The soul foundation was a solid object, and it was also a part of a cultivator's body due to the presence of the cultivator's soul power in the soul foundation. One could say that the soul foundation was one of the greatest and most unique traits of human cultivators.

After laying his soul marks down, Xiang Shaoyun forced together the black tides mystic stone, primal divine stone, lightning motion stone, yin wind stone, calming divine stone, and the other materials, creating soul marks of nine colors. The marks pulsed with a nine-color radiance. Any other cultivator would be completely dumbfounded if they saw this scene.

Since the dawn of time, few cultivators had ever successfully forged a soul foundation while cultivating nine powers. From how things were progressing with Xiang Shaoyun's soul foundation forging, it seemed he was slowly edging toward success.

While the materials were fusing with the soul marks, Xiang Shaoyun had a sudden ominous feeling.

He discovered that the materials weren't able to fully fuse together, and they had merely been forced together. Such a fusion would not form a true soul foundation, and it might even cause him to fail to break through. If that happened, he would suffer grave consequences, such as dying with a head explosion or suffering a drop in strength due to a cultivation backlash.

Xiang Shaoyun grew nervous. Failing to maintain calm in such an important process would result in great consequences. Fortunately, his soul was powerful enough to forcefully seal the disarrayed mesh of energies and materials together and prevent them from deviating in behavior.

Xiang Shaoyun had undergone many tribulations; thus, he could quickly calm his mind when encountering a problem. His Light of Wisdom activated as his brain raced for a solution.

"I did not forge the soul foundation wrong, so is it the material fusion that is causing the problem here? Or perhaps I still lack something in my spirit energy that makes it so that I can't become one with these materials?" Xiang Shaoyun questioned himself repeatedly, trying to look for an answer.

Soon, he thought of an idea, and he immediately tried it. He pulled out the primal inception energy from his astral cosmos sea and sent it into his head. The primal inception energy was an energy created through the fusion of nine energies. He believed that this energy would help him fully fuse all the materials.

Sure enough, when the primal inception energy entered the mix, the materials started fusing for real. The situation improved considerably, and carving the soul marks became much smoother. The spirit energy and the materials started slowly coming together.

The primal inception energy was an ancient energy that had existed before heaven and earth existed. Xiang Shaoyun was probably the first person in history to have ever artificially created such power. And with the assistance of that energy, his soul foundation finally completed the fusion process flawlessly.

In the space within his head, the numerous materials weaved around each other under the control of his energy, ultimately turning into an endlessly revolving clump of nine-colored radiance. He was free to shape the clump as he wished into its final form.

Toward the end, he forged a flat millstone with the materials and energies, and the end result of it looked like a nine-colored shining disc. Nine energies flowed within it, making the disc look mythical. His soul was seated cross-legged right at the middle of the disc, becoming one with the soul foundation. His aura started growing.

After all, those rare materials he had used to fuse the soul foundation all contained their respective unique powers. When they became one with Xiang Shaoyun, he would naturally benefit from the process. The primal divine stone, in particular, gave him the biggest benefit, as the aura of the stone's power was the scariest of all the materials.

Xiang Shaoyun had a sensation that his soul was about to leave his body and soar into the night sky. Abruptly, nine bright stars appeared beyond the sky, and mystical strands of nine-colored radiance descended toward the secret space.

The nine-colored radiance was incredibly dazzling, at times looking like a soaring dragon and pouncing tiger and, at other times, a dancing phoenix and crying tortoise. The river of stars in the sky was reversed, as though a brand new universe was opening up. It was an incredibly shocking phenomenon, and even Ye Chaomu and the others in the vicinity were completely stunned by what they were seeing.

"The appearance of a phenomenon! What kind of soul foundation is big brother forging?" muttered Ye Chaomu with astonishment.

"Nine stars and nine energies descending together. Looks like the young master is really going to forge the strongest soul foundation. The heavens are truly fair. If the sect master sees this, he will be gratified!" said Duo Ji, getting emotional.

Little White, the turtle, the toad, and the others were completely stunned. That was especially true for the 13 eagles and the two Heaven Battling Realm experts. They had never even heard of such a shocking phenomenon appearing during soul foundation forging. They renewed their view of Xiang Shaoyun, and they started believing that Xiang Shaoyun would one day rock the entire world.

Nine different colors covered the area, and all living things in the area started recovering from all sorts of damage. Withered plants started budding once again, while the existing plants were filled with even more vitality.

The humans and demonic beasts in the area felt like they were showering in some divine radiance as their bodies and souls experienced an amazing sensation that was as comfortable as a bath in a hot spring. The phenomenon lasted for an indeterminate amount of time as the radiance slowly seeped into the secret space. Finally, everything returned to normal.

In the secret space, Xiang Shaoyun was wrapped in a divine radiance of nine colors. Numerous auspicious beasts circled him—a dragon and a phoenix roaring and crying, a qilin swallowing the world. One living being after another came into existence, and even mountains and hills manifested around him.

Everything converged into his soul foundation, fusing the nine rare materials into a single nine-colored soul foundation. The numerous phenomena that had appeared around him were branded onto the soul foundation, resulting in a soul foundation emanating an ancient and primal aura.

Instantly, Xiang Shaoyun's entire bearing changed into a more dignified one. Nine entirely different energies swirled around him. He looked like the child of heavens, with a charm and temperament that no words could accurately depict. After seven days and nights, the numerous auras around him were finally fully withdrawn into his body.

He opened his eyes, revealing two penetrating orbs that were akin to the sun and the moon that could see through everything. Nine-colored radiance rippled out of his eyes as though two rainbow beams had shot out, rainbows containing the boundless intricacies of the universe.

As of that moment, Xiang Shaoyun had taken that crucial step forward, forging his soul foundation and becoming a first-stage Soul Foundation Realm cultivator. He was not even a regular first-stage Soul Foundation Realm cultivator as he had reached peak first-stage in one go, advancing at an alarming rate.

That was a benefit he had gained from all the phenomena that had appeared around him. In fact, if he hadn't intentionally suppressed his cultivation, he would have broken through into an even higher level of cultivation.

At that moment, his soul foundation had formed, and the phantom of a dragon had appeared on his spine. It was as though the dragon was holding his spine upright, turning him into someone who would face the world with his back straight. Nobody would be able to miss his domineering presence in his current condition.

The draconic aura had fully matured, and his soul foundation had been successfully forged. After 10 years of hard work, he had finally stepped through this crucial barrier, becoming a Sovereign. One could say that very few people had a cultivation speed as fast as him. He now wielded a combat prowess no weaker than any late-stage Sovereign, and his soul was unimaginably powerful.