Cultivation begins with alchemy and collecting runes.

Li Xiuyuan was startled, recalling the beast and the legendary list he had seen on the Spirit Insect Ranking in the "Complete Encyclopedia of Basic Knowledge in the Cultivation World".

The six-winged frost centipede, which ranks seventeenth on the list of ancient strange insects, is very similar.

This beast possesses the bloodline of the ancient true spirit ice dragon and is skilled in the power of extreme cold.

Once mature, it grows six wings on its back, its speed is as fast as lightning, and a single breath of frost can freeze a hundred miles away.

However, they have a long breeding cycle and are naturally unruly.

He sensed that the centipede was newly born, and the aura it emitted was only at the mid-stage of the first rank.

He was in a very low mental state and even sensed Li Xiuyuan's arrival.

It continued to devour the corpses of its companions at its feet, ignoring everything else.

This delighted Li Xiuyuan. "Let's see if we can subdue it. This is an ancient and wondrous insect. If we can cultivate and control it in the future, we will have another trump card."

Li Xiuyuan manipulated the Beast Taming Technique, rapidly casting extremely complex master-servant contracts.

The two-winged centipede struggled fiercely at first, and the two men were like hunters training a hawk, each trying to outmaneuver the other.

Ultimately, Li Xiuyuan's powerful divine sense and magic power wore down the Frost Centipede's ferocity, causing it to gradually submit and be placed under a soul-binding restriction, no longer resisting.

It lay obediently on the ground, as if dead, completely still.

Li Xiuyuan, having exhausted his spiritual energy, collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.

After a long while, he looked at the corpses of the cultivators not far away and the corpses of the demonic beasts beside him, and a sense of emotion arose in his heart.

Perhaps one day he will die in the hands of some cultivator, or perish under the jaws of a demon beast?

After he had rested enough, Li Xiuyuan got up.

He cautiously approached the hexagonal altar, scanning the five-colored corpses and the tokens and bone fragments they held in their hands.

"How come this bone fragment is so similar to the two I have?"

Li Xiuyuan's expression changed, and his gaze toward the five-colored corpses became more suspicious.

He dared not test the waters carelessly, so he released the Migu Rat and carefully guided it to examine the corpse.

Finding nothing amiss, he took out the Green Bamboo Sword and carefully touched the corpse, finding no abnormal reaction.

Only then did he feel relieved enough to walk over and carefully examine the mysterious token and bone fragment in the person's hand.

The token flows with the light of the five elements, as can be judged from its simple and ancient patterns and the inscriptions on it.

It looks like something from ancient times.

In other aspects, Li Xiuyuan did not notice anything unusual, and the spiritual power contained within it was probably not much.

Looking at the bone fragment, Li Xiuyuan discovered that the notch on it matched the two pieces on his body perfectly.

He was overjoyed.

After a moment's thought, Li Xiuyuan flicked the token and bone fragment with his green bamboo sword, and they fell smoothly into his hand.

He exerted a little force in his hand, first examining the token, and discovered that it was neither wood nor iron, but a special material he had never seen before.

Li Xiuyuan played with it for a while, then tried to infuse some spiritual energy into it.

But the next moment, an extremely powerful and vast suction force came, exhausting all the spiritual energy in his body.

This terrified him, and he quickly severed the connection between his spiritual power and the token.

This is why the suction force disappeared.

Having learned his lesson, Li Xiuyuan dared not try anything recklessly again, and carefully put the token into his storage bag.

He looked at the mysterious bone fragment in his hand, then took out two more bone fragments and found that they were the missing one.

Li Xiuyuan originally intended to try to reconnect the bone fragments.

Having experienced that, he dared not try it again. He planned to find a secluded and deserted place after leaving the Ten Thousand Demon Mountains, for fear of causing trouble again.

Then he circled the unidentified hexagonal altar, very curious about its origin.

Of course, Li Xiuyuan wouldn't be foolish enough to reactivate the altar, but even if he had the idea, he couldn't do it.

Because one corner of the altar was damaged, although the damage was minor, he estimated that it would be unusable.

Li Xiuyuan blinked, took out a jade slip from his body, and began to copy the style and patterns of the altar, preparing to ask some people to see if it could be repaired.

He was very curious about the altar.

After finishing all this, Li Xiuyuan began searching the huge cave again, looking for any remaining treasures.

As a result, behind a stalactite, they found three crystal-clear ice crystal insect eggs, each the size of a pebble.

Upon seeing them, Li Xiuyuan was overjoyed; needless to say, these were the eggs of the six-winged centipede.

He wouldn't miss this opportunity; he immediately put the beast egg into his spirit beast pouch and then tucked it into his waistband.

With this gain, Li Xiuyuan was already quite satisfied.

He became even more excited as he cleaned the enormous cave.

Unfortunately, no further discoveries have been made since then.

Li Xiuyuan was not discouraged; he was very satisfied with what he had gained from the trip.

He walked over to the corpse of the two-winged frost centipede, dissected it without hesitation, and carefully collected the parts into his storage bag.

According to his judgment, this two-winged frost centipede should be at the late Foundation Establishment stage, which is a rare monster resource.

Even if he doesn't need it, he can use it to cultivate the two-winged frost centipedes on his body in the future.

Accelerate its evolution and make it one of your major combat forces.

When he saw the five-colored skeleton, he threw several fireballs at him, intending to burn them.

As a result of the intense heat, the bones actually solidified into five or six small, colorful beads of varying sizes.

This piqued Li Xiuyuan's curiosity, so he naturally put it away.

Li Xiuyuan prepared to leave this place, but in order to prevent the hexagonal altar from being discovered by others...

Before leaving, he planned to release the Migu Rat to break up the rocks and completely seal the entrance to the cave.

He left a mark so that he could find this place in the future.

Following the natural airflow through the stalactite cave, Li Xiuyuan found an extremely hidden exit several hours later and finally reached the surface.

Intimidated by the power of high-level demonic beasts like the Azure Spirit Serpent, Li Xiuyuan disregarded his injuries and dared not linger there.

Summon the Misty Valley Rat, which points the way and flies towards Blackwind City.

He was lucky; he didn't encounter a single monster along the way.

Half a month later, Li Xiuyuan returned to Black Wind City unharmed and gave the city lord a few simple instructions.

He then began to retreat into seclusion to recover from his injuries.

……

In the next month.

Using the remaining powerful blood energy and medicinal properties within his body, along with the vibrant wood elemental energy born from refining the [Zhu Yu Yun Yuan Jue], Li Xiuyuan rapidly repaired his damaged meridians and physical body.

Perhaps it was the unexpected blessing that brought about the powerful medicinal effects of refining the Blood Marrow Grass, or perhaps the great terror between life and death that stimulated Li Xiuyuan's potential.

His physical cultivation level actually made several leaps in succession. His original blood and energy not only did not dry up, but were continuously generated from him.

The original Qi and blood were condensed into forty-eight drops, and the only step away from the perfection of the Yi Jin Jing was a breakthrough in Qi and blood transformation through personal enlightenment.

His own strength also soared from 6,500 jin to an extremely terrifying 9,900 jin!

He was just one step away from advancing directly to the peak of Body Refinement and breaking through the Qi and Blood barrier!

Li Xiuyuan opened the panel:

[Realm Level: Qi Refining Level 7, 30/100]

[Technique: Golden Flame Heaven-Burning Technique, Advanced Level, 25/100]

"As expected of a second-tier body-refining medicine, a rare item that can even increase the probability of Foundation Establishment. Although I used it like a spirit-restoring pill without much thought, its abundant medicinal power saved me countless years of arduous cultivation."

The medicinal power of the Blood Marrow Grass combined with the previously consumed rune power.

This greatly improved his cultivation level.

Li Xiuyuan couldn't help but smile wryly. Could this be considered another kind of opportunity?

Just as Li Xiuyuan was preparing to continue his secluded cultivation, he discovered that the restrictions outside his cave had been activated.

He paused his cultivation and scanned the area with his divine sense, discovering that the person who had triggered the formation was the guard who was watching over the entrance to the cave.

I had previously instructed the Black Wind City Lord not to disturb his cultivation unless it was something important. Since he sent someone to find him, something must have happened.

Li Xiuyuan made a hand seal to activate the formation and asked the guard, "When did this happen?"

The guard, merely a mortal with some martial prowess, was naturally terrified and uneasy in the face of the celestial master who seemed to be riding the clouds. He hurriedly knelt on one knee to pay his respects and said, "Reporting to the celestial master, the city lord is outside requesting an audience. It seems that a celestial master surnamed Liu wishes to visit you!"

Upon hearing this, Li Xiuyuan immediately understood that this person must be a cultivator from the Liu family. He sneered inwardly, but his expression remained unchanged.

"Okay, have them come to the pavilion in the middle of the lake."

He had been stationed in Black Wind City on behalf of the Blazing Fire Sect for nearly a year, yet the Liu family, the strongest Qi Refining family in the area, had not come to meet him for so long.

Even with Li Xiuyuan's good temper, he was somewhat dissatisfied at this moment, but his reception of the Liu family was too casual and lacked class.

After thinking it over for a while, Li Xiuyuan opened the cave's protective barrier.

Walking into the pavilion in the middle of the lake, he took out a tea set and began to brew tea while waiting for the Black Wind City Lord and the Liu family to arrive.

This tea is naturally just ordinary spiritual tea. Cultivators and mortals from small Qi Refining families wouldn't need to be served superior spiritual tea.

Li Xiuyuan didn't have to wait long. In less than half an incense stick's time, the Black Wind City Lord led in a handsome young man who looked to be in his early twenties.

The two entered the pavilion. Liu Wen, the Lord of Black Wind City, bowed first before revealing his shiny, oily face and fawningly saying, "This humble Liu Wen greets the Immortal Master. It has been a long time since we last met. The Immortal Master's demeanor has only grown more radiant."

He immediately began to flatter, then looked at the young man beside him and said, "This is the immortal master of the Liu family of Qi Refining. He has come here specifically to pay a visit to you, Immortal Master Li."

After Liu Wen finished speaking, he stood respectfully to the side, looking like a willing servant.

He knew in his heart that although he was the lord of a city and controlled the life and death of countless mortals, he was utterly insignificant in front of the two immortal masters.

The handsome young man, whose cultivation level was around the fourth level of Qi Refining, immediately stepped forward, cupped his hands in greeting, and said after Liu Wen finished his introduction, "I am Liu Yu from the Liu family of Black Wind Mountain, paying my respects to Fellow Daoist Li."

"The Liu family has been busy with internal affairs and management, and had not heard of Fellow Daoist Li's presence here before, so we have not been able to pay a visit immediately. Please forgive us!"

"It's just a small token of my appreciation."

After Liu Yu finished speaking, he took out a beautifully crafted jade box from his storage bag, presented it to the table with both hands, and his attitude was extremely respectful.

"It's understandable that the Liu family is busy with internal affairs and reorganization, and it's normal for it to take some time. I, Li, would never blame you."

Li Xiuyuan smiled outwardly, but inwardly he didn't believe it at all.

He opened the jade box a crack, scanned it with his divine sense, and then closed the box.

The jade box contained exactly twenty-five spirit stones, a considerable sum, considered a large fortune by the outer disciples of the Blazing Fire Sect.

"Fellow Daoist Liu, please sit down and speak. With a young talent like you in the Liu family, how could the family not prosper!"

Li Xiuyuan did not get up. As a disciple of the Blazing Fire Sect and the garrison envoy of Black Wind City, his status and position were naturally incomparable to those of the disciples of the Qi Refining Clan.

Even when the head of the Liu family arrived, he was only on par with him.

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Li."

Liu Yu was sensible enough to sit at the lower seat as Li Xiuyuan arranged.

Liu Wen was very perceptive. He quickly handed a cup of tea to Li Xiuyuan, then to Liu Yu, before quietly taking his leave.

After Liu Wen left, Liu Yu deliberately flattered them, and the two chatted casually, enjoying themselves immensely.

The two reached a general verbal agreement: Li Xiuyuan would be stationed here, and the Liu family would fully cooperate in any matter. At the same time, Li Xiuyuan would not interfere in the struggles between the local alchemy families.

Half an hour later.

The teapot has been filled with water twice already, and all that needed to be said has been said.

Li Xiuyuan's slightly tired expression was noticed by Liu Yu, who hurriedly said, "I had a very pleasant conversation with Fellow Daoist Li, and I have benefited greatly from it. However, I have important matters to attend to and cannot stay long. I will definitely pay you a visit another day."

Li Xiuyuan smiled inwardly, his eyes crinkling. This person was indeed worthy of being sent out by the Liu family; he had good judgment and a quick tongue, but unfortunately, his spiritual root aptitude was somewhat lacking.

Born into a family specializing in Qi cultivation, he was still in the middle stage at over twenty years old. Without a fortuitous encounter in his life, he had no hope of reaching the Foundation Establishment stage.

"Since Fellow Daoist Liu has important business to attend to, I, Li, will not keep you any longer."

See you next time!

Li Xiuyuan accepted the jade box containing the spinning spirit stones, raised his cup and drank it down in one gulp, then saw the guest off with a smile.

"I hope the Liu family won't cause any trouble while I'm stationed here."