Chapter 50: Mantras

The Soul Compass allows one to directly locate its position, as if the cultivator has imprinted a mental mark on it, enabling others to sense it no matter where it goes.
The materials needed to craft a Soul Compass are the Dream Soul Stone, the Five Constellations Stone, and the Witch Spirit Crystal—all of which are top-tier spiritual artifact materials that are extremely rare in the cultivation world.
However, at this moment, the Artifact God discovered that there were large quantities of these three materials in the Taiyuan Gate’s material warehouse.
“Artifact God, have you found the Dream Soul Stone, the Five Constellations Stone, and the Witch Spirit Crystal? In which mountain peaks are they hidden?” Qu Yi asked immediately.
But the Artifact God remained silent, waved his hand, and said with a smile, “These three materials are located in three different mountain peaks. You don’t need to try to steal them now. Just wait until you destroy Taiyuan Gate, then come here to take them.”
Qu Yi looked both amused and exasperated. The Artifact God’s mind changed so quickly—before, when there were no materials, he kept urging him to craft a Soul Compass; now that the materials had been found, he advised him not to rush. Of course, Qu Yi also understood that attempting to retrieve these materials now might expose the secrets of the Dimension Ball and reveal that he had infiltrated Taiyuan Gate.
“I understand. Then I’ll wait until I unify the cultivation world before collecting these materials,” Qu Yi said with a smile.
Liang Wu, of course, couldn’t hear their conversation. He continued flying straight to Mountain 35, then reached the 22nd level of the cave, where he found the cave storing the Cold Fire Jade.
After obtaining the Cold Fire Jade, Liang Wu quickly flew out of the material warehouse and returned to his crafting site.
This crafting site was a mountain peak equipped with a formation that drew out the geothermal fire from the earth’s core, making it available for use by craftsmen. Inside the dedicated crafting room, there was a crafting cauldron of mid-tier spiritual artifact quality.
After entering the crafting room, Liang Wu set up a restriction to isolate it from the outside world.
Qu Yi suddenly appeared, walked around the room for a while, and then said, “Liang Wu, what magical artifact do you want to craft?”
Without hesitation, Liang Wu replied immediately, “Master, I want to craft my own life artifact—the Black Flame Whip. I went to Planet Bata to find a crafting material called Crow Sinew. Now that I’ve obtained the Cold Fire Jade, I finally have all the materials needed.”

Qu Yi smiled and said directly, “I’m sure the magical artifact you’ve crafted is only a mid-grade spiritual weapon. But I have a way for you to use these materials to create a high-grade spiritual weapon.”
Looking at Qu Yi’s expression, which didn’t seem like he was talking nonsense, Liang Wu immediately asked, “Master, do you really have a method? Can you tell me?”
Qu Yi nodded and smiled, “Actually, you can use the Xingluo Ding of the Taiyuan Sect to upgrade both the Wuque Pan and the Hanhuo Yu to a higher grade. Then, find a powerful being at the Mahayana stage—surely they’ll help you craft a high-grade spiritual weapon.”
Upon hearing this, Liang Wu’s expression darkened slightly as he said with a wry smile, “Master, although the Taiyuan Sect possesses the Xingluo Ding, for us elders at the Consolidation stage to use it, we need to secretly offer benefits to those ancestors at the Mahayana stage; only then will they agree to help. Even if I give them the Wuque Jin and Hanhuo Yu, they probably won’t use the Xingluo Ding themselves.”
Qu Yi chuckled, and suddenly a jade slip appeared in his hand. He tossed it to Liang Wu.
“I know those beings at the Mahayana stage are busy refining their Dharma bodies, transforming their bodies into Essence Bodies in preparation for ascending to the immortal realm. But the jade slip I gave you contains a formation that should be enough to impress them. Decide for yourself which Mahayana being has a preference for such formations,” Qu Yi said with a smile.
Hearing this, Liang Wu was shocked. He immediately scanned the contents of the jade slip with his spiritual sense.
“The Yin-Yang Five Realms Hunyuan Formation—it’s a formation that uses five types of Essence Energy. Only beings at the Mahayana stage can use such a formation. How did you get this, Master? I think this formation will definitely impress those ancestors at the Mahayana stage,” Liang Wu said happily.
Qu Yi nodded, thinking to himself, “If this formation, specially taught by the Artifact God, can’t impress a being at the Mahayana stage, then the Artifact God can hit the wall.”
Soon, Liang Wu left the artifact crafting room again.
……
The Xingluo Ding—according to the rules of the Taiyuan Sect, only beings at the Mahayana stage are allowed to use it.
Rumors say the Taiyuan Sect has hundreds of beings at the Mahayana stage. Of course, most of them are in one place, refining their Essence Energy and completely transforming their Dharma bodies into Essence Bodies.
There are also a dozen or so powerful beings at the Mahayana stage remaining in the Taiyuan Sect, three of whom are stationed here in the artifact crafting area.
Liang Wu, carrying the jade slip, went to the central area of the artifact crafting site. There, in an open valley, flowers bloomed everywhere, and green grass covered the ground. At the center of the valley stood a ten-meter-tall black square cauldron.

The cauldron had four legs, but instead of feet, they were four dragon tails. Four dragon heads hung from the four corners of the cauldron, pointing toward its center, as if four dragons were breathing fire. This cauldron was precisely the Star Luo Cauldron, the key reason why the Tai Yuan Sect became the most powerful sect in the cultivation world. Around the edge of this valley, three people sat quietly in three different places—these were the three Great Perfection-stage beings responsible for guarding the Star Luo Cauldron. With these three Great Perfection-stage beings, the Tai Yuan Sect naturally felt confident enough to place the Star Luo Cauldron here.

At that moment, Liang Wu flew toward one of the three Great Perfection-stage experts—a kind-faced old man with flowing white beard, exuding an aura of authority without being angry. This old man was named Luo Zhong. Liang Wu arrived unimpeded in front of Luo Zhong and stood there quietly, not daring to utter a word, waiting for Luo Zhong to open his eyes. For a month, Luo Zhong remained seated, as if unaware that someone had come. Liang Wu, too, did not dare move and continued to stand straight.

A month later, Luo Zhong finished testing Liang Wu and opened his eyes, smiling and saying, “Your patience is good. Come, what brings you here?” Liang Wu immediately presented the jade slip to Luo Zhong and said softly, “Ancestor, while cultivating in the cultivation world, I accidentally discovered a cave dwelling and obtained this jade slip. It contains a powerful formation that can only be utilized by those at the Great Perfection stage, so I brought it to you.” After hearing this, Luo Zhong’s expression remained calm, but he was still impressed by Liang Wu’s words. He immediately scanned the jade slip with his spiritual sense and his face showed surprise. “Not bad, not bad. This formation is indeed useful to me. Even after I ascend to the immortal realm, I can rely on it to protect myself for a while,” Luo Zhong exclaimed joyfully. Clearly, the ‘Yin Yang Five Realms Hun Yuan Formation’ had impressed him.

Liang Wu stood by, smiling softly as well, without saying a word. “You gave me this jade slip because you have a request of your own, right? Speak up; I’m in a good mood now,” Luo Zhong said with a faint smile after taking the jade slip. At this point, Liang Wu could no longer pretend and immediately explained his purpose: “Ancestor, I want to craft a top-grade spiritual artifact, but the materials I’ve gathered are only at the middle-grade level. Therefore, I hope you can help me craft one.” Luo Zhong stared at Liang Wu silently until the latter trembled all over and his back was completely soaked with sweat before he finally smiled. “You want to exchange this formation for a top-grade spiritual artifact. I understand your plan now. Very well, I agree to it,” Luo Zhong said with a light laugh. Liang Wu slumped to the ground, finally breathing a sigh of relief.

It was all Qu Yi’s arrangement. He wanted to use this method to gain access to the Star Luo Ding, so that he could apply the technique given to him by the God of Tools to control it and escape from the Tai Yuan Gate. Although the “Yin Yang Five Realms Hun Yuan Formation” was a powerful array, Qu Yi still considered it a great deal to use it in exchange for the chance to retrieve the Star Luo Ding. Luo Zhong, who was at the Mahayana stage, never expected that Liang Wu would trade an array for a top-grade spiritual artifact. He thought he had gained a huge profit, but a conspiracy was waiting for him behind the scenes. … Since Luo Zhong had agreed to Liang Wu’s request, he wasted no time and immediately flew to the center of the valley. A pure red flame suddenly emerged from his hand and rushed into the Star Luo Ding. He then formed a hand seal, shaping the flame into a star pattern, after which the Star Luo Ding shrank from ten meters to the size of a palm. Only after it had shrunk did Luo Zhong stop sending the true fire and seize the Star Luo Ding. Normally, the Star Luo Ding was placed in the center of the valley, guarded by three beings at the Mahayana stage. But whenever it needed to be used, it had to be shrunk and taken to a special place first. When Luo Zhong took the Star Luo Ding away, the other two beings at the Mahayana stage in the valley did not come to stop him, as they had already received a message from Luo Zhong’s spiritual consciousness. In a special area of the artifact-forging workshop, there was a magnificent pavilion made entirely of red jade, containing a specially treated artifact-forging chamber. At that moment, Luo Zhong brought the Star Luo Ding and Liang Wu to this pavilion. “Liang Wu, wait here. I’ll go to the artifact-forging chamber to craft the magical weapon you want and give it to you later,” Luo Zhong said indifferently. Disturbances were not allowed during the forging process, so Luo Zhong had no choice but to leave Liang Wu there. Luo Zhong nodded in understanding. Soon after, he entered the artifact-forging chamber and focused on crafting the magical weapon. Meanwhile, Liang Wu sat in a room in the pavilion, waiting patiently for Luo Zhong to come out. Not long after Luo Zhong entered the chamber, a misty aura suddenly spread throughout the pavilion, enveloping it entirely. The pavilion itself seemed to disappear as well; outsiders could no longer see it. It turned out that the array of the pavilion also had an invisibility effect. Inside the pavilion, Liang Wu found that his spiritual consciousness could no longer sense any objects amidst the misty aura.

At that moment, Qu Yi suddenly appeared beside Liang Wu, immediately sending him into the Cunjie Ball. He took on Liang Wu’s appearance, and his own vital energy transformed into Liang Wu’s fire-type vital energy. Luo Zhong, who was in the refining room, naturally could not sense any of these changes. The separation of spiritual awareness also had an effect on Luo Zhong. After taking on Liang Wu’s form, Qu Yi immediately began communicating with the Spirit of the Artifact: “Spirit of the Artifact, it’s time now for you to teach me the incantation to control the Xingluo Ding.” As an old possession of the Spirit of the Artifact, only the spirit itself could use all its functions; others could only access a portion of them because the spirit possessed the incantation to activate it. Without responding, the Spirit of the Artifact directly passed the incantation to Qu Yi. Qu Yi scanned his soul with his spiritual awareness and immediately memorized the incantation. A strong aura of arrays spread throughout the attic, indicating that Luo Zhong was already using the Xingluo Ding. Looking at the swirling mist before him, Qu Yi’s lips twitched as he revealed a sinister smile. “Xingluo Ding, it’s time to return to its master! Taiyuan Gate, don’t be disappointed.”