On the path to immortality, I can see destiny.

Zhao Fan left the weapon-refining peak and walked along the stone steps towards the Internal Affairs Hall.

By this time, it had gotten dark, and the sacred trees on both sides of the mountain path cast long shadows in the twilight.

He decided to go to the Internal Affairs Hall first and exchange his contribution points for some things.

Over the past year, he has handed in spiritual herbs and pills every month. Although most of his contribution points were used to repay the old man for the pills, he still managed to save some.

Not much, but enough to exchange for a bottle of Spirit Gathering Pill.

One Spirit Gathering Pill costs twenty spirit stones, and the same price applies when exchanging contribution points.

He accumulated nearly a year's worth of contribution points, just enough to exchange for five.

The Inner Affairs Hall was still bustling with activity, with disciples coming and going in a constant stream.

Zhao Fan walked in with his head down, went to the counter, and handed over the jade token.

"Exchange for five Spirit Gathering Pills."

The female cultivator behind the counter took the jade token, checked it in the booklet, looked up at him, and her eyes showed a hint of surprise.

A Qi Refining Level 5 outer disciple, exchanging for a Spirit Gathering Pill?

Without asking any further questions, she turned around, took a jade bottle from the cabinet behind her, and placed it on the counter.

Zhao Fan took it, opened the bottle, and glanced at it.

Inside the medicine bottle were five pale golden pills, round and smooth, with a clear and refreshing fragrance.

He put the jade bottle into his storage bag, took the jade pendant, and turned to leave.

After leaving the Inner Affairs Hall, Zhao Fan walked along the stone steps towards Danfeng Peak.

He walked slowly and steadily, but his divine sense always covered an area of ​​several dozen feet behind him.

For the past six months, every time he went down the mountain, he could feel that someone was following him.

Sometimes it was one person, sometimes two. They were very careful and had excellent concealment skills. If Zhao Fan hadn't had special abilities, he probably would never have been discovered.

But they never made a move, not even getting close. They simply followed him, and once they confirmed that he had returned to Danfeng, they disappeared.

Zhao Fan was very nervous at first, but he gradually got used to it and was even able to do what he needed to do while being followed.

But instead of relaxing, he became increasingly vigilant. For six months, they had not given up, not even once.

This shows that their goal was very clear: to target him.

Moreover, the more time they invest, the less likely they are to give up easily.

What were they after investing so much time and energy over six months?

Zhao Fan couldn't understand it, but he knew that these people would make their move sooner or later.

He pretended not to notice anything, and continued walking through the bamboo forest and the light curtain until the spirit field appeared before him.

He went into the cabin and closed the door.

Outside the Danfeng Mountain gate, in the shadows, a young cultivator leaned against a tree trunk, watching Zhao Fan's figure disappear behind the light curtain, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper.

His name is Zhou Mingyuan, a member of a collateral branch of the Zhou family. He has a cultivation level of the sixth level of Qi Refining and has been sent to the Suyang Sect by his family for almost a year.

For the past year, he has done almost nothing but keep an eye on Zhao Fan.

Zhao Fan's life was outrageously simple: the back of Danfeng Mountain, the spirit fields, the wooden house, occasionally going down the mountain, and occasionally going to the weapon-refining peak to find that guy surnamed Su.

There was no social interaction, no entertainment, and he only had one friend.

Zhou Mingyuan couldn't understand why his family wanted him to waste so much time dealing with an outer disciple.

He wasn't even worth wasting his time on an outer disciple at the fifth level of Qi Refining.

However, he couldn't refuse the task assigned by his family, so he could only continue to keep an eye on things and wait.

Moreover, Zhou Mingyuan suspected that Zhao Fan might have already discovered him.

But every time he saw Zhao Fan's calm face, he felt it didn't look right.

Moreover, how could an outer disciple at the fifth level of Qi Refining possibly discover him?

Zhou Mingyuan sighed, straightened up from the tree trunk, stretched his stiff neck, then turned and disappeared into the night.

Zhao Fan knew nothing about this.

He was sitting cross-legged on the wooden bed, taking out the bottle of Spirit Gathering Pills from his storage bag and pouring out one.

He looked at it for a moment, but did not rush to take it.

He carefully put away the other four, then put the one in his hand into his mouth.

The medicine entered the stomach, and its medicinal effects slowly dissipated.

The Spirit Gathering Pill is neither as gentle and lingering as the Spirit Purifying Pill, nor as bland and tasteless as the Spirit Nourishing Pill.

The medicinal power of the Spirit Gathering Pill rose from the abdomen like a warm river, flowing slowly along the meridians.

Zhao Fan activated the "Mysterious Gold Technique," guiding the medicinal power to circulate through his meridians.

The spiritual energy gradually increased, and the golden vortex in the dantian grew stronger little by little.

Three days later, Zhao Fan finally fully refined the medicinal power of the Spirit Gathering Pill.

Zhao Fan looked inward at his dantian and saw that the golden vortex was larger than it had been three days ago, and the spiritual energy was abundant and flowing smoothly.

He was just a little short of reaching the sixth level of Qi Refining.

The effects of this Spirit Gathering Pill are indeed far superior to those of the Spirit Cleansing Pill.

The effect of this one pill is at least equivalent to that of three Qingling Pills.

Zhao Fan opened his eyes and let out a long breath. After his reconstruction, his spiritual power was more solid than before, and his divine consciousness seed was becoming more and more restless under the tempering of the Divine Nourishing Technique.

The surface is cracked as densely as a spider web, and it could burst out of its shell at any moment.

Zhao Fan put the jade bottle away and got up to push open the wooden door.

The waiter followed him out of the house, squatted down at his feet, and looked up at him.

Zhao Fan lowered his head and patted its head, then walked around the field ridge to check the spirit field.

……

In the days that followed, Zhao Fan resumed his mundane and boring life, and before he knew it, another year had passed.

At this moment, Zhao Fan's cultivation level finally returned to the seventh level of Qi Refining.

The seed of consciousness in the brain finally sprouted, and the solidified power of consciousness was like a seedling taking root in the sea of ​​consciousness.

As the seed of divine consciousness sprouted, Zhao Fan felt that his divine consciousness power had also undergone a transformation, with its intensity more than doubling.

When fully unleashing one's divine sense, it is enough to spread to a radius of several dozen feet around it.

Within this range, Zhao Fan could perceive everything clearly.

At this moment, Zhao Fan felt the changes within himself and breathed a sigh of relief.

From the time he first entered the sect until now, a full three years have passed, almost entirely wasted on cultivating and rebuilding his spiritual consciousness.

Fortunately, these three years were not without gains; his divine sense became stronger, and the spiritual power within his body became more condensed.

It can be said that apart from the lack of improvement in cultivation level, the improvement in other aspects is very significant.

Zhao Fan got up and stretched a bit before taking out the rented alchemy furnace.

Now that his spiritual power has increased, he plans to try again to see if he can refine good pills on his own.

Soon, another day passed, and Zhao Fan came out of the room, holding five Qingling Pills of good quality in his hand.

Sure enough, after his divine sense improved, the pills he refined were completely different.

With his current alchemy skills, entering the inner sect is no longer a difficult task.

This has been his goal since he first started learning, and now, he is finally about to achieve it.

Zhao Fan put away the pills and immediately headed towards Pill Peak.