Reaching the pinnacle from Doupo

Chapter 565 Soul Seed, Dan Chen's Use

As Xinlan watched in horror, Dan Chen's aura continued to rise.

Six-star Dou Zong, seven-star Dou Zong... peak Dou Zong, one-star Dou Zun... four-star Dou Zun, five-star Dou Zun... seven-star Dou Zun... In just a few breaths, this aura stood like a towering mountain in front of the two women, a power they could not reach.

The moment this aura reached an eight-star Dou Zun, her originally peaceful and gentle brows involuntarily furrowed slightly.

"Eight-star Dou Zun, it seems this is the current limit!"

Feeling a tearing sensation deep within her body, Dan Chen's eyelids twitched slightly, and after struggling for a moment, she gradually opened them.

However, at this moment, the girl's left and right eyes were filled with two completely different emotions: her left eye was filled with the innocent curiosity of a young girl; her right eye revealed the deep and calm demeanor of a powerful person.

Immediately, "Dan Chen" clenched his fist, carefully sensing the power within his body. A thoughtful look flashed in his deep, abyss-like right eye as he quickly estimated the combat power he could unleash.

A few minutes later, the estimation was finally completed, and that powerful momentum quickly receded like the tide.

At the same time, the deep and serene look in the girl's right eye gradually faded, transforming into the same innocent and carefree look as her left eye, as if it had just been a dream.

Control of the body was transferred from Lin Yuan to Dan Chen.

However, as soon as the girl regained control of her body, she felt a terrifying pain, as if all the meridians in her body were being torn apart.

Dan Chen, who had never suffered any serious injuries before, was suddenly struck by excruciating pain. Her vision went white, her body swayed, and she fell straight toward Lin Yuan in front of her.

As if he had expected it, Lin Yuan reached out and caught Dan Chen steadily the moment she fell.

Looking at Dan Chen, who was covered in cold sweat, with her eyes closed and clearly in a deep coma, Lin Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly, a faint glint of thought flashing in them.

"As expected, bearing such immense power puts a considerable burden on Dan Chen's body."

"Fortunately, there is a soul seed that she 'nurtured' me to help me grow, so she will not reject my soul power, nor will she cause any soul-tearing injury because of it!"

"The current core bottleneck lies in the fact that Dan Chen's cultivation level and physical strength are limited, which results in a significant time limit for 'divine intervention'... With Dan Chen's current cultivation level, after withstanding my power to the maximum extent, a quarter of an hour is the limit!"

"This amount of time is enough to resolve a battle, but it's not enough for more time-consuming operations. It seems we still need to find a way to improve it."

"Before the trip to the Heavenly Tomb, not only must her soul realm catch up, but her cultivation level and body refinement must also catch up!"

"If her cultivation level rises to Dou Zun and she masters a high-level body-refining fighting technique, the time she can withstand power should be greatly increased, perhaps even extending it to several days."

"In any case, the current situation is generally in line with expectations, and Dan Chen's subsequent cultivation plan... can be finalized!"

"Her next cultivation focus is tentatively set on dual cultivation of the soul and body and Heaven-rank body-refining combat techniques." As his thoughts raced, Lin Yuan had a thought and extracted a trace of medicinal power from the three cores in his body. After refining it with a strange fire, he directly transferred it into Dan Chen's body.

As the medicine took effect, Dan Chen's complexion quickly changed from a sickly pale color to a healthy rosy complexion.

The girl slowly woke up, let out a soft moan, and then slowly opened her eyes.

The first thing she saw was that Lin Yuan was holding her firmly in his arms. In an instant, her cheeks were as red as if they were dyed by the most magnificent sunset.

She stood up in a panic and hastily cupped her hands in a respectful gesture towards Lin Yuan.

"Master, I was... I was rude just now!" She secretly raised her eyes, her gaze cautiously sweeping over Lin Yuan's face, her eyes filled with undisguised shyness.

"It's alright." Lin Yuan waved his hand casually and asked in a deep voice, "How are you feeling? Your soul and body are both fine, right?"

"I'm fine!" Dan Chen suppressed her shyness and, after a moment of reflection, whispered.

"Hehe, it's good that you're alright!" Lin Yuan smiled and nodded, reaching out to gently stroke the girl's hair. He said meaningfully, "Little Danchen, you did a great job. You nurtured that seed very well for your teacher. It will be a great opportunity for you..."

The seed he planted in Dan Chen's soul sprouted along with the latter's breakthrough to the Spirit Realm and deeply integrated, transforming Dan Chen's soul to a certain extent.

Dan Chen's soul has become a vessel perfectly suited to Lin Yuan's soul power!
With the talent to devour soul power, coupled with the perfectly fused soul seed... Dan Chen's soul is the perfect place to reside.

Of course, this place where souls reside has been transformed to belong exclusively to Lin Yuan.

Some of his power and consciousness can reside in Dan Chen's body through the Soul Seed, using the latter's ability to devour souls to replenish what he has consumed, thus achieving the goal of longevity in the world.

Under these circumstances, Dan Chen almost mastered the divine skill of "possession by a ghost," enabling her to borrow Lin Yuan's power when necessary to deal with the crises she faced; Lin Yuan could also use the soul seed to transmit messages to Dan Chen at any time, and even control her body.

Before reaching the Heavenly Realm, without suitable Soul Skills, the combat power that can be unleashed with pure soul power is at most no more than the peak level of Dou Zong.

However, after reaching the Heavenly Realm, the power that the soul can exert gradually approaches that of battle qi.

Lin Yuan, who is currently a mid-level half-saint, has reached the late stage of the Heavenly Realm in terms of soul power. Even without using high-level soul skills, the combat power he can exert with pure soul power is no less than that of a beginner Dou Sheng.

Ideally, when his soul descends into Dan Chen's body, he should be able to unleash this level of power.

However, due to Dan Chen's own insufficient qualifications, she is far from being able to do so at present!
The combination of a soul seed and the method of summoning a spirit is quite similar to the Soul Clan's soul-possessing technique, but it is more complete and safer—it will not harm the soul of the person being summoned.

As for the "Soul Transfer Technique," it is a secret technique of the Soul Clan that allows one's own soul to reside in another person's body.

Decades ago, during a great battle, the Lord of the Soul Palace used this technique, attaching some of his own soul to a Soul Palace Dou Zun, and engaging in a battle with the three giants of the Pill Tower from a distance, resulting in a crushing defeat for the three giants.

If it weren't for the Dan Tower Ancestor's secret protection and timely intervention to deter the Soul Palace Master, the three giants would have already perished...

The feud between the three and the Soul Palace is no small matter!

As for the unfortunate Dou Zun who was possessed, he died from a torn soul when the Soul Palace Master's soul power left him, due to the excessive absorption of the other person's soul power.

Using the soul power of others is never a risk-free endeavor. For example, in the original timeline, Xiao Yan received a rather serious warning from the Heavenly Flame Venerable after only using his soul power a few times.

As a master of souls, Lin Yuan naturally understood the reason... borrowing the power of another's soul can easily leave behind a remnant of that soul. If there are too many remnants of another's soul, it can cause the physical body to resist one's own soul, preventing the two from perfectly merging.

(Based on the original novel's setting; see Chapter 958 for details on the remnant soul imprint)
The inability of the physical body and soul to perfectly merge poses an immense threat to cultivation, potentially leading to a complete stagnation in one's entire life.

The consequences of bearing too much soul power at once are more severe, with the risk of soul conflict, disintegration, and death!
As for why Xiao Yan borrowed Yao Lao's soul power multiple times without any serious consequences, Lin Yuan guessed that the reason was probably that Yao Lao, just like himself, had made ample preparations before being "possessed by a ghost"!
During the three years that Yao Lao absorbed Xiao Yan's Dou Qi, he was most likely not only training and testing Xiao Yan's character, but also preparing for the "ghost possession" without any hidden dangers.

As for the claim that absorbing battle qi nourishes the soul, Lin Yuan didn't believe a word of it.

Leaving aside whether battle qi can nourish the soul, the tiny bit of energy extracted by a young man who is not even a fighter is far from enough to nourish the soul of Elder Yao, who is at the peak of the Spirit Realm or even the Half-Heaven Realm.

Lin Yuan's Soul Seed Technique is a special soul secret technique that he modified based on the Soul Clan's "Soul Transfer Technique" and combined with his own research on the soul.

After all, while the Soul Palace Master might not care about the lives of his Dou Zun subordinates, Lin Yuan couldn't afford to be indifferent to Dan Chen.

Although Lin Yuan had a strong desire to use this girl with the talent of soul devouring, he also genuinely regarded her as his disciple and would naturally be responsible for her future.

The main reason Lin Yuan chose Dan Chen to enter the Heavenly Tomb was the latter's special talent!

For ordinary people entering the Heavenly Tomb, the greatest benefit is nothing more than hunting down the special energy beings within the Heavenly Tomb, using the pure energy they condense and their cultivation.

If Dan Chen can cooperate with Xiao Xuan when he enters the Heavenly Tomb, he might be able to devour not only the energy cores of those energy beings, but also the remnant souls of those powerful energy beings.

This special talent for devouring souls is currently possessed only by Dan Chen!
The soul essence accumulated within the Heavenly Tomb is extremely vast, comparable to the accumulation of the Soul Palace over many years, and even sufficient to support advancement to the Emperor Realm.

If Dan Chen could get Xiao Xuan's help, she would only need to hunt down some powerful energy beings—such as the two Soul Clan Battle Saints in the Heavenly Tomb—and their remaining soul power would be enough for her to advance to the Heavenly Realm and travel a great distance within it.

For Dan Chen, the trip to the Heavenly Tomb will be an opportunity that allows her to make rapid progress.

During this process, the seed that Lin Yuan planted in her soul will continue to grow strong, accumulating foundation for her future breakthrough to the Great Perfection of the Heavenly Realm and the Emperor Realm!
However, making Dan Chen's rapid progress was only one of his many plans for the Heavenly Tomb.

Because he had so many things he wanted to do and so many things he wanted to gain, Lin Yuan didn't care much about gains and losses and was generous in doing favors for Xiao Yan and Yao Lao, hoping to achieve a deep cooperation with Xiao Xuan in the future.

The benefits of the Heavenly Tomb are truly immense, and he doesn't want to give up as long as there's even the slightest chance.

As for Dan Chen, she is one of the core pieces in the scheme to build the Heavenly Tomb. Lin Yuan also has high expectations for her future and has made considerable efforts to improve the "Soul Transfer Method".

The main goal of the improvement is to expand functionality and reduce side effects.

Dan Chen's ability to devour souls can absorb the soul power of others and has the miraculous effect of dissolving soul imprints, but it is not absolute—the effect is very obvious on souls of the same or lower realm; but the effect is quite limited on souls of higher realm.

The ability to devour the soul power of others is closely related to Dan Chen's soul realm. The best way to increase its upper limit is to increase Dan Chen's soul realm.

However, the soul realm is not so easy to improve. Even Lin Yuan, after breaking through the spirit realm, spent several years before advancing to the heaven realm.

Furthermore, elevating Danchen too much at once carries the risk of her standing out from the crowd!
Fortunately, after studying Dan Chen's physique, Lin Yuan had already come up with a solution... The most crucial element of this solution was the soul seed.

The Soul Seed originated from a slice of Lin Yuan's soul and grew with the nourishment of Dan Chen's soul power. With the addition of a special secret method to harmonize it, it naturally integrates the soul power of the two.

When Dan Chen advanced to the Spirit Realm, the Soul Seed took root in her soul and completed the transformation of her soul.

The two soul powers are almost indistinguishable.

Under these circumstances, Dan Chen can safely borrow Lin Yuan's soul power without any risk of soul imprint damage.

Moreover, because she possesses the ability to devour souls, she can quickly replenish her soul through certain means. Even if Lin Yuan himself is not by her side, the power within her soul seed can be replenished and will not be easily depleted.

With the Soul Seed as a trump card, plus several powerful puppets, Dan Chen can handle most situations with ease after entering the Heavenly Tomb, as long as Xiao Xuan doesn't obstruct him.

Lin Yuan was absolutely confident that when the Heavenly Tomb opened several years later, his strength would be far beyond that of a one-star Dou Sheng.

At that time, the power that Dan Chen could bear would certainly be far more than an eight-star Dou Zun...

Furthermore, by using the soul seed as a medium and employing some clever techniques, Lin Yuan was able to empower Dan Chen with his own soul power, significantly increasing the upper limit of her soul-devouring ability.

After all, his soul realm was already at the late stage of the Heavenly Realm!

Even in the Heavenly Tomb, where powerful remnant souls gather, there are very few people who possess such a profound soul realm.

With Lin Yuan's help, Dan Chen's future progress may leave everyone speechless!

At this moment, Lin Yuan noticed a strange gaze coming from the side. Turning his head, he saw Xin Lan looking at Dan Chen with envy, but a hint of disappointment flashed deep in her eyes.

Even though he had taken many elixirs, his talent was still inferior to that of his junior sister, and he was not qualified to shoulder the heavy responsibility entrusted to him by their teacher.

Lin Yuan could vaguely guess Xin Lan's thoughts, but he didn't care or offer any comfort... Ordinary people eventually have to learn to make peace with themselves!
Xinlan's talent is far inferior to Danchen's, and she is unable to bear the seed of his soul.

Nurturing the soul seed while breaking through to the spiritual realm seems simple, but it is far from easy—cultivating the soul seed and making it compatible with oneself requires a lot of energy and time, which will greatly slow down the speed of breaking through to the spiritual realm.

If Dan Chen hadn't possessed the talent to devour souls, and hadn't received soul cultivation techniques and rare treasures from Lin Yuan, her breakthrough to the Spirit Realm would have been much slower than the original trajectory.

"Come with me, I will teach you a new soul cultivation technique."

Lin Yuan waved to his two disciples, then flew towards the depths of the back mountain—it was time to pass on the first few levels of the Demon Soul Saint Technique to them!

(End of this chapter)