Chapter 254: Hun Origin
One must admit that Hun Xuzi enjoyed a hands-off approach to teaching. He would teach what needed to be taught, and then leave Yao Yan to learn on his own. Yao Yan was strong-willed and capable of understanding quickly, but if anyone else were in his place, they might have been wasted away. In reality, Hun Xuzi was not cut out to be a teacher; he lacked that kind of temperament.
However, Hun Xuzi had his merits: his strength was immense, and his position was high enough to provide Yao Yan with ample resources for cultivation, as long as Yao Yan's body could withstand it.
The days of struggling to obtain cultivation resources were clearly behind him.
Yao Yan looked at Hun Miesheng, not daring to let any pride show, and politely cupped his hands in respect, saying, "I will trouble you with the next steps, Hall Master."
Hun Xuzi was such an annoying old man!
Hun Miesheng cursed inwardly. He didn't have the patience to help Hun Xuzi teach his disciple, but since the latter was the Chief Alchemist of the Hun Clan, and Hun Miesheng often needed his help to refine pills, he had no choice but to agree. Seeing Yao Yan's respectful gesture, his displeasure faded a little.
He smiled lightly, "It's no trouble at all. As long as your Hun can withstand it, you may absorb the Hun origin in the Heavenly Hall."
With that, Hun Miesheng raised his hand and distorted the space around them, taking Yao Yan with him, disappearing from the spot.
Yao Yan only felt a blur in front of his eyes, and in an instant, he and Hun Miesheng arrived in a magnificent palace. One had to say, the control over space by Dou Sheng-level experts was truly astonishing. Compared to that, the control over space by Dou Zun experts was still in its beginner phase, not even worth comparing.
With just this space transfer, Yao Yan didn't even feel a fluctuation in spatial power.
Hun Miesheng led Yao Yan to the center of the palace, where a massive stone pillar stood. It was thousands of feet tall, covered in intricate blood-colored patterns, eerie and unsettling. Just looking at it gave Yao Yan the sensation that his Hun was about to leave his body. Even with his Celestial-level Hun power, he still felt a subtle influence.
"Refrain from releasing your Hun power… There's a Hun Capturing Grand Formation here, designed to target rebellious souls," Hun Xuzi warned. Then, he looked at the stone pillar adorned with blood-red patterns, as if admiring his own greatest creation. A slight smile appeared on his face as he continued, "Do you know why I created the Hun Hall?"
Yao Yan pondered for a moment before slowly replying, "I'm not sure. All I know is that the Hun Hall targets alchemists with strong souls, which is why it has such a bad reputation on the Continent of Dou Qi."
"Reputation means nothing; strength is everything!" Hun Miesheng's tone was cold and domineering.
As he spoke, he raised his hand and conjured a pitch-black flame, sending it into the stone pillar before them. As the Void Devouring Flame merged with it, the enormous pillar immediately emitted a black-red light, glowing fiercely.
Moments later.
A black-red portal appeared in front of Hun Miesheng.
"The difficulty of Hun power cultivation far exceeds that of Dou Qi. The heavenly materials and earthly treasures capable of enhancing Hun power are extremely rare, and most of them are ineffective for Celestial-level Hun power. To raise one's Hun power to the peak of Celestial-level, even a peerless genius would need hundreds of years. Not to mention the Emperor level!" Hun Miesheng's eyes glowed with fervor. He paused for a moment before continuing, "Most people in this world, even those eight-rank senior alchemists, will never be able to elevate their Hun power to the Celestial-level pinnacle in their lifetime… But here, if I wish, I can cultivate someone to Celestial-level in just a few years!"
After finishing his words, he stepped into the glowing portal, with Yao Yan following closely behind.
As the scenery before him wavered for a moment, a dreamlike world appeared. It was ethereal, with countless transparent, pure light spheres floating about. At the center, a large milky-white sphere of light, several meters in size, radiated a gentle glow.
Hun Miesheng looked at everything before him and softly explained to Yao Yan, "These light spheres contain the Hun origins collected by the Hun Hall… This small group here contains the Hun origins of tens of thousands of people, enough to allow an alchemist to break through to the Hun Realm."
He raised his hand and grasped a small light sphere before looking at the largest milky-white light sphere in the center. His eyes gleamed with increasing intensity.
"Do you see the milky-white sphere in the center? The Hun origin contained within it is equivalent to the Hun origin of tens of millions of people. Absorbing it would easily bring one's Hun power to the Celestial-level pinnacle. Even at the Emperor level, there is a slight chance of breaking through to a higher level!"
Yao Yan sighed inwardly, thinking, the Hun Hall should have been renamed the Underworld... To accumulate so much Hun origin, relying solely on alchemists was clearly insufficient. And with the Pill Tower backing the alchemists, the remaining choice was to harvest from ordinary people. He wondered how many people the Hun Hall had slaughtered over the years.
"If your alchemy skills reach the ninth rank, you will have the right to obtain it in the future!" Hun Miesheng turned to Yao Yan, enticing him.
I'd first have to deal with Hun Xuzi!
Yao Yan wasn't fooled by Hun Miesheng's words. He knew well enough about the situation within the Hun Clan. The Hun Emperor had already reached the Emperor-level Hun realm, and the Void Devouring Flame was likely nearly as powerful. The only remaining question was Hun Xuzi. But in the original story, Hun Xuzi's Hun realm hadn't broken through to the Emperor level, so Hun Miesheng's words were clearly exaggerated.
There's no way it would even be his turn!
He took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "I will do my best."
"With your talent, this is just a matter of time," Hun Miesheng smiled lightly, then handed the Hun origin in his hand to Yao Yan. "Absorb it carefully. Be cautious, use your heavenly flame to refine it before absorbing it. Don't let the negative emotions within the Hun origin affect you. If that happens, your teacher will be the one to deal with me."
Yao Yan nodded, solemnly taking the fist-sized Hun origin. This kind of Hun origin was clearly not rare here, and it was evident that the Hun Hall had done some very questionable things over the years.
But it seemed he wasn't in a position to criticize.
Avenging them?
Yao Yan wasn't that great. After a moment's thought, he summoned the purple-blue flames from his palm and immediately covered the Hun origin with them. As the temperature rose, the power of the heavenly flame seeped into the Hun origin, forcing out the black mist formed by negative emotions, which vanished into nothingness as the flames swelled.
As the black mist dissipated, the Hun light sphere became even more transparent and crystalline, dreamlike, and almost immaterial.
"Be careful, while the heavenly flame can expel most of the negative emotions, the obsession within the Hun origin is much harder to refine. You'll need to wear it down gradually as you absorb it!" Hun Miesheng reminded him. Everything had its trade-offs. Although the Hun origin would cause a massive increase in one's Hun power, the risks were equally great, and it could potentially affect one's future.
Since these Hun origins had been condensed from many souls, they were filled with the emotions of slaughter and bloodshed. Naturally, these Hun origins were full of negative emotions, as well as the lingering attachments, hatred, and grudges of those who died. This part was very difficult to refine with the heavenly flame, as these emotions were almost fused with the Hun origin itself. If one tried to refine it completely, the Hun origin would dissipate as well.
But in the end, it was just the negative emotions of the dead. As long as one's strength was great enough and their will strong enough, they could gradually suppress it!
Yao Yan looked at the transparent Hun origin in front of him, faintly sensing the rejection coming from it. He knew exactly why it was happening, but he wasn't a saint. Why would he give up on an opportunity just because of some resistance from a dead thing? The purple-blue flames flared up in his eyes. After a moment, he closed his eyes slightly, and a Hun avatar identical to his main body emerged from his forehead, sitting in front of the light sphere. With a sudden breath, he devoured the Hun origin before him.
As the Hun origin entered his body, an exceptionally pure Hun energy spread through him, nourishing his soul. At the same time, a massive wave of negative emotions flooded in, though much of it had been refined by the heavenly flame, the fear, hatred, and reluctance from the deaths still clung to the Hun origin, resisting Yao Yan's absorption.
Yao Yan accepted it all, suppressing these negative emotions completely, feeling his Hun body rapidly strengthening. The growth speed was terrifying; in just a few hours, he had reached the middle Celestial realm, and a powerful Hun pressure instantly swept out, forcing the surrounding Hun light spheres to flee.
After several more hours, Yao Yan's Hun body had completely absorbed the Hun origin. It then became intangible and fused back into his main body.
"How do you feel?" Hun Miesheng asked softly, looking at Yao Yan after the absorption was complete.
"The negative emotions were a bit troublesome," Yao Yan opened his eyes, a crimson halo flickering in his pupils, a manifestation of the negative emotions, even affecting his current mood.
"Take your time to refine them. Compared to the rapid growth of your Hun power, these troubles are nothing," Hun Xuzi said with a faint smile.
"It's not that troublesome~" Yao Yan suddenly thought of something and activated the devouring bloodline of the Devouring Spirit Clan within him. Instantly, a sinister vertical pupil appeared at his forehead, making his handsome face look increasingly demonic.
As the vertical pupil opened, a violent, bloodthirsty aura radiated from it, and at the same time, the crimson halo in Yao Yan's eyes rapidly faded, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
It seemed that the vertical pupil, having devoured the negative emotions, had also been nourished, and the light it emitted grew even more eerie.
"The power of the Devouring Spirit Clan?!" Hun Miesheng clearly recognized Yao Yan's constitution and couldn't help but ask. He hadn't known that the Devouring Spirit Clan could feed on negative emotions.
"I'm not sure, but I can indeed digest negative emotions," Yao Yan licked his lips, a slightly perverse smile forming on his face, "It tastes pretty good, heh heh heh~"
Such a familiar taste~
Hearing Yao Yan's laugh, Hun Miesheng was taken aback, feeling strangely more comfortable with Yao Yan. He immediately laughed and said, "Would you like two more?"
"Couldn't ask for more!" Yao Yan nodded in agreement.
Hun Miesheng wasn't stingy. He raised his hand and brought two larger Hun origins over, handing them to Yao Yan. "With your current Dou Qi cultivation, your Hun realm should not exceed the middle Celestial level, or it will affect your future breakthrough to Dou Sheng."
"Why?" Yao Yan was surprised. He wasn't sure about this, as Hun Xuzi, his 'teacher,' had never mentioned it to him. His previous cultivation level had been too low.
"To break through from Dou Zun to Dou Sheng requires immense energy, so during the process, you need to use the Nine Turns Dou Qi to compress it nine times. Only then will there be a slight chance for a transformation into the semi-Saint level. And the semi-Saint level is a transformation process, until your Dou Qi, body, and Hun power are all fully transformed, can you become a true Dou Sheng… If your Hun power is too strong, the transformation will be extremely difficult!" Hun Miesheng explained gently.
Yao Yan nodded, vaguely understanding Hun Miesheng's point. In simple terms, the stronger the accumulation of one's own power, the more energy would be required to break through to Dou Sheng. If Yao Yan's Hun power reached the peak of the Celestial level, his Nine Turns Dou Qi might not be able to support the transformation of his Hun and body.
"Only you freaks need to worry about such things. Ordinary people can't have Celestial-level Hun power at this level of cultivation," Hun Miesheng joked lightly, his eyes showing some emotion.
Celestial-level Hun power was almost a given for Dou Sheng experts, because during the transformation process, the Hun power would naturally rise to the Celestial level. However, most would remain at the lower stages of the Celestial level, and moving beyond that depended on individual opportunities.
As for the peak of the Celestial level, those below Dou Sheng didn't need to consider it. If someone beneath Dou Sheng had such powerful Hun power, their body couldn't bear it. At that stage, Hun power was almost tangible, able to move freely even without the body, just like a living person. A mere Dou Zun body could never contain it.
It was impossible to force it in!
The size was just too great!
It would easily tear apart the body.
"Absorb it. If you feel your body can't take it, stop immediately," Hun Miesheng said softly.
Yao Yan nodded and directly swallowed the two Hun origins Hun Miesheng handed him. This time, he even skipped the refining process with heavenly flames and devoured it directly in a crude manner, using the power of the Devouring Spirit Clan's bloodline. He didn't have to worry about the negative emotions. After all, he used to devour humans directly!
The negative emotions in these Hun origins couldn't affect him at all.
As Yao Yan entered the cultivation state, the vertical pupil in his forehead became more vibrant, almost as if it had come to life. The pupil slightly moved, meeting Hun Miesheng's gaze, and an indescribable feeling surged in Hun Miesheng's heart.
"The Devouring Spirit Clan... truly an eerie race!" Hun Miesheng looked at Yao Yan, feeling curious about how far Yao Yan could grow.
Other imperial families might not tolerate such a strange existence as Yao Yan, but the Hun Clan didn't care. As long as Yao Yan had enough value, they would cultivate him.
As for whether he would betray them?
Who else but the Hun Clan could accept him? He was destined to be part of the Hun Clan, so there was no need to worry about betrayal.
(END CHAPTER)
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