Chapter 16: Life Core and Soul Spirits

Above the Reincarnation Star, the five-colored calamity clouds vanished completely, restoring clear skies once more. Yet, the entire Reincarnation Star was shrouded in a deadly silence.
Qu Yi had just endured the Ninety-Nine Heavens Calamity. Before he could utter a word of realization, the ten elites from the upper realms in the Reincarnation Star’s sky vanished instantly and appeared beside him. Each of them transformed their palms into claws and lunged at Qu Yi at the same time.
Ten domains emerged simultaneously, enveloping Qu Yi entirely.
However, as these ten masters from the Immortal Realm, Demon Realm, and Fiend Realm used their domains to seal Qu Yi, the Life Core of the Soul-Grabbing Flower and its five Soul Spirits, which had been lurking underground, suddenly emerged from the ground and entered Qu Yi’s body.
The Life Core of the Soul-Grabbing Flower had an abnormal craving for souls. Whenever it sensed a soul’s presence, it would emerge to devour it. Qu Yi, still exhausted from enduring the calamity, had his soul right before it—how could the Life Core possibly let it go?
The five Soul Spirits, like the Life Core, also loved to devour souls. But this time, their main goal upon entering Qu Yi’s body was not only to devour his soul but also to jointly take control of his body.
During the Ninety-Nine Heavens Calamity, Qu Yi had suffered attacks from energies of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth simultaneously. These five Soul Spirits, born from primordial energies, detected the coexistence of these five elements within Qu Yi’s body. Thus, after devouring his soul, they planned to merge into a single Five-Element Soul Spirit to possess Qu Yi’s body.
The five Soul Spirits sought to possess his body.
Qu Yi had anticipated that he would be attacked by the ten elites after enduring the calamity, but he never expected both the Life Core and the Soul Spirits to attack him as well.
In an instant, Qu Yi summoned the Star Luo Ding. His body entered the Ding, allowing the ten elites’ domains to surround him. He could now focus solely on dealing with the attacks from the Life Core and the five Soul Spirits.
The ten domains enveloped the Star Luo Ding simultaneously but could not harm it in the slightest; they could only restrict its movement.
The ten elites stared in shock at the Star Luo Ding, realizing trouble had arisen again. Now, not only did each of them have to deal with the other nine and seize the Star Luo Ding, but they also had to force Qu Yi out of it alone.
Both tasks seemed incredibly daunting to them.
Thus, the ten elites maintained their domains in the air, keeping their eyes fixed on the Star Luo Ding, in complete silence.

Inside the Star Luo Ding, Qu Yi remained seated in meditation, as if floating in some parallel space, entirely at peace. Yet within his soul realm, a fierce struggle was underway.
The life core of the Soul-Attaching Flower and the five soul essences had entered Qu Yi’s soul realm, all circling around his soul aura, attempting to gradually devour it.
But to the disappointment of the life core and soul essences, Qu Yi’s soul aura was protected by a Dimensional Sphere. From within this sphere, the Artifact God emitted a golden light that split into six beams, all targeting the life core and the five soul essences at once.
The moment the golden light appeared, the life core and soul essences, which had previously roared like ferocious wolves, felt an instinctive fear—seemingly terrified of this light.
When the golden light struck them, it issued an order to make them submit!
This enraged the life core and soul essences even further. Though they feared the light, they could never agree to being subjugated from now on. Thus, they resisted the golden light’s attack with all their might.
The life core flickered with golden light, defiantly confronting the incoming beams, yet it soon began to tremble uncontrollably, seemingly unable to resist.
Considering that the life core had once been able to withstand the soul flowers of ten Human Immortal-level warriors, yet now it struggled to resist the golden light’s attacks, one could imagine just how powerful this light was.
The five soul essences, struck by the five beams, linked up together to resist the golden light’s assault with their combined strength. Yet even their soul fusion technique couldn’t withstand the attack, and they were on the verge of completely disintegrating.
Indeed, within two breaths, the five soul essences dispersed, now obediently lining up in a row, waiting for orders.
The golden light had subdued them all.
After subduing the five soul essences, the five golden beams immediately turned and, together with another beam, attacked the life core from five directions.
Under attack from all sides, with the additional force of five equally powerful golden beams, the already precarious life core could no longer hold out. In an instant, the six beams intertwined into a golden cocoon that enveloped the entire life core, beginning to tame it.
It wasn’t long before the golden cocoon disappeared, along with the golden light emitted from the Dimensional Sphere. The life core of the Soul-Attaching Flower no longer flickered with golden light, appearing like a dark golden sculpted flower.

The Life Core was also subdued.
Qu Yi, floating inside the Star Luo Ding, opened his eyes and smiled faintly.
“Instrument God, you are truly powerful—even able to subdue this Life Core. I truly admire you,” Qu Yi said sincerely.
The golden rays emitted from the Inch Realm Ball earlier were the work of the Instrument God. However, Qu Yi didn’t know how the Instrument God produced those golden rays; it just seemed extremely mysterious.
“Stop flattery. Qu Yi, I’ve said it before—going through the heavenly tribulation on the Reincarnation Star holds a great opportunity for you, and that is these five Soul Essences. As for this Life Core, it was an unexpected bonus. I didn’t expect it to attack you either, so I took it along the way,” the Instrument God said excitedly.
Qu Yi rarely heard the Instrument God speak in such an excited tone, and his face showed surprise upon hearing it.
“Instrument God, what exactly are the five Soul Essences good for me? And as for this Life Core, although I know it’s beneficial to my soul, could you tell me exactly what the benefits are?” Qu Yi asked hurriedly.
“Qu Yi, you know about puppet people, right? Essentially, they’re like clones, only controlled and unable to have their own consciousness. These five Soul Essences can help you create five true clones, each equivalent to one of your bodies,” the Instrument God said with a faint smile.
Shock! Stunned silence!
After hearing this, Qu Yi had a vague impression: this mysterious Instrument God actually had the ability to transform these five Soul Essences, allowing them to possess all of his soul consciousness at the same time.
Before he could process further, the Instrument God continued, “As for the Life Core of the Soul-Embracing Flower, from now on, you’ll be your own soul’s guardian. It can not only add a layer of defense to your soul but also grant you the ability to devour souls. Most importantly, this Life Core can evolve. Right now, its power is at the Human Immortal level. If you devour enough powerful souls, your soul’s realm will rise rapidly.”
As if struck by lightning, Qu Yi was too shocked by the Instrument God’s words to speak, unable to process them all at once.
Clones? Soul devouring?
These two abilities were the dreams of every cultivator in the realm of cultivation, but few succeeded, and those who did were all killed. Because those with such abilities posed too great a threat to others, they would be hunted down by cultivators the moment they were exposed.

After a long silence, Qu Yi gently shook his head, still finding it hard to believe. He murmured, “Instrument God, is this all true?”
“Believe it or not!” the Instrument God replied bluntly.
Qu Yi took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down, then smiled and said, “Instrument God, the news you’ve told me is astonishing. To encounter such good fortune—my luck is truly beyond measure. But how can you turn those five soul essences into my avatars?”
As for the life core of the Soul-Embracing Flower, Qu Yi understood—it was obvious the Instrument God would personally tame it to make it a defensive treasure for his soul. So, he only needed to know about the arrangement of the five soul essences.
After hearing this, the Instrument God said calmly, “It’s simple. These five soul essences were all created from primordial energy. You are now at an advanced stage after overcoming tribulations. The next step is to sense the five elements’ primordial energy, refine it to transform your body into a primordial body. Then, imprint your soul five more times, erase the soul consciousness of those five soul essences, replace it with your own, and separate your body into six. Your original soul will reside in your combined body, while the Golden Soul Essence will occupy your metal element body, the Wood Soul Essence your wood element body, the Water Soul Essence your water element body, the Fire Soul Essence your fire element body, and the Earth Soul Essence your earth element body.”
Upon hearing this, Qu Yi immediately shook his head violently. What the Instrument God said went beyond his comprehension—it was utterly unbelievable.
“Instrument God, I can believe in imprinting a soul—after all, it’s just creating another soul. But turning my body into six bodies? How is that possible? Instrument God, have I done something to disappoint you? Do you want to torture me?” Qu Yi asked anxiously.
As soon as he spoke, the Instrument God let out a sigh, then smiled and said, “Qu Yi, your understanding of souls is still too shallow. But it’s not your fault. Even if you reached Emperor Hao’s level, you might not fully grasp it. As for dividing your body into six, haven’t I given you many primordial stones? Use them to gather this primordial energy and completely transform your five avatars into primordial bodies.”
Hearing this, Qu Yi’s eyes lit up. It seemed he understood what was being asked of him and had a rough idea of how the Instrument God would help him create five avatars.
“Instrument God, I think I understand now. Very well. Since you say it’s possible, I fully trust you,” Qu Yi said with a smile.