Chapter 85: Dao Soldier

Having abruptly ascended from ordinary individuals to Foundation Establishment cultivators, Qin Wei and his group struggled to control their newfound powers. They spent half a month on Qingping Island acclimating before being teleported back to the Qin Manor.

Upon their return, Qin Shu cast Stellar Transformation on them to conceal their cultivation levels from casual detection.

Qin Ying remained on Qingping Island, continuing her cultivation. Core Formation required a significant accumulation of spiritual energy; she might remain in seclusion for another month.

Qin Shu stayed behind, watching over things. After using his Karma True Yuan to refine Qin Hao’s body, he sent him back to continue his education.

He hadn’t yet examined the first two returns from the World Will’s feedback. Now that he had the time, he decided to see what they were.

A jade bottle and a peach pit.

The peach pit contained an incredibly potent life force, similar in nature to that of the little peach tree seed but far stronger.

“Could this be a pit from the magical peach?” he wondered, somewhat uncertain. Even if it were a pit requiring three thousand years to mature, that would still make it quite valuable.

However, waiting three thousand years for it to mature was no small matter.

Qin Shu pondered for a moment and ultimately decided against planting the pit on Qingping Island.

After years of recovery, the Microscopic Heavenly Cave had transformed. The central peak now channeled spiritual energy into a river, which saturated the entire land. It seemed the soil was now suitable for planting the Pan Peach seed.

Qin Shu carefully placed the seed at the foot of the mountain and covered it with soil.

Next, he cast the Spiritual Rain Technique, imbued with the power of karma. A wave of spiritual rain descended upon the spot.

The karma-infused rainwater seeped into the ground, nourishing the seed. The vital energy within began to stir, and the seedling was on the verge of breaking through the soil.

However, it remained stubbornly underground, unwilling to emerge just yet.

Qin Shu opened the jade bottle. At its bottom lay a single drop of viscous liquid, pulsing with an extraordinary life force.

He recognized it instantly: Heavenly Dew Condensation, a rare elixir that could dramatically accelerate plant growth. Even a single drop, combined with the peach pit from the inner cave, could advance the tree to at least half its maturity, saving millennia of time.

Inspiration struck. His mind charged with spiritual awareness, he used his Discernment of Karma technique to unravel the mysteries within the drop. He sank into a profound, ineffable state.

He infused the bottle with true karma essence, merging it with the contents.

As he watched in awe, the drop of Heavenly Dew Condensation slowly began to grow. Spirit energy from the surrounding environment started to converge at the bottle’s mouth.

After a day, a second drop had formed.

“I knew it would work!” Qin Shu laughed heartily. He hurried to the spirit medicine garden and extracted the newly formed drop. Combining it with his power of karma, he cast the Spiritual Rain Technique once more.

In an instant, within a radius of a hundred kilometers, including the little pan peaches and iceheart pears, everything ripened simultaneously.

Only the xenogenic plant had just begun to set fruit.

It was a vine with seven tendrils, climbing up the central stone pillar, bearing seven fruit pods resembling beanstalks.

Coincidentally, they were the seven colors: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple.

At that moment, he realized it was a near eighth-rank xenogenic plant, producing seeds called Seven-Colored Mysterious Beans. These beans were inedible but could be used for refining equipment.

Red represented fire, orange represented earth, yellow represented metal, green represented wind, cyan represented wood, blue represented water, and purple represented thunder.

Qin Shu, unable to wait for them to mature, spent another day condensing Heavenly Dew, using it to fully ripen the Seven-Colored Mysterious Beans.

The pods burst open instantly, sending forty-nine perfectly round beans flying in all directions.

With swift action, his hands formed claws, unleashing a powerful gravitational force that drew back all forty-nine fist-sized beans.

Now the art of sowing beans to form an army had a purpose.

As a divine ability, the beans sown to form an army naturally couldn’t be ordinary beans; they needed to be specially refined.

After bearing the Seven-Colored Mysterious Beans, the plant instantly withered, as it could only fruit once in its lifetime.

Each bean was plump and substantial, with a resilient, robust hull. No additional ingredients were needed; they could be refined directly into formidable Daoist weapons.

Qin Ying remained in seclusion.

Qin Shu entered the Pill Concocting Room.

The Karma Cauldron spun in mid-air, while Xiao Yan lay sprawled nearby, snoring away.

Just then, a batch of Extreme Yang Pills finished concocting. With a soft ding, Xiao Yan didn’t even open his eyes. Using a tendril of divine sense, he collected the pills before loading the next set of materials into the furnace.

Below him stood rows upon rows of medicine bottles—nearly a thousand in all.

Since his recent transformation using the Cyan Lotus Dao Seed, the Karma Cauldron could now produce all manner of medicinal pills, from low-tier to just below immortal elixirs.

Qin Shu reached out, stopping the next batch from being processed.

He extinguished the cauldron’s true flames and took it into his hand.

Xiao Yan finally opened his eyes. “Ah, master, you’re here!”

“I am indeed. How many Origin Recovery Pills has the Karma Cauldron made?”

Origin Recovery Pills were used to restore true essence, ranging from second-tier to fourth-tier effectiveness. Qin Shu had instructed the cauldron to produce only fourth-tier pills, each of perfect quality.

A single pill could fully replenish the true essence of an ordinary Golden Core awakened being.

However, Qin Shu estimated that for himself, it would take a minimum of ten pills to achieve the same effect.

The medicinal properties were gentle, allowing the entire potency to be converted into true essence during a major circulation cycle without leaving any residual toxic elements.

Such medicinal pills were highly popular among fourth-rank awakened beings.

“I have a total of three hundred bottles,” Xiao Yan said, opening his mouth to spit out the jars.

“Good job!” Qin Shu collected the bottles and patted Xiao Yan on the head. “You can now sleep well. I’m going to refine something.”

“Goodbye, master.” Xiao Yan’s eyes narrowed as he transformed into a streak of azure light, flying into the blood contract space.

The Karma Cauldron hovered before Qin Shu, its lid open. He placed the scarlet fire bean inside, and the Karma True Fire ignited, beginning the initial refinement process.

Scattering Beans into Soldiers condensed Dao soldiers, essentially battle puppets.

As he refined the bean, Qin Shu used the Scattering Beans into Soldiers divine ability to inscribe Daoist patterns within the scarlet fire bean. This not only imbued it with a soul but also granted it two additional skills:

The Great Fire Escape from the Five Elements Great Escape, and the martial arts divine ability: Mixuan Fiery Hand.

Limitless spiritual qi gathered and congregated within the Karma Cauldron.

As the refinement process continued over time, the scarlet fire bean began to shrink, but its spiritual power grew increasingly stronger.

Sixteen days later, the fist-sized beans had grown to thumb size. They flew out of the Karma Cauldron and automatically landed in Qin Shu’s hand.

These were the Dao soldiers he had forged, inherently attuned to him from the start.

By activating the spiritual essence and Dao markings within each bean, streams of crimson fire ignited, coalescing into fiery elemental forms that solidified into tangible beings.

Before him stood a formidable warrior, two meters tall, with hair as red as flames. His upper body was bare, exuding a mighty presence. He bowed low, saying, “Greetings, my lord. Please grant me a name.”

The emanations from this warrior indicated a fifth-rank soldier, equipped with Great Fire Escape and Primordial Fiery Hand techniques, matching the combat prowess of a fifth-rank being.

Qin Shu pondered for a moment before stating, “Fire corresponds to the ‘Li’ trigram; thus, your surname shall be Li. Let your name be Li Jia.”

“Many thanks for the bestowed name, my lord,” Li Jia responded, paying his respects with a deep bow.

In the very next instant, Qin Shu waved his hand, transmuting Li Jia back into a bean. The surface of the bean was then engraved with “Li Jia” written in Dao markings.

Creating a fifth-rank super soldier within a month was indeed a satisfactory achievement for Qin Shu.

Let alone the possibility of this super soldier eventually upgrading to a seventh-rank, making it a decent investment for combat casualties.

Meanwhile, within the Great Array of Five Elements, after a month of cultivation, Qin Ying finally emerged from seclusion, having formed a Virtual Pill within her body.

Qin Shu performed Stellar Transformation on her, and after another month of adjustment, he returned to the Qin Manor.

Once again, Qingping Island was left with only Qin Shu.

With nothing pressing, he devoted his time to cultivation and refining Dao soldiers—though “bean soldiers” might be more fitting.

Drawing from his previous experience, he completed the remaining Dao soldiers in just one year.

In total, forty-nine soldiers, each with fifth-rank power.

This efficiency stemmed from a solid foundation. After all, these seeds were born from a near-eighth-rank xenoplant, their strength undeniable.

As these Dao soldiers were completed, Qin Shu discovered that every group of seven distinct soldiers could form an array, creating a new entity.

This new entity emanated a sixth-rank aura.

Alas, it was not sustainable, functioning more as a burst-type secret technique.