In the end, Mu Jinyu accepted these two ancient jade slips.
He decided to ask Wen Rou and the others later, about their own path choices.
In the duel with Li Zhexiong, Mu Jinyu's My Way State of Mind reached the Completion Stage; though he was unwilling and reluctant, he wouldn't decide for them.
Everything was up to their own wills.
"Take this token, from now on you are the rudder master of the Yan Kingdom branch of the Heavenly Palace…"
After Mu Jinyu took those two jade slips, the old man tossed out a token similar to those held by the men in black robes earlier, seemingly made of gold and jade, of unknown material.
Under the old man's requirement, Mu Jinyu had to place a strand of his divine sense into the token.
According to the old man, this is a requirement to join the Heavenly Palace and it won't pose any threat to his life.
If the token holds a strand of divine sense, and Mu Jinyu meets an unexpected demise, the token breaks, allowing the Heavenly Palace to know the reason for his death and avenge him.
Furthermore, if the Heavenly Palace has tasks, they can directly issue them to him through the token.
No matter how much the old man assured him, Mu Jinyu still wouldn't fully trust his words.
He believed if he ever wanted to leave the Heavenly Palace, expressing such an intention might lead them to use the divine sense in the token to kill him!
However, Mu Jinyu still did it in the end.
Firstly, to obtain the Soul Snatching Resolution Technique, having come this far, he couldn't just give up.
Secondly, the mystical little tree in his Sea of Consciousness had helped him multiple times, and he believed that if the Heavenly Palace tried to harm him through this strand of divine sense, it likely wouldn't succeed.
Even though there was an element of gambling, for Wen Rou's sake, Mu Jinyu didn't mind betting on it.
After Mu Jinyu left, the old man clasped his hands behind his back, smiled faintly, and said: "An interesting young man."
After saying that, he let the matter go and took out an ancient beast skin map, frowning as he pondered over it.
This beast skin map, crafted from the skin of some unknown ferocious beast, bore the imprint of the path, surpassing the effect of the Enlightenment Tea Mu Jinyu consumed at that time.
On the beast skin, unknown creature's blood was smeared, creating a bizarre and mysterious image.
...
Mu Jinyu left the underground palace.
Soon, he arrived at the agreed location at the inn where he previously stayed, to meet Wen Rou and the others.
"Knock, knock, knock!!"
After lightly knocking on the door, Wen Rou and Jian Ruyan immediately opened it.
"How did it go?"
Wen Rou and Jian Ruyan looked up at Mu Jinyu, their beautiful eyes filled with anticipation and nervousness.
Though they had adapted to their new bodies over nearly half a year, if given the chance, they would prefer to switch back, feeling somewhat awkward otherwise.
Furthermore, under these circumstances, their cultivation had become slow, unable to assist Mu Jinyu much, instead burdening him.
Mu Jinyu, with a furrowed brow throughout his journey, sighed and said: "I've obtained two solutions from the Heavenly Palace, but neither is very good. You can decide for yourselves…"
As he spoke, Mu Jinyu handed out the two jade slips.
Wen Rou and Jian Ruyan each took one jade slip, pressing it against their foreheads, and let their divine senses pour out to view them.
Wen Rou's jade slip detailed a method to thoroughly refine and take over the new body, whereas Jian Ruyan's slip involved shaking the soul and sending it out again to return to the old body...
They quickly finished reading, then exchanged the jade slips to view each other's. After both jade slips were read, their brows furrowed tightly, revealing disappointment and reluctance.
Neither solution was particularly good.
The first method required them to essentially swap bodies entirely.
While the second method allowed them to reclaim their bodies, it diminished their cultivation talent and significantly shortened their lifespan.
Even if they didn't mind the side effects, the various Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures necessary for the second solution were not easily obtained.
The records indicated that the creator of the method had taken a full ten years to gather the required Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures.
To swap bodies, needing two sets of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, didn't mean just twenty years to gather.
Given that one type of Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure may take a hundred to a thousand years to mature.
Finding one doesn't guarantee the same luck in later decades with the rare Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures.
This increased the difficulty significantly.
Seeing their furrowed brows, seemingly preferring the second method but hesitating due to the difficulty in obtaining the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, Mu Jinyu said: "Though the second method isn't particularly difficult, don't forget my Life Source Energy can accelerate the maturation of herbs."
"Hmm?!"
Upon hearing Mu Jinyu's words, Wen Rou and Jian Ruyan's eyes lit up.
They remembered that his cultivation of the Green Emperor's Wood Emperor Art inherently possessed the ability to control all wood, and to accelerate the maturity of spiritual medicine.
With the mystical little tree's assistance, his Green Emperor True Yuan transformed into Life Source Energy, further enhancing the power to bring the dead to life, and whiten bones — naturally making the maturation of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures more effective than Green Emperor True Yuan.
If they weren't looking for mature Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, but instead half-mature ones or even spiritual medicine seeds, with the Life Source Energy, could they not also become mature Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures?
This way, the difficulty of the second method would be greatly reduced.
With Mu Jinyu's Life Source Energy assisting, if they chose the second method to swap souls, reducing life span from fifty to sixty years to thirty to forty years, his help could probably add another ten years, allowing them to live around fifty years.
Only ten years shorter than the first method.
No longer hesitating too much, Wen Rou and Jian Ruyan chose the second method.
Compared to reclaiming their own bodies, ten years of lifespan didn't seem as important now.
"Alright then, we'll need to start preparing to find these Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures."
Mu Jinyu wasn't surprised by their choice, having anticipated it. He nodded slightly after hearing their decision.
"Wait a moment…"
Jian Ruyan furrowed her brows slightly and began to ask Mu Jinyu about his journey through the Heavenly Palace, questioning in detail.
Mu Jinyu knew of her experience at the Heavenly Palace, but unsure if she had fled from it, he didn't conceal anything from her, answering truthfully.
"So you could have chosen the stronger Heaven rank technique, the Green Emperor Wood Emperor Scripture?!"
Jian Ruyan listened to Mu Jinyu's account, her expression changed slightly and her gaze became complicated.
"It's nothing. Since the Heavenly Palace has this technique, I'll eventually have a chance to acquire it. Meanwhile, the Green Emperor's Wood Emperor Art is sufficient for my current cultivation needs. Right now, the urgent matter is solving the aftermath of your soul seizing."
Mu Jinyu said softly, showing no concern for missing the advancement with the top heavenly rank grade technique.
Jian Ruyan felt guilty but furrowed her brow again, saying: "It's odd. If he could discern your cultivation technique at a glance, why couldn't he notice your other secrets like the Life Source Energy…"