Regarding the attributes and race of the Nightmare, Lin Feng was not familiar with it. In the previous life, only Ye Qiu had refined it.
It was through Ye Qiu's notes that people learned about this strange demon spirit.
In the Exotic Beast Chart, the Nightmare ranked seventh. It seemed not low, but in many people's eyes, if it weren't for its fatal side effects, the Nightmare could definitely rank first.
Although the Exotic Beast Chart recorded it, the introduction to this evil spirit said little besides its ability to grant the owner extraordinary talent while depriving one's life force and soul. Its race, attributes, and any other innate abilities remain unknown.
Although much remains unknown, as described in the Exotic Beast Chart, this Nightmare is an evil spirit.
Evil spirits, ominous and evil existences.
Even just absorbing it into the body without refining, that evil aura and killing intent made Lin Feng's face change.
Within his body, not yet truly beginning the refinement, the Nightmare, sensing danger, struggled desperately, roaring madly!
The stabbing pain in his mind caused Lin Feng some agony, his head dizzy, but fortunately, having lived two lives, being an Eighth Grade Martial Artist in the past life, experiencing numerous life-and-death battles, narrowly escaping death, countless demon beasts had died at Lin Feng's hands. This interference was not very threatening; all he needed was to firmly hold his ground.
"Such strong willpower."
Occasionally, youths passing by saw Lin Feng meditating with his eyes closed. Naturally, they knew he was refining a demon spirit, but Lin Feng's calm and serene demeanor greatly shocked them.
One must know, demon spirits are the collective soul and energy of a demon beast after its death, filled with feral nature, and refining a demon spirit is akin to extinguishing its consciousness, which will undoubtedly encounter fierce resistance and even backlash.
Therefore, even if the feral nature is suppressed, it's easy to disturb the owner's mind.
Ordinary youths, when refining demon spirits, often had distorted faces and trembling bodies; some even screamed and roared. Such calmness was very rare.
This is also why it's stipulated that participants of Awakening Day must be at least sixteen and not over eighteen, reaching the Fifth Rank of Body Cultivation to qualify.
If they're too young, their mind isn't steady, and their spirit is easily disturbed or their body not strong enough, leading to refinement failure or even backlash from the demon spirit.
If over eighteen, it signifies poor talent; even if refined, it would be a waste of resources.
The higher the grade of the demon spirit, the more intense the backlash.
If not for the fact that most demon spirits had already been subdued by the Blue Moon, few could refine a demon spirit through their efforts alone; nine out of ten would suffer backlash. The higher the grade of demon spirit, the more intense the backlash.
Unless one has a determined mind, possesses a special soul artifact and secret skill, and exceptionally excellent soul power.
And this is one of the reasons why those big figures on the altar contributed advanced demon spirits.
Their contribution of demon spirits not only gains them a spot to participate in Awakening Day but also some extra benefits, such as tax reduction policies in Jiang City.
"Awooo..."
The black demon spirit kept howling within Lin Feng, the sound filled with destruction and killing intent, a dark eerie shadow appeared in his consciousness, constantly disturbing his spirit.
"Under the effect of the Blue Moon Divine Artifact, this demon spirit's feral nature has been mostly suppressed, yet it still has such strong resistance!"
The process was difficult, but a trace of delight appeared on Lin Feng's face.
"Although in the previous life I never succeeded in refining a demon spirit, the resistance of a Fifth Grade demon spirit could not possibly be this strong. It's very likely the Nightmare."
Even with Lin Feng's willpower, it felt arduous. If it were an ordinary youth, they probably couldn't even drive it, let alone refine it.
Of course, exceptional geniuses like Ye Qiu are exceptions.
With great difficulty, Lin Feng managed to drive the Nightmare into the dantian, quickly gathering soul power to envelop the Nightmare. But the refining speed was too slow, the speed of soul power refining couldn't even match the Nightmare's repulsion speed.
To become a Demon Spirit Master, one must possess a soul sea to refine soul power.
And the soul sea is located in the lower dantian region of the human abdomen, and the soul sea has no relation to a Martial Artist's talent.
There are many with training potential considered geniuses, but their soul sea is naturally blocked, making it impossible to become a Demon Spirit Master; this occurrence isn't rare.
Though Lin Feng's soul sea was not blocked, it was too small with too little soul power, which was the main reason he couldn't become a Demon Spirit Master in the previous life.
If Ye Qiu's soul power was a basin of water, then Lin Feng's soul power at most was a cupful.
With his soul power, he couldn't even refine a First Grade demon spirit, let alone this Nightmare ranked seventh in the Exotic Beast Chart.
At this moment, Lin Feng truly admired Ye Qiu, as this youth's soul sea talent was terrifyingly strong.
Ye Qiu hadn't yet fused with a demon spirit; it wasn't due to lacking talent, but because those demon spirits didn't catch his eye. He was choosing the best.
"Soul Spirit Transformation."
Lin Feng silently chanted in his heart, the spiritual Qi within started surging, gradually undergoing a wondrous transformation.
In the previous life, Lin Feng couldn't become a Demon Spirit Master, which was his regret. For this, he spent years before finally finding a way to become one.
Soul Spirit Transformation is a secret skill that temporarily transforms the spiritual Qi within into soul power.
In his previous life, although Lin Feng had obtained this mysterious secret skill, he didn't dare to cultivate it because the process of Soul Spirit Transformation could not be stopped. Once the technique was activated, all the spiritual qi in his body would be converted into soul power.
In his previous life, Lin Feng had already reached the strength of an Eighth Grade Martial Artist, so beginning cultivation from scratch was clearly not worthwhile. But now, at the Seventh Rank of Body Cultivation Realm, still in the body refinement stage, he had fewer concerns!
The spiritual qi contained within his body lightly trembled, continuously transforming into soul power. The soul power in the Soul Sea relentlessly accumulated, washing over the Nightmare, and the originally pitch-black body gradually became tinged with a layer of gray. Gradually, the gray occupied four-fifths of the Nightmare's body.
"Almost there, just a bit more and it will be successful."
Just as Lin Feng was feeling delighted, sensing success was near, the Nightmare trembled slightly, and its hollow pupils seemed to flicker, suddenly bursting with dazzling light.
"Not good!"
A sense of terror surged in Lin Feng's heart.
This feeling made his hair stand on end, raising goosebumps all over his body.
He could see the demon spirit struggling, more intensely, and eventually breaking free of his control, rushing from the dantian swiftly toward his heart, looking like a throbbing tumor.
Lin Feng quickly reached out to grab it, but the tumor seemed to have eyes, able to perceive his movements, swiftly changing course toward his right chest. Lin Feng trembled slightly, suppressing the nausea rising in his heart. His hands continuously blocked its path, but before he could grasp it, the tumor slipped away, finally surging up his throat toward his head.
"Demon spirit backlash!"
Lin Feng was startled, his pupils contracted; if the demon spirit invaded his brain, he'd be doomed.
"Still too weak!"
Lin Feng bitterly smiled, feeling somewhat regretful.
Now he was at the Seventh Rank of Body Cultivation Realm, the Qi and Blood stage.
Body cultivation is the initial stage of martial arts.
Body cultivation is divided into nine ranks, primarily through physical training, challenging the body's limits, combined with dietary supplements, to temper the body, making it strong, responsive, and with full qi and blood, laying the foundation for martial arts.
With each breakthrough to a new stage, strength increases by 100 pounds; at the Ninth Rank of body cultivation, the strength is nearly a thousand pounds. In the Body Cultivation Realm, one cannot practice cultivation techniques. A martial artist's spiritual power is passively absorbed into the body each time physical training and challenging the limits open the pores.
Therefore, Lin Feng didn't have much spiritual qi in his body. Even invoking a secret skill like Soul Spirit Transformation, converting all spiritual qi into soul power, the amount of soul power remained limited.
His soul power might be able to refine a Seventh Grade demon spirit. With his willpower and the secret skill of Soul Spirit Transformation, even Eighth and Ninth Grade demon spirits might be successfully refined, but those on the Earth Chart were a stretch, and facing a Nightmare ranked seventh on the Exotic Beast Chart was overly ambitious.
If he rashly refined a demon spirit now, it would only end in his soul's dispersion.
"Sealing Evil Seal!"
Though Lin Feng felt a bit fearful, he wasn't panicked—he understood his own soul cultivation talent very well, and this situation had indeed been within his expectations.
Lin Feng slightly hunched his back, his hands hidden in front of his chest, shielding the sight of others. As he quickly performed the sealing gesture, waves of scorching and prickling sensations coursed through his limbs and bones, as if being roasted by flames, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. Meanwhile, his blood began boiling, converging in his Soul Sea, condensing into a blood-red cage, encapsulating the Soul Sea.
The moment the cage appeared, just as the Nightmare was about to enter his brain, its body went rigid and vanished instantly; the next moment, its figure appeared inside the cage.
"Screech..."
The Nightmare was startled, then let out a piercing scream, repeatedly crashing against the cage, but it was futile. The blood-colored cage extended numerous blood-red chains, penetrating into the Nightmare's body, the pitch-black Nightmare gradually being dyed crimson, appearing eerie and strange.
Bang!
Suddenly, a booming sound reverberated in Lin Feng's mind, the previously boiling blood gradually cooled, Lin Feng shivered, feeling a bit cold.
"With my current strength, I can't refine it; I can only temporarily seal it."
Lin Feng opened his eyes, a trace of regret flashing in his gaze.
He wanted to stand up, but his legs, as if filled with lead, were about to explode with boiling intensity, and in the next moment, he was on the verge of collapse, unable to resist falling to the ground.
At this moment, Lin Feng's face was extremely pale, feeling weak and faint. With his current strength, using the Sealing Evil Seal once nearly depleted a fifth of his blood.
Moreover, his internal organs had suffered some injuries, most noticeably with torn muscles and his overwhelmed skeletal structure showing cracks. Now, his qi and blood were utterly depleted, even damaging the foundation of his cultivation.
The price he paid at this moment was substantial!
Fortunately, he finally captured this Nightmare.
Compared to the gain, this loss was ultimately nothing; as long as he could refine the Nightmare, Lin Feng was confident he could recover it.
Breathing deeply, after recuperating for a while, Lin Feng finally managed to stand, wiping the sweat off his forehead. If he hadn't prepared an extra hand, he might have really suffered a setback.
"Alas!"
Lin Feng sighed softly, lifting his head to observe the surroundings inconspicuously. At this point, the Awakening Day was drawing to a close, some youngsters were already celebrating in advance, while many others were still desperately chasing after demon spirits, seemingly unaware of him.
In the eyes of others, Lin Feng, with a pale face, drenched in sweat, and not undergoing any demonization, had apparently failed in awakening.
And that Shadow Demon Spirit, during the refinement process, had already dissipated into ashes.