Cultivation, Inc.I Use Capitalism to Fix a Dying Sect

Chapter 140: Testing the Demon Refining Tower

Time passed quietly. Three months had slipped by since the Black Wind Stockade’s failed hostile takeover. During these three months, the Qingyun Sect had kept its mountain gates sealed shut, maintaining a low profile.

The Chaos Demon Commandery, however, was a chaotic bloodbath.

Seizing the window of opportunity, the Evil Spirit Valley voraciously devoured the weakened Black Wind Stockade’s resource territories. Initially, the Black Wind Stockade repeatedly ceded ground, unwilling to engage in a life-and-death struggle.

But as the Evil Spirit Valley’s greed grew, the Stockade was backed into a corner and finally retaliated. A brutal war for resource acquisition erupted across the Chaos Demon Commandery.

Yet, both rival sects exercised a strict degree of restraint. They were acutely aware of the Qingyun Sect’s hidden power. Neither side had any intention of letting the Qingyun Sect “sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight.”

While the outside world bled, the Qingyun Sect focused entirely on internal development.

In just three months, the sect’s organizational structure had undergone significant changes. First, nearly the entire disciple base had successfully switched to cultivating the new Five Elements Art.

Secondly, the War Hall had undergone a massive expansion, doubling its headcount to over 600 combat personnel.

Elder Jin Jue, now serving concurrently as the War Hall Head, personally managed the onboarding process. Only disciples who passed the psychological vetting of the Heart Questioning Array were permitted to join.

Under Jin Jue’s guidance, every new War Hall disciple successfully unlocked their internal Five Gates.

This system upgrade caused the War Hall’s combat power to skyrocket. Furthermore, unlocking the Fire Gate drastically improved the disciples’ aptitude for artifact forging and alchemy.

Although few individuals had triggered a major realm breakthrough, the sect’s collective baseline power was rapidly scaling up. Everything was trending positively.

Deep within the Secluded Cultivation valley, Sun Yi and his team stood before their magnum opus.

It was a 30-zhang tall ancient bronze pagoda. Octagonal in shape and spanning three distinct floors, its metallic surface was carved with countless glowing formation patterns.

The titanic structure emitted the suffocating pressure of a Rank 3, Grade 9 Spirit Weapon.

“We finally forged it!” an artisan exclaimed.

“The Demon Refining Tower… we actually succeeded!”

“Hehe, temper your expectations,” another elder chuckled. “Whether it can actually synthesize Heavenly Soul Liquid is still unknown. The test begins now.”

“Regardless of the outcome, I am satisfied,” a master craftsman smiled. “Co-developing this project has pushed my artifact forging proficiency to new heights.”

“Hahaha! In just three months, my understanding of formations has advanced more than in the previous year!”

“My talisman-making skill has also greatly improved. The benefits of researching together are immense.”

“Truly,” an Elder sighed in reverence, looking at the Headmaster. “To conceptualize such a divine construct… Headmaster Sun is a peerless genius. He is an Expert in artifact forging, alchemy, formations, and talismans, reaching Rank 3 in all four. How does the Headmaster even find time to cultivate?”

Sun Yi smiled faintly. “Study diligently and put in the research. You can all reach this level.”

“Alright, you all wait outside,” Sun Yi commanded. “We will go in and test it first.”

With a blur of movement, Sun Yi rushed into the Demon Refining Tower. The five Elders and Er Gouzi followed closely behind. The others waited anxiously outside.

They materialized on the third floor.

The center of the expansive room was dominated by eight two-meter-tall black stone steles. Each Stele was a proprietary Rank 3 Spirit Weapon, inscribed with dense, bizarre runes. This was the Soul Refining Stele array.

They were positioned in the geometric shape of the Eight Trigrams around a central node. At the epicenter stood a single, eerie black flag. This Soul Refining Flag also pulsed with the power of a Rank 3 Spirit Weapon.

Fabricating these components alone had consumed an immense amount of effort and time.

Apart from Sun Yi and Elder Ye Luo, this was the first time the others had seen the interior. Elder Jin Jue frowned at the central black flag. “Headmaster… why does this setup emit the foul stench of evil cultivators?”

“Indeed,” Elder Li Tai nodded, feeling a cold, sinister aura.

“A keen observation,” Sun Yi chuckled. “I reverse-engineered the Black Wind Stockade’s Soul Refining Formation and integrated it into this design. You have that feeling for a reason. Now, let’s begin.”

Sun Yi waved his hand. A massive pile of Middle Grade Spirit Stones poured out from his Storage Ring. The stones automatically divided into nine portions, locking into specific positions beneath the eight Steles and the central Flag.

Sun Yi’s hands blurred into a series of complex hand seals, channeling his vast True Qi into the tower’s core.

THROOM.

The entire Demon Refining Tower shuddered. A low hum began to vibrate through the bronze floor. The bizarre runes on the eight black Steles ignited with a sinister glow. The Eight Trigrams array on the floor spun to life, and the central Soul Refining Flag violently unfurled.

A pitch-black vortex materialized on the flag’s surface.

An immense suction force instantly swept across the room. Sun Yi and the Elders felt a tug on their very souls, though their cultivation was too high to be affected. Er Gouzi’s face turned slightly pale from the pressure, but he was otherwise fine.

Sun Yi swept his hand again. A storm of Sealing Soul Talismans shot out into the air. With a clench of his fist, Sun Yi detonated them all.

Howl! Screech! ROAR!

1,000 Rank 1 Demon Beast souls exploded into the room, their spectral forms thrashing violently.

The black vortex on the Flag generated a terrifying gravitational pull, swallowing the 1,000 beast souls in a split second.

ZAP!

The eight Steles simultaneously fired concentrated beams of black light directly into the Flag.

Inside the Flag’s dimension, a cataclysm of soul-refining light flooded the space. Under the brutal processing power of the array, the 1,000 Demon Beast souls were instantly shredded, their consciousness disintegrated.

In the blink of an eye, the beasts were reduced to floating clusters of raw soul energy.

The internal power of the Soul Refining Formation activated, violently scrubbing the demonic power and base instincts from the energy.

Moments later, the demonic taint was completely purged. However, Sun Yi could sense the resulting soul energy was extremely unstable and violently volatile.

The flagpole generated a secondary suction force, sucking the volatile clusters deep into the tower’s structure.

“Move to the second floor!” Sun Yi ordered, leading the group down.

They arrived on the second floor.

The center of this room was occupied by a titanic bronze cauldron, its surface etched with black runes. This was the Soul Refining Cauldron, another Rank 3, Grade 9 Spirit Weapon.

A flame formation roared beneath it, pre-heating the vessel.

Suddenly, an intake from the ceiling opened, dropping the cluster of volatile soul energy directly into the cauldron.

The refinement process continued. For an entire hour, the cauldron boiled and purified the violent energy. The volatile aura finally vanished, replaced by a perfectly stable energy signature.

At that precise moment, an exhaust port at the bottom of the cauldron unlocked, sucking the stabilized soul energy down to the first floor.