To many people, this night was calm.
However, to some people, there was a wind tonight that blew into their hearts and caused huge waves.
Just like the Seventh Prince who had returned to his mansion. He looked like he was meditating but his emotions were fluctuating intensely. The contents of the jade slip kept appearing in his mind like the devil's whispers.
There was also the ancestor of the Variant Immortal School, Chen Daoze. As the green snowflake floated out and the purple soul seed fused into him, his soul threads underwent monstrous changes.
Their numbers soared.
The density of his soul surpassed everyone in the Variant Immortal School and had long reached an unbelievable level. This was also the reason why a mere green snowflake could instantly allow his soul threads to reach 300,000.
Now that the purple soul seed had fused into him, the number of soul threads continued to increase, reaching 400,000, 500,000, until it was close to 600,000.
The Variant Immortal School's school head had already activated an array formation to conceal these energy fluctuations. Otherwise, it would definitely cause a huge commotion.
The reason why the school head hid it was because he had no choice. After all… cultivation with the purple soul seed was too fast.
Appropriate speed could attract attention and make people yearn for it. However, if it was heaven-defying speed, it would cause panic.
Although this concealment made it almost impossible for outsiders to detect the soul threads' energy, it didn't affect Xu Qing's senses at all.
That night, Xu Qing opened his eyes many times and looked in the direction of the Imperial Academy.
His expression also changed several times, and waves of emotions occasionally rose in his heart.
"Chen Daoze's soul has actually reached such a level…"
Xu Qing took a deep breath. Through the soul seed, he could clearly sense the increase in the other party's soul threads. The increase in his divine source through backfeeding could be said to be astonishing.
In just one night, Xu Qing's divine source soul threads increased by tens of thousands.
Similarly, on this night, the heart of the Variant Immortal School's school head churned.
He had seen the ancestor's improvement with his own eyes. This caused him to have a deeper understanding of the soul seed. At the same time, he also felt fear.
In reality, what he said to the outside world seemed to make sense and he had looked domineering. However, how could he not have made guesses about this soul seed?
But for the revival of the Variant Immortal School, he had to grasp this opportunity. Even if this was poison, he had to swallow it.
Even though this choice might not be good for the future of the Variant Immortal School and everything was unknown, rather than letting the Variant Immortal School die quietly, he wanted to give it a shot.
However, the eruption of the soul seed to such an extent caused his heart to waver for a moment and the fear in his heart grew stronger.
As Chen Daoze slowly opened his eyes, he suppressed this thought.
"This is the divine source."
The ancient voice carried an inexplicable sense of age as it echoed in the ears of the school head.
"Greetings, Ancestor!" The Variant Immortal School Head knelt down excitedly.
"Someone… walked ahead of us. This also indirectly proves that my Variant Immortal School cultivation art is feasible."
"We use soul threads to simulate the divine source while the other party reversed the process, determining the method based on the outcome, using my Variant Immortal School art to empower it."
"Whether it's a god or an immortal, with a thought, perhaps… this is a true Variant Immortal."
Chen Daoze's huge body slowly blurred. Finally, with a boom, his body transformed into countless soul threads that kept retracting until they completely disappeared, revealing his true body that hadn't appeared in 2,000 years.
His eyes were deeply sunken, surrounded by wrinkles that bore witness to the years and hardships he had endured.
With long, grayish-white hair and a lean frame, his face was lined with creases. Yet, within those eyes gleamed a profound wisdom, an ineffable brilliance capable of consuming souls and penetrating the essence of human nature.
They were extremely sharp and bright.
At this moment, he sensed his body and his eyes revealed emotion. He really didn't expect that there would be a day when he would recover.
He had already been prepared to die slowly like this.
However, now that he had revived, he made a decision. Hence, he walked to the side of the Variant Immortal School's school head and patted his shoulder.
"There's no need to think too much. If you recognize them as a Variant Immortal, all of the complications will become simple."
"Variant Immortal…" The Variant Immortal school head's breathing hastened slightly as he silently nodded. He gritted his teeth fiercely and dissipated the last hint of fear and hesitation in his heart.
As the hesitation in his heart disappeared, the complete openness of his mind caused a remarkable change in the purple snowflake within his body, making it bind with his body even more tightly.
What followed was the rise of the soul threads again, breaking through the original shackles and reaching 100,000.
"It can't be increased anymore. This has already exceeded the limit of your soul. Originally, with your soul density, it is impossible for you to form 100,000 soul threads. This is the enhancement brought by the green snowflakes you separated."
Chen Daoze stared at the Variant Immortal School Head. His gaze was deep, as though he could see through everything about this junior in front of him.
"If you want to break through, you can try to help the disciples who have fused with the green snowflakes. Let's see if they can… form the next branch of dao seeds after their soul threads reach a certain number!"
When the Variant Immortal School Head heard this, his eyes revealed a strange glint as he nodded.
Just like that, seven days passed.
During these seven days, Xu Qing came to the Variant Immortal School's white tower every day as usual. While many core disciples were cultivating, he sensed the meticulousness of the Variant Immortal School's cultivation art.
He had long discovered that as more and more people cultivated the Variant Immortal School art, the fluctuations that permeated the white tower would be a very good nourishment for his cultivation.
It could make the vortex in his sea of consciousness spin even more smoothly.
Hence, Xu Qing liked this environment very much.
At the same time, Xu Qing also noticed the actions of the Variant Immortal School's school head. The other party no longer cultivated at the upper floor all day. Instead, he returned to the main hall, where he repeatedly guided disciples in their cultivation, seemingly making a choice.
He had chosen Xu Qing before, but gave up on him because Xu Qing's cultivation progress was a little slow in the later stages and wasn't good in flattering.
Hence, under the efforts of the other disciples, Xu Qing seemed to be inferior.
This situation wasn't unique to Xu Qing. The earliest core members, regardless of whether they had assimilated the dao seeds or had been hesitating all along, were gradually falling behind.
Right now, there were hundreds of core disciples in the Variant Immortal School, and there was no lack of people with outstanding souls among them. It was inevitable that they would catch up to their seniors.
With more people, there came a variety of personalities, and since nobody knew each other's identities from the outside world, certain traits that wouldn't normally surface in public might occasionally reveal themselves.
For example, disdain and provocation.
Xu Qing had experienced it a few times, especially after the school head gave up on him. Every time the core disciple chosen by the school head looked at Xu Qing and the other old disciples, he would reveal a hint of condescension.
Xu Qing didn't care about this. He had guessed the school head's thoughts and was very curious if the green soul seed could branch out.
This person indeed had outstanding points. With the help of the school head, his soul continued to improve.
The number of soul threads in his body also continued to increase until this disciple became the first individual among everyone to have 50,000 soul threads.
At that moment, a storm formed by soul thread fluctuations reverberated in the white tower. When it attracted everyone's attention, the school head immediately brought this person to the upper floor.
No one knew what they discussed. They only knew that two hours later, when this person walked down, the school head announced that he was the chief disciple of the Variant Immortal.
As soon as these words were spoken, most of the disciples of the Variant Immortal School lowered their heads.
To any school, the chief disciple was an important existence. Their words and actions reflected the prestige of the school, and anyone able to become the chief disciple would naturally receive the other disciples' respect.
It was the same for the Variant Immortal School.
The outside world paid even more attention to this.
Xu Qing swept his gaze over from afar and carefully observed this chief disciple of the Variant Immortal who displayed pride in his eyes. In the end, he fell into deep thought.
'As expected, it branched out and a soul seed of the lower level appeared.'
In the body of this chief disciple, other than the green soul seed, there was also a white snowflake forming.
Xu Qing retracted his gaze. As the other disciples stepped forward to congratulate this chief disciple, he left the white tower.
Some old disciples also left.
Their departing figures fell into the eyes of the chief disciple and the surrounding disciples. Some ignored them, while others deliberately displayed disdain.
However, no matter what, the appearance of the chief disciple of the Variant Immortal School on this night attracted the attention of many people and also hastened one person's determination.
This individual was the Seventh Prince.
After learning that a disciple of the Variant Immortal School had formed 50,000 soul threads in a short period of time, the evaluation of the Divine Fusion School's school head of the Variant Immortal School appeared in his mind.
"Heretics…"
The Seventh Prince's eyelids drooped slightly, covering the fleeting dark glint in his eyes. He had made a decision.
On that night, in a house near the northwest of the Imperial Capital, close to the residence of the eldest prince, a faint light flickered. A figure dressed in black robes, completely wrapped from head to toe, sat at a wooden table inside the house. Lifting withered fingers, the figure flicked the flame of an oil lantern.
The person's body seemed similar to a black hole, absorbing all the light that fell on it, rendering it impenetrable to any illumination.
He sat there silently and waited.
After a long time, the soft sound of the wind rang out from outside. Soon, three figures appeared outside the house. They pushed open the door and strolled in, lowering their heads in silence.
After a while, a hoarse voice calmly rang out from the black-
robed man's mouth.
"Firstly, don't inquire about the identity of the employer. Even I am not privy to it."
"Secondly, after this mission is completed, you will be free."
"Thirdly, if something unexpected happens during the process and someone discovers you, you will have to self-destruct your bodies and reveal the Variant Immortal Dao seed in your bodies, leading all the clues to the Variant Immortal School. As for how to do it more realistically, you can decide for yourself."
"Fourth, the employer requests 30 million human souls. Regardless of whether they are mortals or cultivators, as long as they are humans, they are acceptable. Deliver them to me in these urns."
With that, the light of the oil lantern flickered and the black-
robed man's figure disappeared without a trace. Only three black urns landed in front of the three of them.
The three of them remained silent and their expressions were numb. They stepped forward and picked up the soul urns. They didn't communicate with each other with words or gazes and left separately, disappearing into the night.
They used the shortest amount of time and used different methods to leave the Imperial City. Some went to other rings, and some went to other regions…
The instant the three of them left the Imperial City, Xu Qing, who was sitting cross-legged in the secret chamber and sensing the white snowflakes, suddenly opened his eyes. A sharp glint appeared in his eyes as he lifted his head and gazed into the distance.
He sensed that three green soul seeds had left the Imperial City.
