedingly bloody.

To enhance soul power, one must capture numerous cultivators and use special soul-collecting artifacts to harvest living souls.

Then, through the "Feeding Soul" method, one devours them to strengthen one's own soul force.

Of course, this demonic art required the cultivator to possess an exceptionally strong soul—otherwise, during the feeding process, the countless resentful spirits would overwhelm them.

Minor consequences: mental collapse, bloodlust, descent into darkness.

Severe consequences: qi deviation, explosive death.

Only after the soul grows strong enough can one begin practicing the techniques and secrets within the "Ming Hun Jue."

"My soul is now comparable to a Nascent Soul realm—even reaching the state of spiritual sense solidification."

"I can skip the initial soul-devouring steps entirely."

"The illusions, spiritual sense attack techniques, and soul-forming methods recorded in the 'Ming Hun Jue' are perfect for my current cultivation."

Immediately, Qin Ming formed a hand seal and began practicing the "Ming Hun Jue."

Furthermore,

With his breakthrough to the Golden Core peak, Qin Ming's lifespan increased by one hundred and twenty years, reaching two thousand seven hundred and fifty years.

…

An old tree sprouts new buds; time flows endlessly.

In the blink of an eye, over half a month passed.

In his cave, Qin Ming, after half a month of cultivation, had perfected several secret techniques from the "Ming Hun Jing."

He opened his ink-black eyes, emitting deep, dark radiance as if ready to devour the soul of any who met his gaze.

With his technique perfected, Qin Ming decided to test the soul-art's power.

He searched the Little Spirit Realm and fixed his gaze on the Devouring Rat.

The three beasts, having finished the jar of Demon Flame Wine, had been drunk for over half a month, unconscious and unresponsive.

Now, it lay sprawled on a massive boulder by the lake, its rear end raised as it snored loudly.

Qin Ming's lips curled into a faint smile as he activated the illusion technique from the "Ming Hun Jue."

Instantly, a vast spiritual sense surged like a tide toward the Devouring Rat, which was still asleep, drool dripping from its mouth—yet it seemed to sense something, slowly stirring awake.

Half-asleep, it felt a familiar voice calling: "Brother Rat, you're finally awake?"

"Come play."

The Devouring Rat slowly opened its eyes, and a flash of white entered its vision.

There, not far away, lay a beautiful little silver fox, gently shifting its body, three long, fluffy tails swaying. The Devouring Rat snapped out of its drunken haze, instantly alert! It jolted upright, pinched its own flesh to confirm it wasn't dreaming.

Then, grinning, it shuffled over to the silver fox, sheepishly saying: "Hehe, little silver fox, how'd you get here? You didn't even warn me."

The silver fox looked pitifully at it: "I accidentally got hurt, Brother Rat—could you help me up?"

"Ah, this…" The Devouring Rat trembled, staring at the silver fox's delicate curves and graceful form, his heart racing.

"How did you get hurt? Tell me clearly—who dared lay a hand on you?"

"To strike a defenseless woman so brutally—how despicable!"

"Little silver fox, don't worry—this old rat has a family-secret massage and bone-setting technique. Let me rub you and you'll be fine."

The Devouring Rat reached out and lifted the silver fox from the ground.

Instantly, a soul-melting fragrance filled its nostrils.

Feeling the soft, tender body in its arms, it felt it had reached the pinnacle of rat existence!

Suddenly, the Sky-Devouring Rat's surroundings shifted, and the delicate little silver fox in its arms turned into a venomous dragon covered in green-black scales!

Suddenly, the scene before the Devouring Rat twisted violently—the tender silver fox in its arms transformed into a venomous jade dragon covered in black-green scales!

The green-faced venomous dragon's face was drenched in black blood, like a demon risen from hell, opening its massive jaws to bite the Devouring Rat with murderous intent!

The Sky-Devouring Rat trembled in terror and hurled the green-faced venomous dragon thousands of zhang away without delay.

The Devouring Rat shuddered in terror and flung the green-faced dragon away thousands of zhang.

"What demonic entity is this?!"

"Damn it! How dare you trick this great elder!"

The Devouring Rat spat out a black steel fork, unleashing the overwhelming aura of a third-rank peak demon king, ready to shred the venomous dragon to pieces.

What enraged it most was that this ghost had disguised itself as the silver fox, exploiting its weakness.

The Devouring Rat was furious, launching a full-power assault that sent ripples through the surrounding space.

Its black steel fork pierced the green-faced dragon effortlessly—but the creature's body dissolved like smoke, vanishing without resistance.

The Sky-Devouring Rat's vision shifted again; this time, the grass beneath its feet split open, and the entire small spiritual realm shattered apart.

The Devouring Rat's surroundings twisted again—this time, the grass beneath its feet split open, and the entire Little Spirit Realm shattered.

Black clouds churned, demonic energy surged like a tidal wave.

Beneath its feet yawned an endless crimson abyss, and its body helplessly plummeted downward.

The Devouring Rat panicked, trying to use its techniques—but its demonic energy was sealed, utterly unusable.

Worse still, from the crimson demonic abyss, countless demonic creatures crawled forth, grabbing it and dragging it downward, as if to shove it into the depths.

The Devouring Rat's face twisted in terror, instinctively screaming: "Master! Save me! I'm going to die!"

Qin Ming: "..."

He immediately withdrew the illusion technique.

Instantly, the terrifying scenes vanished from the Devouring Rat's vision, restoring the Little Spirit Realm's lush grass and tranquil lake.

The Devouring Rat still lay sprawled on the grass, thrashing about, dazed—then, as the illusion faded, it suddenly realized the truth.

What an terrifying illusion!

Qin Ming's figure appeared beside it, chuckling: "Enough, stop thrashing about. You're a third-rank peak Great Demon King—how unbecoming to look like this."

"So it was the master's illusion technique—truly terrifying. I nearly believed it was real, hehe!" The Devouring Rat climbed to its feet, wiping sweat from its brow.

It wore an extremely embarrassed expression after being humiliated before Qin Ming.

After this test, Qin Ming was extremely satisfied with the *Minghun Scripture*'s illusion technique.

With his illusion, powered by a Nascent Soul-level spiritual soul, even a third-rank peak Great Demon could not resist—it was truly devastating.

But this time, the Devouring Rat was completely unprepared; had it been alert beforehand, it wouldn't have looked so foolish.

In short, the Devouring Rat had been living too comfortably lately—plenty of good food and drink—until its vigilance had grown lax.

Of course, the lingering potency of the Demon Flame Wine also had something to do with it. After this incident, the Devouring Rat was thoroughly sobered up.

Qin Ming wore a peculiar expression as he said to it: "I heard you have a family-secret massage and acupressure technique—how is it I never knew about this?"

"Huh? Hehe, I drank too much, still not sober—really embarrassed the master." The Devouring Rat scratched its head sheepishly.

It immediately understood Qin Ming's meaning, leapt onto his shoulder, and began gently massaging and kneading.

"Master, how's the pressure?"

"Hmm, it's barely acceptable."

"Since you're working so hard, I'll take you out for a feast in a couple days."

"Huh? That's great! Where to?"

"To Su Yuqing's place in Zhongzhou."

"I was just worrying about what gift to bring him—this Demon Flame Wine is perfect."

…

Several days later.

Qin Ming transformed into a green streak and arrived at the Five Elements Mountain bazaar.

The Su family was hosting a celebration for the fourth-rank Pill King, and the Mirror Snow Pavilion had been invited.

Old Jia, beaming with pride, had donned a blue robe with golden thread and crimson brocade, radiating vigor.

He was bustling about the pavilion, organizing his subordinates and the gifts.

Qin Ming had told him to handle it freely, since he himself still had a personal gift to prepare.

Old Jia was a veteran of the Mirror Snow Pavilion; when the headquarters first assigned him to Da Jin, he had hoped to make a grand mark.

But reality had dealt him a crushing blow—without connections or backing in Da Jin, his group could never thrive.

Thus, after decades of struggle, they remained holed up in the Lingxu Bazaar of southern Da Jin, running only small, insignificant businesses.

But since the headquarters sent the "Lu Shopkeeper," everything changed—utterly transformed.

The Lu Shopkeeper's tactics and vision far surpassed those of these low-rank cultivators.

He had even managed to forge ties with a Nascent Soul True Person.

Within just a few decades, he had turned the Mirror Snow Pavilion's branch into one of Da Jin's most renowned trading houses.

Though still far from true top-tier power, this was already an extraordinary feat.

Now, the Mirror Snow Pavilion was beginning to relocate its operations to Litian Xiancheng in Zhongzhou, and would only grow stronger.

It might even surpass the headquarters in the Southern Wastes. Not long ago, when Old Jia received the Su family's invitation, the scene had left everyone envious—neighbors from every shop in the Five Elements Mountain Bazaar came to congratulate him, many clearly trying to curry favor.

For the Su family, one of the Four Golden Core Families, was famed throughout Da Jin's cultivation world for its peerless pill-making art.

To secure even a low-rank pill distribution channel with them would be tremendous.

Half a day later, Qin Ming, accompanied by dozens of Mirror Snow Pavilion members laden with red-wrapped gifts, stepped onto the teleportation array bound for Litian Xiancheng in Zhongzhou.

(End of Chapter)