Chapter 229: Preparation for Corpse Refining, New Body Refinement Elixirs

All conditions and prerequisites seemed trivial compared to the 'placement slot'.

Back then,

he had chosen to practice incomplete techniques and extremely difficult secret arts not out of personal preference, but because while easy methods weren't necessarily weak, difficult ones were guaranteed to be powerful and unique.

With the aid of the 'placement slot', he had found a shortcut.

Placement Slot 6: Yellow Spring Great Hand Seal (Tier 3 / Divine Ability)

"Yellow Spring Great Hand Seal (0/100): Twelve practices daily, perfected in one hundred years."

"Feedback every hour, then..."

Wang Yu wasn't surprised by the hundred-year time requirement. He was only in the Foundation Establishment stage, and the 'placement slot' made its calculations based on his current state.

This implied that he would need to practice tirelessly for a century to master this divine ability, but this duration was not fixed.

As he grew stronger, the 'placement slot's' template, based on him, would also improve. Once he formed his Golden Core, the requirements for these Tier 3 divine abilities would significantly decrease.

For instance, a first-tier low-grade spell might be perfected in just a dozen days if he placed it now. This illustrated the difference and advantages that come with higher cultivation stages.

The more he learned, the more his acquired comprehension grew. This was a sophisticated level of insight, a product of combined experience, knowledge, and diligent effort.

Aside from lacking the instinct for sudden epiphanies, the gap between his acquired comprehension and innate understanding was not significant.

He recalled that after mastering every spell, cultivation technique, secret art, wondrous art, or bone art, runes would embed themselves within his Dantian and Qi Sea.

This might be evidence of his increasing comprehension.

He hadn't yet fully grasped or perceived if there were further benefits.

Presently, Wang Yu cultivated in silence. After an hour, the first wave of feedback finally arrived.

The Yellow Spring power, channeled by the 'placement slot', was clearly refined. Though not abundant, it gave Wang Yu a sense of intrinsic resonance.

It was cold and chilling, similar to an Infernal Demonic Flood Dragon.

No, it was a level beyond the Infernal Demonic Flood Dragon. The Yellow Spring power imbued Wang Yu with a sensation of extreme, freezing cold, concealing a deeply potent Yin-Nether essence within.

This perfectly aligned with his current cultivation path.

—Yin and Ice.

He even had a sudden intuition that the Yellow Spring View cultivation method might be more suitable for him.

The Yellow Spring power, channeled back to him, occupied a portion of his True Essence lake, transforming his blue-black True Essence into a murky yellow.

Though only a portion was affected, he felt the quality of his True Essence had improved significantly!

Soon after,

Wang Yu emerged from his contemplation, muttering to himself.

"Cultivating the Yellow Spring Great Hand Seal actually purifies True Essence..."

He then involuntarily examined his hands.

The murky yellow portion of his Yin-cold True Essence, which had been infused, automatically gathered in his hands, tempering his muscles, bones, and meridians. This significantly expanded the capacity of the meridians in his hands.

Furthermore, runes symbolizing the Yellow Spring were left embedded within the inner walls of his meridians.

This was the cultivation process of the Yellow Spring Great Hand Seal.

When his hands became fully covered with Yellow Spring runes, it would signify minor mastery of this divine ability. Complete mastery would be achieved when the runes fully permeated his muscles and bone marrow.

In his Qi Sea, however, the infused murky yellow True Essence, once consumed, showed no signs of replenishment. His cultivation technique only regenerated his original Yin-cold True Essence.

He now largely understood the intricacies of this divine ability.

"I have a feeling this would be perfect as a natal divine ability, but... I'll consider it further."

The Yellow Spring Great Hand Seal, possessing the properties of Yellow Spring water, can cleanse all things in the world. In essence, it has a potent ability to nullify techniques.

A single strike can dissipate an enemy's spells and divine abilities into raw spiritual energy. When used against magical artifacts, it can also suppress the enemy's connection to them.

At advanced levels, it can even degrade an opponent's magical artifacts.

Its formidable reputation in the Scarlet Kite and Taihu regions is well-deserved. Cultivators who have encountered it describe it as infuriating, capable of rendering one bankrupt.

Only equally powerful and profound legacies can withstand its effects.

Including "Minor Asura Killing Fist," this was his second mastered divine ability. Oddly enough, he still hadn't acquired any inheritance from the Spirit Reversal Blood Sect.

Once he cultivated these two divine abilities to minor mastery,

they could replace Profound Yin Hand and Ice Wheel Art, becoming his new formidable trump cards. In the cultivation world, once a trump card is revealed, it's always best to immediately upgrade one's arsenal.

Information was a crucial aspect.

After his comprehension was complete, Wang Yu informed no one and descended to the second floor of the cultivation chamber to begin studying the Killing Intent Stone Slab.

As the days passed,

Han Jia frequently sent messengers with the materials Wang Yu had ordered. Consequently, the cultivation chamber expanded again. Following the killing intent chamber and the insect chamber, a third space—a corpse refining room—was added.

Committed to doing things optimally, Wang Yu constructed two blood pools according to the highest specifications of the Yin Fiend Corpse Refining Art. One was pure Yin and the other pure Yang, arranged in the Taiji Two Forms configuration.

These were dedicated to cultivating Demonic Corpses and Thunder Corpses. With the addition of the Grand Yin Fiend Corpse, having these three unique types of zombies would surely make even True Disciple Jiang of Heavenly Corpse Peak salivate.

The construction of the blood pools subtly adhered to the principles of Feng Shui. Despite its unassuming name, this art was profoundly intricate, involving the observation of the world's energy veins—a skill mastered by very few.

It was also closely linked to formation arts.

Formation masters are categorized into three paths: Heaven, Earth, and Human. Similar to how alchemy has distinct water and fire refining methods, Heavenly Formation Masters command celestial timing, understand astrology, can manipulate constellations, and draw upon the power of the heavenly stars.

Earth Formation Masters control earth veins, track spirits, move mountains, fill seas, and can harness the power of mountains, rivers, lakes, and oceans.

Human Formation Masters are more common; they pioneered the simpler modes like current formation flags and disks, and there is significant room for their advancement.

The three paths of formation masters are not sequential, nor does mastering one preclude learning others. One can simultaneously be a "Heaven, Earth, and Human Formation Master."

The mysterious art of Feng Shui, a unique creation of Earth Formation Masters, is applicable to almost any endeavor.

The Yin-Yang balancing corpse refining formation Wang Yu set up was merely a product of rote application; he understood none of its underlying principles, judgments, or logic.

Its effect was rather ordinary, primarily increasing the speed of corpse refining.

He had some interest in formation arrays, but his interest in the mysterious art of Feng Shui was greater, as its auxiliary functions were undoubtedly top-tier for cultivators.

If it weren't for the limited slots in his 'placement slot', he might have learned it already. Perhaps there would be an opportunity in the future.

Wang Yu recalled that Gu Zhengshun's grandmaster, "Di Yinzi," possessed the inheritance of an Earth Formation Master and undoubtedly knew a complete set of Feng Shui techniques. The various wondrous formations of heaven and earth recorded within them alone constituted a great treasure.

It took him half a year to properly settle all the refined corpses.

The Grand Yin Fiend Corpse and its nourishing coffin were also placed there to recover. The Fiend Corpse was very close to advancing to mid-Tier 3, but Wang Yu was hesitant to let it do so.

Should it backfire, he would be in deep trouble.

Once he had nearly depleted his supply of and accumulated over 1,400 drops of vital blood within his Dragon Ridge, his new body-refining treasure arrived.

At a cost of 980,000 spirit stones, Han Jia personally delivered the Tier 3 spiritual item, Myriad Spirit Poison Marrow. It was a piece the size of a basketball, weighing almost five tons!

This substance was extremely lethal, a potent metallic poison with the peculiar effect of revitalizing the flesh, which broadly meant enhancing vitality, immunity, and similar aspects.

It could significantly enhance physical recovery and grant immunity to diseases and common toxins, but one first had to endure the corrosive effects of the .

This was virtually a tailor-made body-refining spiritual item for Wang Yu. He possessed the Immaculate Jade Toad; should he be unable to endure the pain, allowing it to absorb some of the poison would guarantee his survival.

Moreover, it would satisfy the toad's need for toxins.

This served two purposes, maximizing its value.

With this,

Wang Yu's focus shifted slightly. He almost entirely ceased dedicating time to alchemy and spell arts, relying purely on the 'placement slot' for progression.

The time he spent on cultivation and body refining further increased.

Inside the cultivation chamber,

Wang Yu sat cross-legged before the . Using his palm as a blade, he cut off a fingernail-sized piece and held it.

The Immaculate Jade Toad perched on his lap, its eyes fixated on Wang Yu's hand, which rapidly turned black as terrifying toxins swiftly spread along his meridians.

To allow the Immaculate Jade Toad to observe clearly, he was almost entirely naked, covered only by a white cloth. Soon, black meridians visibly spread across his entire body.

Wang Yu visibly trembled as his vital energy and toxins simultaneously steamed, and droplets of dark purple to black blood seeped from his pores.

As the blood slid over his skin, it left behind more toxic traces.

The Immaculate Jade Toad quickly opened its mouth and inhaled, seemingly relishing the toxic blood it absorbed. Its jade-white body turned black for a moment before instantly returning to its normal color.

It fully followed the developmental patterns of insects, requiring it to form a cocoon and liquify its body for metamorphosis each time it grew in size.

This was likely why it was considered an exotic insect.

This state of toxic erosion lasted for a full half-month. When Wang Yu was on his last breath, the Immaculate Jade Toad bit his wrist.

It absorbed all the toxins into its body, causing the small jade toad to instantly swell and turn black. As Wang Yu awoke, the toad simultaneously transformed into a cocoon.

Wang Yu immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thankfully, I didn't miscalculate. It was right at the little one's limit. This Myriad Spirit Poison Marrow should at least allow the Immaculate Jade Toad to shed its larval form and reach maturity."

Freed from the toxins' influence, Wang Yu's body rapidly recovered, as if it had undergone a transformative rebirth. All his physical metrics surged dramatically.

The vital blood in his Dragon Ridge surged to over 2,500 drops, increasing by more than 1,100 in a single go. The effect was astonishing!

"This first application yielded excellent results. I'll need to wait for my body to fully recover before using it again, likely only once a year. The next dose will need to be larger... perhaps fist-sized."

Wang Yu muttered to himself, quickly making several assessments.

He estimated that the current piece of Myriad Spirit Poison Marrow could be used three to four more times before being depleted. However, the profound improvements it offered, coupled with the significant time savings, made it truly formidable.

The expenditure of nearly a million spirit stones was worthwhile. It was enough to raise his vital blood to seven or eight thousand drops, putting him just a step away from the peak of Tier 2.

Han Jia's commission was ongoing, and Wang Yu still required spiritual items for body-refining and Golden Core formation. He decided to exchange them for another high-grade Golden Core spiritual item.

It was simply perfect.