Merging with Demon Spirits

Chapter 219: Chapter 174: Mirror Image Beast (Part 3)

”The clone must be refined, the effect of the mirror image overlaps with that of the clone, but this repeated effect means power stacking, which is not necessarily bad.”

”Refining this Mirror Image Beast, the Dragon Fish will definitely become stronger. With the help of Soul Nourishing Pill and secret skills, it might break through to Second Grade. By then, it can devour a demon spirit and absorb another soul skill.”

After contemplating for a while, Lin Feng decided to refine the demon spirit.

Every Demon Spirit Master, even if refining the same demon spirit, may have different characteristics, future career directions, and development directions.

The main difference in development direction actually lies in absorbing different soul skills,

among which many Demon Spirit Masters even specialize in refining the same type of soul skill.

Power type Demon Spirit Masters can specialize in absorbing power-type soul skills, such as ’Frenzy’, ’Enhancement’, ’Blood Burning’, ’Ant Power’; these are all soul skills that enhance strength.

Because all absorbed soul skills are related to power, naturally, the strength of this Demon Spirit Master will far exceed others, possibly several times stronger than peers. But since speed-type soul skills aren’t absorbed, speed is certainly inferior, with attack methods too monotonous, relying solely on strength.

The development direction of this method has both advantages and disadvantages.

Some Demon Spirit Masters become strong, while others become quite useless.

To martial arts prodigies, if all absorbed are the same type of power soul skills, they can train in body techniques and martial arts to compensate, albeit requiring vast time and effort.

But for Lin Feng, this is not an issue.

Body techniques and martial arts are precisely one of his greatest strengths.

Lin Feng sat cross-legged on the ground, directly sending the demon spirit into his Soul Sea.

The moment the Mirror Image Beast entered the Soul Sea, before it had a chance to struggle, it felt an extremely terrifying presence. Though not extremely powerful, it was incredibly evil, bloody, and furious, making the Mirror Image Beast tremble. Discovering the presence of Nightmare in the Soul Sea, it didn’t dare move a muscle, completely petrified.

”As expected.”

Lin Feng was pleasantly surprised, as he had previously noticed that low-level demon spirits are extremely fearful of Nightmare’s presence and dare not resist, even when devoured.

But unexpectedly, not only low-level demon spirits, even advanced Mirror Image Beasts show the same reaction before Nightmare.

This is clearly advantageous for Lin Feng.

With Nightmare’s suppression, Lin Feng’s success rate in refining the demon spirit was multiplied several times.

If other Demon Spirit Masters knew of this, they would likely be overwhelmingly envious.

For a Demon Spirit Master, a good soul skill is life itself.

Yet acquiring a good soul skill doesn’t necessarily ensure successful refinement.

Many Demon Spirit Masters, upon acquiring a good soul skill, seal it within a Demon-Sealing Soul Artifact instead of absorbing it immediately.

They wait for their Lifebound Demon Spirit to become more powerful, their physique stronger, and for the demon spirit’s attributes to better suit the soul skill for absorption, only then truly refining and absorbing it.

Even so, success is not guaranteed.

Devouring demon spirits and absorbing soul skills are gambles; good luck brings immense happiness, failure leaves one utterly empty-handed.

At Red Cloud University, students might spend over a hundred million, even several billion, on absorbing a Golden Soul Skill, a major reason why it’s rare among students.

Golden Soul Skills are not outrageously rare; if not extremely precious, they are valued in the tens of millions, rarely over a billion due to failed absorption risks.

One might fail multiple times, even up to ten times, without success.

Even a soul cultivation prodigy like Ye Qiu couldn’t assure successful absorption.

The higher the grade of a soul skill, the lower the success probability for absorption.

Some Demon Spirit Masters, without family support, though initially able to absorb Golden Soul Skills, choose less risky Silver Soul Skills after several failures due to financial concerns. Such instances aren’t rare.

Some who refine advanced demon spirits but fail to absorb high-grade soul skills often end up mediocre.

Thus, stronger Demon Spirit Masters might often be poorer.

No matter refining or devouring a demon spirit to absorb a soul skill, the most challenging part is resisting the demon spirit’s willpower.

Powerful demon spirits have tremendously strong willpower; if the Demon Spirit Master lacks strong soul power and determination, forced refinement might backfire, with minor mishaps leading to severe mental damage, and major ones to the complete annihilation of the soul.

Regardless of the demon beast’s grade, even if it’s an Earth Chart demon, once dead becoming a demon spirit, it degenerates into a First Grade demon spirit with no substantial difference in level.

Only the strength of soul power and willpower differs.

Under Lin Feng’s control, the Dragon Fish began devouring the Mirror Image Beast; with Nightmare’s suppression, the lowest First Grade Dragon Fish faced no resistance, or rather, the Mirror Image Beast couldn’t resist, its movements stifled by Nightmare’s presence, left helpless as the Dragon Fish morphed into a blue transparent bubble, enveloping it and devouring it bit by bit.

The most challenging step in refining demon spirits posed zero obstacle for Lin Feng, astonishingly smooth, though devouring progressed extremely slowly.

At this rate, successful refinement wouldn’t be attainable without at least a day or two.

With Lin Feng’s soul power, having the low-level Dragon Fish devour the advanced Mirror Image Beast is indeed difficult. Sustaining for merely an hour taxed Lin Feng, with soul power exhaustion signaling devour failure, rendering the precious demon spirit wasted.

However, Lin Feng made earlier preparations, bringing ten Qi and Blood Pills before entering the Demon Spirit Realm, but he had as many as a hundred Soul Nourishing Pills. Ingesting a dozen Soul Nourishing Pills quickened the refinement pace continuously.

Few at Red Cloud University could afford consuming Soul Nourishing Pills like candies, besides Lin Feng.

Even general instructors would balk; ingesting so many Soul Nourishing Pills would drive one mentally erratic.

It is said that medicine carries three parts poison; had Lin Feng not been feeding Nightmare Soul Nourishing Pills daily and developed resistance, coupled with his innate strong will, he probably wouldn’t dare act so boldly.

As devouring proceeded, the once silvery-white Dragon Fish’s pitch-black eyes became more vivid and lifelike, its body lengthened, its nine branch-like, phoenix-tail resembling forks, with one slowly turning blue....

Just as Lin Feng refined the demon spirit, not far off, three unicorn-headed, strangely clad figures pursued demon spirits, swiftly approaching his direction.