Chapter 486 - 478: Holy Soul Essence Pill

Chapter 486: Chapter 478: Holy Soul Essence Pill

After a moment of frantic internal complaining, Mu Chen finally lowered his head in defeat. He turned, closed the door, and stepped into the hallway. Then he froze, muttering dazedly, ’Wait, did I go into the wrong room? No, that’s not right. I’m the one who lives here!’

Hearing his muttering outside, the soundly sleeping Chu Aoqing opened one eye and smiled faintly. ’I might have gone a little overboard... But oh well. Since I’m already in bed, I might as well get some sleep.’

...

His room having been inexplicably occupied, Mu Chen sighed and reluctantly went to another room on the second floor. According to the dormitory’s layout, this was a Cultivation Room. He didn’t need to sleep anyway, so a Cultivation Room suited him just fine.

’It’s a nice name, but the room feels a little empty.’

Looking around, Mu Chen discovered that this so-called Cultivation Room wasn’t much different from a regular room, the only differences being the lack of windows and the complex Defense Array Maps carved into the surrounding walls. From the complexity of the Array Maps alone, Mu Chen could tell that the room’s Defense Power probably surpassed that of the Xuanling Imperial Academy by countless times. If he could use his Primordial Power right now, he would have definitely punched the wall to test his theory.

Finding a corner, Mu Chen sat down cross-legged again. However, he found that the enthusiasm for cultivation he’d felt earlier had suddenly vanished because of Chu Aoqing’s arrival. He had no choice but to give up. Then, a glint flashed in his eyes as if he had thought of something, and with a flick of his wrist, a plain-looking Storage Ring appeared in his hand.

This was the very ring he had seized from the Thunder Demon during the Inner Mountain assessment. It was ill-gotten wealth, but in this world where strength reigned supreme, might made right. Thus, Mu Chen had taken it without any qualms.

From his brief touch earlier, Mu Chen knew that the ring was sealed with two Spiritual Marks. One undoubtedly belonged to the Thunder Demon, but the other didn’t feel like human Spiritual Power.

’A Magical Beast?’

He had felt Xiaobai’s Spiritual Power before and discovered that while a Magical Beast’s Spiritual Power was extremely similar to a human’s, there were subtle differences. In his judgment, this Spiritual Power was definitely from a Magical Beast.

’The fact that the Thunder Demon went to such lengths to hide and protect it means the contents of this ring are truly precious—at least, to him.’ Mu Chen grinned. ’Too bad for him. By the standards of a normal person’s Spiritual Power, this ring would be impossible to open without reaching the level of a Sixth-Ring Martial Emperor. But I’m no ordinary martial artist!’

Of course, he wasn’t saying the Thunder Demon’s Spiritual Mark had reached the level of a Sixth-Ring Martial Emperor, but that the Magical Beast’s had. On second thought, however, Mu Chen seemed to understand why there was a layer of a Magical Beast’s Spiritual Power on the ring.

Dilaka had once told him that students who passed the Holy Tomb Mountain assessment would get one chance to enter the Holy Beast Mountain and form a contract with a Magical Beast. There were no exceptions; everyone got this opportunity. However, depending on their own fate, talent, and luck, they could contract with Magical Beast Cubs or adult beasts of varying potential. Once contracted, these Magical Beasts would follow their master for life, only returning to Holy Tomb Mountain upon the master’s death.

Without a doubt, this had to be the Thunder Demon’s Contracted Magical Beast. As for why he hadn’t seen it on the day of the assessment, that could only be attributed to Mu Chen’s luck, because students were forbidden from using their Contracted Magical Beasts during the assessment! And that was how Mu Chen had been fortunate enough to get his hands on the Thunder Demon’s ring.

Now understanding the strength of the Spiritual Marks, a confident Mu Chen instantly unleashed an incredibly powerful surge of Spiritual Power. With a BANG, it shattered both marks at the same time.

In the Outer Mountain, separated from the Inner Mountain by an Independent Space, the Thunder Demon was sitting cross-legged on his bed, recuperating. Suddenly, his face turned pale, and countless Thunder Serpents erupted from his eyes. He snarled through clenched teeth, "Damn bastard! You actually broke my Spiritual Mark! Hmph, good thing there’s the Thunder Lizard’s second seal. If that guy doesn’t want the contents discovered by others, he’ll have to figure it out himself. Hmph, as long as you leave the Inner Mountain, I’ll have a way to ambush you!"

But just as he was muttering to himself with a ferocious expression, an ethereal voice echoed in his mind. The Thunder Demon froze. He then slammed his palm onto the cabinet beside his bed. With a deafening CRACK of thunder, the entire cabinet disintegrated into splinters.

"MU! CHEN! Even if you’ve become an Inner Mountain Student, I, the Thunder Demon, will climb up there and find you! I’ll cut you into a thousand pieces!!"

...

Meanwhile, back in the Inner Mountain, Mu Chen was completely unaware of the Thunder Demon’s reaction. Even if he had known, he likely wouldn’t have paid it any mind. After all, the Thunder Demon was no longer someone worth his attention.

He quickly imprinted his own Spiritual Mark onto it, and the Storage Ring officially had a new owner. With a thought, he emptied its contents. There wasn’t the cluttered scene he had imagined. Instead, the Storage Ring contained only a mere three items. The first thing that caught his eye was a strikingly familiar, fragmented map.

A single glance was enough to leave Mu Chen stunned. He subconsciously took another fragmented map from his own Storage Ring. After comparing them, he was overjoyed. Not only were the material and signs of age on both fragments nearly identical, but coincidentally, both pieces only had incomprehensible lines on them, with no markings.

’It’s definitely another piece!’

He couldn’t help but let out a laugh as he carefully tried to fit the two fragments together, only to find with disappointment that they didn’t connect at all. At this, Mu Chen grew quiet, his eyes scanning back and forth between the two pieces of the map.

’Both pieces have a corner, which means they’re from two of the outermost edges of the map. The torn edges in between...’

Shaking his head, he realized he still couldn’t determine how many pieces the map had been torn into just from these two fragments. Furthermore, although the lines on both pieces were drawn in the same style, he couldn’t find any way to connect them.

’Oh well. Since I’ve already found two pieces, I’m bound to find the rest one day. Then I’ll finally know what this map is supposed to show.’

If he had previously kept the first fragment with a passive, wait-and-see attitude, finding this second piece had changed his mindset completely. He had shifted from passive to active; now, he genuinely wanted to find all the remaining pieces of the map.

After putting both map fragments back into his Storage Ring, Mu Chen turned his attention to the second item. It was a bead-like object stored in a medium-sized Purple Crystal Bottle.

’Is it a medicinal pill?’

Curious, Mu Chen opened the lid of the Purple Crystal Bottle. He took a light sniff but found no fragrance, only a faint, rank smell.

’What is this?’

He tilted the bottle, and with a soft CLINK, the bead-like object fell into his palm. He closed his hand around it for a moment. Looking at it with his naked eye, he was surprised to find that the object’s diameter was a full five centimeters!

’It’s huge! This can’t be a medicinal pill!’ Mu Chen exclaimed internally. He ran his finger over the bead’s surface and was surprised to find that some parts weren’t perfectly round and smooth. Frowning in concentration, he brought the bead closer and lightly activated his Ice Extreme Demon Pupils. When he clearly saw the raised, angular facets on its surface, his own pupils suddenly dilated...

"This is... a Beast Soul Essence Pill!!!"

"One, two, three... four, five, six, seven, eight! Eight facets! This is a Level 8 Beast Soul Essence Pill! A Holy Soul Essence Pill!!!"

Realizing he had been too loud, Mu Chen quickly clamped a hand over his mouth. A surge of excitement rushed through him, and he almost lost control and aggravated his internal injuries.

Beast Soul Essence Pill. Mu Chen had seen and even obtained one of these before: the Level 5 Ice Soul Essence Pill he had purchased at the Xuanling Empire auction. He remembered how the auctioneer had mistaken it for a Level 2 pill, much to his delight at the time.

’But now, compared to this Level 8 Holy Soul Essence Pill, what was a mere Level 5 Ice Soul Essence Pill?’ Thinking of this, Mu Chen recalled what his Master had once told him about the pills’ purpose. A person could only absorb one Beast Soul Essence Pill in their entire life, so the higher the level, the better. That was why Mu Chen had saved his one chance until now! And now, he was itching to use it.

’I have to check what attribute this Holy Soul Essence Pill is first. If it’s the Ice or Wood Attribute, it’d be something of a waste. After all, both of those Attributes have already reached the Ultimate Realm, so I don’t need to accelerate their cultivation. But if it’s fire, water, earth, or metal from the Five Elements, then I’ll have hit the jackpot!’

As for Rare Attributes, he didn’t even dare to hope. Magical Beasts with Rare Attributes were few and far between to begin with, and those willing to sacrifice half their cultivation to condense a Beast Soul Essence Pill were even rarer. That Level 5 Ice-Attribute Primordial Pill from before was already an incredible find.

’To determine its attribute, I just need to inject a sliver of Primordial Power into it to activate its attribute. But my Primordial Power is already so low... Oh, whatever! It’ll be worth it even if I use up the last of it!’

His expression resolute, Mu Chen focused. An extremely fine thread of Primordial Power flowed from his fingertip into the bead. At first, there was no reaction. But after a few seconds, a bolt of purplish-red lightning, wreathed in a Radiant Gold light, suddenly appeared at the bead’s center. An utterly terrifying pressure gushed out from it. Mu Chen felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end as a horrifying aura of death instantly flooded his senses!

It was an incredibly potent wave of resentment! Within it, Mu Chen sensed extreme unwillingness! Hatred! Cruelty! Madness! Bloodlust! These negative emotions assaulted him as if they were tangible, threatening to tear his body to shreds! What shocked him even more was that, in that instant, he had completely lost control of his body!

SWOOSH!!

But in the very instant that this aura was about to surge into Mu Chen’s body—a true, infinitesimally brief instant—the bead, which was emanating that terrifying pressure and aura of death, simply... vanished from his hand.

...

A full fifteen minutes passed before Mu Chen could even try to clench his fist. When he found that he could, he drew a deep breath. If one were to get close to him at that moment, they would find that his clothes were completely soaked... as if he had just been caught in a torrential downpour.

"Just now... what happened?"