Chapter 6: Alchemy? Or Refining People!
The essence blood wrapped in black flames had no energy fluctuations whatsoever; it even felt like jelly to the touch, and the black flames surrounding it did not transmit any heat. Yao Yan swallowed it with ease, without any pain, and it went down smoothly.
But before Yao Yan could feel confused, an indescribable sharp pain surged from his abdomen throughout his entire body. The Dou Qi cyclone he had cultivated for nearly ten years was torn apart in an instant, and every bone in his body felt as if it had been hammered. The intense pain directly caused his vision to black out, and he let out a cry of agony. His originally ruddy complexion turned ashen white, and he was drenched in cold sweat.
At this moment, he could barely remain conscious, feeling his Dou Qi vanish completely, while the essence blood he had swallowed was like an insatiable glutton, beginning to devour the Bloodline Power within him.
The pain, like having his bones drawn out and marrow sucked, was simply beyond words.
"Very good, you've seized this opportunity. Life and death, strong and weak, are all filtered out through repeated choices. Endure it, and in the future, you will be a strong one!"
Soul Void Zi clearly appreciated Yao Yan's decisiveness. Knowing the extremely high risk, the other party only hesitated for a moment before resolutely swallowing it. He was very satisfied with this grasp of opportunity, after all, in these years, he had seen too many people who feared death yet wanted to become stronger.
In this world, to gain something, one must inevitably pay something.
To become a strong one, you must be more ruthless than others, more daring to fight, and better at seizing opportunities to gamble for that sliver of hope!
Yao Yan had already lost the ability to speak at this moment. He could only curl up on the ground, like a boiled shrimp, enduring the waves of pain in his body. His special Soul Strength allowed him to remain conscious at this moment, clearly feeling all these changes and Soul Void Zi's whispers.
Damn you!!
Yao Yan's face was distorted, and he continuously cursed Soul Void Zi's entire Family, including his unknown mother, to vent the panic and unwillingness in his heart.
He had always known the cruelty of the Xuanhuan world, but he never expected it to come so quickly.
Without any preparation.
It didn't give him a chance to grow.
Soul Void Zi floated in mid-air, the smile on his face already gone. With his Soul Strength, he was fully aware of every subtle change in Yao Yan's body at this moment. This was only the first step of Fusion. If Yao Yan couldn't even endure this step, then there was obviously no need to continue.
The Devouring Spirit Clan's Bloodline was extremely overbearing; ordinary people simply couldn't bear it. If Yao Yan hadn't possessed the Dou Di Bloodline and strong vitality, he would have undoubtedly died instantly at this moment.
The Devouring Spirit Clan's Bloodline is very interesting.
Ordinary people cannot bear it, and if the Bloodline Power is too strong, it cannot be compatible. To find the balance point between the two, one can only continuously experiment.
As the black flames enveloping the essence blood gradually dissipated, the essence blood swallowed by Yao Yan completely unleashed its power, frantically devouring everything within Yao Yan's body: vitality, Bloodline Power, Dou Qi... It was like a famished glutton, devouring everything it could in its surroundings.
This point was somewhat similar to the Void Swallowing Flame, except one was a naturally formed Heavenly Flame, while the other was a living being!
Soon.
Yao Yan no longer had the strength to curse Soul Void Zi's mother. As a six-star Dou Master, how much could his body contain for the Devouring Spirit Clan's essence blood to devour? In just a few breaths, his body had already shriveled, like a deflated balloon, and his consciousness also began to blur.
"The Medicine Clan Bloodline indeed has stronger vitality. Compared to the Soul Clan's Dou Di Bloodline, it contains more life energy and is more resilient to torment..."
Soul Void Zi looked at Yao Yan, who had been sucked into a human husk by the essence blood, his eyes flickering as he muttered to himself.
He had known this for a long time.
He had conducted many such experiments, even on his own clansmen.
Soon, Yao Yan's youthful body became a mummified object, even his hair was dry and lusterless.
"The first step is done. It seems this little fellow has good willpower."
Soul Void Zi looked at the gradually calming essence blood and muttered in a low voice. Immediately, a terrifying Soul Strength, enveloped by the Void Swallowing Flame's sub-flame, covered Yao Yan. The ethereal black flames instantly covered Yao Yan's shriveled body.
The black flames burned fiercely, without any temperature or aura leaking out, formless and intangible.
As Soul Void Zi flipped his palm, the black flames on it surged. The space in his palm began to twist, and a jade bottle covered in black flames appeared. As it opened, a rich Bloodline Power surged out, causing the surrounding Heaven and Earth energy to tremble slightly, instinctively gathering towards it.
If not for the Void Swallowing Flame enveloping the surrounding space, perhaps the entire Medicine Clan would have erupted at this moment.
Because this bottle contained the Medicine Clan's Dou Di Bloodline, which Soul Void Zi had extracted from the corpse of a Medicine Clan Dou Saint. The violent energy contained within it had been refined and swallowed by the Void Swallowing Flame, leaving only the purest Bloodline Power.
In this era, only the Void Swallowing Flame, which had swallowed the Devouring Spirit Clan, could achieve this.
The Soul Clan maintained their Bloodline Power by this method, continuously extracting Bloodline Power from deceased clansmen and bestowing it upon their descendants.
They could even extract the Bloodline Power of other clans...
Yao Yan's Dou Di Bloodline concentration was ultimately too low to withstand the swallowing of this drop of essence blood. Because this drop of essence blood came from the last Swallowing Spirit King of the Devouring Spirit Clan, it was necessary to add Bloodline Power of the same Rank to harmonize it, maintaining a balance between the two, which might allow them to perfectly fuse.
Soul Void Zi showed no heartache, directly pouring this precious essence blood onto Yao Yan's body.
Because even if it failed, he was confident he could extract it from Yao Yan's body. As a Nine-Rank Mysterious Pill Grandmaster, he had this much confidence. This kind of experiment, for him, incurred no loss. As for Yao Yan's life... this world had no shortage of weak ones' lives.
Drops of blood, like jade, fell. Under the refining of the Void Swallowing Flame, they transformed into wisps of ethereal Qi and surged into Yao Yan's body.
As they surged in, Yao Yan's body, which had just calmed down, began to convulse again, and his consciousness, which should have been unconscious, became clear under the strengthening of this powerful Bloodline Power. Even his Soul Strength became stronger by a few points, allowing him to clearly perceive everything around him.
At the same time, that intense pain swept deep into his Soul, driving him mad.
His already shriveled body now directly ruptured. If not for being enveloped by the Void Swallowing Flame, Yao Yan's body would not have been able to maintain its human form.
Neither this Dou Di Bloodline nor the Swallowing Spirit King's essence blood was something Yao Yan could bear at this moment.
Soul Void Zi was indifferent to this. His attention was focused on the clash between the two Bloodlines. He needed to find their balance point and simultaneously refine them into Yao Yan's body. This method was very similar to Alchemy, equivalent to forging and reshaping Yao Yan's body.
Among Soul Void Zi's past failed cases, many were due to people voluntarily giving up because they couldn't bear the pain. As for the consequences of giving up, they were naturally refined by the Void Swallowing Flame, and the essence blood was re-extracted. As an Alchemy Grandmaster, he had patience and feared no failure.
Time slowly passed, and Yao Yan was in excruciating pain, yet he couldn't even curse, only passively enduring.
Every second felt incredibly long.
After an unknown amount of time, Yao Yan was almost numb from the pain, and his consciousness began to blur. Yet, the two overbearing Bloodline Power within him still refused to yield to each other, seemingly treating his body as a battlefield, vying for every inch of land. And in this process, his body actually gradually began to adapt to these two Bloodline Power, especially the Medicine Clan's Dou Di Bloodline Power, which surprisingly began to actively merge with it, without any repulsion, unexpectedly compatible.
"Oh?"
Soul Void Zi keenly noticed this point and couldn't help but mutter, "Indeed, only one's own clansmen are more compatible."
Over the past thousand years, the Soul Clan, relying on the Void Swallowing Flame and the Devouring Spirit Clan's sub-bodies, had devoured many other ancient families. The Bloodline Power obtained was far less compatible than what Yao Yan was currently fusing. It required many methods, and some even needed to start from the fetal stage.
As this vast Bloodline Power integrated into Yao Yan's body, the powerful Bloodline Power quickly repaired Yao Yan's damaged body and nourished his Soul, gradually awakening his consciousness. At the same time, the bone-deep pain struck again, but this time, he endured it!
Because he didn't want to die, at least not so inexplicably!
"The second step is done. Next is the final step. Whether it succeeds or not depends on your luck."
Soul Void Zi said in an unperturbed tone, because he himself had no certainty about this final step and could only gamble.
As his words fell, his immense Soul Strength controlled the Void Swallowing Flame's sub-flame to shatter the Swallowing Spirit King's essence blood into tens of thousands of strands. Then, with the Void Swallowing Flame's sub-flame enveloping each strand of Bloodline Power, he forcibly integrated them into Yao Yan's body. At this moment, Yao Yan was fusing with his own clan's Dou Di Bloodline Power. With the Void Swallowing Flame's unique characteristics, it could completely seize the opportunity to refine the Swallowing Spirit King's essence blood into it.
This was clearly not the first time Soul Void Zi had done this.
Almost instantly, Yao Yan's will was dispersed, and his body underwent an abnormal change. A violent, bloodthirsty, evil aura emerged, his eyes turned blood-red and frantic, losing all reason, possessing only the instincts of a Vicious Beast. He also let out roars, like a crazed Vicious Beast, frantically twisting his body.
To this, Soul Void Zi's eyes flashed with brilliance. Not only did he not stop, but he accelerated the refining speed, because he discovered that Yao Yan's body actually endured and did not directly collapse with the integration of the Swallowing Spirit King's essence blood.
This was the first case in a hundred years!
As the essence blood completely integrated, the sinister and violent aura on Yao Yan became increasingly intense, until Yao Yan's glabella split open, and a dark red vertical eye appeared.
The cold and emotionless blood-colored vertical pupil was filled with an indescribable aura, as if it wanted to devour everything.
Soul Void Zi's Soul Strength, which enveloped Yao Yan's body, trembled, as if being spied upon by some high-ranking being. However, this situation only lasted for an instant, because Yao Yan was too weak, so weak that he couldn't cause him any trouble at all.
"It's done?!"
Soul Void Zi looked at the youth who resembled a member of the Devouring Spirit Clan, his tone filled with a hint of surprise.
However, Soul Void Zi quickly discovered the problem. Yao Yan had no reason, only madness. His Soul seemed to be contaminated by the Swallowing Spirit King's essence blood. This clearly couldn't be considered a success; he didn't want a madman. After a brief deliberation, he directly used the Void Swallowing Flame to distort space and took out an Eight-Rank Medicinal Pill, the Soul Purifying Pill.
This pill was prepared by him for the Heavenly Venerates of the Soul Hall who liked to devour other people's Souls. It could purify the Soul and eliminate the lingering side effects of devouring other people's Souls.
This was also a method the Soul Hall used to Cultivate its subordinates.
Without hesitation, he controlled the Medicinal Pill to float into Yao Yan's mouth, and then used the Void Swallowing Flame's sub-flame to help him refine it, to prevent any other changes in his body.
Yao Yan, as he was now, was a rare treasure to him, his value definitely surpassing a Nine-Rank Treasure Pill.
He didn't want anything to go wrong at this final step.
At the same time.
Yao Yan felt himself immersed in chaotic memories. Countless murderous and bloodthirsty impulses continuously surged into his mind, causing his consciousness to sink into them, until a cool sensation swept through his Soul, pulling him out of it..