Huang Cixi focused all her intent on her lower abdomen and there it was. She felt a pulsating orb of Qi. It was still brimming with some of the medicinal essence from the pill. Xiao Xuefeng was also seeing this scene. With her spiritual senses, this orb seemed indeed to be completely golden. After more than fourteen thousand years, the Life Boiling Cradle pill had finally be refined once more.
And what was even more incredible was the fact that Huang Cixi had survived. It was thanks to both her mind cultivation and the help from Xiao Xuefeng. The alchemist had helped calm down and stabilize her mind just before the attempt. Through the game of Go, she had even hypnotized her a little to reduce her inner demon and her stress. Of course Huang Cixi was still stressed to some measure. She knew that she was playing her life here.
Right now, Huang Cixi was officially a 3rd-grade Mortal as she had a Lower Dantian that was perfect. In fact, she had a Lower Dantian that was attributed to Emperor Nuwa alone, according to the legends. No one in the entire Hongchen Kingdom had ever been recorded with a Pure Golden Dantian. Maybe some other people had one, but this was so rare that none had been registered. It also could have been a way to pay tribute to Emperor Nuwa during the Seven Treaties Era and add to her legend. As, for example, no one had ever named their child Nuwa since then. However, the people had lost the ability to produce this pill during the Forsaken Dao Era, and some historians were not sure of the exact meaning of some archives. Even for people with lifespans of two thousand years, more than twenty thousand years was a lot of time.
Xiao Xuefeng herself didn't know what this Pure Golden Dantian entailed either. However, she saw that some medicinal essence was still within this golden orb that was fully formed in Huang Cixi's lower abdomen. Before announcing the success to the anxious Cao Yun, she talked to Huang Cixi.
"Follow my instructions and circulate this medicinal essence through the acupoints I tell you."
Huang Cixi heard her telepathic message and obeyed without any hesitation. There was no reason for Xiao Xuefeng to harm her after putting so much effort into healing her Lower Dantian. Moreover, she was a great alchemist, so she knew what she was doing. Even though the Pure Golden Dantian was formed, the ordeal was not over. After all, the remnant of medicinal essence alone was quite enough to annihilate the young girl.
Huang Cixi followed every instruction to the letter. Slowly, she felt the medicinal essence nourish both her vessels and her meridians. This was a burning sensation as she had never known before. In fact, she almost felt as though someone was pouring molten metal down her bloodstream. Cao Yun immediately saw that she was shaking all over. Apparently forming the Pure Golden Dantian was just the first step of the process. There hadn't been that many attempts to begin with. Then, some were not properly documented and others had died very early in their attempts. Thus, Xiao Xuefeng didn't know about any of this.
Gradually, all her body was submerged by this medicinal essence and the pain was unbearable. Huang Cixi could not even scream. Without Zhi the Water Will, she would have lost consciousness and died. Cao Yun didn't need any spiritual senses to see her sufferings.
"Guest Elder Xiao, can't you do anything for the pain?"
"If I give her a pill, the new medicinal essence could completely throw her off. If she loses control, she's dead."
From her spatial ring, Xiao Xuefeng took out a zither. It was a white guqin with seven strings. The body of the instrument almost looked like a bird and many stylized wings and feathers were engraved in the wood. Floating above the ground, Xiao Xuefeng crossed her legs and put the guqin on her lap. Expertly she began playing the instrument.
Her music broke the tensed atmosphere. Cao Yun felt that the melody resonated with his own mind and realized that his Hun character was reacting to it the most. Of course, he wasn't the only one affected. Huang Cixi's pain began to diminish a little bit. It was still extreme, but she had hope now. And she was right.
As Xiao Xuefeng kept plucking, pressing and lifting the strings of her instrument with supple and elegant movements, her music filled the room. It was incredibly peaceful, as if it came from another world. Cao Yun and Huang Cixi were now completely in a trance. It was easy to imagine what would happen on the battlefield. With several notes from her instrument, Mortal Warriors would be charmed by the hundreds if not the thousands. Obviously, neither Cao Yun nor Huang Cixi had resisted, but Xiao Xuefeng wasn't being aggressive either.
This music contained a faint trace of Qi. So it both calmed down and nourished the people around her. In fact, in battle, this was the kind of technique she would use to strengthen her allies, not to kill her enemies. For that purpose, she had other techniques. The guqin was one of the most renown musical instruments as it was said to have been invented during the Legendary Era and was favored by Emperor Nuwa during her reign. Xiao Xuefeng was a 4-star Heaven musician and with her exceptional spiritual senses, she could easily play the perfect music to induce different effects in the minds of the people around her.
Usually, she would even be able to direct her music in a single direction, but she had chosen to also send her notes to Cao Yun. As she was playing soothing tones, this could also prove useful for him and even help him in his cultivation.
Huang Cixi's pain became like a distant memory and her Shen got elevated to higher points. Thanks to this, she was able to control the medicinal essence with a serene mind. She was following the pathway instructed by Xiao Xuefeng feeling a burning sensation that was strangely painless. From Xiao Xuefeng's perspective, the process was incredible. Seeing the effects of the Life Boiling Cradle pill firsthand would prove extremely useful to better understand the Spirit rank pills. Later, she would write down every single detail for Director Ge Ling and Hua Fenfei. This text would even become an essential manual, 'The Crane Singing to the Storm'.
On the other hand, Cao Yun let go of all tension. He understood that Xiao Xuefeng was doing everything she could to help his servant. And she also seemed to be helping him as well. Cao Yun sat cross-legged on the floor and focused on his mind cultivation. His anxiety was mostly gone. If Xiao Xuefeng could not save Huang Cixi, there was nothing anyone else could have done. It was the first time since his departure from Yinmen City that he trusted someone wholeheartedly. Part of it was due to the music to be honest, but deep down, he knew that he could rely on the woman. In his sea of consciousness, he discovered that the surface of the tranquil ocean that spread in all directions was gently vibrating with the music itself. This scene amplified the sensation of plenitude and peace. He really had the impression of being in an heavenly realm, sitting above the surface of an infinite ocean with an otherworldly music.
His five characters were also rotating in harmony with the tones, as though they were dancing to this melody. His Hun character was almost formed. It had been several days since he hadn't been able to advance and finally perform the 108 repetitions. This Hun character was stimulating his real Hun, the ethereal soul. As such, Cao Yun was always questioning himself on his goals in life. He had been able to find out some things about himself but he still wasn't completely sure of the path he wanted to follow.
First of all, he obviously wanted to avenge his family. But this wasn't so simple anymore. He didn't just want to do it for him or his parents, not even just for his little sister. He had sworn to do it for all the Hongchen Kingdom. Demonic cultivators were a threat to all of mankind and he would get rid of them, to appease the memory of his deceased family, to appease his own pain, but also to protect and help all of mankind. Once he had finally made his peace with this, Cao Yun felt that the Hun character produced harmonics to go with the music.
Then, he had to think about what he wanted to do after this task would be over. Thanks to both his master, Cleansed Asura, and the progenitor of the Drop of Wrath, Axiu Qian, he had caught glimpses of a realm beyond everything he knew. Of course, those realms were talked about in the 'Universal law of Immortality', but they were glossed over today as no one had been able to enter them for more than fourteen thousand years. The mere fact that someone had been able to refine a 1-star Spirit pill, something no one had done either for fourteen thousand years, gave Cao Yun hope. No matter the difficulty, he would reach those realms. He would sail through the vast universe and discover new horizons.
However, he felt guilty at the idea of abandoning his homeworld. But now he thought that he had the solution. Just as he would get revenge not only for him but for the sake of mankind as well. He wouldn't just try to transcend the Spirit Warrior realm for his own sake. Thinking about Emperor Nuwa and the first rule of the Wubei Sect, Cao Yun thought he had finally reached the conclusion of all his interrogations. The path of cultivation he wanted to walk was both for his own satisfaction and curiosity but also to rise all of mankind. Many secrets had been lost during both the Great Sorrow Era when mankind was enslaved by the demons and the Forsaken Era when cultivation became harder and harder. If humanity stayed this way, sooner or later, mankind wouldn't even be able to reach the Spirit Warrior realm.
This was Cao Yun's final decision. While acting for his own satisfaction, he wouldn't disregard his own kind. He would climb higher than anyone before to discover the ultimate secrets of cultivation. And he would help mankind rise as well. He wouldn't be some kind of savior, no. However, he would do everything so that humans could live in a world in which they had the freedom to seek out their own goals. This day, Cao Yun decided to eliminate the threat of the demonic cultivators, of the demons, and even of the decreasing Dao. He wasn't sure of the means to do so but he was clear on his goal.
The task he had decided for himself was beyond what he would have imagined only a year ago. However, once his goal was clear and his mind at peace, the Hun character naturally circulated and took on a perfect physical form. It was now a splendid green jade sculpture. All five of the characters from the first layer of 'Sealing the Seven Demons in the Nine Peaks' had reached Perfection. The first layer, 'Discipline the Five Children', had reached Perfection. Naturally, his Qi circulated in all of his body and nourished both his mind and his flesh. His cultivation was soaring. Of course, he couldn't break through yet, but his foundation became even more firm and stable.
The five characters representing the Five Agents of the mind were all taking their natural place in his sea of consciousness and the Drop of Wrath became excessively docile. Yi the Earth Intent was a golden statue, Zhi the Water Will a precious onyx, Shen the Fire Spirit a cinnabar stone, Po the Metal Corporeal Soul an ivory engraving and Hun the Wood Ethereal Soul a jade sculpture. They all rose in the sky, stopping midway between the ocean and the four stars from 'Azure Dragon's Seven Piercing Stars'. They too seemed to be overjoyed and shone brighter than before. The Drop of Wrath stayed rather low, almost touching the surface of the ocean, but with each one of the five characters reflected in it.
When Cao Yun opened his eyes, his senses were now clearer and his perception could spread farther. He was now able to discern the subtle fluctuations of muscles and blood under Huang Cixi's skin. The young woman had almost completed the absorption of the Life Boiling Cradle pill. Xiao Xuefeng was stupefied by what she had witnessed. Focused on Huang Cixi to help her, she couldn't divert too much of her mind on Cao Yun. But she had sensed that he had entered his own sea of consciousness and that he had gained a lot. She really would have to talk to him about his mind cultivation.
On the other hand, Huang Cixi had refined her vessels, then her meridians, crossing over to 6th-grade Mortal. But this still wasn't over. The medicinal essence transformed slowly into Qi and filled up her Pure Golden Dantian, bringing her to 7th-grade Mortal. And now, she was unconsciously circulating her Qi through all her body. Her meridians that were already nearly perfect got rid of all blockage and fused together in an intricate network. She had reached the 8th-grade Mortal. Finally, her breakthroughs slowed down.
Since Huang Cixi had first ingested the pill, thirty-five hours had gone by. Even Cao Yun had not noticed at all as both he and Huang Cixi were under the influence of Xiao Xuefeng's music. However, Xiao Xuefeng who had used all of her spiritual senses during this entire time was exhausted. Even with her 7th-grade Spirit Warrior cultivation, this had been a trial for her. And the result exceeded everything she ever thought possible. A 1-star Spirit pill was truly incredible. No wonder Emperor Nuwa was so powerful. She finally saw firsthand what it was that mankind had lost during the Forsaken Dao Era. However, she also knew that they had a chance to get it back and it fired her up.
With everything she had learned these past hours, Xiao Xuefeng was certain that Hua Fenfei could derive more knowledge from this. Maybe, they were going to open another era for alchemy. Refining and absorbing this pill had been beyond tiring. But it had been an extraordinary success.
For the time being, Cao Yun and Huang Cixi needed to get some rest. Later, she would have to talk to both of them for very different reasons. For now, Xiao Xuefeng let them get some rest and some sleep. Leaving them in this room, she went to immediately write down all her observations.