90: The Soul Lamp is released from its bondage; the Nine-Patterned Purple-Gold Pill is ready!

Mist wound like light gauze around the ten-thousand-foot cliff, where a thatched cottage stood quietly at the junction of heaven and earth.

A woman of extraordinary grace, dressed in a black skirt, ascended the steep stone steps at a leisurely pace.

After an unknown amount of time, she finally arrived outside the cottage.

The woman smoothed her dress, took a deep breath, and bowed toward the cottage. "Disciple Yun Qingluan requests an audience with Grandmaster Ye Mei."

"Oh, so you are Yun Qingluan?"

A female cultivator's voice, a blend of coldness and allure, rang out beside her.

Yun Qingluan did not dare to look up, maintaining her bowing posture. "This Disciple is indeed she."

"Rise."

A gentle force of magic lifted Yun Qingluan up.

Only then did she see a figure of world-bewitching charm appear beside her at some unknown moment.

Fairy Ye Mei was the only female cultivator among the three founding Ancestral Masters of the Mingye Sect.

To Yun Qingluan, she appeared like an ordinary young woman of the secular world, without the slightest ripple of immortal power.

Ye Mei walked slowly to the edge of the cliff, sat down with immense grace, and beckoned to Yun Qingluan. "Tell me, why have you exhausted all your merit points just to see me? What is the matter?"

Without practicing any Cultivation Technique or carrying any Magical Artifact, she had gone deep into the dangerous Xuanyin Sect as a Spirit Seed undercover.

She had assisted the Six Sects in wiping out the cancer that plundered Spirit Seeds in one fell swoop, and even took the opportunity to find an undeveloped, fragmented plane.

Yun Qingluan's contribution points numbered as many as a million.

According to the Mingye Sect's contribution system, such a vast amount of contribution points was enough for Yun Qingluan to exchange for a low-grade spirit tool.

But for decades, she had not spent a single cent; instead, she constantly went out to perform Sect missions.

She had accumulated a massive amount of merit points.

It wasn't until a few years ago that she exchanged all those points for a single opportunity to seek an audience with a Sect Ancestral Master.

A flicker of complexity flashed in Yun Qingluan's eyes as she held up a bright Soul Lamp with both hands and stepped forward. "I implore Grandmaster to take action and help this Disciple find the whereabouts of a certain person."

"A Soul Lamp?"

Ye Mei raised her slender hand, and the Soul Lamp slowly flew into her palm. "He is but a little brat at Peak Foundation Establishment; is he worth such a price from you?"

Yun Qingluan was silent for a moment, then said solemnly, "To this Disciple, some things are priceless."

"Qingyun is also proficient in soul-tracking Spells. Is it possible even he has no way?"

Ye Mei turned around with great curiosity, sizing up Yun Qingluan.

After returning to the Mingye Sect, Yun Qingluan, who possessed a supreme grade Dark Spiritual Root, was an extremely perfect match for the Mingye Sect's Cultivation Technique.

Coupled with her great achievements, a True Immortal Elder had taken her under his wing, making her a True Disciple.

As for Mo Jinghun, though he was old, he was still admitted into the Mingye Sect as an Outer Sect Disciple.

The Master-Disciple status between the two was only recognized privately between themselves.

"Master cannot find his traces," Yun Qingluan shook her head and said helplessly.

"Oh, that is quite interesting."

Ye Mei's expression shifted slightly upon hearing this, her interest piqued by the answer.

Yun Qingluan's current Master was an Elder of the Mu family—the same family Mu Lang belonged to—who had spent many years Cultivating in the Mingye Sect.

His name was Mu Qingyun, and his title was Immortal Master Shahun.

His mastery of the Mingye Sect's lineage of Soul Refining, soul-tracking, and Soul-suppressing secret arts was extremely famous throughout the entire Langya Star.

If even Mu Qingyun could not track him, then the person tied to this Soul Lamp was likely no longer in this Star Domain.

No wonder Yun Qingluan did not hesitate to spend a massive amount of merit points to request her own intervention.

The story behind this was truly something to look forward to.

Ye Mei examined the Soul Lamp in her hand, a strange curve appearing at the corner of her mouth. "What a coincidence. This little friend of yours seems to be undergoing Core Formation right now!"

"Core Formation?!"

Yun Qingluan was stunned and hurriedly looked at the Soul Lamp, which had suddenly brightened significantly.

"Indeed. You are already at Peak Core Formation Stage, so you should understand that Core Formation requires merging the Divine Soul into the Golden Core to allow one's magic power to reach the divine."

Ye Mei nodded and said seriously, "This Soul Lamp restrains a strand of his Divine Soul. This is a Demonic Path method and is truly too insidious. If this Soul Lamp remains, this boy will definitely be unable to complete Core Formation."

"I beg Grandmaster to take action and unbind him!"

Yun Qingluan showed a trace of reluctance, but she still spoke without hesitation.

She had already learned of the Soul Lamp's hidden dangers from Mo Jinghun.

Back then, it was because her talent was good enough that she was taken as a Disciple.

Otherwise, she would have been no different from the many Disciples with ordinary Aptitude like Su Ling.

With a strand of their Divine Soul imprisoned in a Soul Lamp, they could never Breakthrough to Core Formation until the day they died.

As for those Disciples who broke through to Core Formation in the Secret Realm, it was only because the Xuanming Sect Elders had previously drawn their souls into their own soul imprint to allow their Divine Souls to reach Perfection.

However, after advancing to Core Formation, a strand of their Divine Soul would be quietly imprisoned again by their own Revered Master, only to be cast back into a Soul Lamp after returning to the Sect.

Yun Qingluan had learned all these things from Mo Jinghun.

She just hadn't expected that Su Ling would happen to begin Core Formation at this very moment.

"If the Soul Lamp is destroyed, his Divine Soul will naturally become whole."

Ye Mei glanced at Yun Qingluan and said with a half-smile, "But after that, you won't be able to use the Soul Lamp to search for his traces anymore!"

"This Disciple understands."

Yun Qingluan bit her lip, her eyes dimming as she bowed again. "I beg Grandmaster to take action and help him escape this restraint."

"Very well, for the sake of all those merit points you spent, I shall lend him a hand."

Ye Mei smiled faintly. Her jade-like fingers moved to form a hand seal, and a surge of immortal power, sparkling like the night sky, poured into the Soul Lamp. "However, before that, I can still help locate him."

A moment later, the Soul Lamp went out, and the lamp itself turned into flying ash.

Under Yun Qingluan's expectant gaze, Ye Mei sighed softly. "This little friend of yours has run far indeed. I can only roughly determine that he should be within the Langhuan Star System of the Yi Xian Star Domain. As for which specific planet he is on, I cannot know!"

"It is enough. This Disciple thanks Grandmaster."

A flicker of complexity flashed in Yun Qingluan's eyes as she prostrated herself in gratitude.

The Yi Xian Star Domain was adjacent to the Chenxi Star Domain where the Mingye Sect was located.

But the sea of stars was vast; even with the help of a great inter-realm teleportation array to reach the Yi Xian Star Domain, it would likely take a hundred years.

To find Su Ling within the Langhuan Star System would be even more difficult.

In this life, there might never be another chance to meet.

"Silly girl, Cultivate well!"

Ye Mei slowly stood up, looking at the vast scenery in the distance, and laughed softly. "If one day you knock upon the gates of immortality and become a True Immortal, or even ascend to the Great Dao of the Golden Immortal... how would the vast star sea be any different from this Zhuyuan Plane?"

"This Disciple understands!"

Yun Qingluan's eyes brightened, and she stood straight, saying solemnly, "Within ten years, this Disciple will surely advance to Nascent Soul, and within a hundred years, achieve Soul Transformation!"

"Good!"

Ye Mei nodded slightly, her smile radiant... A month later, the magic power within Su Ling's body gradually condensed into a deep blue pill-like core.

Faint specks of golden light emanated from within the core.

As time passed, the core changed from deep blue to blue-gold, and finally settled into a purple-gold color.

Nine deep blue patterns gradually formed on the surface of the Golden Core, flowing constantly as if they had come to life, swallowing the continuous stream of Wandering Souls power.

With every swallow, the volume of the Golden Core seemed to expand by a fraction.

The bone-chilling cold also gradually turned into a balanced and steady state, yet it always carried a sense of heart-shaking majesty.

But for some reason, Su Ling always felt that something was missing by a tiny margin.

To the point that at the very end, the Golden Core even showed faint signs of dissipating.

"What exactly is missing? I've reached this stage, yet I still can't complete Core Formation?"

Su Ling grew anxious, constantly reviewing the entire Core Formation process.

Whether it was the remnant chapters of the Nine Nether Secret Record or the Azure Heaven Thunder Treasure Talisman, once the Golden Core took shape, it basically signaled that Core Formation was stable.

Yet his Golden Core was actually on the verge of dissipating!

Could it be that his Aptitude was truly too poor?

Just as the Golden Core was about to dissipate and Su Ling felt despair rising...

A strand of his Divine Soul appeared out of thin air and merged into the Golden Core.

A sense of Perfection arose spontaneously.

A hum seemed to ring out within his Dantian Qi Sea as the nine-patterned purple gold core burst forth with brilliant light, completely solidifying!

Su Ling slowly opened his eyes, and with a thought, the Golden Core within his Dantian turned into a streak of light and surged into his palm.

It was a walnut-sized Golden Core, entirely purple-gold and inlaid with nine deep blue cloud patterns.

The surface was also wreathed in faint deep blue mist and threads of green thunder.

The mist seemed to contain endless Wandering Souls power, but under the reflection of the green thunder, it didn't feel the least bit sinister or evil.

The Golden Core was cold to the touch, yet he could clearly sense the majestic magic power contained within, which was more than ten times stronger than when he was at Peak Foundation Establishment.

"Finally... I've reached the Core Formation Stage."

Su Ling sighed softly, his voice carrying an excitement that was hard to conceal.