Yuan Ming either continually bestowed favors upon the East Sea, answering their prayers, satisfying their desires, in order to receive their continuous gratitude and faith,

or he would let the cultivators of the East Sea forever remember the majesty of the Nether Moon God, forever remember the cost of abandoning their faith, by forcefully suppressing the East Sea, making everyone sincerely fear, daring not to disbelieve or fail to worship.

The latter approach was indeed the pattern of the Wu Yue Sect before, and also one of the underlying purposes for stirring up the troubles in the East Sea.

Yuan Ming was not there to replace the Wu Yue Sect, so he would certainly not consider the second method; yet the first method was a sort of indirect bondage to Yuan Ming and also did not align with his own intentions.

He defeated the Wu Yue Sect, the East Sea Alliance provided Desire Power, and essentially, this was just a transaction, Yuan Ming was clear about this, and Wan Tianren and the others also understood this; it's just that no one pointed it out, with an unspoken mutual understanding.

The world of cultivators wasn't entirely cold-hearted, friendly feelings could exist, but more often than not, it was about interests.

Moreover, Yuan Ming had not yet broken through the secret skill of the Spoken Witch, and even if he obtained more Desire Power, he could not achieve a breakthrough; he could only save it all in the White Jade Lotus Platform for his own use. Therefore, he was not planning to do much about the foreseeable diminishment of the Desire Power.

When the "transaction" of pacifying the Wu Yue Sect ended, to believe or not to believe in the Nether Moon God would also become a choice for the people of the East Sea.

Having made up his mind, Yuan Ming subsequently ended his cultivation session and opened his eyes, preparing to leave seclusion.

"Have you dealt with all the problems of the Divine Soul?" Xi Ying noticed that Yuan Ming had awakened.

In the past half-month, Xi Ying had not left Yuan Ming's side and had always been nearby as Yuan Ming's protector.

"Almost taken care of. However, without a follow-up Cultivation Method, my Divine Soul Cultivation can only be temporarily slowed down, and the absorption of Desire Power also needs to be slowed, or a similar situation might occur again," Yuan Ming shook his head, saying with a wry smile.

"Sigh, the mnemonic for the Seventh Layer of the Moonlight Technique is still in the hands of the Wu Yue God. Until his orders are fulfilled, even my father can't get his hands on it; there's nothing I can do either," Xi Ying said.

"You've already helped me enough. Besides, now that we know the Seventh Layer Technique truly exists, we will have our chance to obtain it. But staying in the East Sea seems to be of no use anymore. I need to venture into other regions in search of opportunities, maybe I can find other Spoken Witch Techniques too," Yuan Ming said.

"Since that's the case, why don't you come with me back to the Southern Border first, starting from there, how about that?" Xi Ying pondered for a moment and then suddenly suggested.

"Southern Border? That's not a bad idea; I can also take the opportunity to see old friends again. But why are you suddenly thinking of going back there? Did you receive some news?" Yuan Ming asked, slightly taken aback.

"Not really, I just want to make a trip to Red Lotus Island along the way, to return this body to the Xiao Family," Xi Ying pointed to her own chest.

Yuan Ming then remembered that Xi Ying's current appearance was not her original form, but she had borrowed the body of Xiao Ying, a cultivator of Red Lotus Island. He had almost forgotten about this after being accustomed to her presence.

"Speaking of which, didn't you say initially that you just wanted to borrow her identity to have some fun? How did it end up being used until today?" Yuan Ming suddenly became curious.

"At first, I indeed only borrowed it to have some fun, but then, I happened to discover a Secret Technique that required her Physical Body for research. Previously, practicing the Ju Mang Spirit Technique was also for that Secret Technique. I've almost finished my research now, so there's no need to continue with the Ju Mang Spirit Technique. Naturally, the body should be returned to its original owner," Xi Ying explained.

"I see. In that case, I'll accompany you..."

As Yuan Ming began to agree to Xi Ying's invitation to the Southern Border, he suddenly felt a burning sensation on his right arm, making him retract his arm in pain, showing a pained expression.

"What's wrong?" Xi Ying became anxious.

Before Yuan Ming could reply, the Stealing Heaven Tripod suddenly flew out from the mark on his arm. A powerful suction emerged from the Tripod, and in the next instant, it pulled Yuan Ming's main soul and both his first and second split souls out of his Sea of Consciousness and into the Tripod.

Yuan Ming was caught off-guard and immediately tried to call back his Divine Soul, only to find that it seemed to be sealed by something, failing to respond to his summons for the moment. Ple$as$e r!ead t.h$i*s c*h!a$pter@ on its o%r*i&gina+l- p+lat-for!m#—#*-.

At the same time, Yuan Ming also sharply realized that his connection with the Stealing Heaven Tripod was rapidly weakening, to the point he could barely sense the space within the Tripod.

With his own Divine Soul no longer his immediate concern, Yuan Ming quickly moved his parents, as well as the items stored in the Stealing Heaven Tripod, out.

No sooner had he done this than the Stealing Heaven Tripod completely sealed itself off.

From that moment on, Yuan Ming found he had entirely lost his sense of the space inside the Tripod, and naturally, he could no longer enter the Stealing Heaven Tripod.

However, his connection to the Stealing Heaven Tripod hadn't completely broken off; although much weaker than before, it had merely returned to the level before he had advanced to Core Formation and opened the space within the Tripod.

Yuan Ming looked at the Stealing Heaven Tripod floating before him and once again became acutely aware that he knew far too little about this Divine Artifact that had been with him for so long.

He took a deep breath, first took his parents out of the retreat to settle them down, and then he and Xi Ying went into seclusion once more, studying the sudden change in the Stealing Heaven Tripod together.

Yuan Ming, who cultivated his soul, magic, and body, still had his Nascent Soul Cultivator maintaining his divine consciousness and operating his physical body, even though his divine soul was not within his body.

After sensing for a while, he unexpectedly discovered that although his main soul and split souls were all in a state of sealing that couldn't be recalled, they were still connected to his body, able to share what they saw and sensed with himself.

At the same time, Yuan Ming found that both his main soul and split souls were now in a hazy white space, surrounded by an exceptionally pure wish power that streamed around his divine soul like water.

Above this space, eight white jade dragon heads floated, each as lively as a true dragon, constantly spitting out white flames from their mouths, forming a dense fire net that covered the top of Yuan Ming's divine soul like a sieve.

Further above, countless chaotic wish powers fell from the void, and after being refined through the white fire net, their chaotic emotions were completely removed, leaving behind the most pure and refined wish power, which was stored around Yuan Ming's divine soul.

Could this be the inside of the White Jade Lotus Platform?

A guess emerged in Yuan Ming's mind; maybe the reason the wish power provided by the Stealing Heaven Tripod was so pure was due to the contribution of these eight white jade dragon heads and the fire net.

However, how should the divine soul leave this place?

Yuan Ming tried to let his divine soul approach the white fire net, and although he did not feel anything unusual as the distance closed, the moment his divine soul touched the white flames, an intense pain swept over his divine soul, forcing him to cry out in agony as his divine soul suffered severe damage and lost control, immediately plummeting into the pure wish power below.

But quickly, the pure wish power in the space flowed into his divine soul involuntarily, repairing the damage. In less than a breath's time, Yuan Ming's divine soul had returned to its original state, back under his control.

Meanwhile, Yuan Ming also discovered that after that ordeal, his divine soul had become much more solidified, and the soul power within seemed to have been further refined.

Yuan Ming was secretly thrilled, and the slight irritation that had sprung from the anomaly of the Stealing Heaven Tripod also vanished.

After a brief pause, he attempted once more to bring his divine soul close to the white flames. Each time it got burned and quickly repaired by the pure wish power, and although he couldn't break through the fire net's blockade or leave the white space, his divine soul gained considerable improvement.

Yet, this process of improvement was too painful. After a few attempts, Yuan Ming soon felt his spirit could no longer bear it, and he had to temporarily give up and let his divine soul rest for a while.

Through these trials, he also realized that the white flames seemed to be a natural bane to his soul power, and it was simply impossible for his divine soul to break through the fire net and escape the white space on its own.

But as a Soul Cultivator's methods all depend on the divine soul, and with Yuan Ming's main soul and both the first and second split souls trapped, his soul cultivation techniques naturally couldn't be used. This had a severe impact on his power, but for the moment, there was nothing he could do. He had no choice but to accept his fate and let his divine soul stay within the white space for now.

Next, Yuan Ming began to check the other abilities of the Stealing Heaven Tripod and found that except for not being able to enter the tripod's inner space, other capabilities, such as collecting wish power and incense possession, were not affected and could still be used as usual.

Yuan Ming let out a long, relieved sigh, his heart settling a bit.

Seeing this, Xi Ying also inquired about the current state of the Stealing Heaven Tripod.

"Could it be that you've injected too much wish power, causing the Stealing Heaven Tripod to transform again?" Xi Ying guessed after hearing Yuan Ming's description.

"Perhaps, but the important thing now is not to figure out the reason but to find a solution. Otherwise, my cultivation as a Soul Cultivator would be no different from being crippled," Yuan Ming replied with a wry smile.

"If you can't get out from the inside, why don't you try to approach it from the outside? I remember you said that you haven't fully refined the forbidden seals on the tripod, right?" Xi Ying asked.

"The banned seals on the tripod are complex. I have been studying them in my spare time, but with little progress," Yuan Ming contemplated.

"No matter the level of the treasure, the forbidden seals placed upon it all follow the same principles. You'd better continue to study knowledge about Forbidden Arrays; it should help you refine the Stealing Heaven Tripod," Xi Ying suggested.

"Alright. Since we are going to Red Lotus Island, the Xiao Family is known for their formations, and they should have lots of classics related to forbiddance. I can borrow and study them. On the trip there, you, being an Array Master, can also provide me with a lot of guidance. By the way, you know I can possess others using incense. Why don't you let me possess you for a bit to make learning easier?" Yuan Ming's eyes lit up, immediately making the suggestion.

"Absolutely not!" For some reason, Xi Ying gave Yuan Ming a glare and flatly refused his possession suggestion.

Yuan Ming was puzzled, and Xi Ying, as if fearing he would continue to ask, took out a number of Array Formation Manuals with a flip of her hand.

"You must learn about formations on your own; don't always think of taking shortcuts. Take these classics and read them. If there's anything you don't understand, organize your questions and ask me," Xi Ying insisted, handing over the Array Formation Manuals to Yuan Ming.

"Possessing to learn isn't really a shortcut; it allows for a deeper understanding of array setting techniques and the flow of spiritual power," Yuan Ming still seemed reluctant.

"Just read your books earnestly. For formations and cultivation techniques, whether you possess or not, the effect is much the same," Xi Ying was clearly not willing to discuss the matter further with Yuan Ming.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming had no choice but to let it go.

Now that they had a clear goal, the two no longer continued their seclusion and quickly began to arrange some matters before leaving the East Sea.