Chapter 140: The Soul-Refining Bowl

Ge Qian swept his divine awareness across the room and stepped into the attic, discovering it was divided into four levels: the first level contained treasures for Foundation Establishment stage cultivators, the second for Core Formation stage, the third for Nascent Soul stage, and the fourth for Spirit Refinement stage.

Based on his own strength, Ge Qian could barely enter the second level, but the third was beyond his reach. He was not greedy; gaining access to the second level was already more than enough.

Inside, countless volumes of scriptures awaited—secret techniques, mystical arts, and curious anecdotes. He carefully selected several secret arts and took a substantial amount of Core Essence Pills.

The demonic sword energy in his dantian stirred slightly. Ge Qian walked over and picked up a jade box sealed with talisman paper. Inside was an exquisite high-grade Demon-Condensing Pill, a supreme elixir for demon cultivators advancing to the third rank.

He smiled faintly and stored it away, then meticulously examined the treasures. Some were useless to him and were thus ignored. After all, this was the treasure trove of the Heavenly Star Sect, meant to be shared among other Core Formation cultivators. Being trusted by the sect leader, he could not afford to be overly greedy or reckless.

Ge Qian resolved that once he grew stronger, he would replenish every item he had taken, thus repaying the Heavenly Star Sect’s kindness in full.

After countless rounds of selection, he stumbled upon a Formation Pill, which brought him a subtle thrill. This pill greatly increased the chances of successfully forming a core, akin to the Seven Orifices Pill in effect. The last item was a black primordial cauldron inscribed with rapidly flashing runes, shrouded in dark mist and overflowing with resentment. Countless faces of primordial souls writhed and moaned in torment, trapped in a torturous limbo between life and death.

It was clearly a treasure used for soul cultivation in the ghost path, and he wondered how it had fallen into the Heavenly Star Sect’s possession.

Ge Qian pondered briefly, then took the primordial cauldron with him. Judging the time to be right, he immediately produced the sect leader’s token, formed a hand seal, and the token rippled with countless waves that enveloped him, teleporting him out of the small training ground.

He reappeared before Zhou Tian.

Zhou Tian opened his eyes and briefly surveyed Ge Qian’s divine awareness before withdrawing it.

Ge Qian steadied himself and said, “Elder Supreme, I have finished selecting the treasures. Here is the list. Please take a look.”

Zhou Tian’s divine sight scanned the list, his face showing a hint of confusion. “Why did you take the Soul Cultivation Cauldron? It contains the primordial souls of all the sect’s traitors and those disciples who committed grave offenses against sect rules. They are imprisoned there, suffering the cauldron’s eternal torment so their sins may be purged.”

Ge Qian was momentarily stunned. So that cauldron was specifically used to punish traitors, and he had inadvertently taken it.

He explained, “Elder Supreme, I believe punishment, no matter how severe, cannot restore the past. The seeds of sin have already been sown. Unless those seeds are uprooted, continuing to torment the sower is futile. It would be cleaner and more thorough to simply erase all traces of them.”

Zhou Tian furrowed his brow but secretly admired the young man’s unconventional thinking. “Very well, do as you wish. If it proves useful to you, keep it. After all, they are all guilty—if you can make use of them, there is no need for them to suffer further.”

Ge Qian nodded. “Elder Supreme, if there is nothing else, I will take my leave.”

Zhou Tian said, “You may go,” then closed his eyes and resumed meditation.

Ge Qian exited Heavenly Star Peak, mounted his sword, and returned to Chaos Ridge, his abode.

He activated the sealed formation, preparing to enter seclusion for cultivation.

Sitting cross-legged, he took out the Formation Pill and sensed Liu Qian’s aura. Forming the “Fated Three Lives” hand seal, he locked the pill’s effect on her, then used “Stealing the Beam and Replacing the Pillar” to take a strand of her hair, leaving behind the Formation Pill and a communication talisman.

At that moment, Liu Qian was immersed in the “Six Desires Heart Capturing Technique.” Suddenly, a familiar aura passed through the void, taking one of her hairs and leaving a fragrant pill and a communication talisman in exchange.

Liu Qian smiled softly, pocketed the pill, and pressed the talisman to her forehead.

Inside was Ge Qian’s message: “Sister Liu, seize this opportunity to cultivate diligently and improve your realm. I offer you this Formation Pill in hopes you will soon advance to the Core Formation stage. After I emerge from seclusion, I will come to inquire about all your experiences. Should you encounter any difficulties, feel free to send messages through the talisman.”

A warm glow filled Liu Qian’s heart, and a knowing smile crossed her face. She was well aware of the pill’s value—it was priceless and rarely sold; who would part with such a treasure instead of consuming it themselves?

She said, “Brother Ge, I will not disappoint you. When we meet again, I will be a Core Formation cultivator.”

Having completed this, Ge Qian felt considerably more at ease. Among all his friends, only Liu Qian had average talent and thus required the Formation Pill the most.

He shook his spiritual beast pouch, and with a flash of white light, the little white fox appeared before him.

The little white fox looked somewhat aggrieved, stretching its pure white body and flicking its two lively tails.

Ge Qian sighed. The little white fox was now at the peak of the second stage and was on the verge of advancing, yet for some reason, it had encountered a bottleneck.

Fortunately, this time Ge Qian had a solution.

“Little White,” he said, “I am about to enter seclusion to break through to the Core Formation stage. You must work hard as well. I know you’ve hit a bottleneck, but don’t worry. Look—what is this? It will help you.”

He produced a jade box inscribed with runes and opened it.

Inside was a pill shimmering with demonic energy, leaping and swirling. With Mei Die’s sharp eyes, she immediately recognized it. When they were in the Ten Thousand Demons Mountain, such pills were plentiful and of little value, but in human territories, they were exceedingly rare. Scarcity made them precious, and thus highly valuable.

Mei Die wrote on the ground with her paw: “Thank you. This pill is extremely precious. It’s just what I needed to break through my bottleneck.”

Ge Qian placed the pill into the little white fox’s mouth. “Go to your spiritual beast chamber and cultivate your breakthrough.”

Gratefully, Mei Die entered the chamber.

Only then did Ge Qian calm his mind and begin his own cultivation.

Within his dantian, the six-paths furnace continuously rotated, suppressing fragments of evil energy. The cycle of the six realms spun ceaselessly.

Ge Qian mobilized his magical power. Eighty-nine sword auras, each accompanied by flames of varying attributes, burst forth from the six-paths furnace, refining the evil fragments. The malevolent energy trembled and struggled, desperately seeking escape.

Ge Qian unleashed “Twists and Turns of the Peak,” shattering the evil fragments’ defenses, then “Drawing the Fire from the Cauldron’s Bottom,” extracting a trace of the original evil energy.

A small tree had appeared unknown to him, hovering above the furnace. It immediately devoured the extracted evil energy, then emitted a shockwave that yielded a drop of pure evil energy essence.

Absorbed entirely by the Asura cyclone, the cyclone seemed invigorated, gaining speed and power.

Thus, the cycle continued, and three years swiftly passed.

Suddenly, Ge Qian roared. The six-paths furnace contracted sharply, crushing the nearly shattered evil fragments completely. A suffocating wave of evil energy erupted violently. To others, this would surely have shattered their bodies.

But Ge Qian’s dantian was extraordinarily resilient, with a volume eighteen times that of an ordinary cultivator’s. Coupled with the divine small tree, it was like a tiger with wings, absorbing all the evil energy entirely.

Ge Qian practiced the Asura chapter of the “Six Paths Sword Technique,” condensing his Core Formation.

The Asura cyclone expanded fiercely, tearing in the evil energy. Countless fragments of evil energy surged from tens of miles around, and the subterranean earth’s evil energy was also sucked out.

Above Ge Qian’s abode, a vortex a hundred zhang in diameter formed, into which infinite spiritual energy and evil energy poured.

The vortex grew larger and larger, eventually spreading over an area of a hundred mu. The sky darkened, and thick black clouds gathered ominously.