A god-level alchemist, starting by manually crafting forbidden pills.

The pill tasted bland and didn't feel particularly special; it was like swallowing a mouthful of cold water.

Zhang Tie smacked his lips and waited a few breaths, but his body still didn't change much.

No, there are still some changes.

The lingering medicinal scent on his body was rapidly fading and dissipating.

A few breaths later, he completely disappeared, as if he had never taken the pill!

"Huh? It really works!"

He circulated his spiritual energy and tried several techniques.

Sure enough, the faint trace of residual medicinal aura that had been present before could no longer be sensed!

"Very good!"

Zhang Tie exclaimed excitedly, "With this Concealing Breath Pill, we won't have to worry about being discovered anymore!"

Luo Fan also breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed that the Breath Concealing Pill was working normally for the time being.

"How are you feeling, junior brother?"

Luo Fan tentatively asked, "Is there anything that's bothering you?"

He looked Zhang Tie up and down, as if trying to figure something out.

"It feels great, Senior Brother! My spiritual energy is flowing smoothly, and..."

Zhang Tie was about to describe the miraculous effects of the Breath-Concealing Pill when his face suddenly froze.

He discovered that the spiritual energy that had been flowing rapidly through his meridians had suddenly slowed down.

This is not the end; it is becoming thinner and weaker at an even faster rate!

"Um?"

Zhang Tie quickly calmed his mind and looked inward. What he saw almost scared the soul out of him!

The spiritual energy that filled his dantian and dantian dissipated and went silent at a speed visible to the naked eye!

No matter how he tried to activate his technique, the spiritual energy was like a deflated balloon.

In the blink of an eye, he went from a cultivator at the fourth level of Qi Refining to a mortal!

No, even weaker than mortals!

He could no longer sense any spiritual power!

"What...what's going on?!"

Zhang Tie's face turned ashen. He tried to circulate the Hunyuan Qi Gong, but the technique had no effect whatsoever.

He tried to mobilize a wisp of spiritual energy, but couldn't sense anything!

"It's over!"

Zhang Tie's legs went weak, and he collapsed to the ground, his eyes glazed over, his face filled with despair.

"Senior brother, I...I'm a cripple! All my spiritual power is gone!"

He looked up at Luo Fan, his voice trembling with tears, "My cultivation is gone! Waaah..."

For a Qi Refining stage cultivator to suddenly lose all spiritual power is worse than being killed!

This means the end of one's cultivation path, becoming a mortal, which is equivalent to death in the dog-eat-dog world of cultivation!

Luo Fan was also dumbfounded, looking at Zhang Tie who had been completely drained of his energy, not knowing what to say.

He used his divine sense to investigate and saw that Zhang Tie's originally clear spiritual energy fluctuations were now negligible.

It's just like an ordinary person who has just started practicing and hasn't yet cultivated qi into their body!

"The side effects this time are really this severe?!"

Luo Fan's heart skipped a beat, and cold sweat broke out on his back.

Cutting off someone's cultivation and destroying their path to immortality is an irreconcilable feud in the cultivation world!

Although he often tricked Zhang Tie, it was based on the premise of improving the opponent's strength.

Did they turn him into a cripple this time?

If Zhang Tie is really crippled, not only will he not be able to survive, but Luo Fan will also be implicated!

"Hey, junior brother, don't rush, don't rush..."

Luo Fan forced a smile, "Maybe you're misperceiving it. Try again, try again!"

He pointed to a large blue stone, about the size of a millstone, in the corner of the yard.

"Go ahead and try striking with your palm. Maybe the spiritual energy is still there, you just can't feel it anymore?"

Zhang Tie felt despair, clinging to a sliver of hope.

He got up, walked to the bluestone, took a deep breath, and mustered all his strength.

He slashed down hard with his palm!

Snapped!

A crisp sound rang out, like a fleshy palm striking a hard object.

"Awooo—!!!"

Followed by.

It was Zhang Tie's heart-wrenching scream!

He clutched his swollen, excruciatingly painful right hand, hopping around on one foot in the yard, tears streaming down his face.

"Ouch!! Stone's okay! But my hand is going to break! Waaaaah..."

Senior brother, you have to think of something! Without cultivation, I'd rather be dead!

Seeing Zhang Tie's miserable yet comical appearance, Luo Fan panicked.

Could something really have gone wrong?

Has his alchemy technique evolved to the point where it can cripple a person's cultivation?

That shouldn't be happening!

He had a good grasp of the Spirit Fusion Technique, and there were no problems in the refining process. So where did the problem lie?

While Luo Fan was still deep in thought, Zhang Tie made a discovery and once again immersed himself in the task.

This time he looked more carefully and found that his dantian was not empty.

Deep within that sea of ​​qi, there seems to exist some extremely subtle and imperceptible barrier.

The barrier wasn't a physical object, but rather a screen that enveloped his spiritual power layer by layer.

He also sensed a subtle connection between himself and these three layers of barriers.

"What is this?"

Zhang Tie forgot about the pain in his hand.

He tried to use his mind to touch the outermost barrier.

hum!

It's as if a switch has been flipped.

The invisible barrier trembled slightly, opening a crack.

boom!

His own second-level Qi Refining spiritual power, like a floodgate opened, filled his limbs and bones!

"Um?!"

Zhang Tie was certain that he hadn't misjudged the situation.

The spiritual energy flowing through his body again, though not particularly strong, had indeed returned, which surprised and delighted him.

Could it be that his cultivation has been restored?

"No! It's only the second level of Qi Refining?"

Zhang Tie once again focused his mind on his dantian, this time looking at the second barrier.

"Give it back—open it again!"

Driven by willpower!

The second barrier opened immediately!

Boom!

An even more powerful and abundant spiritual energy surged forth!

Fourth level of Qi Refining!

His original cultivation level has been fully restored!

In fact, thanks to the consolidation during this period and the tempering just now, his aura has become even purer!

"Hahaha! They're back! They're all back!"

Zhang Tie was overjoyed and couldn't help but dance with joy, but he quickly calmed down.

How come there's a third layer of barriers?

What's inside? Could there be extra spiritual energy?

This audacious idea surged into Zhang Tie's mind, and his heart began to pound uncontrollably.

He licked his dry lips, his eyes flashing with madness and anticipation.

"Never mind! Open them all!!!"

He used all his willpower to smash into that last, and thickest, barrier!

Om-! ! !

There was no earth-shattering roar, only a deep, resonant hum from the depths of the soul.

The third barrier slowly opened.

An aura far exceeding that of the Qi Refining stage suddenly erupted from Zhang Tie's body!

Foundation Building Stage!

Moreover, it possessed a powerful aura equivalent to that of someone at the fourth level of the Foundation Establishment stage!

The spiritual pressure instantly swept across the entire courtyard, stirring up dust on the ground.

Caught off guard, Luo Fan took two steps back, his robes fluttering wildly!

"This...how is this possible?!"

Luo Fan looked completely bewildered.

With Zhang Tie's strength.

Even with the aid of elixirs, it's impossible to leapfrog a major realm in an instant!

This unscientific!

Zhang Tie himself was also dumbfounded.

He stood there, stunned, feeling the pressure of the Foundation Establishment stage cultivator, which was enough to make even a Qi Refining stage cultivator tremble, and his breathing became increasingly rapid.

"Foundation Establishment stage? I've broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage?! Hahaha! I, Zhang Tie, am also a Foundation Establishment expert?!"

His laughter lasted only a few breaths before abruptly stopping, and the ecstasy on his face turned into confusion.

The sense of power seemed a bit weak, so he tried punching the ground.

boom!

It only created a small crater, and its power was not much stronger than when it was at the fourth level of Qi Refining.

He tried to activate the Foundation Establishment stage spiritual power again to attack the stone from before.

It exuded an imposing aura, but the actual strength of the spiritual energy it unleashed was only at the level of the fourth level of Qi Refining.

"This hasn't made me any stronger?"

He scratched his head and looked at Luo Fan, puzzled. "Senior brother, what's going on?"

Luo Fan stroked his chin thoughtfully, and combining the original intention of the Breath Concealing Pill with the situation that had occurred, he gradually formed a bold guess in his mind.

"I think that's how it should be!"

He shared his guess with Zhang Tie.

The Breath Concealing Pill can not only conceal the aura of the pill, but also the aura of the user.

What's even more ingenious is that it constructs three layers of cultivation disguise.

The first step is to feign weakness to the enemy.

The second level is true cultivation.

The third layer is for scaring people!

In other words, this elixir has the effect of confusing the opponent.