As Ji Xian watched the purple cloud slowly grow in size, he became even more drawn to it than before. The spellbound expansion of the gas slowly sent him into a trance-like state, causing his gaze to lose focus and his mind to wander. He suddenly thought back to the day when he and Xia Lihua arrived at this new world as well as the original purpose of this trip. 

After recalling everything he had experienced and all that he had learned, he couldn’t help but let out a soft, disappointing sigh.

Nothing. There has been nothing useful. We’ve already been here for several months yet there hasn’t been anything that I’ve seen that can inspire me to simulate the next realm. The Soul Liberation Art and the Three Tongue Gists are the only ones that left a deep impression, but, there’s still something missing…

Nevertheless, I’m already quite fortunate to have come across them. One lets me cultivate the soul while the other seems to give me a way to communicate with Heaven and Earth. To think that something like this is possible and that they originated from a single race…

The Graha race…

With how big the universe is, it shouldn’t be surprising to see races that specialize in souls, but this is what makes the Grahas so amazing. According to what I’ve gathered from Yahui and Yazhu, the Graha is the only race that exists in the Upper World that has this affinity with the soul. I had initially thought this topic was more widespread up there but that wasn’t at all the case, even in the Upper World, the soul is still regarded as a mystery.

As Ji Xian thought about those two brothers, he crossed his arms and smirked.

It’s unfortunate that I couldn’t do to them what I did to the Nether race back in Mortal Haven, still, they had their uses. At least now I have a partial understanding of what’s going on with my own soul… although, with how weak those brothers were, the information may not have been all that reliable.

Ji Xian went into deep thought at the thought of his own unique situation.

Was my previous life real… or not?

After asking himself this question, he immediately shook his head and put the matter aside. 

Then, he lifted his head to watch the swelling cloud once more. As the soft violet hue reflected off his pupils, he suddenly remembered a problem.

Ah, I’m running low on Heavenly Merit. Now that I’m sharing it with Lihua, my consumption has almost doubled. It won’t be long before we’ll need to replace our merit suits otherwise we’ll be forced to ascend. The Universal Will won’t allow anyone who has surpassed the mortal limits to stay in the Lower World. It’ll be a shame if I run out of Heavenly Merit before I can solve Mortal Haven’s crisis. With that said, where would I get more Heavenly Merit? It’s far too rare to obtain it the normal way and I’d rather not use that method…

After a couple of minutes, Ji Xian sighed and rubbed his temples.

He muttered, “Everything can be solved as long as I break through to the next realm.”

“To go from Holy to Saint requires the breakage of the Core to form the Sea. This isn’t necessarily hard but it’s too simple. I don’t want to pursue this path. Besides, breaking through using the normal way may not give me the power boost I need to help Mortal Haven.”

Ji Xian thoughtfully tapped his finger on his arm. Finally, he closed his eyes to look internally at his Dantian.

In this space, it was as dark as a moonless night and still as the idleness of life. At a quick glance, there seems to be nothing here but floating in the very center of this expanse was a Core that has never been seen before.

There were nine colorless rings encircling an egg-shaped object that resembles a pod. These rings spun in different rotations while giving off a natural sparkling light that made them look pure and divine. Their movements seemed alive and they would slightly pulse as though they were breathing. An outrageously vast amount of True Essence would be pulled in every time they throbbed,

The strange pod was clear in nature so it could be easily missed as it perfectly blended into the background. It was the size of a pebble and appeared completely ordinary. However, if one looked carefully after the True Essence is drawn in from the nine rings, it travels into the pod before being converted into a strange smoky vapor. 

And beyond this curtain of mist was an innocent spherical bubble quietly hovering inside the pod. It was so filled with mystifying patterns and intricate runes on its outer shell that it almost looked like a network of neurons.

As the pod filled with the smoky vapor, the patterns and runes on the spherical bubble lit up, and like a vacuum, it devoured it all before the light disappeared. The pod was empty and there were no changes to the bubble. The next moment, the process repeats itself over and over.

Ji Xian quietly watched all this without any surprise. 

“The magnet, the filter, the container…”

“How should I do this…?”

As he contemplated, a frown began to show on his face, and soon, without him realizing it, his hands slowly clenched.

It was at this moment that Ji Xian suddenly felt someone holding onto his hand. Feeling this familiar touch, he let out a breath and the muscles on his face relaxed. 

When he opened his eyes, he immediately saw Xia Lihua’s worried appearance.

“What is it?” She softly asked.

“… Just thinking about a couple of matters,” Ji Xian calmly replied.

As the words left his mouth, Xiao Yueyin’s voice suddenly entered his ears from a distance away. He glanced behind him and saw that she was privately speaking with Fang Yu.

“Senior Fang Yu, do you remember Bing Yi, the little girl who used to follow you around everywhere? Xinyi mentioned you thought about taking her as your disciple. Unfortunately, after what happened to you, that was impossible. Xinyi thought it was a pity so she took her in instead. She hoped you wouldn’t mind.”

“Also, the Sacred Way Sect and the Veil Shadow Sect got into a huge conflict many years ago over a mysterious treasure. A few disciples even died. In the end, the Arcane Mountain stepped in and mediated. Only then did both sides calm down.”

“If I recall, they were fighting over a treasure that looked like a talisman…”

“Oh, the Solitude Auction House recently put up an item that once belonged to Empress Han Lan. Guess who bought it?”

Ji Xian couldn’t help but laugh seeing after seeing how talkative Xiao Yueyin suddenly was. When he turned back to Xia Lihua, she still had a concerned look on her face.

He shook his head and reassured her, “I’m fine.”

“…”

Xia Lihua nodded. She stared at him for a moment before beautifully smiling.

“Have you learned enough yet?”

“Of course not,” Ji Xian ruffled his hair, “I still have their whole library to go through.”

Xia Lihua lifted an eyebrow, “I don’t understand how you can store that much information in your head. Cultivators have close to a photographic memory but there’s still a limit to how much they can take in and remember.”

“I also don’t know.”

Ji Xian shook his head. He had thought about this before. It definitely wasn’t because of his cheat, the simulation. It has only one ability, to simulate. The endless amount of information that he can take in shouldn’t be related to it. In the end, he attributes it to his luck for being born with such a talent.

“Did you learn anything interesting from her?” Xia Lihua glanced at Fang Yu and curiously asked. Other than his past, Ji Xian has always shared everything with her. Most of the time, he would talk and she would listen. Although she doesn’t always understand what he was saying, these were the moments that she enjoyed the most.

“Not really,” Ji Xian said indifferently. “Fang Yu cultivates the Flame of Ice Scripture that is based on an interesting idea but wasn’t well executed. The blue flame she summoned during our fight looked strong but it has lost its identity. It was cold, yet not cold enough. It was also hot, yet not hot enough. The creator of this scripture followed the theory of balancing the two extremities, however, in the process, made them lose their intensity. As for the Myriad Yin Blade, it’s a Mid tier Divine Art at best. Perhaps if she had combined it with her blue flame, it might have achieved a more destructive power. And for…

Xia Lihua’s lips curved into a captivating smile as she happily stared at Ji Xian. His endless chirping might be annoying to some people but she could listen to him all day.

Ji Xian carried on with his thought process. He was only somewhat impressed with the Flame of Ice Scripture while the theory behind it was what interested him.

Combining attributes of polar opposites…

Ji Xian had once created a Divine Art that used a similar method.  

It was called the Inverse Flame and he mainly uses it for alchemy purposes.

In fact, this was the Divine Art that he used to create the Five Element Pill for those five brats in Mortal Haven.

The Inverse Flame has both qualities of fire and ice, but it was also extremely volatile and unharmonious. Whenever Ji Xian summons the flame, its temperature would randomly be on one side of the extreme; blazing hot or freezing cold. The Inverse Flame’s erratic nature was troubling, yet it didn’t matter for Ji Xian. 

He created two pill creation techniques to combat this problem. If the Inverse Flame was hot, he’ll use the Flaming Pill Creation Method, if it was cold, he’ll use the Freezing Pill Creation Method. 

This wasn’t ideal but Ji Xian has yet to find a way to ultimately incorporate the two opposing elements.

Finally, he stopped talking and his eyes lit up with delight.

“With the theory behind the Flame of Ice Scripture, maybe I can finally solve this problem…”