"Let's enhance Soul Power first."
After a moment's thought, Ye Yunfei decided internally.
He planned to begin by refining and absorbing the Soul Soup before him, along with some Soul Force energy crystals and those few Divine Pills imbued with soul energy.
"I wonder if I can refine and absorb Divine Pills now. I'll give it a try."
His gaze fell upon the several Divine Pills. After all, Divine Pills, especially soul-based ones, were extremely high-grade. If the Soul Body couldn't withstand them, it could easily sustain damage.
"I'll first use the Soul Soup to improve the quality of my Soul Body, then attempt to refine these pills."
With a wave of his hand, Ye Yunfei extracted a portion of Soul Soup, roughly a bowl's worth, and began refining and absorbing it.
Boom...
As both of Ye Yunfei's Soul Bodies simultaneously refined and absorbed the Soul Soup before him, he immediately felt a grand, booming reverberation of energy begin to sound within his Soul Sea.
This sound seemed to contain profound mysteries of the great Dao — sacred, vast, and deafening, forming rolling echoes within the Soul Sea, as if the Heavenly Dao itself was proclaiming and conveying a certain sublime, abstruse meaning of laws.
Amidst this grand resonance, Ye Yunfei felt both his Soul Bodies simultaneously beginning to sublimate, their quality constantly climbing.
For the time that followed, Ye Yunfei continuously used both Soul Bodies to refine and absorb the Soul Soup.
"The quality of this Soul Soup is far too high!"
The energy within his two Soul Bodies was continuously rising. Ye Yunfei's Soul Body energy had already far surpassed that of ordinary Perfect Demigods, and now, after refining this Soul Soup, it had shot far beyond the realm of common Perfect Demigods.
Inside the Phantom Tower, about half a year passed.
"I've finally finished refining and absorbing all the Soul Soup I obtained. The energy of my two Soul Bodies is now at least fifty to sixty times greater than before."
"Ordinary Perfect Demigods are no match for me. However, I wonder how great the distance between my current Soul Body energy and that of a true Deity is."
After sensing the current energy intensity of his two Soul Bodies, Ye Yunfei felt quite satisfied.
"There are still some Soul Force energy crystals here, which likely belong to the Deity level as well."
"Since I've refined so much Soul Soup, I should be able to absorb these Deity-level energy crystals now, right?"
Ye Yunfei retrieved a large pile of pitch-black energy crystals.
These energy crystals were also found within the spatial ring gifted by Jiang Xiaojie, emitting a dense aura of Soul Force energy. The aura was so thick it formed patches of black mist floating above the crystals.
Both of Ye Yunfei's Soul Bodies and all twenty of his Soul Force Planets simultaneously unleashed powerful suction force, beginning to absorb the Soul Force energy contained within these black energy crystals.
"These are indeed Deity-level energy crystals!"
As the two Soul Bodies and twenty Soul Force Planets absorbed energy from the black crystals, an expression of pleasant surprise immediately appeared on Ye Yunfei's face.
The Soul Force energy contained within these black crystals was simply too high-grade.
Over the next half month or so, Ye Yunfei refined a large pile of the black energy crystals. The quality of both his Soul Bodies and all twenty Soul Force Planets increased by a significant margin.
"Now only these few Divine Pills remain. I wonder if my Soul Body quality is sufficient to refine and absorb them now?"
With a wave of his hand, Ye Yunfei took out three Divine Pills.
These three pills all belonged to the Soul Force energy category. Divine Pills differed from Soul Soup and Deity-level energy crystals in that their medicinal potency was far more domineering. If the Soul Body's quality was insufficient, it could easily be overwhelmed.
In comparison, Soul Soup and energy crystals were naturally formed, with gentler, more natural properties. Additionally, since Ye Yunfei had refined many Divine Crystals before, he could relatively easily refine the Soul Soup and Deity-level energy crystals. However, Deity-level medicinal pills were a different story.
Staring at the three Divine Pills before him, Ye Yunfei slowly took a deep breath. He then retrieved a large quantity of various healing pills specifically designed for repairing Soul Bodies and placed them beside him as preparation. If anything went wrong during the refinement and absorption process, causing damage to his Soul Bodies, he could immediately begin healing and restoration.
Following this, Ye Yunfei began refining the first Divine Pill. Both his Soul Bodies and all twenty Soul Force Planets worked together, releasing powerful Soul Force energy to firmly protect his Soul Sea. Then Ye Yunfei opened his mouth, and the pill, drawn by his energy, slowly flew into it.
BOOM!
With a mighty blast, the pill instantly erupted within Ye Yunfei's body. An immense, almost unimaginable amount of Soul Force energy surged forth like catastrophic floodwaters and wild beasts, rampaging chaotically inside him.
Ye Yunfei's two Soul Bodies and twenty Soul Force Planets simultaneously released powerful Soul Force energy to guide the energy bursting from the pill.
Initially, the Soul Force energy released by the pill was extremely violent, wreaking havoc inside Ye Yunfei's body uncontrollably, causing him pain throughout his being.
"Truly worthy of a Divine Pill."
Ye Yunfei inwardly smiled wryly, not daring to slack off in the slightest.
With utmost concentration, his two Soul Bodies and twenty Soul Force Planets were pushed to their limits, exerting their full ability to control and guide the energy released by the pill.
It wasn't until a month later that the pill's energy was finally controlled and guided. This Soul Force energy slowly converged, forming orderly streams that flowed sequentially into his Soul Sea. In the end, all the streams flowed into the Soul Sea one after another, where they were refined and absorbed by both Soul Bodies and all twenty Soul Force Planets.
Ye Yunfei's two Soul Bodies and twenty Soul Force Planets saw their energy increase by a significant margin — at least more than ten times their original amount.
"Worthy of being a Divine Pill! Their effect on us Demigods is simply too great."
"I wonder how much distance remains between the energy intensity of my two Soul Bodies and that of a true Deity?"
"Even if there is a gap, it shouldn't be very large now, right?"
Having successively refined Soul Soup, Deity-level Soul Force energy crystals, and now a Divine Pill during this period, Ye Yunfei's two Soul Bodies had undergone an earth-shattering transformation. Compared to before, they no longer belonged to the same level.
"There are still two pills left. After refining these two Divine Pills, my Soul Bodies will improve by yet another large margin."
Looking at the remaining two Divine Pills, Ye Yunfei said calmly.
Over the following period, Ye Yunfei began refining the two remaining Divine Pills.
Another two months passed.
BOOM...
A dazzling radiance of Soul Power erupted from behind Ye Yunfei's head, illuminating a large area of the surrounding space with extreme clarity. Then, two small figures slowly walked out from Ye Yunfei's Soul Sea and stood above his head.
These two small figures were identical to Ye Yunfei. Their entire bodies were crystalline and translucent, as if forged from primordial divine jade.
The two figures continuously emanated billowing Soul Power radiance, appearing incredibly divine and marvelous.
"I feel your two Soul Bodies may not have reached the Deity level yet, but they're very close."
"It's said that the Soul Body of a Deity can detach from the mortal flesh and exist independently. It seems that is indeed true."
"Your two Soul Bodies can now completely detach from your physical body and become two independent entities."
Hun Lao, observing the two Soul Bodies standing above Ye Yunfei's head, couldn't help but exclaim in wonder.
"I feel the same. My two Soul Bodies can now exist independently even if detached from my fleshly body, and can even cultivate and grow separately."
Ye Yunfei said.
"The strength of a Deity's Soul Body is one of the reasons they are so powerful."
"It's said that Deities are extremely difficult to kill. Even if a Deity's physical body is completely destroyed, and all its bloodline essence is eradicated, as long as the Soul Body remains, the Deity can reorganize the physical body without any loss in strength."
"Therefore, to completely annihilate a Deity, the most crucial step is to destroy their Soul Body — and it must be completely extinguished, leaving not a single trace behind. Only then is it considered total eradication."
"But that is exceptionally difficult."
"Thus, although many Deities throughout the world have fallen, they still leave behind numerous energy avatars, Soul Power clones, or Soul Power imprints. Given the right opportunity, they can even be reborn."
Hun Lao spoke again.
"I wonder if your two Soul Bodies can now compare with those of a true Deity?"
Hun Lao scrutinized the two Soul Bodies floating above Ye Yunfei's head and asked.
"Next time I encounter a Deity, I'll observe and compare carefully to find out."
Ye Yunfei replied.
"The cultivation of Soul Bodies and Soul Force energy ends here for now."
"Next will be the cultivation of techniques and martial skills."
Ye Yunfei first summoned the Nine Divine Beasts from his Nine Palaces Totem Wheel. Then, from the spatial ring gifted by Jiang Xiaojie, he retrieved a large pile of cultivation resources. The majority of these resources were of Deity-level quality, and there were a great many.
Ye Yunfei took out a portion of these resources for the Nine Divine Beasts to devour.
"This is the first time the Nine Divine Beasts have devoured Deity-level cultivation resources. I wonder how much these Deity-level resources can improve their strength."
Ye Yunfei felt a sense of anticipation.
Ye Yunfei placed a large pile of cultivation resources before the Nine Divine Beasts, and they began to devour them.
He then took out another large pile of Divine Crystals and placed them around his body. The spatial ring gifted by Jiang Xiaojie contained over one hundred thousand Divine Crystals, so Ye Yunfei currently had no worries about running out.
"Now to begin cultivating the legacies of the Golden Wheel Imperial Dynasty."
Ye Yunfei murmured to himself.
"Among the three martial skills Jiang Xiaojie imparted to me, I'll start with the Golden Wheel Armor. It's a defensive skill. Once mastered, combined with the quality of my physical body, it will make my form even more resistant to damage."
After studying the inheritance imparted by Jiang Xiaojie, Ye Yunfei decided to cultivate the Golden Wheel Armor first.
The inheritance Jiang Xiaojie bestowed upon Ye Yunfei primarily consisted of three martial skills: the Golden Wheel Armor, the Nine Dragons Supreme Step, and the Imperial Dao Divine Fist. Besides these three martial skills, there was also a cultivation technique known as the Emperor Heart Method.
"This is what I'll do. I'll use one Soul Body and ten Soul Force Planets to cultivate the Golden Wheel Armor. The other Soul Body and ten Soul Force Planets will be used to comprehend the Emperor Heart Method. Both will be cultivated simultaneously."
Ye Yunfei silently devised his plan.
Over the following period, Ye Yunfei began cultivating both the Golden Wheel Armor and the Emperor Heart Method at the same time.
"So profound and mysterious!"
"I'm afraid it will take me a very long time to possibly achieve mastery."
After reading through the contents of the Golden Wheel Armor and the Emperor Heart Method repeatedly, Ye Yunfei couldn't help but sigh.
He then began concentrating wholeheartedly on comprehending and cultivating them.
These two martial and cultivation techniques were of extremely high grade, and cultivating them was immensely difficult, requiring supremely high comprehension aptitude. Fortunately, Ye Yunfei possessed two Soul Bodies and ten Soul Force Planets. Moreover, although his two Soul Bodies hadn't yet reached the true Deity level, they weren't far off.
Thus, as time slowly passed, Ye Yunfei's understanding of these two techniques deepened more and more.
Unbeknownst to him, five years passed inside the Phantom Tower.
After five years.
"I can finally initially execute the Golden Wheel Armor technique."
Ye Yunfei suddenly spoke softly.
He then willed it, and a billowing divine radiance erupted from his entire body, one rapidly spinning dharma wheel after another constantly suspending on the surface of his form.
These dharma wheels were golden in color, spinning at high speeds and cleaving through the surrounding space.
Furthermore, their numbers were great — dense and thick — instantly covering Ye Yunfei's body surface layer upon layer.
At a glance, it looked as if Ye Yunfei's body was draped in a golden dharma robe.
This golden dharma robe was composed of countless golden dharma wheels. As the wheels continuously spun rapidly, the entire golden robe appeared to be in constant, subtle motion.
"This Golden Wheel Armor can both defend and attack."
Ye Yunfei looked at the Golden Wheel Armor on his body, sensing its aura, and couldn't help but nod slightly.
"Coordinated with the Emperor Heart Method, the power of this armor should be even further elevated, shouldn't it?"
Ye Yunfei spoke.
Then, suddenly, Ye Yunfei's entire aura underwent a drastic change. An emperor's majesty emanated from his being, instantly bestowing upon him a domineering and dignified sense of overlooking all within the cosmos, surveying all under heaven, and awing all directions. Even more, the faint phantom of an ancient emperor vaguely manifested behind him, looking down upon all living beings in the world.
Bolstered by this emperor's aura, the Golden Wheel Armor on Ye Yunfei's body appeared even more dazzling and radiant.
The spinning speed of the numerous golden wheels increased. The surrounding space, cut by these wheels, began to show large amounts of dark spatial cracks.
"What a terrifying emperor's aura! Unleashed suddenly in the midst of battle, it can instantly affect the opponent's state of mind."
Seeing the emperor's aura blossoming from Ye Yunfei's entire being, Hun Lao couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.
"My current mastery of the Emperor Heart Method is still not very high. Once its realm is elevated in the future, its power will be even greater."
Ye Yunfei stated, feeling quite satisfied with the technique's effects.