Chapter 557: Benefits

In fact, before they settled on this arrangement, Tushan Shanhe had insisted that Xiao Shou receive two pieces every day.

When the remaining jade was eventually distributed, he also wanted Xiao Shou to receive twice as much as he and Fu Young. Although Xiao Shou collected the fewest materials, he was the one who worked hard every evening to create the jade. Each time, he exhausted his divine ability, which was his special power, before finally resting. Given how much effort he put in, receiving twice as much was only fair. Besides, without Xiao Shou’s work, they would have no Soul Nourishing Jade at all.

Fu Young shared the same opinion.

However, Xiao Shou rejected their proposal.

He reasoned that if only he and his beloved disciple had been here, there would have been no need to divide everything so formally according to the rules of the cultivation world and the spirit realm. They could simply have shared everything freely. But Tushan Shanhe was also with them. Even though they were relatives, the rules among cultivators were still the rules. Following them would help prevent unnecessary disagreements.

Moreover, throughout their journey, Tushan Shanhe, as a mighty Tribulation Crossing expert, had collected more than ten times as many materials as Xiao Shou and his beloved disciple combined.

Although Fu Young was powerful, Xiao Shou believed he should not use his abilities carelessly. Xiao Shou did not allow him to use that power unless it was truly necessary. As a result, most of the materials used to make the Soul Nourishing Jade had been gathered by Tushan Shanhe.

Therefore, Xiao Shou believed that since she and her beloved disciple had collected fewer materials while Tushan Shanhe had gathered far more, it was only fair to give her disciple a share of the Soul Nourishing Jade she produced, allowing the three of them to divide the total equally.

Tushan Shanhe argued that they should be counted separately, with Xiao Shou being Xiao Shou and Fu Young being Fu Young. However, Xiao Shou insisted that Fu Young was her only disciple and that the two of them were one. In the end, Tushan Shanhe had no choice but to give in.

And so, the three continued their journey, collecting materials, fusion them, distributing the Soul Nourishing Jade, and investigating the World Eaters all at the same time. They pursued all four tasks simultaneously as they traveled through the lightless realm, where they could only estimate the passage of time using hourglasses and other timekeeping tools.

Before they knew it, more than a month had passed.

During that month, the three of them had undoubtedly made tremendous gains, thanks to the nourishment provided by the Soul Nourishing Jade.

First, even though Tushan Shanhe had not practiced the Hidden Spirit Returning Soul Art and had only cultivated his clan’s secret soul techniques, his soul had broken through the Tribulation Crossing stage and reached the mid stage of Ascension in strength, despite his cultivation level remaining unchanged. Even more remarkably, this happened without any side effects, and all the hidden injuries his soul had suffered in the past had been completely healed.

As for Fu Young, after absorbing the fragments of the Divine Osmanthus Tree, his spiritual consciousness had become boundless. Even he had no idea what level it had reached. Perhaps the soul ranks used in the cultivation world could no longer measure his strength.

However, this was not necessarily a good thing. Ever since then, the once complete spiritual consciousness he had condensed in Wailing Ghost Valley had become like an old fishing net full of holes.

Some parts were connected, while others contained vast stretches of emptiness. He had immediately understood that this was the result of the Supreme Star Lord’s original body and consciousness being completely shattered. Only by recovering every fragment of the original body and consciousness could he reconstruct a complete soul.

That had been his understanding at the time. Yet after using the Soul Nourishing Jade for more than a month, his condition had changed considerably.

He could clearly see that within his blood red sea of consciousness, even the vast empty spaces aside, the spiritual consciousness surrounding the core of his soul was more damaged than a fishing net full of holes. Under the effects of the Soul Nourishing Jade, these damaged areas had actually begun to repair themselves on a small scale, even without recovering any fragments of his original body or consciousness. The nearby empty spaces had also shown slight growth.

This made him realize that even without recovering the fragments of his consciousness, he might be able to restore it completely with a sufficient supply of Soul Nourishing Jade. As for the original body, that was a separate matter. According to the Supreme Star Lord’s memories, once most of his consciousness had been restored, he would be able to summon the scattered fragments of his original body back to him.

In other words, recovering the original body was not the priority. Repairing his consciousness was the key.

This was also why Fu Young had insisted on recovering even the tiny fragment of the Supreme Star Lord’s consciousness hidden within Ximen Xuanji’s soul. He had never expected that his decision to stay behind for this reason would bring him such an enormous surprise.

Sure enough, as long as he stayed by his master’s side, he would always encounter surprises and miracles. It was truly incredible.

Fu Young could be said to have gained the most, but Xiao Shou’s gains were considerable as well.

Since his soul had never been injured, the Soul Nourishing Jade did not need to expend any energy repairing it. Instead, all its energy went toward strengthening and evolving his soul. After just over a month, his soul had reached the strength of one at the late stage of Tribulation Crossing, and his spiritual consciousness could cover an equally vast area.

The power of Xiao Shou’s ability and his Evil Breaking Eyes both depended entirely on the strength of his soul. Therefore, as his soul grew stronger and advanced to a higher level, his ability and Evil Breaking Eyes also became more powerful.