On the path to immortality, I can see destiny.

When the spear flew back, Zhao Fan gently stroked the spear shaft, very satisfied with the power of this magical weapon.

After putting away the spear, Zhao Fan looked at the other items in his storage bag.

Then, Zhao Fan picked up the small bell again.

The small bell looked quite sturdy. As Zhao Fan poured his spiritual power into it, the bell gradually grew larger and was able to release a golden light that enveloped Zhao Fan.

Zhao Fan immediately took control of the spear and attempted to attack to see how strong the defense was.

Starting with 10% of his power, he gradually increased it until he reached 60% power. Finally, a shallow crack appeared on the light barrier, which quickly disappeared as spiritual energy was injected.

It wasn't until it was at 80% power that the spear finally pierced through the light barrier.

Zhao Fan was very satisfied with both of these magical artifacts. He couldn't help but sigh in his heart that it was fortunate that he had arrived at Fallen Spirit Mountain and had the help of the tortoise shell, which enabled him to barely kill someone with the help of the talisman.

Otherwise, let alone fighting two against one, the cultivator surnamed Lu alone could have easily overwhelmed him.

After slightly refining the two magical artifacts, Zhao Fan turned his attention to the other items.

The rest were mostly low-grade and mid-grade talismans, along with some pills, spirit stones, and medicinal herbs. Zhao Fan looked them over one by one. Among them were a bottle of half-eaten Qingling Pills, two bottles of Yunling Pills, and the rest were some healing pills.

The Spirit Nourishing Pill is a low-grade first-tier pill, which is still barely usable for Zhao Fan, but its effect is already minimal.

The medicinal materials are mostly those for Spirit Nourishing Pills and some healing pills, while the only ingredient for refining Spirit Clearing Pills is Night-Withered Vine.

There are a total of thirty-four spirit stones, of which fifteen should belong to Zhao Fan. If you take them all, he doesn't even have twenty spirit stones, which just goes to show how poor he is.

Besides that, there are only a few books left.

Zhao Fan took out the books and looked at them. The first one was the Zhu Family Halberd Technique.

Upon seeing the name, Zhao Fan was stunned for a moment before realizing that even the name of this cultivator surnamed Lu was fake.

Zhao Fan had no idea what to do with this halberd technique. The halberd of the cultivator surnamed Lu... Zhu was already broken, and he didn't know how to reconnect it.

Moreover, he wasn't particularly interested in the halberd technique itself, but the final, lightning-fast spear thrust did pique Zhao Fan's interest.

Setting aside the halberd technique, Zhao Fan continued reading the second book, titled "Yang Family Spear Techniques."

Upon seeing the title, Zhao Fan instantly became interested and immediately opened the book.

The first page had a few lines of text.

My name is Zhu Hao. I am the son of the Zhu Family Martial Arts School owner in Qianxing City, and my mother is the daughter of the Yang Family Martial Arts School owner.

My family was slaughtered by my enemies, leaving me alone. By chance, I embarked on the path of immortality.

Having committed this murder and robbery, I know I will die sooner or later. It is all my own fault, and I have no regrets or complaints.

This family-inherited technique is considered superior among ordinary martial arts. Fellow Daoist, you may use it. I only hope that if you have the leisure, you can pass this method on to ordinary people, so that the lineage will not be interrupted, and I can face my parents in the afterlife with a clear conscience.

After reading it, Zhao Fan paused for a moment before quickly turning to the next page.

This spear technique manual has two parts: the first part is an internal energy cultivation method, and the second part is the spear technique itself.

For cultivators, internal energy cultivation techniques are naturally unnecessary, but this spear technique is indeed exquisite, captivating Zhao Fan's attention.

Half a day later, Zhao Fan finished reading the book, put it down for the time being, and glanced at the last book.

The last book is a metal-type cultivation technique for the Qi Refining stage, titled "Mysterious Metal Technique".

I looked at it from the front and back, but there was nothing particularly special about it.

This is one of the five major Qi cultivation methods, the most common kind, which can be found in large quantities at market stalls.

After packing everything up, Zhao Fan took out the spear and halberd again.

As for the spear, I can use it to practice my spear techniques. This halberd head is really useless now. I can try to sell it next time I go to the market.

Besides that, there were the things he picked up along the way.

There are two medicinal herbs, two materials, and one spirit stone in total.

The two spiritual herbs are worth about four spirit stones. He didn't know the price of the two materials, but he figured they were about the same, so the total value would be at least seven or eight spirit stones.

The more Zhao Fan thought about it, the more he regretted it. He shouldn't have boarded the flying boat out of curiosity and missed out on so many good things.

Especially that huge vortex that can be seen from so far away, I can't even imagine what good stuff is inside, it must be worth at least a hundred spirit stones.

"Let's refine the pills first."

Zhao Fan thought for a moment and then stepped into a wooden house next door.

Inside the wooden house was a small alchemy furnace, about half the height of a person.

The entire piece is a bluish-gold color, with a lifelike bluish-gold dragon carved on it.

If you look closely, you'll find that each scale of this azure dragon is carved with intricate inscriptions.

Zhao Fan sat down facing the alchemy furnace, made hand seals, and his spiritual energy surged in his dantian, transforming into a stream of light that entered the furnace.

On the alchemy furnace, inscriptions were activated, shimmering with a pale red light.

Then, Zhao Fan opened the lid of the alchemy furnace and threw in various herbs.

Once the lid was closed, Zhao Fan gently waved his right hand, and a large number of red spiritual patterns on the furnace were immediately activated, flames rose from the furnace, roasting the various medicinal herbs.

This flame was extraordinary; it seemed to possess a spirit, twisting and coiling around the medicinal herbs. In the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the herbs were all refined, leaving only the most essential parts.

However, this is only the first step, and also the simplest step in alchemy.

Then comes the most difficult second step: condensing the elixir.

Among the various medicinal essences, their medicinal properties complement each other while also clashing with each other.

If the medicinal properties cannot be balanced, at best the medicinal herbs will be completely wasted, and at worst there is a risk of the furnace exploding.

As the critical moment approached, Zhao Fan used both hands simultaneously, condensing ten thin threads of spiritual energy on his ten fingers, connecting them to ten different inscriptions on the alchemy furnace.

This was a technique he learned from alchemy manuals: transforming spiritual energy into threads that connect to the inscriptions on the alchemy furnace responsible for different functions, allowing for precise control and increasing the success rate of alchemy.

This process was very long, lasting for almost an hour.

In the end, five pills, still in their early stages, floated in the alchemy furnace.

According to the notes, a single batch of herbs for the Qingling Pill can yield a maximum of fourteen pills.

Zhao Fan can usually only produce four to six pills per batch, and the quality of the pills is neither good nor bad.

Based on the current average price of Qingling Pills, one pill can be sold for about five spirit stones, while the value of various herbs is about fifteen spirit stones.

If nothing unexpected happens, this batch of pills will be worth ten spirit stones.

However, it would take another five hours to roast him over a low flame. Zhao Fan's spiritual power was insufficient to sustain him for five hours. If he relied on absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, there were no spiritual veins around, and the spiritual energy was too thin to supply his needs.

The only way is to replenish spiritual power with spirit stones, but this will consume another spirit stone.