The message from Profound Ice Cold Flame stunned Shi Yan; he stood frozen, momentarily at a loss.

Within the crystalline chamber, the dense Heaven and Earth spiritual energy, lingering in the air, continued to surge toward the Soul Gathering Orb. The orb gradually turned translucent, spinning rapidly in his palm, as strands of visible crystal light began to manifest on its surface.

Once one-third of the Heaven and Earth spiritual energy in the chamber had vanished into the Soul Gathering Orb, the aura of Shi Yan’s single drop of blood within the orb had faded to an almost imperceptible level.

Only then did the flow of Heaven and Earth spiritual energy within the chamber cease.

Everything returned to normal, save for the Soul Gathering Orb, which now sparkled with crystal light. Under the infusion of so much spiritual energy, the orb seemed to have undergone some marvelous transformation, its surface patterns becoming noticeably finer.

“What is Ancient Divine Blood…?”

“I am not entirely clear on the specifics,” Profound Ice Cold Flame communicated after a moment of silence. “The Extreme Refining Art you practice originates from a crazed Artifact Refiner. Information concerning Ancient Divine Blood was something I learned from him.

He once obtained a fragmented ancient scroll, from which he learned that in the primordial era, there were three Divine Kings whose blood possessed unique, extraordinary effects. Their blood was collectively called Divine Blood, and the specific uses of these three types of Divine Blood were unknown to him. However, he did know that once Divine Blood fell into a secret treasure or artifact, it would immediately trigger a mutation. The most common mutation was the induction of surrounding Heaven and Earth spiritual energy, causing it to pour violently into the secret treasure or artifact…”

“Descendants of the three Divine Kings, provided they have inherited the Divine Blood within their bodies, will also exhibit similar miraculous effects. Once this Soul Gathering Orb is tempered by Earth Fire, causing the trapped souls to form pure, flawless Soul Power, its function of absorbing souls will cease, and it will transform into a vessel for containing Soul Power…”

“However, the moment a drop of your blood fell in… after absorbing the Heaven and Earth spiritual energy, the internal structure of the Soul Gathering Orb seems to have subtly changed. Judging by its appearance, it appears to have shown signs of returning to life. It is a pity that your blood was not refined; only refined essence blood can truly be called Divine Blood. If true Divine Blood had been injected into the Soul Gathering Orb, given its nature, the orb might have been restored to its original state.”

“If your blood were refined into Divine Blood, according to a secret method detailed in that Artifact Refiner’s ancient scroll, it could restore any damaged secret treasure or artifact to its pristine condition. Your Divine Blood can repair all exotic treasures. Once you refine Divine Blood, you can also allow the Soul Gathering Orb to regain its ability to absorb and gather souls once more…”

Profound Ice Cold Flame slowly explained, pouring all his known knowledge about Ancient Divine Blood into Shi Yan.

Shi Yan stared blankly at the Soul Gathering Orb in his hand for a long time, his expression peculiar.

Undying Martial Spirit!

This Ancient Divine Blood must be related to the Undying Martial Spirit. The Undying Martial Spirit can restore the physical body; when cultivated to its most profound level, it is said that this martial spirit can regenerate the flesh and resurrect life from a single drop of essence blood.

Evidently, the anomaly surrounding the Divine Blood in his body was linked to the Undying Martial Spirit.

It was simply that he had never imagined this blood could also repair secret treasures and artifacts, allowing useless, exotic items to resume their intended functions.

This was a remarkably miraculous and special utility.

On the Continent of Divine Grace, most martial artists born with extraordinary backgrounds possessed various secret treasures.

Many of these treasures were considered the martial artists’ ultimate trump cards. During battles, these artifacts could sustain damage from strikes and collisions, subsequently losing their intended function.

Once a secret treasure was ruined, even the most profound Artifact Refiners found it exceedingly difficult to restore it to its former glory; they could only re-forge a new one.

His blood, once refined into essence blood and infused into a secret treasure via a special technique, could restore the artifact to perfection in a short time. Such efficacy was incredibly wondrous—Immortal Blood! Immortal Blood!

Shi Yan’s eyes suddenly lit up. He recalled how Yang Qingdi had once dripped a drop of essence blood onto Yang Hai’s body, and decades later, he could still track Yang Hai’s location through that single drop of Immortal Blood. Not long ago, Yang Qingdi used three drops of Immortal Blood to deduce his life-or-death trajectory, subsequently dispatching Mo Duanhun to Cloud Mist Island to find him.

Clearly, Yang Qingdi knew how to refine Immortal Blood and understood its miraculous uses.

Thinking this through, Shi Yan’s mind settled. He glanced down at the Soul Gathering Orb once more and transmitted a message to Profound Ice Cold Flame: “I understand. I will begin channeling the pure Soul Power within the Soul Gathering Orb into Xia Xinyan’s soul now. One last confirmation: will having an extra drop of my blood in the Soul Gathering Orb cause any issues?”

“No problem…”

Shi Yan finally let out a breath of relief.

Looking at the jade figure of Xia Xinyan, a trace of sorrow flickered in Shi Yan’s eyes. He gently helped her sit up, and he simultaneously sat on the stone bed, cross-legged, facing her.

Holding the Soul Gathering Orb in one hand, Shi Yan extended his other hand, taking hold of the somewhat cool, delicate hand of the jade figure and resting it upon the body of the orb.

Slowly closing his eyes, Shi Yan held his breath and focused his mind, allowing a wisp of spiritual consciousness to drift into the Soul Gathering Orb.

The Soul Power flowed gently within the orb like a stream. As his wisp of spiritual consciousness entered, an indescribable, wondrous resonance arose, as if the Soul Power inside the orb had become the blood within his own body—and blood that he could control with ease…

Following the method described by Profound Ice Cold Flame, he used his spiritual consciousness to guide the Soul Power within the orb, attempting to draw it out.

Without any difficulty, under the traction of his consciousness, a strand of pure Soul Power, like a brilliant, fine thread, emerged from the orb without hindrance, quietly flowing into the cool palm of Xia Xinyan.

A surge of joy rose in his heart. Shi Yan used his spiritual consciousness to guide this thread of pure Soul Power, slowly directing it toward Xia Xinyan’s brain region.

This wisp of Soul Power traveled along the meridians of her arm, entered her slender, white neck, paused briefly, and then flowed toward her brain.

Boom!

The moment Shi Yan’s spiritual consciousness entered her brain region, his own mind jolted. In an instant, he felt as if he had plunged into a battlefield of clashing souls.

A torrent of extremely fierce soul energies abruptly erupted from her mind, saturated with hostility, manifesting an immediate posture meant to obliterate Shi Yan’s wisp of spiritual consciousness.

His expression remained unchanged; he had already anticipated such a situation from Profound Ice Cold Flame.

He quickly retracted his spiritual consciousness, which shot back from Xia Xinyan’s mind like a bolt of lightning.

However, the pure Soul Power, which had been guided by his consciousness, was successfully injected into Xia Xinyan’s brain region under that initial guidance.

A rather violent soul fluctuation suddenly emanated from Xia Xinyan’s brain region. This fluctuation was overwhelming and extremely ferocious, as if a soul storm had formed, intent on instantly annihilating any soul.

Shi Yan remained calm, gripping the Soul Gathering Orb tightly, opening his mind and allowing his divine sense to enter a state of absolute emptiness.

In that moment, Shi Yan’s soul felt as if it had become invisible. The soul storm emanating from Xia Xinyan raged within the crystal chamber for a while before gradually subsiding.

Only when Shi Yan could no longer detect any abnormality did he condense another wisp of spiritual consciousness, injecting it into the Soul Gathering Orb using the same method, drawing out more Soul Power to infuse into Xia Xinyan’s brain.

Every time Shi Yan’s spiritual consciousness entered Xia Xinyan’s brain region, a fiercely violent soul storm would immediately erupt from her, manifesting an instinctive resistance.

At such times, Shi Yan would not meet force with force. He quickly concealed his entire spiritual consciousness, even masking his own soul aura according to Profound Ice Cold Flame’s method.

Only after her soul’s counter-attack strength had vanished completely would Shi Yan act again, drawing out more pure Soul Power to inject into her mind.

Shi Yan was not impatient; he proceeded slowly, repeating the cycle.

Gradually, he noticed that as the Soul Power was continuously injected, the intensity of the soul resistance coming from Xia Xinyan began to steadily decrease.

A subtle smile of delight crept onto his face; he knew Profound Ice Cold Flame’s method was indeed working.

With the infusion of that pure Soul Power, Xia Xinyan’s scattered consciousness fragments were slowly beginning to gather. Gradually, Xia Xinyan seemed to acquire a faint sense of self-awareness, as if she understood her predicament.

His heart greatly reassured, Shi Yan dared not hesitate, drawing out more pure Soul Power and pouring it into Xia Xinyan’s mind.

Time passed quickly and unnoticed.

One day, as Shi Yan injected a wisp of Soul Power into her brain region, he finally detected no soul counter-attack from her; she did not instinctively unleash her soul power to violently assault Shi Yan.

With the continuous infusion of Soul Power, Xia Xinyan’s consciousness showed signs of gradual awakening. Simultaneously, the delicate hand resting on the Soul Gathering Orb suddenly exhibited a slight absorption movement…

Shi Yan clearly felt that the Soul Power residing within the orb was being drawn by some kind of inherent pull, actively flowing out and slowly gliding toward Xia Xinyan’s jade arm.

Shi Yan abruptly opened his eyes.

Before him, the jade figure’s complexion was rosy, her breathing steady, and though her delicate brows were still furrowed, there was at least some expression there.

She was subconsciously absorbing the power beneficial to her soul’s recovery.

Shi Yan instantly reached this conclusion.

This meant he was truly relieved, knowing that the Soul Power channeled into Xia Xinyan’s mind over these past days had likely served its intended purpose.

“That is enough,” Profound Ice Cold Flame messaged proactively. “From this moment on, she has learned to actively absorb the Soul Power within the Soul Gathering Orb; you no longer need to guide her. Well, you can finally focus on yourself. Now, I will tell you how to transform your spiritual power into Divine Sense by absorbing Soul Power, and subsequently, how to gather that Divine Sense to form a Sea of Consciousness…”

Shi Yan’s eyes instantly brightened.