Chapter 177: Demon Fiend Dao Seed, Breakthrough to Embracing Elixir!

"Actually, there's no need to pay them any mind; just spend some time dispersing them."

Jiang Qiulan had ample experience with this, after all, she was a martial artist who possessed the faith and vows of an entire commandery yet cultivated the Path of Slain Hunyuan.

The previous Demon-Suppressing General of Yushan Commandery had fallen, and to this day, no suitable candidate had been found.

"Disperse..."

Shen Yi's gaze flickered as he picked up his earlier thought: "The Soul Transformation Realm cultivators enshrined in the Wumiao—could they be confined to the Imperial City, or can their influence extend across the entire Great Qian Dynasty?"

He wanted to clarify this matter; if it were the former, he might as well simply disperse them.

Although Jiang Qiulan did not cultivate the Yin Spirit, she had heard of it: "As far as I know, the Golden Body Dharma Image has no such restrictions, unless the Golden Body shatters, at which point one must return to the Great Qian Dynasty to use faith and vows for reshaping."

Hearing this, a strange look flashed in Shen Yi's eyes.

His thought was actually quite simple: since both involve the Embracing Elixir nurturing the spirit, nurturing one is the same as nurturing two; he might as well nurture a pair.

At worst, it would just be a bit of squeezing for the Dao Infant and the Yin Spirit.

For others, within their limited lifespan, naturally, one must focus on a single path and strive to break through upward.

But he used the lifespans of demons and monsters; as long as he killed enough, the difficulties would naturally be resolved.

The difficulty lay with the issue of divine sense.

If one were a Slain Hunyuan Grandmaster, nurturing another Yin Spirit would leave no surplus divine sense to spare for it.

But he could try the so-called demon origin to reshape a demon soul and merge it into the Yin Spirit.

Even if he failed, the worst that could happen was wasting faith and vows he couldn't use anyway.

Moreover, based on previous experience, the demons and monsters he personally slew could actually help deduce cultivation techniques; thus, descriptions of the demon origin like "eternal slavery" and "no transcendence" were likely not exaggerations.

Of course, the main focus remained the Slain Hunyuan Martial Path.

Shen Yi always felt that the Transformation of Spirit Realm cultivator inside the Wumiao seemed a bit senile, and he had no desire to walk the world in the form of a Golden Body.

"Are there any other questions?"

Jiang Qiulan waited patiently: "If you need help, do not hesitate."

"Hmm..." Shen Yi thought for a moment, then looked at her: "Could you lend me some demon cores first?"

"Fine." Jiang Qiulan nodded, her hand brushing her waist, and about a dozen perfect demon cores lay quietly on the table.

"These are all I have on me; they should be enough for you to condense the Dao Seed."

She had witnessed firsthand how he used demon power, and since she had recommended the Heaven-Devouring Tiannan Dan Shi herself, she naturally knew what Shen Yi intended to do with the demon cores.

As for whether he might be a demon in disguise...

The fact that he could walk out alive from the Wumiao already answered that question.

"I'll return them to you next time we meet."

Shen Yi offered no excessive politeness, gathering all the demon cores into the Silver Bell.

He currently had an excess of demon lifespans and urgently needed to go out and chat with a few Embracing Elixir Realm demons about life; for the sake of safety, he would increase his power by whatever amount possible.

"It doesn't matter; I use the Profound Ice Seven Fiends Sword Intent to nourish my Dao Infant and condense the Slain Hunyuan Limitless Sword Body, so I no longer need such things."

Jiang Qiulan slowly rose, suddenly remembering something: "By the way, General Chen instructed me before leaving that once you return, if you have time, go to Linjiang Commandery to find him... I'm leaving."

"Hmm."

Shen Yi nodded.

If one has time, that means one has no time.

Linjiang Commandery is just a bunch of old flood dragons hiding in the Yangchun River; if they don't come out, how long will it take me to find them?

After Jiang Qiulan walked out of the courtyard.

He took out a trace of aura from the Silver Bell; this was obtained from Jiang Chengyun and belonged to General You Longtao.

If he remembered correctly, when passing through Tingyang City last time, he heard that the other party had three Embracing Elixir Realm demons there; that would be far more worthwhile than finding Chen Laoyezi.

With this thought, Shen Yi stood up and closed the door.

He poured himself a cup of warm water, then opened the panel, looking at the ten thousand years of lifespan with a hint of satisfaction in his eyes.

He hadn't expected that bringing ten thousand years to Jingcheng would allow him to bring them back.

How long would it take to spend all of that?

【Remaining Demon Lifespan: Ten Thousand and Forty-Seven Years】

He mobilized the demon lifespan and poured it into the Heaven-Devouring Tiannan Dan Shi.

The Heavenly Demon Outer Pill still contained the cultivation of the fox demon; he would finish using that first.

【First Year: You command the Heaven-Devouring Inner Pill to devour all the cultivation within the Outer Pill. With great interest, you operate the Heaven-Devouring Tiannan Dan Shi technique and begin condensing the Dao Seed. This matter requires the most patience and meticulousness, which happens to be what you lack the least.】

The instant the prompt appeared.

Shen Yi discovered that the Heavenly Demon Outer Pill in his Qi Sea had been completely drained, its fierce demon power staining the Inner Pill a dark red hue.

The demon lifespan rapidly diminished.

The prompt within the panel was indeed true; it was truly patient, without a single complaint from start to finish.

Watching the demon lifespan decrease by one hundred and twelve years, he finally condensed all the demon power together.

Clearly, the cultivation of a perfect pill condensation was insufficient to directly cross into the Embracing Elixir Stage, and the gap was quite large.

Calculating by this progress, the Dao Seed would only be fully formed after repeating this process about nine more times.

"But..."

Shen Yi set down his water cup, suddenly feeling something was wrong.

Hadn't Jiang Qiulan said that Chen Laoyezi planted his divine seed at two hundred years old, successfully crossing into the Embracing Elixir Realm, and nurtured a divine fetus at over eight hundred years old, which was already a sign of extremely poor aptitude?

Yet according to the current prompt, just planting the Dao Seed would take over a thousand years for him?

If he relied solely on himself, wouldn't his lifespan be exhausted before he could even enter the Embracing Elixir Realm?

"..."

Part of it was surely that the Heaven-Devouring Dan Shi method was simply too difficult, and moreover Old Man Chen had taken the shortcut of the Yin Spirit—how could he possibly be lumped together with someone like himself, who walked the path of Slain Hunyuan martial Dao?

Shen Yi took out another flawless yao dan. Now flush with wealth, he spent a full year of demon-marrows lifespan to swallow it on the spot, to see whether he could produce an entire innate talent.

However, apart from the Heaven-Devouring Outer Dan leaving him with a full belly, nothing else happened.

The only function of the outer dan was to help absorb demon energy and feed it to the Heaven-Devouring Inner Dan.

The demon-marrows lifespan continued to dwindle.

Within the Heaven-Devouring Inner Dan, a crimson speck of light gradually appeared.

Condensing a Dao Seed was difficult, but at least there were traces to follow, and it would not generate too many negative emotions.

One yao dan after another entered his belly.

【Year 873, you swallowed the inner dan of a Golden-Furred Rat Yao, absorbed its dregs, and obtained the innate talent Spirit-Treasure Perception】

【Spirit-Treasure Perception: You possess a keener sense for heavenly materials and earthly treasures than anyone else, always able to discover precious things hidden beneath an utterly unremarkable exterior】

Another innate talent without a realm prefix.

One could only say it was better than nothing.

Shen Yi returned his focus to the Heaven-Devouring Inner Dan.

He saw that crimson speck of light growing ever more solid, while at the same time spiderweb-like veins sprouted and spread toward the surroundings.

Until the ninth yao dan entered his belly.

【Year 1,370, you successfully planted the Yao Sha Dao Seed and stepped into the Embracing Elixir Realm】

【Heaven-Devouring Dan Shi method: Minor Completion】

【Remaining demon-marrows lifespan: 8,677 years】

In that instant, vigorous vitality suddenly burst forth within the inner dan!

The crimson speck of light actually began to pulse, like a heart.

At the same time, fierce and savage demon energy churned and rolled within the inner dan, with even signs of spilling outward!

Shen Yi activated the Sun-Melting Treasure Furnace without the slightest hesitation and slammed its suppression force down with brutal force!

In but an instant, the crimson speck of light was suppressed utterly, without any power to resist.

Shen Yi slowly opened his eyes, the aura about him appearing so violent and overwhelming!

Even when he deployed the Turtle Breath Art at full strength, he could only keep it contained within the range of the house, preventing it from spreading outward.

This was a power he had never experienced before.

Before this demon energy, even the Heaven-Devouring inner dan that had previously borne a flawless cultivation had become like a laughable toy.

(End of Chapter)