Chapter 47: Late Yuan Ying Stage

The Nine Cold Peaks were conquered, and four thousand cultivators of evil magic slaughtered everyone they could, eliminating all the remaining disciples of the Nine Cold Sect. During this process, another ten cultivators at the late Yuan Ying stage advanced to the early stage of exiting the body. Naturally, this intensified the killing intent of more cultivators, who longed to rush to the Zhu Huo Sect to carry out a brutal massacre in order to advance their cultivation.

Qu Yi arrived at the Nine Cold Peaks, first collecting over a thousand Yuan Ying cultivators and putting all the resources gathered from various places in the Nine Cold Mountain Range into the Dimensional Sphere. Only then did Qu Yi sit down with the Southern Envoy and several other demon cultivators.

“Southern Envoy, Northern Envoy, you two will be in charge of attacking the Zhu Huo Sect next. I won’t go,” Qu Yi said indifferently.

Qu Yi already felt that his soul realm was about to break through to the late Yuan Ying stage, so he wanted to continue scanning arrays to raise his soul realm as quickly as possible.

“Yes, master,” the Southern Envoy and Northern Envoy replied joyfully.

“Oh, by the way, the Zhu Huo Sect is the only alchemy sect on Tian Feng Star, so their wealth must be astonishing. Spirit stones, alchemy materials, magical artifacts, array secrets—everything must be thoroughly plundered. Especially the alchemy furnaces; they must be seized. These things are extremely useful to me and must not be lost,” Qu Yi emphasized.

For Qu Yi, alchemy was first and foremost a means to practice. He had to start from scratch understanding the properties of various materials, which required many resources. A key reason why he wanted to control demon cultivators and attack cultivation sects was to seize these cultivation resources.

The cultivation world was inherently a world of the strong preying on the weak, with everyone fighting over resources. Qu Yi, of course, would not be merciful.

“Yes, master,” the Southern Envoy and Northern Envoy replied immediately.

Qu Yi remained silent for a while before smiling and saying, “Oh, you two, while attacking the Zhu Huo Sect, you can do me a favor. I have a demonic beast companion who can accompany you to the Zhu Huo Mountain Range.”

Immediately, Wu Yuan’s massive body leaped out of the Dimensional Sphere and appeared before everyone.

Inside the Dimensional Sphere, Bai Man and Wu Yuan had never been seen by the Southern Envoy and others, as they were kept in separate places. Besides Qu Yi, no one else inside the sphere could sense their surroundings with their spiritual awareness. Naturally, the Southern Envoy and others had no idea that others were there.

Wu Yuan let out a howl, especially with its dragon head shaking, which startled the demon cultivators, making them think Wu Yuan was a member of the dragon race.

“Ugh, boring. I can finally drink the essence blood of those at the Outward Spirit stage.” Wu Yuan looked at Qu Yi with emotion, quickly forgetting his previous complaints about Qu Yi not allowing him to leave the Tiny Realm Ball.
Qu Yi smiled and glanced at the Southern Envoy and the Northern Envoy.
“Yes, master. Your companion is also our companion. We will surely fulfill all of its demands,” the Southern Envoy and the Northern Envoy said in unison.
Qu Yi nodded and then disappeared.
Knowing that Qu Yi had entered the Tiny Realm Ball, the Southern Envoy and the Northern Envoy hesitated no longer and immediately urged the cultivators to head to the Zhu Fire Mountain Range to eliminate the Zhu Fire Sect.
…
Inside the Tiny Realm Ball, Qu Yi sat by the lake, seated as still as a pine tree, quietly scanning the formation.
Time flew by, and three months had passed.
Qu Yi remained seated by the lake, motionless, completely immersed in scanning the formation.
Suddenly, his closed eyes snapped open, glowing with intensity. He stood up abruptly, his demeanor radiant with joy.
“Hmph, my soul realm has finally reached the later stage of Yuan Ying,” Qu Yi murmured.
A moment later, the Artifact God took on a baby form, and Bai Man sensed this and immediately flew to Qu Yi’s side.
“Qu Yi, congratulations! You can now strive for the later stage of Yuan Ying,” the Artifact God said indifferently, hands behind its back, pretending to be mature once again.
“Qu Yi, your soul realm has broken through again!” Bai Man exclaimed happily, eyes smiling, as she held onto Qu Yi’s arm.
Touching Bai Man’s silky hair, Qu Yi laughed heartily. Only after noticing the Artifact God’s darkened expression did he speak, “Artifact God, the formations you taught me are truly powerful. Others have to study the energy every day, but I can understand various energy attributes just by scanning the formations. The speed is incredible—I can’t even believe it myself.”
The Artifact God’s expression relaxed slightly, and it said calmly, “Alright. Since you’ve just broken through, stabilize first before attempting to absorb Yuan Ying energy to advance to the later stage.”
Bai Man despised the Artifact God for pretending to be mature again in a baby form. If not for being happily holding Qu Yi’s arm, she would have rushed over to pinch his cheeks. Of course, Bai Man had never succeeded in catching the Artifact God.
Qu Yi understood the reason behind the Artifact God’s advice. He certainly wouldn’t risk absorbing Yuan Ying energy right after breaking through his soul realm. Otherwise, if the Yuan Ying energy were released suddenly and his soul couldn’t control it, the consequences would be disastrous.
“Artifact God, don’t worry. Do I seem like the kind of man who acts rashly?” Qu Yi said with a smile on his face.

Hai Man heard this, spat, and ran away with a flushed face. Ten days later, Qu Yi, sitting quietly by the lake, opened his eyes again—bright and full of confidence, as if ready to advance to the later stage of the Yuan Ying phase. This time, the Artifact God and Hai Man did not appear. Qu Yi placed the jade platform in front of him and arranged the fifty Yuan Ying seeds he had prepared earlier in piles. All of these were at the later stage of the Yuan Ying phase, with ten of each from the five elements—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. “Calm the mind and focus the spirit to transform the universe; activate the five-element techniques simultaneously!” Qu Yi shouted softly, then began to circulate the five-element techniques within his internal organs—“Golden Splendor,” “Revival of All Plants,” “Unity of Water and Sky,” “Spreading Starfire,” and “Mighty Imperial Earth.” These five techniques operated in unison, steadily increasing their speed until they reached their limit. “Five-element Yuan Ying—ingest them to transform into essence!” Qu Yi shouted again, and the fifty Yuan Ying seeds on the jade platform flew into his mouth, immediately entering his dantian. There, they were broken down and distributed by the combined Yuan Ying, with their energies flowing into the corresponding organs. Energy from metal entered the lungs, wood entered the liver, water entered the kidneys, fire entered the heart, and earth entered the spleen. Then, each element’s Yuan Ying absorbed and condensed these energies, further strengthening the Yuan Ying. The five-element techniques once again accelerated dramatically, absorbing waves of immense energy. At that moment, the Artifact God appeared, and Hai Man stood beside him. “Hai Man, get another ten of each of the five-element Yuan Ying seeds and place them beside Qu Yi; it will be very beneficial for him,” the Artifact God said calmly, hands behind his back. “Okay, I’ll follow your advice this time,” Hai Man said excitedly. Although she often resented the Artifact God, she knew his cultivation was unfathomable. If he said it would help, it surely would. And since it would benefit Qu Yi, Hai Man would definitely do it. Soon, she gathered ten of each of the five-element Yuan Ying seeds and placed them beside Qu Yi before flying away. Shortly after, Qu Yi’s body released a massive surge of energy. The five-element techniques pushed their speeds to the limit, yet he still couldn’t perfectly control the flow of energy, causing his meridians to endure tremendous pressure. Outside his body as well, the circulating energy created a powerful energy vortex. This vortex immediately swept over the Yuan Ying seeds Hai Man had placed there, causing the fifty seeds to float up with it.

Immediately, the fifty Yuan Ying also began to release energy slowly, and this energy of the Five Elements quickly coordinated with the energy flow within Qu Yi’s body. Excess energy was released through the meridians on the surface of his body, while the external energy of the Five Elements immediately penetrated inward. Through this continuous exchange, Qu Yi’s physical body underwent a remarkable process of tempering.

This was precisely the ingenious insight of the Artifact God—by doing this, Qu Yi skipped many years of physical training. Once he reached the later stage of Yuan Ying, the strength of his body should reach that of the early stage of exiting the body, allowing him to even shatter Yuan Ying at the early stage of exiting the body with his bare fists.

Inside and outside his body, Qu Yi continued a mysterious process of energy circulation.

……

The Zhu Huo Mountain Range had always been under the control of the Zhu Huo Sect. The entire mountain range was rich in various ores, and since the Zhu Huo Sect focused on artifact cultivation, this synergy made it a very important sect throughout Tian Feng Star.

However, the Zhu Huo Sect, which had thought it could live in peace, was now facing a massive disaster. The demon cultivator lurking within the sect, named Wu Hong, whose true form was a Fire Crow and who was at the middle stage of exiting the body, began to plot after the Southern and Northern Envoys brought four thousand demon cultivators to the Zhu Huo Mountain Range. He led them to one cultivation peak after another, aiming to eradicate the Zhu Huo Sect completely.

Among those four thousand demon cultivators, twenty had achieved breakthroughs due to massacres they had committed earlier at the Zi Yang Palace and the Jiu Han Sect. Now, each of them was like a fierce demon, completely immersed in a state of slaughter, brutally killing the members of the Zhu Huo Sect.

As expected, another thirty people reached the early stage of exiting the body. Moreover, the three demon cultivators—Xiong Guan, Lang Qiang, and Long Zhan—also finally reached this stage.

Wu Yuan, who was attacking alongside them, was extremely fierce and brutal. He had consumed the life essence of five sect leaders from the Zhu Huo Sect and now also reached the early stage of exiting the body. After achieving this breakthrough, Wu Yuan became even more unrestrained. In subsequent attacks, he would always take the lead, charging into the cultivation peaks of the Zhu Huo Sect and mercilessly slaughtering its disciples.

At that moment, the four thousand demon cultivators surrounded Zhu Huo Peak, preparing for the final attack.

Suddenly, a figure appeared in the sky—it was Qu Yi.

“Ugh, boring!” Wu Yuan was the first to spot Qu Yi. He immediately flapped his roc wings, soared into the air, and cried out.

“Haha, five yuan! I didn’t expect you to have truly reached the early stage of leaving the body. Great! I’ve also made progress and am now at the late stage of the Yuan Ying realm.” Qu Yi slapped Wuyuan’s head and laughed heartily.