Chapter 99: Soul Realm, Taking the Holy Soul Pill!
"Ding, detected that the host has granted the Second Disciple Xiao Yi Xian a Five-Star Magic Core Soft Armor, Profound Ice Spirit Armor. Congratulations to the host for triggering a ten-thousand-fold return and obtaining an Eighth-Rank Magic Core Soft Armor, the Profound Ice Holy Armor."
"The Profound Ice Holy Armor has been deposited in the system space. Please check it, host."
Ancient River, who was meditating, heard the system notification in his mind, but before he could react, two more system notifications sounded in succession.
"Ding, detected that the host has granted the Second Disciple Xiao Yi Xian a Fourth-Grade Peak Pill, the Purple Heart Breakthrough Pill. Congratulations to the host for triggering a ten-thousand-fold return and obtaining a Seventh-Grade Pill, the Dou Zong Pill."
"The Seventh-Grade Pill, the Dou Zong Pill, has been deposited in the system space. Please check it, host."
"Ding, detected that the host has granted the Second Disciple Xiao Yi Xian a Fifth-Grade Peak Pill, the Quenching Soul Pill. Congratulations to the host for triggering a ten-thousand-fold return and obtaining an Eighth-Grade Pill, the Holy Soul Pill."
"The Eighth-Grade Pill, the Holy Soul Pill, has been deposited in the system space. Please check it, host."
After hearing the system notifications in his mind, Ancient River was slightly confused for a moment. However, he quickly understood.
It seemed that Xiao Yi Xian had already broken through to the Eighth Star Dou Master and claimed the rewards he had left for her.
A hint of joy flashed in Ancient River's eyes. Originally, he had left the rewards at Yunlan Sect just as an experiment. He wanted to see if the system return mechanism would activate without personally granting the rewards to his disciple. Now it seemed that this method was effective.
Ancient River was satisfied with this result. After all, he couldn't stay at Yunlan Sect forever, nor could he always be by his disciples' side. The discovery by the system would give him more freedom in his future actions.
The only downside was the Transmission of Techniques ceremony, which required his physical presence to trigger the system return mechanism. This time, his absence meant missing an opportunity for the ceremony.
If he were at Yunlan Sect right now, he could personally conduct the Transmission of Techniques for Xiao Yi Xian, and he believed it could help her advance to the third or fourth star Dou Master realm. However, such situations were unavoidable, and Ancient River could only minimize his losses and make the most of the monthly system return opportunities.
After realizing this, Ancient River calmed his thoughts and directed his consciousness into the system space.
Once inside, his gaze fell on three items floating in the void.
One was a soft armor radiating a brilliant blue light.
The other two were delicate jade bottles.
Ancient River's gaze first landed on the blue soft armor. "Is this the Profound Ice Holy Armor?" he murmured.
He immediately commanded, "System, extract the Profound Ice Holy Armor!"
As he spoke, the blue soft armor in the void trembled slightly and then transformed into a blue light that shot toward Ancient River. When the light dissipated, he found himself wearing the blue armor underneath his clothes.
With a thought, Ancient River infused his Dou Qi into the Profound Ice Holy Armor. In an instant, a brilliant blue light burst forth, illuminating the entire system space. A dense and extremely cold power of Profound Ice suddenly surged and condensed into a Profound Ice armor that covered his entire body.
Running his hand over the Profound Ice armor, Ancient River felt an intense chill rushing to his heart. During the moment when he extracted the Profound Ice Holy Armor, information about it had already flooded his mind.
The Profound Ice Holy Armor was an Eighth-Rank Magic Core Soft Armor, embedded with several Eighth-Rank Magic Cores.
With this armor, Ancient River was confident that no one in the Dou Master realm could harm him. Even attacks from Dou Zong experts would be somewhat resistible. This was considering his current cultivation level, which was limited to the Dou Master realm. Once he broke through to the Dou Zong realm, he could fully unleash the power of the Profound Ice Holy Armor. At that time, he would be able to withstand even the attacks of a Dou Zong expert without much harm.
"What a great treasure!"
With a sigh of admiration in his heart, Gu He retracted his Dou Qi.
As the Dou Qi was withdrawn, the Profound Ice Holy Armor reverted to its original state, transforming back into a blue soft armor that adhered to Gu He's body.
Next, Gu He directed his gaze towards the two delicate jade bottles in the void.
With a thought, he drew one of the jade bottles to his hand.
As the jade bottle was in his hand, Gu He instantly received information about the treasure within.
The Dou Ancestor Pill, a Seventh-Grade pill that, when consumed at the Dou Ancestor realm, could boost one's cultivation by one star; the second pill would have no effect.
It was actually a cultivation-enhancing pill!
After reading the information about the Ten Thousand Dou Ancestor Pill, Gu He's eyes brightened.
This time, he had missed the opportunity to perform the Transmission of Techniques ceremony for Xiao Yi Xian. He felt a bit regretful.
However, this Dou Ancestor Pill would perfectly compensate for his loss. He had already reached the Second-Star Dou Ancestor realm, and with this pill, he would advance to the Third-Star Dou Ancestor realm.
Normally, such pills that forcibly enhance one's cultivation by one star were most suitable to be taken when one encountered a bottleneck later in their cultivation. Dou Ancestor Pills were typically used by high-level Dou Ancestors who were stuck in a bottleneck and couldn't break through.
The reason was that Dou Ancestor Pills only had an effect upon first consumption.
However, this wasn't a concern for Gu He. With the disciple-granting system at his disposal, he never lacked resources for cultivation. Whenever an opportunity to increase his strength presented itself, he never hesitated.
After stowing away the Dou Ancestor Pill in his storage ring, Gu He turned his attention to the remaining jade bottle.
Reaching out, he sucked the jade bottle directly into his palm, and information about its contents instantly flooded into his mind.
The Holy Soul Pill, an Eighth-Grade pill that could significantly enhance the strength of one's soul. It could only be consumed by practitioners below the Dou Ancestor realm; otherwise, it would tear their soul apart, causing death.
After reading the information about the Holy Soul Pill, Gu He's eyes lit up.
It turned out to be a pill that enhanced the strength of the soul, and it was an Eighth-Grade pill. Moreover, it required the strength of a Dou Ancestor realm practitioner to qualify for consumption.
"It's truly a high-quality pill!" Gu He couldn't help but admire.
As an alchemist, the most important thing was to enhance the strength of the soul. Although he had reached the Seventh-Grade Alchemist realm, his foundation was still relatively shallow, allowing him to barely refine some low-level Seventh-Grade pills.
However, if he consumed this Holy Soul Pill, his soul's strength would increase significantly, taking him to the peak of the Ordinary realm.
The power of an Eighth-Grade pill was more than enough to achieve this.
Gu He was aware of the mysteries surrounding soul strength, which were not understood by most people. He possessed knowledge from the original alchemist and the memories inherited from the Ninth-Grade Alchemist. He knew a thing or two about the secrets of soul strength.
On the continent of Dou Qi, soul strength had no level difference, but it was divided into realms: Ordinary, Spirit, Heaven, and Emperor.
Most people, even alchemists of Seventh Grade or lower, had their soul strength at the Ordinary realm. The difference lay in the strength of their souls.
As for the reason why many alchemists remained at the Seventh Grade, it was precisely because of this realm of the soul. In the continent of Dou Qi, soul strength had four levels: Ordinary, Spirit, Heaven, and Emperor.
Most people, even alchemists of Eighth Grade or lower, remained at the Ordinary realm, with varying degrees of soul strength.
Of course, Gu He, as he was now, naturally belonged to the Ordinary realm.
But compared to ordinary people, his soul strength was much stronger.
Some Seventh-Grade alchemists, with fortuitous encounters, might touch upon the Spirit realm. Once their soul strength reached this realm, they would gain a special ability: to endow pills with spiritual attributes.
Having inherited the knowledge of the Ninth-Grade Alchemist, Gu He knew that Eighth-Grade pills were mostly those with extraordinary spirituality. It was precisely because of this spirituality that they could reach the Eighth-Grade level.
Common alchemists, regardless of their alchemical skills, couldn't refine Eighth-Grade pills. If they couldn't impart spiritual attributes to pills, then those pills could never reach the Eighth-Grade level.
A Heaven realm soul was enough to refine Ninth-Grade pills.
Ninth-Grade pills were almost like living beings. If a soul's strength reached this level, it was akin to creating a sentient being. To achieve this, the soul needed spirituality, as well as the power of heaven and earth. To reach this level, the soul's strength had to be at the Heaven realm.
This level was rare on the continent of Dou Qi.
As for an Emperor realm soul, it was almost legendary.
Reaching this realm was required to refine the legendary Emperor-Grade pills. Emperor-Grade pills were closely related to the legendary Dou Emperor. However, few had ever reached this level.
Looking at the jade bottle containing the Holy Soul Pill in his hand, Gu He's eyes revealed a hint of excitement.
Although he didn't know how close or far he was from reaching the Spirit realm in terms of soul strength, he was sure there was still a considerable gap.
If he consumed this Holy Soul Pill, it would greatly reduce that gap and possibly even elevate his soul strength to the peak of the Ordinary realm.
The power of an Eighth-Grade pill was sufficient to achieve this.
Afterward, Gu He gradually withdrew his consciousness from the system space.
Returning to his body, he glanced at Yun Yun, who was peacefully asleep.
If he used the Dou Ancestor Pill to break through, the commotion would be too great, and it might disturb her. After some thought, Gu He decided to take the Holy Soul Pill first.
With a thought, a jade bottle appeared in Gu He's hand, containing the Holy Soul Pill.
Upon removing the bottle cap, a strong medicinal fragrance wafted out.
Gu He held the jade bottle, tilting it slightly, revealing a thumb-sized dark red pill. The entire pill was dark red, smooth, and what astonished Gu He the most was the faint mist that surrounded the pill.
This mist seemed to possess its own consciousness, occasionally condensing into various shapes, hovering around the pill, giving it an extraordinarily mystical appearance.
Chapter 99: Soul Realm, Taking the Holy Soul Pill!
"Ding, detected that the host has granted the Second Disciple Xiao Yi Xian a Five-Star Magic Core Soft Armor, Profound Ice Spirit Armor. Congratulations to the host for triggering a ten-thousand-fold return and obtaining an Eighth-Rank Magic Core Soft Armor, the Profound Ice Holy Armor."
"The Profound Ice Holy Armor has been deposited in the system space. Please check it, host."
Ancient River, who was meditating, heard the system notification in his mind, but before he could react, two more system notifications sounded in succession.
"Ding, detected that the host has granted the Second Disciple Xiao Yi Xian a Fourth-Grade Peak Pill, the Purple Heart Breakthrough Pill. Congratulations to the host for triggering a ten-thousand-fold return and obtaining a Seventh-Grade Pill, the Dou Zong Pill."
"The Seventh-Grade Pill, the Dou Zong Pill, has been deposited in the system space. Please check it, host."
"Ding, detected that the host has granted the Second Disciple Xiao Yi Xian a Fifth-Grade Peak Pill, the Quenching Soul Pill. Congratulations to the host for triggering a ten-thousand-fold return and obtaining an Eighth-Grade Pill, the Holy Soul Pill."
"The Eighth-Grade Pill, the Holy Soul Pill, has been deposited in the system space. Please check it, host."
After hearing the system notifications in his mind, Ancient River was slightly confused for a moment. However, he quickly understood.
It seemed that Xiao Yi Xian had already broken through to the Eighth Star Dou Master and claimed the rewards he had left for her.
A hint of joy flashed in Ancient River's eyes. Originally, he had left the rewards at Yunlan Sect just as an experiment. He wanted to see if the system return mechanism would activate without personally granting the rewards to his disciple. Now it seemed that this method was effective.
Ancient River was satisfied with this result. After all, he couldn't stay at Yunlan Sect forever, nor could he always be by his disciples' side. The discovery by the system would give him more freedom in his future actions.
The only downside was the Transmission of Techniques ceremony, which required his physical presence to trigger the system return mechanism. This time, his absence meant missing an opportunity for the ceremony.
If he were at Yunlan Sect right now, he could personally conduct the Transmission of Techniques for Xiao Yi Xian, and he believed it could help her advance to the third or fourth star Dou Master realm. However, such situations were unavoidable, and Ancient River could only minimize his losses and make the most of the monthly system return opportunities.
After realizing this, Ancient River calmed his thoughts and directed his consciousness into the system space.
Once inside, his gaze fell on three items floating in the void.
One was a soft armor radiating a brilliant blue light.
The other two were delicate jade bottles.
Ancient River's gaze first landed on the blue soft armor. "Is this the Profound Ice Holy Armor?" he murmured.
He immediately commanded, "System, extract the Profound Ice Holy Armor!"
As he spoke, the blue soft armor in the void trembled slightly and then transformed into a blue light that shot toward Ancient River. When the light dissipated, he found himself wearing the blue armor underneath his clothes.
With a thought, Ancient River infused his Dou Qi into the Profound Ice Holy Armor. In an instant, a brilliant blue light burst forth, illuminating the entire system space. A dense and extremely cold power of Profound Ice suddenly surged and condensed into a Profound Ice armor that covered his entire body.
Running his hand over the Profound Ice armor, Ancient River felt an intense chill rushing to his heart. During the moment when he extracted the Profound Ice Holy Armor, information about it had already flooded his mind.
The Profound Ice Holy Armor was an Eighth-Rank Magic Core Soft Armor, embedded with several Eighth-Rank Magic Cores.
With this armor, Ancient River was confident that no one in the Dou Master realm could harm him. Even attacks from Dou Zong experts would be somewhat resistible. This was considering his current cultivation level, which was limited to the Dou Master realm. Once he broke through to the Dou Zong realm, he could fully unleash the power of the Profound Ice Holy Armor. At that time, he would be able to withstand even the attacks of a Dou Zong expert without much harm.
"What a great treasure!"
With a sigh of admiration in his heart, Gu He retracted his Dou Qi.
As the Dou Qi was withdrawn, the Profound Ice Holy Armor reverted to its original state, transforming back into a blue soft armor that adhered to Gu He's body.
Next, Gu He directed his gaze towards the two delicate jade bottles in the void.
With a thought, he drew one of the jade bottles to his hand.
As the jade bottle was in his hand, Gu He instantly received information about the treasure within.
The Dou Ancestor Pill, a Seventh-Grade pill that, when consumed at the Dou Ancestor realm, could boost one's cultivation by one star; the second pill would have no effect.
It was actually a cultivation-enhancing pill!
After reading the information about the Ten Thousand Dou Ancestor Pill, Gu He's eyes brightened.
This time, he had missed the opportunity to perform the Transmission of Techniques ceremony for Xiao Yi Xian. He felt a bit regretful.
However, this Dou Ancestor Pill would perfectly compensate for his loss. He had already reached the Second-Star Dou Ancestor realm, and with this pill, he would advance to the Third-Star Dou Ancestor realm.
Normally, such pills that forcibly enhance one's cultivation by one star were most suitable to be taken when one encountered a bottleneck later in their cultivation. Dou Ancestor Pills were typically used by high-level Dou Ancestors who were stuck in a bottleneck and couldn't break through.
The reason was that Dou Ancestor Pills only had an effect upon first consumption.
However, this wasn't a concern for Gu He. With the disciple-granting system at his disposal, he never lacked resources for cultivation. Whenever an opportunity to increase his strength presented itself, he never hesitated.
After stowing away the Dou Ancestor Pill in his storage ring, Gu He turned his attention to the remaining jade bottle.
Reaching out, he sucked the jade bottle directly into his palm, and information about its contents instantly flooded into his mind.
The Holy Soul Pill, an Eighth-Grade pill that could significantly enhance the strength of one's soul. It could only be consumed by practitioners below the Dou Ancestor realm; otherwise, it would tear their soul apart, causing death.
After reading the information about the Holy Soul Pill, Gu He's eyes lit up.
It turned out to be a pill that enhanced the strength of the soul, and it was an Eighth-Grade pill. Moreover, it required the strength of a Dou Ancestor realm practitioner to qualify for consumption.
"It's truly a high-quality pill!" Gu He couldn't help but admire.
As an alchemist, the most important thing was to enhance the strength of the soul. Although he had reached the Seventh-Grade Alchemist realm, his foundation was still relatively shallow, allowing him to barely refine some low-level Seventh-Grade pills.
However, if he consumed this Holy Soul Pill, his soul's strength would increase significantly, taking him to the peak of the Ordinary realm.
The power of an Eighth-Grade pill was more than enough to achieve this.
Gu He was aware of the mysteries surrounding soul strength, which were not understood by most people. He possessed knowledge from the original alchemist and the memories inherited from the Ninth-Grade Alchemist. He knew a thing or two about the secrets of soul strength.
On the continent of Dou Qi, soul strength had no level difference, but it was divided into realms: Ordinary, Spirit, Heaven, and Emperor.
Most people, even alchemists of Seventh Grade or lower, had their soul strength at the Ordinary realm. The difference lay in the strength of their souls.
As for the reason why many alchemists remained at the Seventh Grade, it was precisely because of this realm of the soul. In the continent of Dou Qi, soul strength had four levels: Ordinary, Spirit, Heaven, and Emperor.
Most people, even alchemists of Eighth Grade or lower, remained at the Ordinary realm, with varying degrees of soul strength.
Of course, Gu He, as he was now, naturally belonged to the Ordinary realm.
But compared to ordinary people, his soul strength was much stronger.
Some Seventh-Grade alchemists, with fortuitous encounters, might touch upon the Spirit realm. Once their soul strength reached this realm, they would gain a special ability: to endow pills with spiritual attributes.
Having inherited the knowledge of the Ninth-Grade Alchemist, Gu He knew that Eighth-Grade pills were mostly those with extraordinary spirituality. It was precisely because of this spirituality that they could reach the Eighth-Grade level.
Common alchemists, regardless of their alchemical skills, couldn't refine Eighth-Grade pills. If they couldn't impart spiritual attributes to pills, then those pills could never reach the Eighth-Grade level.
A Heaven realm soul was enough to refine Ninth-Grade pills.
Ninth-Grade pills were almost like living beings. If a soul's strength reached this level, it was akin to creating a sentient being. To achieve this, the soul needed spirituality, as well as the power of heaven and earth. To reach this level, the soul's strength had to be at the Heaven realm.
This level was rare on the continent of Dou Qi.
As for an Emperor realm soul, it was almost legendary.
Reaching this realm was required to refine the legendary Emperor-Grade pills. Emperor-Grade pills were closely related to the legendary Dou Emperor. However, few had ever reached this level.
Looking at the jade bottle containing the Holy Soul Pill in his hand, Gu He's eyes revealed a hint of excitement.
Although he didn't know how close or far he was from reaching the Spirit realm in terms of soul strength, he was sure there was still a considerable gap.
If he consumed this Holy Soul Pill, it would greatly reduce that gap and possibly even elevate his soul strength to the peak of the Ordinary realm.
The power of an Eighth-Grade pill was sufficient to achieve this.
Afterward, Gu He gradually withdrew his consciousness from the system space.
Returning to his body, he glanced at Yun Yun, who was peacefully asleep.
If he used the Dou Ancestor Pill to break through, the commotion would be too great, and it might disturb her. After some thought, Gu He decided to take the Holy Soul Pill first.
With a thought, a jade bottle appeared in Gu He's hand, containing the Holy Soul Pill.
Upon removing the bottle cap, a strong medicinal fragrance wafted out.
Gu He held the jade bottle, tilting it slightly, revealing a thumb-sized dark red pill. The entire pill was dark red, smooth, and what astonished Gu He the most was the faint mist that surrounded the pill.
This mist seemed to possess its own consciousness, occasionally condensing into various shapes, hovering around the pill, giving it an extraordinarily mystical appearance.
