Li Lin did not show any concern as it seemed that the Lan Ling's fiery demon eagle was her life-bound demon beast. No wonder it required feeding with essence blood every time it was summoned. It was probably recently cultivated as her life-bound demon beast; otherwise, she would have been able to summon it at will.
In the Heavenly Spirit Record, the beast control technique involved placing a blood soul mark in the demon beast's mind and soul. With this blood soul mark, the demon beast would obey unconditionally. Otherwise, a single thought could cause the blood soul mark to explode, killing the demon beast by bursting its head.
A demon beast controlled by the beast control technique could continue to cultivate without any impact on itself. However, this technique was extremely demanding on the soul's strength, and generally, a spiritual practitioner could only place a blood soul mark in the mind of a demon beast of the same level.
For example, a spiritual practitioner with the cultivation of the third level of spiritual mastery could only place a blood soul mark in the mind of a second-stage early-phase demon beast. If the practitioner was weaker than the demon beast, it was impossible to place the blood soul mark. Even with a demon beast of the same level, it was extremely difficult. Therefore, this required stringent demands on the soul's strength. A single mistake could lead to the practitioner's failure, with severe loss of cultivation or even death.
To use the beast control technique, one must first cultivate the blood soul mark. The cultivation of the blood soul mark was also extremely difficult.
Li Lin gasped in shock as he read about the method of cultivating the blood soul mark. It required one's essence blood, mixed with various herbs, refined into a pill, and then consumed to refine and transform it. Finally, with the aid of soul power, it was condensed into a mark. The power of the blood soul mark depended on the strength of the soul power. By using the soul power to form the mark and implanting it into the demon beast's mind, one could control the beast.
However, the process of extracting essence blood was terrifying. The essence blood had to be from one's own bone marrow, which was the purest. The Heavenly Spirit Record described a method to extract essence blood. The easiest way was to condense spiritual fire within the body to burn and force the essence blood out of the bones. However, this pain was unbearable, making one wish for life or death, and few could endure it.
"Damn, this is too twisted," Li Lin gasped. Cultivating the blood soul mark was like risking one's life. Just thinking about it was frightening.
Li Lin then looked up into the distance and continued to study the section on puppetry in the Heavenly Spirit Record. There were many methods to refine puppets, and although few people in various forces and sects could refine puppets, some ruthless individuals directly used people to create puppets.
In puppetry, the mainstream materials used for crafting puppets are high-quality refining materials, as these materials ensure the puppet's defense. The strength of the puppet also depends on the skill of the creator and the quality of the materials.
The materials for making puppets are valuable, with a puppet capable of contending with a first-level martial artist often costing tens of thousands of gold coins. If one were to craft a puppet capable of contending with a first-level soul martial artist, the price would be at least several hundred thousand gold coins.
Puppets are absolutely loyal and will never betray their owner. Many people like to buy puppets to follow them, but these puppets are often hard to come by. Spiritual practitioners are rare, and those who can craft puppets are even rarer. Buying a puppet is not an easy task.
Some puppets are crafted using unconventional methods. Some are made from stone to create stone puppets, while others use the complete skeletons of demon beasts or spiritual beasts to create beast puppets. There are also those, as mentioned earlier, made directly from living people, resulting in zombie puppets.
"One day, I should try to see if I can craft a puppet," Li Lin muttered to himself. Now that he had some wealth, purchasing materials for making puppets should not be a problem.
Finally, looking at the part about formations in the Heavenly Spirit Record, formations possess incredibly magical powers. Sometimes a single formation can withstand the attacks of countless strong individuals.
Formations are generally divided into attack formations, defense formations, and illusionary formations, each with its unique uses. However, people who understand how to set up formations are extremely rare in this world.
Formations undoubtedly involve gathering and channeling the power of heaven and earth. To set up a formation, one must first study various knowledge of heaven and earth. This knowledge is vast and boundless, not something that can be thoroughly understood in a day or two.
"The Heavenly Spirit Record is too powerful," Li Lin sighed as he put away the record. He then remembered the space bag from the third leader of the Wild Wolf Mercenary Group in his possession. He took it out, performed a blood recognition ritual, and began to inspect its contents.
"It's average," Li Lin remarked after checking the items in the space bag. Inside, there were about a dozen second-grade pills and a third-grade healing pill. There was also a jade crystal card with tens of thousands of gold coins, along with a bunch of spiritual herbs. Most were materials for refining first and second-grade pills, and a few for third-grade pills. The total value was also tens of thousands of gold coins. Keeping them would be useful for him in the future, as he would no longer need to search everywhere for materials to refine pills.
After putting away the space bag, Li Lin couldn't help but take out two brocade boxes, which he had obtained in the cave, containing soul spirit liquid and spiritual pills.
Upon opening the brocade box containing the spiritual pills, a surge of violent energy immediately spread out. The rampant spiritual energy filled the air, causing Li Lin's heart to thump wildly, and his mind's spiritual power began to whirl uncontrollably.
Li Lin quickly closed the brocade box. The energy of the spiritual pill was too violent for him to absorb at his current level. With his current cultivation strength, if he were to consume this spiritual pill, he feared that the violent energy would instantly turn him into an idiot, followed by a bloodline rupture leading to death. Uncle Jiang had already warned that without sufficient strength, one could not absorb such immense energy.
"I must find a way to enhance my spiritual power," Li Lin thought to himself. He was already at the seventh level of martial warrior, but his spiritual power was still at the peak of the second level of spiritual warrior. Even with the spiritual jade bed, he had not broken through to the third level. The gap was too wide. If his martial level reached the ninth level, but his spiritual level did not keep up, he might not be able to break through, possibly leading to a burst of meridians and death.
"What exactly is this Soul Spirit Divine Liquid?" Li Lin opened the brocade box containing the Soul Spirit Divine Liquid. The rich aroma from the small jade bottle inside was indescribably comforting, instantly clearing his mind.
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"As expected of a treasure from the Myriad Beasts Sect, just smelling it has such benefits," Li Lin thought to himself. The aroma from the jade bottle seemed to significantly speed up the flow of spiritual power in his mind, hinting at its substantial effect on his spiritual power.
"Could it be helpful for spiritual power?" Li Lin pondered. The beast control technique of the Myriad Beasts Sect also required strong soul power. Perhaps this Soul Spirit Divine Liquid was used to enhance soul power.
Looking at the Soul Spirit Divine Liquid in his hand, Li Lin felt more convinced that his guess was correct, and the aura emanating from it seemed indeed helpful for his spiritual power.
"Consume it," Li Lin hesitated, but eventually decided he needed to make a breakthrough in his spiritual power as soon as possible.
Opening the jade bottle, an intensely rich and mystical aroma spread out. This aroma was very dense but gentle, without any violence. The rich scent vaguely stirred one's appetite, making it hard to resist consuming it.
"This is a treasure, its energy must be immense. For safety, I'll only consume one-tenth of it," Li Lin whispered. The jade bottle was only eight centimeters tall, about the size of a teacup, and didn't contain much. One-tenth would be just a small sip.
Without much hesitation, Li Lin poured the 'Soul Spirit Divine Liquid' into his mouth, taking a light sip, roughly estimating one-tenth of the quantity, and then immediately closed the jade bottle.
This small sip of the Soul Spirit Divine Liquid felt cool and refreshing in his mouth, like a mint candy, leaving a fresh and invigorating taste.
Just as Li Lin swallowed the Soul Spirit Divine Liquid, it transformed into a ferociously hot stream that spread violently within him, resembling an untamable wild beast rampaging throughout his body. This terrifying force did not surge into his meridians but instead directly targeted the space in his mind where his spiritual power resided, causing intense pain in that area.
The seemingly gentle Soul Spirit Divine Liquid now unleashed energy so fearsome that it could only be described as terrifying. The hot streams transformed from the liquid roared like countless wild beasts within Li Lin's mind, crashing wildly. His mind could hardly withstand this formidable onslaught, and he was repeatedly assaulted by intense pain.
Li Lin couldn't help but scream in agony. This violent and powerful force was directly affecting the spiritual energy space in his mind.
Li Lin hadn't anticipated that even one-tenth of the Soul Spirit Divine Liquid's energy would be so overwhelming, seemingly capable of instantly destroying the space within his mind.
Unknown to Li Lin, the Soul Spirit Divine Liquid was one of the Myriad Beasts Sect's top treasures. As he had guessed, it was indeed used to enhance soul power. The disciples of the Myriad Beasts Sect, who practiced the beast control technique, placed great importance on soul power. Even the warriors of the Myriad Beasts Sect had slightly stronger soul power than average warriors.
The Soul Spirit Divine Liquid was produced in a special location within the Myriad Beasts Sect and was extremely rare, only a small bottle every hundred years. In the sect, only the designated successors among the direct disciples received a bottle. When refining it, one had to be extremely cautious and use it alongside milder medicinal pills, consuming only one-twentieth at a time for gradual refinement.
However, Li Lin had consumed one-tenth, thinking it a small amount, but under the gentle guise of the Soul Spirit Divine Liquid lay a terrifyingly immense energy.
"The energy is too great; I must refine it immediately!" The enormous energy continued to surge and expand, threatening to burst the spiritual energy space. If this space exploded, the terrifying energy would directly invade and destroy his soul, leaving him dead or reduced to an idiot.
Knowing the dreadful consequences, Li Lin clenched his teeth and fiercely guarded his mind. He couldn't die in such a pathetic way, by his own hand, effectively committing suicide. He had yet to become strong, had to take care of his mother, and had not even lost his virginity. He couldn't just die like this.
With his resolute willpower, Li Lin struggled against the pain, forming hand signs and sitting cross-legged on the spiritual jade bed. He began to rapidly refine this enormous and terrifying energy using the Yin-Yang Spiritual Martial Technique.
Amid the agonizing pain caused by the overwhelming energy in his mind, Li Lin found it extremely challenging to refine this terrifying energy. The pain was unbearable, turning his complexion deathly pale.
"Damn it, I refuse to believe I can't refine this," Li Lin shouted inwardly, fiercely resisting the severe pain in his mind and beginning the refining process again.
At this moment, on the spiritual jade bed, a dazzling light appeared as a cool energy surged from Li Lin's feet into his body and then rushed into the spiritual energy space in his mind. With the arrival of this cool energy, the violent energy within the spiritual space was neutralized. The previously fierce energy calmed down and, aided by the cool energy, quickly became gentler.
"Refine it," Li Lin thought. Aware of the changes in the spiritual jade bed, he was surprised but had no time to pay attention to these changes. He immediately activated the Yin-Yang Spiritual Martial Technique to refine the violent energy from the Soul Spirit Divine Liquid. A white, transparent light circle began to surround his body.
The light on the spiritual jade bed gradually faded and returned to its original state.
After a short while, Li Lin entered a state of cultivation, slowly refining the violent energy in the spiritual energy space. This energy was refined quickly, transforming into his own pure spiritual power with minimal refinement.
As time passed, the spiritual energy space in Li Lin's mind was half occupied by his own spiritual power and half by the energy from the Soul Spirit Divine Liquid. As the refining process continued, tiny portions of the refined energy from the Divine Liquid were transforming into spiritual power and joining the side where his spiritual power resided.
With the ongoing refinement of this energy, Li Lin felt a noticeable improvement. An invisible aura from the Soul Spirit Divine Liquid permeated through the spiritual energy space, reaching deep into his mind and nourishing his still unformed soul. His entire body felt indescribably comfortable, like a fetus in a mother's womb, constantly receiving nutrients through the umbilical cord.
The energy of the Soul Spirit Divine Liquid was overwhelming, leaving Li Lin stunned by its immensity.
Meanwhile, on the spiritual jade bed, another stream of energy converged with the energy from the Divine Liquid, being refined by Li Lin and making his spiritual power even purer.
Shortly after, Li Lin felt the spiritual energy space in his mind expand and fill up, followed by a muffled sound as a tremendous energy spread out.
A brilliant light emanated from Li Lin's body as his aura surged. The spiritual energy space in his mind rapidly expanded several times in size.
A massive force surged towards the depths of his mind, significantly enhancing his soul power at that moment. The previously ethereal soul power seemed to become more substantial.
Soul power has always been an ethereal and intangible entity, formless and invisible. However, in the cultivation of martial artists and spiritual practitioners, at a certain stage, it can be condensed into a tangible form. To a certain extent, the soul can even leave the body. The revered Saint Hand Spiritual Master once reached such a terrifying level of strength that he could leave a remnant of his soul lasting for thousands of years.
"Finally, a breakthrough from the second level to the third level of spiritual master," Li Lin thought to himself. His long-stagnant spiritual cultivation level had finally made a breakthrough. At this point, he had only refined less than one-tenth of the energy from the Soul Spirit Divine Liquid.
"Continue refining," Li Lin thought, and resumed the refinement of the energy from the Soul Spirit Divine Liquid.
The dawn light shone on the mountains, awakening everything from sleep. Under the sunlight, dewdrops fell from the dense leaves in the forest, and mist rose, making the air, after a night of purification, fresh and pleasant.
Li Lin exhaled a breath of turbid air in the cave and then stopped cultivating. The faint light surrounding his body instantly retracted, and his eyes, deep and clear, opened.
"Peak of the third level of spiritual master, I might break through to the fourth level tonight," Li Lin thought, feeling the overflowing spiritual power within him. His true qi had also been greatly amplified indirectly by the Soul Spirit Divine Liquid.
Feeling his soul now, Li Lin was surprised. The previously ethereal soul could now be clearly sensed. The effect of the Soul Spirit Divine Liquid on the soul was undoubtedly immense.
"The Soul Spirit Divine Liquid, truly a treasure of the Myriad Beasts Sect," Li Lin marveled. Not joining the Yunyang Sect turned out to be a blessing for him. In the Misty Mountain Range, he had gained much, including an unexpected master and the coveted Heavenly Spirit Record, something countless people wouldn’t even dare to dream of. Now, he had also obtained the treasure of the Myriad Beasts Sect, the Soul Spirit Divine Liquid, an opportunity he would not have had in the Yunyang Sect.
"Qin Tianhao, when I return, let's see who is stronger."