Time flew by, and more than half a month had passed.

Yuan Ming's cultivation had made swift and sudden progress as he broke through once again, finally reaching the Qi Refining Tenth Layer.

This meant that he was now qualified to undergo Foundation Establishment.

However, Yuan Ming did not immediately consume the laboriously obtained Foundation Establishment Pill.

Ordinary cultivators from Biluo Cave would rely on the Biluo Skill to cultivate up to the Qi Refining Tenth Layer before attempting Foundation Establishment, but his "Nine Elements Technique - Upper Chapter," if continued, could reach the rumored Qi Refining 13th Layer.

Even though Yuan Ming was still unaware of the profound impact these additional three layers would have on his future path of cultivation, he understood that a more solid foundation would be more beneficial to him.

Compared to the rapid progress in cultivating the "Nine Elements Technique," the speed at which he was cultivating the "Moonlight Technique" was considerably slower.

After advancing to the second layer, his cultivation speed in the realm of soul cultivators markedly slowed down.

Even with the lighting of the Soul Nourishing Incense, which nurtured the Divine Soul, the cultivation speed did not significantly increase; hence, Yuan Ming temporarily stopped cultivating the "Moonlight Technique" and focused all his efforts on cultivating the "Nine Elements Technique."

Meanwhile, every few days, Yuan Ming would pause his cultivation to test out the new incense he had formulated.

As it happened, this was inspired by a chance encounter with the "Immortal Xuanhua" in Black Rock Market. The Qingxuan Incense and the Soul Nourishing Incense were indeed quite mysterious and could aid in cultivation; if he could figure out how to create them himself, it would be greatly beneficial for his future cultivation.

This time, he added three types of spiritual materials to the incense at once, the main one being a spiritual material known as "Mist Xuan Grass," commonly used as the key ingredient in refining Illusion Spirit Pills.

The reason for choosing this material was its capacity to induce illusions. Similarly, Illusion Spirit Pills could temporarily transport a person into an illusion, affecting the Divine Soul to a certain extent.

Before lighting the incense, Yuan Ming inserted the long incense into the incense burner and took out a Detoxification Pill, putting it in his mouth first.

The reason for such caution was because of a previous incense experiment in which he accidentally added a toxic Spirit Grass. Upon lighting it, the colorless and odorless toxicity was magnified by the incense burner.

Within just a few breaths, Yuan Ming felt his limbs go weak, and his head grew dizzy.

At the same time, his vision began to blur, and for a moment, he did not know whether he was going to be possessed or poisoned into unconsciousness.

Fortunately, at the last moment, Yuan Ming accessed his Storage Ring and timely took out the Cold Star Sword. By channeling mana through the sword to release its icy aura, he managed to extinguish the incense fire and halt the experiment.

Yuan Ming did not manage to undergo possession in that chaotic state, nor did he recover immediately. Lying weakly, it took him a full hour to fully come around.

Because of this, Yuan Ming realized that experimenting with incense using various materials, and lighting it, also had risks.

This time, although the accident was minor and he stopped it promptly, he might not be so lucky next time.

After this incident, he made preparations against poison and, under the extinguished Tai Chi Pattern, attempted to light the previously made Poisonous Incense again with the incense burner. He found that the incense's potency was significantly enhanced.

The Level 1 Intermediate-stage Fierce Beast he had captured for the experiment collapsed within three breaths.

However, the effects of the Poisonous Incense were more about inducing stupor than causing death.

Moreover, the range of diffusion was limited, essentially covering only a hundred zhang in radius. Without the boost from the incense burner, the area would be halved.

After inhaling an entire stick of the incense, the Fierce Beast remained unconscious for at least an hour.

Following this, Yuan Ming decided to not only attempt to mimic the Possession Black Incense but also create various types of Spirit Incense with different functions, which could also have unexpected effects under the enhancement of the incense burner.

In his current attempt at Incense Making, Yuan Ming directly removed the incense ashes, which was the key factor in prompting possession, focusing solely on exploring the possibilities of making incense.

After lighting the long incense, a stream of white smoke slowly rose, the color was thick white, slightly different from usual.

Yuan Ming glanced subconsciously at the Green Wolf tied to the tree next to him, its four hooves bound.

Fear filled the beast's eyes as it struggled endlessly.

He waited a moment, but the Green Wolf continued to thrash about, showing no signs of succumbing or change in its gaze, with no obvious reaction to poisoning or hallucination.

"It doesn't seem to have any special effect..." Before Yuan Ming could finish speaking, he was suddenly taken aback.

Without noticing, a thick white fog had enveloped his surroundings, making him feel as if he were back in Snake King Valley.

But there was a difference -- the fog was much denser, milky white, and far more effective at obstructing vision.

Almost anything beyond five steps became hidden by the thick fog, rendering it invisible.

Yuan Ming picked up the incense burner and climbed a thousand-foot ancient tree next to him, reaching the top. Only by looking down from there could he see the ten-mile radius below completely obscured by the thick fog.

As he brought the incense burner to the top, white fog even began to gather in the surrounding high skies.

With a thought, he tried to extend his Divine Sense outward in all directions.

Only then did he discover that the thick fog not only obstructed vision but also significantly inhibited Divine Power.

He was not sure of the effect on high-level cultivators, but for him, his range of Divine Sense was compressed to just about ten feet, nearly the same as visual distance. In that moment, Divine Sense was essentially useless.

Amazed, Yuan Ming returned to the tree and watched the incense burner he was holding until the incense had extinguished and the fog around began to disperse.

It took the time it took to drink a cup of tea before it completely vanished.

Yuan Ming bundled the batch of incense he had made, wrapped them with a white strip of paper, and tied another loop around them. Then he took a pen and wrote "Fog Incense" on it, storing it alongside the "Poisonous Incense" he had made earlier.

This was the second special Spirit Incense he had tried to create.

…

Time passed, another month went by as he diligently practiced cultivation and attempted incense making.

Yuan Ming had been worried that using Nourishing Origin Pills and Qingxuan Incense to catalyze his cultivation would have side effects.

But as it turned out, there were no side effects. Instead, most of the Qingxuan Incense had been consumed, and he had run out of Nourishing Origin Pills.

The results of using a large amount of elixirs and Qingxuan Incense were clear, as Yuan Ming's cultivation had advanced and he was now at Qi Refining 11th Level.

However, he also found that in the later stages, the benefits brought by the Nourishing Origin Pills and Qingxuan Incense had significantly diminished.

In addition, the previous incense trials had used many materials but the outcomes were not very satisfactory, with no progress in replicating Black Incense or creating special Spirit Incense.

But today, Yuan Ming came to a secluded valley in the Ten Thousand Mountains, using materials he had high hopes for.

These were three black fruits he had purchased at the Ghost Market in the workshop, which, according to the stall owner, could attract nearby Fierce Beasts with just a whiff of their scent.

If there were any spiritual materials in Yuan Ming's possession capable of creating an exceptionally effective incense, they were these black fruits.

After some busy work, he used one fruit and other spiritual materials to make three sticks of dark black incense.

Yuan Ming also chose to conduct this experiment using the incense burner before the Tai Chi Pattern lit up.

The moment the black incense was lit, a wisp of faint fragrance immediately wafted out.

When Yuan Ming smelled this odor, he was slightly taken aback.

This fragrance was indeed unique; it was different from any other fragrance he had smelled in the past, emitting a distinct fluctuation of spiritual power within it.

At first, Yuan Ming didn't feel anything too strange, but after a short while, he sensed something off.

He felt a surge of heat on his body and, subconsciously, wanted to move closer to the incense and deeply inhale its unique fragrance.

"This effect?" Yuan Ming was greatly surprised.

He immediately circulated the "Moonlight Technique," summoned his Divine Soul Power, and suppressed this thought.

Fortunately, this desire was not strong; as long as his will was firm, a slight adjustment of his Divine Soul Power could fend it off.

But just then, a series of loud "boom" sounds began coming from all directions.

Yuan Ming leaped up, climbing to the top of the nearby ancient tree, and looked around.

From within the surrounding forests, there was a dust storm, and thundering hoofbeats; through the gaps in the forest canopy, he could see herds of various forest Fierce Beasts of all shapes and sizes converging towards him.

"This incense made from the black fruit is too powerful," Yuan Ming thought to himself in shock.

At first glance, their numbers were already in the hundreds, if not thousands. Aside from various Fierce Beasts, there were even more ordinary wild beasts, all with red eyes and drooling mouths, as if they had gone mad.

"What are you experimenting with now? The wild beasts have gone mad," a pleasant voice suddenly came from beneath the tree.

Yuan Ming looked down and saw Xi Ying, who had arrived at some point, and he promptly jumped down.

"Extinguish the incense... take the incense burner..."

Before Xi Ying could finish speaking, Yuan Ming had already put out the flame and done as she said the moment he landed.

By now, he was certain that the fragrance from the new incense made with black fruit was hugely tempting to wild beasts.

"We need to leave this place first," Xi Ying said, seeing the situation.

"It's too late, the Fierce Beasts have already surrounded us," said Yuan Ming, shaking his head.

"What did you use to make this? It's so powerful, tell me! So magical," Xi Ying said with excitement and curiosity.

"Don't worry, don't worry, let's deal with these wild beasts first," Yuan Ming replied with a smile, showing no sign of panic on his face.

As he spoke, he took out the incense burner again, placed another stick of black incense into it, pinched the head of the incense, and lit it. Guided by Yuan Ming, the rising smoke quickly formed a ring and expanded outwards.

Right after, he took out two Detoxification Pills, consumed one himself, and handed the other to Xi Ying to swallow.

At this point, the noise around them grew louder, and the Fierce Beasts and ordinary wild animals had all revealed themselves, their red eyes and drooling mouths charging towards them wildly.

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