Demon Taming: Start by synthesizing a Lantern Ghost with Divine and Demonic Talents

Chapter 176: The Ever-Changing Tanuki

The mosquito-walker has escaped danger.

Li Chunfeng's worries were temporarily relieved.

Fortunately, the Spirit Realm has many races, which will allow Mosquito Daoist to gain some experience.

He began to spend some time each day paying attention to Mosquito Taoist, and focused the rest of his time on soul fusion and cultivation.

They also kept a close eye on the cross-border investigation plan.

Three months have passed in the blink of an eye, and the sixth Abyss Tribulation is not far away.

Li Chunfeng finally synthesized all 35 billion lantern ghosts.

Soul Devourer has successfully been upgraded to the upper-grade Heaven Rank.

[Lighting the Lamp]: Level 8 Netherworld Spirit (Tier 4)
【talent】:
1. Soul Devouring (High-grade Heaven Rank)

(Soul-Capturing Whip, Soul-Devouring Fang Armor, Nine Netherworld Demon Eye, Death Soul Curse Mark, Living Soul Perception)
II. Heart Lamp (Superior Celestial Grade)

(Heart Light Halo, Heart Light and Shadow Embryo Great Barrier, Dawn Halo)
[Spell]:
鬼魅影遁（地阶10级）、自爆（天阶10级）、灵魂火弹（天阶10级）、念力护盾（天阶10级）、念力拳头（天阶10级）、幻影分身（天阶10级）、烽火狼烟（天阶1级）。

To reach the next upgrade of Soul Devouring and be elevated to the lower-grade level of Earthly Fiend Divine Power, 104 billion more Lantern Ghosts are needed.

A long way to go.

Reaching the highest level of the Heavenly Rank Soul Devouring talent greatly enhances Burning Lamp's strength.

Not only did his cultivation level increase by one level, but his soul power also reached as many as eight million.

There will be no worry about insufficient soul power when using the Heavenly Rank - Phantom Clone again.

Over the course of three months, Mosquito Daoist explored numerous locations but failed to discover any innate artifacts. Li Chunfeng repeatedly contacted his mentor, Qi Huaxuexia, but the Spirit Realm was vast, and Qi Huaxuexia had unexpectedly landed on the Northern Wilderness Continent, while Mosquito Daoist remained on the Eastern Pole Continent.

It is clearly unrealistic to reach the Eastern Pole continent in a short period of time.

Li Chunfeng could only rely on himself.

During this period, he traveled back and forth to the desolate wasteland several times, capturing countless six-winged mosquitoes.

They were just waiting to head to the Spirit Realm and meet up with Mosquito Taoist.

Meanwhile, his long-awaited investigation plan finally began to take shape.

On this day, Li Chunfeng was suddenly notified by the array spirit to go to a certain place to assemble.

A thought struck him, and he immediately rushed to a grand hall on an unfamiliar mountain peak.

Upon entering the main hall, he found that many people had already arrived. Some seemed familiar, while others were unfamiliar, but each one possessed a powerful aura and was undoubtedly at the Divine Embryo Realm.

Knowing that these must be upperclassmen from the school, and very likely their companions on this trip.

He didn't know anyone else, but Li's name was widely known in the Imperial Academy, and many people looked at him with great interest when he entered.

Li Chunfeng found a corner to stand in.

Strangers showed no intention of communicating; each stood in their own place, eyes closed and silent. Others communicated telepathically with acquaintances, without disturbing others.

People started coming in through the main gate.

There were even quite a few Elven race people whose appearances were very different from humans.

Others may have doubts, but Li Chunfeng knew perfectly well.

No trace of humans was found in the Spirit Realm; it was entirely the domain of the demon and spirit races. Fortunately, there were also many spirit beings in the Earthly Realm. They were usually well protected and even enjoyed preferential treatment as ethnic minorities in the Earthly Realm. Some of the rare spirit races had become a cherished and protected species, and even the scores they needed to apply for the three major academies were much lower than those of humans.

After so many years of operation, the Earthly Realm has confidence in the Spirit Race of this world and is not worried about the Spirit Race's betrayal.

The army is trained for a thousand days to be used for one day; now is the time for the spirit race to make its contribution.

When no one else entered, the gate slammed shut.

Before long, Jiang Wei appeared in the main hall, and everyone hurriedly stood up and bowed.

Li Chunfeng discovered that this was not Jiang Wei's true form, but only an avatar.

Jiang Wei nodded, and without saying a word, waved his hand, and a demon core appeared in front of each person.

"Before you lies the core of a shapeshifting raccoon, containing a seed of magic called 'Shapeshifting Technique,' a high-grade Xuan-rank technique. You must successfully refine this runic seed within three days, or you will not be assigned to this mission. If you fail to refine it within three days, leave on your own. Everything you see on this journey is to be kept secret; you must not divulge it to anyone, or you will be subject to military law. Begin refining."

After saying that, he disappeared.

Instead, an hourglass appeared in the room.

Everyone was taken aback, not expecting the selection process to begin with this.

If all the tests are like this, they would prefer as many tests as possible.

Some people have already begun searching for a suitable location to carefully refine the demon core.

The main hall was very large. Li Chunfeng leaped and landed on a high platform.

The ever-changing raccoon is a rare species in the world of demons. During the war between the two worlds, the ever-changing raccoon even infiltrated the Earthly Realm as a spy, transforming into a human to gather intelligence and cause destruction, resulting in great losses to the Earthly Realm.

The infiltration crisis was eventually quelled, and the ever-changing Tanuki never reappeared.

Unexpectedly, they were kept as captives by the various Xia people.

The 'Shape Transformation Technique' belongs to the Chaos element, which is inconsistent with Li Chunfeng's element. Whether he can safely refine this demon core depends more on his own luck.

In short, the probability of failure is still quite high.

It is believed that among the people present, there are very few, if any, who possess the Chaos Attribute.

This first screening hurdle, which may seem like a benefit, is actually quite difficult.

Li Chunfeng first scanned the demon core with his 'Mind's Eye' technique.

[The ever-changing raccoon dog, a third-tier demon core. Attributes: Chaos, Water, Earth; contains the arts of Rebirth, Shapeshifting, Construction, and Earth Travel...]

This information isn't very helpful to me.

He wanted more information, which required further investigation and reconnaissance.

Thus, the power of the divine soul began to penetrate deep into the demon core, peeling away the chaotic demonic energy and disordered soul breath bit by bit, while carefully avoiding the runes, lest a single failure in refining cause the runes to completely dissipate.

After a long while, Li Chunfeng's soul made contact with the core talent rune, and he used 'Mind's Eye' again to conduct a detailed investigation.

[The ever-changing raccoon dog, a third-tier demon core. It possesses the attributes of Chaos, Water, and Earth, and contains techniques such as Rebirth, Shapeshifting, Construction, and Earth Travel... Raccoon dogs have a fondness for seafood; using aquatic demon cores as a sacrifice can increase the chances of successful refining.]

He didn't have the water demon's core ready.

You can go buy it.

He wanted to ask if he could leave the hall temporarily, but apart from the hourglass, there was no one else in the hall. He didn't know who to ask.
Ask the spirit of the formation?
Dean Jiang Wei never said that it had to be refined in the main hall.

He absolutely had to go to the Spirit Realm this time; he couldn't afford to fail.

He decided not to ask any more questions and simply slipped into a side hall, pushing open the door and entering.

With one step, one has entered Yuan City.

The trading center indeed had a lot of water demon cores for sale, as well as sea creature demon cores.

Li Chunfeng selected several third-tier items and returned to his private stone chamber, where a small inner world manifested. He activated his Soul Fusion Divine Power, and the vortex island in the Heavenly Pool reappeared.

This time, however, it wasn't for soul fusion and synthesis, but for sacrifice.

Place the three water demon cores into the three vortexes respectively, and place the ever-changing raccoon demon core on the altar of the core island.

With a single thought, lightning flashed and thunder roared, but at the last step, he deliberately stopped it.

He quickly focused his gaze on the Hundred Transformations Tanuki Demon Core and discovered that the chaotic demonic energy within it was gradually becoming clearer.

"feasible!"

But the chaotic aura within remained strong, so to ensure everything went perfectly, he offered another sacrifice.

After being activated several times, the chaotic aura within the demon core finally began to clear.

Li Chunfeng immediately seized the opportunity and began refining the core runes within the demon core.

The first is the art of shapeshifting.

After a while, the light on the broken jade disc intensified, revealing entirely new magical information.

It's quite easy.

Li Chunfeng silently pondered for a while, realizing that as long as he obtained the essence and blood of a living being, he could transform himself into the appearance of that being.

With a flick of his body, he transformed into a dragonfish.

It swishes and glides through the air, seemingly carefree.

Judging from its appearance alone, it is incredibly lifelike, almost identical to Taiyi.

The strange transformation experience also gave him a sense of novelty.

However, the spiritual aura within him was still human, and he was unable to exhale water bubbles. If the spirit race were to investigate thoroughly, he would likely be exposed.

He couldn't help but look at the other magic seed of the ever-changing raccoon, 'Rebirth Technique'.

The reason why the transformation technique of the Hundred Transformations Pokémon is so powerful is largely due to its 'rebirth technique' as a safety net.

With the 'Rebirth Technique,' one can alter their appearance from the soul level, even becoming fetal or aging, turning into a man or a woman. After combining this with the Transformation Technique to change their appearance and physique, they will not be so easily detected.

The Rebirth Technique is more profound than the Transformation Technique. It took Li Chunfeng half a day before the golden light on the incomplete jade disc shone brightly again, and the 'Rebirth Technique' was successfully imprinted on it.

At this moment, the [Derivation Method] property suddenly flashed, and a brand new derivation entry appeared.

[A fusion of rebirth and transformation techniques!]
These two techniques are indeed closely connected.

Li Chunfeng tried using both techniques together again. This time, the mosquito Taoist he created even had a different soul form, with the soul resembling a mosquito.

Unless one is far more powerful, even if one can see through his soul, it is not easy to tell that he is a human in disguise.

However, it is not affected by itself.

This kind of transformation technique is similar to Shen Zhibai's natal demon pet, 'Lei'.

The 'Lei' resembles a raccoon dog and is an ancient beast from the Classic of Mountains and Seas, listed in the famous Record of Mythical Beasts. However, the Shen family's 'Lei' possesses a higher level of transformation talent, with the highest-ranking bloodline talent directly reaching the level of supernatural powers.

It's incomparable to the ever-changing Tanuki.

Li Chunfeng looked at the [Derivation of Laws] entry. Sending the message only involved merging two Xuan-rank spells, and it seemed that it didn't consume too much of his luck.

I might as well give it a try.

The [Derivation Method] has been activated.

Having mastered the arts of rebirth and transformation, one can be considered to have passed the selection process.

There's still plenty of time before the three-day deadline.

Li Chunfeng looked at the clearly defined 'Construction' and 'Earth Travel' spells, both of which were relatively rare spells.

He also tried to refine some of it.

half an hour.

They all succeeded.

At the same time, the demon core of the ever-changing raccoon finally collapsed and completely dissipated.

Looking at the newly appeared spell information on the tattered jade disc, Li Chunfeng was satisfied.

[Rebirth Technique: High-Grade Profound Rank (Level 9: 1/9000)]

【Transformation Technique: High-Grade Mystic (Level 9: 1/9000)】

[Architecture Skill: High-Grade Mystic (Level 9: 1/9000)]

Earth Travel Technique: High-Grade Mystic (Level 9: 1/9000)

He then left Yuancheng and returned to the main hall.

By this time, the number of people in the main hall had dwindled significantly, clearly indicating that everyone had underestimated the difficulty of the selection process.

The unique bloodline talent magic of the ever-changing raccoon is not so easy to conquer.

Inside the hall, there were still people diligently refining the materials. Li Chunfeng could understand that the Earthly Realm had sent people to investigate, not to send them to their deaths.

Being able to get close to the Imperial Academy already puts one among the elites, so the Earthly Realm naturally wouldn't let anyone go in to die for nothing.

No humans have been found in the Spirit Realm yet. Refining the precious Hundred Transformations Tanuki Demon Core is to increase everyone's chances of survival.

Check the progress of the [Derivation Method]; the progress bar is moving very quickly.

It should be successful in about two days.

So I waited patiently.

One by one, the figures left the main hall unwillingly.

Until the hourglass in the main hall completely ran out, the already somewhat crowded hall was now empty of more than twenty people.

Jiang Wei reappeared.

"You have passed the initial screening. Next, you will undergo training. You may be eliminated at any time during this period, so you must give it your all. This journey to explore another world is fraught with danger. If you want to quit now, it's not too late. Does anyone want to quit?"

"..." The room was completely silent; no one moved.

"Very good, come with me!"

With a wave of his hand, Jiang Wei teleported everyone into a small secret realm.

For the next few days, Li Chunfeng received a constant influx of knowledge, including many new pieces of information that even he was unaware of, which also tested his combat prowess.

The selection process finally stopped when only ten people remained.

The Earthly Realm attaches great importance to this exploration of another world, and everyone who passes through is armed to the teeth.

After the final mobilization, a spaceship equipped with a celestial artifact quietly arrived and picked everyone up.

The exploration mission has begun!

(End of this chapter)