Daily Intelligence: From Miner to Dao Ancestor of Alchemy and Talismans

That morning, as the first rays of sunlight streamed into the room through the window paper, Xu Yuan slowly opened his eyes.

The spiritual energy within his body circulated rapidly for a full cycle before steadily returning to his dantian without any stagnation.

He has reached the fifth level of Qi Refining and is only one step away from the later stage of Qi Refining.

Xu Yuan clenched his fist, feeling the spiritual energy within his body nearly twice as abundant as it had been three days ago, a hint of satisfaction flashing in his eyes. The suppression of ten years of stagnation had, in this short month, been completely transformed into the confidence to steadily improve.

If he could take another step forward and reach the sixth level of Qi Refining, he would truly have entered the late stage of Qi Refining, making him one of the top rogue cultivators in Qingya Fang. At that time, even if he faced Li Qinghe, who was at the seventh level of Qi Refining, he would have enough strength to protect himself and even the confidence to fight back.

He did not rush to achieve quick success and continued to attempt to reach the sixth level of Qi Refining.

The essence of Gou Dao lies in stability. The fifth level of Qi Refining perfection still needs to be consolidated. Rashly attempting to break through will only damage the foundation and result in more harm than good. He has plenty of patience and won't be short of a few days.

In the days that followed, Xu Yuan slowed down his cultivation pace, spending half his time stabilizing his realm and the other half still devoted to alchemy and talisman drawing. He accumulated more and more high-grade Yuan Qi powder, and his offensive and defensive talismans filled two entire wooden boxes. Thanks to supplying the Bao Dan Lou, the number of spirit stones he had also grown to nearly three hundred.

Everything was progressing steadily in the direction he had planned.

Just as midnight struck, the familiar system notification sounded in his mind. Xu Yuan had just finished the last cycle of his training and looked up to see a line of clear cyan characters slowly appear before his eyes.

[Ding! Today's intelligence has been updated.]

[Qingbao: In the abandoned cave at the western corner of the market, a Foundation Establishment stage alchemist once passed away. The cave is concealed by a hidden formation and has remained undiscovered to this day. Inside the cave is a secret chamber containing a complete set of first-tier pill formulas, a fragment of a Foundation Establishment pill formula, and the Foundation Establishment stage alchemist's personal alchemy furnace.]

Xu Yuan's breath hitched.

His gaze was fixed on those six words: "Remnant of the Foundation Establishment Pill formula," and his heart began to pound uncontrollably.

Among the alchemy inheritances he possessed, the highest-level one was the Fire Spirit Pill, which could increase the success rate of Foundation Establishment by 10%. However, the only one that could truly enable a Qi Refining Perfection cultivator to break through to Foundation Establishment was the Foundation Establishment Pill!

A complete Foundation Establishment Pill can fetch a sky-high price of thousands of spirit stones in the market, and it is always in short supply. It is a hard currency that the Zhao family and other major families in the market hold firmly in their hands, and it is never available to independent cultivators.

Even if it's just a fragment of the recipe, as long as he can complete it, he can refine the Foundation Establishment Pill himself!

Not to mention the complete first-order pill formulas and the personal pill furnace of a Foundation Establishment stage pill master—for him, this was like sending charcoal in snowy weather, a core opportunity that would allow him to go further on the path of cultivation!

Xu Yuan took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the surging excitement in his heart.

Unlike when he first received the intelligence, he didn't rush out before dawn.

He sat on the couch, eyes closed, calmly reviewing every word of the intelligence report.

The abandoned cave in the western corner of the market was concealed by a hidden formation and remained undiscovered.

The place where a Foundation Establishment stage alchemist passes away is bound to be fraught with risk. Beneath the concealed formation, could there be a killing array? Could there be other dangers?

more importantly,

Qingyafang has existed for over a hundred years, so why hasn't anyone discovered this cave dwelling all these years?

Xu Yuan slowly opened his eyes, the excitement in them completely gone, leaving only calmness and caution.

Opportunity may be good, but you also need to be alive to seize it.

He had to be fully prepared, thoroughly investigate the area around the cave, and gather enough talismans and elixirs to ensure everything went smoothly before taking action.

Xu Yuan was unaware that this abandoned cave, hidden by a concealed array for decades, contained not only the alchemist's legacy and the incomplete formula for Foundation Establishment Pills, but also something even more astonishing.

As dawn broke, Qingya Lane was still shrouded in morning mist, with only a few scattered early-rising monks setting up stalls in the alley.

A dusty figure silently walked westward along a secluded irrigation ditch on the west side of the market.

Xu Yuan was hunched over, his face smeared with a thick layer of charcoal ash, completely obscuring his once handsome features. He wore a patched-up tunic and straw sandals with exposed toes, looking every bit the downtrodden rogue cultivator struggling to make ends meet in the market. He deliberately altered his gait, taking heavy, slow steps, even adjusting his breathing. Even if Li Qinghe were to bump into him, he might not recognize him.

What he kept close to his body was all his trump cards.

Five high-quality Sharp Blade Talismans, eight Explosive Flame Talismans, three Earth Shield Talismans, two Wind Walk Talismans, and a full porcelain bottle of superior-grade Vitality Powder and Rejuvenation Pills for healing. He concealed the steward's token given to him by Li Qinghe at his waist, just in case he was questioned by the guards.

Even though the intelligence clearly stated that there was a concealment formation outside the cave and that no one had discovered it yet, Xu Yuan was still unwilling to let his guard down.

Having spent ten years in hiding, he had long since ingrained the saying "better safe than sorry" into his very bones. The greater the opportunity, the more cautious he had to be; one wrong step could lead to utter ruin.

The western corner of the market is a notorious abandoned area.

Decades ago, this place was a dwelling for independent cultivators. Later, a mining accident triggered an earthquake, and most of the houses collapsed into piles of rubble, killing many people. It gradually fell into disrepair. On ordinary days, not to mention independent cultivators, even the guards of the market town were too lazy to come here. Everywhere was overgrown with waist-high weeds, and rubble was scattered everywhere. When the wind blew, the weeds rustled, exuding a desolate and lifeless atmosphere.

Xu Yuan stopped at the edge of the abandoned area, not in a hurry to go in.

He leaned against a broken wall, squinted, and scanned his surroundings. The morning mist was quiet; there wasn't a single person in sight, not even a trace of birds or beasts. He then released a wisp of extremely fine divine sense, scanning the area within a hundred feet along the ground to confirm that there was no trace of any cultivator or any ambush. Only then did he crouch down and disappear into the tall grass.

According to the intelligence, the cave is located in the deepest part of the ruins, behind the collapsed stone houses, under a huge rock shaped like a crouching tiger.

Xu Yuan walked extremely slowly, making sure each step was firmly planted to ensure there were no loose stones or traps before placing his other foot on the ground. Half an hour later, he finally stood before the giant rock resembling a crouching tiger.

The boulder was as tall as two people, its surface covered with moss and cracks, looking no different from the surrounding rocks. Even if an ordinary cultivator walked past it a hundred times, they would never give it a second glance.

Xu Yuan circled the boulder three times, condensing a wisp of extremely fine spiritual energy at his fingertips, and probed along the boulder's patterns little by little.

The intelligence report stated that the key to the concealment formation was hidden among three boulders in front of the giant rock.

His fingertips traced across the three inconspicuous pebbles one by one, confirming that there were no linked killing formations or any warning restrictions. Only then did he gently rotate the three pebbles in the order provided in the intelligence.

"Click—"