Chapter 486: The Path Ahead

Integration!
At Old Black’s command, the ancient weapon-refining talisman vanished instantly and was sent to the third layer of the Immortal Prison. Without pause, the talisman shattered into fragments, completely merging with that layer.

After a short while, Su Che asked in a deep voice, “How is it?”
“Not bad,” Old Black replied. “The third layer of the Immortal Prison does indeed have a new function related to weapon refinement—it can upgrade the grade of already formed magical weapons. But as for the actual effects, further testing is needed.”
“Then test it right away!” Su Che ordered promptly. “Use any magical weapon for the experiment.”

Magical weapons are one rank lower than spiritual treasures. In the cultivation world, even some master weapon refiners at the Golden Core stage can craft them. For example, Hao Yuan, the head of the Battle Hall of the Taiyi Sect, could earn the title of a master weapon refiner merely by reaching the later stage of the Golden Core.

Of course, this title of “master weapon refiner” is somewhat limited—compared to the true masters in the spiritual realm, it would be laughable.

It’s the same with medicinal pills. What were originally called “Mystic Grade Spiritual Pills” and “Heavenly Grade Spiritual Pills” in the cultivation world of Qiyuan Star are clearly no longer appropriate. Their effects are far from worthy of such titles.

In the Immortal Prison world, Mystic Grade Spiritual Pills have been renamed “Grade 11,” and Heavenly Grade Spiritual Pills “Grade 12.” The true Mystic and Heavenly Grades are top-tier spiritual pills that are extremely rare even in the spiritual realm.

At this moment, Old Black simply chose a high-quality magical sword and intended to use the newly developed weapon-upgrading function in the third layer of the Immortal Prison for the first attempt.

As for the materials needed to upgrade the sword, Old Black wasn’t troubled by that. He only needed to summon any Yuan Ying-level subordinate skilled in weapon refinement and ask a few questions to get a general idea.

A general idea was enough—this was precisely the wonder of the third layer of the Immortal Prison. All the intricate and difficult aspects didn’t require Su Che or Old Black to worry about.

The over twenty materials needed to upgrade the sword weren’t rare at all; they were all available in the Immortal Prison’s material reserves. With a thought, Old Black summoned enough materials from the “Mountain of Wealth” and sent them along with the sword to the third layer.

Huh, huh, huh…

Immediately, dozens of kinds of spiritual flames rushed over, surrounding the materials to begin refining and purifying them. Soon, the precious flying sword also changed under the burning of these flames—the entire artifact softened, and some discolored impurities were extracted from its body… This indicated that when the sword was first forged, it already had many flaws; even without adding additional materials, just such refining could significantly enhance its power.

Before long, the various materials that had been refined into a liquid state automatically condensed onto the flying sword and slowly penetrated into it under the heat of the spiritual flames. Seizing this opportunity, Lao He sent several array spirit talismans into the third layer. As soon as the talismans came into contact with the spiritual flames, they transformed into invisible array formulas and were infused into the sword. These were essential steps in the refining process, with each array formula serving a specific purpose and being indispensable.

After that, there were more complex steps that took a little over half an hour. The precious flying sword was reborn, shining with a dazzling brilliance, leaving the third layer of the Immortal Prison and appearing in Lao He’s hands.

“It’s done!”

Lao He laughed heartily. “It was originally a top-grade precious artifact, but now it’s an ultimate-grade one. Moreover, it seems even better than ordinary ultimate-grade artifacts—almost on par with lower-grade spiritual treasures.”

“Great, excellent!”

The first attempt was a huge success, and Su Che was very pleased. He ordered Lao He and Miao Li to gather several of his most skilled Yuan Ying subordinates to form a team tasked with upgrading the artifacts.

Miao Li was one of the three great Refining Void subordinates, expert in artifact crafting. Even in the Spirit Realm, he already possessed the ability to forge top-grade Dao artifacts, making him the most suitable leader for the ‘Artifact Refining Team’ within the Immortal Prison.

Furthermore, there were countless artifacts in the Immortal Prison, with an endless supply of various refining materials, allowing them to experiment and practice freely. Su Che would only dare to upgrade the great treasures once they had sufficient confidence and experience.

This task required caution—if they accidentally destroyed the treasures, things could get very bad…

As for the hundreds of Dao artifacts obtained in the Mi Xian realm today, Su Che didn’t need to worry about subduing them. This would be handled by Heng Yi and Lin Feng, the two other great Refining Void subordinates. Their efficiency was far greater than that of Su Che at the Yuan Ying stage.

However, it’s still impossible to determine exactly how many top-tier or even supreme Dao artifacts are inside that silver light sphere, as the space sphere created by the Witch God can block the penetration of cultivators’ spiritual senses. Even Heng Yi and Lin Feng cannot probe inside the sphere. The only option is to release one Dao artifact at a time, with Heng Yi and Lin Feng working together to suppress it and gradually bring it under control—just like drawing lots from a black box, with no one able to predict what will be drawn. Subduing a single Dao artifact is certainly not easy; even with Heng Yi and Lin Feng joining forces, it is estimated that it would take over a year to deal with all hundreds of them. These matters can be handled slowly, but what Su Che is most worried about right now is: in a few days, when the great calamity descends, how will his fate change? Will he continue to be under the protection of the Witch God? Definitely not! From today’s encounter, Su Che can be certain that although this Witch God appears quite amiable on the surface, he is deeply cunning and unpredictable, making him the most terrifying figure between the immortal and mortal realms. With someone like this, you can never guess what he’s thinking or predict what he might do next. As the saying goes, “Keeping company with a king is like keeping company with a tiger.” Su Che has an intuition that if he continues to follow the Witch God, one day he will be tricked into death without even realizing it. “Yes, master.” Regarding Su Che’s judgment, Lao He agreed wholeheartedly: “My first impression of this guy is that he is extremely, utterly, and profoundly sinister. Staying by his side would mean living in constant fear—such a life is simply unbearable. Unless…” “Unless I’m willing to merge with his Witch God blood, become a true Witch Clan member, and willingly submit to his control, in order to gain his trust, right?” Su Che said with a heavy heart. “That’s correct,” Bai Lao Mo nodded as well. “As the saying goes, those who are not of our kind will surely have different motives! If the master continues to maintain his human identity, not only the Witch God but also other powerful witches within the Witch Clan will criticize you heavily. As your strength grows, this is inevitable and will happen sooner or later. Moreover, you’re no longer even the master of your own clan. Without that status for protection, who will respect you among those powerful and aggressive Witch Clan warriors?” “Indeed!”

Su Che nodded firmly. “Now, I’m not even the lord of my own clan anymore. Those Witch Tribe members who value strength above all—who would even look at me? A little ant wandering around in their camp can easily be crushed into pulp by a giant foot. Just as Lao He said, living in such constant fear is simply unbearable…”
Some things don’t need to actually happen; just by reasoning like this, one can arrive at a pretty accurate conclusion.
As I’ve said before, unless Su Che is willing to change his bloodline and race to become a powerful Witch Tribe warrior, his days among them will surely be full of hardship and frustration. Even if he endures everything, he won’t end up well in the end.
Those who are not of our kind will surely have different motives! That saying explains everything.
“I will absolutely not change my bloodline to become a Witch Tribe member!”
Su Che declared resolutely in his heart. “Becoming a Witch Tribe member might allow one to survive for hundreds of thousands, even millions of years, but one’s achievements will be limited. At most, one can become a great witch—never hoping to surpass the Witch God. He won’t give anyone such a chance.”
“That’s right!”
Lao He and Lao Bai agreed in unison.
“Well, no matter what happens next, we already have an unshakable bottom line in mind.”
Su Che narrowed his eyes slightly, gazing into the depths of the Mi Xian Realm, and thought to himself, “Next, it depends on what the Witch God plans…”
A few days passed in the blink of an eye, and the Witch God appeared before Su Che and Tian Yin once again.
“Go out.”
The Witch God spoke these three words in a flat tone, saying nothing else.
Whoosh!
The exit to the Mi Xian Realm opened, and Su Che and Tian Yin followed him out.
As soon as they stepped out, Su Che was stunned!
Just a few days ago, they entered the Mi Xian Realm on Linlu Star, but now, what they saw was a vast starry sky—exactly the starry sky Su Che was very familiar with!
In the void, there was a huge deep-blue planet. Vague holes left by violent excavation on its continents could be seen—it was clearly Qiyuan Star, which he hadn’t seen in thirty years.
“Qiyuan Star?”
Su Che exclaimed in shock, marveling, “We’re already back?”
While inside the Mi Xian Realm, they had unknowingly traversed trillions of miles of starlight—and now they were back?

Feeling Su Che’s astonishment, Tian Yin whispered in his ear, “For the Witch God, it takes merely a thought to reach any place in the cultivation realm. In his eyes, the concept of ‘distance’ simply does not exist.”
For the Witch God, spatial distance no longer exists; to go anywhere, all it takes is a thought…
What kind of cultivation level is this?
What kind of concept is this?
At that moment, Su Che couldn’t help but feel a sense of reverence in his heart—a cultivator’s admiration, respect, and awe for the ultimate strong one…
Just like a person who sees the ocean for the first time, facing its vastness and greatness, deeply realizing their own insignificance, and instinctively feeling reverence for the sea.
To revere strength and admire the strong—this is especially true for cultivators!
But in the next instant, Su Che suppressed these emotions, shouting silently in his heart, “No! He is only temporarily strong; I am only temporarily weak!”
“One day, I will surpass him. I will rise above those so-called peak-level strong ones, because…”
“Because my path is different from everyone else’s!”
“Because I possess the Immortal Prison!”