The Loot of a Province
The Earth Cry Tribe was subdued with ease following their ancestor's defeat.
Their opponent had the strength to defeat a 6-Star Realm warrior, who would be stupid enough to oppose them?
If the difference in strength was small, then mustering up the will to fight was an act of bravery. If the difference in strength was large, then remaining defiant for the sake of it was an act of sheer stupidity.
Yaan knew that when the tribes in the Earth Cry Province submitted to him one after the other, they were all thinking the same thing…
They were waiting. Waiting for him to face his Nirvana Death Heavenly Calamity. Waiting for him to fail the Immortal Ascension. Waiting for him to die.
Unfortunately for these scheming elders, they had simply misunderstood; Yaan was not a Nirvana Realm cultivator, he hadn't even reached Rank 5, no matter Rank 6. They were waiting for him to die within the next three years, but this was very unlikely to happen, and he certainly wouldn't die to a Heavenly Calamity or tribulation in this period of time.
Yaan controlled the alliance army as they travelled across the province, taking down each tribe and ensuring their compliance. They conscripted others into the army as they went along, threatening them into joining, but also tempting them with the promise of riches.
Eventually, the alliance army split up. By this point, news of the Earth Cry Tribe's defeat and replacement had spread into the far reaches of the province. Nobody would oppose Yaan's subordinates, even if Yaan was not present personally. Yaan remained in the background, controlling the overall situation, ready to act if needed.
However, his action was not needed.
The Earth Cry Tribe controlled this province. In theory, taking over the Earth Cry Tribe should already be enough to dominate the province, but Yaan naturally wanted more assurance than that, so he had his people visit each of the 116 major tribes in the province.
Before long, the Earth Cry Province came under his control. Naturally, since the Earth Cry Tribe was no longer the ruling power here, this province was integrated into the Bloody Totem Province, and it was renamed as the 'Eastern Totem Province.'
Although the Earth Cry Tribe had been dethroned, they had ruled over this region for a long period of time. Yaan left them in charge of the day to day affairs, not interfering much aside from taking a tax for himself and the Bloody Totem Tribe, and of course making sure that they understood that they needed to obey his every command.
As time passed by and the situation stabilised, Yaan withdrew from the public eye and began to process his gains from this excursion.
The gains were not small.
Firstly, there was the direct improvement to his cultivation. He killed some 4-Star Realm warriors along his way towards the Earth Cry Tribe, but more importantly, Yaan had killed a Nirvana Life Realm cultivator.
Nirvana Life Realm cultivators possessed an abundance of Life Essence, at least tens of times more than any lower realm cultivator! Because of this, the Slaughter Aura he absorbed and refined was extremely powerful, resulting in an immediate and significant boost to his cultivation.
Yaan's progress jumped directly to 45%!
Even he did not expect such a ridiculous improvement! The difference between Rank 5 and Rank 6 was too large, the benefits he reaped from a single Nirvana Realm being surpassed that which he could obtain from dozens of 5-Star Realm warriors!
If he killed an immortal, the improvement would be even greater…
But Yaan shook his head, pushing this thought aside for now. He was not delusional, he knew that he had very little chance of defeating an immortal. It would already be a good result if he could manage to defend himself for a short period of time.
Moving on, he placed his spoils of battle on the ground before him. He had not yet taken any elixirs, since they would begin to lose their efficacy soon after being plucked, but even without the elixirs, the gains were tremendous.
Firstly, there were the spatial rings and all of their contents. Spatial rings were perhaps the only non-battle oriented vital treasures which were available to 4-Star Realm and some 3-Star Realm warriors on the Blood Plane. Spatial rings were such a convenient and widespread utility that they were produced in bulk by the powerful treasure refiners, allowing lower realm cultivators to possess them.
There were pills, natural treasures, vital treasures and so on, all stored within these spatial rings. Yaan always obtained these sorts of things following a large battle, but for the most part, he actually donated the loot to the Bloody Totem Tribe to distribute properly. He only kept what was useful to him, he saw no reason to horde countless useless treasures when those things could be used to strengthen his force.
Of course, he found some good things in the spatial rings and treasuries too. However, nothing could compared to the items that he tore out from the Earth Cry Tribe Ancestor's body.
A 6-Star Realm Vital Core, and the blood essence of a 6-Star Realm body temperer!
Blood essence was quite easy to form prior to the burning of the blood and the development of Obsidian Rank Blood. After a body temperer obtained Obsidian Rank Blood, they could not re-establish their blood essence until they had fused together their physical body and Vital Energy, ascending to the 4-Star Realm.
Every drop of blood essence produced by a body temperer who had fused together the two paths, starting their journey along the true body tempering path, was a valuable treasure. Throughout her life, the Earth Cry Tribe Ancestor managed to produce 125 drops of blood essence, but she burned away almost all of it during the battle, dying with only five drops remaining.
Yaan examined these drops with a serious expression. These small drops of blood were glowing magnificently, releasing a crimson light which illuminated the palm of his hand. An immense vitality was contained in each drop, but this vitality was unprocessed and very different to Yaan's own; trying to consume these droplets on their own would end up wasting much of their potential.
However, there was another usage for 6-Star Realm blood essence…
Yaan couldn't hep but look at the mysterious stone ring on his finger. This ring had been with him ever since he started cultivating, yet he still did not understand it at all. When it was dormant, it looked like an ordinary, poorly crafted stone ring. It was pitch black and lacked any discernible features.
No matter how Yaan attempted to probe it, the ring did not react. However, it was obviously not some ordinary piece of stone, because Rui's slumbering soul resided inside!
The ring only ever showed its ability when it absorbed energy to awaken Rui from her sleeping state. This time, she was in a much deeper sleep than usual. Back in the True-False Illusion World, the illusory Rui had told him that he would need three drops of blood essence from a Rank 6 beast to awaken her…
A Rank 6 beast, or a 6-Star Realm body temperer.
Yaan did not know if this would really work, after all, he had obtained this information from an illusory person. Even so, he now had the ability to attempt to awaken her…
"Not yet." Yaan shook his head, putting away the blood essence with a sigh.
He did not trust Rui at all. He only wanted to awaken her so that he could question her about some things, and also to continue receiving her guidance. She was an experienced demon after all, even if her motives were malicious, her assistance was invaluable.
However, Yaan would not allow her to regain consciousness until he felt certain that she would be unable to harm him. Even though she was currently reduced to a mere Origin Soul without a body, he knew that she still had some methods available to her. Rui knew soul spells, spells cast with the soul which directly targeted the soul of another living being.
"First, I should form my Spirit Soul. Once I form my Spirit Soul, she will no longer be able to target my soul so easily."
Qi refiners formed an Origin Soul, body temperers formed a Primal Soul, soul cultivators formed a Spirit Soul.
For Qi refiners and body temperers, transforming their soul was something that took place after reaching the peak of Rank 4, facilitating the breakthrough into Rank 5. For soul cultivators, it was very different…forming the Spirit Soul was the very first stage of soul cultivation!
The Spirit Soul Realm was the first stage for all forms of soul cultivation, as forming the Spirit Soul was always the first step needed to step onto these paths. However, Yaan would not be following any of the soul cultivation paths, he was following the Four Paths Cultivation Technique!
To reach Rank 5 in the Four Paths Cultivation Technique, the Vital Qi Spirit Realm, it was necessary to form the Spirit Soul. From there, the Spirit Soul needed to be continually strengthened until the peak of Rank 5.
Once Yaan reached the peak of Rank 5, his Spirit Soul would be at the same level as a Peak Rank 5 soul cultivator!
But for now, that was too far away…Yaan had never forgotten that his talent in soul cultivation was deemed to be absolute trash by the Spirit Plane Lord.
To form the Spirit Soul, the mortal soul first needed to be elevated to its peak potential. Yaan had never actively sought to cultivate his mortal soul, but due to his experience with subduing the 3rd Celestial Demon General, his mortal soul was almost at this peak. According to the Spirit Plane Lord, he would have no issues with raising his mortal soul to that peak, but he would struggle to even form his Spirit Soul, not to mention cultivating it through the Vital Qi Spirit Realm…
"I will find a way, no matter what." Yaan's gaze flashed with a resolute light. Thinking this, he turned his attention towards the 6-Star Realm Vital Core.
He could not consume blood essence directly without wasting a sizeable amount of the energy and vitality contained within, but Vital Cores were different. Vital Cores could be directly consumed by body temperers in order to further cultivate their own Vital Energy!
Because Yaan had recently refined the Slaughter Aura of a Nirvana Realm being, he would encounter no obstructions when he devoured this Vital Energy!
And so, Yaan directly swallowed the Vital Core.
A surge of Vital Energy exploded within him, briefly sending his blood into turmoil. Yaan quickly made use of his Sea of Consciousness and his Psyche Power to control the situation, forcefully subduing the chaotic waves storming through his body.
Devouring Vital Cores and their Vital Energy was common for warriors on the Blood Plane, but that's not to say that it was without its risks. Consuming a Vital Core which contained too much Vital Energy could lead to a dangerous situation.
That said, body tempering was a dangerous path in the first place, and the consumption of Vital Cores was relatively tame compared to many medicines. So long as you were prepared and had methods to suppress the turbulent energy, it was simple enough to absorb the energy without sustaining injury.
A while later, Yaan opened his eyes, showing a highly satisfied expression. A single 6-Star Realm core contained so much more energy than a 5-Star Realm core, his progress directly improved by another 15%!
Yaan was now 60% of the way through the Vital Qi Core Realm, meaning that he had reached the mid stage of the realm!
His rate of progress was shocking, but Yaan was not surprised by this. He knew that this was only the beginning of his rise.