Chapter 362: The Dan Realm Upgrade

The incident where Yu Qing was pursued by the two elders of Tianxin Pavilion happened six days ago. It could be said that Su Che’s rush to Tianxin Pavilion now is of no use.

Six days have passed. If Yu Qing managed to escape, he would have long vanished without a trace; if he failed to escape, he would have already been captured by Tianxin Pavilion, or even possibly killed…

In fact, Su Che wasn’t very worried about Yu Qing’s safety, as Yu Qing had said he could handle his own affairs and didn’t need Su Che’s concern.

“Yes, master. Yu Qing is no ordinary person—he will surely rise to great heights sooner or later and is certainly not someone destined to die young,” said Lao He as well.

“I’m just asking to have an idea. We’ll decide based on the situation,” Su Che replied in his mind. “I’m not worried about his safety. I merely sense that soon, Yu Qing is likely to cause a huge upheaval in the cultivation world of Qiyuan Star—something serious.”

“Hmm, that’s possible. He’s also a troublemaker with great power,” Lao He nodded with a wry smile, deeply moved. “With you two born in the cultivation world of Qiyuan Star, trouble is bound to increase…”

By this time, Mu Ye had already left Xuanju Peak, and darkness had fallen.

In the Immortal Prison, Chen Xu had just awakened from his coma. Instinctively, he tried to resist, only to find that his Yuan Ying energy had been completely sealed, leaving him unable to mobilize even a trace of true energy. His blinding ability could only last about fifteen minutes, and his vision had already returned to normal. When he opened his eyes, he saw two completely different beings standing before him: one was a monstrous creature with dark golden fur, extremely majestic yet terrifying; the other was an old man with white hair and a white robe, kind-faced and wearing a gentle smile.

These two seemed to represent one demon and one immortal. Lao He appeared to be a high-level demon, while the White Old Demon seemed like a sage, but in reality, it was exactly the opposite…

Lao He pointed at Chen Xu and said to the White Old Demon, “This old man has always harbored murderous intent toward the master, plotting to ambush him many times. White Old Demon, what do you think should be done to deal with him?”

The White Old Demon was the first subordinate from the outside world to fully pledge loyalty to Su Che. Therefore, within the Immortal Prison, Su Che granted him certain powers—at least in terms of strength suppression, reducing it from a hundred-fold to ten-fold.

This meant that within the Immortal Prison world, the White Old Demon alone could take care of five or six high-level cultivators in the later stages of Yuan Ying.

“I know countless methods of tormenting people,” said the old demon Bai, stroking his beard. His demeanor and movements were extremely refined, and his tone gentle and polite, though what he said was rather cruel: “If my master gives orders, I can surely ensure he can neither live nor die, losing all dignity and backbone.”

“Who are you?” Chen Xu tried hard to control his emotions, striving to maintain the composure befitting a Yuan Ying ancestor.

Of course, he had realized he had become a prisoner, though he still didn’t know where he was locked up. But he was certain that the prisons of Tian Xuan Zong certainly didn’t contain such ferocious and terrifying demons as these. After all, he had spent a few days in Tian Xuan Zong’s top-tier prisons and had some experience as a prisoner.

Lao He and the old demon Bai didn’t even bother to respond to him; they were using telepathy to consult Su Che about what to do with Chen Xu.

In truth, Chen Xu was quite scared. If he fell into Tian Yu’s hands, he would likely be completely annihilated. If he could kill Tai Hao and Tai Wu from Tai Yi Men, what was there he couldn’t do?

The old rule where various sects would capture Yuan Ying cultivators and release them after a few days might not apply to Tian Yu.

At that moment, Su Che thought to himself, “Chen Xu’s life cannot be spared. Either hand him over to Lao He for fusion or extract his Yuan Shen to feed it to the third layer of the Immortal Prison. The third layer of the Dan Realm needs a master alchemist’s Yuan Shen or soul to craft spirit pills above the tenth rank.”

Lao He replied, “Then let’s feed it to the third layer of the Dan Realm. My requirements for fusion are very low—any early-stage Yuan Ying cultivator will do. There’s no need to waste the alchemy knowledge in his mind.”

Just as Su Che was about to agree, he heard the old demon Bai say, “Master, I have a way to make use of this Chen Xu to the fullest, doubling his value.”

“Then tell me.”

Su Che knew the old demon Bai was extremely cunning and deep-minded. From just a few exchanges between him and Lao He, he could discern many things.

“If the master needs Chen Xu’s alchemy knowledge to feed to the third layer of the Dan Realm you mentioned, I can create an identical copy of his Yuan Shen or soul. Then, Lord He Mo can fuse with Chen Xu’s physical body—thus doubling the use of him without any waste!”

The old demon Bai conjured a feather fan and fanned it casually in front of his chest, looking like a shrewd military advisor.

“Oh? Copy his soul or Yuan Shen?” Su Che was pleased and asked, “Do you have such a ability?”

“I am an outer realm demon god who can bring endless disasters upon all people in the world; I must possess several extraordinary skills,” replied Old Demon Bai with great humility.
“Very well, then show me!” Su Che ordered immediately.
“I need the soul of any ordinary person, or any ghost,” Old Demon Bai requested.
Ghosts? There are plenty in the Immortal Prison. Lao He promptly summoned from the Netherworld Realm a ghost at the guard level, one who had committed grave sins in life and deserved to die.
Seeing this ghost suddenly appear before him, Old Demon Bai smiled faintly, nodded while fanning himself, and said, “This ghost is quite good—its heart is filled with many demons.”
Swish!
It was unclear what method Old Demon Bai used, but he managed to extract all the demons from the ghost’s mind and convert them into his own nourishment. The ghost instantly became pure, as if blanketed in white paper, transforming from a wicked spirit into a pure soul with a kind heart…
Lao He asked curiously, “Could those demons in this guy’s mind be ones you left behind in the human world?”
“No!”
Old Demon Bai shook his head. “On the contrary, it’s precisely because living beings have demons in their hearts that endless outer realm demons can be born and nurtured. If there are no demons in the heart, where would they come from?”
“It seems to make some sense,” Su Che and Lao He said, half-understanding.
“Duh!”
Old Demon Bai snapped his fingers. Pointing his fan at the ghost, he saw it rush at Chen Xu, who was lying half-reclined on the ground.
“What are you doing? What do you want?”
Chen Xu looked terrified, no longer showing the composure of a Yuan Ying cultivator. Under normal circumstances, he could blow away a group of such ghosts with a single breath, but now he struggled uselessly, waving his arms like a helpless woman.
The ghost penetrated his body and, under Old Demon Bai’s control, successfully possessed him.
“Ah!” Chen Xu cried out before collapsing to the ground, eyes rolling back, unable to move as he lost control of his own body.
Old Demon Bai stepped forward, crouched down, and placed his hand on Chen Xu’s head. Using his Soul Refining Technique for Demons, he forcibly copied all the knowledge related to alchemy from Chen Xu’s mind.
The life experiences of a hundreds-year-old Yuan Ying ancestor were far too complex; the soul of a mere ghost couldn’t hold all of Chen Xu’s memories. But copying only the alchemy skills was sufficient—those could fit.
This process turned out to be quite complicated. Even with Old Demon Bai’s skills, it took half an hour to complete.
The ghost, now filled with vast knowledge, floated out of Chen Xu’s body. Old Demon Bai immediately reported, “Master, I have fulfilled my mission successfully.”

“Not bad,” Su Che praised happily. “From now on, make full use of your various talents. I also hope to see you become my capable subordinate.”
“I will surely do my best,” the old demon Bai bowed in respect.
The special abilities of the extraterrestrial demon gods truly cannot be underestimated. Before this, Lao He had also merged with three heavenly demons, but he could only read the thoughts and memories of prisoners in the Immortal Prison, lacking the powerful ability to replicate souls like Old Demon Bai.
Su Che thought to himself, “Replicating a soul means completely copying someone’s skills and knowledge in a certain area. This seems somewhat similar to the skill extraction function of the five layers of the Immortal Prison I’ve designed…”
“I need to keep this in mind and find an opportunity to discuss it further with Old Demon Bai…”
After thinking this through, Su Che asked Lao He again, “Can this soul replication be used?”
“It can,” Lao He confirmed.
“Then send it over,” Su Che ordered.
Whoosh!
A soul with the qualifications of a grand alchemy master was absorbed by the third layer of the Immortal Prison, completely devoured, and utterly erased.
There were many such extremely wicked living beings and souls in the Immortal Prison, all used for various dangerous experiments or sacrifices.
Some people, due to their atrocities, were not even worthy of being beasts in their next life. Even if they entered the true netherworld, they would not receive the chance for reincarnation and would instead be sent to the eighteenth layer of hell to suffer endless punishment.
Since such systems did not yet exist in the Immortal Prison, the fate of such people or souls was complete annihilation or being devoured.
Huh…
After the third layer of the alchemy realm consumed that alchemy master-level soul, subtle changes occurred. The countless spiritual flames within the alchemy realm shifted as a whole, with some of them fusing and splitting again, quickly creating even more new types of spiritual flames.
“Master, the effect is good. The third layer of the alchemy realm can now produce the highest-grade mystic and celestial spiritual pills in the cultivation world,” Lao He reported immediately. “Chen Xu is good at crafting the Tianying Pill, which is also good news.”
“Very good.”
Su Che knew that Chen Xu was skilled at making the Tianying Pill, the treasure of the Spirit Medicine Mountain. During the trade fair in the Floating City, he had exchanged one Tianying Pill for a seed of the Immortal Lotus from Su Che.
Moreover, when Chen Xu was captured, three Tianying Pills were found in his storage ring. A celestial spiritual pill that could increase the success rate of soul formation by 10% was undoubtedly more valuable than anything in the eyes of a cultivator at the late stage of the Golden Core realm.

Of course, refining Tianying Dan is extremely difficult, as it requires highly rare medicinal ingredients that cannot even be gathered from the millions of acres of medicinal herb gardens in Lingyao Mountain. Throughout his life, Chen Xu has only managed to refine seven Tianying Dan pills.