Within the secret chamber in Qingfeng Town.
Lin Tianming sat cross-legged on a cushion, motionless.
After expending a day's time to refine a Lingshen Pill, he had elevated his cultivation to the peak of the Fifth Level.
He had already attempted to breakthrough the realm on three occasions, all of which had been unsuccessful.
At this moment, his Seven Sea Dantian had expanded to the summit of the Fifth Level Qi Practice, just a step away from the threshold.
His first duel had almost cost him his life, and if not for his substantial resources and the fact that the Red Robe Cultivator was injured, wielding only about thirty percent of his full strength, his luck might have been less favorable.
Lin Tianming's gaze was resolute, his yearning for strength growing ever stronger, he vowed to achieve a breakthrough today.
He took out another Lingshen Pill and forcefully shoved it into his mouth.
Circulating his cultivation technique, he frenziedly refined the medicinal power contained within the Lingshen Pill.
Controlling the volatile spiritual power of the Lingshen Pill, he persistently assailed his Qi Sea Dantian over and over.
After numerous attempts, he finally succeeded on the sixth onslaught, breaking through.
The Sea of Qi within his Dantian expanded, his spiritual power became several times more abundant than before. Lin Tianming was overjoyed as, after two days and refining two Lingshen Pills, he had finally secured his breakthrough.
Feeling the manifold increase in his spiritual power and cultivation, should he duel with the man in the Red Robe again, he wouldn't be as badly embarrassed.
Having just made a breakthrough, he still needed to consolidate it thoroughly.
Lin Tianming continued his closed-door cultivation to solidify his newfound realm.
Three days later, his realm had been firmly established.
In the secret chamber, Lin Tianming had three Spirit Swords and two giant hammers laid out before him, belonging to the Jin surname cultivator and the man in the Red Robe respectively.
Throughout his seclusion, as he was recovering from his injuries and breaking through, he had not had the time to refine these two Spiritual Artifacts.
Now at last he could refine them, enriching his combat arsenal for future engagements with cultivators, potentially increasing his chances of victory.
He picked up the three Spirit Swords and carefully contemplated them.
Each of the three Spirit Swords was a First Order Medium Grade Spiritual Instrument; when stacked together, their power could compare to a First Order Superior Grade Spiritual Instrument—a truly remarkable set of Spiritual Instruments. However, it was a pity that he did not possess a Sword Array cultivation technique to bring out their maximum potential.
He took the hammers, which also formed a set of Spiritual Instruments, each weighing a thousand jin, suitable for those who practiced Body Cultivation and possessing extraordinary power.
Both sets of Spiritual Instruments were not ideally suited for him, but since he had never possessed a First Order Medium Grade Spiritual Instrument, he planned to refine one of the Spirit Swords. Even though he wouldn't be able to unleash its full potential, it still would be far stronger than his inferior-grade Green Bamboo Sword.
Having said that, he took out a Spirit Sword and began the refinement process after wiping clean the Divine Sense from its surface.
Three days quietly passed, and Lin Tianming successfully refined a Spirit Sword and decided to give it a name.
The sword, which he acquired while defending Qingfeng Town, shall be named Qingfeng Sword.
The two giant hammer Spiritual Instruments could only be exchanged for Merit Points at an opportunity, or sold in the market for Spirit Stones.
Ten days later, Lin Tianming emerged from seclusion.
His cultivation was stable at the Sixth Level of Qi Refining; his complexion was rosy, and his aura extremely steady.
After spending more than a month recovering from injuries and breaking through, it was time to go out and survey the surroundings of Qingfeng Town.
Since he had taken on the task of defending the town, he needed to do it properly and thoroughly.
As always, he flew out of the town, making a hundred-mile circuit around Qingfeng Town.
In half an hour, he arrived at the small hill where he dueled the Red Robe Cultivator.
The traces from the previous duel were gradually being concealed by the newly grown trees and underbrush, and without meticulous examination, it would be hard to detect that a battle had occurred here.
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Continuing to fly in circles forward, he encountered no Demonic Beasts, only a few unlucky wild animals which he easily killed and brought back to Qingfeng Town for the mortals to eat.
Ordinarily, patrolling the area would take half a day, but now, with his cultivation like a rising tide and his Spiritual Power more profound, his speed had increased significantly.
In just half a day, Lin Tianming returned to the secret room inside the attic.
With some rare leisure time, he took out the Alchemy Experience he had obtained from a cultivator surnamed Jin.
A jade tube, interlaced with patterns of green and ink, appeared in Lin Tianming's hand.
He deployed his Divine Sense to investigate the Alchemy Experience recorded inside the jade tube.
This jade tube was left by True Person Yuhua, who, during his lifetime, was a Mid Stage Nascent Soul cultivator and a Third Order Low-grade Alchemist from Jingzhou. He had perished over three thousand years ago.
True Person Yuhua was one of the many cultivators who came to Qingzhou in search of treasures and experience.
In the tens of thousands of years prior, a large number of Loose Cultivators from the other seven provinces flocked to Qingzhou in search of treasures and experience; those from families and sects were also not in the minority.
Qingzhou, with its abundant natural treasures, is near the Demon Race territory, and the struggle between the human and demon races, especially those of Fourth Order and below, has never ceased.
Risk and opportunity coexist. A great number of cultivators have fallen in Qingzhou, while many have also acquired vast resources and soared to great heights.
Qingzhou never lacks opportunities, nor does it lack the loss of lives.
True Person Yuhua became one of the many victims of Qingzhou's opportunities.
The jade tube recorded True Person Yuhua's understanding of Alchemy and also contained more than a dozen Pill Formulas, all of which were commonly used – with even several Third Order Elixir Recipes included.
Lingshen Pill, Huiyuan Pill, Consolidating Essence Pill, Huadu Pill – these commonly used consumable elixirs could be refined into Fourth Order Elixirs given sufficiently aged medicinal ingredients, even suitable for Nascent Soul True Monarchs to consume.
As for the Spiritual Medicines needed by the Divinity Transformation Stage old monsters, the peak powers of the human realm, they could not be created from these ordinary Spiritual Medicine materials.
Among the experiences were four Pill Formulas that Lin Tianming had not previously collected.
Nurturing Spirit Pill, a First Order Superior Grade elixir used by Spirit Beasts for cultivation, similar in effect to the Lingshen Pill used by the Human Race but much more potent, suitable only for the bodies of Demonic Beasts.
Some of the Spiritual Medicine materials used in refining the Nurturing Spirit Pill overlap with those used for the Lingshen Pill, but the main ingredient is far more precious.
If he had the opportunity to subdue a Demonic Beast, this pill would come in handy.
Body Strengthening Pill, a First Order Superior Grade elixir that strengthens a cultivator's vitality and alleviates pain – one of the elixirs used by Body Cultivators to aid their Body Refinement practice, and quite expensive.
Strong Spirit Pill, a First Order Superior Grade elixir that can slowly increase one's Divine Sense, extremely precious; a single Strong Spirit Pill is worth as much as a Pozhang Pill.
Although the effect on increasing Divine Sense is not very strong, it is still remarkably advantageous, and the effects can be significant with substantial consumption.
However, the materials required for refinement are exceedingly precious, and ordinary cultivators don't have enough resources to support such an extravagant consumption.
Minor Foundation Building Pill, a Second Order Low-grade elixir, that can increase a cultivator's likelihood of achieving Foundation Establishment by twenty percent, is a simplified version of the Foundation Establishment Pill; its efficacy is only a small fraction of the latter's, but nonetheless, it's remarkably advantageous.
Lin Tianming was extremely excited; Foundation Establishment Pills are extremely difficult to obtain. Every pill used by the family had to be accumulated through decades of wealth, obtained at great risk.
This was why there were only two Foundation Establishment Cultivators in the Lin Family; there were several at the Great Perfection of Qi Refining Stage, but they were all stuck at the Great Perfection Realm, unable to progress an inch.
The Lin Family's foundation was too weak, the resources far from sufficient to support so many family members.
If he could refine Minor Foundation Building Pills, those elders of the Lin Family stuck at the Great Perfection of Qi Refining Stage would have a good chance of entering the Foundation Establishment Stage.
The Foundation Establishment Pill is precious because the main ingredient, White Jade Grass, is extremely rare and difficult to cultivate or transplant.
The Minor Foundation Building Pill uses Hidden Spirit Grass as the main ingredient instead of White Jade Grass. Though also very valuable, it's far less rare than White Jade Grass.
Packing away the jade tube, Lin Tianming couldn't calm down for a long time.
Just based on the value of this Minor Foundation Building Pill Formula alone, it is worth as much as a single Foundation Establishment Pill.
Minor Foundation Building Pills could greatly relieve the family's financial pressure, allowing those elders at the Great Perfection of Qi Refining Stage to avoid dying in the Qi Refinement Realm.
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