44: Chapter 44 Refining the Gold of Living Beings

The night passed without incident. The next day.

The first rays of morning sunlight crossed the windowsill, spilling lazily inside.

The sacred aura left behind after the purification had not yet dissipated, blending with the scent of flowers from the courtyard outside to form a faint, grassy fragrance.

Su Chen sat cross-legged on a cushion, his eyes closed, his hands formed in a seal. He was cultivating.

The Soul Power within his body flowed like a small stream, neither fast nor slow. In front of him, the purified treasure floated quietly.

After a night of preliminary refining, it was no longer the irregular core from yesterday, but had transformed into a small, three-inch-long carving knife.

It was entirely emerald green, as if carved from the finest jade.

This was the true form of the "gold of living beings"—the Living Beings Carving Knife.

Su Chen's breathing was steady and long. An interesting scene unfolded.

With each of his inhalations and exhalations, the naturally formed leaf vein patterns on the floating Living Beings Carving Knife began to flicker, brightening and dimming in sync.

Rings of visible emerald light radiated from the blade.

The light gently touched the Soul Power circulating around Su Chen.

There was no collision, no repulsion. Like a drop of water merging into a great river, the emerald light silently fused with his Soul Power.

Su Chen's body trembled slightly.

He clearly felt that the circulation speed of the Soul Power within his body had… seemingly increased a little?

Although it was only a tiny bit, for someone like him who had been stuck at a bottleneck for a long time, this feeling was far too obvious.

Su Chen's heart stirred.

He attempted to accelerate the circulation of his Soul Power.

Hum— The Living Beings Carving Knife seemed to receive a signal, and the light on its surface brightened.

The emerald halos it emitted became more intense.

After the Soul Power fused with this life energy, it circulated more smoothly and became more refined.

His cultivation speed had increased by at least thirty percent.

"Woohoo, taking off!"

However, he quickly thought of something else.

With a shift in his thoughts, Su Chen's consciousness sank into his Spiritual Sea.

As expected.

Within the Spiritual Sea, the blazing white ball of light representing Electrolux's remnant soul was significantly more solid than yesterday.

It no longer looked like it could be blown away by a gust of wind, as it had before.

Just then, Electrolux's aged and gratified voice echoed in his mind.

"The life energy of this Living Beings Carving Knife is far purer than I imagined. It is surprisingly effective at stabilizing my remnant soul."

As the words fell, the blazing white ball of light trembled slightly and drifted voluntarily toward the outer edge of the Spiritual Sea, toward the emerald vitality energy that had seeped in.

It was like a person dying of thirst in the desert seeing an oasis.

Once the ball of light drew near, it began to slowly absorb that energy, like a young sprout drinking in the rain.

The brightness of the ball of light visibly increased once more.

Seeing this, Su Chen made a decision.

"Elder Electrolux, let me help you."

He separated a wisp of his consciousness and cautiously communicated with the Living Beings Carving Knife floating before him.

Hum—! The carving knife trembled slightly.

A wisp of emerald light, thinner than a strand of cow hair, was drawn out from the blade.

Although this thread of light was thin, the life energy contained within it was extremely concentrated.

Su Chen held his breath, controlling this thread of light, letting it drift slowly toward his glabella.

He specifically avoided the vital meridians of his body, steadily sending this energy into his Spiritual Sea.

Finally, the emerald thread of light connected precisely with Electrolux's blazing white remnant soul, without a single bit of waste.

Su Chen dared not be careless; while maintaining the energy transfer, he kept a constant watch on the changes in the ball of light.

He knew that Elder Electrolux's current state was one where "weakness cannot handle strong supplements."

If he were not careful and transferred too much energy too quickly, it wouldn't be helping, but sending him on his way.

It had to be done gradually, taking it slow.

Time passed minute by minute.

Under the nourishment of the emerald thread of light, Electrolux's remnant soul ball became increasingly solid and bright at a slow but steady pace.

Feeling the gentle yet vast vitality contained within this wisp of life energy, Su Chen's mind was calmer than ever before.

This power represented "life," pure to the extreme.

Suddenly, an aged and weary face flashed into Su Chen's mind without warning.

It was Teacher Mu En.

His heart gave a violent jolt.

Teacher Mu En's back, bent almost to ninety degrees, the wrinkles on his face deep enough to crush a fly, and those dim, yellow eyes that always carried a hint of muddiness and exhaustion, suddenly became incredibly clear.

The energy of this Living Beings Carving Knife was so pure that it could even stabilize a remnant soul like Elder Electrolux's.

Could it… be used to help Teacher regulate his body?

Once this thought emerged, it was like rampant weeds, impossible to suppress.

Su Chen remembered the last time he returned to the academy and went to the Sea Gods Pavilion to visit Mu En.

Teacher had been lying on that familiar recliner, covered with a blanket, dozing off.

He had only gone over to say a few words to him, and Teacher had begun to cough violently, unable to control it.

It wasn't an ordinary cough, but a painful one that seemed to want to cough up his very internal organs; his whole body was curled up, his aged frame trembling violently.

He had wanted to reach out and pat Teacher's back, but Mu En looked so strained that he didn't even have the strength to raise his hand to signal he was fine.

At that moment, Su Chen's heart felt painfully constricted.

He could do nothing but watch helplessly.

He still remembered that feeling of powerlessness clearly to this day.

It was the decay of vitality, the old injuries constantly eroding that aged body.

And now…

Su Chen lowered his head and looked at the emerald carving knife floating before him.

It was like a spring continuously producing vitality.

A bold idea completely took shape in his mind.

Su Chen's fists clenched quietly at his sides.

His gaze became incredibly resolute.

"Master, please wait for me a little longer."

"After this Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament ends, I will definitely bring it back."

"Even if there is only a sliver of hope, I must try to use its life energy to stabilize your constantly fading vitality."

Over the next few days, the Shrek team marched forward triumphantly.

Although they encountered a few tough opponents, they managed to advance to the semifinals without any major mishaps, albeit with some stumbling.

On the day the quarterfinals ended, the Shrek team members were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief and relax in the academy's designated rest area.

"I'm telling you, Bei Bei, did you see that just now? My Mysterious Turtle Shield Formation, three hundred and sixty degrees with no blind spots, it was simply super cool!"

Xu Sanshi looked smug, winking at Bei Bei.

Bei Bei leaned back on a recliner, holding a cup of tea, without even lifting his eyelids.

"Yes, yes, you're the coolest. It's just that someone who didn't know better would think it was a turtle shell from some blacksmith's shop that had gained sentience."