Yuan Ming's mood at the moment was still pretty good. In the previous battle, his magic artifacts had almost been destroyed by Zuo Qinghui, and if he could acquire these two top-grade magical tools, it would make up for his losses.

However, Zuo Qinghui was a cultivator of Chang Chun Temple and it seemed unlikely that he would spend great effort to refine such malicious instruments. It was more probable that he obtained the blood-colored Jade Scroll and two weapons by killing some heterodox cultivator, seizing them in the process.

Yuan Ming collected the two weapons and two Jade Scrolls, as well as the remains of Zuo Qinghui's physical body. He then waved his hand to emit a beam of cyan light, which quickly circled around the cave mansion, gathering all the broken artifacts scattered from the battle.

He looked over these discarded artifacts with a hint of regret, but then his eyebrows lifted as he picked up the inner armor that had been pierced by the Golden Sun Ruler, mentally exclaiming his good fortune.

Although the inner armor seemed to be penetrated, its Spiritual Power had not dissipated; it had only weakened significantly, and its four runes were still relatively intact.

With his Artifact Refining Technique already quite advanced, Yuan Ming knew that such golden inner armor could be completely restored if fused with suitable spiritual materials.

Among the three top-grade spiritual materials in Zuo Qinghui's Storage Bag, there happened to be a piece of gold-attributed ore. He could find an opportunity to try repairing the inner armor later.

Yuan Ming put away the golden inner armor and was about to collect the other shattered artifacts when he suddenly stopped, picked up a green broken sword, which was a part of the Green Jade Poisonous Sword.

The Poisonous Sword had been cut in half by the Golden Sun Ruler, its runes completely collapsed, and the Spiritual Power within its materials had dissipated entirely, rendering the broken sword worthless.

Yet Yuan Ming's eyes were fixed on the broken edge of the sword as he tapped it on the ground several times.

With a "clink," a square, purple jade piece about an inch in size fell out, devoid of any Mana fluctuations, but with a faint green light flickering within.

Moreover, as soon as the dark green jade piece touched the ground, the nearby earth visibly turned purple and black at a speed visible to the naked eye, as if something was spreading from within the jade piece, eroding the terrain.

Yuan Ming raised his hand to gesture, applying an Exorcism Technique, and the purple jade piece levitated from the ground, halting further decay of the earth.

"It seems that the potent poison of the Green Jade Poisonous Sword originates from this purple jade piece. I wonder what the history behind this object is?" He carefully examined the purple jade piece, pondering to himself.

On the other side of the jade piece was a small scorpion image, lifelike, as if it were some kind of mark.

After studying it for a while and finding nothing else, Yuan Ming took out a White Jade Box and carefully placed the purple jade piece inside.

Jade materials are inherently effective at resisting the erosion of potent toxins due to their solid and moist nature, and this box was made from White Water Jade, which was particularly adept at deterring poison, capable of effectively limiting the spread of the intense poison on the purple jade piece.

As expected, the terrible poison on the purple jade piece was unable to corrode the White Water Jade Box, only managing to etch a light purple mark after a long time.

Not fully reassured, Yuan Ming took out another larger jade box and placed the White Water Jade Box inside before finally storing it away with peace of mind.

After dealing with these trifles, he sat down to consider his next move.

Zuo Qinghui had managed to find his way to Wangyue City, there's no guarantee that other people from Chang Chun Temple would not come looking. Now that he had killed Zuo Qinghui, no matter how you looked at it, he had firmly established enmity with Chang Chun Temple.

Previously, he could claim that their duel was an open one, sanctioned by a life-and-death contract, and Chang Chun Temple, due to various factors, wouldn't openly trouble him. But after killing Zuo Qinghui, he no longer had such an excuse.

It was clear that he could no longer stay here.

It was a pity to abandon such a secluded and safe Cave Mansion.

Yuan Ming swiftly moved throughout the cave, retrieving the Five Elements Illusion Destruction Array and the Bronze Thunder Pattern Array. He then collected the casting furnace and all the Spirit Herbs and Spiritual Medicines from the Medicine Garden. He didn't spare the black branch steeped in the water vat either.

This black branch had also been intermittently researched by him over the past five years, yet he still could not determine its origin or use.

Yuan Ming took Vajra, Hua Zhi, and Lei Yu with him as he left the Cave Mansion and headed towards Wangyue City.

He didn't enter the city but instead wrote a letter and had it delivered to Hu Tu, instructing them to close down the Spiritual Fragrance Shop and leave the place as soon as possible, with the incenses and a small amount of Spirit Stones inside the shop to be theirs to keep.

Afterward, Yuan Ming summoned Lei Yu, sat cross-legged on its back, and flew northward.

He had already decided on his next destination.

Yuan Ming took out a wooden box, inside which lay over twenty jade pieces of various colors.

He selected one of them, a Jade Scroll that was a map of Zhao Country and the surrounding regions.

To the northwest of Zhao Country was a vast desert known as the Black Wind Desert. Due to the black storms that swept through, the desert was sandwiched between Zhao Country, Qin Country to its west, and the Northern Desert.

Though it was an endless desert, it was far from barren as numerous veins of spiritual materials were buried underneath, and many exotic demon beasts existed there, attracting the forces of Zhao Country, Qin Country, and the Northern Desert, along with many Loose Cultivators in search of treasures and to mine.

Located amidst the three powers, the Black Wind Desert had been the site of struggles between Zhao, Qin, and the Northern Desert for hundreds of years, with none able to completely overwhelm the others, each party weakening themselves in the conflict.

Later an armistice was reached among the three, ending large-scale direct conflicts and turning overt wars into covert struggles.

With the deterrence of major battles gone, Loose Cultivators began to emerge, mining for wealth and seeking treasures to fill their pockets.

Over ninety percent of the desert's mineral resources were claimed by the three major powers, but its resources were so rich that even the scattered leftovers were enough to enrich a large number of Loose Cultivators—and there were countless demon beasts to be hunted as well.

The desert's reputation as resource-rich gradually spread, attracting even more Loose Cultivators to swarm in.

Where there are people, conflict is inevitable, and acts of murder and robbery are all too common.

Zhao Country, Qin Country, and the sect powers of the Northern Desert came here for profit. The Black Wind Desert is not within the territory they claim, and they turn a blind eye to the skirmishes of Loose Cultivators. They don't concern themselves with these matters most of the time.

Seeing that no one governed the Black Wind Desert, thieves, sect defectors, and wanted evil cultivators from the cultivation worlds of the three regions have all flocked here, plunging the area into greater turmoil.

The Black Wind Desert has now completely become synonymous with chaos and bloodshed. No one knows how many cultivators are hidden here, not even the three major forces that hold power in the region, who at best can only barely make sense of their own territories.

Yuan Ming was now heading to the Black Wind Desert.

Chang Chun Temple was on the opposite side of Zhao Country, and even if their reach was long, it couldn't extend here.

As for the dangers rampant within the Black Wind Desert, Yuan Ming didn't take them to heart. His Moonlight Technique had reached the Fourth Level, his prowess in illusion techniques was outstanding, and with powerful magic artifacts like the Soul Destroying Sword, he could protect himself against any ordinary early-stage Core Formation cultivators he might encounter.

Yuan Ming put the map jade scroll back into the wooden box and picked up a white jade scroll.

This was a jade scroll obtained from Sha Hao, containing the experience of the Great Elder in practicing the Dream Butterfly Illusion Technique.

Although the Dream Butterfly Illusion Technique played a significant role in the battle just now, its power was still not enough and needed further refinement.

He activated his Divine Sense and immersed it into the jade scroll.

Boom!

Suddenly, a suction force emerged from the jade scroll, devouring his Divine Sense.

Yuan Ming was taken aback. He had encountered his Divine Sense being devoured when he first explored this jade scroll, but it hadn't happened again in the past five years. The reappearance of this phenomenon must have a reason.

His thoughts raced, and instead of withdrawing his Divine Sense, he allowed the jade scroll to devour it. Wisps of white light began to emanate from the jade scroll, which quickly brightened.

Yuan Ming suppressed the excitement in his heart and continued sending his Divine Sense into the jade scroll.

A few breaths later, the white jade scroll stopped absorbing Divine Sense, and the light on its surface dispersed completely.

Yuan Ming hurriedly checked, and indeed, the jade scroll was different from before, revealing many new contents left by the Great Elder.

The new content began with a detailed explanation of the reason for the jade scroll's anomaly, which was due to a secret technique used by the Great Elder to conceal it, requiring a strong enough Divine Sense to reveal it.

Yuan Ming suddenly realized that the reason the white jade scroll had only slightly devoured his Divine Sense before settling down was that his Divine Sense at that time wasn't strong enough. Now that his Moonlight Technique had broken through to the Fourth Level, he had finally met the requirements.

He carefully examined the new content, knowing that Xi Cangqiong must have hidden important information with great effort.

As he read on, Yuan Ming's expression gradually changed, showing an uncontrollable delight. He eventually burst into hearty laughter.

The newly appeared content was a Soul Cultivation Secret Technique called the "Soul Pill Technique." The specifics of the technique involved condensing Divine Soul Power to form a Soul Pill, similar to a Golden Core.

According to the secret technique, the Soul Pill could aid in overcoming the bottleneck of the Core Formation Stage, and the effect was tremendous, with a chance to improve Core Formation success by fifty percent.

Since entering the Cultivation World, all cultivators longed for Core Formation, not only because Core Formation Stage cultivators possess far stronger power than those at the Foundation Establishment Stage, but also because forming a Golden Core could significantly extend their life span.

Foundation Establishment cultivators have a maximum lifespan of just over two hundred years, but once a Golden Core is formed, the lifespan can more than double, reaching over five hundred years.

However, the step of Condensing Golden Core is exceedingly difficult, leaving countless cultivators sighing with aspiration.

If we say that advancing through the Foundation Establishment Stage requires assistance from Foundation Establishment Pills and other Spiritual Medicines, along with top-grade aptitude and firm determination, then advancing to Core Formation is a hundred times more difficult.

At this stage, the impact of aptitude and determination has become minimal. Even cultivators with Heavenly Spirit Root barely stand a chance at this threshold, and forming a Golden Core is almost entirely up to fate and opportunity.

Biluo Cave, with nearly a thousand disciples, only has a few Core Formation Stage cultivators. Even Central Plains Sects like Shengye Sect and Chang Chun Temple, which have ten times more disciples than Biluo Cave, still have very few Core Formation Stage cultivators.

Yuan Ming, with a Four Spirit Roots Physique, was among the cultivators with the poorest aptitude in the Cultivation World. He had barely managed to break through to Foundation Establishment thanks to a Foundation Establishment Pill, Foundation Establishment Spirit Incense, and the Stealing Heaven Tripod.

For Core Formation, he had practically no confidence at all.

Now, having obtained a Secret Technique that could increase his chance of Core Formation by fifty percent, how could he not be ecstatic!

The reason why forming a Soul Pill could assist in Core Formation is, on one hand, because a Soul Pill, condensed from Soul Power, and a Golden Core, condensed from Mana, share a fundamental connection.

The so-called Golden Core is not merely the concentration of Mana, but also the inward blending and refining of essence, energy, spirit, and intent, polishing into a pill that is radiant and round, impervious to influence and difficult to destroy—this is the Pill Intent.

If Mana can form a Golden Core and produce Pill Intent, so can Soul Power forming a Soul Pill. If one can form a Soul Pill and comprehend the Pill Intent, then forming a Golden Core with Mana becomes much easier.

According to the content of the jade scroll, after forming the Soul Pill, it then must be introduced into the Dantian to guide the Mana with the Pill Intent of the Soul Pill and condense it into a Fake Pill.

With this dual assistance, the chances of Core Formation increase greatly, and Xi Cangqiong succeeded in advancing to Core Formation Stage through this Soul Pill Technique.

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