Chapter 469: with translation of chapter title

Yunhe - Cloud Grain

Seeing the corpse once again lying motionless on the ground, like a small hill as before, the external incarnation couldn't help but sigh.

Although the Corpse Soul Insect has completed its metamorphosis, after all it is merely a Fourth Level insect; no matter how special it is, it is difficult to fully wield the power of a Fifth Level Abyssal Beast.

Fourth Level - Fourth Level (glossary)

Even with the baleful qi of countless beast souls within the Beast Soul Banner bolstering it, the Corpse Soul Insect can still mimic the aura of the Abyssal Beast's Black Soul Crystal, yet it ultimately falls just a little short.

Late Fourth Level - Late Fourth Level

Early Huashen Realm - Early Huashen Realm

After all, the external incarnation can only be considered an 'outsider,' whereas he is the one driving the Corpse Soul Insect, manipulating the Insect Furnace, and using his Eye Technique to monitor the corpse's subtle changes.

Late Yuan Ying Realm - Late Yuan Ying Realm

Huashen Realm - Huashen Realm

However, in terms of lethal methods, when facing the Gorgeous Scale Long Wave, Yunhe can be said to have already exhausted all his trump cards.

Eastern Border Cultivation Realm - Eastern Border Cultivation Realm

Moreover, this is not a one‑time trump card; the drawback is that each use inflicts considerable damage and strain on the Corpse Soul Insect, requiring time to recover, which also imposes a significant burden on Yunhe.

"Our original idea was to fully control and drive this corpse. After all, although the Black Soul Crystal of this Abyssal Beast's corpse is partially damaged, a large portion remains; this shows that if we can refine it into a Soul‑Infused Insect Corpse, we can at least exert power comparable to seventy percent or more of an early Divine Transformation cultivator."

But for a Yuan Ying Cultivator, an instant often brings about something extremely deadly.

Yunhe gave a faint smile, pinched out a Nurturing Insect Pill and tossed it into the Insect Furnace, restoring and replenishing the massive loss the Corpse Soul Insect suffered in this attempt.

In a split second, shorter than a breath, it is utterly insignificant to ordinary people and even ordinary cultivators.

Five Elements Spirit Talisman Array - Five Elements Spirit Talisman Array

And this gap is far greater than the difference between a Late Yuan Ying Cultivator and a Mid Yuan Ying Cultivator.

Abyssal Beast - Abyssal Beast

For example, the simplified version of the Instant Body Technique gained from comprehending the Dragon Scale Pattern allows him to perform short‑range spatial teleportation.

But unfortunately, because the gap between Divine Transformation and Yuan Ying is too great, it cannot be made up merely by the Corpse Soul Insect's metamorphosis together with the Beast Soul Banner, the Insect Furnace, and other aids.

Heavenly Corpse Insect - Heavenly Corpse Insect

Yunhe nodded, "That's right. Fully driving it is unrealistic—it's not something I and the Corpse Soul Insect can achieve now, but if it's just a brief instant."

Fifth Level Abyssal Beast Corpse - Fifth Level Abyssal Beast Corpse

As his hand touched the hard black gelatinous layer of the Abyssal Beast, the point of contact actually detached and spiraled into fine threads, as if this piece of armor had come alive.

Corpse-Transformed Yuan Ying - Corpse-Transformed Yuan Ying

Corpse Refining Bag - Corpse Refining Bag

Even when facing the Gorgeous Scale Long Wave, Yunhe tried his best to conceal the Wind‑Snow Wings trump card and avoid revealing it.

His insufficient killing ability has always been his shortcoming.

What's more, it's the Nascent Soul realm?

He extended his hand and placed it upon that corpse.

It is evident that although this attempt failed, the offspring of the corpse soul gu were still fairly active, and not all of them died because of this failure; they merely hid within the corpse.

Thereafter he walked slowly forward, arriving before that corpse which still exuded a terrifying aura.

A powerful trump card!

After Yunhe revealed the Five Elements Talisman Formation and in an instant almost exhausted his stored talismans, this trump card greatly compensated for the shortage of talismans.

The present corpse soul gu cannot control or drive this powerful corpse, yet it can still manage to oversee it to some extent.

"The cost is not small, eh." The avatar exhaled lightly, and the main body was naturally pleased to be able to master such a trump card.

Yunhe now indeed has quite a few trump cards.

This is akin to the difference between a Nascent Soul corpse refinement that has a corpse-transformed Nascent Soul and one that does not—the disparity is self-evident.

"In the end, our ambition was simply too great."

"You mean," the avatar somewhat grasped Yunhe's meaning.

Also fortunate that later, Qizhou Tianxuan, wary of whether Yunhe still concealed other killing methods, dared not press too hard; otherwise the Snow Wind Wings trump card would certainly be exposed.

With this trump card, even when facing a cultivator at the late Nascent Soul stage, he gains the ability to almost seal the victory with a single strike!

He lifted the gu furnace, and mystical energy permeated his surroundings.

This is a trump card.

Now, this trump card of a fifth-stage abyssal beast corpse refinement greatly compensates for this deficiency.

If he could fully refine and command it, Yunhe would likely have no rival in the entire Eastern Border cultivation world below the Nascent Soul realm.

There's nothing that can be done.

"It's not completely impossible!"

Whether it is the Instantaneous Movement Technique or the Snow Wind Wings, ultimately they are trump cards for escape and self-preservation, greatly increasing Yunhe's chances of survival when facing danger.

Even a powerful killing technique within the same realm, when facing a cultivator at least one realm higher, becomes at most a threat to the opponent, insufficient to decide the outcome with a single strike.

"Having something is better than having nothing."

Yunhe shrugged, waved his hand, and stored the abyssal beast corpse that had sunk back into silence into the corpse-refining bag.

The dense corpse-soul qi within the corpse-refining bag can slowly seep in, allowing it to better transform into a corpse-refined body through subtle influence, increasing the corpse soul gu's control over it.

And the corpse soul gu will continue to grow.

Once the corpse soul gu has completely absorbed the divine soul of Qilin Changlan, its ability will certainly increase further.

"Alright, it's your turn."

After retrieving the abyssal beast corpse, Yunhe, holding the gu furnace, looked toward his avatar.

And the avatar seemed to have long known what Yunhe was about to do, offering no resistance whatsoever as he spread his arms and said, "Come on."

They are one entity; between them, naturally no need for too much superfluous talk; they understand each other tacitly.

Yunhe also did not hesitate, again casting a spell toward the gu furnace.

Om—

As the gu furnace trembled, a child gu that looked somewhat special slowly flew out from within the gu furnace, finally entering the corporeal form of the external incarnation.

If at this moment someone carefully observed with divine sense, they could discover that the child gu passed unobstructed all the way, penetrating the fleshly body and the barrier of magical power, and finally entered the qi sea dantian of the external incarnation, sinking into its Yuan Ying!

Because Yunhe's this external incarnation was originally refined from corpse refining, its Yuan Ying, even after assimilation, still retains certain characteristics of a corpse-transformed Yuan Ying.

And initially, before Yunhe condensed the external incarnation, the one who drove and controlled the refined corpses and corpse-transformed Yuan Ying was the corpse soul gu.

Therefore, the corpse soul gu entering the Yuan Ying of the external incarnation not only causes no influence, but can also to some extent strengthen the external incarnation's control over corpse qi and corpse refining.

Of course.

The most important thing is.

With this special corpse soul gu child gu, Yunhe no longer needs to worry that if the external incarnation leaves him too long, it will develop a rebellious mindset.

Once Yunhe feels the external incarnation gradually escaping his control, he can use this child gu to lock onto its position.

Moreover, he can even forcibly destroy the external incarnation's Yuan Ying from inside out using this child gu.

Thus, the possibility of the external incarnation betraying is almost reduced to zero.

Because that corpse soul gu child gu is not merely like the child gu injected into the abyssal beast's corpse; it employs a secret technique.

The Yellow Spring Old Ancestor's that strand of Yellow Spring Qi!

More precisely, it is the secret technique Yunhe learned from that strand of "Yellow Spring Qi".

Although the corpse soul gu child gu cannot yet completely evade divine sense like the Yellow Spring Qi, it is not easily found; moreover, the corpse soul gu child gu's own mimetic aura concealment ability, as well as its original connection with corpse refining,

Even with Yunhe's current divine sense, without the corpse soul gu's auxiliary sensing, one cannot find the child gu inside the external incarnation's Yuan Ying; let alone the external incarnation and other Yuan Ying cultivators.

Therefore, the child gu's restriction on the external incarnation is extremely great.

This is something Yunhe had long planned, and the external incarnation, which is almost the same person as Yunhe, naturally would not refuse.

"Now we can rest easy." The external incarnation and Yunhe both let go of their worries.

Thus, the external incarnation can, within a certain time limit, leave the main body and do the tasks arranged by the main body.

"Wait until you break through to the middle Yuan Ying stage, then leave." Yunhe said.

"Okay."

After agreeing, the external incarnation retreated to the side and began taking elixirs.

"For the external incarnation, the Fourth Level low-grade elixir 'Twilight Elixir' is sufficient for now, but for me, seeking elixirs that can aid in raising my cultivation base should be put on the agenda."

Yunhe also sat cross-legged back onto the congealed fat ice-clear lotus.

At this moment, three years have passed since the sea clan great war; his injuries have mostly recovered; although his mana flow still has a slight sluggishness, it will not cause him much impact; needing a longer time of gradual adjustment and cultivation, he can fully recover to his original state.

Therefore, the plan to continue raising his cultivation base is once again included in his considerations.

Although his current strength is not bad, even facing late-stage Yuan Ying great cultivators he is not afraid, but ultimately cultivators rely most on their own cultivation base.

With his current middle Yuan Ying stage cultivation base, if he truly encounters a tough opponent and engages in a war of attrition with him, he really cannot endure it.

Take, for example, Qilin Changlan; if not for its desire to quickly take down Yunhe, being somewhat eager for a quick victory, the "Sea Soul Worm" it releases could still make Yunhe suffer a bit.

And Yunhe has now condensed a true "Five Elements Spirit Body", his cultivation talent not inferior to that of cultivators with heavenly-grade spirit roots.

Speaking of it, among cultivators who can reach the Yuan Ying stage, actually only a few have spirit roots that are earth-grade or lower; most Yuan Ying cultivators possess heavenly-grade spirit roots, or even more extraordinary anomalous spirit roots.

Given his current cultivation speed, if he wanted to rely purely on absorbing spiritual energy to cultivate to the late Yuan Ying stage, he might need at least three hundred years, five hundred years, or even longer.

Even if his lifespan is long enough to afford it, three to five hundred years is too long for him, and no one knows what might happen in between.

Like the current Eastern Border cultivation world, on the surface the sea clan turmoil has somewhat subsided, but the Abyss clan remains strong.

In the shadows, moreover, there is the "Demon Alliance" side, unknown what they are plotting, and it might even involve the Southern and Northern Border cultivation realms that have not appeared for thousands of years.

Great chaos has already arisen; the variables brought by such a long span of three to five hundred years are too great.

If cultivation base can be raised as soon as possible, that is naturally better.

"According to my current knowledge, elixirs that can raise the cultivation base of middle Yuan Ying cultivators are not completely absent in the Human Cultivator Alliance; the 'Spirit Rhinoceros Elixir' and the 'Sevenfold Spirit Gathering Elixir' are two kinds that can be exchanged for."

These two elixirs both originate from antiquity; their refining methods have long been lost; nowadays, these elixirs in the Human Cultivator Alliance are also obtained by various forces through chance in many ancient secret realms, their quantities extremely limited, their precious value imaginable.

An important goal for many middle Yuan Ying cultivators who contribute in the present Human Cultivator Alliance is these two elixirs.

Like the Bound Tiger Daoist Zhang Ding Tian known to Yunhe, the Azure Ice Superior Gan Ice Lan, and even the Purple Robe True Lord Fifth Purple Robe, they are all for these elixirs.

Therefore, even if Yunhe's status in the alliance is equivalent to a late Yuan Ying cultivator, he cannot possibly take all these elixirs into his possession; doing so would surely provoke public anger.

Moreover, these elixirs are limited in quantity; even if he obtained them all, they would at most help him raise his cultivation base, far from enough to assist him in reaching the perfected middle Yuan Ying stage.

Of course.

Like in the Tai Xuan Zhengyi Sect, there is an elixir called "Nine Mysterious Elixir" that can raise the cultivation base of middle Yuan Ying cultivators.

This is also one of the foundations for the Tai Xuan Zhengyi Sect to firmly occupy the leadership of the orthodox path for these thousands of years.

However, the refining difficulty of this "Nine Mysterious Elixir" is extremely high, and the required materials are also extremely precious.

In any case, whenever outsiders ask the Tai Xuan Zhengyi Sect cultivators about this elixir, they always claim they cannot refine it due to lack of materials, thereby making excuses; whether this is true or false is unknown.

Other sects perhaps also hide such elixir formulas.

But such elixir formulas, for sects lacking strength, are not only not treasures but rather calamities; therefore, even if they have them, they cannot speak of them.

The number of middle Yuan Ying cultivators in the Eastern Border cultivation world is not particularly small, but late Yuan Ying cultivators are only a few; this is also one of the important reasons.

"Thus speaking, the truly reliable one is actually the fragment of the 'Transform Yuan Elixir' formula that was snatched away by Qing Qing of the Azure Wood Jiao clan initially."

"In that case, what is actually reliable is, on the contrary, the fragment of the formula for the Transformation Origin Pill that was taken away by Qing Qing of the Azure Wood Flood Dragon clan back then."

The Azure Wood Jiao clan is not weak; moreover, it also involves the Demon Alliance and even the Southern Border cultivation realm.

"In short, striving to exchange a few more 'Spirit Rhinoceros Elixir' and 'Sevenfold Spirit Gathering Elixir', then trying to obtain the formula, is never wrong."

"In short, try to get a few more Lingxi Dan and Qi Zhuan Ju Ling Dan, and then figure out a way to obtain the pill formula— that's always the right move."

(End of Chapter)