Brain Devour Formation

For some time, Yaan walked over the 6-Star Realm corpses, observing the unique flow of the Slaughter Aura that left their bodies and formed a river as it made its way towards him. The Fiend Foundation had long since affected his Dantian, allowing his Dantian to absorb Slaughter Aura and convert it to Slaughter Energy…the only issue was that once in the Dantian, this Slaughter Energy instantly converted into Qi. Because his Vital Qi had long since reached its limit, the Qi was expelled from his body and naturally transformed into Spiritual Energy once it reached the outside world.

Killing all of these people did not develop Yaan's Spirit Soul by a substantial amount, but it gave him some insight into what he needed to do.

He found that each time he killed, the Slaughter Aura which he absorbed interacted with his Dantian's walls. But, the biggest problem was his Dantian itself, which naturally converted the Slaughter Energy into Vital Qi. Because of this, his soul was unable to make proper use of the Slaughter Aura, and it was almost entirely wasted.

If he could prevent this conversion into Qi, it would be easy enough to channel the Slaughter Energy into his Qi Palace, into his Vital Qi Core, and then into his Spirit Soul.

Only…how could he then convert the Slaughter Energy into Soul Force?

"Did you really think this issue would be easy to remedy?" Rui asked. "The solution I suggested is still your best shot at success."

"That method…" Yaan sighed and shook his head.

The method that both he and Rui had thought of, was to completely transform Yaan's cultivation path into one of absolute slaughter.

To slaughter so much that his Vital Qi transformed into Slaughter Qi, and his Vital Qi Core became a Slaughter Qi Core!

Slaughter so much that even his flesh exuded slaughter!

Slaughter so much that even his mind became slaughter!

"Not only would I need to become a genocidal maniac of the highest order to achieve this, but there's no assurance at all that this would work. It's far more likely that I would lose myself early on and become a mindless monster. And besides…there's no guarantee that this theoretical transformation of my Vital Qi would be compatible with the Four Paths Cultivation Technique." Yaan shook his head again, rejecting this path without needing to think any further into it.

"True." Rui didn't deny it. "Then what is your other option?"

Yaan's eyes shone with a cold gleam.

"It's actually quite simple. All I need to do is to slaughter my own Vital Qi."

For a moment, Rui became silent. Yaan could not see her within the ring, but he smiled when he imagined her stunned expression.

"Slaughter your own Vital Qi?"

"Yes. Why not?"

"Well…" She paused for a moment, but she quickly realised the issue with this line of thinking."This still doesn't solve the issue of converting Slaughter Aura into Soul Force. After you slaughter the Vital Qi within your Vital Qi Core, which will be a very dangerous act might I add, how do you intend to convert the produced Slaughter Aura into Soul Force?"

"By turning my core into a dual-layered core." Yaan stated matter of factly.

"…What?"

"Well, think about it like this. The Fiend Foundation allows Slaughter Aura to be converted into Slaughter Energy, and then into any sort of Qi in the Dantian, right?"

"True enough."

"So then why not take it a step further? Transform the Vital Qi Core into a two-layered core; a core consisting of Vital Qi mixed with Slaughterous Soul Force. It would exist as vitality and life on the outside, with slaughter and death on the inside."

Yaan paused, then when Rui had no interruptions, he went on.

"Whenever Vital Qi travels from the Dantian, through the dual-layered core, and into the core, it would be converted to Soul Force upon reaching the core's internal region. I know that Soul Force is typically a temporary power, not something that constantly pervades an area of space, but I believe that it should be possible within the confines of a Vital Qi Core!"

After Yaan explained his idea, there was a long, long period of silence. He even wondered if Rui might not have heard him.

"Yaan, you are constantly maintaining a state of concealment around yourself, even when you were on the verge of death. In my current state, I cannot see through your cultivation at all, aside from your Slaughter Spirit Soul. Tell me, what stage has your Sea of Consciousness reached?"

"Thousand Sage Grade, around 6,600." Yaan answer honestly. Recently, due to all the thinking and deductions that he had been carrying out, his psyche cultivation had grown stronger yet again.

Rui emerged from the rocky stone ring.

After toppling the Aztec Flame Province, they had returned to process their gains and stabilise the situation. Yaan was alone within his temple, with only Ga Shu sat outside, on the wooden bench swing like usual.

"Truly?" She asked seriously.

"Mm. Why?" Yaan asked curiously.

"In the Four Paths Cultivation Technique, the main reason for cultivators failing to reach Nirvana, is actually the psyche cultivation aspect. Your achievement in this regard is commendable. Your intelligence, in certain regards, has already surpassed True Immortals."

"So you think my plan of forming a dual-layered core is a good one?" Yaan asked with shining eyes. As always, his gaze was filled with a restrained slaughterous desire, but Rui did not seem to mind this in the least.

"Good? That's debatable. Given your current options, it's not terrible. But simply as an idea of concept, it's certainly incredible."

"I'm sure someone has considered it before." Yaan shrugged. "The world is vast, everything that can be done, has already been done."

"You'd be surprised." Rui shook her head. "And even if someone has thought of the concept, it doesn't mean that it has actually been achieved."

"That doesn't make me feel better about my chances of success…"

"But you plan to go ahead with it anyway, don't you?"

"Of course." Yaan nodded. But then, he frowned. "But where to start…"

Seeing his uncertainty, Rui cracked a cruel, sadistic smile.

"Well, I have one idea…"

Rui's idea consisted of self-torture, or rather, the self-torture method of Psyche Power cultivation.

Her idea was to boost Yaan's intelligence as much as possible. Perhaps then, he would be able to unravel the way forwards.

Yaan wasn't opposed to this. If nothing else, he needed to cultivate his Psyche Power anyway, and his subordinates seemed to be busy, dealing with the fallout caused by thrusting over 600 Aztec tribes into chaos. They would be all too happy if he took some time away from the battlefield.

Yaan had cultivated with torturous formations before…

But Rui was no ordinary woman. She made the Fragment of Qi look like a kind-hearted man.

Rui's Psyche Power cultivation formations were so overbearingly intense that Yaan's eyes widened when he first saw the designs.

She actually showed him 32 formation designs that she thought might be useful for him, but only four of these could actually be built with the resources that Yaan had available.

One of those had a 50/50 mortality rate, so he decided against that.

One of them resulted in a side effect known as 'life-long exploding organs', so that was out.

Of the final two, one was quite ordinary and very effective, but the ingredients were very expensive and not readily available on the Blood Plane. After all, these formations were designed by Qi Plane cultivators.

The final formation caught Yaan's attention.

It was strangely cheap to build this formation. In fact, it was a sort of formation that he had not seen before. According to Rui, it was an 'ancient formation'. In the early days of the four planes, it was common for formations to be designed using limited resources. Beings were also tougher and sturdier back then, so they designed these formations with obscenely torturous practises integrated into their standard usage.

"Brain Devour Formation…" Yaan muttered.

This formation was very different compared to what he was used to. The runes and inscriptions needed to be drawn out with the user's own blood, whilst the formation's component 'materials' were all expendable, being burned to ash after a single use.

The Brain Devour Formation, as the name implied, allowed the user to…devour brains.

Well, not literally. But in essence, it supposedly channelled the intelligence of the living sacrifices into the consciousness of the formation user.

"Body temperers aren't quite as intelligent as most Qi refiners, so this isn't optimal, but it's worth trying at least…" Yaan muttered.

Rui immediately gave Yaan a warning.

"I suggest that you start with the lowest level of the formation. Use only three of the formation nodes, and use ordinary mortal humans as the materials."

"What?" Yaan furrowed his brows. "How is that going to help? I need to improve my Psyche Power to 10,000, ordinary humans won't get me there!"

"Just take my advice. If it's so easy, then you'll be able to use the formation at a higher level immediately after, right?"

In the end, Yaan shrugged and took her advice. There was no harm in being cautious with something simple like this.

He told Ga Shu to send out a message to somebody with the ability to procure him some prisoners. The more intelligent the prisoners, the better, and he needed those from mortals, all the way up to 4-Star Realm warriors.

"Oh, and Ga Shu…" Yaan added, briefly glancing back. "You're preparing for Nirvana Death, I shouldn't be disturbing you in this time. Feel free to find a trustworthy assistant to take your place for the next 3 or 4 years."

"No need, my lord. I find it peaceful, living here and occasionally assisting with your business."

Seeing Ga Shu's honest smile, Yaan nodded, not saying anymore.

Everyone had their own way of doing things.

A few days later, Yaan had drawn out multiple formations all across the recently established basement below his temple. The formation was cheap to build, but the runes and inscriptions involved in its construction were highly complex.

He had already told Rui about his expertise in the art of formations, but it wasn't until she saw him in action that she truly understood. It wasn't that Yaan had an immense talent in this area, but his powerful psyche cultivation made him a force to be reckoned with as a formations master!

The Brain Devour Formation could be activated with anywhere between 3 and 12 sacrifices. All of the sacrifices needed to be alive, and the more intelligence they possessed, the better.

As Rui instructed, Yaan sat down within the centre of the rune. It barely even felt like a formation to him, but when he waved his hand and forced the three mortal prisoners to each stand within a separate circle, it suddenly activated of its own accord.

It was strange, Yaan could feel the power of the formation being drawn out from himself, despite him not proactively activating it. He already knew that this would happen, but…he didn't expect it to be so mild!

The energy usage was hardly even noticeable!

As Yaan looked around, wondering when everything would begin, three red beams of light lit up around the prisoners, obscuring them from view. The light immediately caused them to lose consciousness, but Yaan was anything but unconscious right now.

After those three beams of light shone around the prisoners, three smaller, white beams of light, shot into Yaan's head.

He instantly froze. His eyes widened and his pupils dilated, and even the slaughter within his gaze paused for a brief moment.

Yaan lost all sense of connection with his own life, and he found himself experiencing an entirely different life.

He was a baby…

Within a few years, he became a young boy and learned that he lived in a Rank 4 tribe. He wanted to be a hunter like his father. He trained day in and day out, until one day, everything changed.

He was still just a mortal when that red-robed demonic god appeared in the sky, changing his life forever.

It was said that the childish looking red-robed demonic god was a member of the Bloody Totem Tribe. Their tribe had deep enmity with the Bloody Totem Tribe, so them being targeted was only natural.

Many of the strong warriors were killed.

Some were captured as slaves and prisoners.

Some were permitted to stay within the tribe, but they were delegated to being mere vassals of their overlord, the Bloody Totem Tribe.

The boy, taken prisoner due to his refusal to give in, was led to a place blindfolded, and-

She was a young girl. She lived a modest and peaceful life, a life where she spent most of her days blissfully with her childhood sweetheart. One day, they would definitely get married!

But the Blood Plane was cruel.

Their tribe was one that had once angered the Bloody Totem Tribe. The Bloody Totem Tribe had now become too strong; after their tribe was defeated, the girl was taken prisoner. She was blindfolded, taken onto a horse and carriage, then after she arrived at her unknown destination, she was taken down below the ground, and then-

The boy was raised as an orphan from a young age. He made a living by robbing and stealing, but what other choice did he have? This way of living was all he knew how to do.

One day, he was caught by a warrior of their tribe. That warrior berated him, beat him…and then took him in, teaching him how to live a proper, upstanding life.

He fought in many battles, he won many wars!

He joined hunting parties, he became a Gold Class body temperer!

He gained a harem of four beautiful wives!

But it all ended when he was called to fight against the Bloody Totem Tribe.

He was old by that point, but he still wanted to fight. The war was clearly a lost cause, even his wives and comrades had fled…but he fought on.

Somehow, he survived, but he refused to submit and become a servant for another tribe. He thought he would be executed on the spot, but instead, he became a prinsoner, forced to serve manual labour for the Bloody Totem Tribe.

One day, he was beaten so thoroughly that his cultivation was completely crippled. It was a miracle that he had survived to begin with, but his body ended up devouring his cultivation in order to sustain its life.

Eventually, one day, he was elected for a different job. He was led away, blinded-folded. He was taken down a set of stone stairs, led into the centre of a basement, and then-

Yaan opened his eyes. For a while, he stared forwards dazedly, before blinking, rubbing his eyes, then looking around.

The three prisoners had turned to ash, they were completely vaporised.

Yaan felt a stinging sensation in his heart. He had just lived…their entire lives.

He had just experienced every experience they had been through, throughout their lives, every emotion, every feeling…

And it all ended with him killing them.

But in the next moment, Yaan's gaze became chillingly cold.

"What heart?" He muttered to himself. "What feelings?" He clenched his fists. "I feel nothing. Their lives are…nothing…"

Rui watched Yaan's face change from sadness, to guilt, to ruthlessness, to cold, callous, decisiveness.

She understood now.

She understood just how thoroughly she had influenced him during his youth…

Only, he was not the same as her. He could not truly cut off his human emotional ties. He just continued to trample over his own heart, time and time again, like stabbing himself with a thousand knives whilst telling himself that everything was fine.

'Should I say anything? No, my interference could make this even worse…for now, I'll leave it. Anyway, I'm surprised by how quickly he recovered from the formation.'

Yaan stood up and faced Rui calmly.

"How long did that take?"

"Three seconds. One second per person. Then a bit longer for the recovery."

"I see…" Yaan muttered.

He didn't say anything for a while, because he was examining any changes to his Sea of Consciousness. He expected nothing from devouring the intellect of three mortals, but what he found was beyond his expectations.

"The number of Psyche Power avatars that I can create increased by one!" Yaan exclaimed in disbelief.

"Mm." Rui nodded. "The human brain contains vast untapped potential. This formation extracts that potential, though the efficiency is only one third."

Yaan's heart began beating wildly. He turned towards the other tied up prisoners and the other runic formations. Knowing what he was thinking, Rui warned him again it.

"Take your time, and don't go overboard. The stronger the mind you devour, the more it will mess with your own mind. The mental anguish this can cause a person is nothing to scoff at."

"Fine." Yaan 'agreed', but then said: "I want 12 mortals in the 12 node formation."

Rui sighed.

"I hope you don't regret this."

The problem with this formation, was not that it forced the user to experience the victims' lives…the issue was that it forced the user to experience all of those lives simultaneously.

Yaan engaged the 12 node Brain Devour Formation, using the Bloody Totem Tribe's prisoners of war that had been captured from the conquered tribes.

The him of the past could never have been so cold and uncaring, but he had been jaded by this cruel world, and now, his slaughterous desire was running rampant. He no longer cared about human life, suffering, or anything of the sort…

He just wanted to kill, and to grow stronger.

As Rui watched Yaan being so ruthless to his own heart, she wondered how long this situation would last before everything collapsed into an inevitable pit of devastation.