Beast Taming Immortal Clan

Chapter 423 Breakthrough to the Mid-stage of the Purple Mansion Realm [Please Subscribe]

The spiritual power contained in the "Mountain Soul Pearl" was too immense. Zhou Chun estimated that it would be much more difficult for the stone to digest it than to digest a third-grade low-level demon core.

Therefore, he was prepared to wait for eight to ten years.

After sealing off the spirit beast room, I didn't pay much attention to it anymore.

Two months later, Luo Qingni's Golden Elixir Ceremony was grandly held at "Qingni Residence".

It is said that on the day of the ceremony, there were more than 30 Golden Core stage cultivators and nearly 200 Purple Mansion stage cultivators who came to offer their congratulations.

This demonstrates the immense influence of such a Golden Core stage alchemy master, and also reveals the breadth of Luo Qingni's network of connections.

This explains why she hesitated and didn't readily accept even top-tier magical materials like the Spirit Wood Core.

Although Zhou Chun did not go to the scene, after hearing about the grand scene that day, he was also deeply moved and felt somewhat fortunate for his previous probing behavior.

Fortunately, seeing that his gift-giving attempt had failed, he promptly implemented a backup plan to remedy the situation. Otherwise, if the gift had actually been returned, it would have severely damaged their relationship.

After the Golden Core Ceremony, Luo Qingni announced that she would be going into seclusion again to focus on refining her natal magic weapon.

After learning about this, Zhou Chun renewed the rent for his cave dwelling for another five years, and then devoted himself to cultivating and refining his magical power and secret techniques.

Time flies when you're cultivating yourself; five years have passed in the blink of an eye.

After five years of secluded cultivation, Zhou Chun felt that his cultivation barrier had become very loose. He should be able to break through in one fell swoop after another year or two of secluded cultivation.

At the same time, after years of dedicated training, he finally mastered the "Golden罡斩" (Golden罡 Slash) attack technique.

Zhou Chun was very satisfied with the power of the secret technique "Golden Gang Slash".

After testing, he found that once activated, this secret technique was no less powerful than a high-grade third-tier spell.

Once his cultivation reaches the mid-stage of the Purple Mansion realm, the power of his secret technique will be further enhanced.

Furthermore, this secret technique itself has three levels. Zhou Chun has only successfully cultivated the first level and can perform the "Golden Gang Slash" once.

If he cultivates to the second level, he will not only be able to unleash the "Golden Gang Slash" twice, but the power of the secret technique will also increase accordingly.

If one can cultivate to the third level, one will be able to unleash "Golden罡 Slash" three times, at which point its power will rival that of a fourth-tier spell!

Tianyuan Immortal City is indeed a sacred place for cultivation. As long as you have spirit coins, you can easily buy many things here.

The golden energy Zhou Chun needs for cultivation, as well as the high-quality golden energy required for cultivating secret techniques, are sold in many shops here, and pre-orders are also accepted.

If Zhou Chun were willing to spend the money, he could also rent a cave dwelling specifically for Golden Core cultivators, where the concentration of spiritual energy would be no less than that of the Golden Core cultivators' cave dwellings at Qinglian Temple.

The expenses here are just too high.

The cave dwelling that Zhou Chun is currently using costs a whopping 45,000 spirit coins for a ten-year lease, which is simply burning money.

If he hadn't made several fortunes in succession, even with the Zhou family supporting him, he probably wouldn't have been able to afford such expenses.

"Judging by the time, Fellow Daoist Luo should have emerged from seclusion by now!"

A thought flashed through Zhou Chun's mind, and he immediately sent a communication talisman to Luo Qingni to inquire about the situation.

Within fifteen minutes, Luo Qingni's reply arrived.

Then, with a joyful expression, he got up, packed his things, and went to visit Luo Qingni's cave.

Upon arriving at "Qingni Residence," Zhou Chun saw Luo Qingni again after several years and found that her aura had become even stronger, giving him a faint sense of extreme danger.

Clearly, after refining her natal magic weapon, Luo Qingni's strength increased dramatically.

After exchanging greetings, Zhou Chun said half-jokingly, "Fellow Daoist Luo has finally emerged from seclusion! I, Zhang, have been eagerly anticipating your return all these years!"

Upon hearing this, Luo Qingni blinked slightly and said leisurely, "There was an unexpected incident in the middle, which caused a delay of two years. I apologize for keeping Fellow Daoist Zhang waiting."

"Haha, I was just joking, Fellow Daoist Luo, don't take it to heart."

Zhou Chun smiled and immediately looked at Luo Qingni and said, "I wonder when Fellow Daoist Luo will have the time to help me start refining pills?"

"Now that Qingni has emerged from seclusion, she is naturally available at any time. If Fellow Daoist Zhang is in a hurry, today is also fine."

Luo Qingni answered with a serious expression.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chun quickly waved his hand and said, "That won't be necessary. I've waited all these years, so what's another half day? How about we start tomorrow?"

"Of course!"

Luo Qingni nodded gently and readily agreed.

So Zhou Chun stayed a while longer, discussed the pills they were going to refine with her, and then took his leave.

Early the next morning, Zhou Chun came to "Qingni Residence" again and followed Luo Qingni into her alchemy room.

Although the two currently have a good relationship, in order not to test human nature and to show trust, Luo Qingni still took the initiative to ask Zhou Chun to accompany her in refining pills.

This time, she was to help Zhou Chun refine four batches of pills: three batches of "Foundation Building Pills" and one batch of "Essence Enhancement Pills".

As for the other pills, Zhou Chun has not yet gathered enough main ingredients, so he is temporarily unable to refine them.

Luo Qingni admitted that she had not refined the Foundation Establishment Pill many times, but with her current alchemy skills, refining this grade of pill was a piece of cake.

The first batch of "Foundation Building Pills" was completed in just seven days, yielding eight pills, which is considered a normal performance.

After resting for a day, Luo Qingni began refining the second batch of "Foundation Building Pills".

Seven more days passed, and the second batch of "Foundation Building Pills" was produced, yielding eight pills in total.

After resting for another day, they began refining the third batch of "Foundation Building Pills".

Perhaps because of the foundation laid by the previous two batches of Foundation Building Pills, when the third batch of Foundation Building Pills was produced, Luo Qingni actually performed exceptionally well, producing nine pills in one go!

In this way, Zhou Chun obtained a total of twenty-five spirit pills from the three batches of "Foundation Building Pills," far exceeding his expectations.

"I have successfully completed my mission. Fellow Daoist Zhang, please take stock of the pills first. Qingni will rest for three days before we begin refining the 'Essence Enhancement Pill'."

After removing the protective array and leaving the alchemy area, Luo Qingni handed the nine newly made Foundation Establishment Pills to Zhou Chun before returning to her bedroom to rest.

Refining pills is a mentally taxing task. Even for a Golden Core cultivator like Luo Qingni, refining three batches of Foundation Establishment Pills in a row would be quite mentally taxing, and she would need to rest for a few days to fully recover.

Zhou Chun also returned to his own cave dwelling.

Three days later, Zhou Chun visited again and witnessed Luo Qingni refining the "Zengyuan Pill".

Compared to the Foundation Establishment Pill, which is used by cultivators in the Qi Refining stage, the Rejuvenation Pill is undoubtedly much more difficult to refine.

According to Luo Qingni, if she were still at the Purple Mansion stage, it would take her at least 49 days to refine a batch of "Enhancing Vitality Pills".

Because just refining the impurities and lingering demonic energy contained within the third-tier demon core would consume a great deal of her time and energy.

However, now that her cultivation has broken through to the early stage of the Golden Core realm and she possesses the Golden Core True Fire, this time should be shortened considerably.

With a wave of her hand, Luo Qingni sent the demon core of the snake-lizard beast into the alchemy furnace.

Then she opened her mouth and spat out a ball of emerald green flame, which fell below the furnace and began to refine the demon core inside.

During this process, wisps of black smoke could be vaguely seen drifting out of the alchemy furnace, transforming into the shape of snake-lizard monsters in mid-air, howling at the sky as if resenting the injustice of the heavens.

But Luo Qingni simply blew a breath, and the black smoke dissipated.

Zhou Chun was not surprised at all when he saw this scene.

Even if the serpent-lizard demon beast was merely a wisp of remnant spirit within a demon core, possessing no ability to harm anyone, Luo Qingni, a Golden Core cultivator, could easily shatter the true serpent-lizard demon beast's soul with a single word.

However, after witnessing this scene, he couldn't help but think of the rumors circulating in the cultivation world.

It is rumored that pills made from the inner core of demonic beasts may contain the beast's lingering spirit if the alchemist's skills are lacking and the beast's remnant spirit is not thoroughly purified.

If a cultivator were to ingest such a pill, they would be very likely to suffer a qi deviation and become possessed by demons while meditating.

Therefore, one should carefully examine oneself before taking such pills to avoid harming oneself.

Sunrise and sunset, and in the blink of an eye, thirty-two days have passed.

On this day, Luo Qingni, who had been slowly nurturing the elixir, suddenly increased the power of the elixir fire and then quickly formed hand seals to condense the elixir.

Not long after, as she cast the pill-collecting incantation, the furnace lid instantly flew upwards, from which seven beams of spiritual light shot out, transforming into seven round pills that fell into the jade bottle in her hand.

She then glanced down at the pills in the jade bottle and nodded slightly, saying, "Seven pills were made, one more than usual. It seems that the increase in cultivation level does indeed significantly help improve alchemy skills. The alchemy fire truly lives up to its reputation as the most suitable true fire for alchemy!"

Then he extinguished the furnace fire, removed the protective array, and handed the pills to Zhou Chun.

"Seven pills were successfully made. It seems that Fellow Daoist Luo's alchemy skills have improved again. Congratulations!"

Zhou Chun took the pill, examined it briefly, and then put it away. He then congratulated Luo Qingni with a big smile.

"It's just a change brought about by the improvement in cultivation level; it can't be considered a true improvement."

Luo Qingni waved her hand gently, showing no sign of complacency.

After saying that, he looked at Zhou Chun and asked, "In a few days, Qing Ni should go to Master Ge Yun to exchange pill formulas. What has Fellow Daoist Zhang thought about that suggestion from back then?"

The suggestion she made was, of course, about refining the "Dragon Spirit Pill".

Upon hearing her words, Zhou Chun felt a pang of frustration.

In the past few years, while Zhou Chun was cultivating in seclusion, he naturally did not forget to go to Master Ge Yun to refine pills.

But even now, he still hasn't been able to place a single order.

As Luo Qingni clearly said, Master Ge Yun is currently busy trying to reach a higher level in alchemy and has no time to take on such small orders.

Now that Luo Qingni has brought up this matter again, Zhou Chun pondered for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "Alright then, I, Zhang, will first offer two demon cores for Fellow Daoist Luo to refine, and see the results first!"

He possesses three dragon-born demon cores, each of which is of the third rank: low-grade, mid-grade, and high-grade.

He certainly couldn't use that most precious third-grade high-quality demon core for Luo Qingni to practice on, unless Luo Qingni's previous two batches of pills were able to produce pills consistently.

Upon seeing that he had agreed to the pill refining, Luo Qingni smiled and chuckled, "Hehehe, then Qingni thanks Fellow Daoist Zhang for his trust. As a token of my gratitude, I will not charge Fellow Daoist Zhang for the pill refining this time."

She had previously said that she was willing to refine three batches of pills for Zhou Chun for free, which happened to correspond to the previous three batches of "Foundation Building Pills".

Therefore, according to the rules, a fee will be charged for refining the "Energy Enhancement Pill" this time.

Now, because Zhou Chun agreed to let her practice, she waived the fee again, which can be considered as returning the favor to Zhou Chun.

This made Zhou Chun feel a little better.

He then said, "I don't know what other materials are needed for the 'Dragon Spirit Pill' besides the inner core of a third-tier dragon-born demon beast. If you want to refine the pill, I'll have to ask Fellow Daoist Luo to use his connections to help me gather the other materials."

Upon hearing this, Luo Qingni immediately agreed, saying, "This is easy to do. As long as Fellow Daoist Zhang is willing to provide spirit coins and thousand-year-old spiritual herbs, Qingni will do her best to help Fellow Daoist gather the relevant materials as quickly as possible."

After the two reached an agreement, Zhou Chun took his leave.

Luo Qingni was indeed efficient. In just two months, she informed Zhou Chun that she had obtained the formula for the "Dragon Spirit Pill" and began to use her connections to collect other materials.

According to him, the most difficult material to collect for the "Dragon Spirit Pill" is the inner core of a third-tier dragon-descended demon beast. Apart from two common thousand-year-old spiritual herbs that are relatively precious, the rest of the materials are not particularly valuable or hard to find.

Therefore, it is not difficult to gather the materials for both batches of elixirs.

The current difficulty is that Luo Qingni's pill formula has just been obtained, and it needs to be carefully studied and understood before it can be refined.

After all, she only received the pill formula in exchange; Master Ge Yun certainly wouldn't give her the tips and tricks for refining the "Dragon Spirit Pill."

Zhou Chun wasn't in a hurry, so he let her slowly comprehend and study it. He also renewed the rent for the cave for another five years and quietly cultivated himself to break through to the mid-stage of the Purple Mansion realm.

Two years later, during a routine breakthrough attempt, Zhou Chun suddenly broke through the barrier of his cultivation realm and officially advanced to the mid-stage of the Purple Mansion realm.

"Phew, it finally worked! This was really tough!"

Inside the cave, Zhou Chun awoke from his meditation, felt the surge of magical power within his body, and couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.

In retrospect, these past ten years have been the most peaceful ten years since he embarked on the path of cultivation.

He had never been able to focus solely on his spiritual practice without being distracted by any external affairs as he had been for the past ten years.

Especially during the ten years when his cultivation was stuck at the realm barrier, he became a complete ascetic, diligently honing his magical power and practicing secret techniques every day, yet his cultivation never progressed.

This kind of spiritual practice is both a refinement of magical power and a refinement of one's character.

If one cannot calm down and silently endure the frustration of diligently cultivating every day but making no progress in magical power, it would be difficult to achieve today's breakthrough.

Undoubtedly, this more than ten-year-long cultivation practice has been a baptism for Zhou Chun's entire mindset towards cultivation.

His original restlessness has been completely washed away during his more than ten years of cultivation.

At this moment, he was no longer like he had when he first arrived in the Great Zhou Kingdom, who was only focused on seeking opportunities to improve his magical power and break through his cultivation level as soon as possible.

He gradually realized that sometimes, rapid growth in magical power was not necessarily a good thing.

Being down-to-earth and diligently practicing are the foundation of a cultivator's path to immortality.

External aids such as elixirs can be used, but they should never be regarded as shortcuts to the great path.

There are no shortcuts in life, and there are no shortcuts in spiritual practice either!

"I wonder how the stone is doing now. Judging by the time, it's been asleep for over seven years. It should have changed a bit by now!"

Thinking of this, Zhou Chun immediately opened the closed door of the spirit beast room to check the situation.

He was stunned when he saw it.

The stone that was originally lying in the spirit beast chamber has now disappeared, and a huge muddy yellow stone egg has appeared in the spirit beast chamber!

The stone egg was oval in shape, nearly two zhang long and more than one zhang high.

"The stone...it turned into an egg!"

Zhou Chun stared at the stone egg in surprise. Through the contractual connection with his spirit pet, he was able to confirm that the Golden Armored Rock Turtle stone was inside the stone egg.

But the question is, how was this stone egg formed?

The stone was originally much larger than this stone egg!

"It seems the 'Mountain Soul Pearl' is truly a perfect match for the stone. Perhaps its breakthrough evolution will bring me another wonderful surprise!"

After silently observing the stone egg for a long time, Zhou Chun also figured out some of its secrets and couldn't help but exclaim with anticipation.

He knew that some demonic insects would spin silk to form a cocoon to encase themselves before evolving, and then bite out of the cocoon after successfully evolving.

The fact that the Golden-Armored Rock Turtle's stone has now turned into a stone egg is undoubtedly a similar behavior.

This stone egg not only protects it but also isolates it from external environmental influences, allowing it to focus on metamorphosis and evolution.

Even so, Zhou Chun had no intention of moving the stone egg.

Because he knew one thing well: the Golden-Armored Rock Turtle, whose main attribute is Earth, is more likely to evolve successfully when it comes into contact with the earth.

Not to mention that he is currently in Tianyuan Immortal City, where the spiritual energy in the spiritual veins beneath his feet is extremely rich, making it very suitable for breaking through to a higher realm.

After taking a deep look at the stone egg, Zhou Chun closed the door to the spirit beast chamber again.

Next, Zhou Chun sent a message talisman to Luo Qingni, inquiring about the refining of the "Dragon Spirit Pill".

However, Luo Qingni replied that she had not yet thoroughly understood and researched the pill formula, and did not intend to blindly start refining pills at present.

Zhou Chun really liked her cautious and responsible attitude, so she naturally didn't urge her.

After all, he still has two "Yellow Crystal Pills" and seven "Energy Enhancement Pills" in his possession, so he is not short of pills for the time being.

So Zhou Chun returned to the cultivation room, took out a jade bodhi fruit, and swallowed it.

He had previously been stuck at the barrier between realms and was unable to break through. He was worried that taking the medicine would waste its potency, so he did not take it.

Now that my cultivation has broken through, I no longer have this worry, so naturally I want to realize the benefits of this item as soon as possible.

And this Jade Bodhi Fruit truly lives up to its reputation as a spiritual fruit highly praised by Luo Qingni.

After Zhou Chun finished consuming and refining one pill, he discovered that not only had his divine sense, which had just been enhanced due to his breakthrough in realm, increased by nearly 10%, but his magical power cultivation had also increased significantly, equivalent to a year of arduous cultivation.

The key is that the increase in magical power brought about by this spiritual fruit is very balanced and peaceful, unlike the frenzied and superficial growth of elixirs. It is similar to the increase in magical power cultivation through meditation.

After discovering this benefit, he immediately took another one.

However, the effect was much worse after the second dose.

His spiritual sense only increased by about one-thirtieth, while his magical power cultivation increased by about the same amount, still within about a year.

This completely extinguished Zhou Chun's original intention to take the third pill.

He planned to leave the remaining two to his elders, Zhou Mingde and Zhou Daoyi, as a token of his filial piety as a junior.

Then Zhou Chun reached into his waist pouch and pulled out a "Purple Crystal Bamboo Rice".

He has thirty-three "purple crystal bamboo rice" plants, which are more precious than thirty-three thousand-year-old spiritual herbs.

However, this item was too precious and would easily expose the fact that it was stolen, so he dared not easily take it out to exchange with anyone.

However, it would be a waste to keep this item in a storage bag all this time.

Therefore, Zhou Chun is now preparing to taste the "Purple Crystal Bamboo Rice" himself to see what benefits it can bring him.

If the benefits are substantial, he plans to splurge and eat all of the "purple crystal bamboo rice".

High-end ingredients often don't require any cooking skills; they can be eaten raw!

After Zhou Chun removed all the "purple crystal bamboo rice" from a seven-leaf purple bamboo grass, he stuffed it into the innermost part and ate it raw.

The crystal-like "purple bamboo rice" is actually quite hard. If a cultivator at the Purple Mansion stage were to eat it raw, it would be quite difficult to chew it thoroughly.

However, whether it was the main cultivation technique "Golden Cauldron Profound Skill" or the secret method "Dragon Transformation Secret Technique" that Zhou Chun practiced, both had a significant tempering effect on his physical body.

Now, in terms of physical strength alone, he is no less than some Golden Core stage cultivators.

So he was still able to chew through these "purple crystal bamboo rice".

And this spiritual item, which was originally only available to Nascent Soul stage cultivators, certainly did not disappoint in taste.

Once chewed, the hard bamboo rice immediately reacts wonderfully with the saliva in the mouth, and a faint sweet aroma quickly spreads and fills the brain.

The swallowed bamboo rice quickly decomposed into incredibly pure spiritual energy that spread throughout the body.

After closing his eyes and savoring the moment, Zhou Chun slowly began to circulate his internal energy to refine the spiritual power within his body.

After an unknown amount of time, Zhou Chun finally refined all the spiritual power released by the "Purple Crystal Bamboo Rice" within his body.

At this moment, he carefully examined his own condition and found that the "Purple Crystal Bamboo Rice" had not actually brought him much improvement in cultivation.

It's roughly equivalent to three months of arduous practice, far inferior to the previous Jade Bodhi Fruit.

However, in addition to improving cultivation, "Amethyst Bamboo Rice" also has the effect of tempering the body.

Zhou Chun clearly felt that his physical body had been slightly strengthened. If he could continue to take it, his physical body would definitely be greatly enhanced.

As for the rumored longevity-enhancing effects, he didn't really feel any, probably because he only took one plant and the effect wasn't obvious.

In conclusion, it would be too wasteful to consume "Amethyst Bamboo Rice" myself; it would be more worthwhile to exchange it for a thousand-year-old spiritual herb.

Therefore, Zhou Chun did not continue to consume the remaining thirty-two "purple crystal bamboo rice" plants. Instead, he carefully stored them in a jade box, intending to sell them later when the opportunity arose.

This kind of spiritual object is inherently durable and will not lose its medicinal properties even after being stored for a hundred years.

A hundred years from now, the ancient relics will no longer be mentioned as often as they are now. By then, Zhou Chun may have successfully formed his core and have the confidence to trade this item with others.

Half a year later, Zhou Chun, who was cultivating in seclusion in the secret chamber, suddenly changed his expression, made a hand seal, and summoned a ray of fire to fall in front of him.

After he finished reading the contents of the message talisman, his face lit up with joy, and he hurriedly got up and left the cave.

Not long after, Zhou Chun arrived at an inn in the Immortal City, where he met Lin Hongyu, who had come from afar.

"This junior pays his respects to Elder Lin."

Inside the room, Zhou Chun immediately bowed to Lin Hongyu upon seeing her.

"Zhengchun, there's no need for such formalities. This isn't the family compound, so there's no need for so much politeness."

Lin Hongyu waved her hand, indicating that there was no need to be polite.

Without Zhou Chun asking, she took the initiative to explain her purpose.

"I came to the Great Zhou Kingdom this time to seek out a spiritual object to help Wan'er open her Purple Mansion. I also came to visit you and bring you a few letters from home."

At this point, he nodded at Zhou Chun with a satisfied look and said, "Not bad, not bad. Zheng Chun, you broke through to the mid-stage of the Purple Mansion realm so quickly. Dao Yi and the others will definitely be very pleased if they know."

Upon hearing her words, Zhou Chun did not show any smugness, but instead asked with concern, "I have been away from home for more than ten years. How is everything in the family?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Hongyu immediately smiled and said, "Don't worry, everything has been fine for the Zhou family for the past ten years. Fellow Daoist Zhou and Dao Yi have written about the relevant situation in their family letters. You will understand after reading them."

After saying that, he handed Zhou Chun several letters written by the Zhou family elders.

Although Zhou Chun was eager to know the contents of the family letter, she did not open it to read it right away.

He first put the letter into his storage bag, then said to Lin Hongyu, "I have lived in Tianyuan Immortal City for more than ten years and have a certain understanding of the situation here. Is there anything Elder Lin can do for me?"

"No need for that. I've already received reliable information about where to obtain spiritual items to aid in opening the Purple Mansion. You don't need to worry about it."

Lin Hongyu shook her head, politely declining his offer.

Seeing this, Zhou Chun didn't ask any more questions. He immediately reached into his storage bag and took out the twenty-five "Foundation Building Pills".

"Then please take these Foundation Establishment Pills back to your family and give them to your uncles when you return, Elder Lin!"

(End of this chapter)