Chapter 481 - Spying, Secretly Learning the Cultivation Technique, Returning to the Earth Soul Realm! - Part 3

A month later.

Piecing things together bit by bit, Li Yuan eventually grasped the fundamentals of the Earth Soul cultivation system.

Earth Soul cultivation was divided into five sub-realms.

The first was

Lonely Yang Births Ghost Artifact.

In this stage, the body developed ghost organs.

The second was

Ghost Body with Diamond Heart.

Here, the cultivator temporarily transformed into a single-entity ghost, granting a brief state of immortality and indestructibility.

However, a pure ghost-body, even at third rank, was pitifully weak. The only reason cultivators could still fight at this stage was because they retained their physical strength, lending them a sliver of power.

Even so, Earth Soul cultivators at this level were typically considered the weakest among the three great cultivation systems.

The next three sub-realms,

Gray Body

,

Black Body

, and

Azure Body

, Li Yuan could only speculate about. But he had a strong hunch that those were where the true breakthroughs happened. Likely the late stages of Earth Soul cultivation.

And to even

reach

the first sub-realm, there was one prerequisite, which was a body overflowing with Yang energy.

For ordinary people, building up such intense Yang energy was an uphill battle. It was painstaking, tedious, and difficult.

But for the people of the Nine Flames? They had a natural advantage. From the moment they were conceived, Yang energy would begin accumulating in the womb. Their physiology was practically made for Earth Soul cultivation.

And Khagan Naran was a prodigy among prodigies.

As for Li Yuan himself...he figured he might be just a

little

more talented than a prodigy.

Just a tiny bit.

After all, Naran was

his

son. And when he fathered Naran, his body hadn’t yet been consumed by the withered flame.

Realizing this made Li Yuan all the more motivated.

As for the method of cultivation, it was simple in theory, difficult in practice.

All he had to do was find a shattered ghost domain and step into its heart. Let the Yin energy wash over him, activate the technique, and use his Yang energy to

capture

a thread of that Yin energy.

And that was enough to achieve the first sub-realm.

Whether or not a person could catch

two

threads? The old woman never mentioned it. Probably because the question was irrelevant. By the time an Earth Soul cultivator reached the second sub-realm, their whole body would temporarily become a ghost anyway.

Cultivating the second sub-realm was, at least in theory, straightforward. Endure more Yin energy washes, circulate the technique, and let layers of dense Yin attach to the body until fully encased. Once that happened,

Ghost Body

achieved.

Of course, when a ghost domain was shattered, the region would temporarily revert to a state of pure Yin. The ghost originally sealed within would eventually reform and return. But during that brief interval, the quiet before the storm, that was the time to train.

Apart from that, there was another option. Li Yuan could seek out a region of extreme Yin that hadn’t yet evolved into a full ghost domain. It was as simple as finding one, plopping down, and letting the Yin energy wash over him.

But of course, that comes with a rather significant risk, which was

overexposure.

Yang energy floated and dispersed easily, while Yin energy sank and condensed.

So in this world, there was such a thing as a

Yin surge

, but no such thing as a

Yang explosion

.

And if a person were caught in a surge of pure Supreme Yin without adequate protection, the Yang energy in their body could be snuffed out in an instant. The result? The soul shattering, and the spirit dissipating, permanent death.

This was why there was one item that became absolutely critical in this cultivation path,

Heavenly Fire Spirit Stones

.

These stones were sourced from third rank meat fields. On average, only three to four hundred could be produced every decade.

They sealed up Yang energy, perfect for Heaven Soul cultivation, and equally vital for Earth Soul practitioners. Especially during the breakthrough into the second stage of the Earth Soul Realm, each Heavenly Fire Spirit Stone became a literal lifesaver. The more, the better.

Even without much thought, Li Yuan could tell that these stones were the hard currency of the third rank and beyond.

There was just one problem. He didn’t have a single one. But then a thought struck him. What if...he didn’t need them at all? What if something everyone else

had

to rely on...he could simply ignore? Because he wasn’t

everyone else

..

He had a body of withered flame.

And that wasn’t all, Li Yuan had uncovered another secret about the Western Extremes.

Yin and Yang always existed in balance.

So if the frozen tundra of the Evernight harbored nine known withered flames, why shouldn’t there also be nine corresponding regions of extreme Yin?

The answer was that was exactly the case. But these places were...strange. Sealed off, never allowed to evolve into full ghost domains.

Their nature was peculiar too. Apparently, they were buried deep underground.

And unlike the withered flames, which burned like bonfires, these regions of extremes Yin took the form of water.

Concentrated Yang became fire.

Concentrated Yin became water.

This was also the reason Naran had been able to cultivate the pale white bone spikes on his back. Kabrol, the Sea of Slumber, contained Everstreams with

aqua

.

Li Yuan didn’t dare get too close. But now that he understood the method of Earth Soul cultivation, he was eager to try it for himself.

He still didn’t fully understand why his Earth Soul Heavenly Eye had been classified as fourth rank. But he

did

understand the skill now.

And he would figure out the rest.

His youthful form shimmered and shifted, transforming into the appearance of an unremarkable man. Then, holding the Nine Provinces Provisional Patrol Token in his hand, he vanished and reappeared in front of the carpenter's workshop in Flowerpath County.

The house, once drenched in sinister Yin, had been completely rebuilt. No trace remained of the damage Li Yuan had caused last time.

A fresh blood-red ward now shimmered in the distance, marking the area off-limits.

Li Yuan didn’t hesitate. He strode forward and kicked the door open.

The familiar, choking scent of sawdust filled the air. The sound of metal chiseling into wood came to an abrupt stop.

The blood-stained racks still exuded a chilling aura, though they now held fewer dolls with twisted faces.

Not far from one of the racks, a man squatted in silence, his eyes dull with numb hatred. As the door slammed open, he slowly looked up, gaze filled with venom, his expression corpse-like and cold.

Whoosh!

Li Yuan didn’t even lift a finger. From his side, a giant golden hand suddenly materialized, brilliant and imposing. With a loud explosion, it tore through the dense Yin energy and seized the carpenter ghost in its grasp.

The golden hand clenched.

BOOM!

Before the ghost even had time to react, it was crushed into a cloud of black smoke. Obliterated.

Without missing a beat, Li Yuan expertly dismantled what remained of the carpenter’s workshop. Once it was leveled, he morphed into a tiny black insect and burrowed into the ruins, hiding himself deep in the soil to await the incoming flood of Yin energy.

He had specifically chosen the spot where the carpenter ghost had always sat, reasoning that if ghosts had favorite seats, those places might soak up more Yin over time.

Soon, figures appeared in the distance. They spotted the collapsed shop but didn’t dare approach. After a moment of anxious hesitation, they quietly retreated, probably off to report what they’d seen.

To be extra cautious, Li Yuan transformed again, this time into a mole.

With his two sharp little claws, he dug rapidly into the earth. In no time at all, he’d tunneled deep underground.

He had just let out a breath of relief when a freezing surge blasted up from below, engulfing him in a pillar of bone-chilling Yin.

Li Yuan shivered. But that was it. Just a shiver. The Yin energy at the level of the carpenter’s workshop simply wasn’t strong enough to extinguish his withered flame.

And as long as the flame within him didn’t die, he was perfectly safe.

Anyone else in his shoes would’ve probably already burned through a pile of Heavenly Fire Spirit Stones just to survive this first wave.

The reality was, at this level of Earth Soul cultivation, most people played it safe. They’d camp out at the

edges

of a ghost domain to avoid dying from overexposure.

Even the Khagan had trained beside the aqua, not inside it.

Who in their right mind would sit at the center of a region of extreme Yin? That was suicide.

But for Li Yuan, this wasn’t madness, it was strategy.

The torrent of supreme Yin that now crashed down upon him was like a high-pressure power washer, slamming into his tiny mole body.

But his body, saturated with Yang energy, began absorbing and capturing the Yin.

In the invisible world, a strange alchemy unfolded, inky black Yin currents collided with searing withered flame, creating a dance both mystical and dangerous.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

One day later.

Li Yuan’s entire body had darkened. He decided it was time to relocate.

With a thought, he teleported to a secluded mountain forest.

There, he sat down cross-legged and summoned his Immortal Form, a thousand-foot tall and towering like a golden colossus. But this time, its surface shimmered with a cold, black hue, tainted by the Yin it had absorbed.

Moments later, that dark sheen began to peel away.

Li Yuan quickly circulated his Yang energy, wrapping around the Yin to prevent it from escaping.

After half a day of delicate effort, he finally managed to compress the lingering Yin into a dense, black bubble about ten feet wide, wrapped tightly around his golden body.

Now came the next step. He began circulating the cultivation technique he’d learned from the old woman, slowly digesting the black bubble of energy.

Most people, if they were lucky, had just enough Yang energy to sustain either Heaven Soul or Earth Soul cultivation.

But Li Yuan...didn’t fall into that category. He had known this from the very beginning. Because even in his Heaven Soul form, the bizarre, painted-looking eye—the Earth Soul Heavenly Eye—remained clearly visible at the center of his brow.

That alone was proof.

It meant he wasn’t simply Yin wrapped within Yang, the typical layered soul structure of a Heaven Soul cultivator.

He had an additional sliver of Yin attached to him. So his soul structure currently looked something like this—

【Yang【Yin】Yang】+ Yin

And now he was trying to evolve again into—

【Yin【Yang【Yin】Yang】Yin】

Day after day passed.

Three days later.

In the depths of the mountain forest, Li Yuan opened his eyes.

His expression was calm. The forest around him was completely silent. Not a single bird or beast dared come near.

It worked.

With a thought, the painted eye surfaced at his brow. At the same time, both his hands turned a ghostly pale, wrinkled and withered, indistinguishable from the hands of a ghost.

At last, he understood. The reason his Earth Soul Heavenly Eye had been rated fourth rank wasn’t because of its potential—but because the

amount

of Yin within him was too small compared to his overwhelming Yang.

So to the outside, it had merely looked like a floating illusion, like a painting, suspended in space.

The

ghost organ

wasn’t some illusion or ethereal drawing, it was real. Tangible. A part of him now.

So...I’ve broken through the first sub-stage of Third-Rank Earth Soul cultivation?

Li Yuan sat motionless, cloaked in silence, while the thousand-foot-tall Immortal Form loomed behind him like a mountain. His hands drooped at his sides, ghostly white and horrifying to behold.

He glanced at his combat power. No change. Then he checked his skill list.

Ah, there it was. Something new had appeared.

Incomplete Ghost Hand (1/3)

Still no grade listed, but Li Yuan knew what it meant, third rank.

The

incomplete

surprised him, though. It felt like opening a hidden door to a whole new world.

He understood this wasn’t a sign of failure. It wasn’t that he’d botched the breakthrough into the first stage. It simply meant he’d touched on something deeper, something more advanced. And thanks to his System, that secret had been made visible.

So what exactly does this hand do?

He stared at his bone-white hands, focused for a while, then pressed one of them against the ground.

At first, nothing happened.

But in his mind’s eye, a series of images appeared.

Caverns. Dozens of them.

Li Yuan paused, frowning in thought, then a flicker of understanding crossed his face.

He dismissed the Immortal Form, and with a single thought, he teleported back to Swallowcloud Province.

In the courtyard of his home, he arrived to the sounds of an argument.

Xie Yu was mid-fight with the neighbors.

“You people, what is

wrong

with you? What the hell are you cooking over there? The stench’s drifting into our yard, it reeks!”

“None of your damn business! Don’t like it? Move out!”

“It’s disgusting! Can’t you at least cook it

inside

?”

“Heh, what’s your problem, little miss? Can’t you just hide indoors yourself?”

“You nasty old thing! Who are you calling little miss?!”

“I’m calling you out, yeah! What’s a mouthy outsider like you gonna do?”

And just like that, a few more men came over to join in.

One of them jeered, face full of sleaze. “Cold nights up north, sweetheart. Your man ain’t around, huh? Want us to help warm your bed? I’ll take my clothes off first if you want, haha!”

Li Yuan’s brows knit in a tight line.

He clearly remembered the house next door being empty before. These people must’ve moved in just recently.

He had no interest in sorting out who was right or wrong. He only knew one thing. His wife was pissed, and these bastards needed to be taught a lesson.

Of course...they were just petty thugs. He had no plans to kill them.

Just a little punishment.

With that in mind, Li Yuan raised his ghost-white hand and pressed it gently against the ground.

This time, more visions bloomed before his eyes. Doors, one after another, each one linked to a different place. Some close, some far.

The scenes beyond the doors played out clearly in his vision. And among them was a perfect match, four men standing at a doorway, still shouting lewd insults at the house next door.

Li Yuan reached out his hand, paused for a moment, then slowly extended it through the door.

Thwish! Thwish! Thwish! Thwish!

Four sharp flicks cracked through the air, sinister and invisible.

Each of the men recoiled as a cold, eerie force shot straight into their foreheads.

Their bodies went limp. They dropped with terrified screams, pale as sheets, as if they’d run into something foul on the road at night.

They weren’t dead, but they were definitely in for one hell of a sickness.