Chapter 162: Undercurrents

When Su Yun returned to Qinghe City, Valley Master Su Yao was busy in the Pill Refining Room.

When she heard that Su Yun had brought back five hundred ancient remnant souls and needed a soul shaping pill, her expression turned very grim.

She said that the soul shaping pill was ten times harder to refine than the Soul Transformation Stage Pill, and the Materials were even harder to find.

The Scripture Pavilion of the Bibo Palace did indeed have the Pill Formula, but she had never even seen half of the Spirit Medicine listed on it.

Su Yun asked which ones were the hardest to find. Pointing to a few lines on the Pill Formula, Valley Master Su Yao said, "The Ten-Thousand-Year Jade Marrow, Nine Nether Lotus, and Phoenix blood—these three items cannot be found in the Central Region or the Western Region; we might need to go to the Northern Wasteland or even further."

Su Yun put away the Pill Formula and said, "We will look for them slowly; there is no rush."

He told Valley Master Su Yao to put aside what she was doing for now and help him keep an eye on Qinghe City, as he intended to go into seclusion to refine the void node.

Valley Master Su Yao asked him how long it would take. Su Yun said he did not know, perhaps three months, perhaps half a year.

Valley Master Su Yao nodded and turned to make arrangements.

Su Yun walked into the study and closed the door.

He sat down on the meditation cushion and took the void node out of his Storage Ring.

The golden ball of light slowly rotated in his palm, emitting a warm radiance.

He closed his eyes, pressed the void node against his Dantian, and began to refine it.

Time passed day by day. Su Yun sat in the study for a whole month without coming out.

Zhao Lanxin placed food at the door every day and came to collect it later; the food in the bowls was always eaten clean.

Zhou Ruoyun would sometimes stand at the door for a while, listening for any movement inside, but she could hear nothing.

Liu Wugou occasionally came to ask Valley Master Su Yao when their master would come out of seclusion, and Valley Master Su Yao would say she did not know.

Elder Han Yue never came once.

In the second month, Su Yun's cultivation base began to loosen.

The barrier of the Spirit Transformation Peak Stage was being torn apart bit by bit by the power of the void node, and the threshold of the Void Refining Stage was drawing closer.

He could feel that if he had one more month, he would be able to break through.

Just then, something happened to Qinghe City.

That night, while Valley Master Su Yao was in the Pill Refining Room preparing Spirit Medicine, she suddenly heard a loud noise from outside the city.

She rushed out of the Pill Refining Room and saw that the sky outside the city was illuminated by a black pillar of light.

The black pillar shot from afar, slamming directly into the Heavenly Sword Formation.

The seventy-two Flying Swords trembled violently, and the formation patterns flickered, barely blocking the attack.

Fairy Jianyun was already standing on the city wall, her long sword unsheathed, her white clothes fluttering in the wind.

Zi Wuji also rushed over from the Purple Mansion, his body wreathed in purple lightning.

Valley Master Su Yao landed on the city wall and looked up.

Suspended in the night sky in the distance were dozens of figures. The leader was a middle-aged man with a sinister face, wearing a black robe, his aura as deep as the sea.

Void Refining Early Stage.

Behind him followed five Elders at the Spirit Transformation Peak Stage, as well as over twenty Disciples at the Soul Transformation Late Stage. They were a dark, crushing mass, filled with Killing Intent.

The middle-aged man looked down at Qinghe City, his voice cold. "Where is Su Yun? Make him come out."

Valley Master Su Yao's expression changed. A Void Refining Early Stage cultivator was not someone they could deal with.

She took a deep breath and stepped forward. "Young Master Su is in seclusion and is not receiving guests. Who is Your Excellency? What is your business in Qinghe City?"

The middle-aged man sneered. "Seclusion? Hiding because he is too afraid to come out, more like. Tell him that the void node is not something he can touch. Hand it over, and I can spare his life. Otherwise, I will destroy this city, people and all."

Valley Master Su Yao gritted her teeth. The void node—the bead that her master brought back from the East Sea. This person had come for the void node.

She did not know who this person was, but they could not stop someone with the power of the Void Refining Early Stage.

Just as she was about to speak, a voice came from within the city.

"Who is looking for me?"

Su Yun walked out of the study. He was wearing a moon-white robe, with a belt made by Zhao Lanxin tied around his waist; he looked no different from a month ago.

But his aura was completely different. Void Refining Early Stage. He had broken through at the last moment.

Valley Master Su Yao's eyes widened, and Fairy Jianyun and Zi Wuji were also stunned.

Su Yun landed on the city wall and looked at the middle-aged man. "Who are you?"

The middle-aged man also looked at him, a trace of wariness flashing in his eyes. "Void Refining Early Stage? You broke through?"

Su Yun did not answer. The middle-aged man sneered. "So what if you broke through? I have been in the Void Refining Stage for three hundred years; you have only just broken through a few days ago, and you think you are worthy of fighting me?"

He raised his hand, and a black pillar of light shot from his palm, aiming straight at Su Yun's face.

Su Yun did not retreat. He raised his hand and punched out.

His fist force, wrapped in the Power of the Five Elements and Thunder Spirit Power, collided with the black pillar of light.

With a loud boom, shockwaves surged; the black pillar of light was shattered, and the middle-aged man stumbled back several steps. Su Yun remained motionless.

The middle-aged man's expression changed drastically. "You…"

Su Yun did not give him a chance to speak. He stepped forward, appeared in front of the middle-aged man, and struck out with his palm.

The middle-aged man swung his palm to counter, and the two palms collided. The middle-aged man was sent flying, crashing into the ground and plowing a long gully.

He struggled to climb up, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.

"How is this possible? You only broke through a few days ago…"

Su Yun looked down at him. "You are too weak."

He raised his hand and struck the top of the middle-aged man's head. The middle-aged man's eyes widened, and he slowly collapsed to the ground.

Su Yun turned to look at the five Elders at the Spirit Transformation Peak Stage. "Keep the females. Kill the males."

Fairy Jianyun and Zi Wuji struck at the same time.

A moment later, three of the five Elders, who were female cultivators, were brought before Su Yun, while the two male cultivators had been killed on the spot.

As for the twenty-plus Disciples at the Soul Transformation Late Stage, he kept the females and killed the males. In the end, eight female cultivators remained: three at the Spirit Transformation Peak Stage and five at the Soul Transformation Late Stage.

Su Yun pointed at them one by one. Golden light flashed in succession.

Enslavement successful x8. Congratulations to the Host for receiving a portion of spiritual power feedback from the Enslavement, stabilizing your cultivation base.

Su Yun asked the three female cultivators at the Spirit Transformation Peak Stage who they were.

The leader said that they were from the Moyuan Sect in the Northern Wasteland.

The Moyuan Sect was located beyond the Northern Wasteland; the Sect Master was at the Void Refining Middle Stage and had the Eight Great Demon Generals under his command. The middle-aged man who came this time was the Eighth Demon General.

The Moyuan Sect had been searching for the void node, wanting to help the Sect Master break through to the Void Refining Late Stage. They heard that Su Yun had found the void node in the East Sea, so they sent the Eighth Demon General to bring people to snatch it.

Su Yun asked how many more female cultivators the Moyuan Sect had. The female cultivator said the Moyuan Sect had over thirty thousand Disciples, and female cultivators made up thirty percent, about ten thousand.

Among them, there were several hundred at the Soul Transformation Stage and several thousand at the Nascent Soul Stage. Su Yun nodded and made a note of it.

He told Valley Master Su Yao to take the eight newly acquired female cultivators away to settle them in, while he stood on the city wall, looking toward the north.

The Moyuan Sect, Void Refining Middle Stage, thirty thousand Disciples. Trouble had arrived. But he was not afraid.

He had three thousand female cultivators, over one hundred at the Soul Transformation Stage, and the power of the Void Refining Early Stage. It was not enough. He needed more people, more at the Soul Transformation Stage, and more at the Void Refining Stage.

He turned and walked back into the city. The door to the study was still open, and traces of his meditation remained on the cushion.

He walked in, sat down on the meditation cushion, and closed his eyes.

Inside his Dantian, the power of the void node was still circulating. His Void Refining Early Stage Realm was not yet stable and needed time to consolidate.

But the Moyuan Sect would not give him time. They would send people very soon. The next ones to come would not be the Eighth Demon General, but the Seventh Demon General, the Sixth Demon General, or even the Demonic Abyss Ancestor himself.

He had to make full preparations before they arrived.