Chapter 8 – Isle of Wailing Souls

As the various spies who had been situated in the library slowly left, Hai Yun moved the block of jade into the pot. Then he poured the mercury in, until the jade block was half submerged. This was a special method of polishing jade through divine reshaping.

Jade is typically a very coarse material and although it can be cut smoothly, it is very difficult to properly polish unless with specific tools. However these were all very shoddy works. Compared to the method of divine reshaping, it was like putting in 4 times the effort for less than half the result!

Hai Yun slowly pushed the jade block till it was flat against the base of the pot. Dipping his hands into the mercury section he began to rub his fingers across the jade surface. However this was only a ruse, his real goal was pouring the potion from his sleeve into the mercury. Hai Yun was a Divine Alchemist! How could he not know how to create his own tools from raw materials?

Given enough time, he could take this ordinary piece of jade and create a bowl which Spirit Blood ranked cultivators couldn’t even scratch armed with the highest grade of weapons! Unfortunately he was rather time pressed, thus this tool would be considerably less quality. Naturally this was in comparison to the works of other Divine Ranked alchemists, if it was compared to any tool created by a Grandmaster level Alchemist, this would be far superior.

Unbeknownst to Yuntao who was standing guard at the door, a vial of bluish green liquid slowly dripped from Hai Yun’s sleeve into the pot of mercury. With mercury's high reflection level and distortion of the green jade color, it would nearly impossible to make out this liquid.

Naturally this was the real elixir which would be shaping the jade. Hai Yun had been busy at work creating it while the jade was being brought over. The mercury was nothing more than a ruse. This elixir could allow gems and pure stones to become increasingly pliable. After pouring in the entire potion, Hai Yun retracted his hands and observed the potion carefully.

This next step was the primary reason he had wanted to get the 14 spies out. Over these prior hour, the entire potion had been absorbed by the jade block which was submerge in mercury. After having ‘Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent master’ put Yuntao into an illusion where no actions were being taken, Hai Yun took out the whole block of jade. With ‘Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent master’s spiritual energy acting like a blade, the jade block was split cleanly in half.

The half which had become pliable was slowly snuck into Hai Yun’s sleeve while the other half was re-submerged into the pot. After this Hai Yun asked ‘Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent master’ to dispel the illusion and he began to pour more mercury in. As he shut the lid of the pot he reminded Yuntao to not let anyone move the pot.

Shortly after arranging all the spare mercury nearby, he left. He obviously couldn’t sit in the second floor of the library. This single hour was already hard fought and his grandfather had already dispatched a new wave of spies to watch him. Hence another location would need to be selected in order to actually shape the piece of jade, and this new place needed to be selected soon! Otherwise the jade would lose its pliability all this effort would be wasted!

Where can I go??? Hai Yun pondered as he strolled about.

“Hey brat, use a little bit of common sense!” ‘Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent master’ chimed.

“If you have a brilliant plan, please elaborate,” Hai Yun had long become used to ‘Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent master’s long, suspense filled speeches. If they weren't useful to listen to, then he would probably have ignored him.

“Well, as I see it, shaping that piece of jade shouldn’t require too much space. So a small room would work.”

“If that’s your only suggestion then shut up”

“Dissolute! Am only trying to make you use your own brain! Figure it out yourself, what place is small, somewhere they wouldn’t dare suspect, and also a place where they would only stand guard outside and not dare to look in?!?!”

Hai Yun furrowed his brows, before his eyes brightened.

“The Bathroom! Why didn’t I think of that place earlier?!?!”

“Exactly!” ‘Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent master’ nodded in satisfaction.

Hai Yun hurriedly ran towards his pavilion. On the way, he made disgruntled faces as if in great pain. When he finally arrived, he could hardly wait anymore. This effect only added on to the perception that he was sick. Not a single person dared to come in and spy on him the moment he landed himself over his chamber pot.

He instantly let out a most convincing sigh of relief. It should be noted that he was actually quite relieved of having found a place to mold the jade, and coupled with his present location, it made a lot of sense that his sigh of relief was misinterpreted by the spies who were hiding outside.

Silently removing the jade block from his sleeve, Hai Yun wasted no time getting to work. Slowly molding it like a very hard dough he twisted into shapes. Kneading it carefully, pushing into it with his thumbs in certain areas. The more he kneaded it together, pulling it apart till it extended. Slowly it began to take the shape of a tube.

Not letting up for even a second, Hai Yun continued to smoothen it. Rolling it between his hands until a nearly perfect cylinder was formed. Once the tube had been formed, he selected 8 place on the front side and pressed his thumb down on them. The first near the top and the remaining 7 towards the bottom. Then he pulled out a salt shaker from his sleeve. AS he began to sprinkle, a strange purple powder came out. The moment it made contact with the surface of the tube, the tube hardened. He then put one end to his mouth and blew.

With the outer shell of the tube hardened, but a liquid like inside, the remaining jade was easily blown into the waste basket between his feet. Even he had to admit that the splattering sounds were very deceiving. Finally the finished product was revealed, a highly polished jade flute. It did not have any special engravings, only Hai Yun’s name engraved on the backside. As he took out another vial of the molding liquid, the slowly shaped out the whistle, then by collecting the extra jade from the pot, he sealed up the top end. The moment the flute set into shape, he slid it back into his sleeve and leisure walked out.

It was now time for the final adjustment. If he didn’t remember incorrectly, the Holy Music Pavilion had some familial connections with the Crystal Ocean Alchemy sect. Hence he remembered the recipes for some divine ranked elixirs which had been made especially for them. One such elixir was the .

Any instrument which was soaked in it for a day and night would gain the ability to absorb death qi and life essence. The flute, although simple was still a sky grade equipment! No matter how weak Hai Yuns current body was, elixir refinement required the use of soul strength, thus it could be said that he truly was a 13 year old divine ranked alchemist now, as his soul did not lose much strength during transmigration, thus the problem of retraining his alchemy skills was simply non-existent! And one should keep in mind, that he was a divine ranked alchemist of the Crystal Ocean Alchemy sect, the number one alchemy sect on the continent. Of the 81 Divine ranked alchemists, 49 were from the Crystal Ocean Alchemy sect. of the remaining 32, only 12 belonged to another sect, while the remaining 20 were wanderers with no affiliation.

This could put into perspective how much further their alchemy was compared to the other organizations. Hence, although he had never practiced this alchemy formula, it was bound to succeed with proper preparation. However the primary concern would be the materials for this divine ranked elixir…

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On the eastern most side of the Central Island in the Western Sea territory, Hai Yun treks alone through a bramble forest. There is not much wildlife in the area he stands, only decaying trees. Normally trees in any area would dry and shrivel up, however the trees in this area instead decay, with fungi covering their entire bark as they die. This was the primary indicator of a high concentration of death qi in the area. Apparently the people in the Western Sea territory had never made contact with people who cultivated death qi arts.

However Hai Yun was very experienced in identifying objects with death qi. It was not exactly a rare material in his field of practice. Thus this forest of brambles, rightly named as the Southern graveyard of Central Island, was simply a treasure trove for his pickings. It was also because of the existence of this place that Hai Yun wished to use the Winds of Life and Death on the flute for Qin Cheng. The power which came from Life and Death would give the flute ample room to grow along with use.

It should be known that the music arts usually go in two directions. One route is to promote bloodthirstiness and express ones inner killing intent weakening the opponent, or just outright killing them, while the other route is to enhance one’s mind and increase the strength of ones allies. Life Qi was essentially a boost to one’s vitality, thus allowing one to calm their state of mind, while death qi was second only to destruction qi in corroding ones opponents, be it their minds or vitality directly.

Thus, it would be a perfect match for Qin Cheng as she entered the Holy Music Pavilion. Coupled with the excuse of having met an incredibly powerful senior, it would be quite an easy excuse to say it was a gift from him. With this Sky ranked artifact being used as a gift to someone like Hai Yun would certainly make even the Hai clan main branch wary and not willing to offend him needlessly.

In the Southern Graveyard of Central Island, there were supposedly many death qi based demonic beasts. Naturally, due to their special ability of corrosion on other’s vitality, it was one of the most feared places on the island. Yet how could this be a prohibitive factor for someone with the soul of a divine ranked alchemist?

Although he had not yet awakened and so could not use his full plethora of skills, he still had ‘Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master’ who could extend his soul out of his body for him. This way, he was able to make full use of a soul sense and avoid any demonic beasts. His primary goal was to collect the death attribute treasure which created this bramble graveyard.

As he trekked through, in between brambles and walking through the trees which had many gaping holes, not even the gloomy whistling of bats could faze him. What exactly created this place? He wondered. Oh well, I guess I will find out in due time…

“Hey brat, you better be careful, there should be something up powerful up ahead. My soul sense is unable to penetrate it so I can’t figure out what it is.” ‘Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master’ stated.

“Aren’t you supposed to be ‘Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master’, why are you being stumped by something in this backward place?” Hai Yun mocked.

“Just be careful idiot,” ‘Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master’ muttered.

As Hai Yun stepped out from under another tree to see exactly what was strong enough to prevent ‘Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master’s soul sense from seeing through it, he was greeted by the site of a large pyramid. However, each step was nearly 3 meters high and as white as bones. No, it was made of bones!

“What the…” ‘Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master’ cried out in alarm. “Did this entire place develop from death qi leaking out of a sealed gate!”

“Sealed gate?” Hai Yun asked, confused.

“Brat, you might not know this, but when someone breaks past the spirit sovereign realm, they become capable of creating their own worlds. This is a gate to one of those worlds!”

“Break past the spirit sovereign realm!” Hai Yun was alarmed. The first realm of cultivation which one reached when awakening would be the Nascent Spirit realm, after which came the Spirit Profound, Spirit Aura, Spirit Blood and others with Spirit Sovereigns being the highest realm on the continent! The strongest cultivator Hai Yun had ever made contact with in his previous life was also only at the 6th realm of the Spirit Sovereign realm after training for nearly 7,000 years!

It was only in this life he had met someone beyond that level of strength. ‘Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master’, and that too he was only a soul lingering to a blank scroll. Now he was seeing a relic of another such expert. He was baffled, just where did these supreme experts disappear to? Why were there none of them on the continent today?

“Should I approach it?” Hai Yun asked.

“Approach it my ass! If you so much as reach the second step before awakening I will call you my grandfather!” ‘Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master’ retorted.

“So it isn’t dangerous?” The moment ‘Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master’ stated that he would not even reach the second step, what immediately came to mind was the gravity rooms he was familiar. They could increase the pressure on one’s body to help someone refine their qi into better quality. Hai Yun had always been looking for one in this life, but thought they did not exist in this remote territory.

“What isn’t dangerous? If you think that you can step up on that first floor and clear all the gates then sure, it isn’t dangerous.”

“Gates on the first floor?”

“You heard right, on the first floor there are multiple teleportation arrays, you step on one, and it teleports you away, if you can clear the trial on that array, then you need to break past the pressure system and step on the next floor. Rinse and repeat!” ‘Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master’ stated.

“Trials? Is there any one I can do?” Hai Yun was fully convinced that such a supreme being would not just set up physical strength trials. There must one trial he could pass, and so long as he could get some form of death qi treasure, his goal would be accomplished. And clearly all the treasures this place had, would be inside this pyramid.

‘Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master’ thought for a bit while walking out in his spirit body to carefully observe the arrays. “Well, there is one trial,” he stated hesitantly, “which does not need any physical strength.”

“What’s the trial about?” Hai Yun asked curiously.

“It is called the Isle of Wailing Souls. If you walk in there, your soul will be bombarded by the collected souls of many criminals. Multiple souls will strike out against yours and it might be a bit difficult to maintain your sanity.”

“So I just need a strong soul right? Why should I have any trouble with that?” Hai Yun questioned.

“Because you want revenge! All of these souls of criminals, are not just ordinary criminals, but people who committed atrocities, with no regrets believing they were doing the right thing…” ‘Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master’s voice was solemn as he continued, “There are many types of people in this world. To some, their belief in a certain ideal can dement their behaviors without them ever realizing it. Such people will often die without regrets. Many of them are driven by revenge. That feeling of vengeance lingers for a long time, if you get bombarded with their souls, your drive for vengeance might explode past the bearing point of your soul!”

“My soul has a limit on how much revenge it can want?” Hai Yun was incomparably shocked with this fact.

“Indeed, if you step into that trial, your drive for vengeance will undoubtedly increase. If your drive for vengeance reaches past your limit, then you will lose your sanity,” At this time ‘Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master’s eyes turned cold, “However, if you don’t step in there, I will ensure the death of all your loved ones”.

For a moment, Hai Yun was alarmed by this sudden change. However he quickly understood, “By killing them, you would increase my drive for vengeance and power. If I am not wrong, the technique you had spoken of, which you want me to train in after I awaken, requires a massive amount of vengeance and deep seated hatred to brand my soul through and through” Hai Yun quickly deduced the truth of the matter.

“Hey, you’re not as stupid as I thought!” ‘Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master’ smirked.

“Good to know your thoughts are wrong,” Hai Yun began making his way towards the first step. As he put his hands up and jumped, easily reaching on to the step of bones as he hauled himself onto the first step. In front of him were 3 large diagrams with many intricate blood colored lines.

“It’s the one of the right”

“OK!” Hai Yun smiled as a tinge of excitement mixed with anticipation flickered in his eyes.

Without any hesitation, Hai Yun firmly stepped onto the blood red diagram drawn on the floor.

For a moment, his line of sight became completely white. There was no blowing winds, instead, everything felt as if it was still. The next moment he was greeted by a brilliant blue sky and golden sun. His feet had somehow lost their boots and socks and were currently bare on a grassy hill. All around him were small yellow flowers as far as he could see. They gave the impression of many little suns growing from the wild grass.

Under no circumstance, could this place be considered deathly, gloomy or hateful. Instead, it seemed incredibly beautiful.

“Hey, where exactly are the souls of the criminals?” Hai Yun asked.

“Why don’t you bend down and pluck one of those flowers.” ‘Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master’ replied.

Have the flowers somehow sealed the souls within them? Hai Yun wondered. However, he still bent down and did as he was told.

The moment his fingers made contact with one of the flowers, he suddenly felt an outbreak of pure hatred and malice. For a moment, the entire world seemed to lose its shine and turn into various shades of blood red. The flower his fingers were contacting had suddenly grown gleaming white teeth as it drained vitality from his body.

“Ah!” Hai Yun cried out and pulled his finger back, but it was too late, the flower refused to let go. He was instantly filled panic and jerked harder, but no matter what he tried more of his vitality was being drained.

In a bout of frustration he slammed his other hand on the ground to aid in pulling his finger off, only to touch yet another flower. Another wave of hatred and malice rushed at him, slowly corroding his skin.

He screamed out in agony, as the very depths of his soul was slowly being uncovered. His knee hit the ground and yet another flower latched onto him. His skin began to shrivel a weird red glint flashed through his eyes as corruption and wickedness kept flashing through his consciousness.

Slowly, his bright green soul began to detach itself from his body as it was drawn into the endless whirlpool of hatred.

Off to the side, ‘Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master’ watched the entire scene and sighed. It seemed like he would have to get rid after all. However just as he was about to make his move, Hai Yun’s soul changed color.

From its previous green, it changed into the color of the suns golden flames, with an odd glowing blue liquid running through it. ‘Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master’s eyes filled with incomparable shock. “This… This… This… Isn’t this, the soul of Ocean Flame!”

Before he could react, the flowers which had been overwhelming Hai Yun’s soul with their incomparable amount of hatred shivered in fright. They immediately pulled back and voluntarily let go, attempting to flee from the presence of Hai Yun’s soul.

“Hehe, you think that whenever you want you can attack my soul, raid it and even attempt to devour it and when you’re finished I will just let go? Just like that?” Hai Yun chuckled, however this was no longer the gentle way he had chuckled towards Qin Cheng, but rather a laugh containing his endless sea of rage!

Golden tendrils stretched out from his soul, mixed with the blue colored haze like tiny rivers extending from the center of the earth. Each one shot through the pitiful golden flowers, leaving only a tinge of red soul fragments in the vast multitude of gold and blue.

Even ‘Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master’ who had been completely unfazed by the jade molding potion and Hai Yun’s bragging about being a divine ranked alchemist was alarmed for the second time in the past hundred thousand years, and both times because of the same person, Hai Yun.

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Deep inside the bone pyramid the spirit of a black cloaked figure was seated with its legs crossed. Upon closer inspection the masked face seemed to be of a woman in her early twenties. AS a slight tremor passed through to this chamber her eyes jerked open to reveal pitch black pupils and a corrosive aura of death instantly enveloped her.

As she examined the tremor which had just passed through her eyes narrowed. “Antiquity God general Assassin?” she whispered.

As she searched for the direction of the tremor her vision locked onto the teleportation array to the Isle of Wailing Souls. In a flash, e body moved and entered.

However the sight which greeted her was nothing like what she had expected. “Ocean… Ocean Flame” she mumbled as her eyes widened in shock.

“So you finally arrived to, eh Si Wang?”

The woman swiveled her head to face the other spirit in the vicinity.

“Assassin?” she asked.

“Indeed that’s me,” ‘Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master’ sighed. His real name was Xue Yue (血月), or blood moon. For in the era of ancient antiquity, he had filled the dark night sky with bloody light. As he remembered that scene a tinge of sadness and regret was revealed in his eyes, “However, when that brat wakes up you should call me medicine”

“Medicine?” Si Wang was confused. “Why should I call you that?”

“Because that boy does not need to know who I really am yet. I told him I was the medicine god, so don’t screw up my disguise.”

Si Wang pondered for a bit, “Should that matter? Isn’t that boy Ocean Flame? He could probably already guess it was you.”

“No, originally I too thought he might be ocean flame, but the regular color of his soul is green like a mortal. However his soul has the aura of the ocean in it, that’s why I brought him here, to absorb all this malice and vengeance so he could awaken with a dual god physique. I never expected he already had a dual gods physique embedded into his soul. And that to one of the Heaven Defying Antiquity class gods.”

“So your original plan was to make him awaken with the ocean of death physique, that way he could inherit your legacy,” Si Wang continued. “But I thought Ocean Flame should be the only one with a burning sea soul”.

“Indeed, Ocean Flame was the only one with a burning sea soul, however Ocean Flame was not born with that type of soul. Rather he attained it from somewhere. In fact, I think this boy might be an original carrier of that soul type” ‘Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master’s look deepened.

Si Wang shuddered. She was incomparable clear on what kind of strength the heaven Defying Antiquity God race represented. Even at her peak, she would not have even dared to look at their feet. Even the Antiquity God Generals, like Xue Yue the assassin, would only be as strong as their weakest.

One could call them the overlords of the realm of the gods. To think there was one of their descendants in this remote place.

“Si Wang, I need you to increase the number of vengeful spirits in this place. I want him to absorb all of their hatred while the Ocean Flame soul is active.”

“Very well,” Si Wang replied.