The Soul Dream Origin Pill resembled a glass bead in appearance, with colorful, hazy spirit patterns swirling inside, emitting waves of misty light.
Its effect was to cause the consumer to experience a soul dream. Once the dream ended, their spiritual sense would receive a significant boost, and it was particularly effective for breaking through minor bottlenecks.
Wang Yu was stuck at his current stage due to technique limitations.
After the *Ancient Soul Art* was completed and perfected, he had vaguely sensed signs of a breakthrough.
However.
After leaving the Heavenly Soul Sect's scripture repository, he had either been fighting or fleeing, surrounded everywhere by malicious individuals with ill intentions.
It allowed him to truly experience, for once, what life was like for a loose cultivator without the protection of a faction.
After swallowing a Soul Dream Origin Pill.
Wang Yu immediately felt himself sink into a hazy, indistinct dream. He could see nothing clearly, remember nothing, yet it felt as if he had lived a segment of life—a peculiar sensation.
Upon waking, his Niwan Palace was filled with numerous starlight specks that could promote the growth of spiritual sense, ethereal and dreamlike.
He hurriedly operated the Ancient Soul Art, absorbing and refining all of this special power transformed from the pill. The spiritual sense within his Niwan Palace immediately began to expand.
Even the Ancient Soul within seemed to enlarge slightly.
"Still a bit short."
After concluding his cultivation, Wang Yu estimated the time.
Refining the Soul Dream Origin Pill did not take long. Achieving such feedback in merely a few days was far more efficient than pills like the Frost Spirit Pill or Frost Lotus Pill.
Unfortunately, consuming too much of this stuff would also lead to pill resistance.
It seemed any pill was unavoidable in this regard. After stabilizing for a moment, Wang Yu continued to ingest the spirit pills.
And so.
Half a month later.
Five high-grade Soul Dream Origin Pills were fully refined and absorbed. Within Wang Yu's Abode of Spirit, the hazy gray mist dissipated further. Over a thousand black paper boats sailed within its depths.
They would resist all incoming spiritual sense power.
Further inside, the pale blue threads representing spiritual sense all returned into the Ancient Soul's body. This guardian of the Niwan Palace, born from the technique's marvel, grew increasingly robust.
This was because the breakthrough had succeeded.
Wang Yu's spiritual sense had now reached the level of mid third-rank.
The total quantity had nearly doubled. The effect of the Soul Dream Origin Pill was excellent; a top-grade pill would likely be even better.
As for the mid-grade and low-grade Soul Dream Origin Pills, he had no plans to consume them. The quality was too low; it was better to sell them for spirit stones. It should allow him to recoup the cost of the spirit materials used for one batch.
Additionally.
The Ancient Soul was a characteristic of the technique, not Wang Yu's actual soul.
The two seemed similar, but it was also a construct condensed from spiritual sense. Fundamentally, it was one of the derived appendages of the soul, primarily serving to enhance resistance.
In the future, it could even be refined into a second Nascent Soul. Whether to proceed this way, he hadn't yet decided.
The fourth-rank Ancient Soul Art, when he cultivated it himself, would only absorb Solar Essence, Lunar Essence, and Dawnlight, without touching upon Heavenly Demon Malice Thoughts for acceleration.
Of course, tossing it into a placement slot was another matter entirely.
Over these six years, besides cultivation and refining the True Artifact, numerous Soul Path secret methods were also updated. With his previous foundation of perfection, Wang Yu progressed quickly.
Techniques like *Myriad-Mile Manifestation Trace*, *Soul-Extinguishing Finger*, and *Heavenly Soul Unified Qi*—all third-rank spiritual sense secret methods—had advanced to the minor accomplishment realm. Only after exhausting his accumulated reserves did his progress slow.
But paired with his current spiritual sense realm, they could fully serve as ordinary trump cards no less potent than the Demonic Dragon Fist.
Furthermore, the incomplete divine ability **[Soul-Crushing Spirit-Shattering Death Ray]** was formally begun. Even incomplete, it possessed a third-rank portion.
Its cultivation method was unusual, with the Ancient Soul being a prerequisite.
It required engraving Soul-Crushing and Spirit-Shattering talismanic scripts onto the Ancient Soul's body. Moreover, one could not use one's own true essence or spiritual sense as substitutes; one must use the **[Death Soul Qi]** from between heaven and earth as the engraving tool.
What was Death Soul Qi?
It was the wisp of aura that dissipated when a soul died.
Wang Yu had come into contact with Death Qi before—that intangible force that appeared when life was about to expire. The closer to death one was, the less one could perceive it, while younger cultivators could observe this power.
Death Soul Qi was one of the branches of Death Qi.
Such a dangerous power meant cultivation could lead to soul dispersal at any time. Moreover, the available quantity of Death Soul Qi was also an issue. One could only search for it in mass graves, burial mountains, or dark underworld places.
Wang Yu didn't want to take risks nor spend time searching, so he directly used a placement slot to gain initial mastery.
Currently, it could not yet be applied in combat.
He realized these divine abilities and techniques.
Whether it was the Minor Asura Killing Fist, the Yellow Spring Great Hand Seal, the Demonic Dragon Fist, and so on, during cultivation they all, to varying degrees, had positive enhancing effects on one's fundamental cultivation.
However—
Without magic power, it seemed truly difficult to unleash the true power of divine abilities. The exception to this was the Demonic Dragon Fist. The Soul Path also fell within the scope of this influence.
This gave him a deeper understanding of the utility of the Golden Core.
"I still need to search more for spirit medicines that can increase true essence capacity."
Six years of seclusion allowed him to properly consolidate and reflect.
......
......
You Prefecture, Ancient Fang City, Plain Feast Restaurant.
The medicinal cuisine here was quite famous. Without stinting on spirit stone expenditure, it could not only satisfy appetites but also greatly benefit cultivation.
After emerging from seclusion, Wang Yu's first stop was here for a feast.
Once sated and his desires fulfilled.
He headed to the Golden Prosperity Tower in Ancient Fang City. Although this was Jin Lin's territory, it didn't hinder his consumption there.
There were still six years left until the twenty-year agreement expired.
Coming to the Golden Prosperity Tower was primarily to collect the energies of the Four Directions and Four Seas. In this world, the Earth Array Master legacy was not the only one; these special spiritual materials also had a market.
To refine the Feng Shui Compass, he was collecting these spiritual materials.
His cultivation of the *Earth Mother Scripture* had just entered the proper track, relying mainly on personal comprehension. He would only use placement slots to break through bottlenecks, so progress wasn't too rapid.
He had only barely gained initial mastery.
When he emerged from the Golden Prosperity Tower, his expression was rather satisfied.
The energies of the Four Seas had to be collected from the Chaotic Ancient Sea. He didn't have time to travel that far, but the Golden Prosperity Tower had some reserves, and they weren't too expensive. Five hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones could secure a complete set.
It was said array masters also frequently needed these unique spiritual materials. The energies of the Four Directions referred to the earthly energies of the four directions, which were simpler to collect.
Using the Spirit-Seeing Golden Pupils to trace the earth veins in four directions and pluck a wisp would suffice. Conversely, the main material for the Feng Shui Compass, **[Shadow-Copper]**, was extremely rare and temporarily unavailable for purchase.
Wearing the Earthly Nether Ghost Mask and showing his face twice was sufficient.
Next.
He planned to skirt around Chasing Moon Prefecture in a loop, traveling from north to south to return to the territory of Yunling Prefecture. Along the way, he would gather information while conveniently collecting the earthly energies of the Four Directions.
Traveling and journeying while sightseeing, by the time he returned to Gui Ling, the time agreed upon with Zuo Qiuming would be almost up. Over on Jin Miaoshan's side, the ice-attribute top-grade Core Formation spiritual material and Tribulation-Avoiding Treasure were still waiting for him.
Calculating the time, it should be about right.
And so.
After leaving Ancient Fang City, Wang Yu headed all the way south.
The appearance of the Netherworld Spring Monastery's territory was not much different from the Sacred Sect's, but its domain was smaller, with more territory located on the sea.
Due to the Lifeless Desert being unsuitable for mortals to live, the population was also more dense.
Ambushes and killings in the wilderness were commonplace, but Netherworld Spring Monastery cultivators seemed to enjoy meddling in others' affairs. Once caught by them, both sides often ended up in big trouble.
—A fine!
Yes, the people of the Netherworld Spring Monastery didn't like killing; they were particularly enthusiastic about fines. They would fine people into bankruptcy on the grounds of disrupting public order, then introduce them to a mining job on an island.
And one couldn't refuse.
After witnessing this a few times, Wang Yu couldn't help but scratch his head, wondering how such a strange custom had formed.
The Netherworld Spring Monastery possessed five prefectures in total.
You Prefecture, Sand Prefecture (Lifeless Desert), Peach Prefecture, Bamboo Mountain Prefecture, and Eastern Sea Prefecture. On the Scarlet Luan mainland, they formed the shape of a long, fat worm with a bulging belly.
Moreover, they extended a large portion along the eastern coast. Eastern Sea Prefecture was their headquarters and the most prosperous.
Wang Yu did not intervene in any conflicts, passing by using the Invisibility Art. Ordinary cultivators had difficulty detecting his traces, and he encountered no hitches along the way.
He arrived quite smoothly at the southern border of You Prefecture. This place was quite close to the tail-end of Chasing Moon Prefecture—Wanglong City!
The City Lord of Wanglong was Wei Hao. He had met Wang Yu once before in Gui Ling and had been quite friendly. Among the six dead City Lords of the new nine cities in Chasing Moon Prefecture, Wei Hao's name was not listed.
Perhaps, being located in a remote area, he had been spared.
After arriving in this vicinity.
Wang Yu entered a border city named **[Yellow-White City]**. Using some means, he gathered information on the recent situation in Chasing Moon Prefecture.
Those matters widely circulated were not difficult to learn.
Details regarding the negotiations between the two hegemon factions were more challenging to obtain.
Six years' time.
As expected, there was almost no progress. Currently, it was a deadlocked stage. On the Chasing Moon Prefecture front, the Sacred Sect City Lords were frantically employing their connections and resources to seize the opportunity to deploy more forces.
For them, this was a great merit of expanding territory. The benefits brought by city sovereignty were actually secondary.
And here in Yellow-White City, there were also many Netherworld Spring Monastery cultivators.
They too were taking advantage of the negotiation deadlock to dispatch numerous inner and outer sect disciples, stationing them in this new border city.
Once the negotiations yielded a result, they could immediately launch an attack to seize the final three cities and re-incorporate Chasing Moon Prefecture under Netherworld Spring Monastery rule.
Both sides were deploying troops, gathering generals, and amassing strength. Seeing the small details revealed the larger picture.
Perhaps once the negotiations concluded, a final battle would be fought here to determine city sovereignty.
At this moment.
In a wine tavern where Wang Yu was temporarily staying, several Netherworld Spring Monastery disciples walked in, led by a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
They had just sat down at an empty table.
One disciple, seeing Wang Yu with his mask, whispered a few words to his companions. Then the group uniformly surrounded him.
"Fellow Daoist, currently Chasing Moon Prefecture is in a state of war. This place is closest to the remaining three cities held by the Sacred Sect thieves. There are many spies and informants here. Could you prove your identity?"
Wang Yu set down his wine cup. From Ancient Fang City to here, this was the only city he had entered, and he hadn't expected to be interrogated.
"Esteemed ones, this humble one is merely a loose cultivator. I don't know how to prove my identity."
"Loose cultivator?"
The few men exchanged glances. The Foundation Establishment leader rubbed his fingers together.
"Simple. Fellow Daoist, just let this Yang inspect your storage bag."
Wang Yu pondered for a moment, then retrieved a storage bag from his robe.
This was the one he used for miscellaneous items, mostly things he couldn't use and could sell off at any time. He took out several pill bottles from it.
He said calmly,
"Four bottles of first-rank, high-grade spirit pills. Will that suffice as proof?"
One bottle contained nine pills, worth nearly ten thousand low-grade spirit stones—enough to buy the lives of these Qi Condensation cultivators. The Foundation Establishment leader took them, showing no intention of sharing with his subordinates.
He waved a hand, preparing to leave with his men.
But then he heard one person say unwillingly,
"Why are you sneaking around wearing a mask? Take it off and let us have a look."
"Ah... Why bother?!"
*(End of Chapter)*