Begin your practice with the crane-shaped stance.

Those extremely yin and malevolent places are all extremely dangerous.

A slight mishap could lead to bad luck.

Xia Dong would certainly not attempt this without being absolutely certain of her own safety.

In any case, not condensing the rune seed for the time being will not affect the production of low-level runes.

What else can we do but make do?

At this stage of his cultivation, as long as he receives spirit stones, that's enough.

Xia Dong was very relaxed. Since it was too difficult to condense the talisman seed at present, he simply put his mind on the research of "Mysterious Yin Divine Water" for the time being.

During this period, due to his extremely high success rate in alchemy, the originally dilapidated alchemy furnace underwent some miraculous changes under the high-intensity refining and nourishment of the alchemical energy. The mottled verdigris on the furnace body was gradually fading, and a faint spiritual light even flowed across its surface.

In Xia Dong's opinion, if this alchemy furnace can continue to undergo long-term tempering in the future, it may really be able to transform into a mid-grade magic weapon.

Unfortunately, he doesn't know how to refine artifacts; otherwise, he could have tried to refine alchemy furnaces or other magical artifacts himself.

However, he also knew very well that refining weapons was much more difficult than refining pills.

Refining artifacts requires extremely high temperatures and necessitates the use of natural earth fire.

That's a condition that only relatively strong cultivation forces or sects can afford.

Even if an ordinary rogue cultivator were incredibly lucky enough to find a fire vein in the wilderness, they would absolutely not be able to protect it; it would only bring about their own demise.

Therefore, Xia Dong has no intention of learning weapon crafting for the time being.

Moreover, learning weapon crafting requires mastering array formations, which necessitates inscribing spiritual energy circulation paths within the artifact. In the cultivation world, even basic jade slips containing array formations are extremely precious, and powerful forces keep them tightly guarded, never revealing them lightly.

Just like the array used to conceal his aura in this secret cave chamber, it was actually set up by the Xuan Yin Sect for its own disciples. Even Zhang Ping didn't truly know how to set up such an array; he simply took a ready-made array plate and imitated it.

The reason this array can remain effective for so long is because it is placed precisely on a spiritual acupoint in this location. Since this array has a single function—merely used to conceal one's aura—and lacks any offensive or defensive capabilities, it consumes very little spiritual energy and can operate on its own thanks to the nourishment from the spiritual acupoint.

The same principle applies to the secret chamber at the bottom of the dry well at Changchun Medical Clinic in the city. The reason that well is perpetually dry is that there is actually a very faint spiritual acupoint at its bottom. However, in terms of the concentration of spiritual energy, the faint spiritual acupoint at Changchun Medical Clinic is far inferior to that at Tiger Hill Cave.

Thinking of the dry well at the Changchun Medical Clinic, Xia Dong's thoughts drifted slightly.

To this day, he still doesn't know the true identity of the Xuan Yin Sect elder whose remains were found dead in the secret chamber at the bottom of the well.

As far as he knew, the Xuan Yin Sect was an extremely prestigious top-tier demonic sect before the establishment of the Great You Dynasty. But now, it had actually declined considerably and could only eke out a living in secret.

However, during his leisure time, Xia Dong read many books about this world and discovered some scattered records from some remaining fragments—it seems that the founding emperor of the Great You Dynasty was originally from the Xuan Yin Sect.

Judging from the situation after the establishment of the Great You Dynasty, it is clear that the Xuan Yin Sect did not enjoy the benefits of the founding of the Great You Dynasty, and it is estimated that it was later ruthlessly suppressed by the founding emperor.

When the cunning rabbit dies, the hunting dog is cooked; this has always been the case.

For this reason, the Xuan Yin Sect now operates in great secrecy.

Those disciples who went out into the secular world rarely revealed their true origins from the Xuan Yin Sect. They usually had various other legitimate identities as cover.

Xia Dong took a deep breath, circulated his internal energy for a while to regulate his breathing, and restored his energy and spirit to their peak state.

He shook his head, setting aside these chaotic thoughts, and focused on the present, preparing to start refining the elixir.

He was preparing to refine Qi Gathering Pills in this batch.

He planned to add a drop of his own refined Profound Yin Divine Water to the crucial final step of the Qi Gathering Pill fusion process, to see just how much this divine substance could enhance the pill's efficacy.

Now, with the advancement of his cultivation, Xia Dong can condense a drop of pure Xuan Yin Divine Water in about a day. However, the current limit that the Creation Pool in his "Kidney Divine Palace" can hold is only nine drops.

Therefore, once he has accumulated nine drops, he cannot continue to refine and accumulate the divine water unless he uses it up.

The fragment of the Taiping Yin Fu Jing mentions that if one wants to preserve and contain Xuan Yin Divine Water outside the body for a long time, an extremely rare special material is needed—"Yin Ling Yu".

Such rare and precious materials are naturally unavailable in summer and winter.

He had previously tried other methods with ordinary jade and porcelain bottles, but to no avail.

Once this Mysterious Yin Divine Water is released from the body, if it is not used in time, the divine power it contains will quickly dissipate and evaporate completely.

Flames of spiritual firewood ignited at the bottom of the furnace. Under the precise control of Xia Dong's fourth-level Qi Refining power and divine sense, auxiliary and main medicinal herbs were systematically added into the furnace for purification, impurity removal, and suspension.

Soon, more than ten drops of mottled medicinal essence floated up inside the alchemy furnace.

When it came to the most crucial step of "merging the pills," Xia Dong took a deep breath and did not forcefully knead the medicinal liquid as usual. With a slight thought, he guided the Creation Pool in his kidneys to carefully separate a drop of deep blue "Mysterious Yin Divine Water."

This drop of divine water, enveloped in magical power, flowed along the meridians and was forced out from the fingertip. With a flick of the finger, it landed precisely in the center of the alchemy furnace.

laugh.

The moment the Mysterious Yin Divine Water entered the furnace, it did not cause an explosion.

On the contrary, this extremely yin and gentle divine water was like the most perfect lubricant, and the extreme cold and boundless vitality instantly spread in the medicinal liquid.

The various medicinal liquids, which were originally restless due to their conflicting properties, became exceptionally docile the moment they came into contact with the divine water. Water and fire were in harmony, yin and yang were in balance, and they blended together extremely smoothly.

Congeal!

Xia Dong cast a spell, and the furnace lid was lifted.

Three Qi Gathering Pills lay quietly at the bottom of the furnace.

Unlike the previous inferior pills with their dull color, these three pills, after being infused with the Profound Yin Divine Water, became much smoother on the surface, even though they still lacked cloud patterns. They emitted a faint, ethereal blue luster, and their fragrance was also purer.

"The quality has indeed improved."

Xia Dong's face lit up with joy. He immediately picked up a "Mysterious Yin Gathering Qi Pill" and swallowed it, then sat down to meditate and refine it.

However, half an hour later, Xia Dong opened his eyes, and a hint of undisguised disappointment flashed in his eyes.

It's only less than 10% more effective than a regular Qi Gathering Pill?

As expected, it can only slightly improve the quality of the pills.

He shook his head, put the remaining two Profound Yin Gathering Qi Pills into a jade bottle and kept them close to his body. Then he stood up and remotely took the several large bags of "waste pills" and dregs that had accumulated in the corner over this period into his hand.

He swam out of the secret chamber through the underwater passage and arrived at the quiet pool outside.

Xia Dong crushed the waste pill in his hand and scattered it into the clear pool of water like fish food.

This is actually a habit he has recently developed.

At first, he just thought the discarded pills were taking up too much space in the secret room, so he casually took them out and fed them to the ordinary wild fish in the deep mountain pool.

At first, there was no change in the pool, and the fish didn't seem to notice anything unusual after they started feeding.

But recently, Xia Dong has noticed some new changes.

As the waste pill fragments entered the water, the water surface immediately began to boil.

Groups of grass carp and silver carp, originally the size of a palm, leaped out of the water, their bodies not only much larger, but their scales also faintly reflected a shimmering light in the sunlight.

"These ordinary wild fish, after consuming too many discarded pills containing incomplete medicinal properties, have actually begun to absorb spiritual energy and evolve into 'spirit fish'."

Xia Dong then leaped into the depths of the icy pool.

The bottom of the pool was covered with a thick layer of silt. Xia Dong grabbed a handful of dark brown silt and brought it closer to examine it.

This is no ordinary silt.

It is clearly a superior "spiritual fertilizer" containing gentle spiritual energy.

Xia Dong pondered, "These fish cannot fully digest the medicinal power in the waste pills. Their excrement settles at the bottom of the pool and, after fermentation, actually becomes natural fertilizer."

Xia Dong surfaced and looked at the land around the pool, a thought suddenly occurring to him.

Now that he has the spiritual fertilizer at the bottom of this pool, he can completely cultivate a piece of spiritual land near this pool.

"If the reclamation is successful, I can build my own secret herb garden here as long as I get some seeds of spiritual herbs."

However, once the herb garden is completed, it will inevitably emit spiritual energy and medicinal fragrance. To preserve this place for a long time, he still needs to find a way to create an array to conceal it.

Of course, this is a story.

With a gentle shake in summer and winter, the clothes dry naturally as the body's energy and blood flow smoothly.

He walked with his hands behind his back to the edge of the cliff near the pool.

He gazed down at the endless, poisonous forests of Tiger Hill below, his mind racing as he planned the herb garden.

Just then, his divine sense, which was at the fifth level of Qi Refining perfection, suddenly felt a slight prick.

An extremely cold, heavy, and slightly dangerous sense of oppression was silently approaching from his right rear.

Xia Dong felt a chill run down her spine and glanced at the source of the commotion out of the corner of her eye.

In the shadow of a giant tree not far away, the enormous snake, now molted and evolved, its body terrifyingly long and its belly rippled with dark blue water patterns, had somehow slithered up to his vicinity.

Those cold, vertical pupils were staring intently at him, and the enormous snake body glided across the fallen leaves without making a sound.

"What's this guy trying to do?"

Without the slightest hesitation, Xia Dong unleashed his profound Yin power from his dantian with a single thought.

The Wind Control Technique can be cast instantly!

call.

A whirlwind rose from the ground, lifting Xia Dong's body like a light feather, instantly lifting him up to a height of several dozen feet in the air, creating a relatively safe distance between him and the giant snake.

Xia Dong looked down at the giant snake with a wary gaze, ready to deal with any attack from this monster that was comparable to a late-stage Qi Refining Realm demon.

"Huh." Xia Dong sensed an invisible fluctuation of consciousness.

The other party seems to be expressing goodwill.

Xia Dong's mind raced. He realized that the giant snake possessed the bloodline of the Black Water Serpent, which was a sacred beast of the Xuan Yin Sect.

Could it be?

Xia Dong took out a Xuan Yin Gathering Qi Pill and launched it in front of the giant snake.

The giant snake swallowed it without hesitation, and then exuded an inexplicable sense of surprise.

Just after the giant snake consumed the Xuan Yin Gathering Qi Pill, Xia Dong's mind actually established a faint connection with the giant snake.