Chapter 5: Purifying the Soul-Devouring Dagger
"Hey, Brother Tianmeng, wake up, I need your help."
As soon as he returned to the hotel, Lin Qinghan called out to the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm in his spiritual sea.
Indeed, the synergy between Lin Qinghan's two martial spirits did have a restraining effect on the evil thoughts of Evil Soul Masters, but given his current level as a Grand Soul Master, he definitely couldn't do it alone.
Using the special nature of his brainwave martial spirit and borrowing the spiritual power of the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm, purifying the spiritual evil thoughts of a Titled Douluo-level Evil Soul Master that had been corroded over hundreds or thousands of years shouldn't be a problem.
"Huh? What do you need me for? Wait, how long did I sleep? How are you already past level 20?" A lazy voice replied, but instantly turned alert upon sensing Lin Qinghan's current soul power level.
"You've been asleep for a whole year. Never mind that now, let me borrow your spiritual power."
Lin Qinghan explained the plan to the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm, who didn't ask questions and directly unlocked a sealed light orb.
In an instant, Lin Qinghan's brainwave martial spirit was activated on its own, revealing a golden soul ring.
He fully activated two soul skills: Mental Overdrive and Mental Shield.
He released his spiritual field and took out the Soul-Devouring Dagger.
Under the probing of his spiritual field, a dense purple evil aura emerged from the green blade. Without hesitation, his spiritual field, bolstered by the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's power, formed a drill-like shape and pierced straight into the evil thoughts.
"Zzzzt—!"
A nerve-grating sound echoed in his mind as terrifying spiritual fluctuations spread. The Tianmeng Ice Silkworm hurried to shield the area with a mental projection.
Watching Lin Qinghan wrestle with the Evil Soul Master's remnants, the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm couldn't help but feel emotional.
"Humans really are blessed… they grow so fast. And this kid is so lucky—where did he get this thing? I've only sensed this aura once before at the Lake of Life."
As Lin Qinghan gradually gained the upper hand, the purification process neared its end.
The Soul-Devouring Dagger slowly revealed its true form, changing from a ghostly green to a vibrant emerald green.
With one final unwilling scream of spiritual resistance, the purification completed. The Soul-Devouring Dagger officially became the Life Spirit Dagger.
Just as Lin Qinghan let out a sigh of relief, intending to absorb the dagger's essence, an unexpected event occurred.
The dagger began to melt, transforming into a glowing green mass, and under the pull of the spiritual field, it shot straight into Lin Qinghan's forehead.
Lin Qinghan froze in place as his whole body emitted a green glow.
His spiritual form entered his spiritual sea, which was now dyed entirely green. Suspended in the center was a bright green orb—like a verdant sun.
"Looks like it absorbed itself. Good thing, I was wondering how to collect it."
Seeing no danger, Lin Qinghan relaxed.
"Quick, Lin Qinghan, use this influx of life energy to absorb my spiritual power! Try to break through to the 'Formless Tangibility' level!"
Without hesitation, Lin Qinghan's spiritual form sat cross-legged.
The sealed spiritual energy from Tianmeng Ice Silkworm transformed into a gentle stream and merged into Lin Qinghan's spiritual body.
His spiritual sea alternated between green and gold as it expanded. Externally, his body sat down on its own, entering a deep meditative state.
"Good thing I told the Guardian I was going into seclusion... but I guess I'll miss the tournament."
But Lin Qinghan had already lost interest in the outcome of the predictable tournament, and focused entirely on refining the Life Spirit Gold and the spiritual energy.
This deep meditation lasted 16 days.
When Lin Qinghan awoke, his hair had grown down past his knees, and his body felt incredibly smooth. His soul power circulated through his meridians at double the previous speed.
His soul power only increased slightly—from level 25 to 26.
But when he examined his spiritual sea, he was shocked. It had expanded nearly tenfold.
"You're finally awake. You've gained so much from this! That thing you absorbed… even if I gave you all my life force at my peak, it wouldn't match even one-tenth of it!"
The Tianmeng Ice Silkworm floated over—its spiritual form had tripled in size.
"This time, the spiritual power you absorbed from me mostly went into expanding your sea. You haven't quite reached the 'Formless Tangibility' level, but you're close—just need to gather more spiritual power."
Lin Qinghan remembered the classification of spiritual power stages: the base tier is Formless Tangibility, followed by Formed Substance, though older systems used soul beast age as a metric.
"With your talent, I thought it'd take ten years to reach this point. Can't believe you did it in one! My judgment is impeccable!" the Ice Silkworm said proudly, still bubbly after waking from a year-long nap.
After chatting a bit more, Tianmeng returned to sleep.
Exiting his spiritual sea, Lin Qinghan examined the changes in his body.
Aside from his breakthrough in spiritual power, his physical body had also greatly improved due to the Life Spirit Gold.
Now, he was confident he could absorb a 10,000-year soul ring at level 30.
Moreover, his second soul skill from the bioelectric martial spirit had significantly improved—likely now capable of limb regeneration.
His meridians, previously blocked to soul power, were now naturally open, which invalidated his old meditation techniques.
"Guess I'll need to develop a new meditation technique from scratch… what a headache."
Unfortunately, Lin Qinghan lacked the knowledge and skill to do that on his own.
This showed the importance of a good teacher. In the Lin family, since Lin Qinghan was the only one with a lightning-element martial spirit, he had no assigned tutor and only studied from old texts.
As a result, aside from basic literacy and soul beast knowledge, he was entirely self-taught.
He decided to worry about the meditation technique later. For now, his natural meditation was already faster than before.
Having completed his mission, Lin Qinghan was ready to explore the capital of the Heaven Soul Empire.
He checked in with the Guardian for safety and left the hotel.
The tournament was already over, and the teams had left, but the capital remained lively as always.
(End of Chapter)
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