Zhan Yue

4pm.

Following a golden light's descent from above, I leveled up to twenty-six!

Although the experience I got decreased, as the level gap lessened, the level suppression effect became negligible. I did not need to run anymore and just fought them head on. My speed increased by half and thus the leveling speed became even quicker.

At the same time I was wary. I could not only think about buying equipment in the Precious Treasure Pavilion; I also had to buy some potions. If I had bought some this time, I could have fought the mobs head on. Maybe I would have already collected 1000 souls.

……

Night, close to 5:30.

My experience reached 99% of level 26 and I was nearly at level 27. Just nice. I collected 1000 souls. If I killed anymore, I would exceed that count. The weird thing was that, even after I killed 1000 monsters, not one piece of equipment dropped. There was not even a white one; did that mean that monsters here would not drop items? That might be possible.

I looked at those broken swords and an ancient chariot which was destroyed and frowned. I balanced the pros and cons and decided to stop killing. I promised Lin Fengnian that I would only kill 1000, so since it was a promise, I had to follow it. Thus, I turned around and left. I smiled at Zhang Xiaoshan and bowed. "Senior uncle, I'm leaving."

"Go on, kid."

He waved and closed his eyes once more. His body gave off a really mysterious aura.

I returned to the Heaven and Earth Pavilion.

"Not bad!"

Lin Fengnian, who was still sitting at the center of the formation, opened his eyes and smiled. "Kid, you're really different, able to resist urge and temptation. You've passed my test. Go to the Wind Cloud Platform; your master will be teaching you how to open your meridians and form your soul."

"Passed... the test?" I was stunned.

"Yes." He smiled. "Before you left, I told you to collect 1000 souls only, no more no less. In the past those Black Castle geniuses were all greedy and would bring me more, some even reaching 2000, but you're different. You stuck to your promise and knew when to stop. Ding Heng picked right. Go. Go back and start your journey!"

I felt grateful and bowed. "Thank you, senior master! I'll take my leave now."

"Go."

……

I returned to the Wind Cloud Platform.

When I took out the thousand-year Soul Refining Flower, Pure Soul Suppressing Stone and the black gourd with 1000 souls, Master Ding Heng appeared in the sky and smiled. "Follow me. It's time to refine your soul; don't get distracted."

"Okay!"

I said to the outside world, "Ah Fei, don't call me; I am about to do a quest and mustn't be disturbed."

"Okay, I'll just order takeout and bring it over after it arrives."

“Okay.”

A cave manor appeared and in it was a lotus pond. All sorts of plants grew within and they were all filled with life. A stone bridge led to the center of the pond and at the end it was an elegant pavilion.

"Go."Ding Heng pointed. "Go there and refine the soul that belongs to you."

"Okay."

I was a little excited and walked into the pavilion and sat cross-legged. I sucked in a deep breath and what I breathed in was extremely clear air. My body relaxed completely. At that moment, the right side of the interface had the golden icon: ‘Start to cultivate soul’. After confirming, the thousand-year Soul Refining Flower and the Pure Ocean Suppressing Stone jumped out from my back. As for my soul, it was as if it had suddenly been pulled away.

I watched as things around me shrank and then I was instantly sucked away!

Shua!

In the next moment, my body became a little translucent and I appeared in mid-air. A sky with clouds above and a white ocean with its waves thrashing about below me.

"Where's this place?" I was shocked.

"You inner world."

Ding Heng's voice spread into my ears. "You have entered the inner cultivation state. Open the gourd and release the souls. The energy from the souls will be used by you. Refine all these mindless souls and use them as nutrients to nourish your soul!"

I was stunned and did not expect souls to be used like that. Thus, I asked, "Master, these souls have consciousness, so aren't I just swallowing them?"

"For you to think this way makes me, your master, really happy," he said seriously, "but there are so many daos. These souls have been turned into nothingness now, and even if you don't refine them they'll eventually disperse. If you do, they’ll become part of your daos and complete your dao heart, becoming one with you. If you ever fall one day, they'll fall with you and feed back to the world."

A black line appeared on my head. "Although I feel that the master is trying to force an argument, the master is always right."

"Brat, quickly cultivate; stop talking nonsense!"

After Ding Heng was dissed by me, he opened his eyes wide and even cursed.

……

Thus, I took out the black gourd by my waist and pulled out the stopper. The moment it fell off, many blue souls flew out and wrapped around me. In an instant, it felt as if my soul was filled up. Like a person who had eaten ten hamburgers at once, I was about to explode!

"What're you waiting for? Refine them!" instructed Ding Heng.

"Okay!"

I gritted my teeth and spread my arms. I did not need to control my power and all of this was already done automatically. Energy flowed in my body and gathered at my palm, turning into a white mist which swallowed and refined the souls. Instantly, along with the souls being refined, I felt that my soul was becoming clearer; I had never felt better in my life!

This game was too real!

Right when I was refining the souls, the thousand-year Soul Refining Flower above my head started breaking apart, turning into energy which surged into my soul. At the same time, along with crashing sounds, a thousand-meter tall wave headed my way.

"D*mn, this is..."

I was stunned. I was just a player, not a real cultivator; what was all this? Were the heavens trying to wipe me out or was this the Heaven Tribulation? That was not right. Novels said that tribulations were lightning! Was I perhaps some top genius?

"Stop standing there!"Ding Heng's voice spread into my ears again. "Your soul power is getting stronger, and that’s your energy ocean reacting. Use the Ocean Suppressing Stone to suppress it. The thousand-year Soul Refining Flower is to help you refine those souls. The Pure Ocean Suppressing Stone is to suppress the energy ocean. By using both, wouldn't you automatically succeed?"

"I understand, master!"

I reached out with my left hand for the Pure Ocean Suppressing Stone and tossed it down. The thousand-meter wave dissipated right away and none of it touched my body. The stone no longer looked like an ordinary stone; instead, it had the appearance of a god stone.

The whole process lasted close to an hour, and as the thousand souls were close to full refinement, I felt my mind becoming filled to the brim; my head had never been so clear in my entire life. It was as if my brain was being remade, as if I had a new body.

"Finally, success!"

Ding Heng's voice entered my ears.

When I changed the camera angle and looked down at myself, I was shocked. I was like a real Shura; I became really handsome and the pair of red horns on my head gave out an evil glow. My eyes gave off a blood-red color and I had short hair. A black energy current swirled around me and I looked like a demon that had descended.

"As expected," said Ding Heng, "the power of Shura Bloodline... Lady Yun Yue was right."

I frowned. Right when I was about to speak, my head started hurting. Very quickly, it felt as if my soul was being sliced apart. In the next second, I was about to be split into two!

Pa!

Like an apple being forced into two halves, in my inner world, two versions of me appeared.

One was the Shura body which was filled with killing intent, and another was an ordinary human boy. Compared to the Shura, the other body was too normal. Although it was handsome, its aura was entirely suppressed. 

I was stunned and pointed at the guy who looked exactly like me. "This is my soul?"

"If not, should it be mine?"Ding Heng was annoyed. "Okay, since you're done here, I'll send you out. You can go understand this yourself."

"Yes, master."

In the next second, I left the inner world and my soul returned to my body. I was then sent out of the cave and appeared on the Wind Cloud Platform. The current me seemed more handsome. The two horns of the Shura Bloodline gave off a really strong aura and my face was handsome and cold. The Shura mark on my forehead also gave off a cold light as a black current swirled around me, making me look like a true demon.

But wait...

I noticed that one of my horns was broken. I only had half of one on my left and this half was cracked as if someone had broken it off forcefully. Although I looked like a strong demon, when I looked carefully at that corner, it was as if I was a demon who had been thrashed by someone.

At that moment, two bells rang in my ears which made me feel pumped up—

Ding!

[System notification: Congratulations for awakening the Shura Bloodline!Obtained rewards: Comprehension +3, Charm +10, Initial Attack +100, Initial Defense +80, Initial Agility +100, Initial Magic power +80, Soul Star awakened +10!]

Ding!

[System notification: Congratulations for completing main quest mission (S)!Obtained rewards: Experience +2400000, Charm +1, Contribution points +5000, Gold +50. Bonus reward: Cold Wind Leggings (Rare).]

……