Chapter 103 Soul Resonance, Body Tempering with Killing Energy
In the quiet room of the qinglan boat, Lin Yue remained in a deep, unconscious sleep.
Liu Qingyan sat cross-legged by Lin Yue's bed. Bloodstains were stark against her plain white Daoist robe, yet she was completely oblivious to them—all her attention was focused on the strand of shimmering white Golden Core True Essence at her fingertips.
As soon as the True Essence touched Lin Yue's brow, it was repelled by a violent, malevolent aura of Evil Qi.
At that exact moment, Lin Yue's body jerked violently. A low, muffled groan escaped his throat as veins bulged on his temples. Beneath his originally gold-tinted skin, dark red Evil Qi could be seen faintly coursing through him.
“This is a major problem.” Liu Qingyan was filled with immense anxiety; if this continued, the consequences would be unthinkable.
She took a deep breath and slowly adjusted the rhythm of her True Essence. Instead of trying to suppress it by force, she followed the guidance of the Heart-Soul Mark, letting the shimmering white True Essence transform into fine silk ribbons that gently entwined with that malevolent aura.
The moment her fingertips touched Lin Yue's brow, pale gold marks lit up on both their foreheads simultaneously—a proof of their connected hearts and souls. Like living vines, the marks wound and coiled across their skin.
Liu Qingyan could clearly “see” the scene within Lin Yue's Sea of Consciousness: a mass of dark red Evil Qi was frantically crashing against the barriers of his Sea of Consciousness. However, as soon as her True Essence ribbons drew near, the Evil Qi seemed to be soothed, gradually slowing its assault.
To her even greater shock, her Golden Core suddenly trembled slightly. The True Essence within her Dantian spontaneously surged toward Lin Yue's body through the Heart-Soul Mark. When it merged with the Evil Qi, a trace of pale gold spiritual resonance was born—a strange phenomenon resulting from the Fusion of Golden Core True Essence and Evil Qi.
“Mm...” Lin Yue let out a soft moan amidst the Chaos. Though his consciousness had not yet awakened, he could instinctively sense that familiar, pure, and ethereal aura.
Like a drowning man clutching a straw, he allowed the Evil Qi in his body to flow along the True Essence ribbons. The tearing pain in his Meridians was gradually enveloped by a warm, nourishing power.
Liu Qingyan keenly observed that Lin Yue's Physical Body was actively absorbing the Evil Qi. With every strand of Evil Qi that merged into his bones, the pale gold luster beneath his skin grew brighter, as if a peerless divine weapon was being forged.
“So that's how it is...” A flash of realization crossed Liu Qingyan's eyes. She stopped deliberately controlling the flow of her True Essence and instead accelerated the delivery, allowing even more Golden Core True Essence to flood into Lin Yue's body.
The light of the Heart-Soul Mark grew increasingly brilliant. Pale gold threads extended from their foreheads, weaving into a fine net in the air that firmly encased the Evil Qi and True Essence, compressing and refining them bit by bit.
This was the only solution Liu Qingyan could think of—using her Golden Core True Essence to help Lin Yue temper the Evil Qi into his Physical Body!
This was an extremely risky move; a slight mistake could turn Lin Yue into an evil Cultivator. But she believed in his Ten Thousand Jun Fiendbody, and even more so, she trusted the silent understanding of their connected hearts and souls.
As the Evil Qi entered his bones, a luster of mingled gold and red began to surface beneath Lin Yue's skin, like magma flowing through his flesh. His knuckles twitched slightly, and his originally thin wrists quietly became firm. His loose skin tightened, and even his breathing shifted from rapid to steady.
A thin layer of sweat broke out on Liu Qingyan's forehead. Maintaining the spiritual net while synchronizing their souls consumed a vast amount of True Essence. However, the Golden Core in her Dantian suddenly vibrated—though the Evil Qi in Lin Yue's body was fierce, it possessed a primordial purity. When it collided with her pure True Essence, it actually caused the Bottleneck she had been stuck at in the Late Golden Core Stage to show signs of loosening!
After an unknown amount of time, Lin Yue suddenly snapped his eyes open. The crimson in his eyes vanished instantly, replaced by a clear lucidity.
He raised a hand to touch his brow, still able to feel the residual warmth of that pure aura. What shocked him even more was that the malevolent Evil Qi in his body had vanished without a trace, replaced by a condensed power flowing through his bones. Every breath he took carried a heavy sensation, like the clashing of metal and stone.
“You're awake?” Seeing him open his eyes, Liu Qingyan's tense shoulders finally relaxed. Her fingertips still held a faint tingling sensation from being connected to his soul. “Try circulating your spiritual power.”
Lin Yue did as told and raised his hand. Without even trying to activate his Ten Thousand Jun Fiendbody, he gave a casual wave—the wind from his palm swept past, causing ripples in the quiet room's spiritual spring. The water's surface instantly froze into a thin layer of ice, only to turn into mist a moment later.
He walked to the Strength-Testing Copper Pillar in the corner, took a deep breath, and threw a light punch.
“Hum——”
There was no world-shaking sound, yet the copper pillar instantly erupted with a blinding purple light. The purple glow condensed into a physical membrane of light that circled the pillar three times before slowly dissipating. The grime within the pillar's engravings was shaken off in showers, and even the floor developed fine cracks.
“This...” Liu Qingyan's pupils constricted slightly. She could clearly sense that Lin Yue's cultivation was still at the Peak Ninth Level of Qi Refining, yet the power of this punch was actually stronger than a full-strength strike from an ordinary Late Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator!
Lin Yue withdrew his fist, his palm shimmering with a faint gold-red Evil Qi. A slight smile played on his lips: “Thanks to Revered Master, the Evil Qi in my body has actually become an aid to my cultivation.”
Just then, the System issued a notification: [Liu Qingyan's emotions of 'Approval + Dependence' toward the host have deepened. Favorability +5 (Current: 100)! Heart-Soul Brand Fusion increased to 80%, spiritual power compatibility broke through 50%!]
...
Meanwhile, thousands of miles away in Wu Tianli's Immortal Cave, Wu Kun was frantically performing hand seals. His fingertips glowed with a spiritual light identical to the source of his Storage Pouch: “Come back to me! My Earth Fire Spirit Crystal! My ancient talismans!”
He remembered clearly that within that Storage Pouch was not only the 'Earth Fire Spirit Crystal' essential for breaking through to the Late Golden Core Stage, but also three 'Black Tortoise Talismans' capable of withstanding a strike from a Nascent Soul, and the 'Thousand-Year Cold Iron' he had found in the Eastern Desolation Secret Realm—the supreme treasure he intended to use to reforge the cold moon evil sword!
But no matter how he activated his Heart-Soul Mark, he only felt a void, as if the Storage Pouch had never existed.
“Pfft——” Wu Kun spat a mouthful of black blood onto the stone table. Watching the spiritual light dissipate in his palm, his heart ached so much his whole body trembled. That bag of treasures was the accumulation of decades; now it had all become Lin Yue's, with not even a trace left to find. He clenched his fists, nails digging into his palms, his eyes filled with pure malice: “Lin Yue! Liu Qingyan! If I do not avenge this, I, Wu Kun, am not human!”
Lin Yue seemed to sense something and looked out the window, the smile on his lips turning a bit colder.
He could guess Wu Kun's rage, but he didn't care in the slightest—once the other's Storage Pouch and treasures were taken into the Hongmeng Space, even if one had heaven-defying abilities, they couldn't be summoned back.
At this moment, within the Hongmeng Space, Wu Kun's Storage Pouch had already been mostly decomposed. The bag was sewn from Deep Sea Profound Shark Skin and originally had thirteen Purple Thunder Talisman Markings at its opening. However, under the erosion of the space's power, these markings had ceased to exist.
The Storage Pouch was filled with all sorts of rare and exotic treasures. There was an Earth Fire Spirit Crystal the size of a fist, entirely crimson, with what looked like magma flowing inside; the heat it emitted caused the surrounding air to distort slightly.
This was a key material for breaking through to the Late Golden Core Stage. A single piece could be sold in the market for over a thousand High-Grade Spirit Stones.
An ancient spiritual shield glowed with a dull yellow luster. Its surface was engraved with the long-lost 'Black Tortoise Pattern'—it was indeed the Black Tortoise Divine Shield, capable of blocking a strike from a Nascent Soul Cultivator.
There were also over a dozen Golden Core Grade exotic treasures: a strange Flying Sword shrouded in black clouds, a sachet emitting a peculiar fragrance—each one was worth a fortune.
In the deepest part of the Storage Pouch lay a piece of Thousand-Year Cold Iron emitting a ghostly cold light. This was exactly the material Wu Kun planned to use to reforge the cold moon evil sword.
The Hongmeng Space seemed very interested in these treasures, and its decomposition speed grew faster and faster.
“That old fellow Wu Kun certainly collected quite a few treasures.” With a thought, Lin Yue sent all the treasures into the deepest part of the Hongmeng Space, allowing the space to decompose them.
As these exotic treasures were decomposed, the Hongmeng Space expanded outward at a speed visible to the naked eye, growing from thirty feet to fifty feet, until it stopped at a hundred feet square.
The originally monotonous gray barriers now shimmered with a gold-red luster, like metal tempered by spirit ores and earth fire. They were warm and hard to the touch, no longer possessing the previous sense of Chaos.
[System Notification: Hongmeng Space has devoured Golden Core Grade treasures ×12, ancient talismans ×3, and thousand-year spirit ores ×15! Spiritual Qi concentration has exceeded 10 points! [Spirit Plant Acceleration (100x Speed)] unlocked—Spirit plant seedlings placed in the space will grow a hundred times faster, with a 10% chance of producing top-grade spirit plants with doubled medicinal effects!]
[New Function Unlocked: Added [Chaos Barrier] to the space: Isolates external detection. No Cultivator can sense items within the space, completely severing any Heart-Soul Mark connections!]