The Reappearance of Soul Shackles
Translator: Cinder Translations
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Zhu Yin left the Soul Cave, leaving only Song Wen and the other seven alchemists behind.
The scattered blood-colored pill liquid emitted a strong, pungent smell of blood, filling the entire Soul Cave.
A suffocating and oppressive atmosphere spread throughout.
Aside from Yu Jiao, the other seven remained silent.
Yu Jiao, however, performed several hand gestures and captured Ke Shuang's soul, which had not yet dissipated, into a soul bottle.
"Hehehe... you little wench dared to mock me. Now, you're dead, and your soul has fallen into my hands. Hahaha..." Yu Jiao laughed wickedly.
Song Wen and the others sat in meditation, paying no attention to Yu Jiao's actions.
Half a day later, Ye Hua and Zhu Yin appeared once more.
Along with them came another person—or more accurately, a soul.
"Soul Shackles!"
The thought suddenly flashed through Song Wen's mind.
Next to Ye Hua, there floated a green wooden statue, intricately carved from soul-nourishing wood.
The statue stood about half a meter tall, with a vivid carving of the head, limbs, and face, covered with complex and profound magical runes.
Aside from the size and appearance, this wooden sculpture was nearly identical to the Soul Shackles that Song Wen had seen in the Blood Cloud Cave, which had imprisoned Xue Mei.
"Senior Xu Geng, please observe from the side. If you notice any mistakes in the process of refining the Life-Returning Pill, kindly offer your guidance," Ye Hua said politely, though his face showed no sign of respect.
Xu Geng was just a prisoner, and the reason Ye Hua spoke so courteously was because he needed something from him.
A voice emanated from the Soul Shackles, "Ye Hua, feel free to proceed with your work. I will assist you with the pill refining process."
Ye Hua turned to Zhu Yin and asked, "Which alchemist is supposed to be here to fill in? Why haven't they arrived yet? This time, I do not want any useless people pretending to be skilled."
Zhu Yin replied, "It's Le Liang. We've already sent someone to inform him on his island, so he should be here soon."
Ye Hua nodded, clearly familiar with Le Liang, and seemed to have a high opinion of his alchemical skills.
After waiting another hour, an old man arrived late. The old man, a late-stage Golden Core cultivator, was dressed like a disciple from Wu Ji Island.
"I'm late, and I've kept the Demon Sovereign waiting. Please forgive me," Le Liang said, bowing deeply as he entered the Soul Cave.
"It's not your fault," Ye Hua replied. "Here is the formula for the Life-Returning Pill, along with the herbs you need to refine. Study them carefully, and we will begin refining tomorrow."
Ye Hua handed Le Liang a jade slip and a storage bag.
Then, he turned to Song Wen and the other seven.
"You all must study the formula as well. Do not make any mistakes."
The next day, at noon, they resumed the pill refining.
This time, the process went smoothly. Hundreds of thousands of fresh two-legged sheep were added to the furnace. However, this was only the first step. To successfully refine the Life-Returning Pill, they would need to add ten batches of two-legged sheep.
With each batch, the pill liquid had to undergo further refinement. This process would take several days and require the addition of various auxiliary herbs.
The pill refining progressed in an orderly manner.
The first, second, third batches...
Time passed for over ten days, and millions of two-legged sheep had been fused into the pill liquid.
The vitality contained in the millions of young and strong individuals was immense, and the entire Soul Cave was filled with a strong life force.
The long period of pill refining had severely drained everyone's energy and spiritual power, especially Ye Hua, who had led the entire refining process.
Ye Hua's eyes were bloodshot, and his expression appeared exhausted.
Song Wen and the others had already completed the refinement of all the auxiliary herbs, so now the success of the Life-Returning Pill depended on whether Ye Hua could successfully condense the pill.
The furnace was half full of pill liquid, making it impossible to condense all of it into a single pill. If they tried, the result would be a massive pill larger than ten feet in diameter.
No one could swallow such a large pill.
Before Condensing the Pill, Ye Hua still needed to refine the pill liquid, extracting the essence of life.
"Guide the essence of life, gather it at one point, and condense it into the pill embryo."
Xu Geng, imprisoned within the Soul Shackles, suddenly spoke to offer advice.
As Ye Hua's hands moved through changing hand seals, the pill liquid in the furnace began to change.
Essences of vitality were drawn out and gathered above the furnace.
The essence accumulated more and more, slowly forming a sphere of essence the size of a human head.
The once vibrant and life-filled pill liquid in the furnace became dull and lifeless, devoid of any spiritual energy.
"Compress the pill embryo, form it into a spiritual pill," Xu Geng's voice sounded.
Ye Hua's hands left multiple afterimages in the air, sending out his magical power to strike the essence sphere.
The prolonged consumption of energy made it difficult for even him, a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, to continue. His spiritual power was nearly exhausted.
Suddenly, Ye Hua halted in his actions, failing the hand seal.
A lack of spiritual power during pill condensation was a major taboo in pill refining, meaning that failure was imminent.
The compressed essence sphere, which had previously shrunk, suddenly began to expand.
A hint of panic flashed across Ye Hua's face, and he quickly attempted to correct the situation with another hand seal.
However, before he could act, the wooden statue beside him suddenly shot out and flew toward the furnace.
From the statue surged a force of soul power, which rushed toward the essence sphere.
Wrapped in soul power, the essence sphere stopped expanding and slowly began to contract.
"Continue to compress the pill embryo. My soul power is limited, I cannot support this for long," Xu Geng said.
Ye Hua hurriedly resumed the hand seals, injecting more essence into the sphere.
With Xu Geng's help, the process of compressing the essence sphere sped up.
As time passed, the essence sphere gradually solidified.
Suddenly, a pill materialized in the air.
The pill was about the size of an infant's fist, round and full, radiating a faint green glow.
A figure suddenly appeared, extending a hand to grab the pill.
It was Yin Shuo, though no one knew how long he had been hiding outside the Soul Cave.
Yin Shuo stared at the pill in his hand, feeling the immense vitality and rich spiritual energy within. A slight smile appeared on his face.
Suddenly, there was a soft "puff!"
It seemed that Xu Geng had exhausted too much of his soul power and could no longer remain suspended. The wooden statue fell from the air and landed in the furnace, consumed by the residual liquid.
Yin Shuo moved his finger slightly, and a burst of magical power shot out, retrieving the wooden statue from the liquid.
The once-green wooden statue had turned blood-red, and the magical runes on it were completely dyed red.
Yin Shuo formed a soundproof barrier, enveloping himself and the statue within.
"Senior Xu Geng, I truly appreciate your help. If it weren't for your timely intervention, I might not have been able to refine the Life-Returning Pill."
"As long as you keep the promise between us, that will be enough," Xu Geng's voice sounded faint, as if his soul power had been depleted.
Yin Shuo said, "If, as you said, taking the Life-Returning Pill allows me to successfully cultivate the 'Corpse King Rebirth Technique' without significant loss of cultivation, I will find a suitable body for you, so that you can possess it and regain your freedom."
Xu Geng replied, "I hope you can follow through on your words."
"Rest assured, Senior. I, Yin Shuo, am a dignified Demon Lord, and I will never go back on my word. Hahaha..."
With a hearty laugh, Yin Shuo's figure disappeared.
Soon after, Ye Hua's figure also vanished from the Soul Cave.
(End of the Chapter)
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