Reaching the pinnacle from Doupo

Chapter 521: The Curtain Falls, the Review, and the Takeaways
In Purgatory Valley, the thrilling battle has come to an end.

The valley was filled with the smell of gunpowder and the heat of the fire. The volcano was still erupting intermittently, and scalding lava flowed across the broken earth, making a "gurgling" sound, telling the story of the fierce battle that had just taken place.

Seeing that the light barrier had trapped him firmly, the old demon Tianming was filled with resentment. He used the last of his fighting spirit to bombard the light barrier, but all his efforts were in vain.

Just as he was busy escaping and anxious, a strange mist quietly spread within the light screen.

Lin Yuan took a step forward, and his figure appeared in front of the light screen in an instant, like a ghost.

"Don't waste your energy. In your current state, it's impossible for you to break through this Lotus Fire Sealing Heaven Formation."

His voice was calm and composed, radiating absolute confidence and certainty, with a faint smile playing on his lips, as if everything was under his control.

Upon hearing this, the Heavenly Demon stopped what he was doing, his hands hanging limply at his sides. His eyes were fixed on Lin Yuan like those of a vicious wolf, his teeth grinding together as he said hatefully, "What exactly do you want? Do you really want to fight my Heavenly Demon Sect to the death?"

"A fight to the death?" Lin Yuan chuckled disdainfully, a playful tone in his voice. "Does the loser have the right to say that? I'll give you half a minute: surrender or be destroyed... Choose!"

After he finished speaking, he fell silent, simply standing there quietly, his eyes revealing a ruthless decisiveness.

The old demon Tianming's expression shifted between light and dark as he weighed the pros and cons in his mind.

Now, severely injured and trapped in this formation, he is like a turtle in a jar. If he does not surrender, he will likely face certain death.

He has lived for so long, weathered countless storms, and enjoyed power and status; he truly doesn't want to die!

Besides, surrendering to a prodigy like Yao Jun—a peerless Heavenly Realm expert capable of defying the Saint Realm—doesn't seem like such a shameful thing, right? After all, in this world, the strong are respected, and I have personally witnessed the other party's strength; I am far from being his match.

Thinking of this, the Heavenly Demon Lord slightly raised his head, glanced at Lin Yuan with a complicated look, his eyes filled with resentment, fear and a trace of barely perceptible awe.

As he pondered, he gradually convinced himself and finally made a decision.

In any case, let's save our lives first, and then take it one step at a time... As long as we're alive, there's still a chance for the future.

"I... surrender! I am willing to lead the Tianming Sect to submit to Your Majesty!" The old demon Tianming sighed, slowly lowered his head, and his voice was somewhat hoarse.

"Hehe, not bad, a wise man knows when to yield, I admire that! But..." Lin Yuan clapped his hands and chuckled, then his tone suddenly changed, his voice turning cold: "You took a minute to consider, that's over time, go to hell!"

"You little bastard, I'll fight you to the death today!" The Heavenly Demon's eyes turned blood red instantly. With a thought, he prepared to ignite his primordial battle qi and make a final desperate attempt by self-destructing.

However, he was horrified to find that he could not mobilize any power at all, and looked at Lin Yuan in astonishment.

"Medicine Lord, you've plotted against me?!"

"Of course, you fool! Otherwise, do you think I was just waiting around? I've been on guard against this move for a long time..." Lin Yuan smiled disdainfully, and a strange soul fluctuation surged from between his brows, eerily piercing through the light barrier and attacking the furious Tianming Old Demon.

The already weakened Heavenly Demon was struck by this powerful soul impact, causing his eyes to roll back, his body to stiffen, and he immediately fainted.

At the same time, Lin Yuan raised his hand and waved, dispelling the formation, and flashed to the front of the Heavenly Nether Demon.

Without the slightest hesitation, he reached out and grabbed the old demon Tianming by the neck. With a sudden burst of strength, he crushed the latter's throat, completely severing its life force.

Then, Lin Yuan quickly formed hand seals and activated the Soul Palace's secret soul technique to extract the soul of the Heavenly Demon Old Demon, which had reached the early stage of the Heavenly Realm, from his corpse and seal it into a strange black box for storing souls.

He breathed a sigh of relief after quickly completing all of this, and after a moment of contemplation, a faint look of deep thought flickered in his eyes.

"The mission is accomplished. With such a harvest, all my meticulous preparations have not been in vain."

"The Soul-Severing Smoke recorded in the Occult Poison Scripture, when combined with the high-level illusion technique Nightmare Sky Mist, has such a good effect."

"Even a semi-saint level expert can easily fall victim to this if they are not careful, and their soul and body will be severed in a short period of time without their knowledge."

"However, the development of poison techniques in the Dou Qi Continent is ultimately limited, and their power is limited when used alone."

"If we want to apply poison techniques to actual combat in the Holy Realm and maximize their effectiveness, we still need to focus on the 'stealth' aspect. We need to combine the stealthy and dangerous characteristics of poison with the power of high-level combat skills and take the 'enchantment' route..."

"This experience can be discussed with Little Fairy Doctor later, and it should give her some inspiration."

As his thoughts wandered, the image of a gentle and beautiful white-haired woman suddenly appeared in Lin Yuan's mind.

"Little Fairy Doctor, how is she doing?! Is her breakthrough going smoothly?"

Shaking his head, Lin Yuan suppressed his faint longing, looked down at the black box that sealed the soul, and at the half-saint's corpse in front of him, his eyes filled with the joy of his harvest.

From the very beginning, he had no intention of letting the Heavenly Demon live.

Anyone who can rise to the top of a "man-eating" sect like the Heavenly Nether Sect must be a ruthless and cunning person, and therefore not trustworthy.

As for the Heavenly Demon Old Man's half-saint level strength, it offers limited assistance to Lin Yuan in his current state.

Since Lin Yuan was too lazy to engage in a battle of wits with him, the latter's fate was destined to be only one—separation of body and soul, becoming a precious consumable in Lin Yuan's hands.

Whether it was the words that made the old monster submit before the battle, or the hypocritical words of persuasion to surrender after the battle, it was all done deliberately by Lin Yuan. His purpose was to lull him into a false sense of security, to prevent him from self-destructing, and to buy time for his own methods.

After all, people generally won't resort to the most extreme measures if they have even a glimmer of hope.

And this was the psychological trap set by Lin Yuan.

Killing the Heavenly Demon Lord is not difficult, but if one wants to use him to hone one's skills and prevent him from escaping or self-destructing, it will still require considerable effort.

As for the outcome, Lin Yuan undoubtedly achieved the best result.

The half-saint level Heavenly Realm Soul alone is comparable to the century-long effort of a Soul Palace branch, its preciousness is self-evident. And that high-level half-saint body is also good material for refining powerful puppets, enough to refine a half-saint puppet.

More importantly, with the old demon Tianming gone, the Tianming Sect is like a lamb to the slaughter for Lin Yuan, who can take whatever he wants from it.

If he's not mistaken, the Heavenly Nether Sect should possess that thing...

Thinking of this, Lin Yuan, who was standing quietly in the void, couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth slightly, revealing a satisfied smile—this time, he might be able to make a good profit!
Slowly closing his eyes, Lin Yuan carefully considered his current state and mentally reviewed the battle.

"The Three Pill Secret Technique truly lives up to my expectations in its power." "With the Three Pill Secret Technique added to my foundation as a Tenth-Rank Dou Zun, my pure Dou Qi cultivation should now have surpassed the level of a High-Level Half-Saint... but whether I have reached the Dou Sheng level is still uncertain!"

"But with my trump cards—different flames, soul, and fighting techniques—I should be able to put up a fight even against ordinary Dou Sheng experts."

"Did I become so powerful without even realizing it?"

"However, there are still some minor inconsistencies when the three secret techniques are used in parallel, which hinders their effectiveness. With some improvements, the boost to combat power should be even greater."

"Make a note of the inconsistencies first, and continue to deduce and experiment later..."

Having thought of this, Lin Yuan silently noted down all the questions before slowly opening his eyes and deactivated the Three Pill Secret Technique, which was still in operation.

The power within him that nearly burst his meridians finally dissipated slowly, like the receding tide.

As his body gradually returned to normal, Lin Yuan smiled with relief and sighed softly, "The Three Pills Secret Technique is powerful, but it puts a considerable burden on the body. It seems that I should use it with caution before advancing to the Half-Saint level."

He raised his hand and waved it, storing the black box containing the soul of the Heavenly Demon into his storage ring. Then, with a flash, he sped off towards the direction where Feng Qing'er was.

Before long, they saw Feng Qing'er looking somewhat worried.

Upon seeing Lin Yuan return, a hint of surprise flashed in Feng Qing'er's eyes, but she quickly suppressed it and said calmly, "You won, congratulations!"

Lin Yuan shrugged and chuckled, "Hehe, should I say 'congratulations'?"

"What do you plan to do next?" Feng Qing'er didn't respond to that question. Instead, after a moment's thought, she asked softly, "The half-saint and sect leader of the Tianming Sect have died at your hands. Now that they are leaderless, what do you plan to do with them?"

Lin Yuan chuckled lightly, and said meaningfully, "The first two things—treating guests, beheading, and taking them as dogs—are done. Now, of course, it's time for the final thing! Let's go!"

After saying this, he put away the Heavenly Puppet One, embraced Feng Qing'er's slender waist, and transformed into a streak of icy blue light, speeding towards the Tianming Sect.
-
Three days later, at the back mountain of the Tianming Sect.

Deep within the Underworld Mountain Range lies a vast valley, shrouded in ghostly mist and permeated with a blood-red hue, a scene of chilling mystery.

The colossal palace where the Heavenly Demon King usually secluded himself was hidden in the center of this valley. This palace, a tapestry of blood and black, was now tightly shut, exuding an aura of vicissitude and majesty, as if telling the story of bygone eras.

Lin Yuan, dressed in black, stood tall and straight in the giant hall, his eyes fixed on a newly dug pit.

At the bottom of that deep pit, a ball of light, several feet in size, floated silently, emitting a soft glow.

The ball of light was transparent, and its outer edge was sealed with many seals, like strong shackles, which firmly isolated the soul fluctuations emanating from the ball of light.

"As expected, such a thing exists... the essence of the soul!" Looking at the transparent ball of light, Lin Yuan's eyes narrowed slightly: "I knew it! The Heavenly Nether Sect—a sect that doesn't even shy away from devouring the flesh and blood of others, how could it not have thoughts about devouring souls?"

"No wonder the Heavenly Nether Sect has always had a continuous stream of half-saints. No wonder that old thing, the Heavenly Nether Old Demon, whose soul aptitude is not high and whose soul cultivation technique is not strong, was able to achieve the Heavenly Realm Soul."

"It seems that the Heavenly Nether Sect has been secretly cultivating their souls by devouring the origins of souls for many years!"

"The reason they dare not collect souls on a large scale is probably because they are afraid of being discovered by the Soul Palace! After all, the Soul Palace goes to great lengths to crack down on its 'competitors'..."

"Although this mass of soul essence is not large in quantity, its quality is extremely high, comparable to what a branch hall has harvested over several decades."

"Very well, all of this is good for me." A greedy glint flashed in Lin Yuan's eyes. "With this clump of soul essence, plus the powerful souls I hunted at the Heavenly Nether Sect, the materials needed to upgrade my Nascent Soul Core... are all gathered!"

Having found what he was looking for, Lin Yuan didn't linger. He carefully took out and put away the soul fragment, then turned and left the hall.

Outside the hall, a man and a woman, two figures, waited quietly.

Upon seeing Lin Yuan emerge, Feng Qing'er moved gracefully and instinctively walked quickly behind him; Senluo Ghost Lord bowed deeply and offered a most respectful salute to Lin Yuan—this incredibly important person in his life.

Lin Yuan glanced at Senluo Ghost Venerable and nodded slightly: "Your strength has increased to the eight-star Dou Zun in just a few days... Not bad, it seems you are very compatible with that cultivation technique!"

Hearing Lin Yuan's praise, Senluo Ghost Lord was overjoyed, but his voice was extremely respectful, and he dared not be negligent in the slightest.

"My cultivation has improved thanks to the elixir and the transfer of power from my master; I dare not take credit for it!"

It was thanks to the young man before him, and thanks to the cultivation techniques and pills he had given him, that he, Senluo Ghost Lord—an ordinary elder of the Tianming Sect—was able to become the sect master of the Tianming Sect!

And he actually had the good fortune to cultivate the Heavenly Rank Sect-Supporting Technique of the Heavenly Nether Sect? Previously, only the Ancestor and the Sect Master could cultivate it.

Ancestor, Sect Master, Deputy Sect Master, Young Sect Master... you all deserve to die!

With a light breath, the Ghost Lord of the Netherworld took out several storage rings from his sleeve and presented them to Lin Yuan with both hands: "My lord, all the medicinal herbs that the Heavenly Netherworld Sect can currently gather are in these storage rings! I will personally handle the rest of the matter..."

Lin Yuan took the storage ring, examined it briefly, and then put it away, a satisfied smile appearing on his face.

"Well done, you deserve a reward!"

As he spoke, he waved his sleeve, and several frozen corpses fell in front of the Netherworld Ghost Lord: "The Heaven-rank technique you are currently cultivating, 'Blood Spirit Treasure Mirror,' is an advanced technique of 'Blood Evil Technique.' It can devour the flesh and blood of others, absorb their fighting spirit, and has resolved the side effect of the Blood Evil Technique's impure fighting spirit."

"Among the corpses of these elders of the Heavenly Nether Sect, there is still some extremely pure Dou Qi remaining. You should absorb and refine it as soon as possible to raise your cultivation to the peak of Dou Zun."

"With the strength of a peak Dou Zun, and the puppet I gave you, you will be able to firmly control the Tianming Sect."

"And this Heavenly Rank Battle Technique will further solidify your position!"

Before he finished speaking, Lin Yuan flicked his finger, and a black and red bone scroll flew out from the Nether Sea and landed in front of the Netherworld Ghost Lord.

"Blood Dark Netherworld...is this our sect's most treasured fighting technique?!" Upon seeing the few small characters on the bone scroll, the Netherworld Ghost Lord's pupils constricted, his body trembling involuntarily. He exclaimed with wild joy, "Thank you for your reward, Master! I will repay your great kindness with my life..."

"If you work diligently, you'll reap the rewards." Lin Yuan waved his hand, saying meaningfully, "I'm entrusting the Heavenly Nether Sect to you, but if I discover you have ulterior motives... hehe, I'll find a way to take back what I've given you!"

"Rest assured, my lord, if I have any disloyal thoughts, I am willing to be struck by lightning and die a horrible death!" the Ghost Lord of Senluo hurriedly assured him in a state of fear.

“Oaths are worthless. You need to prove yourself to me with your actions.” Lin Yuan glanced at him, then turned his gaze to Feng Qing’er beside him. “Little Phoenix, let’s go. This matter is over.”

Upon hearing this, Feng Qing'er nodded gently, took light steps, and followed closely behind Lin Yuan.

　I need to go out to take care of some things tomorrow, so I'll be taking a day off. Please forgive me, fellow readers!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)