Back on Earth, I am the only cultivator.

At noon, sunlight filtered through the dry branches, scattering sparsely across the old cement road.

The neighborhood is quiet and comfortable, with the occasional sound of elderly people chatting.

Wu Fan gently pushed open the door. The house was quiet, but he could sense an energy fluctuation coming from his sister Wu Xi's room.

He scanned the area with his divine sense.

In the center of the room, a ball of icy blue spiritual energy was slowly circulating.

The girl sat cross-legged in the center of the bed, her breathing long and steady, with faint white frost around her petite body.

As the "Primordial Profound Ice Technique" was activated, the icy blue stream had completed its small circulation within her meridians, finally settling steadily into her dantian.

Clearly, she had completely solidified her cultivation at the first level of Qi Refining.

"This girl is even more hardworking than I imagined."

A relieved smile appeared on Wu Fan's lips.

He turned and walked quietly into his bedroom, closed the door, and sat down slowly on the edge of the bed.

Wu Fan took out a warm, smooth jade pendant with cracks, a hundred-year-old Ganoderma lucidum, and a thousand-year-old blood ginseng.

As for the black bead containing the power of yin and cold, Wu Fan planned to leave it to his younger sister.

The early stage of the Heavenly Yin Primordial Body requires the nourishment of pure Yin energy. The mixed Yin and cold energy in that bead, after being refined, is perfectly suited to Wu Xi's physique and can help her break through quickly.

"Let's see how much spiritual energy is left in your jade pendant."

Wu Fan activated the "Heavenly Evolution Chaos Technique," sending a wisp of spiritual energy into the jade pendant.

hum!

A faint golden light shone on the surface of the jade pendant.

Stimulated by spiritual energy, those fine cracks seemed to come alive, rapidly spreading and expanding.

The jade pendant emitted a series of crisp "crackling" sounds, as if it were about to shatter at any moment.

But Wu Fan didn't care. His divine sense, like a nimble snake, burrowed into every crevice inside the jade pendant, sensing the residual energy fluctuations within.

A moment later, he raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Interesting. This jade pendant was originally a protective artifact of some ancient cultivator, but its core formation has collapsed to the point of collapse."

Even so, the trace of spiritual energy remaining inside is still purer than the total amount of spiritual energy that this world can absorb in a month.

In this degenerate age where spiritual energy is depleted, every wisp of spiritual power is extremely precious.

"Refine!"

Wu Fan let out a low shout, and a wisp of spiritual fire rose from his palm, enveloping the jade pendant.

In just a few breaths,

The cracked jade pendant completely disintegrated under the scorching heat of the spiritual fire, turning into dust.

The extremely pure pale golden spiritual energy within it floated in mid-air like a small snake, radiating a gentle, watery light.

Wu Fan opened his mouth and inhaled, and the wisp of spiritual energy flowed down his throat and into his dantian, merging into the nine-colored golden elixir.

After an unknown amount of time, he successfully broke through from the first level of the Golden Core to the second level.

Wu Fan nodded slightly, as expected.

But this is not enough.

His gaze fell on the thousand-year-old blood ginseng and the hundred-year-old lingzhi, and his eyes became serious.

"Directly consuming medicinal power results in too low a refining efficiency. If it is refined using alchemy methods, the medicinal properties of the two can be fused and complemented, increasing the effect by at least three times."

In the Immortal Realm for 100,000 years, Wu Fan's greatest skill, besides warfare and conquest, was alchemy.

Using the alchemy skills of a Celestial Emperor to refine two mortal medicinal herbs is simply a waste of talent.

"Freeze!"

Wu Fan formed a hand seal, and a fist-sized ball of golden spiritual fire appeared out of thin air, hovering above his palm.

He first put the century-old Ganoderma lucidum into the spiritual fire.

Chi!

Under the scorching heat of the spirit fire, the Ganoderma lucidum quickly shrank and contracted, with dark brown sap seeping from its surface, and a rich herbal aroma filled the room.

In just over ten breaths, the century-old Ganoderma lucidum transformed into a thumb-sized mass of dark brown liquid, with impurities completely removed by the spiritual fire, leaving only the most essential medicinal power.

Immediately afterwards, Wu Fan gestured with one hand, and the thousand-year-old blood ginseng rose into the air and fell into the spiritual fire as well.

Unlike Ganoderma lucidum, the surface of the thousand-year-old blood ginseng has faint blood-red veins flowing around it.

Under the heat of the spiritual fire, it emitted a slight "sizzling" sound, and the dark red medicinal liquid slowly seeped out, emitting a rich and domineering medicinal power.

"Lingzhi (Ganoderma lucidum) is primarily for nourishing and warming, while blood ginseng is primarily for promoting yang energy and unblocking meridians. The combination of the two, with the number nine and one, creates a balanced elixir."

Wu Fan muttered incantations as his fingers flew across the table, sending delicate spiritual runes into the two clumps of liquid medicine, forcibly drawing them together.

boom!

The two completely different medicinal energies collided, producing a muffled boom, and then slowly merged under the suppression of Wu Fan's spiritual fire.

Within the golden spiritual flame, a round, nascent pill, displaying a pattern of alternating pale gold and dark red, was slowly taking shape.

The medicinal energy surged, filling the entire bedroom with an intense, almost overwhelming, aroma.

The fragrance even seeped through the crack in the door and wafted into the living room. Wu Xi, who was cultivating, twitched his nose slightly and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

Wu Fan controlled the temperature of the spiritual fire, removing the last trace of impurities.

The moment the pill finally took shape, three fine, hair-like golden lines appeared on its surface, like three miniature dragon patterns encircling the pill.

"The Three-Pattern Nourishing Qi Pill is complete."

Wu Fan reached out and the pill, about the size of a longan, landed steadily in his palm. It was as smooth as jade and emitted a faint warmth.

Even in the Dharma-ending Age, with his Golden Core stage skills combined with his Immortal Emperor-level alchemy expertise, it still took him nearly the time it takes for an incense stick to burn to refine this Qi-Nourishing Pill.

He examined the pill in his palm, which contained the essence of two precious spiritual herbs, and a look of satisfaction flashed in his eyes.

"Although it's only the lowest-grade Qi Nourishing Pill, given the current quality of spiritual herbs on Earth, being able to refine it into a three-patterned pill is already the best. Consuming this one will be enough to raise my cultivation level again to the third level of the Golden Core stage."

Without the slightest hesitation, Wu Fan flicked his thumb, and the pill entered his mouth.

The moment the pill entered the throat, a warm medicinal power transformed into a torrent, rushing straight to the limbs and bones, flowing along the meridians towards the dantian.

"boom!"

The nine-colored golden pill in his dantian began to spin wildly, greedily devouring the surging medicinal power.

Golden and dark red energy torrents entangled and collided on the surface of the golden core, each impact causing the golden core to expand slightly.

The meridians were being washed by the violent medicinal power, and a faint throbbing pain was felt.

Wu Fan closed his eyes, formed a hand seal in front of his dantian, and began to circulate the "Heavenly Evolution Chaos Technique," guiding, compressing, and refining the incoming medicinal power little by little before pouring it into his golden core.

In no time, the nine-colored light on the golden core shone brightly, and the total amount of spiritual power in the body more than doubled in an instant, becoming even more condensed.

"Golden Core Stage 3, achieved."

Wu Fan exhaled a breath of turbid air, then closed his eyes and continued to circulate his cultivation technique, using the remaining medicinal power to thoroughly consolidate the third level of his cultivation.

Just then, he sensed a slight movement in the living room.

Wu Fan pushed open the door and saw Wu Xi standing in the living room, greedily inhaling the lingering medicinal fragrance in the air, and following the scent toward Wu Fan's room.

"Brother! The smell coming from your room is amazing, even better than my sweet and sour pork ribs!"

Wu Xi's big eyes sparkled as she leaned closer and looked up at Wu Fan.

Wu Fan chuckled and ruffled her hair:

"That was my brother making medicine; he's already finished it."

"But don't worry, I've saved a bead for you that's even more suitable than this pill. I'll help you refine it when the time comes."

"Really!" Wu Xi's eyes flashed with excitement as she tugged at Wu Fan's sleeve and shook it.

"When have I ever lied to you?"

Wu Fan laughed

His gaze drifted to the setting sun outside the window, and he added:

"However, one should not be greedy for quick results in cultivation. Let's stop here for today. It's time to have a good meal tonight."

Wu Xi obediently let go of his hand: "Okay!"

Watching his younger sister happily run towards the kitchen, Wu Fan's smile gradually faded, and he looked out the window at the setting sun.

……

Unlike the cozy atmosphere of Xingfuli Community, the upper class of Mencheng is currently experiencing an unprecedented storm.

The Li family's old house.

Li Tiancheng sat in the armchair, holding the teacup steadily, but his eyes were filled with ecstasy.

"Dad, all the official procedures have been completed."

Li Wen strode into the living room, looking tired but unable to hide his excitement.

"Han Zhen personally signed the order to imprison all core members of the Zhao family on charges of 'endangering national security.' More than 70% of the Zhao family's assets, including real estate, martial arts schools, and financial companies, have been forcibly acquired by our Li Group at a low price under the guise of restructuring!"

Li Tiancheng took a deep breath, slammed the teacup heavily on the table, and burst into wild laughter:

"Hahaha! Great! Well done!"

"For nearly a century! Our Li family and the Zhao family have been fighting for nearly a century! Who would have thought that the Zhao family would be completely wiped out in a single day!"

Standing to the side, Li Zhenyue remained calm and interrupted in a deep voice:

"Tiancheng, don't get carried away. You should know who gave you all this."

Li Tiancheng was startled, his expression changed, and he became extremely respectful:

"Father, Tiancheng understands. If it weren't for Senior Wu's intervention, it would be our Li family who would be dead in the old house today."

Li Zhenyue nodded, looked at Li Jing who had been sitting to the side, biting a straw, and said gently:

"Xiaojing, you have a good relationship with Senior Wu's sister, Wu Xi. During this time, try to visit Xingfuli Community more often."

"A highly secretive underground auction of antiques will be held in Mencheng tomorrow night, and it is said that a very special ancient artifact will be on display."

"Take this message to Senior Wu."

After saying that, he handed a special invitation to Li Jing.

Li Jing took a sip of her cola, rolled her eyes, and muttered:

"Grandpa, Dad, are you just using me as a tool for delivering gifts? But let me make this clear, Wu Fan has a really strange temper. If I offend him, don't blame me."

Li Zhenyue smiled kindly:

"You silly girl, since Senior Wu allows you to get close to his sister, it means he doesn't dislike you. Just stay true to yourself and don't try to play any tricks on Mr. Wu."

"Okay, okay, you're so nagging."

Li Jing bit her straw shyly, but the scene of Wu Fan rescuing her in the underground parking garage that day involuntarily floated into her mind.

"Just what kind of person is this guy?"

She gazed at the scenery outside the window with a somewhat dazed expression.