"It's already starting to separate the Hun and Po souls!" Li Yan quickly judged.
The Hun and Po souls were originally blended together like water and milk, mixed as one, which is why they exhibited the seven emotions and six desires, good and evil, kindness and malice. To separate them was no less than flaying a person alive. But this was only the beginning of the separation of its own soul. If it couldn't even pass this stage, the subsequent "Burning the Soul to Refine the Fire" would be even more like extracting the soul and refining the spirit. Under extreme pain, the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant's consciousness could dissipate at any time. That would be a true purgatory.
Li Yan condensed all the magic power in his body. He was ready to strike at any moment.
Soon, another ten breaths passed. The ball of purple light was actually rapidly dimming, while the incantations from the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant continued, but the fluctuation of its aura was now strong, now weak.
Li Yan's expression grew more and more solemn. Even for a cultivator, no one dared to casually touch anything related to the Divine Sense or the soul. The slightest mistake during contact with the soul would result in the tragic end of having one's soul fly away and scatter. This living being would then completely disappear from the world, not leaving behind the slightest trace of its aura.
And just as Li Yan was rapidly pondering under what circumstances he would need to strike, suddenly, the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant's incantations abruptly stopped. At this time, seven blurry figures of the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant first appeared in Li Yan's Divine Sense, rising gracefully from the ball of purple light.
Li Yan looked closely. The seven figures, which looked like they could dissipate at any moment, were like wisps of light smoke, but they were undoubtedly in the form of the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant. After these seven figures appeared, their expressions were all different. There was joy, anger, sorrow, fear...
"These are the seven Pos among the Three Huns and Seven Pos. They should correspond to the seven desires of joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hate, and lust..." Li Yan quickly judged, his Divine Sense firmly locked on the scene below, his body's Spirit Power hidden but not released. If he found anything wrong, he would immediately forcefully re-condense the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant's soul.
As these seven blurry figures flew out, the remaining ball of purple light below also rapidly transformed into three smaller, three-colored light clusters. There were strong soul power fluctuations on these three light clusters.
"The white Heavenly Hun, the yellow Earthly Hun, and the colorless Life Hun, these are the three Huns," Li Yan recalled the records about the Three Huns and Seven Pos. This was also the first time he had seen the legendary Three Huns and Seven Pos. Although cultivators would know what they were from the very beginning of their cultivation, very few could personally witness the form of the soul after it had been completely separated.
Li Yan also understood the three Huns. The white was the Heavenly Hun, representing pure goodness without evil, a kind nature. The yellow was the Earthly Hun, representing a changeable disposition. The colorless was the Life Hun, representing the initially pure and untainted heart. The colors of the Heavenly Hun and Earthly Hun would never change, while the colorless Life Hun would constantly change throughout the course of life. The Life Hun represented the human heart; the so-called "he who touches pitch shall be defiled" was this very principle. And at this moment, the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant's Life Hun was red, indicating that it was no longer as pure as when it was first born and had some kind of biased, distracting thoughts.
Just as Li Yan was rapidly pondering, the scene below had changed again. The moment the three Huns had just separated to form the white, yellow, and red light clusters, they had quickly re-converged within the skull below. In an instant, they formed a distinct three-colored mist. And the seven Pos that had just risen above had actually joined together one by one as they flew away, like a rapidly growing bamboo stalk, section by section. And the seven Pos, each with the appearance of the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant, stood upright, creating a scene of one Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant standing on the body of another.
The moment the final "Living Po" stepped on the head of the "Desire Po," an ancient, hoary voice that seemed to come from primeval times sounded in Li Yan's ears. "Return!"
Then, the seven Pos, which were like a bamboo stalk, suddenly sank, and then plunged straight into the mist below. The moment they were inserted into the mist, a bean-sized flame ignited at the top of the seven Pos. Although the flame was small, it made the already scorching desert feel an even more intense burning sensation. Even Li Yan, standing in the air, felt a burning and stinging sensation on his skin.
All of this happened in an instant. To the naked eye, it would just be a blur, and then a small flame would have appeared below.
The moment the flame was lit, Li Yan's mind was filled with the continuous, painful roars of the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant. This was because his mind was connected to the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant's. Li Yan could immediately sense the pain in its divine soul. Listening to the roars gradually weakening, Li Yan knew that this was just the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant temporarily enduring the pain.
Looking at the bean-sized flame, and then at the tall wick formed by the seven Pos, Li Yan guessed that it would only be considered a node when the wick formed by the seven Pos had burned out. But he couldn't guess how much time it would take for the refining to be successful.
Li Yan just stood there in the air, motionless, his Divine Sense locked on tightly without a moment's lapse.
After about half an hour had passed, the scene below changed again. The crystalline skull, which had been about the size of half a tabletop, actually began to rapidly curl up under the burning of the Three Huns and Seven Pos, like a feather encountering high heat, its edges constantly warping and bending inwards.
Under Li Yan's gaze, in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, it had firmly wrapped the Three Huns and Seven Pos in the middle, forming a translucent, crystalline eggshell. As the final gap of the skull closed, it also blocked Li Yan's Divine Sense. His Divine Sense was actually isolated, unable to probe the situation of the Three Huns and Seven Pos inside the skull. And Li Yan, of course, did not dare to forcefully use his Divine Sense to peek.
Li Yan still just stood silently in the air. His feelings for the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant were different from those for the Snow Mosquito King. It had saved his life many times. Call Li Yan calculating if you will, but of course, he would cherish those who had shown him kindness even more. Just the last time when they were breaking through the barrier between the two realms in the seven-colored space, if the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant hadn't risked its life to burn its soul, Li Yan and Zhao Min would have either had to hide in the Earthen Patch and possibly be forever lost in the seven-colored space, or they would have perished on the spot.
This time, the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant's choice, one could say, also had an element of Li Yan's provocation in it. Li Yan wanted it to become strong with him, to accompany him on his journey across the immortal mountains, and not let it remain weak, causing the two of them to drift further and further apart.
'Use the Hun soul as oil, the Po soul as the wick, and the skull as the base. Can you endure it?'
Just as Li Yan was thinking this, an almost inaudible voice suddenly sounded in his mind from the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant. "Mas... ter, my consciousness... can only retain a... a wisp to keep the soul lamp from... from being extinguished. You... take care!"
Immediately, there was a dead silence. Only the high heat in the desert was disturbing, assaulting him in waves.
Li Yan listened silently. He did not send another message in his mind. Just like that, he stood in the air for an unknown amount of time. There was no cycle of night here, only the silent passage of time.
At some point, Li Yan's figure had quietly disappeared, leaving behind only a scorching desert. The five-colored ring in the sky was like a sun that never set in the west, forming a completely different heaven and earth from the vibrant scenery in the east.
As Li Yan returned to the grassy riverside and sat cross-legged again, he once again entered into cultivation.
While Li Yan was cultivating diligently, the Falling Star Valley had also begun to fall into a huge crisis.
Since the Sect Master Lin Xinghe had personally swept through the surrounding hidden enemies three months ago, for a period of time, the disciples of the Falling Star Valley had been as free as before when they went out. It was as if Lin Xinghe's slaughter had truly intimidated some of the petty villains. But the good times did not last. After less than half a month, those enemies targeting the Falling Star Valley had reappeared, and the number of times they attacked was increasing, and their methods were becoming more and more ruthless.
It eventually developed to the point where as long as a disciple of the Falling Star Valley went out, they would definitely be ambushed.
Although Lin Xinghe, in his great anger, had personally gone on patrol again, his strength alone was ultimately limited, and he often found himself unable to attend to everything at once. Moreover, he did not dare to be too far from the Falling Star Valley alone. Otherwise, without the deterrence of the Grand Elder, he himself would likely be in great danger.
In the short month recently, the trade between the Falling Star Valley and the outside world had already developed to the point where it could not proceed normally. For this reason, the Falling Star Valley often needed to send four or five Foundation Establishment cultivators to guard a single transaction, and even large transactions required Lin Xinghe to personally escort them.
In this way, not only had the income of the Falling Star Valley greatly decreased, but after disciples on training missions were continuously killed, no one dared to go out easily anymore. For a time, the Falling Star Valley was in a state of panic, filled with rumors and fear. The sect showed signs of rapid decline.
More than five hundred li into the depths of the Falling Star Valley, in a courtyard, three people were standing. A red-robed youth was currently looking up at the canopy of a tree that covered the entire courtyard like a giant umbrella, mottled sunlight scattering on his face. The red-robed youth had a head of black hair, a face like a baby's, ruddy and fair, and looked to be only fourteen or fifteen years old.
And behind him, two people stood with their hands clasped: a middle-aged man in a green robe and a white-robed elder of about fifty. They were Lin Xinghe and his senior brother. Seeing the youth not speaking, they both maintained a respectful attitude, not daring to step forward and disturb him.
After a long while, the red-robed youth finally withdrew his gaze.
"They have already reached the final stage of frantic probing. Now that the Sacred Demon Palace is also acting as if it doesn't know, it probably won't be long before the other party comes knocking on our door openly. Xing Ming, tell me the specific situation in detail again."
Although the red-robed youth had withdrawn his gaze, he still did not look at the two people behind him. He just let his gaze fall casually on the courtyard wall, as if attracted by the green vines on it. Although he looked young, his words were extremely old and arrogant, giving people a very strange and contradictory impression.
"Martial Uncle, this matter is already imminent. Otherwise, we would not have come to disturb you from your seclusion. Twenty-six disciples in the valley have died or gone missing. Among them are two Foundation Establishment deacons, and the rest are all disciples at the seventh level of Qi Condensation or above. In addition, one Foundation Establishment internal spy was found and has been killed. Currently, normal trade with the outside world has almost been completely cut off. As Martial Uncle said, based on the information we have gathered, the four foreign clans are poised for a major offensive. This disciple also judges that the reason the other party has not yet acted is that they are making a final test of the Sacred Demon Palace's attitude."
The white-robed elder behind slowly stated his analysis of the situation. His conclusion was quite similar to the red-robed youth's judgment.
"So many have died? Twenty-six people, and even Foundation Establishment cultivators. This has already injured our foundation." The red-robed youth slowly walked to the stone table and sat down.
For a second-rate sect like theirs, the total number of cultivators did not exceed four hundred, and this included handyman and outer sect disciples. The twenty-six who had died or gone missing were all at least at the seventh level of Qi Condensation. This was already considered among the strongest of the new generation of the Falling Star Valley. For so many outstanding disciples of the sect to die at once, who knew how many years it would take to replenish their vitality.
"Cangyu Sect, Snow Moon Wolf Clan, Wind-Rending Clan, and Night Fox Clan..." the red-robed youth tapped his fingers lightly on the stone table. He fell into deep thought for a time.
After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the red-robed youth's lightly tapping fingers paused.