Cultivation begins with alchemy and collecting runes.

Li Xiuyuan arrived at the Sutra Repository.

Looking at the endless rows of bookshelves and cabinets at my feet, the wall of books in front of me seemed too rudimentary.

Inside the wall of books were sealed pieces of shimmering jade slips, each with its own restrictions and seals.

Even though he was at the Foundation Establishment stage, he could only view a small portion of the content at the beginning.

Li Xiuyuan swept his divine sense across the area, and a series of cultivation manuals appeared before him:

"The Longevity Technique", "The Azure Sea Tide Technique", "The Three Transformations of Earth Fire", "The Azure Yang Demonic Fire"...

He first saw the cultivation techniques and secret arts that only Foundation Establishment cultivators could practice.

"Hmm? They even have second-tier Azure Sun Demonic Flame? Which Zhong family Foundation Establishment cultivator did they kill to find this?"

Li Xiuyuan was extremely interested in this, as he only had the method for refining the first-tier Crimson Sun Spirit Fire.

If one could obtain the cultivation method for the Azure Sun Demonic Fire, one might be able to cultivate a powerful second-tier spell.

"But when I cultivate the [Primordial Five Elements Great Art], all my attention is focused on cultivating the five elements of immortal foundation. I probably don't have time to cultivate that extremely powerful but time-consuming spell."

Li Xiuyuan turned to look at the other miscellaneous books and discovered many second-tier cultivation inheritances.

"Second-tier high-grade alchemy inheritance? Talismans? And array inheritance?"

"I was just an inner disciple before, and I could only enter the third floor of the Scripture Pavilion to view some Foundation Establishment insights, first-tier top-grade inheritances, pill formulas, and pill books. Now, the sect's second-tier inheritances are all open."

Li Xiuyuan searched specifically but found no records of the [Hun Yuan Five Elements Immortal Sect].

It seems this sect has an extraordinary origin; it must be from ancient times or a closely guarded secret of the cultivation world.

"I don't need to switch cultivation methods. I should find some books on Five Elements alchemy or alchemy secrets, and use spiritual objects to help me speed up the cultivation of [Five Elements Primordial Chaos], saving me more time. Only then can I hope to succeed on the path to Core Formation."

Suddenly, he scanned the area with his divine sense and discovered a special jade slip.

"The Fire-Controlling Elixir Technique? It seems to be a secret method for controlling fire."

After pondering for a while, Li Xiuyuan's eyes lit up: "Refining pills with fire, combined with several special fire-type spiritual materials and liquids, can temporarily raise the earth fire to the mid-grade level of the second rank... This method is quite ingenious."

"This method, combined with the minor supernatural power of [Primordial Fire Path], is enough for me to refine many second-tier pills. This method can also refine the power of earth fire as cultivation resources, so it is quite suitable for me."

……

Tianhuo Cave.

If you travel several hundred miles further north from this cave, you will reach the territory of the Biyue Palace.

There was also a large market there, which was vaguely opposed to the market of the Blazing Fire Sect.

Li Xiuyuan landed with his "house mouse" Migu Mouse in his arms. He gave it a mental command, then dropped it onto the ground, letting it explore the surroundings first.

Half an hour later, after confirming that everything was correct, he headed towards the cave.

Several acres of spirit fields have been cultivated outside the cave, all of which are of the second rank, and can be used to grow some second-rank spirit plants and herbs.

"That's right... Foundation Establishment cultivators have a lifespan of over two hundred years. If we sow some seeds now, we can harvest a large amount of spiritual plants a hundred years from now."

Li Xiuyuan descended in his escape light, heading towards the destination with a satisfied expression.

A faint array of restrictions shrouded the spirit field, clearly a first-order three-talent array.

Li Xiuyuan turned his hand over, and a cave dwelling token appeared in his hand.

"The sect has set up second-tier formations in each second-tier cave dwelling... but in order to save money and be lazy, they are all sub-formations of the third-tier top-grade formation 'Heaven-Burning and Earth-Destroying Formation'. They are second-tier formations after all, but they are of a lower grade, barely second-tier low-grade. In the future, we will still have to set up a second-tier formation ourselves to be truly safe."

Li Xiuyuan pondered in his heart, after all, a second-order formation can only defend against Foundation Establishment cultivators, but the divine sense of a Core Formation cultivator can directly break in!

The Heavenly Fire Cave is very large, with training rooms, a hall, a reception room, bedrooms, a spirit beast garden, and a rockery garden, making it fully equipped.

But what Li Xiuyuan valued most was the second-tier earth fire spiritual vein beneath the cave.

clap clap clap!

Inside the alchemy room, sparks flew everywhere in a huge earth fire furnace, radiating intense heat.

"Second-tier earth fire, although it's only low-grade second-tier, it's enough."

Li Xiuyuan picked up a spark with his bare hand and carefully felt the heat within it.

At that moment, the domineering and fierce golden flames of his magic power instantly spread out, and he instantly pinched the spark into his palm.

"Hmm, this subterranean fire is indeed very powerful, without any flaws. It seems the previous owner took good care of it, frequently nurturing it with spiritual materials and ores..."

After sensing it for a moment, Li Xiuyuan nodded slightly, feeling that he had received the legacy of his senior.

"Huh, what's this?"

Li Xiuyuan swept his divine sense across the area, then suddenly made hand seals and switched the Migu Rat out of the spirit beast pouch.

Then, upon receiving the command, the Migu Mouse immediately began to dig and burrow into the ground with its tiny paws.

Before long, a natural cave, more than ten feet in size, appeared before us.

As soon as Li Xiuyuan entered, he felt an incredibly dense fire-type spiritual energy rushing towards him.

He strode forward and discovered that in the center of the cave was a fiery spring bubbling with hot steam.

The Misty Valley Rat was playing happily in the Flaming Spirit Spring.

"Fire Spirit Spring!"

Li Xiuyuan immediately recognized the source of the rich spiritual energy within the rock as this fiery spiritual spring.

He hurried forward, scooped up a puddle of spring water, and examined it carefully.

"This is definitely the Heavenly Spirit Spring. It's fire-attribute."

Li Xiuyuan confirmed his inner guess, "It is truly a blessing from heaven. Although this spiritual spring is small, it is full of spiritual energy."

The spiritual energy between heaven and earth is not evenly distributed; it is abundant in some places and scarce in others.

Over time, it will naturally evolve into a spiritual vein or spiritual land rich in spiritual energy.

Large spiritual veins can stretch for thousands of miles, while smaller ones are only a few miles long and extremely narrow.

Regardless of the size of these spiritual veins, once they are formed, they will naturally emit spiritual energy, ensuring the continuous circulation of spiritual energy in the area, making it difficult for them to dry up.

Similarly, there can be uneven distribution of spiritual energy on spiritual veins, and the spiritual eye naturally evolves in the place where the spiritual energy is most abundant and concentrated in the spiritual vein, making it most suitable for cultivators to meditate and cultivate.

Spiritual eyes are generally formless and intangible. However, if the spiritual energy overflowing from a spiritual vein is too dense and can be preserved for a long time, it can be a spiritual eye.

It will then take on a physical form and be called a spiritual eye object by cultivators, such as a spiritual eye stone, a spiritual eye spring, and so on.

Legend has it that the highest level of the tree is the Spirit Eye Tree, which is considered a true wonder of heaven and earth.

These wondrous objects, formed over thousands of years by the workings of nature through a series of fortuitous events, are undoubtedly the result of countless years of effort and chance.

Each appearance of these spiritual eyes in the mortal world causes bloodshed and chaos in the cultivation world, since the spiritual energy emitted by these spiritual eyes is several times greater than that of ordinary spiritual eyes.

The speed of meditation and spiritual practice around it is greatly accelerated.

The best spiritual eye items can accelerate a cultivator's cultivation speed by nearly double. Even the spiritual eye spring and spiritual eye tree can be transferred by a cultivator's spell without damaging their effectiveness.

In the current cultivation world of Chu, almost all spiritual objects are occupied by the five major sects.

Even if a small sect accidentally obtains scattered treasures, it will voluntarily hand them over to a higher-level sect.

To avoid bringing about the extermination of the entire family!

Treasures like the Spirit Eye Spring and Spirit Eye Stone possessed by the Blazing Fire Sect.

They were all occupied by Core Formation cultivators within the sect; even the sect leader didn't get a share.

Of course, the ancestor with the highest cultivation level naturally took the lion's share.

But Li Xiuyuan, accompanied by the Migu Rat who only knew how to eat and drink all day, easily found a Spirit Eye Spring in less than half a day.

It can be described as having incredible luck.

Although this spring of spiritual light is pitifully small and its effects are very limited.

But it is, after all, a spiritual eye, and its cultivation is much faster than that of ordinary spiritual veins.

This perfectly solves his problem of needing to cultivate quickly; even improving by half a percent is a good thing!

However, while Li Xiuyuan was happy, he was also somewhat depressed.

Putting aside everything else, how come the previous cave master didn't discover this spiritual eye?

But he was lucky enough to stumble upon it, so naturally he wouldn't let it go.

Although the Spirit Eye can be moved, it's not something a Foundation Establishment cultivator like him can do.

"He must be at least at the Core Formation stage," Li Xiuyuan guessed.

He planned to transform this place into a secret meditation chamber and then purchase several sets of arrays to conceal his presence and protect it.

Li Xiuyuan acted immediately.

Wielding the top-grade magic weapon, the Golden Light Sword, with one hand, he picked up the Misty Valley Rat, which was still soaking in the spiritual spring, and had it help him.

In less than half a day, Li Xiuyuan had carved out an underground cave dwelling that was more than ten zhang long and wide.

He renovated it, adding a training room and a weapon-forging workshop.

He planned to remain underground for a long period of time to cultivate himself.

After doing all this, Li Xiuyuan picked up the Migu Rat, which was fast asleep in the spiritual spring, and put it into the spirit beast bag.

He then kept the remaining two Fire Lotus Spirit Fish, which he had already tamed, in the Spirit Eye Spring.

He sat down on the ground and began to meditate to restore his magical power.