The six changes he experienced made him more powerful as he stepped into the Fusion Realm. He clearly felt that his soul was fully merged with his body.

"So the body tempering realm prepares our body to be strong enough to properly host our soul. If the body is not properly strengthened, one will surely die if the soul is forcefully fused with the body." Ming Li's eyes gleamed with understanding as he slowly checked his own body.

He felt that the insane desire to consume souls was also gone. He sighed in relief and a bizarre glow can be seen on his eyes.

He walked towards Gui Zhong, then extended his arms.

"I will tell you everything I know so please spare me." Gui Zhong pleaded.

Ming Li looked at him deeply and replied "Do you know where the demon spider is located?"

Gui Zhong trembled as he shook his head. "I do not know of it's exact location, however, with my connection. I can help you look for it."

Ming Li then continued to reach towards Gui Zhong's neck while saying "I have better connections."

Ming Li squeezed Gui Zhong's neck and with a calm expression pulled out his soul.

"Souls.."

"Now that I look at it closely, I can understand it clearly."

"When I was devouring the soul of everyone, I felt their pain, pain that could not be explained. One glance, and I can tell that they were suffering more, compared to the physical pain I inflicted upon their mortal body."

Ming Li kept staring at the soul of Gui Zhong. 

Hours passed, when a flash of clarity appeared in his eyes.

"Soul... Torment... Suffering... Art..."

Inside his Cube the wooden slip hummed nonstop then it shot out towards Ming Li's forehead.

Ming Li was still deep in thought, when suddenly the wooden slip entered his forehead and observed his thoughts.

In his thoughts, Ming Li saw the souls he devoured. He replayed the scene of them being devoured repeatedly.

He saw the terror of each soul and the suffering it went through. The misery of the souls left a great impression him.

Every time he looked at the souls, mixed emotions rise from within him. These emotions made his understand the souls more.

The more he understood; the brighter the glow of the wooden slip was.

"Souls.. So fragile yet strong. It is the essence of our life."

The wooden slip fell out of his forehead and the bright glow stopped.

Ming Li silently stared at Gui Zhang's soul and waved his hands and he said "Despair".

With that single word, the soul screeched in pain as it hovered in mid air as if trying to escape. However it could not get far away from Gui Zhang's body.

It squirmed nonstop like it was about to explode. Ming Li observe the soul's reaction towards his new skill and felt a bit satisfied.

After a few breath, the soul wailed as it slowly turned into motes of light and vanished into thin air.

"Torment can cause severe bodily pain, but my second skill can cause despair to the soul and inflict pain directly into it."

He picked up his wooden slip and looked at it deeply as he said "This thing is really mysterious.". Then kept it in his cube.

Ming Li threw away Gui Zhong's body towards the pile of corpse he defeated earlier, collected their cubes, and burnt the bodies to ash. Then proceeded to a far away cave to meditate and adjust to his new realm.

After a few days, Ming Li went out of the cave and swallowed a pill which lowered his strength to the third level of body tempering realm.

He then decided to kill some more time before coming back to the guild.

So he walked away from the guild and explored the mountains around it.

Monsters tried to kill him along the way, but they were not a match for Ming Li. So he slaughtered his way towards a small hill far away from the guild.

The reason why he decided to go to that specific hill was because of the weird energy he felt from it. He didn't feel any danger from the energy, so he thought that it might be some good fortune.

At the top of the hill, there stood a small cave full of vines. The cave emanated a slowly fading energy, which felt that it could not last for a year.

Ming Li's face flickered when he felt this. When he was a bit far away from the cave, he thought that the energy was from an item. However, now that he saw the cave with his own eyes. He was certain that it is from a seeker!

Ming Li quickly saluted in front of the cave, then sat crossed legged.

"Senior, I apologize for bothering you, but it seems like you have encountered some sort of misfortune."

The person inside the cave remained silent, so Ming Li continued.

"I may not look like it, but I am an alchemist. I might know a way to help you."

Ming Li really don't like to stick his nose on other people's business. However, when he felt the energy of the man, he was sure that the man was at least 2 realms higher than him. Which means he has most likely reached Soul Ascension!

That realm is considered as the peak in their plane. Anyone who have stepped in that realm are bound to to be leaders or influential people! So Ming Li took the risk and decided to find a way to have someone on the peak of strength owe him a debt!

Suddenly, a strong force tried to push Ming Li away from the cave and a cold snort could be heard.

"Do you think someone on the body tempering realm could help someone like me!?" An old voice echoed out in the entire hill.

When Ming Li heard the voice, he trembled uncontrollably and thought that he might have made the wrong decision.

He immediately said "Exalted one, I do not have anything against you. I only wish to help people at need, since it was a legacy left by my master!"

When the person inside the cave heard what Ming Li said, the force instantly disappeared as his cold voice resounded "If that is what your master wants, then I respect him. I will let you live in his name. Never approach this hill even again or else I cannot assure your survival."

Ming Li's eyes flashed with resolve as he said "I can sense that you are dying. I do not know the exact reason, however I believe it has something to do with your life force being forcefully weakened by an unknown law, and maybe it has something to do with what you seek. So I think I am the only person who can help you right now."

The man became silent for a while and did not reply to Ming Li.

Ming Li sat in front of the cave for days waiting for the reply of the old man. While waiting, he kept staring at the sun trying to gain deeper understanding of it.

When the person in the cave noticed this, he said "Are you a member of the Golden Phoenix Order?"

Ming Li did not reply, but instead looked at the sun with deep concentration. The person in the cave observed him carefully. He did not bother asking Ming Li anymore, however he looked at Ming Li with complex expression.

Several days passed, and the voice resounded again. "You do not seem to be a member of the Golden Phoenix Order, however I can see that your understanding of the sun if far greater than the members of our order. If you wish to join the Golden Phoenix Order, use this emblem and go to the far east where the sun rises, and there you will find a volcano where the Golden Phoenix Order resides."

An emblem flew out from the cave and floated in front of Ming Li. He stared at the emblem and grabbed it, then kept it in his cube. He never thought that the old man was a member of the Golden Phoenix Order!

"Since I will be a member of your order, tell me about your condition." Ming Li said solemnly.

The man inside sighed and said "Alright I will tell you, since I will die, it would be best to leave a good lesson behind. I have lived for hundreds of years. On these hundreds of years I have fought and strived to achieve what I seek. However, in the past few years, my level suddenly stopped increasing. That was when I realized that I was wrong. My heart wavered and found something else to seek, I became confused and lost track of what I seek which caused my life to slowly fade and eventually made me end up in this state. That is why I tell you no one can save me."

Ming Li was astonished on what the man said. He learned something extremely important which could also cause him his life someday.

His eyes gleamed with bizarre light as his face broke out into a smile. He pulled out a pill and made it float in front of him.

"Senior, do you trust me? If you do, take this pill and consume it. It will allow you to be reborn anew. Also If you are lucky you will even get stronger."

The old man in the cave used his consciousness to inspect the pill in front of Ming Li, and his eyes went wide with shock when he felt the devouring effect of the pill. He have never seen a pill like this one, It felt extremely powerful and emanated a dangerous energy. However, he also felt that it can possibly do what Ming Li had claimed.

"Why would you give me such rare pill?" The old man asked solemnly.

"As I said, It is my master's legacy. However I am not my master and you have your pride, so you can pay me back later if you wish to."

The old man inside the cave laughed and stepped out of the cave. When he stepped out, the air surrounding the cave rippled. Even with his flickering life force, he was still strong enough to create changes in the surrounding and create unimaginable pressure towards everything around him, including Ming Li.