Qin Renhuang just became an immortal, and you told me this is the prehistoric time

"No! No! Senior, spare my life! I'm willing to be your slave, I just beg you to spare my life!"

The Fox King could no longer care about the dignity of a demon immortal or the dignity of the Imperial Concubine. He collapsed in the snow and begged Ying Shaoyang in a pitiful voice, looking so pathetic that he evoked pity in me.

However, Ying Shaoyang's eyes remained indifferent.

He slowly extended the star-shaped bead in his hand forward, its body emitting a hazy starlight that enveloped the Fragrant Fox King.

The thunderous aura that had been suppressing the Fox Queen suddenly subsided. The Fox Queen felt a lightness in her soul, but before she could make any move, an irresistible suction force originating from the very source of the stars emanated from within the orb!

"Do not--!"

With a desperate scream, the soul of the Fragrant Fox King transformed into a stream of light and was forcibly absorbed into the dark silver star bead.

Inside the sphere, one of the hundreds of thousands of starlight and shadows suddenly lit up after the Fragrant Fox King's divine soul merged into it, its light becoming exceptionally stable and dazzling. Immediately afterwards, a stream of pure spiritual energy, carrying some of the Fragrant Fox King's original characteristics, flowed out from this newly stabilized starlight, dispersing and merging into the other starlight and shadows within the sphere.

In an instant, the light of all the stars inside the bead intensified, and the overall aura became more profound and dynamic.

"It really worked..."

As Ying Shaoyang sensed the changes in the bead, a glint of light flashed in his eyes.

"It seems that in order to truly refine this magic weapon, we must find a sufficient amount of 'resources'."

His gaze returned to the snow-covered mountain path below, his divine sense already sensing another powerful aura belonging to one of the Eight Great Demon Immortals, slowly making its way towards the summit.

"Another one... has come knocking on our door."

On the mountain path, a man dressed in a scholar's robe, with a long sword hanging at his waist, exuding a free and easy yet scholarly air, was walking through the snow.

He is none other than Bai Ziyue, the White Ape King, one of the eight great demon immortals in the world and a close friend of Yuanfei.

Just as he reached the halfway point of the mountain, his heart skipped a beat. An indescribable sense of terror poured down on him like ice water, making even his powerful soul tremble! It was a warning stemming from his very life instinct, as if going any further would lead to an abyss!

Bai Ziyue paused subconsciously, his expression changing slightly. If it weren't for his prior agreement with Consort Yuan, given his cautious nature, he would have turned around without hesitation and fled this place of trouble as quickly as possible.

He took a deep breath, the icy wind and snow filling his lungs, calming him down slightly. His hand unconsciously rested on the hilt of the sword at his waist, a warm, gentle sword intent flowing through him, slightly dispelling the chill in his heart.

"With Consort Yuan and I joining forces, there are very few in the world who can do anything to us."

Even if they are outmatched, they should be able to escape safely.

Bai Ziyue thought to himself that his pride and confidence as one of the Eight Great Demon Immortals ultimately overcame that slight unease.

He steadied himself, his steps became firm again, and he continued walking upwards.

However, the higher he climbed, the stronger his unease became. Yuanfei's aura... had completely vanished! The silent mountaintop seemed to be filled only with the sound of wind and snow, and that faint yet terrifying pressure that made one's heart tremble.

Reaching a relatively open area halfway up the hillside, Bai Ziyue stopped and scanned his surroundings with sharp eyes, but still found nothing.

He suppressed his surprise and doubt, casually untied the gourd from his waist, tilted his head back and took a swig of strong liquor. A warm current flowed through his body, and then he let out a seemingly hearty laugh.

"Hahahaha! You lad, who are you? Why are you alone in this snowstorm? Have you seen a woman in palace attire?"

His gaze finally fell on Ying Shaoyang, who stood quietly in the wind and snow, seemingly one with the world.

Ying Shaoyang slowly turned around, looked calmly at Bai Ziyue, and spoke.

"I am here, waiting for you."

Bai Ziyue's pupils contracted slightly, and a strong sense of alarm rose in his heart! From Ying Shaoyang's words and that unfathomable aura, he became even more certain of his previous guess—the ghost immortals and demon immortals of this world seemed to lack some crucial "transformation" or "purification" steps in their soul cultivation, causing their souls to always carry some of the original body's characteristics and... the aura of incense and spiritual power!

"The path of the divine soul in this world is so deeply intertwined with the power of incense offerings and vows..."

Ying Shaoyang understood.

He controlled the Qin Dynasty, had hundreds of millions of subjects, and the accumulated incense offerings and prayers were as vast as the sea.

However, he was well aware of the principle that "incense is poisonous," as the distracting thoughts of sentient beings would pollute the soul and obscure the true spirit, making it difficult for cultivators to maintain their true self and clarity, let alone reincarnate.

Therefore, he never directly absorbed the power of incense offerings, but instead used it to nourish magical artifacts and catalyze spiritual medicines. He indirectly utilized the spiritual energy of heaven and earth mixed with the power of incense offerings by taking advantage of the natural purification properties of spiritual roots and medicines.

"It seems you're not planning to answer my question properly."

Seeing Ying Shaoyang's unpredictable attitude, Bai Ziyue knew that things would not end well, and his eyes flashed with a sharp look.

"Then let's see who's the best!"

Before he finished speaking, Ying Shaoyang had already raised his hand, still using that simple yet domineering Thunder Starlight Giant Hand, ignoring space, and grabbing down towards Bai Ziyue's head! Before the giant hand even arrived, the terrifying aura of supreme yang and strength, capable of slaying evil and breaking demons, had already pushed away the surrounding wind and snow, creating a vacuum zone!
Bai Ziyue's expression changed drastically. He felt as if the space around him had frozen, and his soul felt as if it had been thrown into a furnace, with waves of burning pain coming from it! He roared and pushed off with his feet, trying to use his movement technique to tumble and avoid this fatal grab.

However, that terrifying aura was like an invisible mountain, pressing down on him and making his usually agile movements sluggish!
In that split second, a tiny, almost imperceptible starlight, as if teleported, silently merged into the core of his soul!
Bai Ziyue trembled violently, a look of confusion flashing in his eyes, which then turned into extreme terror!
"Open it for me!"

At the critical moment of life and death, Bai Ziyue unleashed his full potential, and the long sword at his waist was suddenly drawn! The sword light was like autumn water suddenly bursting forth, clear and aloof, carrying the martial will and spiritual power he had cultivated throughout his life, converging into a sword aura that was extremely dazzling, and fiercely slashing towards the giant thunder hand that was grabbing at him!

This sword strike was a culmination of all his strength, conviction, and even the essence of his life! He not only wanted to carve a path to survival, but also to demonstrate sufficient power, hoping to create a commotion and stall for the nearby Consort Yuan to arrive and provide assistance!

Unfortunately, all his calculations were powerless in the face of such an absolute disparity in strength.

Ying Shaoyang's mind stirred slightly.

"burst."

The starlight that had merged into Bai Ziyue's core suddenly transformed into countless fine lightning snakes, which erupted violently within his soul!
"Ugh—!"

Bai Ziyue let out a shrill scream, and the sword energy he had unleashed instantly dissipated, the longsword falling to the ground with a clang.

He felt as if his bones had been removed, collapsing limply, then being pulled up by an invisible force, involuntarily flying towards the dark silver star bead in Ying Shaoyang's palm. The bead shone brightly, and hundreds of thousands of starlight figures within seemed to come alive, extending countless fine yet incredibly strong threads of starlight that wrapped around Bai Ziyue's body and soul like a spider web.

zizi...

Like melting ice and snow, Bai Ziyue's body and soul rapidly decomposed and dissipated under the entanglement of starlight, transforming into the purest primordial energy, which was greedily absorbed by the orb.

Inside the sphere, another star was suddenly lit up, emitting a stable and dazzling light. Its aura was more sharp and pure than the one that the Fragrant Fox King had transformed into.

Ying Shaoyang raised his hand, and the two magical treasures that the Fragrant Fox King and Bai Ziyue had dropped on the ground flew into his hand. One was a jade hairpin, emitting a hazy incense scent; the other was Bai Ziyue's Autumn Water Longsword, which was now dim in its spiritual light.

As his divine sense swept over the two magical treasures, a hint of surprise flashed in Ying Shaoyang's eyes.

"Huh? This weapon-refining technique... is quite novel!"

He was proficient in Maoshan talisman crafting, the blood refining method of the world of Zhuxian, the orthodox Taoist crafting of Shangqing Palace, the cloud silk weaving of Caixia Sect, and the star crafting of Tianxing Temple. Although these methods were all mysterious, the general approach was to first purify the materials, and then combine them with specific techniques to refine them, step by step, from magic weapons to magic treasures, and even immortal artifacts.

However, the two magical treasures in his hands were completely different! Ying Shaoyang could clearly sense that at the core of these two magical treasures, there remained the strong life force of their original owners! They seemed to have first been formed into the "embryos" of magical treasures by some strong will or split soul thoughts of their owners, and then absorbed various top-level refining materials to finally be refined.

Moreover, it already possessed a faint trace of consciousness and spirituality from the very beginning of its refining process!
“With intention as the embryo and materials as the auxiliary, it is born with spirituality... This is indeed the most convenient and quickest refining method.”

Ying Shaoyang clicked his tongue in amazement.

"However, the dangers of cultivating such a method that requires splitting one's soul and thoughts are too great, and I will not learn it."

He attempted to forcibly erase the original owner's consciousness remaining in the magical artifact using his own divine sense.

However, despite the fact that the magical artifact was made of top-quality materials, the consciousness seemed to have been deeply integrated with every particle of the artifact. Even if Ying Shaoyang forcibly erased it with his divine sense, the "imprint" of that consciousness seemed to still be hidden deep within. Given time, it might be possible to restore it.

"Never mind, it's just an external thing after all, and it carries considerable hidden dangers."

Ying Shaoyang stopped hesitating, raised his hand, and a chaotic light swept across the two magical treasures. The spiritual light on the jade hairpin and the longsword immediately dimmed by more than half. Although the materials were still extraordinary, their unique spirituality had been temporarily sealed and dispersed.

He casually hung the two magical treasures, now without their master, on a seemingly ordinary jade pendant with landscape patterns on his waist, intending to use them as high-grade materials to integrate into the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiends Formation in the future to enhance the formation's power.

After dealing with the spoils of war, Ying Shaoyang picked up the Daoist scripture again and opened its pages.

He skipped over the opening esoteric and profound statements about the origin of the Great Dao and focused his attention on a specific "visualization method".

"Visualization... it turns out to be the foundation for cultivating the soul."

Ying Shaoyang suddenly realized.

His previous cultivation focused on physical training and nurturing his primordial spirit. His soul naturally grew stronger as his realm improved, and he had not specifically cultivated this kind of visualization and concentration method.

He then recalled the details of Hong Yi's cultivation in the original work—he needed to light three incense sticks to protect his soul with the power of the incense before he could safely leave his body to cultivate.

"One needs the power of incense to protect their soul to cultivate? And it's so common?"

Ying Shaoyang frowned deeply, a hint of disdain flashing in his eyes.

"This kind of cultivation method, which is completely biased towards the soul and relies heavily on incense and vows, is simply a heretical path. Its foundation is weak and its future consequences are endless! It has no reference value whatsoever!"

He casually tossed aside the Daoist scripture, which was revered as a sacred text by cultivators in this world, as if it were trash, without giving it another glance.

His gaze then fell on another book whose cover bore the large characters "Wu Jing" (Martial Arts Classic).

Perhaps the martial arts of this world can offer him some different insights.

Ying Shaoyang opened the "Martial Classic" and found that its opening was similar to the "Taoist Classic," both expounding profound and abstract language about the ultimate principles of heaven and earth and the mysteries of the human body. After these, there were specific and detailed cultivation methods, systematically explaining the entire process from "training the flesh," "training the tendons," "training the skin," "training the bones," and "training the internal organs," all the way to the final "blood exchange" and breakthrough to the "Martial Saint" realm.

The Martial Saint realm transcends the mortal realm, allowing one to concentrate their spiritual will into their fist intent, unleashing an extremely yang and powerful qi and blood flame, which can even condense into a tangible "qi and blood fire"! If this qi and blood fire can be perfectly integrated into the fist intent, its power will be earth-shattering, and its combat strength will be extremely formidable.

"The system is quite complete, progressing step by step from the outside in."

Ying Shaoyang nodded slightly, then shook his head.

"However, when it comes to the comprehensive development of the body and the building of a solid foundation, the Foundation Building Technique that I created cultivates essence, energy, and spirit simultaneously. It has a higher purpose and a more solid and stable foundation, far surpassing this technique."

His gaze became profound.

"But the path after becoming a Martial Saint... after the blood transfusion, comes the cultivation of acupoints! Opening up 365 major acupoints throughout the body, sensing the sun, moon, and stars, absorbing the power of the stars to temper oneself, and finally reaching the realm of rebirth from a drop of blood, almost immortal... This is the true path to immortality in the martial arts of this world!"

Ying Shaoyang did not intend to directly cultivate the techniques in the "Martial Arts Classic". His path had already been determined and did not need to be changed.

Just as he was about to close the book, a dark gold silk scroll floated down from the cover of the "Martial Arts Classic".

On the silk scroll is a visualization of the Buddha, which is dignified and solemn, yet carries a sense of eternity, immortality, and transcendence.

"The Amitabha Sutra of the Past..."

Ying Shaoyang's eyes narrowed.

He was well aware of the dangers of the visualization method. The most taboo thing was to visualize an existence whose strength far exceeded one's own, as one could easily be assimilated by that existence's intent, or even become the vessel for the other party's descent.

This visualization method is based on the Buddha, and he would never believe it without the calculations of a great Buddhist master.

Without the slightest hesitation, he directly stuffed the dark gold silk book back into the cover compartment of the "Martial Classic".

"The 'Martial Classic,' the 'Taoist Classic,' and this 'Past Amitabha Sutra'... were all key opportunities for Hong Yi's early rise."

Moreover, Hong Yi's early opportunities were mostly related to Buddhism.

Ying Shaoyang's mind raced, and he connected the dots to many other things. (End of Chapter)