Chapter 370: Chapter 255: Alchemy Furnace, Soul Refining Pill

Inside the maze, everyone was trapped with no way to escape. As time went on, they inevitably became irritable and anxious, and ugly scenes occurred one after another.

Qin Yuesheng’s heart stirred, and he instantly withdrew from this nothingness; the scene of the common dormitory room reappeared before his eyes.

"I suppose that maze is my Spirit Talent, the Twisted Maze." Qin Yuesheng stroked his chin. "That being said, those previous scenes should have all been illusions. That old fellow attacked my spirit, triggering a backlash from the Twisted Maze, trapping everyone’s spirit inside."

"Those three old fellows had an unusual standing in the illusions. They must know what’s truly happening in the Taicang Sect. Only by finding them can I force out the truth of this place."

Qin Yuesheng immediately stepped out of the room and swiftly began searching throughout the entire Taicang Sect.

Finally, in a room of a four-story wooden building, Qin Yuesheng successfully found three elderly men lying motionless on the ground.

Judging by their appearances, they were the three who acted mysteriously on the training platform in the illusion.

And the large furnace surrounded by the three instantly caught Qin Yuesheng’s attention.

Qin Yuesheng quickly took out the Exorcism Toad to check, and as expected, the malicious energy value had shockingly surpassed the three-thousand mark.

"Such heavy malicious energy." Qin Yuesheng walked up to the large furnace, flicked a finger, and the lid immediately spun into the air, clattering onto the side, revealing the situation inside the furnace.

Qin Yuesheng approached and looked down, seeing a blackened mass, full of all sorts of ashes, but amidst the myriad of ashes, a spot of green light was particularly noticeable, flickering with a breathing-like rhythm.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Chilling winds blew from within the furnace, sending shivers across Qin Yuesheng’s face. As he reached out, a fine layer of frost appeared to the touch.

"How astonishing." Although Qin Yuesheng had dealt with many sinister entities before, it was his first time encountering such intense malicious energy.

With a grasp of his Star-Picking Hand, the spot of green light immediately flew out of the furnace, floating mid-air.

Only then did Qin Yuesheng get a clear view of the object in the room’s firelight.

It turned out to be a grape-sized green orb.

"Could it be that these three old fellows were hiding here for Alchemy?" Qin Yuesheng began trying to control the Twisted Maze within his mental sea and swiftly released the spirit of one elderly man, throwing it back into his body.

Instantly, an elderly man lying on the ground slowly sat up, and before he could react, Qin Yuesheng slammed his foot onto his shoulder, pinning him to the ground, unable to rise.

"It’s you!" The elderly man, recognizing Qin Yuesheng, exclaimed in shock.

"Tell me, what exactly are you people secretly plotting?" Qin Yuesheng pointed to the green orb. "And what is this thing?"

"You dare offend my Taicang Sect. Once the Grand Sect Leader returns, he will grind you to dust!" Though pinned by Qin Yuesheng, the elderly man spoke firmly with undeniable authority.

"Let’s see how stubborn you can be." Qin Yuesheng conjured a handful of Life-and-Death Cold Ice Talismans and forced them into the elderly man’s mouth. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

These Life-and-Death Cold Ice Talismans would take five days to act, yet a large handful was enough to make someone feel an unbearable cold that pervaded to their bones at once, causing intense, bone-chilling pain that not even the toughest man could withstand, forcing them to submit.

Once Qin Yuesheng had emptied the handful of Life-and-Death Cold Ice Talismans, the elderly man’s face had already turned a frosty blue-purple, his lips bloodless and a ghostly pale.

"Will you talk or not?" Qin Yuesheng conjured another handful of Life-and-Death Cold Ice Talismans, preparing to force them down this old fellow’s throat again.

"Ah!"

A painful scream erupted, and the icy energy inside the elderly man suddenly exploded. At this moment, it felt as though countless ice blades were slicing under his skin, causing unbearable pain and constant writhing.

Unable to endure for more than a few breaths, the man immediately opted to compromise.

"I’ll talk! I’ll talk! Please save me!"

Qin Yuesheng extracted the Cold Ice Talisman from the elderly man’s body, and only then did the man take deep breaths, still in a state of fright.

"Hurry up and talk. We don’t have time to waste." Qin Yuesheng said.

"My name is Shangguan Lan, I’m an elder of the Qiu Mountain Sect."

"Qiu Mountain Sect? Then what is your connection to Taicang Sect, sneaking around another’s sect in the dead of night."

Shangguan Lan wore a bitter smile. "Here, here is the Qiu Mountain Sect."

"Oh? How so?"

Under Qin Yuesheng’s interrogation, Shangguan Lan reluctantly revealed everything.

"Three months ago, a youth joined our sect. I don’t know what kind of sinister technique he used, but his power increased rapidly. So I went to investigate myself; after all, when something is too unusual, there must be sorcery."

"At that time, the youth told me he had accidentally discovered and consumed a thousand-year vermilion fruit and later met a mysterious master who taught him martial arts, praising his extraordinary martial talent, thus enabling his rapid progress."

Qin Yuesheng said, "Could there be such coincidences in this world?"

The elderly man said, "I didn’t believe it either. The path of martial arts requires gradual progress, even with constant fortuitous encounters, there must be a limit, but the speed with which that youth increased his strength completely surpassed our understanding."

In less than two months, the disciples who bullied him, the senior brothers who argued with him, and even the sect stewards, were all defeated by him without exception.

Although it seems unbelievable, encountering such a uniquely talented disciple is indeed a blessing for our Qiu Mountain Sect. The Sect Leader personally took him as a disciple and taught him our sect’s ultimate skills. But little did we know, this child harbored ambitions as wild as a wolf, secretly controlling the Sect Leader, and in the Sect Leader’s name, he gathered the disciples of our sect to capture and seize the common people for him to use."

Qin Yuesheng said, "Isn’t your Sect Leader too weak if he can be controlled in secret by him?"

Shangguan Lan quickly shook his head: "No, it is truly because of this child’s strange demon technique that we fell into the trap and could only obey his orders."

Qin Yuesheng asked, "What’s with those Taicang Sect disciples? They seem rather dull, not like martial artists, more like fools."

"Most of them were not even martial artists to begin with, but common people forcibly brought here. We stripped them of their memories, making them believe they were Taicang Sect disciples."

Qin Yuesheng pointed to the large furnace: "Is it all because of this?"

Shangguan Lan nodded: "Yes, this furnace is a supreme treasure aimed at souls. It can not only erase others’ memories but also capture others’ soul power in dreams, using their souls as materials for refining the Divine Supplement Pill."

"Is it the disciple controlling your Sect Leader who wants you to do this?"

"Yes."

"Why do you obey him like this? Just find a chance to kill him, wouldn’t that solve everything?"

Shangguan Lan said: "It’s not that simple, his methods are unimaginable. The three of us have been hit with a Heart Gu by him, making us completely loyal to him, unable to harm him. Otherwise, if he activates the Heart Gu, we would die instantly."

Qin Yuesheng said: "What’s the connection between this and Qiu Mountain Sect becoming Taicang Sect?"

"Because that guy’s name is Jiang Taicang."

...

On the cliff of the shady side of Broken Sword Peak, the bright blood-red light spilled onto the ground, illuminating the earth in a white brilliance.

On a high platform entirely stacked with decayed wood, two men sat cross-legged.

One had a head full of white hair, broad shoulders, and a straight back, exuding an upright appearance.

The other had black hair fluttering in the wind, a red line tied at the center of his brow, tattoos all over his neck, looking sinister as if he were from the Demon Sect.

The latter placed his palms on the former’s back, and green smoke continuously rose from his hands, gathering without dispersing.

For a moment, black gas swirled above them, revealing their demonic essence.

"Ugh!" The white-haired elder showed a painful expression, grotesquely contorted, as streams of Inner Strength surged out from within him, flowing along the black-haired youth’s arms into his body.

"Old man, your soul is really something, no wonder you possess that rare Earth Spirit Root." The black-haired youth laughed out loud.

Under the moonlight, strands of silver-white mist poured into the body of the white-haired elder like waves, while an earth-yellow soul, resembling the elder, struggled above his head.

"Tonight is the night of the full moon, with the moonlight thick and rich. With such celestial assistance, where do you think you can resist to?" The black-haired youth shouted, making the yellow soul atop the white-haired elder’s head waver unstably.

It looked as if it was about to dim.

Gradually, as the moonlight grew brighter, the black-haired youth saw that the time was right, immediately retracting his palms to grab at the elder’s head.

His palms surged with black energy, firmly grasping the elder’s earth-yellow soul, attempting to pull it out of the white-haired elder’s body.

Initially, there was some resistance, but as the black-haired youth applied more force, the soul could no longer withstand it and was soon pulled out entirely, separating completely from the body.

The black-haired youth was overjoyed at the sight, immediately opening his mouth and inhaling, drawing the earth-yellow soul entirely into his mouth.

"Mm!"

Having swallowed the soul, the black-haired youth’s face turned yellowish, and a big tumor bulged out on his forehead, vaguely revealing the appearance of the white-haired elder.

"Hahahaha!" The black-haired youth, having succeeded, laughed wildly in delight.

His laughter echoed in the mountains, reverberating without end.

A few breaths later, the laughter abruptly ceased.

The black-haired youth looked at the bright moon above and laughed: "This Five Ghost Spirit Body Skill, I’ve finally mastered it."

Without the soul, the white-haired elder collapsed weakly, having already lost all signs of life.

"Having succeeded, it’s time to check on how those three old ghosts are handling the tasks I assigned them. Calculating the days, the Primordial Soul Pill should be nearly complete; there can’t be any mistakes."

The black-haired youth suddenly recalled the strange happenings he encountered back in his hometown, and involuntarily shivered all over.

"I hope nothing beyond my knowledge happens again."