Mortal: Starting with the Seven Mysterious Sects, I proved my Dao through sacrifice.

Since returning from Divine Hand Valley, Murong Fan has once again immersed himself in cultivation, keeping the courtyard gates tightly closed and refusing all visitors.

In his world, there are only three things: eating, sleeping, and cultivating.

Back in the quiet courtyard, Murong Fan took out the pills he had exchanged with Han Li and examined them carefully. He looked closely at the three bottles each of Yellow Dragon Pill, Nourishing Essence Pill, and Golden Marrow Pill. Han Li had really gone all out.

The aroma of three kinds of pills—Huanglong Pill, Yangjing Pill, and Jinsui Pill—filled the entire training room. Looking at these three pills, which had similar effects but different focuses, Murong Fan did not hesitate for a moment. He channeled his will and offered them all to the altar.

In an instant, all the sacrificial elixirs vanished into thin air.

The altar trembled!

On the altar, brilliant gold and dark red light intertwined and shimmered, more dazzling than any previous sacrifice.

A moment later, the light faded, and the purple-blue light screen displayed scrolling text:

[Sacrifice successful! Two bottles of Peiyuan Pills].

[Effects of Peiyuan Pill: It can significantly enhance the cultivation power of cultivators in the mid-stage of Qi Refining, and also has considerable effects on later-stage cultivation.]

"Excellent!"

Murong Fan was overjoyed. He was becoming more and more proficient in summoning, offering sacrifices and using the altar. However, in his heart, the altar still carried a mysterious color and contained untapped potential.

Murong Fan eagerly took out a Qi-Nourishing Pill. The pill was amber in color, with fine spiritual patterns flowing across its surface. It felt warm to the touch, and a faint warmth emanated from it. He took a deep breath and put the pill into his mouth.

The pill melted instantly upon entering his mouth, transforming into a scalding hot current that flowed directly into his dantian. Completely different from the gentle medicinal power of the Yellow Dragon Pill, the Nourishing Essence Pill was like a rampaging bull, causing burning pain in the meridians wherever it passed, yet this pain also spurred the generation of even purer spiritual energy. Murong Fan dared not be negligent, immediately circulating the Everlasting Spring Technique to guide this violent medicinal power through his meridians.

One cycle, two cycles...

With each cycle of circulation, the burning pain lessened, replaced by a significant increase in the spiritual energy within the dantian. The liquid spiritual energy, originally the size of a grain of rice, began to slowly expand, like a pearl saturated with water, its luster becoming increasingly lustrous.

"It really is a good product!" Murong Fan thought to himself.

He struck while the iron was hot and swallowed the second Qi-Nourishing Pill. This time, with preparation, the medicinal power flowed more smoothly. The liquid spiritual energy spun and accelerated in his dantian, forming a miniature spiritual energy vortex that continuously absorbed, compressed, and condensed it.

For three days and three nights, Murong Fan did not sleep or rest. This immersive state lasted for more than a month.

Having used more than half of the first bottle of Qi Cultivation Pill, Murong Fan had already broken through the fourth level and successfully advanced to the fifth level of Qi Refining. The liquid spiritual energy within his dantian had become increasingly abundant. He felt as if he had become a completely different person. Things in front of him suddenly became brighter, and tiny objects that were previously invisible suddenly became much larger. Spider silk several feet long looked like hemp ropes as thick as chopsticks.

Not only that, his hearing also became exceptionally sharp—he could clearly hear the whispers of the two personal maids bestowed upon him by the sect leader, even dozens of feet away from the training room. Ten feet away, the rustling sound of earthworms turning over the soil and the scraping sound of ants moving their nests against the ground seemed to be clearly audible to him.

Besides, some scents that were previously imperceptible are now clearly audible. Murong Fan suddenly realized, "My sense of smell has become stronger!"

Murong Fan kept his eyes tightly closed. Of the four secret manuals he had obtained from Han Li in the last transaction, he had never practiced the "Blinking Sword Technique" and the "Luo Yan Step" before, but had only read them word by word. Yet now it was as if those two books were right in front of him, and he was reading them word by word.

"Could this be the new skill of the fifth level of Changchun Gong—photographic memory?" It turns out that these two secret manuals can be easily mastered with just a little practice! Han Li fell into deep thought again amidst his shock.

Murong Fan suppressed his excitement and continued to guide the remaining medicinal power to stabilize his realm. The spiritual energy reserves of the fifth level far exceeded those of the fourth level; his meridians were like widened river channels, with surging spiritual energy flowing freely within them. He tried to gather his spiritual energy at his fingertips, and a faint blue light flickered on his index finger. Though it vanished in an instant, it made his pupils shrink—this was the rudimentary form of releasing spiritual energy!

"That's incredible! He broke through to the fifth level of Qi Refining in just three months!" Murong Fan couldn't hide his excitement and slapped his thigh.

"Again!"

The first bottle of Qi-Nourishing Pills was taken out. Murong Fan knew that the path of cultivation was like sailing against the current, and any slackening at this moment could lead to the loss of all previous efforts. He adjusted his breathing and circulated the Everlasting Spring Technique to its limit. The torrent of pills merged with the spiritual energy in his body, creating an even more magnificent vortex in his dantian.

Thirty days later, the darkest hour before dawn arrived.

Fine black impurities seeped from Murong Fan's pores, a sign of "marrow cleansing" unique to the mid-stage of Qi Refining. He was completely unaware of this, his mind completely absorbed in the depths of his dantian—where the liquid spiritual energy had expanded to the size of a pigeon egg, and the azure light penetrated his skin and flesh, illuminating the entire training room as if it were an underwater dragon palace.

"boom!"

A muffled thud, audible only to him, exploded in his mind. The vortex of spiritual energy suddenly collapsed, then erupted again in an instant, transforming into a more condensed liquid spiritual energy that filled his limbs and bones. Murong Fan suddenly opened his eyes, two beams of azure light shooting out from his pupils, leaving scorch marks a few inches deep on the opposite wall.

Qi Refining Level 6!

He slowly rose, his bones cracking like popping beans. With each movement, the air seemed to whisper of wind and thunder. Murong Fan stepped out of the training room, breathing in the crisp morning air, feeling every inch of his skin resonate with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

Not long after, Murong Fan returned to the training room, his mind still flashing with "Yu Zitong..." He suddenly remembered the old man's last words—the Everlasting Spring Skill contains magic.

Murong Fan silently pondered the incantations he already knew by heart, and sure enough, he found the incantations for several rudimentary spells on the last few pages of the first volume, including "Fireball Technique," "Mind-Stabilizing Talisman," "Wind Control Technique," "Object Control Technique," and "Heavenly Eye Technique."

The incantations were recorded using relatively ancient grammar and vocabulary, making them seem profound and archaic. "This old man really didn't lie. It seems I can't call him an old man; I should call him my benefactor." Murong Fan was overjoyed.

"Profound as it may be, let's practice with the Fireball Technique first." Murong Fan was already impatient.

"The Fireball Technique uses spiritual power to draw upon fire elemental energy, condensing it into a single point, and then unleashing it."

He silently recited the incantation, his hands forming an ancient mudra. The spiritual energy within his dantian moved accordingly, flowing along specific meridians to his right index finger. At first, it was only slightly warm, but as the spiritual energy continued to gather, the fingertip gradually glowed with a crimson light, like a red-hot iron.

"go!"

With a low shout, the crimson ball shot out from his finger, but disintegrated with a "poof" three feet away from his body, turning into wisps of green smoke that rose up.

Murong Fan frowned slightly. The Everlasting Spring Skill sounds easy, but one only realizes how difficult it is to actually use.

"Again!"

Murong Fan was not discouraged; instead, he became even more focused. He sat cross-legged, took out the last bottle of Qi-Nourishing Pills, poured out one, and put it in his mouth. The moment the medicinal power dissipated, his exhausted meridians felt as if they had been parched and had received timely rain, regaining their vitality.

"The essence of the Fireball Technique is to use one's own spiritual power as a catalyst to manipulate the fire elemental energy between heaven and earth." He reviewed his actions as he recovered. "My spiritual power was pure enough; the problem lay in the word 'catalyst'—I was too hasty, which caused the energy to scatter."

At the sixth level of Qi Refining, his spiritual sense could cover an area of ​​ten zhang in radius. Within this range, he could "see" countless tiny specks of light—cyan wood elemental energy, yellow earth elemental energy, red fire elemental energy… They drifted aimlessly in the void like swimming fish.

"Found it."

He locked onto a relatively dense cluster of fire elemental energy, formed a hand seal with his right hand, and his spiritual power wrapped around it in fine, thread-like strands. The red light initially resisted, but gradually yielded under the soothing warmth unique to the Everlasting Spring Technique, and was drawn towards his fingertips.

"Freeze!"

The crimson light transformed into a fireball the size of a teacup, which condensed at the tip of the index finger. The fireball was no longer the dazzling bright red it had been before, but a restrained dark red, like the core of lava.

"go!"

The dark red fireball shot out from the fingertip, its speed not fast, yet carrying a heavy sense of oppression. It flew a distance of two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters) and accurately struck the ironwood stake in the corner of the training room—a training tool bestowed by the sect leader, said to be able to withstand the full force of a first-rate master's attack.

"boom!"

The fireball exploded with a deafening roar, and a scorching shockwave instantly engulfed the entire room. Murong Fan squinted and looked over, only to see that the ironwood stake had already been reduced to fine charcoal slag and ashes.

In the days that followed, Murong Fan broke down the training of the Fireball Technique into three stages: spiritual energy condensation, vital energy attraction, and explosive release. He honed each stage separately before gradually integrating them.

At dawn, he practiced guiding his spiritual energy in front of the sea of ​​clouds on the edge of the cliff, feeling the activity level of fire elemental energy at different altitudes and humidity levels; at noon, he honed his spiritual power under the scorching sun, turning the flames at his fingertips from dark red to blazing white; at night, he hit moving targets—birds, rabbits, and even leaves falling in the wind—with perfect accuracy.

When the fireball was launched again, the iron sword target on the cliff by the lake, several dozen feet away, melted into molten iron the moment it was hit. The fireball did not extinguish upon hitting the water; instead, the water blazed up like oil, showing no signs of water extinguishing fire.

After a month of training, Murong Fan had mastered the Fireball Technique. Having tasted its benefits, his obsession with magic grew stronger, and his pursuit of higher levels of the Everlasting Spring Technique became even more urgent.