Lam Minh moved through the dense forest. He wasn't afraid, but he was cautious. The caution of someone carrying precious cargo, a life for which he could not afford any mistakes.
He knew the "Saintly Way" was watching. His declaration of war had made him their number one target. But he wasn't running. He was just choosing the least risky path to bring Xiao An's soul to safety.
After heading south for a day as a diversion, he began to circle back towards Lac Hong Academy, not taking a direct route, but moving through treacherous terrain and sparsely populated areas.
Throughout the journey, he never let his guard down. He moved while constantly using his spiritual sense to scan his surroundings. At the same time, he also began to study the "Myriad Waters Return to Origin" mental art. He realized this art was not just for defense, but also had a special use: it could create a water-based spiritual energy membrane, capable of perfectly concealing and stabilizing the aura of a soul.
He immediately applied it, enveloping the jade containing Xiao An's soul with a thin water membrane, causing her aura to almost completely disappear.
"This should be a little safer," he murmured.
He didn't contact To Quyen or Quynh Nhu. He didn't want to worry them, nor did he want to drag them into this danger. He knew that in this matter, the only person who could truly help him was Minh Thu. Only she had the ability to access and analyze confidential data about soul-based forbidden arts without leaving a trace.
Several days later, he finally reached the outskirts of the academy.
He didn't enter through the main gate. He chose a secret path, a passage that only he and his close friends knew.
He went straight to To Quyen's underground laboratory, which also served as Minh Thu's "base" whenever she visited the academy.
When he entered, he saw Minh Thu sitting in front of a giant array of monitors, her fingers flying across the keyboard at a dizzying speed. It seemed she was working on something very important.
Hearing the footsteps, she jumped and turned around. Seeing it was Lam Minh, her tense expression immediately relaxed, and her large, round eyes lit up with joy.
"You're... back..."
"Yeah, I'm back," Lam Minh nodded. "I need your help with something. Something very important."
He didn't say much. He carefully took the jade out of his storage ring and placed it on the table.
"Inside this is the soul of a very important friend of mine," he said, his voice serious. "But her consciousness is being sealed by some kind of dark forbidden art. I need you... to use all your abilities, search for any information in every database you can access, about a kind of 'dark seed' implanted in a soul."
Minh Thu looked at the jade, then at Lam Minh's unprecedentedly serious expression. She didn't ask any more questions. She knew this was a matter of great importance.
She just nodded. "I... understand. Leave it to me."
She immediately returned to her work. Her fingers danced across the keyboard, and streams of command prompts and complex code filled the screens. She was beginning an "infiltration" into the deepest, most secret databases of both humanity and possibly even the Madakaros.
Lam Minh stood beside her, watching in silence. He didn't rush her. He trusted in Minh Thu's talent.
While waiting, he didn't sit idle either.
He took out the Peak Foundation Establishment cores he had collected. He also took out a small piece of a pure Spirit Stone.
He went to a corner of the room where there was a small refining furnace that To Quyen had built for research.
He began to concoct pills.
He wasn't refining pills to increase cultivation. He was refining something else.
Based on the memories of his enemies, combined with his own knowledge, he was trying to create a new type of pill. An upgraded version of the "Marrow Cleansing Pill," capable of washing away impurities in the meridians and strengthening one's foundation, allowing ordinary people to shorten the Qi Refining stage safely and most effectively.
He knew that being strong alone was not enough. He had to find ways to boost the strength of all of humanity. Lac Hong Academy was one step. And this pill would be the next.
If successful, it would create a revolution, allowing humanity to produce a large number of Foundation Establishment cultivators in a short time, creating a force strong enough to protect themselves.
The laboratory sank into a focused silence.
One person was traveling in the digital world, searching for hidden secrets.
The other was controlling fire and energy, trying to create a new hope.
Both were fighting, in their own way.
And outside, the world was still buzzing about the heroic headmaster's declaration of war. No one knew that this headmaster was secretly preparing for even grander plans, plans that could change the very fate of the war.
...
Time in the underground laboratory passed in stillness.
Lam Minh was completely immersed in the process of pill concocting. This was the first time he had attempted such a complex formula. Balancing the different types of cores, the dosage of the Spirit Stone, and most importantly, controlling the Golden Core True Fire, required almost absolute concentration.
He failed many times. The first few batches of pills all turned into useless, blackened lumps. But he was not discouraged. With each failure, he gained experience, adjusted the formula, and changed the temperature. He was like a scientist toiling in a lab, persistently pursuing his goal.
On the other side, Minh Thu was waging a silent war.
Her large, round eyes were glued to dozens of screens, reflecting lines of code that scrolled at a dizzying speed. Her ten fingers seemed to be dancing on the keyboard, creating a steady, rhythmic clicking sound.
She wasn't just searching in ordinary databases. She had breached the firewalls of military research institutes, ancient human libraries, and even the abandoned Madakaros data servers that the ASEAN military had captured.
She was swimming in a vast ocean of information, trying to find a single needle.
"Dark seed"... "Soul forbidden art"... "Consciousness parasite"...
She entered countless keywords, using search algorithms she had written herself to filter through terabytes of data.
Two days passed.
Lam Minh finally succeeded in refining the first batch of "Marrow Cleansing Pills." Although the quality was only average, and a few pills were flawed, this was already a great success. He looked at the pale green pills, which emitted a fresh fragrance, in his hand, a satisfied smile on his face. With this, the training speed of Lac Hong Academy would be pushed to a new level.
He put the pills away and turned to look at Minh Thu. She was still sitting there, motionless as a statue. Two days without food or sleep. The dark circles under her eyes were now clearly visible.
Lam Minh sighed. He walked over, placing a bottle of water and a piece of bread on the table.
"Take a break," he said gently. "There's no need to rush. Just take your time."
Minh Thu didn't seem to hear him. Her eyes were still glued to the screen.
Suddenly, she stopped.
Her fingers, which had been flying across the keyboard, froze.
"Found... found it..." she whispered, her voice hoarse and tinged with disbelief.
Lam Minh immediately walked over. "What did you find?"
Minh Thu pointed to a main screen. On it was an ancient text, scanned from a goatskin scroll, the language a type of hieroglyph Lam Minh had never seen.
"This is... a document from an ancient ruin of the Madakaros race," Minh Thu explained, her voice a little tired. "It doesn't talk about a 'dark seed.' It talks about something else... something called... a 'Heart-Seed'."
"'Heart-Seed'?"
"Yes," Minh Thu nodded, beginning to translate the passages. "According to this document, the 'Heart-Seed' is a supreme soul art of an ancient branch of Madakaros, those who specialized in cultivating the soul and spirit. It's not a forbidden art for control, but a secret art for... 'inheritance'."
"'Inheritance'?" Lam Minh was even more confused.
"That's right," Minh Thu said, her expression growing more and more serious. "The caster separates a part of their soul origin, creating a 'Heart-Seed,' and then plants it in the soul of another person, a 'vessel.' The 'Heart-Seed' will lie dormant, secretly absorbing energy and fusing with the vessel's soul. It won't control or manipulate. On the contrary, it will protect and promote the growth of the vessel's soul."
"Why would they do that?"
"Because, when the vessel cultivates to a sufficiently high realm, or when the caster gives the order," Minh Thu said, her voice beginning to tremble, "the 'Heart-Seed' will awaken. And it will... 'Possess'."
"'Possess'?"
"Yes. It will completely devour the vessel's soul, taking over the body, cultivation, memories, and all the power that the vessel has painstakingly cultivated. The caster will gain a new, much stronger body and a new life, without having to go through the arduous cultivation process themselves."
Minh Thu paused, looking at Lam Minh, horror in her eyes.
"In other words," she said, "your friend's soul is not a prisoner. It's a mobile 'pill furnace.' The Holy Master... he's not imprisoning her. He's 'raising' her."
A horrifying truth, more cruel than anything Lam Minh could have imagined, was revealed.
He looked at the jade containing Xiao An's soul, then at the ancient script on the screen.
The Holy Master didn't just want to kill him. He was also secretly carrying out a plan for "longevity" and "immortality" by using the most talented souls as sacrifices, as refining furnaces.
And Xiao An, his best friend, was one of the most perfect "pill furnaces" he had chosen.
The rage in Lam Minh's heart, once again, erupted.