"My mentor, although fond of shirking responsibility, is at least true to his word."

Looking at the high-quality Pill Furnace that had been delivered, Qi Xiu was pleased at first sight.

This Pill Furnace stood about as tall as a person. Its form was archaic and dignified, solid and imposing, and its entire body resembled carved jade. Each of the four furnace walls was engraved with the likeness of a beast.

This beast was called Gou Cheng.

It was a unique Mystical Spiritual Beast.

The beast likeness engraved on this Pill Furnace was drawn with the blood essence of this beast. It could autonomously control the fire during alchemy, greatly increasing the pill production rate.

Pill Furnace in hand, Qi Xiu began preparations for alchemy.

The elixir he intended to refine this time was called: Five Spirits Miraculous Elixir of True Cavern!

This was an unpopular, top-tier Initiate Realm elixir.

Its refinement difficulty was not very high.

The greatest feature of this elixir was its extremely potent and abundant Spiritual Power. Refined using the principle of the Five Elements mutually generating one another, it could multiply the Spiritual Power originally contained in the medicinal ingredients severalfold.

It couldn't be consumed by Cultivators of Dao below the Dao-Entering Realm Complete level; otherwise, a single elixir could cause one to literally explode!

Furthermore, the ingredients for the Five Spirits Miraculous Elixir of True Cavern were all quite precious and costly.

Due to its niche audience and singular effect, its refinement was not cost-effective.

Thus, few existed.

It was an Initiate Realm elixir on the verge of extinction.

Qi Xiu had already gathered all the necessary ingredients for refining the Five Spirits Miraculous Elixir of True Cavern.

He had spent a full 20,000 Dao Money and even borrowed over 10,000 more Dao Money from Daoist Yunxiong.

"No wonder so few in the Cultivation Realm pursue multiple auxiliary arts. This truly burns through money."

Looking at the roomful of ingredients worth over 30,000 Dao Money, Qi Xiu lightly shook his head.

The art of alchemy essentially involved using mountains of medicinal ingredients to produce elixirs.

With his proficiency and Divine Marvel, his ingredient consumption was already considered minimal.

True alchemists and Pill Masters consumed medicinal ingredients by the ton daily, a rate ordinary people simply could not sustain.

However, while the art of alchemy was expensive to practice, it earned even more.

Finished elixirs often cost ten, or even dozens of times, their ingredient cost.

If one could establish themselves in this field, the initial investment was negligible.

Placing the prepared ingredients into the Pill Furnace one by one, Qi Xiu flicked his finger, sending a spark beneath the Pill Furnace.

Instantly, the flames surged.

On the four walls of the furnace, the Gou Cheng beast, its eyes previously closed in slumber, slowly opened them as if reawakening.

It circled the entire Pill Furnace, carefully monitoring the fire and continuously adjusting it to the optimal level.

This Pill Furnace is excellent. With the Gou Cheng beast managing the fire, I can save at least a third of my vigor.

Nodding, Qi Xiu observed the medicinal essence being gradually extracted within the furnace. He sat cross-legged, his hands resting flat on his knees.

He began to silently chant an ancient, abstruse scripture passage that held a mysterious guiding intent.

This was the Elixir Incantation.

During the refinement of Dao-Entering Realm elixirs, one had to pay attention not only to the fire and the fusion of medicinal energies. The core of the process was using an Elixir Incantation to attract the elixir's Divine Marvel and infuse it within.

Otherwise, even if the pill formed, it would lack its full Divine Marvel and potency.

Lips moving, Qi Xiu chanted the Elixir Incantation at an extremely rapid pace.

Mysterious and unique syllables continuously flowed from his mouth like a clandestine melody from a bygone era, beckoning Divine Marvel Power to descend.

The Elixir Incantation echoed, verse after verse, within the room.

This continued for three full days and nights.

Gradually, a five-colored spiritual radiance emerged from an unknown cosmic wall, meandering like a flowing stream, and slowly poured into the Pill Furnace.

Noticing the change in the room, Qi Xiu slowly opened his eyes a fraction.

Seeing the Divine Marvel of the Five Spirits Miraculous Elixir of True Cavern being attracted, a slight smile touched his lips.

The difficulty in refining Dao-Entering Realm elixirs, beyond controlling the fire and extracting and fusing the medicinal ingredients' potency, lay chiefly in attracting the elixir's Divine Marvel. This was of paramount importance.

This process of chanting the Elixir Incantation seemed simple, yet every syllable and every turn of phrase held special techniques.

It required a continuous expenditure of True Gang to correctly chant the Sutras and Mantras.

The more times the Elixir Incantation was recited, the greater the probability of attracting the elixir's Divine Marvel.

Leveraging his abundant and immense True Gang, Qi Xiu recited the Elixir Incantation thirty times—a feat where ordinary alchemists would manage at most three recitations.

Such an audacious act successfully attracted the elixir's Divine Marvel as he had hoped.

A moment later, the Pill Furnace suddenly trembled.

Streaks of five-colored radiance escaped from the furnace walls.

At the same time, a rich medicinal fragrance permeated the entire room.

Just by inhaling its scent, Qi Xiu felt the Gang Qi within him surge.

As expected of an elixir specifically designed for cultivation.

He rose, opened the Pill Furnace, and fifteen or sixteen lychee-sized elixir beads lay quietly inside. They were transparent as crystal, with a subtle five-colored light flowing within.

Picking one up, Qi Xiu examined it closely.

The quality is ordinary, but its medicinal strength is hundreds of times that of a Spirit Pill. Truly an elixir only consumable by those at Dao-Entering Realm Complete.

He popped the Five Spirits Miraculous Elixir of True Cavern into his mouth. With a movement of his throat, the elixir slid into his stomach.

Once in his stomach, the elixir instantly dissolved into countless streams of heat, spreading through his limbs and skeletal frame.

Immense Spiritual Power surged chaotically through Qi Xiu's body like a stampede of maddened wild oxen.

This elixir's potency is too fierce. For an ordinary cultivator lacking a sufficiently powerful Natal True Scripture, digesting this medicinal strength would be a major challenge.

Experiencing the effects of the Five Spirits Miraculous Elixir of True Cavern, Qi Xiu frowned slightly.

No wonder it's an unpopular elixir. Its effects are too potent; the drawbacks outweigh the benefits.

Silently circulating the Hunyuan Dragon Tiger Scripture Mystery, Qi Xiu's vital breath stirred, and a massive, swirling black-and-white vortex faintly appeared behind him.

Beneath this yin-yang vortex, the medicinal strength of the Five Spirits Miraculous Elixir of True Cavern was rapidly decomposed and assimilated.

It was gradually infused into one of the Mixed Primordial Beads.

One Five Spirits Miraculous Elixir of True Cavern could condense five hundred wisps of Hunyuan Gang Qi.

This meant two Five Spirits Miraculous Elixirs of True Cavern could form one Mixed Primordial Bead.

If so, I might complete the formation of all 365 Mixed Primordial Beads decades ahead of schedule!

Exhaling a turbid breath, Qi Xiu's eyes gleamed with a peculiar light.

This Five Spirits Miraculous Elixir of True Cavern has a tyrannical medicinal strength and a singular effect. For other cultivators, it's like chicken ribs—tasteless to eat, yet a pity to discard. But for me, it's actually better.

With this elixir's aid, he could drastically reduce the time needed to form all the Mixed Primordial Beads.

However, this will entail a significant expenditure. Qi Xiu rubbed his temples.

Although the Five Spirits Miraculous Elixir of True Cavern was not difficult to refine, its required ingredients were all exceedingly precious.

Procuring them in large quantities would indeed be a colossal expense.

Looks like I need to talk to my stingy master.

Since it concerned his cultivation, Qi Xiu did not delay and went directly to find Daoist Yunxiong.

However, to Qi Xiu's surprise, upon seeing the Five Spirits Miraculous Elixir of True Cavern he had refined, Daoist Yunxiong immediately decided to fully support his alchemy endeavors.

Dao Money and ingredients would be supplied without limit.

He could request them whenever he needed.

The 180-degree turn in his old mentor's attitude left Qi Xiu utterly bewildered.

It wasn't until he was leaving Guanlan Cliff that he faintly heard Daoist Yunxiong's smug and unrestrained laughter.

"Yun Qing, my disciple is an alchemy genius, I never expected it! HAHAHAHA, this time I'll infuriate you to death!"

Although inwardly exasperated, with Daoist Yunxiong's full support, Qi Xiu set his worries aside.

Henceforth, he only needed to focus on refining elixirs and form the 365 Mixed Primordial Beads as soon as possible.

「Time flew swiftly. In a blink, more than two years had passed.」

With Daoist Yunxiong's unstinting financial support, Qi Xiu operated at full capacity. Relying on his increasingly proficient and stable Fifth Realm Alchemy technique, he continuously produced Five Spirits Miraculous Elixirs of True Cavern.

Vast amounts of medicinal ingredients were continuously transported into his courtyard.

They were fed into the Pill Furnace, transforming into batch after batch of the Five Spirits Miraculous Elixir of True Cavern—crystal-clear, luminous pellets shimmering with five-colored light.

With such a vast supply of elixirs, Qi Xiu's progress in condensing Mixed Primordial Beads accelerated unprecedentedly.

But as he consumed more and more of the Five Spirits Miraculous Elixir of True Cavern, Qi Xiu's body gradually developed a resistance to this type of elixir.

The Spiritual Power the elixirs provided grew increasingly diminished.

Two years later, Qi Xiu had even begun to treat these elixirs like candy, casually tossing a handful into his mouth whenever he pleased.

In over two years, I've refined nearly three hundred batches of the Five Spirits Miraculous Elixir of True Cavern, yet not once has the so-called 'Super Elixir' appeared. Just how low is this extremely low probability?

Staring at the Pill Furnace before him, Qi Xiu rested his chin on his hand, lost in thought.

He watched as the elixir's Divine Marvel slowly infused the Pill Furnace. Five-colored light scattered, and another batch of Five Spirits Miraculous Elixir of True Cavern was complete.

But just as Qi Xiu rose to open the furnace lid, the entire Pill Furnace suddenly began to tremble violently, as if it were an erupting volcano, venting clouds of terrifying steam!

"This is... Not good!"

Seeing that the contents of the Pill Furnace were about to erupt, Qi Xiu flicked his sleeve. Countless golden Suppressing Talismans shot out, transforming into eighteen golden chains that firmly bound the Pill Furnace.

BANG!

The instant the chains secured the Pill Furnace, its lid was violently blasted off!

A fist-sized, brilliantly glowing orb shot out, streaking around the room at incredible speed like a meteor.

At this moment, the entire room fell silent.

Only the whistling sound of the glowing orb flying through the air reverberated endlessly.

After gliding rapidly in mid-air for a moment, the orb suddenly executed a sharp turn and hurtled towards Qi Xiu!

POP!

Catching the Super Elixir, which darted about like an elusive sprite, Qi Xiu lowered his gaze to it, his eyes filled with a profound purple light.

A hundredfold medicinal strength! This Five Spirits Miraculous Elixir of True Cavern is practically sentient!

Sensing the roiling, immense Spiritual Power within the Super Elixir—like a great river or a surging tide—Qi Xiu couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

With such terrifying medicinal strength, even I wouldn't dare consume it rashly. I'd fear being blown apart.

Just as Qi Xiu was admiring this hard-won Super Elixir, the fruit of two years' labor, a cry of alarm came from the courtyard.

"Bai Ling!"

His ear twitched, and Qi Xiu flashed into the courtyard.

He saw Qingyi gently shaking Bai Ling and calling her name.

The usually vivacious and nimble little tree spirit was completely unconscious.

Moreover, her entire body had taken on an eerie black-and-white hue.

It was as if all color had been drained from her.

How could this be?

Employing the Observing Qi Skill, Qi Xiu's pupils constricted.

Bai Ling's vital aura has completely vanished! Right now, she's like a block of wood!

"Qingyi, watch the house. I'm taking her to Master," Qi Xiu instructed.

With that, Qi Xiu swept Bai Ling up in his sleeve and, transforming into a streak of Lei Mang, sped towards Guanlan Cliff.

Brother Ge had entrusted Bai Ling to his care before departing.

Brother Ge had treated him with sincerity and, before leaving, had even gifted him the Tranquil Heart Illuminating Bamboo to guard against Heart Demons.

If anything happens to Bai Ling, how will I ever face Brother Ge?

Arriving hastily at Guanlan Cliff, before Qi Xiu even landed, he encountered Daoist Priest Yunqing, who was also rushing over.

"Uncle-Master?"

Halting, Qi Xiu bowed to Daoist Priest Yunqing.

"Martial Nephew, what brings you here? You know as well?" Daoist Priest Yunqing asked, surprised to see Qi Xiu.

"Know what?"

A sudden sense of unease gripped Qi Xiu's heart, and he glanced around.

The vital aura of Guanlan Cliff today... it's extremely turbulent.

His expression grave, Daoist Priest Yunqing adopted a rare look of solemnity:

"Something has happened to Ge Ping."

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