Chapter 26: Mid-Stage Yuan Ying

The Four Carvings Mansion in Nanyun City, Wei Yan’s residence.
Qu Yi came over and sat across from Wei Yan.
“Wei Yan, a month has passed. Are there any more cultivators of the demonic path lurking near Nanyun City?” Qu Yi leaned back in his seat and said with a faint smile.
Qu Yi had personally searched for cultivators of the demonic path for several days and believed he had killed most of those who came to cause trouble in Nanyun City, so he returned. However, recently he discovered a large group of cultivators from the Three Tripod Gate leaving Nanyun City, leading him to suspect that another group from other regions might have sneaked in.
“Yes, it’s boring. Recent events have changed things. According to our earlier predictions, the area around Nanyun City should have calmed down, allowing us to attack other cities. But things changed suddenly—cultivators from various cities still come bravely, as if the nine city lords have secretly coordinated. Oh, right, those Blood Bone Twins I asked you to keep an eye on have also arrived and killed many of our Three Tripod Gate members,” Wei Yan said, his expression uneasy.
Plans can’t keep up with changes. Recently, the Three Tripod Gate has lost over a hundred cultivators. Wei Yan feared this might make Qu Yi look down on them.
Qu Yi smiled and said slowly, “Good. It’s getting more interesting. Let’s take on this. By the way, Wei Yan, have you gathered the Yuan Ying I asked for?”
This time, Qu Yi came to the Four Carvings Mansion not only to inquire about the situation of the Three Tripod Gate but also to collect the Yuan Ying. He felt that his soul realm was now stable enough to advance to mid-stage Yuan Ying.
Once he reached mid-stage Yuan Ying, Qu Yi planned to go out and fight thoroughly in the Hundred Demons Mountain Range.
Upon hearing this, Wei Yan immediately took out all the Yuan Ying hidden in his storage bracelet.
There were ten Yuan Ying in the late stage, with ones of all five elements—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. There were also hundreds in the mid-stage, and even more in the early stage.
Those late-stage cultivators from the Three Tripod Gate had gone to the area around Nanyun City to gather all Yuan Ying cultivators but encountered resistance and were killed. All their Yuan Ying were collected.
“Boring. Can you use Yuan Ying to refine pills?” Wei Yan asked curiously, looking at all the Yuan Ying floating in front of him.
Wei Yan had thought of how the cultivation world could use demon pills to refine medicines, so he naturally assumed Qu Yi might use Yuan Ying in the same way.

“Hehe, Wei Yan, don’t overthink it. These Yuan Ying are only useful to me,” Qu Yi said with a faint smile. Of course, he wouldn’t tell Wei Yan the truth.
Immediately afterward, Qu Yi waved his right hand, and all the Yuan Ying floating in the air entered his storage bracelet.
……
Inside the Dimensional Sphere.
Qu Yi sat cross-legged by the lake, with a jade platform in front of him, quietly regulating his breath.
Inside his body, the spiritual energy merged into the mixed Yuan Ying in his dantian, forming mixed true energy, which then split into five streams and entered the five internal organs, turning into true energy corresponding to metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. The Yuan Ying in each organ in turn fed back into the mixed Yuan Ying in the dantian, before being expelled from the body, creating a wonderful cycle.
After mastering the technique of dividing his spiritual awareness into six parts, Qu Yi could now practice the five techniques—“Glorious Splendor,” “Revival of All Plants,” “Unity of Water and Sky,” “Spreading Flames,” and “Vast Imperial Land”—simultaneously more smoothly and with greater control.
These five techniques gradually increased in speed, bringing the true energy in his body to a perfect balance.
“It’s time. Yuan Ying absorption begins!”
Suddenly, Qu Yi opened his eyes and gave a soft command. The five Yuan Ying on the jade platform were instantly absorbed into his body.
These five Yuan Ying were all in the later stages, one each representing the elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.
Once inside his body, they were immediately completely broken down in the dantian. The mixed Yuan Ying spun rapidly, absorbing and gathering vast amounts of energy, then distributing the condensed energies back out as it rotated.
Energy of metal went into the metal Yuan Ying in the lungs, wood energy into the wood Yuan Ying in the liver, water energy into the water Yuan Ying in the kidneys, fire energy into the fire Yuan Ying in the heart, and earth energy into the earth Yuan Ying in the spleen.
At the same time, the Yuan Ying in each organ also began to spin rapidly, quickly absorbing and condensing the incoming energy.
The five techniques accelerated to their limit, keeping his body in a state of extraordinary vitality as he fully refined the energy released by the five Yuan Ying.
While Qu Yi’s body was undergoing this wonderful process, intense changes also occurred inside the Dimensional Sphere outside his body.
The lake, composed entirely of primordial spiritual water, saw its water rise automatically to form five water dragons, which then rushed toward the locations of the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys, striking Qu Yi’s body surface. Then, as if absorbed by his body, these water dragons remained there.

The lake water is continuously decreasing.
……
Outside Nanyun City, various forces have gathered.
In the Ten Cities of the Bai Mo Mountain Region, due to the sudden changes in Nanyun City, the rulers of the other nine cities did not intervene, but they sent their trusted subordinates. There were also some extremely arrogant cultivators who wanted to come to Nanyun City to engage in a fierce battle.
Cultivators, in their methods of training, prefer to seek breakthroughs through combat.
Naturally, many cultivators saw an opportunity in the upheaval in Nanyun City, believing that many powerful cultivators would go there, allowing them to fight against strong opponents and enjoy the battle.
In addition to the cultivators sent by the nine city rulers, there were two others who were extremely famous—the Blood and Bone Duo.
On a mountaintop, an old man with long flowing hair and dressed in a black robe gazed toward Nanyun City, his eyes filled with eagerness.
“Nanyun City, San Ding Gate… The city ruler sent me to investigate the situation here. I suppose the ruler will surely come to deal with you. You won’t last long,” the old man said softly.
It turned out that this old man came from Zhonghuo City and had been sent by the city ruler Tang Dong to monitor Nanyun City.
Suddenly, as soon as the old man finished speaking, a blood mass appeared in the distance and quickly floated in front of him, then enveloped him.
“Damn you! How dare you attack me, Fire Evil? I’ll burn to ashes your life force!” the old man shouted in anger.
Immediately, he pushed out his palms, sending a large mass of blue flames toward the blood mass. These blue flames were the Qianlan True Flames, each as big as a person—showing the old man’s mastery over true flames.
“Fire Evil, you won’t last two moves,” the blood mass said suddenly as it dodged the flames.
Hearing this, the old man’s entire body trembled, his face showing shock, and he immediately thought of escaping.
As if guessing Fire Evil’s thoughts, the blood mass suddenly expanded, covering the entire mountaintop, then contracted sharply, completely enveloping Fire Evil.
Fire Evil didn’t expect the blood mass to change so quickly. He couldn’t even use teleportation to escape and was now completely trapped, forcing him to fight desperately to get free.
“Blood Fiend, don’t think you can swallow me so easily,” Fire Evil shouted angrily inside the blood mass.
It turned out that the blood mass was the transformation of Blood Fiend, one of the Blood and Bone Duo.
Inside the blood mass, Fire Evil’s entire body was engulfed in Qianlan True Flames as he rushed in one direction, trying to burn the blood mass ahead and escape.

But the blood mass reacted extremely quickly, constantly changing with the Fire Evil to prevent it from touching the blood mass. Xue Lie intended to use this method to completely deplete the Fire Evil’s vital energy, so that he could then fully devour and refine it.
The Fire Evil was furious. If this continued, it wouldn’t be able to maintain its Pure Blue True Fire for long, as its vital energy wouldn’t suffice. Moreover, the blood mass completely isolated the spiritual energy, making it impossible for the Fire Evil to replenish its vital energy—its ultimate fate would be death.
“Xue Lie, since you’re so cruel, then I’ll fight you to the death!” The Fire Evil suddenly extinguished all its True Fire in a fit of rage.
It turned out that the Fire Evil was preparing to self-destruct.
But the moment its True Fire disappeared, the blood mass immediately contracted, attached itself to the surface of the Fire Evil’s body, and then seeped entirely into its interior.
“Ah!”
There was no time for the Fire Evil to self-destruct. In an instant, all its vital energy was drained, and its physical body and Yuan Ying were completely refined by the blood mass.
On a mountain peak, a man filled with murderous aura appeared—it was Xue Lie.
“Tch, how boring. Even the Fire Evil couldn’t last long. Is there anyone in this Hundred Demons Mountain Range who can resist me?” Xue Lie licked his lips and said proudly.
……
On another mountain peak, one of the Bone and Blood Heroes, Gu Han, suddenly appeared.
At the foot of the mountain, there was a cultivator in the late Yuan Ying stage resting there. He appeared middle-aged, with a broad forehead and thick brows, clearly a top-tier expert.
Gu Han chuckled lightly and immediately approached the middle-aged man.
“I’m Gu Han!” he said casually, not rushing to attack right away.
The middle-aged man stood up, slightly startled by the sound, but quickly regained his composure and smiled. “Gu Han, I’m Mo Di, a subordinate of Mo Zhe, the lord of Beigǔ City.”
Seeing the middle-aged man try to use Mo Zhe to pressure him, Gu Han sneered and immediately took out a black stick, striking Mo Di with it.
“You!” Mo Di was enraged and quickly drew a bone sword to defend himself.
“You can’t even block my first strike!” Gu Han said suddenly after sensing Mo Di’s vital energy.
Then, as Gu Han’s vital energy plummeted, the black stick expanded violently, turning into a thousand-meter-long rod, which he swept diagonally. From above, it resembled a funnel.
Mo Di also channeled his vital energy into his bone sword, creating a hundred-meter-tall black bone ape to confront the rod.
Whoosh!
The black rod shattered the bone ape like wind sweeping fallen leaves, then struck Mo Di hard, knocking him unconscious.

Gu Han let out a soft hum, immediately flew to Mo Di’s side, placed both hands on him, reversed his vital energy, and refined Mo Di completely, leaving not a single trace of blood.
…
Outside Nanyun City, at a moment of turbulent winds and clouds, inside the Dimensional Sphere, Qu Yi, who was refining his Yuan Ying, suddenly opened his eyes.
“Senior sister, Five Elements, Divine Artifact—I’ve succeeded! I’m now a cultivator at the middle stage of Yuan Ying,” Qu Yi exclaimed happily.