While the player is in Battle Through the Heavens, the system is in The Great Ruler.

Chapter 168 Earth Core Flame Marrow, Mid-stage Spirit Realm!
Upon hearing this, Venerable Tianhuo nodded knowingly and said, "The Tianmu Mountain Range is located in the northern region of Zhongzhou. Every year, a large number of young people from Zhongzhou gather at the Tianshan Blood Pool. It is quite famous throughout Zhongzhou. It is indeed a good place to establish oneself."

"Moreover, the Pavilion Master has a connection with the Wind and Thunder Pavilion, the overlord of the Northern Region. Staying here is like being in a favorable position and getting some support."

He stroked his beard and pondered for a moment, his eyes gleaming even brighter. "Compared to other regions in Zhongzhou, this place is a rare unclaimed treasure. If managed properly, it will surely become the cornerstone for the rise of my Lingbao Pavilion. Pavilion Master, you have keen insight. I agree to make this place our mountain gate."

Seeing that Venerable Tianhuo had no objection, Lu Yu immediately made the decision: "In that case, the mountain gate's location shall be set in the Tianmu Mountains."

With the decision made, Lu Yu turned to the white-clad woman standing quietly to the side and said in a gentle tone, "Xian'er, take my guest token and go to Elder Xuanqing of the Pill Tower. Exchange the above medicinal herbs according to the list in this jade slip."

He handed over a token and a jade slip that radiated a warm glow, saying, "I can begin now to refine the improved poison pill for you."

Little Fairy Doctor took the token and jade slip, her beautiful eyes sparkling with anticipation and a hint of curiosity: "Has the deduction of the elixir... been successful?"

Lu Yu smiled slightly and nodded in affirmation: "Not bad, the deduction went very smoothly. I named this pill 'Azure Spirit Pill,' which ranks at the peak of the seventh grade. If the medicinal effect is as expected, it will not only completely resolve the accumulated medicinal power in your body and help you stabilize your foundation, but also allow you to improve your cultivation by two to three stars."

During his two-month seclusion, he not only used the last month in the simulation to verify the improved formula of the Netherworld Soul-Eating Pill, but also obtained a bottle of Earth Core Flame Spirit Liquid and a piece of "Earth Core Flame Marrow" containing a vast amount of earth fire essence and of a quality reaching the Heavenly Realm.

The Earth Core Flame Spirit Liquid had been completely devoured and absorbed by the Earth Core Flame, causing the source of the strange fire to surge, becoming full of spirituality, and it had already broken through to the Dou Zong level, its power was incomparable to what it used to be.

As for the exceptional Earth Core Flame Marrow, Lu Yu carefully stored it away, preparing to forge his natal sword.

Among the sword materials he has collected, besides this eighth-order Earth Core Flame Marrow, there is also seventh-order Meteor God Profound Iron, and a unicorn horn taken from the seventh-order peak Purple Crystal Winged Lion King.

Among them, the Earth Core Flame Marrow is scorching and pure, the essence of the Earth Core Fire Vein condensed over a thousand years; the Fallen God Profound Iron is indestructible, a byproduct of the Fallen Heart Flame; and the unicorn horn of the Amethyst Winged Lion King is the condensation of the life essence of a seventh-order magical beast, capable of gathering the power of the Great Sun, and is incomparably domineering.

"These three fire-attribute materials are all top-grade, and it will be difficult to collect more in a short period of time. Perhaps it is time to forge my natal sword."

Lu Yu pondered this in his heart. He had considered continuing to exchange for rarer materials through simulation, but with his current cultivation level of just entering the Dou Zun realm, although his soul power and Dou Qi strength far exceeded those of others of the same level, refining eighth-level materials was already his limit.

Pursuing even higher-grade materials might be beyond our capabilities, and would only waste these rare resources.

More importantly, forging a natal sword is far more complex than simply piling up materials. As the saying goes, too much of a good thing is bad, and too much of a good thing is bad. Only materials with the same properties and pure energy can be perfectly fused together, ultimately giving birth to a sword with boundless potential.

These three fire-attribute materials are now a perfect combination.

"After refining the Spirit-Nourishing Powder and the Azure Spirit Pill, let's begin forging our natal sword."

A glint of anticipation flashed in Lu Yu's eyes. The method of forging this natal sword was a closely guarded secret of the Sword Domain. Its mystery lay in its ability to gradually refine the sword into something akin to a Dharma body, cultivating in harmony with the host's life force, resulting in boundless power. He had long awaited this.

Having made up his mind, he briefly explained to Venerable Heavenly Fire, Little Fairy Doctor, and others that he would be going into seclusion for a period of time to complete the refining of the Spirit-Nourishing Powder and the Poison Pill.

Knowing the gravity of the matter, everyone readily agreed and pledged their protection.

……

After entering the quiet room,

Lu Yu sat down cross-legged, holding his breath and concentrating. He did not make a move immediately, but first used his spiritual power to carefully sense the three main ingredients floating in front of him: Soul Condensing Flower, Spirit Purifying Grass, and the most core Thousand-Year Spirit-Nourishing Jade Marrow.

Each ingredient exudes a gentle and pure spiritual energy.

"rise!"

After a moment, Lu Yu took a deep breath and adjusted himself to his peak condition. With a slight thought, he quickly formed a mysterious hand seal with his hands.

The next moment, a cluster of golden floating fire rose from his palm, the flames leaping and dancing as if they were alive, and then fell precisely beneath the Azure Phoenix Cauldron, burning fiercely.

Once the cauldron reached the perfect temperature, he waved his sleeve, and the Soul-Gathering Flower was the first to be thrown into the cauldron. Under the influence of the strange fire, the petals quickly curled up and melted, extracting a few drops of crystal-clear soul liquid, in which tiny phantoms of souls could be faintly seen.

Immediately afterward, he continued his work, his sleeves fluttering once more, as dozens of auxiliary materials were successively thrown into the Azure Phoenix Cauldron. In an instant, they transformed into clusters of pure medicinal liquids of various colors, blending together and emitting a rich, exotic fragrance.

After a few hours,

With a solemn expression, Lu Yu retrieved the last main ingredient, the Thousand-Year-Old Spirit-Nourishing Jade Marrow. This substance was extremely hard and exceptionally resistant to high temperatures. He held his breath and carefully transformed the fierce flames of the Floating Pagoda Fire into a gentle simmer, slowly burning and calcining the jade marrow.

This process was extremely time-consuming. It took twelve hours for the surface of the chalcedony to gradually soften and eventually melt into a pool of milky white spiritual liquid that exuded a soul-stirring aura.

The moment all the materials were completely fused together, the cauldron suddenly shone brightly, and the intense energy fluctuations made the Azure Phoenix Cauldron hum slightly!
Lu Yu unleashed his soul power, precisely controlling the balance of every wisp of energy. His hands moved with lightning speed, forming hand seals, and the Floating Pagoda Flame carefully enveloped the gradually solidifying dust. Several days later, dark clouds gathered above the meditation room, and thunder roared.

As expected, the thunderbolts arrived on schedule. Silver, cyan, and red lightning intertwined and swirled, crashing down with the oppressive force of heaven and earth!

However, before the thunderbolts had fully descended, a massive fiery palm print formed from boundless battle qi shot into the sky, easily shattering the three-colored lightning into countless points of light.

"Sect Master, please concentrate on refining pills. I will handle any external interference."

The calm voice of Venerable Heavenly Fire came from outside, his tone indifferent.

For a peak nine-star Dou Zun expert, the eighth-grade three-colored pill lightning is indeed nothing to worry about.

Lu Yu smiled slightly, feeling at ease, and continued refining. He opened the furnace twice more, his technique becoming increasingly refined, his control over the heat and soul power becoming more exquisite.

The second time the pill was successfully formed, it still attracted three-colored lightning, but the lightning was even more profound, and the quality of the pill was clearly a step up.

By the time he refined the final batch of materials for the third time, Lu Yu had become extremely skilled. At the moment the pill was completed, the energy of heaven and earth surged violently, attracting silver, cyan, red, and gold pill lightning! The pressure was far greater than before, but Venerable Heavenly Fire calmly blocked it.

Elixir ranks are divided into eight grades and four colors!
It took more than twenty days to continuously refine the Spirit-Nourishing Powder.

Lu Yu paused to catch his breath, then with a flick of his sleeve, fifteen grains of dust, shimmering with a pale yellow spiritual luster, floated lightly in front of him.

These are the Spirit-Nourishing Powders that he painstakingly refined. Each batch of medicinal materials can only produce five pills, making the input-output ratio astonishing. However, the soul-nourishing effect they contain is worth the extravagance.

His gaze swept over the dust particles, among which five were particularly extraordinary. They were crystal clear, with an inner luster, and a faint white halo flowing on their surface. They were top-grade dust particles with a quality of eight grades and four colors.

With a slight thought, he transmitted his voice secretly. A moment later, the stone door of the quiet room opened slightly, and the Little Fairy Doctor in white quietly entered.

"Xian'er, you've come at just the right time."

With a light tap of his fingertip, Lu Yu sent five glistening grains of spirit-nurturing powder flying toward Little Fairy Doctor. "As previously agreed, deliver these five grains to the Pill Tower to complete this transaction."

Little Fairy Doctor carefully took the powder and put it into a jade box. At the same time, she took out a large pile of medicinal herbs that were filled with strange medicinal fragrance and hidden poisonous gas from her storage ring, and slowly said, "Brother Lu, these are the poison pill herbs that you asked me to collect before."

Lu Yu took the medicinal herbs, carefully checked them to confirm they were correct, and then nodded to Little Fairy Doctor.

After Little Fairy Doctor left, his gaze returned to the remaining ten grains of Spirit-Nourishing Powder, especially the five top-grade white pills with their halo.

He pondered for a moment, a decisive glint in his eyes. Now that his soul power had reached the peak of the early stage of the Spirit Realm, perhaps he could use this to try to break through to a higher level. After all, Spirit-Nourishing Powder was also a type of pill, and there was always resistance to it. Obviously, the first time he took it, the effect would be the best.

After a moment's thought, he didn't rush to use the few top-grade four-colored dust particles, but instead took out three ordinary-quality Spirit-Nourishing Dust particles. With a slight thought, he slowly closed his eyes and focused his mind inward. At the same time, an invisible suction force naturally emerged from between his eyebrows.

Drawn by this suction force, the three pale yellow dust particles suspended in front of him instantly transformed into three thin but bright streams of light, which disappeared into his forehead in an instant.

The moment the three grains of Spirit-Nourishing Powder merged into his forehead, Lu Yu's body trembled violently!
A sharp, piercing pain shot through his mind, as if three scorching bullets had struck his very soul in quick succession, forcibly penetrating it...

Fortunately, the excruciating pain did not last long and gradually subsided.

Lu Yu had just breathed a sigh of relief when he suddenly noticed a strange fluctuation spreading throughout the surrounding world. Wisps of extremely faint yet incredibly pure energy seemed to seep out from the depths of the void, drawn by some force, slowly entering his body from his forehead.

As this strange energy flowed in, Lu Yu immediately sensed that his soul power, which had been growing slowly, was now steadily increasing at a clearly perceptible pace, like a stream being infused with living water!
Several hours passed in the blink of an eye during cultivation.

Lu Yu slowly opened his eyes, a glint of light flashing in them, and muttered to himself, "Almost there!"

Without the slightest hesitation, with a thought, the remaining two eighth-grade, three-colored spirit-nurturing dust particles transformed into streams of light and entered directly into his brow.

A cool yet powerful energy burst forth instantly, like a timely rain after a long drought, gently yet forcefully nourishing every inch and every strand of his soul power.

Driven by this pure power, his soul power, which was already at the peak of the early stage of the Spirit Realm and was just one step away from completion, finally began its final, frenzied surge!

Click!

The long-standing barrier suddenly burst open, and everything fell into place. His soul realm steadily entered the mid-stage of the Spirit Realm!

(End of this chapter)