Divine Tang Era

"Hiss... hiss..."

A large piece of nine-eyed python meat was placed on the burning firewood.

The blazing flames relentlessly seared the blood-red chunks of meat, slowly cooking them. Drops of meat oil oozed from the meat, falling onto the glowing red-hot firewood with soft sizzling sounds. Seeing the python meat cooked, Xu Dan couldn't wait to cut off a piece and toss it into his mouth.

Crispy and tender with a hint of sweetness, leaving a lingering aftertaste, it's truly delicious.

After killing the nine-eyed python, he casually collected the snake eggs in the forest and left that awful place.

Along the way, he hadn't been eating well or resting properly, and feeling unsafe outside, Xu Dan entered the Hidden Mystery Cauldron. Having just fought a fierce battle with the Nine-Eyed Python, the steamed buns he'd eaten were long digested, and his stomach was rumbling with hunger. So he cut off a piece of python meat to roast. And let me tell you, the Nine-Eyed Python meat tasted really good.

The nine-eyed python is named so because it doesn't have nine eyes, but rather because it has several eye-like spots on its body.

Xu Dan ate a large piece of python meat until he was full and then lay down on the ground to rest comfortably.

The essence of the python meat dispersed, transforming into surging blood and qi.

Xu Dan had an idea in his mind, and he activated the Establishing Cauldron and Sealing Furnace Technique, visualizing the cauldron, but he failed to condense another ancient cauldron. He frowned and began to guide his surging blood and qi towards the Hidden Profound Cauldron in the center of his body. Streams of blood and qi rose and fell like waves, one after another, converging into the Hidden Profound Cauldron.

He could feel his strength increasing, but he couldn't see any changes in the Hidden Mystery Cauldron. Instead, the mysterious patterns naturally emanating from the cauldron lit up once more.

These densely packed patterns cover the ancient cauldron, resembling stars displayed in the eternal starry sky.

The patterns appear to be connected, yet they are also separate.

One of them shimmered with a jade-like crystalline luster, appearing noticeably more vivid than the other patterns.

Xu Dan activated the Qi and Blood Sealing Technique, feeling streams of blood and energy flowing into the patterns beside the Jade Essence Mystic Pattern. He couldn't help but wonder: Could these patterns, like the Qi and Blood Cauldron of the past, represent the power of his own blood and energy? After thinking about it, he felt that this should be the case.

Once the cauldron is erected and the furnace is sealed, it becomes impossible to visualize the cauldron again, indicating that this method has come to an end.

But this is only the end of cultivating the method of establishing the cauldron, not the end of sealing the furnace.

The "Establishing the Cauldron and Sealing the Furnace" technique is said to be a method, but it is divided into two parts. One part is establishing the cauldron, visualizing the cauldron and furnace, and condensing qi and blood; the other part is sealing the furnace, using the visualized condensed qi and blood cauldron to temper oneself.

After refining the essence of the python meat, Xu Dan began to cultivate the sealing part of the "Establishing Cauldron and Sealing Furnace Technique".

Stand upright as if you were in a cauldron, and visualize yourself as if you were inside the ancient cauldron. A flame rises from the soles of your feet, burning upwards, through your skin, flesh, tendons, bones, marrow, internal organs, and everything else in your body.

The flames of qi and blood transformed from a single stream into a raging inferno, engulfing Xu Dan's entire body and burning it relentlessly, tempering his physique and cleansing him of impurities.

Unfortunately, he transmigrated here, ate earth milk and drank dragon blood, and was cleansed and purified by the Purple Golden Lotus from childhood, so there were no impurities in his body.

After a cup of tea, seeing that his Qi and Blood Flame could no longer be refined, Xu Dan had no choice but to stop cultivating.

The cultivation of the "Establishing the Cauldron and Sealing the Furnace Technique" has reached its end. From now on, one can switch to the "Nine Cauldrons Transforming into Divine Power Technique." The Nine Cauldrons Transforming into Divine Power Technique is not merely about refining the ancient cauldron, forged from blood and qi, into divine soul power. Rather, it involves first cleansing the five internal organs with blood and qi. The five internal organs belong to the five elements of heaven and earth: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. Only by cleansing the five internal organs with blood and qi, extracting essence, and unifying the five elements, can divine soul power be generated.

In essence, he was still following the path of refining essence into qi and transforming qi into spirit.

If one directly uses qi and blood to refine the spirit, there is only one path: death.

Xu Dan did not immediately begin practicing the Nine Cauldrons Divine Transformation Technique, but instead wanted to wait until he returned to thoroughly understand and master the technique before proceeding.

Looking at the space inside the Hidden Profound Cauldron, he suddenly realized he had made a terrible mistake. He shouldn't have entered the space directly; he should have first brought in some living creatures to see if they could survive inside. If they couldn't, wouldn't he be doomed if he went in?

I was too careless; I can't let this happen again.

Fortunately, the Hidden Mystery Cauldron is not like a storage ring where living things cannot survive, otherwise its life would be in danger by now.

The Hidden Mystery Cauldron has a large space; otherwise, it wouldn't be able to be used to grow spiritual herbs and raise spiritual beasts.

But after countless years, the spiritual energy within has vanished, and the original things have turned to ashes. Only the land remains fertile, but it is dry and parched.

Xu Dan thought he could plant some vegetables and raise some chickens and ducks there to avoid running out of food when it got cold, but he needed water first. So, he took out a shovel and hoe and started digging. He was strong and fast, and easily dug out a pond and brought water in from outside.

With water, things become much easier.

He felt the space was bare and unsightly, so he dug up some trees from outside.

Seeing the tree, Xu Dan felt he should build a house inside and put the things from his storage bag in there. After all, the storage bag could be lost, but the Hidden Profound Cauldron was inside his body, so he couldn't lose it even if he wanted to. However, the Hidden Profound Cauldron had a drawback: the space inside wasn't static and couldn't preserve things, so he couldn't put things that couldn't be preserved, like food.

Do what you want to do.

Xu Dan used his Eight-Degree Sword to cut down some large trees and built a simple stilted wooden hut with basic furniture such as a bed, cabinets, and tables. His craftsmanship wasn't great, but it was rough and usable. He then put everything except the food into the storage bag.

He used to be afraid that Yulongzi Pangpang would be stolen, so he always carried it with him. Now he can let it in.

The wooden house is behind the pond, and various plants and trees are planted around it.

After finishing these tasks, Xu Dan cut open the snake eggs he had collected and poured the egg liquid onto the dry soil in front of the pond to fertilize the land.

Most of these snake eggs contained fetuses, some already formed and about to hatch. Xu Dan cut open one of them, and a small snake crawled out, startling him so much that he slapped it with his palm. The force of his palm was immense, weighing a thousand pounds, and it struck the snake's body, yet it didn't turn it into mincemeat. Xu Dan was surprised, and with a slight movement, the snake's body turned to dust.

"Transformation of internal energy?"

Xu Dan's expression turned strange.

The force of that attack had unintentionally unleashed the power of neutralizing internal energy.

He quickly closed his eyes, trying to sense the power of his previous attack. After a moment, he opened his eyes again, picked up a snake egg, and slapped it. The egg shattered; he failed. He slapped it again, still no luck. He slapped it again, slapping more than a dozen snake eggs in a row, finally unleashing his full power once more.

After practicing slowly, he finally mastered the art of neutralizing force and grasped the way of neutralizing force.

After mastering the transformation of internal energy, one can refine the internal energy into internal energy, which circulates throughout the body, tempering the physique and meridians.

Unfortunately, Xu Dan's meridians were congested, preventing the flow of internal energy, so he could only stay in his dantian. Fortunately, he had abundant qi and blood, so he could function without internal energy; otherwise, he would have been incredibly frustrated.

After a busy day, it was probably already dark outside. Unable to go back today, Xu Dan simply lay down to sleep in the cabin and would deal with it tomorrow.

I slept without any dreams.

The next day, they got up early to continue their journey. If they didn't return today, Yunniang and her daughter, Xiaoque'er, would worry. It felt so good to have someone at home thinking of you, missing you, and worrying about you, even though you were in a different world.

Along the way, he collected alpine meadows into the Hidden Mystery Cauldron and spread them under the stilted building and on the open ground, adding more greenery and vitality to the space.

If you look back, you can see the places he passed by; the alpine meadows are bald, like they've been chewed by dogs, with patches of barren land here and there.

With nothing to do on the way back, Xu Dan walked slowly, so much so that it was already afternoon when he arrived at the city gate.