Cultivation begins with alchemy and collecting runes.

At noon that day, Xiao Huo came to visit again.

This time, Li Xiuyuan not only cooked a pot of spirit rice in advance, but also prepared the finest spirit wine and spirit meat to entertain him.

He recently made a lot of spirit stones selling pills.

The bag of spirit stones that was used up last year for body refinement is now gradually bulging again, with more than a hundred spirit stones added.

For a mere Qi Refining cultivator like him, this was a substantial income.

He also specially bought some top-quality spiritual fruits and teas as garnishes.

Fellow Daoist Xiao is a master of spiritual plants; what kind of spiritual rice hasn't he eaten?

Therefore, Li Xiuyuan specially bought some high-quality spiritual fruits and teas.

Eating and drinking these can accelerate the refining of spiritual energy.

The price is a bit high...

Over the course of their time together, Li Xiuyuan gradually came to understand Xiao Huo's character.

That arrogance seems to be innate, but he knows how to behave appropriately, has a kind heart, and is easy to get along with.

On ordinary days, Xiao Huo would occasionally mention matters of cultivation.

From Xiao Huo's words, Li Xiuyuan sensed that the other party was truly a cultivation genius.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have reached the late stage of Qi Refining in his early twenties.

"Fellow Daoist Li, I'm not here to buy pills from you this time, but rather to make a deal with you."

Xiao Huo downed a mouthful of spirit wine, picked up a grain of fried spirit rice, and then said with a cheerful smile.

"Fellow Daoist Xiao, what exactly is the matter?" Li Xiuyuan also drank a cup of spiritual wine and asked with great curiosity.

"I plan to cultivate a special spiritual plant, and I will need a large amount of Spirit Gathering Powder. I would like to ask you to help me refine it," Xiao Huo said solemnly.

"Spirit Gathering Powder?"

Immediately, an image of a powdery, slightly aromatic drug came to mind in Li Xiuyuan's mind.

Gathering Spirit Powder is a first-tier spiritual medicine. It is extremely beneficial to spiritual plants with the five elements attribute, and can greatly shorten the growth period of spiritual plants and accelerate their maturity.

Li Xiuyuan had seen an introduction to this item in the "Complete Guide to the Basics of Cultivation".

I vaguely remember this.

However, he remembered that this item seemed to be able to increase the probability of spiritual plants advancing, and when paired with a spirit-gathering array, it could accelerate the absorption of spiritual energy from heaven and earth by the spiritual plants.

"Could it be that Fellow Daoist Xiao is about to advance to the rank of High-Grade Spirit Plant Master?"

Li Xiuyuan let his thoughts wander, and a vague guess formed in his mind.

but……

He did not voice his conjecture; all cultivators have their own secrets, and he was no exception.

But why would Fellow Daoist Xiao ask him for help in refining it?

There are plenty of alchemists in Lingbao Pavilion!

Li Xiuyuan didn't hide anything and asked the question directly.

"Hehe, I, Xiao, have always acted according to my own desires and disliked the constraints of sects. Therefore, I chose to be affiliated with a merchant guild like the Lingbao Pavilion. Besides, Fellow Daoist Li is very much to my liking. That's my answer!"

"I see."

Li Xiuyuan nodded and poured Xiao Huo another full glass of spirit wine.

"But this Spirit Gathering Powder is a top-quality low-grade first-class pill, which I have never refined before... If it delays Fellow Daoist Xiao..."

Li Xiuyuan hesitated slightly before speaking frankly.

"Fellow Daoist Li, are you perhaps teasing me? You were able to successfully refine a top-grade Heart-Clearing Pill, so I'm sure this Spirit-Gathering Powder won't be difficult for you either." Xiao Huo looked at Li Xiuyuan with a half-smile.

"Furthermore, I will provide all the ingredients for refining the Spirit Gathering Powder. Once successfully refined, I will purchase it at a price of two spirit stones per kilogram!"

Upon hearing this, Li Xiuyuan was deeply moved, and his gaze toward Xiao Huo became even more ardent.

"A tycoon, a real tycoon!"

Li Xiuyuan sighed inwardly, "Is this the kind of arrogance that disciples of powerful forces have?"

Given the price offered by Xiao Huo, Li Xiuyuan had no reason to refuse.

Li Xiuyuan pondered for a moment, then smiled and said, "I can give it a try, but I can't guarantee 100% success."

"Furthermore, I have another request, which I wonder if Fellow Daoist Xiao would be willing to accept?"

"Just say what you have to say."

"I can help Fellow Daoist Xiao refine this Spirit Gathering Powder. After it's done, I'll only take 30% of the spirit stones."

"However... I would like to ask Fellow Daoist Xiao for advice on how to break through the bottleneck of Qi Refining from the early stage to the middle stage or above..."

Seeing the opportunity to seek the Dao right in front of him, how could Li Xiuyuan not seize it?

He didn't expect Xiao Huo to be able to solve all the problems on his path to enlightenment in a single sentence. He would be satisfied as long as Xiao Huo could help him understand the key to breaking through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining.

After all, the person before him was a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator in his early twenties. As the saying goes, "A thousand volumes of false teachings yield only a single sentence of true knowledge."

Perhaps an optimization of a single refining step could save him a lot of refining time.

Even if Fellow Daoist Xiao doesn't agree, he calculated carefully and realized he wouldn't lose out.

Xiao Huo was taken aback by these words, looked Li Xiuyuan up and down, and then chuckled in an annoyed tone, "Oh, you want me to guide your cultivation?"

"However, you should think this through. Our cultivation methods are different, our spiritual roots and talents are different, and the power of heaven and earth that we comprehend is vastly different. Breaking through the bottlenecks cannot be explained in just a few words."

"Don't blame me for not warning you."

Seeing that Xiao Huo was becoming more reserved, Li Xiuyuan was secretly delighted, realizing that things were clearly going well!

Practice makes perfect. This time it was refining Spirit Gathering Powder, but next time Fellow Daoist Xiao might refine some other kind of pill. We'll be able to get something real out of his pocket!

"Hahaha!"

Li Xiuyuan's mind raced, and he was making all sorts of plans.

"I will stay here for another ten years, so let's sign a ten-year contract."

"I'll trade my cultivation insights for a chance to refine pills."

Li Xiuyuan's face lit up with joy, and he said, "Deal!"

The two then signed a spiritual power contract, similar to a labor contract from their previous life, which bore the official seal of the Blazing Fire Sect.

It has a certain degree of binding force.

"These are my cultivation insights from the early stages of Qi Refining. Take a look. I cultivate the dual techniques of fire and wood, focusing on killing and destruction."

After speaking, Xiao Huo took out a jade slip from his storage bag and handed it to Li Xiuyuan.

Li Xiuyuan accepted the jade slip and thanked him repeatedly. He scanned it briefly with his divine sense: Qi Refining is the process of humans getting closer to nature and sensing the spirit of heaven and earth...

"The key to cultivating Qi: first, Qi; second, nature; third, spirit. In my opinion, cultivating immortality and refining Qi requires the complete development of both nature and spirit..."

Li Xiuyuan was shocked when he saw it.

At first glance, I thought it was just a general introduction to Qi Refining that Xiao Huo always carried with him.

Unexpectedly, this summary of experiences in the early stages of Qi cultivation, written in great detail, was entirely derived from Xiao Huo's study notes and insights.

Overall, Xiao Huo's jade slip summarizes all the key points of the early stage of Qi Refining, demonstrating conciseness and systematicity.

"Based solely on the contents of this jade slip, it would be worth it even if I gave it to him to refine ten pills for free."

Li Xiuyuan happily put away the jade slip, picked up a wine cup, and toasted Xiao Huo three times in a row.

The two continued drinking and eating meat, thoroughly enjoying themselves.

After several rounds of drinks, the two ate and drank to their hearts' content, almost to the point of drinking a toast together and becoming sworn brothers on the spot.

Before leaving, Xiao Huo handed a large bag of herbs for Gathering Spirit Powder from his storage bag to Li Xiuyuan and instructed him, "I'll be staying next door to you. If you don't understand anything, just come and ask me."

Li Xiuyuan carefully put away the medicinal herbs and nodded with a smile in agreement.

He pondered to himself, wondering if refining the Spirit Gathering Powder could produce unique runes.