After crying, she felt regret: "Why did I sever ties with the Lingxiao Sect? Alas, I was too hasty. The Lingxiao Sect was half my home, how could I just cut it off like that?"
Mo Qi decided not to dwell on it. What was the point of thinking so much? Becoming stronger was the only hard truth. When facing enemies, only one's own strength was truly reliable. He found a secluded cave to refine the soul body of the Skeleton Daoist. However, the lesson from Wu Fan had still affected him. Wu Fan's incessant chatter echoed in his ears, making it impossible to refine smoothly. In the end, he had no choice but to release the soul body from his body, letting it drift in the air or enter reincarnation, depending on its own fate.
He would find other ways to improve himself. He recalled refining the Indestructible Vajra Pill using his body as a furnace. That feeling of invincibility, of enemies seeing his flesh laid bare yet being unable to touch it, the helplessness and despair – it was truly exhilarating.
But that strength was only present during the refinement. If the enemy pressed too hard, there was no time to refine pills, and he couldn't summon the "Golden Armored Divine Robe." Moreover, once the medicinal effects wore off, he would be "exposed in his true form." Therefore, the most reliable method was to forge his body into a truly indestructible and eternal Vajra body, rather than a fleeting illusion.
He began to refine pills using his body again. Last time, it was in the midst of battle, and some medicinal ingredients were not adequately prepared, so he rushed the refinement. This time, he had ample time to prepare, ample time to experience and ponder the details, allowing him to adjust and improve continuously during the refining process.
Furthermore, his previous refinement had accumulated rich experience, making this refinement smoother and more mature. However, last time, the furnace fire primarily relied on the power of the Blazing Daoist, while this time, he relied entirely on his own Flame Fire divine ability. But this time, he could control the heat more precisely, resulting in pills of better quality and appearance.
Yet, the outcome was the same: no pill would form. It would be continuously absorbed by his body during the refinement, reaching the highest realm of the unity of man and pill. After several days of refinement, he felt his body had clearly transformed. That golden battle robe had silently etched itself into his flesh and bones, though it was still thin. If he wanted to achieve immortality and invincibility, he would likely need to continue refining in the future and strengthen it through actual combat.
After finishing the pill refining, he also completed the seventh layer of the Divine Mind Vajra Art. This brought his internal and external states into balance, allowing his spirit and body to grow in sync, complementing each other.
Since he could refine pills with his body, after strengthening his body, he could also use it for artifact refining. The Earth Arrow within him was undoubtedly a heavenly treasure. If it could be refined further, it would not only strengthen his magical artifacts but also lead to a leap in his cultivation. However, the first thing to confirm was whether the Earth Arrow could be refined further. For such heavenly treasures, their spiritual power was already at its peak, and the possibility of further refinement was minuscule. He could only try it out first.
So, he extracted more spiritual herbs, organized them to the standard for medicinal use, and then consumed the herbs. Using his spiritual sense, he located the Earth Arrow and guided it with his Flame Fire divine ability. After several hours of refining, the Earth Arrow emitted a dull humming sound, spinning to form a vortex that slowly absorbed the spiritual power of the herbs. Mo Qi was overjoyed and continued to urge his spiritual power for refinement. After the Earth Arrow absorbed all the spiritual power, he exchanged energy with it, enhancing his own cultivation. Silently, his cultivation advanced to the late stage of Core Formation.
He also recalled his time with the Snow Girl in the underground barrier. The explosive furnace he intentionally created during his pill refining had an unprecedented power, but in actual combat, there would be no opportunity for such a process. Therefore, could he refine a "Blast Pill" with equivalent power in advance? Theoretically, it would require some potent ingredients and a magical artifact. Then, one would continuously heat it, disregarding the artifact's spiritual power expansion, and before the furnace exploded, use a suppression talisman to contain it. Suppression talismans had the effect of redirecting a thousand pounds with four ounces, effectively preventing the furnace from exploding. This way, he could pack the furnace into a storage bag, creating a massive "Blast Pill." The next time he needed to use it, he could take it out of the storage bag and heat it slightly, and it would immediately explode. With such a world-destroying killer weapon for self-defense, he felt a sense of security during every day and night leading up to the heavenly tribulation.
After planning all the steps, he began to put them into action. He placed the crystal obtained from the giant crocodile into the crystallization chamber, then sequentially placed the carefully purified ingredients into the raw material chamber and began the refinement.
On the Divine Turtle Sect's side, under the combined assault of the Four Great Sects and the Lingxiao Sect, the barrier was quickly breached. Myriad cultivators surged in, and Xiao Bai had no choice but to declare surrender. However, at this moment, the cultivators had already drawn their sabers; how could there be no bloodshed? Thus, a bloody battle was inevitable. Xiao Bai was forced to resist with his disciples. Shen Guishan experienced a rain of blood, accompanied by piercing screams.
After a long while, amidst the wails, a faint low hum arose, as if the declaration of an awakening demon from the depths of hell, or the sigh of fallen gods from the nine heavens, striking directly at the soul. At that moment, everyone stopped fighting, looking around in panic. A terrifying power surged into their hearts, yet they didn't know where the threat originated.
A series of rumbling sounds echoed from underground, like rolling thunder, approaching from afar and then gradually receding. Afterward, the entire ground shook, houses collapsed, and dust flew everywhere. Wails and screams erupted again as people rushed about in chaos, utterly panicked.
The sect leaders and elders of the Four Great Sects and the Lingxiao Sect all stood on the clouds. They had witnessed the changes in Shen Guishan. At some point, a small mountain had grown from the sect's gate and was continuously extending forward, like a turtle stretching out its head. Simultaneously, the entire Shen Guishan was slowly moving forward and sinking. In a short period, a wide pit appeared on the ground, gradually extending and deepening.
Everyone was stunned by the sight before them.
"The Divine Turtle has awakened?" Master Zhang murmured. Although the facts spoke for themselves, he still found it hard to believe his eyes. The others were also utterly astonished.
"Quickly order the disciples on the mountain to evacuate," Wu Fan was the first to regain his senses and transmitted a message to Geng Xu, who had entered the Divine Turtle Sect.
The other sect leaders also transmitted messages to their disciples. The next moment, lights flashed like shuttles, soaring into the sky from the turtle's back, like a brilliant fireworks display. The disciples of the Four Great Sects and the Lingxiao Sect all appeared in mid-air.
At this moment, Liu Yazi's eyes suddenly darted, and he said to Elder Leng beside him, "You lead the forces of one peak up there to see if you can control the Divine Turtle. If you can't control it, return promptly." Elder Leng hesitated but dared not disobey, so he picked all the disciples of one peak and returned to the turtle's back.
There's such a move? The other three great sects were not to be outdone and also sent their disciples up. The rest stood on the clouds, watching the moving Shen Guishan. The mountain's momentum was getting lower and lower, clearly indicating it was submerging.
A moment later, with another low hum, the extending pit stopped. The Divine Turtle had completely submerged underground. Liu Yazi, ever full of ideas, immediately said to Ba Dun beside him, "Follow that pit to investigate and see where it has gone."
As Ba Dun was about to receive the order, the pit began to flood back in. To everyone's shocked eyes, it quickly filled the entire pit.
The air slowly condensed.
After an unknown amount of time, Liu Yazi tried to transmit a message to Elder Leng, but the transmission spirit stone received no reply from Elder Leng. The other three sects also tried, with the same result of no reply.
Zhong Gui's furious voice echoed in the air: "Old Man Liu, it was your terrible idea that caused the loss of thousands of my disciples."
Liu Yazi retorted without hesitation: "Don't slander me. When did I give you any advice? Did I tell you to copy me? I'm not your father, why would you follow me in whatever I do?"
"You..." Zhong Gui was so angry he puffed out his beard and glared, almost lunging to hit him, but was held back by others.
However, the cloud of anger quickly dissipated, as everyone soon became immersed in the joy of dividing the Divine Turtle Sect's territory. The Divine Turtle Sect's sphere of influence covered almost half of the Annan Realm, with the other half occupied by two other larger sects and countless small sects.
After a fierce debate, the Four Great Sects finally determined their respective spheres of influence. Whether it was due to Mo Qi's strong advocacy earlier or because everyone genuinely upheld fairness, the Lingxiao Sect also ended up with a piece of land.
In the cave, Mo Qi had finished refining the "Blast Pill," or more accurately, a blast furnace. He affixed a suppression talisman to the furnace, cooled and froze it with his Ice and Snow divine ability, and then placed it into his storage bag.
He then took out the small box he had obtained from the Skeleton Daoist. It contained a drop of Blood Daoist's residual blood and a wisp of residual soul. As if sensing hostility, it was now uneasily vibrating within the box, causing the box itself to tremble.
How could he make this drop of residual blood serve him? The scene of Blood Daoist's sea of blood trapping several people simultaneously was still vivid in his memory. If this residual blood could be utilized properly, it could inflict great damage in combat.
Suddenly, Mo Qi had an inspiration. He took out the Soul Shocking Pearl, opened his Heavenly Eye, and cast the Soul Suppressing Technique. A red light shot out from his Heavenly Eye, slowly flowing into the Soul Shocking Pearl. The Soul Shocking Pearl gradually turned red. Mo Qi touched the center, and the center gradually turned black. The blackness flickered, as if blinking.
Mo Qi slowly opened the box with his left hand. A red light shot out from within and immediately fled into the distance. Mo Qi flicked his finger at the Soul Shocking Pearl, and the pearl chased after it with even greater speed, instantly embedding itself into the residual blood.
The residual blood clump paused, then began to twist, deform, tremble, and jump, as if trying to shake off the Soul Shocking Pearl. However, the pearl was like a nail driven into it, impossible to dislodge.
Mo Qi formed a hand seal, unleashed the Soul Suppressing Technique, and fixed his gaze on the Soul Shocking Pearl. The blood clump gradually quieted down, suspended in mid-air, and slowly merged with the Soul Shocking Pearl. The irregular blood clump gradually took on a small human silhouette. At the position of the human silhouette's "brow," there was an outline of an eye, but it was merely an outline, without distinct eyelids, eyelashes, or eyeballs.
Mo Qi waved his hand, and the small blood figure also waved its hand.
"Success!" Mo Qi rejoiced. He pointed his finger, and the small blood figure flew back into the box.
Mo Qi put away the small box. His hand brushed against the two portraits that Bu Yi had given him in his storage bag. He had never seen what the people in the paintings looked like. Now that he had nothing to do, he observed them with interest. One portrait depicted Frog Daoist, while the other was unfamiliar, but its features were distinct, with a nose very much like a bull's. He definitely hadn't seen this person before. It seemed there were still some fish that had slipped through the net. He tore up the portrait of Frog Daoist and put away the other one.
Just then, his transmission spirit stone lit up, and Zhen Zhen's pleasant yet slightly hesitant voice came through: "Brother Mo, our Caiyun Kingdom is being plagued by demons causing havoc. You are powerful in magic; could you go and help my father subdue these demons?"
A disturbance suddenly came from the cave entrance. "Who?" Mo Qi shouted, his body already moving rapidly towards the cave entrance.
However, when he looked up, there was no one in sight.
He immediately activated his Heavenly Eye and looked closely. A graceful and enchanting figure was fleeing into the distance. It was Pei Ruxue!
He wondered why this woman was following him. Was she harboring ill intentions? He had saved her life this time. Even if they had a feud before, it should have been settled by now.
Mo Qi immediately took off in pursuit. Pei Ruxue activated her aerial evasion, thinking that Mo Qi wouldn't be able to catch her if he couldn't see her. She didn't run far before stopping and looking back. Mo Qi was already very close. She turned pale with fright and was about to flee again.
"You don't need to run. I saw you. Are you just going to leave without an explanation, Aunt Pei?" Mo Qi said.
Pei Ruxue revealed her true form and glared at Mo Qi, "You call me Aunt?"