Dao Jun could feel his vitality greatly aroused from its core, pushing away the gloomy shadow of death from his body.
Solving the lifespan problem was only the beginning—his goal wasn't just to survive, but to embark on cultivation and achieve immortality.
So there was no joy or excitement on his face. Instead, he focused on sensing and exploring the new changes brought about by this new cultivation method: soul refining cultivation.
Qi refining focuses on spiritual energy, and body refining focuses on the physical body, while soul refining, naturally, focuses on the soul.
But according to the theory behind soul refining cultivation, living beings do not possess true souls—only virtual souls, byproducts of life itself. Once life ends, the virtual soul disappears.
Because of this, the main focus of soul refining is to cultivate the virtual soul into a true soul that can exist independently without a physical body.
The first realm of soul refining was the Soul Ignition Realm. Its purpose was to ignite the ember of life—using the virtual soul as fuel to gather a soul foundation in the form of gases.
But Dao Jun didn't have a life ember inside his body. His true soul had already condensed and transformed into a soul body.
He had sacrificed his Nascent Soul and sea of consciousness, bypassing the early steps in soul refining cultivation and greatly enriching his soul foundation.
"Cultivation is not an independent path. Although they start at different points, as one progresses further, the rivers will meet and converge—such is the Great Dao. But it is not without its drawbacks. By sacrificing my Nascent Soul, my qi refining cultivation basically came to an end, and I'll need to start over from the beginning."
After arriving in this world, Dao Jun's qi refining cultivation had dropped to the midlle-stage of the Qi Refining Realm, though he had retained his Nascent Soul.
Rather than let it slowly degrade over time, he used it to its fullest.
"But it is also a blessing for me. My previous Nascent Soul was flawed—it had halted my progress for more than a century. Now, without it, I can start anew and use the results of the Great Universal Evolution deduction to cultivate more powerful methods."
Dao Jun controlled his soul body. Since there was no longer a sea of consciousness inside him, the soul body was now stationed in his mental space—purely constructed by thought.
After conducting various tests, Dao Jun concluded that the soul refining cultivation brought many changes.
First was soul energy—a resource unique to soul refining cultivators. It replaced blood energy in body refining and spiritual power in qi refining. It could be replenished naturally without harming the soul when consumed.
Second was the divine sense. Previously, it had been a cultivator's only means of performing soul-based methods, but it came with a fatal flaw: once used, it couldn't be recovered, and replenishing it was extremely difficult.
Now, it could recover naturally through the soul's regenerative ability, and even if damaged, it wouldn't cause major harm to the soul foundation.
Third was soul perception, a new sense with no blind spots and always active. Dao Jun's divine sense could cover sixty meters in diameter, and soul perception covered one-sixth of that.
Which meant everything within ten meters was constantly reflected in his mind.
Fourth was the dual perception—his soul body possessed its own mind, though not a separate self.
Both perceptions could communicate instantly, and each could think independently if needed.
Aside from these three crucial changes, there were many minor ones, mostly derived from the previous points.
For example, with a new type of energy—soul energy—old soul methods had to be modified to optimize efficiency and reduce risks that were once unavoidable.
After assessing his current state, Dao Jun moved on to his next task: recovering his crippled physical body.
He could have easily cast a spell to heal it, but due to the poor environmental conditions, he couldn't.
The spiritual energy in this world was strange—weak in both quantity and quality—so the moment his spiritual power made contact with it, it was instantly assimilated, weakening his spells and potentially destroying his qi refining cultivation.
Currently, Dao Jun's spiritual power was sealed within his dantian, preventing it from coming into contact with the outside world.
But this wasn't a permanent solution. Sooner or later, the seal would be breached—like trying to build a dam out of ice.
"It's impossible to use healing spells, but maybe I can work around it. Instead of using spiritual power, I can use soul energy. But that means I'll need to modify, develop, and optimize new spells—and that will take time. So the best option for now is to rely on external means."
Dao Jun considered his choices. After eliminating them one by one, he came up with a plan.
"As someone who's mastered hundreds of immortal arts, if I can't fix my situation, I might as well commit suicide with a tofu."
A smile crept across Dao Jun's face.
He moved his hand, pinching his finger while calmly calculating the heavenly secret.
Alchemy was good, but required materials—which he didn't have.
Talismans were also possible, but again, no materials.
That left only one option.
Divination art was about gathering and hiding information, following clues, and deducing the truth.
Now, Dao Jun was trying to find a suitable location to lay down a formation and establish a simple base.
But his fingers kept pinching, and his frown deepened.
In trying to calculate the heavenly secret, he encountered a strange obstacle—a thin, unseen film that prevented him from touching the hidden truth in the dark, greatly reducing his deductive abilities.
"Why is this happening?"
Dao Jun was a top-grade fourth-rank divination master. Even against a Divine Transformation Cultivator, he could deduce their secrets—let alone find a good spot in a forest.
"So the problem isn't me—it's this world."
Dao Jun said coldly. In his second life, divination art had allowed him to live easily and walk sideways.
But this new world's strange rules had greatly diminished that advantage.
After a moment of regret, he refocused.
"At least I'll be more careful in the future."
Although performing deductions was now difficult, it wasn't impossible—it just cost more time and energy.
Eventually, he found some clues and followed them.
The forest was lush and vibrant, but also dangerous—with unstable ground and poor navigability.
Dao Jun finally reached his destination: a flat area populated by trees of the same kind.
He spread out his divine sense, absorbing every detail, and began planning his arrangement.
The calculation didn't take long, and he moved quickly to carry it out.
Using his divine sense empowered by soul energy, he carved symbols and runes across the area.
But two parts of his design stood out—one filled with strange shapes that emitted a cursed, hideous aura, and another that was systematic and natural.
Before long, Dao Jun completed his initial setup and stood at the center of it.
His hands moved into various hand signs, and he muttered inaudibly under his breath.
The strange symbols buzzed and emitted dark red light, while the runes resonated gently with each other.
Under Dao Jun's precise control, the plants and ground around him came alive.
The grass slithered aside like countless snakes, and the trees shifted as though the ground were water.
The area soon transformed into a special tree ring, its center empty and clean.
Symbols emerged and reconnected the ring's boundary to its core.
The wind howled—not true wind, but the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
As it gathered, the formation transformed, amplifying its influence to draw even more energy.
After nine transformations, the center of the tree ring became foggy.
The concentration of spiritual energy reached its limit—then, like a mirage, everything faded and returned to the ordinary forest.
The tree ring formation and the fog disappeared.
Dao Jun touched the lingering fog around him. He had expected this, yet disappointment still bloomed.
He sighed and shook his head.
"If this were my previous world, this kind of formation could've made this place a mid-grade rank one cave abode. Now, it barely qualifies as a low-grade rank one—in theory. In reality, it's far from that."
But soon, disappointment gave way to a solemn, cheerful expression.
"Witchcraft rituals and formations are two different immortal arts. Though both create formations, their foundations and focuses differ. I only managed to make sure they wouldn't interfere with each other before. But now, with the help of the Great Universal Evolution deduction, I've fully fused them—and created this beautiful ritual formation."
The Great Universal Evolution not only helped Dao Jun comprehend new skills but also deepened his understanding of what he already knew.
The ritual formation he had created didn't just gather spiritual energy—it also had concealment and illusion effects.
Dao Jun wasn't looking down on potential danger—he simply knew his limits.
With only trees, grass, and limited time, this was the best he could manage.
But given enough time? Even if all he had were stones, he believed he could create a far more comprehensive ritual formation.
"Previously, it was impossible for me to cast spells using my spiritual energy, but with the help of the formation, I can now mobilize the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to cast spells or directly refine it to heal my body."
Dao Jun immediately sat down—but not on the ground. Instead, he floated mid-air and began to refine the spiritual fog around him. Using his body refining methods, he slowly healed his body, not only replenishing what was lacking but also improving it based on the old foundation.
Previously, Dao Jun cultivated three body refining techniques simultaneously: the Primordial Essence Devouring Great Art that focused on energy, the Immortal Inscription Body that focused on physical aspects, and the Thousand Tribulation Treasure Refinement that focused on turning the body into a weapon. Each of them had a different focus, and that was precisely why they could be practiced together.
That was then. Now, after applying the deduction of the Great Universal Evolution, Dao Jun had finally managed to merge these three body refining techniques into one. Not only were they fused together, but their unique strengths were preserved while their weaknesses were removed—thus creating the most powerful body refining technique: the Immortal Chaos Tribulation Body.
While Dao Jun focused on healing and refining his body, his soul body, on the other hand, focused on something else—modifying old soul spells, creating new ones, and optimizing them.
Three days passed in a blink.
Dao Jun, still floating, slowly opened his eyes. Divine light flickered within them before vanishing. He frowned.
As early as two days ago, someone had been constantly "tickling" his body. Even now, invisible ripples kept appearing on the surface of his body—a sign that someone was trying to divine his information.
Judging by the intensity of the tickling, Dao Jun had initially ignored this ignorant peeper and focused on his healing. But now that his body was fully restored and free of hidden injuries, it was time to deal with the other party.
"Your skill isn't even half of mine, yet you dare to deduce my secret? Do you take me for a fool?" Dao Jun snorted and began to counter-divine the other party. His fingers moved in pinching gestures, and soon various insights surged into his mind and unfolded into wondrous clarity.
The strange film was still present, obstructing Dao Jun's divination, but with his skill, it was enough to deduce several key points.
First of all, the other party had a higher cultivation level than him—and posed a potentially fatal threat if directly confronted.
After deducing this much, Dao Jun stopped. He wasn't stupid. Since he knew he couldn't face the other party head-on, the best course of action was to stop them from deducing him any further.
Due to the interference from the strange film, Dao Jun couldn't dig too deep into the other party's secrets, but it did give him a crucial insight.
"It's impossible to deduce something from nothing—like when I tried searching for a location to set up a ritual formation—but if the clues are strong enough, I can deduce the target, even if we've never met."
Because the other party had actively tried to deduce him, a causality link now existed between them, allowing Dao Jun to follow that thread.
"It'll be difficult to learn more about them, not only because of this world's strange rules, but because if I keep pushing the limit, they'll definitely notice." Dao Jun considered another angle. "Although their skill in divination is far inferior to mine, they might be attuned to this world's rules. That could make it easier for them to divine me—and just as easily allow them to notice if I strike back."
Following his usual principle of stability and caution, Dao Jun decided not to expose his full skill in divination.
So instead, he focused inward. Just like himself, the other party couldn't divine without a clue. Naturally, that meant the other party had obtained some kind of clue about Dao Jun—one he wasn't yet aware of.
Raising his finger in front of his face, Dao Jun pinched his middle finger and thumb together like a crab, clicking a few times. Since he was deducing himself, it was easy, and soon he found the answer. "So that's it."
Dao Jun had already sealed his spiritual power inside his dantian, but the seal was made of spiritual power as well. Though subtle, there was still a friction between the seal and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. That friction—an anomaly in the natural flow—was what the other party was using to divine him.
"That's it." Dao Jun smiled. He'd been expecting some grand conspiracy or deep secret, but in the end, it was just this. The realization significantly reduced the pressure on his future plans.
"I already deduced several soul methods over the past three days. One of them was to seal spiritual power entirely within my body. I thought using a soul spell alone would be enough, but just to be sure, I'll combine it with a secret body refining technique."
Inside his mental space, the soul body formed hand seals, mobilized soul energy, and cast a soul spell to seal the spiritual energy. At the same time, Dao Jun used the blood energy in his body to forge a secondary seal over his dantian.
With his attainments, he combined three systems—spiritual power, soul energy, and blood energy—into one solid seal that fully isolated his spiritual power from the outside world.
The spiritual fog around him stirred and was drawn into his body. It gathered around his abdomen, below the diaphragm, and soon materialized into a physical seal. The seal had two distinct halves: a silvery-white top and a deep red bottom.
Dao Jun frowned as he looked at the manifested seal. It looked fine… but he didn't like the location. It reminded him of something from his first life. So, he shifted his blood energy slightly and controlled his flesh and skin to cover it.
Now it was no longer visible to the naked eye.
Shaking off those awkward memories, Dao Jun put his plans to resume cultivation on hold. Initially, he had planned to stay here in peace and cultivate.
But now, knowing someone stronger had taken notice of him, Dao Jun adjusted his plans.
He unfolded his legs and landed on the ground. "I need to understand this world better first. I need to gather information about the cultivation methods here—maybe they're different from mine—and get a sense of the power structure."
Dao Jun suspected the cultivation methods of this world were indeed different. After all, it was impossible to even begin qi refining here with how poor the spiritual energy was. Let alone maintaining it—those hoping to start wouldn't even get past the first step. Likewise, body refining required rare elixirs and precious medicines to temper the body. But with low-quality spiritual energy, naturally the spiritual treasures would be equally lacking.
A dragon can't grow in shallow ponds. Treasure can't form in desolate places.
Having made up his mind, Dao Jun didn't set off immediately. He waved his hand and began manipulating the ritual formation.
As someone who had mastered hundreds of immortal arts, if he left directly without making some tricks and preparations, it would be an insult to all the time and effort he'd put into his cultivation.