When it comes to cultivating immortality, it naturally starts with upgrading the herb garden.

"How could that be? I only killed two of the mission targets!"

"Butler, who brought me here after I fainted?"

Zhang Jiu recalled for a moment, then asked in confusion.

The butler smiled and said, "Young master, I cannot say."

Song Chen had made arrangements in advance under Aunt Jiang's name, so he wouldn't let the news leak out in such a detail.

Why?

Zhang Jiu frowned and spread his hands urgently.

He always repays kindness and never owes anyone anything, so he naturally didn't want Song Chen to help him silently like this.

The butler shook his head, like a machine, and said, "Young Master, please don't make things difficult for me. If you really want to know, just ask Aunt Jiang!"

"All the answers are with her."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Jiu fell silent, lowering his head in quiet contemplation.

Ever since he was tricked into returning home, he has been oppressed by the power within his family.

The eldest brother, Zhang Qian, and Zhang Guan, a confidant of the family head, worked together to restrain Zhang Jiu, stripping him of some of his rights as the young master and most of his freedom.

Even Zhang Jiu's mother, Jiang Qianxue, used her own power to coerce him into inheriting the position of family head and urge him to break through to the late stage of Qi Refining.

But all of this ultimately stemmed from the demands of his father, no, the patriarch Zhang Tianlong.

This mission is a crucial opportunity for Zhang Jiu to prove his worth and plays a vital role in restoring the influence of some of the elders in his family.

Unfortunately, Zhang Jiu was not strong enough, and what should have been a tragic ending unexpectedly succeeded.

The key is the person who saved him.

Aunt Jiang is his mother's older sister. She is extremely shrewd and holds considerable power in the Zhang family.

If this person were sent out by him, the nature of the situation would change immediately.

It is very likely that the elders he represents are behind him, which is quite meaningful.

"Auntie! What exactly do you mean?" Zhang Jiu thought to himself.

The most urgent task is to find the person who helped him and repay the favor.

......

A shift in perspective.

Song Chen's body seemed to have lost all strength; he hung his head dejectedly, as if he were dead.

Before him, a face, vaguely resembling Song Chen, was watching 'Song Chen'.

In fact, he was observing the physical body from a third-person perspective.

The soul leaves the body.

This is the most obvious ability after sensing the soul.

Song Chen nodded in satisfaction. His illusory soul returned to his physical body, and he felt a sense of security as he regained the fullness of his flesh.

The soul fell into the air above the dantian, resembling a ball of will-o'-the-wisp.

"Finally, I can sense a soul!"

Song Chen looked delighted.

After a week, he could finally be considered to have entered the realm of this soul imprint.

Normally, the soul is scattered throughout the body, and to sense it, it must first be gathered together.

For the past week, Song Chen's main task has been to condense his soul, which he only just finished.

But this is just the beginning.

Song Chen closed his eyes again, his consciousness probing into the illusory aura above his dantian.

The spiritual energy in his dantian transformed into a palm and began to tear open a corner of the soul.

This process is painful, but it is an essential step in refining the Soul Imprint.

Song Chen needs to separate his own soul and refine a soul seed, then take the opportunity to implant it into the dantian of another person before he can begin to absorb the soul essence of that person.

Separating the soul is like cutting off one's own limbs.

The pain of having one's tendons and bones pulled apart is far inferior to that of being pierced by ten thousand swords; it can only be slightly compared to that.

If it were just about enduring this kind of pain, that would be fine, but the key is to be ruthless on your own, which is really hard to do.

The spiritual energy formed a palm, slowly drawing out the soul.

At first, it wasn't uncomfortable, and it felt like being touched. But as the pulling went further, a dull pain appeared in my chest, and it intensified, like a steel needle piercing through or a wheel rut running over me.

Song Chen trembled all over, letting out a low groan.

We dare not slack off.

Once stopped, the soul is extremely flexible and will surely return to its original state in an instant, and the previous efforts will be in vain.

Song Chen became even more determined and exerted himself more, his soul being stretched into threads, the pain so intense that he couldn't make any expression, only tears streaming down his face.

at last.

The soul was about to be torn apart, leaving only a hair's breadth in its length.

Song Chen was drenched in sweat, his whole body aching terribly, and his consciousness of controlling his spiritual energy began to blur.

He tried to refocus, but it was like someone who hadn't woken up trying to wake up – it was impossible.

In a daze,

He couldn't help but let go of his control over the spiritual energy.

In an instant.

The previously torn souls all returned to their original positions, rendering all previous efforts futile.

Even after the soul was in place, the pain of the soul being separated lingered for a long time.

Song Chen was still suffering terribly.

"what!"

He was in excruciating pain, rolling around on the bed, his eyes filled with tears, but he was completely unaware of it, only feeling his vision blurring.

After a long while, Song Chen finally calmed down, panting heavily, his eyes bloodshot.

Come again!

A moment later.

Song Chen started rolling around on the bed again.

One hour later.

Rolling around.

Three hours later.

Song Chensheng stared blankly at the ceiling, utterly dejected.

Eight hours later.

"It's done..."

Song Chen murmured in a hoarse voice.

His lips were pale, his eyes trembled, but the corners of his mouth were slightly raised, and he didn't even have the courage to clench his hands.

I was clearly extremely excited, but I had no energy to be happy at all.

Consciousness probes into the dantian.

The nascent spiritual sea was still surging, its spiritual energy spreading, possessing a vast and imposing aura.

Above the Spirit Sea, the soul fragmented into two, one large and one small.

The large ones are illusory and gray, as if they have been seriously injured; the small ones are bright and illusory, as if they have been reborn.

Next, all that's needed is to refine and transform the small soul into a soul seed, which can then be injected into other cultivators to absorb their soul essence.

Before long, his weakened soul will recover completely and break through to a higher realm.

Song Chen was very pleased to see this.

Let's make it happen naturally in one go!

With this in mind, he mustered his strength, focused his mind on refining this newborn soul, and successfully transformed it into a soul seed according to his memories.

The soul seed was small, extremely tiny, only a millimeter in size, but he could sense it clearly and understand the energy contained within it.

"This is the soul seed!"

Song Chen smirked and then fainted.

Having undergone both soul-severing and refining, his mind and spirit were already completely exhausted. With this mental knot resolved, he naturally lost his support and fell asleep to repair his soul.

Sleep is the process of calming and soothing the soul.

Three days later.

A ray of sunlight shone through the window crack onto Song Chen's face. He opened his sleepy eyes, his mind still foggy, and his temples throbbed as if he had been up for several nights.

This is clearly a side effect of the soul being severed.

Fortunately, at least my thinking wasn't affected.

"If my soul were to break again, I'm afraid I'd become mentally impaired."

For some reason, Song Chen felt a chill run down his spine when he thought about it.

Counting the days, almost half a month has passed; it's time to go back.

Song Chen took out a mid-grade spirit stone and a spirit-gathering pill, adjusting his condition to its best.

Afterwards, he went downstairs, settled the unpaid accommodation fees, summoned the Sky-Piercing Boat, stepped onto it steadily, and rode the wind away.

Song Chen was extremely fast, arriving in Wanjing City half an hour earlier than he had come.

I did not go to the Zhang family mansion.

Not urgent.

He wanted to recuperate first and then ask Aunt Jiang for it in a few days.

However, upon opening the door, a letter fell to the ground, presumably tucked behind the door and falling out when it was opened.

Song Chen opened it out of curiosity, and the first sentence on it was:

"I am Aunt Jiang. The situation has changed. After you return, please go to the mountaintop east of Wanjing City on the night of the full moon this month."