Dragon Void Daoist departed swiftly, without the slightest trace of hesitation.

After briefly instructing a few disciples, he transformed into a golden rainbow light and flew eastward.

His destination was clear: traversing the Myriad Beasts Mountain Range to reach the Western Yue Cultivation Realm recorded in ancient texts.

The journey was fraught with obstacles, not lacking Tier Three Demon Kings blocking the path, with few in Qinghua Sect's history able to travel there and return safely.

...

Inside the core library of the Fenghua Immortal City Pill Alliance, the aroma of sandalwood lingered.

Chen Sheng sat at a purple sandalwood desk, holding a jade scroll emitting a faint golden spirit light in his hands.

This was a set of Tier Three alchemy insights and legacy left by Dragon Void Daoist before his journey, the core inheritance of the Pill Furnace Peak lineage.

Ultimately entrusted to Chen Sheng, a Tier Three Alchemist seed.

On the other side of the desk, there was a crystal jade bottle filled with a pale cyan liquid, which was the extremely rare Tier Three Flood Dragon Essence Blood.

Spirit light passed through the bottle's surface, with the essence blood flowing like peerless jade, emitting a soul-stirring wave of spiritual energy.

Chen Sheng's divine sense delved into the jade scroll, his eyes full of shock:

"Master's inheritance may take a lifetime to comprehend."

The contents of the jade scroll were far more profound than he imagined, recording over twenty quasi-Tier Three Pill Formulas and five Tier Three Lower Grade Pill Formulas.

It even included the "Profound Essence Barrier-Breaking Pill" and "Cyan Simurgh Longevity Pill" two Tier Three Middle Grade Pill Formulas.

More remarkably, Dragon Void Daoist detailed his insights into refining these elixirs in the jade scroll.

How to control the fire to activate the Tier Three Spiritual Medicine's properties, how to resolve the backlash force when condensing pills, how to integrate one's divine sense imprint during the pill condensation…

Each note was like a personal instruction, every word filled with wisdom.

Chen Sheng studied each line intently, sometimes furrowing his brows, sometimes suddenly understanding.

With his current mastery as a Tier Two Top Level Alchemist, he could comprehend seventy to eighty percent of these formulas, even mentally simulating the refining process.

But refining them…

The difficulty was too high!

Tier Three Elixirs require nurturing a "Pill Spirit."

The refining process demands an extremely high level of divine sense, needing to imprint divine sense and draw in Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi during pill condensation to form a trace of spirituality.

This step completely stumped Chen Sheng.

He murmured to himself:

"I must use my divine sense as a guide, combined with Tier Three Spiritual Fire, to inject Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, nurturing the Pill Spirit."

"Gathering Spirit rather than Locking Spirit, forming a pill by gathering Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, resembles refining Golden Core within a furnace."

"Human forms Golden Core, transforming and transcending, Pill gains spirituality, becoming extraordinary and refined!"

"With my current cultivation and divine sense, even if I perfect the 'Divine Inference Array,' refining Tier Three Elixirs is quite challenging."

"Only by reaching Mid-stage Foundation Establishment, advancing my divine sense further, and using the Fifth Layer of the 'Divine Inference Array,' might I have a chance."

Chen Sheng gently nodded, cautiously securing the jade scroll in his personal storage pouch.

He then picked up the crystal bottle containing the Flood Dragon Essence Blood, scanning the blood with his divine sense.

In an instant, an intense desire from deep within his bloodlines surged into his heart, with every inch of his skin and every vein clamoring.

It seemed as if this essence blood was a tonic custom-made for him!

Chen Sheng nodded slightly, fully aware that this Tier Three Flood Dragon Essence Blood was indeed a peerless tonic for his Body Refining Technique.

He was now incredibly close to the peak of Body Refining Fourth Layer, nearly stuck at the final step of "Dragon Bone Rebirth."

By ingesting this essence blood and harnessing its contained power, he could most likely step into the Body Refining Fifth Layer, allowing the Dragon Horn to fully form, making his physical strength comparable to a Mid-stage Foundation Establishment demon beast.

Perhaps even propelling him considerably along the Body Refining Fifth Layer.

Yet Chen Sheng resisted the temptation, shaking his head:

"On the path of cultivation, nothing is worse than rushing for quick success."

"Body refining has other resources. Achieving Body Refining Fifth Layer is within the next two years, there's no rush now."

"This Tier Three Flood Dragon Essence Blood is indispensable for aiming at the Golden Core."

If wasted on a temporary body refining breakthrough, he would lack a crucial safeguard when aiming for the Golden Core in the future.

Chen Sheng took a deep breath, suppressing his inner restlessness, placing the crystal jade bottle into the deepest part of his storage pouch.

Composing himself, he turned towards the training room.

Today's Qi Cultivation was not yet completed; the liquid mana within his dantian needed daily nurturing to steadily grow.

...

A month passed.

Inside the Fenghua Pill Alliance's Alchemy Room, the pill fire burned fiercely.

Chen Sheng and Fang Lingxiao stood side by side in front of the pill furnace, a pill formula spread out on the jade desk in front of them.

It was the improved 'Barrier-Breaking Pill' formula, designed specifically to help Foundation Establishment Early-stage cultivators break through to the mid-stage bottleneck.

The two had deduced it over several decades, now feeling somewhat confident, they attempted refining once more today.

"Rise!"

Chen Sheng flicked a finger, a wisp of spiritual fire fell into the Cyan Abyss Cauldron, flames soared instantly, engulfing the "Celestial Heart Grass," "Purple Crystal Flower," and other spiritual medicines on the desk into the furnace.

In the fire, the spiritual medicines quickly melted into a pale purple liquid, its surface bubbling densely—signs of conflicting medicinal properties.

Chen Sheng was moved, hurriedly adjusting the flame, flicking his fingertips to cast three spells, slowly expelling impurities from the liquid.

After half an hour, the liquid finally became pure and transparent, starting to rotate within the furnace, forming a vortex shape.

"Condensing Pill!"

Chen Sheng cast the Condensing Pill Technique, and the liquid inside the furnace gradually began to coalesce into pill form.

At the moment it was about to take shape, the elixir suddenly cracked with a fine line, and with a "bang," turned into a puddle of black liquid, emitting a burnt smell.

Chen Sheng opened the furnace lid and looked at the wasted pill at the bottom of the furnace, shaking his head helplessly:

"Still not working, there are always cracks at the junction of the pill patterns, looks like we're missing a spiritual medicine to harmonize the medicinal properties."

Fang Lingxiao also frowned, picking up the pill formula to examine it carefully:

"The powers are clashing, without a proper spiritual medicine to harmonize, the furnace will inevitably explode during pill condensing."

"We've already tried 'Ice Heart Grass,' 'Dragon Saliva Fragrance,' and even used the Western Border's 'Miasma Flower,' to no avail."

Chen Sheng rubbed his temples, exhaustion evident in his eyes:

"Ice Heart Grass is too cold, suppressing spiritual power, Dragon Saliva Fragrance is too fiery, fostering evil Qi, and Miasma Flower introduces impurities, affecting the pill's purity."

Fang Lingxiao sighed:

"The Realm-Breaking Pill Formula is indeed a challenge in the Alchemy Dao, improving it is immensely difficult."

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration hit Chen Sheng. He walked to the pill formula and paused his finger on the blank space for harmonizing spiritual medicine:

"Perhaps we can shift our approach, using not just one spiritual medicine, but a combination of two—such as 'Warm Jade Marrow' and 'Fire Lotus Seed.'

"One warm, one hot, counterbalancing each other. It might just neutralize the conflict between spiritual power and evil Qi."

Fang Lingxiao's eyes lit up:

"That's a good idea! Warm Jade Marrow can nourish spiritual power, and Fire Lotus Seed can channel evil Qi. Combined, it might truly work!"

The two immediately began to deduce.

Fang Lingxiao was responsible for calculating the ratio of the two spiritual medicines, while Chen Sheng deduced the refinement methods and such.

"Tomorrow we will try again, using three pounds of Warm Jade Marrow paired with one pound of Fire Lotus Seed, controlling the heat at..."

Fang Lingxiao nodded in agreement:

"Good, we'll try again tomorrow."

"A bottleneck is the first major hurdle in cultivation, improving the pill formula is no easy feat. Trying a few more times will eventually lead to success."

Having packed up the pill furnace, the two walked out of the alchemy room, and it was already dusk.

…

In the evening, at the training ground in the backyard of the Alchemy Alliance.

Chen Sheng sat on a stone bench, checking on his son, Chen Yuquan's, Qi refining progress.

Seven-year-old Chen Yuquan, dressed in blue training clothes, sat cross-legged on a mat, eyes closed, as he practiced the 'Nanming Li Fire Technique.'

This is a top-level cultivation technique from the Pill Furnace Peak lineage, reaching the mid-stage of the Golden Core, with extremely high difficulty and significant resource demands.

During Foundation Establishment, the early stage requires condensing sixty drops of liquid mana.

With a high-grade spiritual root aptitude, Chen Yuquan could barely cultivate, albeit with considerable risk, especially during the initial stages.

Almost daily, Chen Sheng would check his son's cultivation status.

At this moment, he revealed a pleased smile on his face:

"Not bad, the meridian flow is very stable. In just a year, you've reached the Qi Cultivation First Layer."

Chen Yuquan had a lot of tenacity, never slacking on his daily lessons, and this perseverance was commendable.

Just then, a crisp voice called out:

"Uncle Chen!"

Chen Sheng looked up to see a young girl in a goose-yellow dress running over. It was Fang Lingxiao's daughter, Fang Mochou.

Three years had passed, and Fang Mochou had grown to ten years old, becoming elegant and poised, with lively eyes and a cheerful disposition.

Chen Sheng waved with a smile:

"Ah, Mochou, here to play with Yuquan?"

Fang Mochou nodded, ran to Chen Yuquan's side, and seeing him still cultivating, she waited quietly by his side.

Once Chen Yuquan finished his practice, she grabbed his sleeve and said:

"Yuquan, let's go to the market to see the acrobatics!"

Chen Yuquan frowned slightly, seemingly hesitant.

Chen Sheng nodded gently:

"Cultivation also requires a balance of work and rest, go play for half an hour and then come back."

But in the next moment, Chen Yuquan shook his head:

"No, Mother told me it's important to persevere in cultivation, I still have to refine, today's lessons aren't complete. You go on, I won't go."

Fang Mochou was taken aback, then glared at him, whispering in his ear:

"Why are you so silly? Why work so hard on Qi refining, just eat more 'Qi Gathering Pills'?"

"My father's storeroom has plenty of Qi Gathering Pills, I'll sneak a few for you?"

But Chen Yuquan firmly shook his head.

Fang Mochou rolled her eyes at him in frustration:

"Forget it, you're just stubborn! I'm not talking to you anymore!"

With that, she stomped her feet, turned, and ran off.

Watching Fang Mochou's departing figure, Chen Sheng walked to Chen Yuquan's side, patting his shoulder lightly, his tone approving:

"Good son, a real man should know what to do and what not to do."

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