Cultivation of immortality begins with an eighty-year-old eunuch.

Chapter 577 Soul Fusion Jade! Half-Step Nascent Soul Level Black Soul Banner!

Chen Fan didn't wake it up, and turned to walk towards the training area.

Looking around, the Enlightenment Stele still stands among the grass, its body a bluish-green, with the texture of the grass and trees flowing endlessly, and its ancient and vigorous Taoist charm is even stronger than before.

Chen Fan stopped in front of the monument, placed his hand on its surface, and the two lines of insight in his sea of ​​consciousness were still clearly visible.

He pondered that his repeated battles in the Valley of Ten Thousand Demons had deepened his understanding of the sword intent of cause and effect, and he had vaguely touched the threshold of a higher level, but he was always just one step away from it.

If he were to use these two opportunities for enlightenment on swordsmanship, they might help him break through this barrier.

But time is of the essence right now, and what he needs more is to refine the Soul Jade and upgrade the grade of the Black Soul Banner as soon as possible.

The matter of sword intent can only be put aside for now.

With his thoughts churning, Chen Fan withdrew his hand and returned to the quiet room, sitting cross-legged.

He took the translucent spirit jade box out of his storage bag, opened the lid, and the thumb-sized dark green soul jade lay quietly in his palm.

The moment the Soul Jade was in his hand, that cool, water-like soul power surged into his sea of ​​consciousness once again, invigorating his soul.

He placed the Black Soul Banner horizontally on his lap, formed hand seals, and slowly channeled his spiritual energy into the Soul Jade.

The faint light on the surface of the Soul Jade began to slowly rotate under the guidance of his spiritual power, and the speed increased, eventually transforming into a small dark green vortex.

From the center of the vortex, strands of extremely pure soul power surged forth, drifting towards the surface of the black soul banner like silk threads.

The Black Soul Banner trembled, and the millions of souls on its surface emitted a low whimper, a sound mixed with longing, awe, and excitement.

Chen Fan used his divine sense to guide the primal power within the Soul Jade, weaving it thread by thread into the core restrictions of the Black Soul Banner.

This is not a simple absorption and fusion, but an extremely delicate soul tempering.

The ancient soul power within the Soul Jade acted like an invisible carving knife, gradually peeling away, reshaping, and re-integrating the originally chaotic soul structure within the Black Soul Banner.

Those blurry soul faces became clearer and clearer during the tempering process, their facial features gradually became distinct, and one could even see what they looked like before they were born.

The arrangement of the millions of souls within the banner was no longer a chaotic mess, but rather a mysterious array was subtly forming!

Chen Fan had seen that formation before in the Soul Jade. It was a fragment of a soul array left by an ancient soul cultivator. Although it was incomplete, even if it was only a tenth or a twelfth of the original, it would still increase the power of the Black Soul Banner by more than one level.

There is no sun or moon in the bowl.

Chen Fan sat cross-legged in the quiet room, his hands always forming the same hand seal, and his spiritual power flowed continuously into the Soul Jade like a trickle.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, and his face gradually turned pale, but his eyes remained as steady as ever, without the slightest wavering.

The primordial power within the Soul Jade was far too vast and pure, making it quite difficult for him, with his late-stage Nascent Soul cultivation, to refine it.

But he was not in a hurry. He would rest for a while after refining each strand of spiritual energy, and then continue after the spiritual energy had recovered.

This process repeated itself, and three whole months passed in the bowl.

The moment the last trace of the Soul Jade's primal power merged into the Black Soul Banner, the entire banner trembled violently, and a chilling and powerful aura far surpassing anything before erupted.

The banner moved without wind, and the phantoms of souls that appeared on it had almost solidified into reality. Each soul face was clearly discernible, howling silently.

The patterns on the flagpole became deep and dark, with a faint flow of dark golden light.

The most astonishing thing is the arrangement of the millions of souls in the banner. They are intertwined in layers like a soul array, forming a faint vortex of soul power. With each rotation of the vortex, the spiritual pressure emitted becomes stronger.

Half-step into the Divine Realm.

The quality of the Black Soul Banner has surpassed the realm of the Great Perfection of the Nascent Soul stage and stepped into the threshold of the Half-Step God Transformation stage.

Although it is still some distance from being a true Nascent Soul level magic weapon, there are very few people within the Nascent Soul realm who can stop this banner.

Chen Fan retrieved the Black Soul Banner into his dantian to nurture it, exhaled a long breath of turbid air, and a faint smile appeared on his pale face.

After refining the Soul Jade, he didn't waste the remaining time.

He took out the nine Nascent Soul level magic treasures he had seized from the cultivators of Yunzhou and Leizhou, and refined them again with Nascent Soul Fire, erasing the original owners' residual soul imprints and stamping them with his own mark.

Although these magical treasures are not as good as the Black Soul Banner and the Phoenix Flame Sword, they are numerous and diverse, making them extremely convenient to exchange for spirit stones or bestow upon subordinates in the future.

Afterwards, Chen Fan refined several batches of pills using the medicinal herbs he brought back from Baicaotang.

With the guidance of Danyangzi's manual, his success rate in refining fourth-grade pills has stabilized at over 70%!

Chen Fan even tried to refine a batch of Grade 5 Concentration Pills. Although only two pills were successfully refined and the quality was only low-grade with one pill pattern, it proved that his alchemy skills had officially entered the threshold of Grade 5.

There are only a handful of fifth-grade alchemists in the entire Great Yu Cultivation Kingdom!

Having done all this, Chen Fan left the golden bowl with a thought.

Only three days had passed in the outside world.

The withered bamboo grove outside the window still rustled in the wind, just as it had been before he entered meditation.

He pushed open the door of the side room and walked into the courtyard. The midday sun shone warmly on the bluestone ground.

Han Yueshan was sitting at a stone table packing his bags, while Qin Dao was wiping his tiger-head broadsword. Both of them looked much more relaxed than they had a few days ago.

"Guest Minister Chen!" Han Yueshan saw him come out and quickly stood up and cupped his hands. "I am about to set off back to Huangzhou City today. The imperial rewards have been issued. Huangzhou won first place this time, and the rewards are more than three times that of previous years. This is all thanks to Guest Minister Chen. I will definitely reward him according to his merits when I return. The reconstruction of Shangyun Sect will also begin immediately."

Chen Fan nodded, took out a storage bag from his sleeve, and handed it over: "Here are 100,000 mid-grade spirit stones and several Nascent Soul level magic treasures. This is a small token of our gratitude to the Shangyun Sect. Master Feihe died because of us, and we can't repay this debt for now, so we can only pay some interest first."

Han Yueshan accepted the storage bag with both hands and bowed solemnly: "Guest Elder Chen, you flatter me. If Venerable Feihe were alive today, he would surely smile in his grave to see Shangyun Sect reborn because of you, Guest Elder Chen."

Qin Dao sheathed his sword, strode up to Chen Fan, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and said, "Fellow Daoist Chen, I, Qin, have been following you these past few days and have truly broadened my horizons. If there's anything you need me for in the future, just ask! I, Qin, will brave mountains of knives and seas of fire without batting an eye!"

Chen Fan glanced at him, a rare faint smile appearing on his face, and cupped his hands in greeting, saying, "Take care, Vice General Qin."

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Han Yueshan led Qin Dao and the Nascent Soul cultivators from the seven sects of the Desolate State onto the Cloud Piercing Boat.

The spirit boat slowly rose into the air. Han Yueshan stood at the stern and waved to Chen Fan before transforming into a streak of light and disappearing into the horizon.

After watching the Cloud Piercing Boat depart, Chen Fan returned to his room, put on the gray cloak again, covered himself with the human skin mask, suppressed his cultivation aura to the late Foundation Establishment stage, and quietly left the inn.