Chapter Eight: The Boundless Sea of Spirit and the Art of Sealing
Refining Spirit Cauldron!
These were the last three words Lei Xiang read from those texts. Now, he believed the old madman—it truly was a peerless cultivation method, although it was limited to the art of artifact refinement, with extremely weak offensive power. Its only advantage was an astonishing speed of cultivation.
“I’m not sure what level this technique is, but at the very least, it's stronger than the Dragon-Elephant Divine Technique.”
The technique was called the Divine Refinement Record, authored by Chi Lian Shen. It was divided into seven stages. Ultimately, the practitioner could consume gold scales, xiao wood, silverwater, rare earth, and blazing fire, tempering them within for forty-nine years, and cultivate the Refined Spirit Cauldron.
Once the cauldron emerged, nothing would be unrefinable!
Lei Xiang withdrew his spiritual sense from his sea of consciousness, but could not suppress a surge of excitement. His greatest dream was to create a sniper gun artifact and become the number one gun master. To do so, he needed to learn artifact forging, and the Divine Refinement Record was among the best choices. As he slowly opened his eyes, he saw a person.
A withered old man in black, his beady, yellowish eyes like a rat’s.
The old madman?
How did he manage to follow him here? Earlier, after being struck into the teleportation array by a straw sandal, Lei Xiang’s spiritual sense had sensed the old madman being obliterated—how could he reappear here?
The old man squinted his ratlike eyes and grinned, “Young man, we meet again. It must be fate. Care to make a deal?”
Lei Xiang looked up at the ashen sky, the gray mountains, the bleak earth—there was nothing here but gray. “What deal?”
The old man’s smile vanished. He scrutinized Lei Xiang intently, then nodded with emphasis. “I know you have many questions, but you’re clever enough not to ask. The rest is none of your concern. The spiritual energy here is dense, and the Divine Refinement Record is an unparalleled cultivation method. You’ll cultivate here. Once you’re strong enough to slay a level-two beast, take me out with you.”
“And if I refuse?”
The old man’s rat eyes narrowed, his face contorted with menace. “Refuse, and I’ll kill you.”
“I wager you can’t.” Lei Xiang responded flatly.
Suddenly, the old man unleashed an overwhelming spiritual pressure, locking onto Lei Xiang. “I’ll kill you right now.” Lei Xiang felt an unprecedented crushing force, and collapsed to the ground, the very air around him seeming to congeal.
Yet he bared his small tiger teeth in a faint smile. “If you could kill me, you’d have done it already. Do you really think spiritual sense alone can take a life?”
The old man, enraged to laughter, retorted, “Little brat, if I cultivate the Divine Refinement Record to the utmost, I can unleash the astounding Soaring Swan’s Single Stroke. Care to try it?”
“I believe you, but I’m still betting.”
The old man regarded Lei Xiang as if he were some oddity, but Lei Xiang remained unhurried and explained, “Even if you possess such a technique, there must be some restriction—otherwise… heh.”
After a long silence, the old man gathered his spiritual sense, his appearance deflating as though air had been let out of him, looking suddenly much older. “Very well, you win.”
Lei Xiang secretly let out a breath. The immense spiritual pressure just now had been too much for him; even a hundred experts like Old Master Lei would pale in comparison. So what level of cultivation had this man once possessed?
Fortunately, Lei Xiang’s mental resilience was strong, and he had won this encounter.
“So tell me, why did you choose me?”
Upon hearing Lei Xiang’s question, the old man’s beady eyes flickered. “Because you have a strong mind. If you know how to use it, your absorption rate increases exponentially, your spiritual and mental strength are greater, and your divine sense will far surpass others of your level. That way, you can quickly master the Divine Refinement Record and break the seal on this place.”
Lei Xiang calculated silently. “He also said my mind is strong, which will increase my cultivation speed, and this technique’s fast progression will help me greatly with forging sniper guns.”
Seeing Lei Xiang silent, the old man continued earnestly, “My name is Zhu Chi, and I am somewhat famous on the Boundless Continent. I wouldn’t deceive a kid like you. I saw the blue gleam in your eyes—there’s a power there I dare not look directly at. It’s no ordinary thing. Once I study it, I can guide you to cultivate that blue light as your own technique.”
“I can also give you one of the Five Elemental Spiritual Roots. All you have to do is let me enter your sea of consciousness and take me out.”
Lei Xiang frowned. “You want to enter my sea of consciousness? What if you take over my body?”
Zhu Chi suddenly flew into a rage, stomping his feet. “You little rascal! I’m giving you a tremendous opportunity, and you still hesitate? Let me tell you, even a Foundation Establishment cultivator’s body doesn’t interest me, let alone a weakling like you. If you refuse, I’ll destroy you even at a cost to myself.”
But Lei Xiang shook his head firmly, replying with just three words: “I refuse!”
Zhu Chi’s beady eyes darted about, then he forced a smile and stopped him. “No need to be so hasty, young man. Let’s discuss this calmly. I have another way—you can bind my soul with a restrictive spell. Will that suffice?”
Lei Xiang spread his hands, “Sorry, my sea of consciousness is too small to house a true deity like you.”
Zhu Chi was about to flare up, but then realized that in hundreds of years, he had finally found a suitable candidate. If he let this one go, who knew when another would appear? So he softened his tone. “I know your sea of consciousness is already vaster than that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator after your lightning tempering. Besides, I can teach you how to partition your sea of consciousness, so you can just confine me to a corner.”
Lei Xiang’s pupils contracted. “So many generous terms? It seems saving you is no easy feat.”
Zhu Chi sighed, resentment and venom flashing in his beady eyes. “Once I was a formidable figure, but I fell victim to envy and was ensnared, ambushed, and forced to abandon my body. My soul was then trapped by the Dark Death Talisman and thrown into this hellish place to suffer.”
“You can’t leave? Didn’t your split soul just appear outside?”
The old man smiled bitterly. “You don’t understand the power of the Dark Death Talisman. Once marked, you can’t be exposed to wind, light, or water. Otherwise, within an hour you’ll be annihilated.”
“No wonder the split soul outside self-destructed,” Lei Xiang finally understood, weighing the pros and cons.
“Tell me about this partitioning and confining method. I’ll consider it.”
Seeing Lei Xiang’s tone soften, Zhu Chi’s eyes lit up. “The partitioning method is called Boundless Divine Sea. It allows you to divide your sea of consciousness into regions, while the confining spell, called the Spirit Lock, can seal a soul so it can only move within a set area.”
“Everyone needs to manage their sea of consciousness. Boundless Divine Sea makes partitioning easy and takes just three to five days to learn. The Spirit Lock, however, takes at least three months to master.”
Lei Xiang frowned, “That long? I don’t have time to stay here with you—I have a mission.”
Zhu Chi laughed. “No problem. Let me tell you a secret—here, time is abundant. One year outside is but a day here. It’s an excellent place to cultivate. Besides, don’t you need to gather beast pelts? There are plenty here. Once you level up, you can easily kill a few yourself.”
Lei Xiang wasn’t surprised that Zhu Chi could deduce his purpose. He was now convinced Zhu Chi was at least at the Core Formation stage or above. “Why does one year become a day here?”
“Because this place is under the Timeless Gold Array, powered by the Purplewood Spiritual Root. If not for the deadly Dark Death Talisman, I’d be happy to cultivate here until the Immortal Ranking competition.”
Six days later, Lei Xiang rose from meditation. Through diligent study and deduction, he had mastered the sealing techniques completely. “Senior, shall we begin?”
Zhu Chi stared in disbelief at the unremarkable youth before him, his eyes gleaming with astonishment. “Six days to master both the Spirit Lock and Boundless Divine Sea? That’s a month less than it took me—this is monstrous, truly unnatural speed.”
“Indeed, an apt student!” Zhu Chi exclaimed in delight. “Let me make the preparations. You may begin.” As he spoke, his feet faded, followed by his legs and arms, then his body and head, until he vanished, leaving only a faint wisp of black smoke.
Watching the smoke, Lei Xiang formed seals with his hands, chanting a complex incantation. The black smoke was drawn smoothly between his palms as the spell continued. Zhu Chi’s soul gradually merged and compressed, until it became a black sphere the size of a fist, soft and elastic, somewhere between gas and liquid.
At last, Lei Xiang uttered a final word, “Seal!” Instantly, countless glowing squares materialized and shot toward the black soul sphere. Each square shrank as it snapped onto the sphere, wrapping Zhu Chi’s soul tightly. When the nine hundred ninety-ninth square locked in place, Lei Xiang flipped his hand and sent the soul sphere into his own mind.
At the same time, Lei Xiang wiped away sweat and sat cross-legged, focusing his mind inward. The situation within his sea of consciousness was instantly clear.
A boundless, dim expanse, with occasional points of light—the soul of Zhu Chi. In the darkness, the black sphere was hard to spot, so only sporadically could its presence be sensed.
Suddenly, the black sphere shuddered, bounced back, and a long yellow line appeared in its path, blocking the way. The sphere paused, then turned to follow the line, only to be blocked by another. Again and again, it was diverted by the yellow lines, tracing a path through the endless gray.
After a full circuit, with all four yellow lines activated, the black sphere finally halted, and Zhu Chi’s voice rang out in Lei Xiang’s mind.
“Good lad, the synergy of Boundless Divine Sea and the Spirit Lock is marvelous—truly the pupil surpasses the master. But you little rascal, you’re so stingy—giving me such a tiny space, it's suffocating in here.”
Lei Xiang smiled faintly, “Senior, you can’t blame me. As a mere Qi Refining cultivator, my sea of consciousness is already small. I’ve already set aside half the space for you.”
Zhu Chi cackled, “Trying to play tricks on me? To tell the truth, I modified the parameters of that Spirit Lock, so I can break your seal at any time.”
Lei Xiang replied coolly, “Is that so?” Even as he spoke, yellow lines flared on the black soul sphere, binding it ever tighter, making it tremble violently.
“Ah, no… you dare—!”
Lei Xiang grinned, flashing his tiger teeth. “A few tweaks to the parameters are nothing to a top student in mechatronics. I already saw through and changed them. Let’s see how you get out now.”
“All right, stop—enough, I yield!”
When the yellow lines faded, the black soul sphere still quivered intermittently. “What is mechatronics… I gave you such benefits, and you treat me like this?”
“Caution is never amiss. I told you I wouldn’t trust you easily.”
Zhu Chi’s thought echoed, “I only changed the parameters to guard against you betraying me. I meant no harm. Besides, I’ll guide your cultivation so you can form your Nascent Soul and break the Dark Death Talisman. You’re sharp enough to know that if I self-destruct and drag you down, you won’t survive either. We’re bound together now.”
Lei Xiang’s face was somber, and he said nothing.
“I’m exhausted now, my soul is very weak. I’ll tell you where the Purplewood Spiritual Root is. Once you claim it, this place will wither. Then, kill a level-two beast and we’ll be free. I need to rest—don’t disturb me unless it’s important.”
P.S.: One more chapter before ten o’clock.