lcionline Chapter 367 Ascended Beings Are All Hard Currency
Chapter 367 Ascended Beings Are All Hard Currency
During this time, Ding Yi could faintly hear screams coming from above the cave entrance.
The sound was extremely pitiful, like the cry of a duck being strangled as it dies.
Ding Yi understood that these were the cries of those who had ascended to heaven like himself.
Beneath this Blackwood Cliff, countless ascended beings are imprisoned.
These ascendants came from different human and animal realms; some were nearly a thousand years old, while others were only a hundred.
Some of them were human, some were demon, and some were other strange and unusual races. But no matter what race they were, once they ascended, there was only one fate awaiting them: to become nourishment for the people of Xiaoyuan Palace to cultivate.
In fact, the cultivation methods within the entire Immortal Alliance are extremely simple and brutal.
The first method, naturally, is to improve one's cultivation by absorbing the power of faith from worshipping gods in the lower realms.
The second method involves raising cultivators who ascend from the lower realms and draining their souls to obtain soul power, thereby improving one's cultivation level.
These two approaches, one focusing on quantity and the other on quality, make the ascendants' spiritual power far superior to that of those who worship gods, due to their belief and potential to break free from the shackles of heaven and earth.
Therefore, ascendants are extremely precious beings in the entire Immortal Alliance, and are considered a form of hard currency.
The various divine palaces extract from the ascendants in almost the same way: they all use the ascendant's soul to refine something called Ascension Ointment, although the methods of refining it differ from one another.
This Ascension Ointment can be inhaled through the nose during cultivation. With the aid of special medicine, it can make one's cultivation progress by leaps and bounds. It is a rather domineering cultivation method.
However, the side effects of this "Flying Ascension Ointment" are also quite obvious.
Some cultivators cannot withstand the stimulation brought by the Ascension Ointment, and their bodies will have an overreaction, resulting in certain abnormalities.
These abnormalities often manifest on the skin or face. For example, some cultivators who ingest the Ascension Ointment for a long time will have pus flowing from their skin and a foul stench all over their bodies, while others will have strange sores on their faces, or even flesh growing into bones and teeth, which is extremely bizarre.
This is because while the Ascension Ointment absorbs the souls of those who ascend, it inevitably also absorbs their resentment and hatred.
Once this substance reaches a certain threshold, it can cause mutations in the user, hence the concept of drug resistance.
Talented cultivators, like Zhu Wanyin, have a strong resistance to the mutations in this Ascension Ointment. They even dare to try some potent medicines, which is why they have earned the reputation of being the number one genius in a thousand years.
Within the Immortal Alliance, only the Yin-Yang Palace practices the method of sexual cultivation. Regardless of gender, once someone enters the Yin-Yang Palace, there is only one fate: to become a plaything for sexual cultivation.
But no matter what, once you're an ascendant and enter the Immortal Alliance, you can forget about leaving alive.
But if someone asks, why is the Immortal Alliance like this, and still calls itself the Immortal Alliance, then what about the Demon Palace in the Upper Realm?
Ding Yi didn't know, nor did he get the answer from Jin Wuhuan's description, but compared to the ascendants of the Immortal Alliance who fell into the hands of the Demon Palace, their fate would probably be even more tragic.
At this moment, the old pharmacist in charge of refining the Ascension Ointment for the Little Yuan Palace was standing in the Heavenly Prison of Blackwood Cliff, looking at the cave entrances below, and slowly asked:
"Only three matured in this batch?"
The guard beside him quickly said:
"Reporting to Steward Huang, only three of these have reached the medicinal stage, one of which is a wolf demon, so it took a little longer to prepare."
Huang Xieyuan frowned upon hearing this, then glanced around briefly before suddenly asking:
"What about the new ones? How many new ones have arrived?"
The guard replied:
"There are two this month, one is a martial artist, and the other seems to be some kind of mechanical ascension."
Upon hearing this, Huang Xieyuan immediately cursed:
"What I hate most is this mechanical ascension thing. After all that effort, I can only get a little bit of ascension paste. What's the use of that?!"
"Alright, keep a close eye on them. If anything goes wrong, you know the consequences!"
After saying that, Huang Xieyuan snorted coldly, and then said:
"Send those three ripe ones to me; I need to develop a new drug!"
The guard smiled and said:
"Please rest assured, Deacon Huang, it will be delivered immediately, immediately!"
After Huang Xieyuan left, screams of agony echoed throughout the prison.
The ascendants from the three cave entrances were easily captured and carried out like livestock by the guards, before slowly walking out of the Heavenly Prison.
And so, another half month passed.
On this day, Ding Yi was still leaning against the stone wall, cultivating.
Suddenly, a whooshing sound came from above. Ding Yi opened his eyes abruptly and saw two figures suddenly land in front of him from above.
Both men were dressed in the uniforms of the Blackwood Cliff guards; one was holding a book, and the other was holding a bronze mirror.
After landing, the two remained silent, then pointed the bronze mirror directly at Ding Yi.
The next moment, a golden light shot out and instantly enveloped Ding Yi.
Faced with this sudden golden light, Ding Yi was not alarmed, for he knew that this was a magical artifact used by the Little Yuan Palace every month to test the degree of soul erosion of the imprisoned ascendants.
Sure enough, under the lamplight, the guard holding the bronze mirror slowly spoke:
"Progress is at level three, moderate."
The recorder quickly jotted down some notes in the book, and then the two of them, without saying a word, transformed into a beam of light and rushed out of the cave.
From beginning to end, they didn't say a single word to Ding Yi, nor did they show any change in expression. The whole process was like a mechanical inspection, as if they were treating domesticated livestock.
After the two left, a playful smile appeared in Ding Yi's eyes.
He was naturally aware of this test and had even prepared a potion to adjust the progress of his soul oblivion in advance.
This potion also costs three hundred years, which also caused Ding Yi's lifespan to be almost exhausted after he enhanced his life with this potion.
However, the effects of this potion were obvious. The bronze mirror did not detect the actual state of Ding Yi's soul at all, and even gave him a mediocre rating.
It should be noted that once the rating reaches the lower level, the people of the Little Yuan Palace will begin to use additional methods to gradually undermine the will of the ascendant.
Just like Jin Wuhuan, a woman alone broke the back of this peerless talent.
Looking at the dark cave entrance above, and making sure no one was looking in his direction, Ding Yi pressed his palm against his chest and quietly took out a stone.
This is the mother stone that Ding Yi brought up from the lower realm. All the evil energy passed on to the statues through worship will concentrate on this stone.
Half a month had passed, and Ding Yi didn't know how much malevolent energy had accumulated on the mother stone. He only felt that the stone had become darker and darker. Upon closer inspection, it seemed as if there were galaxies reversing within it, giving it a magnificent and mysterious feel.
A smile appeared on Ding Yi's lips. He then placed the mother stone in his palm and quietly began to circulate the Exorcism Technique.
The next moment, lines of notifications began to appear in his field of vision.
[You have refined a trace of Yin-Yang Fiend, your lifespan increased by 10 days.]
[You have refined a trace of Yin-Yang Fiend, your lifespan increased by 6 days.]
[You have refined a trace of the Peaceful Demon, your lifespan increased by 14 days.]
..
Ok?
Ding Yi clearly saw the words "Taiping Palace" in the prompt, which meant that the statues of the gods in Taiping Palace had been completed, and the worshippers there began to input evil energy into the evil plate every day.
"Life is getting better and better."
Ding Yi gripped the stone tightly and let out a low laugh.