The path Yang Ying devised, which was faster, synthesized elements of alchemy and the Protoss merging technique, leading to this novel approach.

The Protoss have always maintained a tradition where Templar Warriors merge to become Arbiters. The merging of two Templar Warriors does not result in a fundamental qualitative leap, but it refines their souls, and this very purity nurtures a profound strength, giving rise to the image of the Arbiter as a pure spiritual entity.

To suggest that Yang Ying hadn't considered this path before would be absurd. Long ago, he had attempted to merge his two copies of himself. He had adapted the Templar Warrior merging art into the merging art of the Ultralisk Emperor, but the result was this: two copies merged into one, and one copy simply vanished into thin air.

This outcome was entirely normal. After all, in the Protoss merging technique, although both individuals are Templar Warriors, they are distinct entities, each possessing a separate personality and soul—this individuality is what allows for progress through the merge.

But Yang Ying’s two copies were essentially identical; it mattered not which was which, as they shared the exact same essence, soul, and personality. Since the merge offered no enhancement in essence, the process of two-becoming-one merely resulted in one copy remaining. Consider this: creating a copy from the main body is already an extraordinary feat, and for that copy to possess the same formidable mental power as the original is even more anomalous. If two copies could achieve an essential enhancement through merging, it would defy logic; if merging allowed for advancement, then splitting off should logically cause regression, yet the reality was the opposite.

Splitting off a copy did not weaken the original, and merging copies would not strengthen them.

Relying solely on Protoss methods could not achieve Yang Ying’s goal of rapidly advancing to the Fourth Level.

Fortunately, there was alchemy.

The existence of the universe is itself the greatest miracle of the Cosmic Thunder. Even beings of the Fourth Level are creations of the greater cosmos; what, then, could the cosmos not create?

Alchemy studies the alteration of the physical body by external means; it is a discipline dedicated to the ultimate study of material transmutation. It investigates materials across the universe that can be used in potion-making. Both organic and inorganic matter fall within alchemy’s research scope, and these investigations ultimately manifest as elixirs applied to a person.

During his intense contemplation on the essence of material change, Yang Ying had experimented with thousands of raw potion ingredients, some of which are now extinct, existing only in history and legend. He had meticulously memorized every experience from testing these substances, later integrating them all into his new knowledge framework during a period of synthesis.

Two batches of materials caught his attention. If Yang Ying's inferences regarding the essence of material change were correct, these two batches could yield two Tier Ten potions, which would likely prove immensely useful for the obstacle he currently faced.

The formulas for both potions were incomplete. It wasn't that Yang Ying was incapable of deducing the full formulas directly; rather, the core database of the virtual laboratory contained hundreds of millions of raw potion ingredients. To review every single material, to comprehend its material properties, and to determine if it could be added to the formula—this was an endeavor impossible to complete in a short time.

However, since alchemy had been practiced within the Empire for hundreds of thousands of years, if these two sets of materials made it into the virtual library, Yang Ying believed someone in the past must have successfully brewed these potions.

Thus, he visited the core library and input the names of the two suspected potions into the query system. As expected, he found them: one named the Potion of Benevolent Soul Separation, and the other, the Potion of Malevolent Soul Separation. Both were classified as Tier Ten, Class Nine potions.

Whether on Earth or in the Empire, the human soul was conventionally divided into three parts: the Celestial, Terrestrial, and Human souls of ancient Earth traditions. The psychologist Freud divided the personality into the Superego, Id, and Ego; though not explicitly speaking of the soul, the principle was the same, representing the sources of human good, evil, and neutrality.

The Potion of Benevolent Soul Separation and the Potion of Malevolent Soul Separation could respectively isolate the good and evil structures within a person’s soul, forming two separate, independent souls. These isolated souls could be entrusted to objects highly receptive to the soul, or they could be transferred into another body.

Speaking of the Empire’s soul transfer technology, it lagged behind Yang Ying’s ability to switch bodies at will. They required specialized machinery to link the donor and recipient bodies for the transfer—much like the soul transference depicted in Avatar. The two bodies needed to possess high resonance in soul fluctuations, or the transfer would fail. In most cases, clones were used. Furthermore, if the body housing the soul was destroyed, the soul would instantly perish, imposing significant limitations. Nevertheless, users remained numerous, including many severely disabled individuals.

Tens of thousands of years ago, when these two potions were first invented, numerous individuals managed to split themselves into two, or even three, separate entities to live. But as the potions were used more frequently, the requisite ingredients became scarce, eventually leading to their extinction.

The reason Yang Ying focused on these two potions, aside from having a ready supply of his own clones, was for the sake of the Protoss merging technique.

His two copies were identical, inside and out; merging them as before yielded no growth. But what if the copies were differentiated by separating good and evil? Then the merging would indeed be different.

While merging might not bring about an enhancement in spiritual essence, Yang Ying's primary goal was to rapidly solidify his foundation in preparation for promotion, not necessarily to advance immediately. Calculated this way, the feasibility was extremely high.

Separating good and evil, and then re-merging, was akin to a process of refinement through division. As seen with the transition from Templar Warrior to Arbiter, this process could elevate his fundamental basis to a higher level.

"If I can just solidify the foundation, the path to Fourth Level promotion will be much smoother—it’s like moving from a muddy track onto a highway, and taking the fast lane at that."

Having made his decision, Yang Ying returned to his dormitory villa, locked the door, and once more immersed his consciousness in the Floating Continent. He drafted a list of ingredients required for the two potions and handed it over to the Research Institute, instructing them to transmute the materials using silicon ore as quickly as possible.

The ingredients arrived the next morning, and Yang Ying began the preparation in the potion laboratory on the Floating Continent.

Having grasped the essence of material change, he had intuitively mastered all spiritual processing techniques, even capable of improvising new methods based on the situation. The various potions came to him as naturally as if he had brewed them countless times, bypassing the need for a formal learning phase.

The two Tier Ten, Class Nine potions were a hundred times more complex than the supreme longevity draught. The void contained thousands of nodes and confusing filaments, yet Yang Ying’s hands moved among them, plucking and flicking with absolute precision. The various ingredients, though seemingly chaotic, reacted in perfect order under his touch.

The first vial of the Potion of Benevolent Soul Separation was completed in just twenty minutes. It was a fluid, smooth potion, white as milk; billowing white vapor streamed from the bottleneck. A single whiff cleared the mind. Yang Ying sealed the vial.

Having finished one, he immediately began the second.

Following a similar preparation process, the potion as black as ink, the Potion of Malevolent Soul Separation, appeared on the experimental bench before Yang Ying.

"Excellent. Both batches of materials have been converted into potions without any waste. Material transmutation truly is marvelous. As I mixed them, various spiritual processing techniques arose naturally, as if I had brewed them a thousand times before. If I had the materials for a Tier Ten, Class Ten Elixir of Resurrection before me now, I should be able to successfully brew it as well."

Yang Ying chuckled twice, picked up the two vials, and left the laboratory. He went to a mountain outside the Research Institute and placed the vials on a nearby bluestone platform.

He closed his eyes and performed a brief, ten-second shallow meditation to calm his thoughts. When he felt ready, he opened his eyes, glancing between the two potions. He reached out, picked up the inky black Potion of Malevolent Soul Separation, and opened the cap, drinking it down without hesitation.

Upon swallowing it, Yang Ying felt an icy chill rising from his abdomen straight to his head. The cold was intensely real, the potion’s efficacy reaching the depths of his soul. He sensed the medicine actively drawing out soul energy similar in nature to its own essence.

Unwilling to be a mere spectator, he activated his psionic power, deliberately guiding the cold energy into his soul to assist the medicine in taking effect.

Generally, when consuming Tier Nine or Ten potions, the imbiber uses their own spiritual power to help dissolve the medicinal effects for better efficacy. Conversely, if the imbiber possesses great spiritual strength, they can resist the medicine’s effects and expel the potency through mental force.

For experts, drinking a potion is an active process. It is not easy to poison an expert of the Third Level.

Two minutes later, Yang Ying felt a portion of his thoughts condense and depart from his soul. In his perception, a figure radiating black miasma seemed to hover near his soul, bringing with it a sense of chilling cold.

Yang Ying had successfully separated his malevolent thoughts.

Next, he picked up the white bottle, uncapped it, and drank it down in one gulp.

This time, a warmth surged from his abdomen to his head, penetrating deep into his soul. Yang Ying again channeled his spiritual energy to aid the dissolution of the medicine. After another two minutes, a figure radiating a soft white light appeared beside his soul.

"Go! Find your bodies," Yang Ying communicated with the two black and white souls.

Neither soul replied; they simply departed, traveling through the psionic resonance channels connecting around Yang Ying’s soul toward their respective physical forms.

The black soul directly chose the body of an Ultralisk Emperor, while the white soul chose to draw the essence of a Light Arbiter and a Dark Arbiter from the Protoss psionic network, forming a Luminary Arbiter entity.

The choices of the two souls reflected Yang Ying’s will. Although separated by good and evil, they remained, in essence, Yang Ying.

A moment later, the two copies returned before Yang Ying: one bore the appearance of an Ultralisk Emperor, covered in chitinous armor with bone wings protruding from its back; the other was encased in purple fireballs, orbited by three small white points of light moving in a crossing circular pattern.

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