"The Sect Master wasn't kidding. This 'Universe in the Sleeve' really is difficult to cultivate..."

Qi Xiu chuckled wryly as he held the ancient Yellow Official Document, extinguishing the colorful radiance of the Hunyuan All-Encompassing Luminance beside him with a wave of his hand.

The Dharma Gate of 'Universe in the Sleeve,' as recorded in the ancient scroll of the Yellow Official Document, used a narrative technique that was utterly incomprehensible to describe how to cultivate this Dharma Gate.

It felt like listening to a blind man explain the world to you after losing his sight.

Despite the detailed description, you could never truly grasp that state of being.

"Fortunately, I have the blessings of both the Divine Marvel of proficiency and the Hunyuan All-Encompassing Luminance. I estimate that I'll be able to get a grasp on it in about ten days to half a month."

Putting away the Yellow Official Document, Qi Xiu slowly stood up.

The Dharma Gate of 'Universe in the Sleeve' is essentially divided into two parts.

'In the sleeve' mainly focuses on the manipulation of the Cosmic Bi power.

But the real difficulty lies within the words 'Qiankun'!

If it weren't for these two words, then this so-called 'Universe in the Sleeve,' as Dongfang Qing said, would merely be a Dharma Gate to capture and trap people.

"I assume the predecessors from the Shenxiao Sect who previously cultivated this Dharma Gate only managed to grasp its usage of the Cosmic Bi power. They never truly mastered the Dharma Gate itself. Otherwise, they wouldn't have made such comments."

Qi Xiu walked up to the Pill Furnace in his room and squatted down slowly, examining something that was being forged within the cauldron.

"Let's hope it works this time. The amount of materials I have left is almost depleted. If it fails again, I'll have to make another trip to Grass Valley."

With a hint of anticipation in his gaze, Qi Xiu formed a Dharma Seal with one hand. In an instant, a mysterious force from the universe descended, enveloping the entire Pill Furnace.

Hunyuan Palace!

He took the Pill Furnace into the Hunyuan Palace. Qi Xiu's eyes burst with radiant colors as all three hundred and sixty-five Hunyuan Apertures in his body simultaneously revived.

A tumultuous surge of True Yuan gushed forth.

He rotated his right hand slowly in a counterclockwise direction, manipulating the flow of time within the Hunyuan Palace.

Within the Pill Furnace, the mysterious substance, continuously transitioning between a gaseous and liquid state, moved rapidly.

It was as if the fast-forward button had been pressed.

The Hunyuan Palace could decelerate the flow of time, and it could also accelerate it.

Moreover, after cultivating the Innate Hunyuan Saint Body, the limit of manipulating time flow had increased from the initial 2:1 to a staggering 10:1.

However, correspondingly, the energy required to manipulate the Hunyuan Palace had also grown significantly greater.

If it weren't for Qi Xiu's cultivation of the Innate Hunyuan Saint Body and the three hundred and sixty-five Hunyuan Apertures, with virtually infinite True Yuan, this Hunyuan Palace would have truly become a mere accumulation—useless when needed, yet regrettable to discard.

Under the acceleration of the Power of Chrono Light in the Hunyuan Palace, the mysterious substance in the Pill Furnace began to grow rapidly.

In just five short days, what was originally the size of a thumb had grown to the size of a fist. Its color also changed from the original dark yellow to a strange, bright red.

It should be forming now...

Seeing the substance turn bright red, Qi Xiu's expression relaxed slightly.

Five days had passed in the real world, but fifty days had gone by inside the Hunyuan Palace.

It now seemed stable.

But just as he was about to celebrate his imminent success, the bright red substance in the Pill Furnace suddenly began to turn from red to black. Its state also solidified from its original gaseous-liquid form into a hard rock.

CLANG—

The dark, nondescript lump fell to the bottom of the Pill Furnace, making a thud.

"It still didn't work."

Looking at the black rock that had solidified at the bottom of the Pill Furnace, Qi Xiu clicked his tongue lightly.

It seems I really must take a trip to Grass Valley.

Brushing his sleeve to extinguish the Purple Sky Fire beneath the Pill Furnace, Qi Xiu took out the black rock, turned, and left with wide strides. After greeting Daoist Yunming, who had started brewing wine again, he activated his Thunder Escape and soared into the sky.

「...」

Beneath a certain cliff, a valley hung over a turbulent river, seemingly suspended out of thin air.

This valley resembled a paradise hidden from the world, an eternal spring surrounded by endless greenery.

At sunrise, sunlight penetrated layers of mist, cascading into the valley in colorful bands of light.

Passing through an entrance entwined with vines and brimming with vibrant life, entering this unknown land felt like stepping into a world utterly different from the ordinary.

In the valley, bizarre and colorful plants were seen everywhere.

There were Fire Mist Flowers with flame-red petals, from whose centers a light, fragrant mist was emitted.

There were also Star River Fruits, resembling transparent bubbles hanging in the air, which glowed on their own. At night, they twinkled with illusory, colorful spots, as ravishingly beautiful as a galaxy descended to earth.

And there was the wondrous Illusory Sound Tree, detectable only by the sound of its growth. It looked like a ram's horn but had multicolored branches as magnificent as a Peacock spreading its tail feathers.

Besides plants, the valley also contained an assortment of varied and extraordinary minerals and crystals.

Navigating the familiar path, Qi Xiu flew directly to the hidden place known as Grass Valley, landing before a dense, endless cluster of yellow and white tents.

People moved about in the relatively small yet towering tents, their expressions hurried.

Everyone there carried a strong scent of herbs, as if they had just emerged from a room where medicinal ingredients were being decocted.

Even more tents than before...

Noticing that the number of tents in Grass Valley seemed to have increased by about ten percent since his last visit, Qi Xiu clicked his tongue.

Grass Valley, this ephemeral paradise built just half a year ago, had now become the largest producer of Elixirs throughout Dianchuan Province.

Sects, prominent families, and some Loose Cultivators.

Under an unknown impetus, tens of thousands of alchemists had gathered here.

Moreover, the hidden Sect, Nature Banner, personally guarded this place. They provided medicinal materials for the alchemists while protecting their safety.

Each tent here represented a Pill group. They were in charge of producing or researching Elixirs.

Qi Xiu had chanced upon the leader of one of these Pill groups and learned of this place from them. He was then persuaded by this leader, with heartfelt and reasoned arguments, to join their Pill group.

Qi Xiu deftly navigated between the tents, with occasional cheers of victory or sighs of defeat reaching his ears.

The path of alchemy was indeed full of twists and turns.

Just like his earlier attempt, where he had watched a nearly successful batch of medicinal materials rapidly deteriorate and fail in an instant.

Even the mentally strongest individuals would find it difficult to suppress such immense disappointment.

「Pill Group B-59」

Arriving at the tent designated for his Pill group, Qi Xiu lifted the curtain at the entrance and walked in.

The tent, covering about a hundred square meters, naturally had more to it than met the eye. Expanding the interior with an array wasn't too difficult, and every tent here was equipped with such a formation.

"Qi Xiu? How did it go? Were the medicinal materials successful?"

As soon as he entered the tent, a woman approached. She was clad in shorts and a tank top, revealing a proud figure, and her particularly striking feature was her turbulent red hair. She was wiping sweat from her forehead.

"It failed."

Qi Xiu took out the black stone and shook his head, "The medicinal materials were nearly ninety percent mature when they suddenly deteriorated. It seems there's still an issue with the precise ratios."

"Still no good?"

Frowning at the black stone in Qi Xiu's hand, the red-haired woman pounded her fist. The force of the gesture caused a conspicuous tremor that made Qi Xiu feel a bit dizzy.

"Old Zhang and Old Sun have made great progress. As long as we can succeed here, we can try making the finished product and begin live experiments."

Scratching her hair in irritation, the red-haired woman looked visibly frustrated.

This woman was named Han Yun, a Loose Cultivator.

The Elixir her Pill group was researching was extremely special.

Qi Xiu had been convinced to join her Pill group after hearing her ideas.

This was because the Elixir Han Yun was developing wasn't the type to cure diseases or heal wounds.

It was akin to poison but not exactly the same—a special kind of substance.

In the mortal world, it was commonly known as: a Plague!

"I still maintain my previous opinion: lethality is the hardest aspect to control in a plague. If you set the lethality too high, it will hinder widespread contagion. Your idea to create a plague that only spreads among Demons is good. But you must understand, thinking of eradicating this Demon disaster with a plague is impossible. For us, the optimal choice is to weaken the combat strength of the Demonic Evil Cultivators."

As Qi Xiu spoke to the agitated Han Yun, she suddenly seemed to have an epiphany.

"I've got it! If a one-time infection isn't lethal enough, then let them be infected multiple times! Let the accumulating toxicity slowly erode their strength. It's like a dam eaten hollow by termites—once it collapses, everything is over!"

"Hahaha, I'm truly a genius!"

With a gleam in her eyes, Han Yun placed her hands on her hips and laughed triumphantly, completely oblivious that her vigorous movements were causing a wardrobe malfunction.

"Hey, hey, hey, I really don't want to interrupt you when you're so happy, but I still have to say something. Demons aren't mere chickens or dogs. With their constitution, once infected, their Demon Blood will surely produce antibodies. Multiple infections? Unless you can keep them continuously in an environment with a high concentration of the plague, otherwise..."

Qi Xiu trailed off, stopping abruptly.

Seeing Qi Xiu suddenly fall silent, Han Yun couldn't help but ask curiously, "Otherwise what?"

"The Shouting Evil Fruit!"

As he blurted out the seemingly random name, a glint of brilliance flashed in Qi Xiu's eyes. An uncontrollable idea surged in his mind.

"The Shouting Evil Fruit? Are you saying..."

Han Yun, who had naturally heard of this fiendish thing that could create an "Evil Domain," first frowned. Then, she quickly grasped the significance behind Qi Xiu's abrupt mention of it.

"We could create a toxic entity similar to the Shouting Evil Fruit, continuously releasing the plague, forming a kind of 'Evil Domain' environment! As long as they are in this environment, even if Demons have strong physiques, the accumulating plague toxicity will ensure they get infected multiple times. This way, we can gradually push that bunch of filthy Demons back! Qi Xiu, you really are a genius!"

Unable to contain her excitement, Han Yun jumped up, hugged Qi Xiu, and planted a firm kiss on his cheek.

"Hey, watch your manners!"

Wiping the saliva from his cheek, Qi Xiu said to Han Yun, "Report this idea immediately. The source of that Evil Fruit has already left the Flood Dragon Palace and is near the Yu Tanghe River. If we can retrieve the source of the Evil Fruit, we can greatly influence the situation and push back the Demonic Evil Cultivators!"

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