Chapter 356: Reverse-Refining Vitality

Chu Hongshang, who was standing to the side, witnessed the entire exchange between Chen Yuan and the Human Skin Evil Book.

She was someone Chen Yuan trusted implicitly, so there was no need to hide such matters from her.

However, seeing the Human Skin Evil Book devour Su Mei’s skin, Chu Hongshang couldn’t help but say, “Benefactor, that thing is sinister and bizarre. You must be careful keeping it with you.”

The Ten Thousand Demon Sect had its share of strange and evil Demonic Magical Artifacts, but no matter how sinister they were, none were as bizarre as an evil book that could communicate with people and even devour human skin.

Having cultivated in the Ten Thousand Demon Sect for so long, she had accumulated considerable knowledge and was no longer the naive young girl she once was. With her insight, she could naturally tell that the Human Skin Evil Book was deeply unsettling—comparable even to the various monstrous entities within the Endless Immortal Palace.

“Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing. My attitude toward this thing has always been that it can be used, but never trusted.”

Hearing Chen Yuan’s words, Chu Hongshang finally relaxed and didn’t press the matter further.

‘Benefactor has his own plans,’ she thought. ‘Since he’s already considered these things, everything will be fine. I don’t need to add my own two cents.’

Chu Hongshang had once felt gratitude and trust toward Chen Yuan. But ever since he had killed Xu Tianhong and helped her enter the Hidden Dragon Rankings, her feelings had evolved beyond mere trust into something bordering on fanaticism.

If Chen Yuan said something could be done, then it would absolutely be done.

“Have you made any gains since entering the Heaven-Reaching Tower?”

Chu Hongshang nodded lightly. “I’ve had some gains, but nothing major.”

With that, Chu Hongshang recounted her journey in detail since entering the Heaven-Reaching Tower.

Since entering the Heaven-Reaching Tower, Chen Yuan had almost never come away empty-handed.

Not only had he found many opportunities and benefits within the tower itself, but he had also profited handsomely from Zhang Xuanzhong and the others.

All in all, this trip to the Heaven-Reaching Tower had been worthwhile. Even if he didn’t obtain the opportunity left behind by Qin Wuye, Chen Yuan was by no means at a loss.

In contrast, what Chu Hongshang had gained was quite limited compared to Chen Yuan.

She had found a few Secret Treasures, but none were particularly valuable.

Just then, Chu Hongshang seemed to remember something. “Is Gu Lichuan a friend of yours, Benefactor?”

Chen Yuan nodded. “Did something happen to him?”

It seemed like ever since entering the Heaven-Reaching Tower, Chen Yuan was constantly saving people.

Chu Hongshang shook her head. “Nothing happened to Gu Lichuan. A Martial Artist from a vassal sect of the Ten Thousand Demon Sect said that Gu Lichuan and a group of others have discovered the location of the core palace of the Endless Immortal Palace—the Longevity Hall. It’s in a passage to the northwest of this space.

The Longevity Hall is the very heart of the Endless Immortal Palace. It’s said to contain the ultimate secret of longevity, the culmination of all the Endless Immortal Palace’s research.

“Now that the Longevity Hall has been found, all the Martial Artists in the Endless Immortal Palace will surely swarm it. Plus, more Martial Artists from the outside will continue to enter. You should make your plans soon, Benefactor.”

Chen Yuan nodded. Since the core palace had been discovered, he couldn’t afford to waste any more time exploring other areas. To do so would be to risk a great loss for a trivial gain.

“You go on ahead. I have two friends back in Senluo Hall. I’ll bring them along with me shortly.”

It was best if the relationship between him and Chu Hongshang remained a secret for now. Otherwise, the fact that he had killed Feng Wushang would be completely exposed.

Chu Hongshang nodded and headed off in the direction of Longevity Hall, while Chen Yuan immediately rushed back to Senluo Hall.

Back in Senluo Hall, Cui Xuanye and Lu Chuanshan had already finished off the Martial Artists from the Red Lotus Sect.

With their level of strength, as long as there were no outside interferences, dealing with those Martial Artists was not a difficult task.

Before Chen Yuan’s return, Cui Xuanye and Lu Chuanshan had been debating whether they should go looking for him.

However, they were afraid that if they left to find Chen Yuan, someone else might swoop in and claim the Endless Divine Tree, which would be a catastrophic loss.

Besides, with Chen Yuan’s strength, dealing with Su Mei shouldn’t have been a problem. So they had remained there, standing guard.

Seeing Chen Yuan return, both men let out a simultaneous sigh of relief.

“Brother Chen, how did it go?” Cui Xuanye asked.

“It’s been taken care of permanently. That woman won’t be causing any more trouble.”

Chen Yuan paused, then added, “But the Red Lotus Sect is like a centipede that doesn’t fall over even when dead. For now, only a single Red Lotus Saintess has been killed. For the sect as a whole, it’s hardly a crippling blow.”

“In times of great chaos, factions like the Red Lotus Sect are bound to spring up. It would be perfectly normal for them to cause more trouble in the future.”

According to the Human Skin Evil Book, the Red Lotus Saint Mother requires Incense Fire Will Power.

In times of peace and stability, a faction like the Red Lotus Sect would struggle to grow, even if it tried.

But the current chaos is the perfect environment for the Red Lotus Sect to expand its influence in the shadows.

For now, however, Chen Yuan wasn’t too worried about all this.

He had killed Su Mei and devoured a sliver of the Red Lotus Saint Mother’s True Spirit, so he was definitely on her radar now.

But that blasted Red Lotus Saint Mother couldn’t come to this world to act personally at the moment. If all the subordinates she sent were on Su Mei’s level, then for the current Chen Yuan, they would be nothing more than free meals.

If he could devour the first True Spirit, he could devour a second.

Chen Yuan turned his gaze to the sinister Endless Divine Tree.

The array surrounding the Endless Divine Tree had now been completely destroyed.

Su Mei and the other Red Lotus Sect Martial Artists had destroyed part of the array when they acted. The powerful shockwaves from the subsequent battle between Chen Yuan and Su Mei had then shattered another portion.

While Chen Yuan was pursuing Su Mei, Cui Xuanye and Lu Chuanshan, having nothing else to do, had taken the liberty of completely dismantling the rest of the array around the Endless Divine Tree.

Cui Xuanye and Lu Chuanshan both looked at the Endless Divine Tree, ready to wait for Chen Yuan’s decision.

Chen Yuan had snatched this thing from Su Mei’s grasp, so naturally, its fate was his to decide.

Besides, without Chen Yuan, they likely would have had to fight the Red Lotus Holy Sect to a standstill, suffering grievous injuries on both sides, just to break free from the array.

But as Cui Xuanye looked at the fruits on the Endless Divine Tree, which resembled stillborn infants, a chill ran down his spine.

“Brother Chen, although this Endless Divine Tree has astonishing vitality within, looking at it… I can’t shake the feeling that there’s something sinister about it. Can it truly be refined safely?”

Chen Yuan shook his head. “Of course, it can’t be refined normally. When the people of the Endless Immortal Palace created this, they used a Dharma Gate of life-and-death conversion.”

“Countless corpses are buried beneath this Endless Divine Tree, containing an astonishing amount of Death Qi.”

“But the people of the Endless Immortal Palace used a Secret Technique to reverse life and death, transforming the death within into endless Vitality.”

“However, the Vitality converted from death is extremely unstable. These fruits resemble infants and are brimming with life, yet their appearance is that of stillborn fetuses.”

“If anyone were to directly refine the fruit of this Endless Divine Tree, the Vitality would instantly convert back into death, and the Fruit of Longevity would become a deadly poison.”

“Brother Cui, Brother Lu, help me push this Endless Divine Tree over. Release its Vitality. I’m going to reverse the life-and-death process from its base and refine it.”

Cui Xuanye and Lu Chuanshan nodded. They gathered their True Qi Power, pushing their own strength to the absolute limit.

At the same time, Cui Xuanye laid out an array to amplify the power of all three men.

As the True Qi of all three men erupted in unison, a tremendous force slammed into the Endless Divine Tree, causing it to begin to tilt.

In that instant, the Endless Divine Tree underwent a bizarre and sinister transformation.

The fruits resembling stillborn infants seemed to come alive, and began to wail.

The Endless Divine Tree’s intestine-like roots writhed, digging deeper into the skeletons buried underground.

However, this most powerful and sinister Divine Medicine in Senluo Hall possessed very little offensive power. Even if it wanted to resist, it was powerless to do so.

Under the combined might of the three men, the entire Endless Divine Tree was finally toppled, revealing a terrifyingly dense pit of skeletons beneath it.

At the same time, the roots of the Endless Divine Tree pulled completely free from the skeletons, releasing a massive surge of Vitality.

However, this Vitality was laced with traces of death. A chaotic blend of life and death, this energy was even more difficult to refine than that within the stillborn fruits.

But Chen Yuan was completely unfazed.

‘The Nether Blood Fiend Power is also a force of life-and-death conversion,’ Chen Yuan thought. ‘I’m very familiar with this kind of energy.’

As Chen Yuan formed a Seal Technique, a massive surge of Vitality Power from the Endless Divine Tree was drawn into his body.

At the same time, his Nether Blood Fiend Power circulated within him, enacting its own life-and-death conversion and transforming the extremely unstable energy into stable Vitality.

However, Chen Yuan didn’t completely refine this Vitality Power for himself. He performed a rough absorption, allowing most of it to overflow and dissipate outside his body.

“Brother Cui, Brother Lu, I can’t absorb all the Vitality Power from this Endless Divine Tree by myself. This energy has already been successfully converted by me; it contains no trace of death. You can refine it without worry.”

This Endless Divine Tree was, after all, the ultimate Divine Medicine cultivated by the ancient Senluo Hall. The amount of Vitality Power it contained was staggering; there was no way Chen Yuan could refine it all.

‘Someone like ‘Demon Venerable’ Han Guang might be able to handle it,’ Chen Yuan mused. ‘Given the extent of his depleted vitality, he could probably absorb all of the Endless Divine Tree’s power.’

Hearing Chen Yuan’s offer, Cui Xuanye and Lu Chuanshan didn’t stand on ceremony.

“Thank you, Brother Chen!”

This incredibly pure Vitality Power was naturally of immense benefit to them.

Although they were both young and had no shortage of lifespan, refining Vitality Power of this caliber could still elevate their Physical Cultivation to a new level.

After a full half-hour, Chen Yuan had finally refined eighty percent of the Endless Divine Tree’s power.

However, of that eighty percent, half had simply overflowed from his body.

Of the forty percent of the power that had overflowed, Cui Xuanye and Lu Chuanshan were only able to absorb thirty percent of it. The rest dissipated into the air, which both of them felt was quite a shame.

But they simply couldn’t refine any more. All three of them now radiated a dense aura of Vitality, accompanied by a strange, sweet fragrance, as if they were walking, talking human-shaped Spiritual Medicines.