Cultivation begins with alchemy and collecting runes.

Three months later

White dew turns to frost, and the fog hangs heavy.

It was dark outside, but the bedroom was still brightly lit.

Li Xiuyuan got up early and began his ordinary day.

After his last conversation with members of the Tongxin Association, he learned that the market would be in a period of stable development in the next few years.

This put Li Xiuyuan at ease, as the stable environment was perfect for him to develop secretly.

Li Xiuyuan sat cross-legged and exhaled a long breath of stale air.

After a night of cultivation, Li Xiuyuan smiled with satisfaction as he looked at the improvement in his cultivation level on the panel.

[Realm: Qi Refining Level 3, 45/100]

"As expected, with the continuous output of spirit stones, my cultivation speed has increased significantly."

In just three months, Li Xiuyuan's cultivation level rose from 30 to 45, and this was without consuming many Qi-Nourishing Pills.

If paired with a high-grade or even top-grade Qi-nourishing pill free of poison, he could break through to the fourth level of Qi Refining in less than two years.

"In the end, you still have to earn spirit stones."

Li Xiuyuan smiled and crushed the white spirit stone fragments emanating from his palm.

He got up to straighten his robes and cleaned the room to keep it tidy.

This is his daily routine; as the saying goes, "How can one sweep the world if one cannot even sweep one's own room?"

Another reason is that he uses spirit stones to cultivate every day, which is a luxury even sect and family disciples don't have. It's always better to be careful.

"With my current strength, if I went all out, I should be able to instantly kill a cultivator at the third level of Qi Refining!"

Then Li Xiuyuan shook his head, realizing he still couldn't be too arrogant.

Although he was at the fourth level of body refinement, his combat strength was comparable to that of a mid-stage cultivator.

However, he did not possess any powerful offensive techniques; the only combat spell he knew was the fireball spell.

Although he possessed a mid-grade sword technique called the "Yi Wood Sword Manual," he had only just begun and could not be considered a sword cultivator.

It is said that true sword cultivators constantly fight with others, tempering their swordsmanship in the midst of slaughter, thereby reaching the highest level and proving their Dao through the sword!

He had considered purchasing a set of body-cultivation attack techniques adapted to the Yi Jin Jing.

However, these kinds of techniques, especially body-cultivating martial arts, are mostly paired with body-refining techniques, which are not only expensive but also require a large amount of rare and precious materials to assist in cultivation.

Secondly, one can find fragments of secret techniques that highly value body-refining talent, making cultivation extremely slow for ordinary cultivators.

The two factors combined dispelled Li Xiuyuan's idea of ​​purchasing body-refining techniques.

There's no other reason than that if he really had that many spirit stones, wouldn't it be better for him to use them to refine techniques and improve his cultivation level?

"Brother Li!"

As Li Xiuyuan stepped out of the cave, he was greeted by Gu Tianle of the Tongxin Society.

"Master Gu, who is always engrossed in refining weapons, how come you have time to visit my humble abode today?"

Li Xiuyuan responded with a smile.

Since the day he joined the Tongxin Society, the others have been lukewarm towards him and have not contacted him.

Within the Tongxin Society, there was also Wang Ming, a high-grade alchemist, so Li Xiuyuan, a newly promoted low-grade alchemist, was not considered very valuable in their eyes.

Moreover, Li Xiuyuan is currently unable to refine pills that can enhance the cultivation of mid-stage or even late-stage cultivators, so he has little value in their eyes.

Raku Furuta is a kind and sincere person, and he maintains close relationships with others.

Gu Tianle has no other hobbies but loves wine. Ever since he learned that Li Xiuyuan is also a "wine lover", he has been coming to see Li Xiuyuan every few days.

Li Xiuyuan was used to the coldness and indifference of the cultivation world, so he naturally couldn't bring himself to refuse this overly friendly older brother.

"Come on, come on, Brother Li, I've been working on this for months, and it's finally taking shape. The thing you asked me to make is about to be finished."

Li Xiuyuan was overjoyed upon hearing this!

"This Gu Tianle is really skilled at weapon forging!"

Ever since Li Xiuyuan accepted Xiao Huo's task of refining the Spirit Gathering Powder, he has been in a constant state of anxiety and frustration.

He went to Lingbao Pavilion to inquire, and found that the spirit-gathering arrays sold there could create an environment of 'pure spiritual energy'.

When Li Xiuyuan asked about the price, he was immediately taken aback.

A simple low-grade spirit-gathering array costs hundreds of spirit stones, and it's only temporary; it's useless after use.

A high-level spirit-gathering array that can be used continuously costs at least 1,000 spirit stones, and the amount of spirit stones required to maintain the array's operation is also considerable.

This posed a challenge for Li Xiuyuan, as he didn't have much money to begin with.

If he has to pay for the formation himself and subsidize the spirit stones to run the formation, he will lose a lot of money on this deal.

He wondered if he could refine a special magical artifact, similar to the effect of a spirit-gathering array, which could be used at any time without continuously consuming spirit stones.

He told Gu Tianle about the idea, and he immediately agreed.

Gu Tianle's obsession with weapon crafting can be described as fanatical.

He would rather spend hundreds of spirit stones to buy refining materials and study his unique ideas than improve his cultivation.

When Gu Tianle heard this, he frowned and then told him to go back and study it.

"It seems Master Gu has truly figured it out; I humbly admit defeat!"

Li Xiuyuan smiled and bowed.

"Hehe, I'll show you something!"

With a smile on his face, Gu Tianle mysteriously gestured for Li Xiuyuan to follow.

Li Xiuyuan followed Gu Tianle's footsteps and arrived at a room deep inside his cave.

As soon as Gu Tianle opened the door, a wave of heat hit him.

Li Xiuyuan looked inside and was stunned by the scene before him.

Inside the room, which was five zhang long and five zhang wide, stood a crimson furnace for forging weapons.

There are also all kinds of workbenches, including equipment for refining embryos and preparing solutions.

To his even greater surprise, the furnace was actually connected to the earth's fire!

This is a complete weapon-refining workshop.

Seeing Li Xiuyuan's surprised expression, Gu Tianle's mustache almost reached the sky, revealing a smug look.

"How about it? My weapon-refining workshop is pretty good, isn't it?"

"Who would have thought that a ley line of fire was hidden beneath this cave?"

"I met him by chance."

"In my opinion, this should be a hidden branch of the earth vein fire of Shanyangfang City."

"It took me several years to transform this ley line and guide the earth's fire for refining artifacts."

"Moreover, this is the only place in the entire Lingbao Pavilion residential area that can guide out the complete earth fire."

Li Xiuyuan remained silent.

This master's actions truly shocked him.

The fire of the earth's veins, similar to the veins of spirit stones, is a strategic resource.

Only sects and cultivation families can master and utilize it.

It seems that Gu Tianle is also someone with a background.

Otherwise, where would he have gotten the method to modify the earth's fire?

"However, with this earth fire refining technique, I can only refine low-grade magic weapons."

"Magic artifacts of the second tier and above require the cultivator's primordial true fire, or even the spiritual fire of heaven and earth."

Li Xiuyuan clicked his tongue in amazement when he heard Gu Tianle's words.

Even first-tier magic weapons are considered low-tier magic weapons to him; his Green Bamboo Sword is treated like a treasure.

Compare that to other people's conditions; they're covered in magical artifacts from head to toe.

Even the belt around her stomach was forged from a low-grade magic artifact.

Looking at himself, he realized he couldn't even muster a single mid-grade magic weapon.

How infuriating.

It seems I need to learn more about Gu Tianle's weapon-forging skills, Li Xiuyuan thought to himself.

……

"Alright, you've seen it all. Now I'm about to take the final step. Watch carefully!"

"Don't bother me, or I won't be responsible if the magical artifact is destroyed!"

Gu Tianle said solemnly.

Li Xiuyuan nodded and stood quietly to the side.

Gu Tianle opened the fire control valve.

Rumble!

Scorching flames erupted from the ground in an instant, causing the temperature in the weapon-refining workshop to rise rapidly.

next moment.

Gu Tianle took out a dark-colored animal skin pouch from his storage ring.

"This looks a bit like the hide of a gold-devouring beast."

Li Xiuyuan vaguely discerned the origin of the animal skin bag.

The Gold-Devouring Beast, a superior-grade bloodline demon beast, possesses powerful digestive abilities and bloodline talent, enabling it to devour the five elements of spiritual energy to enhance its cultivation...

Master Gu placed it into the refining furnace, then added various spiritual materials: Qiankun Spiritual Marrow, Black Mithril, Mustard Seed Nether Stone...

They were highly skilled at refining spiritual liquid.

Li Xiuyuan held his breath, observing every detail of Master Gu intently.

Gradually.

He discovered that the other party's actions of refining spiritual liquid and forging weapon embryos were clearly an extremely ingenious and profound refining technique.

Half an hour later.

Master Gu's movements were fluid and incredibly smooth.

In an instant.

Then the essence of all the spiritual liquid was extracted.

With a casual wave of his hand, he cleared away the spiritual slag inside the refining furnace.

The movements appeared very relaxed and carefree, as if they were doing something insignificant.

Next comes the quenching of the blank.

This step is extremely taxing on a cultivator's energy and spirit.

Then came the fusion process, followed by combined training...

But then Master Gu made countless mysterious hand seals and then gently stirred the flames.

The once raging and unruly subterranean fire instantly became as docile as a harmless cat.

The fiery serpent coiled around the furnace, ensuring it was heated evenly.

Li Xiuyuan was amazed by Master Gu's unparalleled fire control technique.

My mouth is watering...

"I need to find a chance to learn a few tricks!"