Under the effect of the elixir, He Cong's face flushed red. He quickly sat cross-legged and silently recited the mantra.
With each breath, the spiritual energy transformed by the elixir, under He Cong's guidance, circulated within his body.
He Cong found that the spiritual energy produced by the elixir was even purer than the spiritual energy between heaven and earth.
As He Cong continued to refine it, the spiritual energy in his body was visibly increasing.
After an unknown amount of time, the medicinal power of the Condensing Qi Pill gradually dissipated.
He Cong also realized that the spiritual energy in his body had reached a critical point.
With the final surge of medicinal power transforming into spiritual energy, He Cong's cultivation successfully reached the seventh level.
He opened his eyes, and by this time, the sky had already brightened. He hadn't expected that it would take a whole night to completely refine the pill.
As he tried to stand up, he felt sticky all over.
Looking down, he discovered a layer of black grime on his body, which he didn't know when it had seeped out.
Seeing this, He Cong quickly put everything back into his storage bag, hung the bag around his waist, and then went to find a stream to wash away the impurities and grime on his body.
Afterward, He Cong took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and inspected internally.
The spiritual energy in his dantian was now much stronger than before. Controlling the spiritual energy within his body, He Cong lifted a finger, and a thick lightning bolt shot out from his fingertip.
As soon as the lightning bolt appeared, it shot towards a large tree in the distance.
With a loud bang, the place hit by the lightning bolt showed a three-inch-sized hole completely charred.
Obviously, with the improvement of his cultivation, the power of his thunder technique had also increased.
Satisfied, He Cong retracted his supernatural ability, a hint of joy on his face.
"This Condensing Qi Pill is too amazing. Without it, I think it would take at least two years of hard practice to reach the seventh level of the mantra. This one pill can save me two years of hard work!"
"There are still nine Condensing Qi Pills in the bottle. I wonder to what extent my cultivation will be improved if I take them all?"
"By then, even if I encounter other cultivators, even if I don't have a immobilization charm on me, I should still be able to put up a fight."
He Cong thought silently, deciding to stay here for now and take one Condensing Qi Pill every day, thinking about making other plans after raising his cultivation to a certain level.
However, He Cong didn't know that the Condensing Qi Pills were obtained by Fang Mu after completing many sect missions.
Even in the immortal sect, Condensing Qi Pills were extremely precious elixirs, with a very low success rate in refining.
Even Fang Mu himself was reluctant to eat them, intending to save them for breakthroughs in the future, but unexpectedly, they fell into He Cong's hands.
During the days when He Cong was refining the pills, he would occasionally see cultivators passing by.
He was not sure if these passing cultivators were looking for him or just happened to pass by. Whenever a cultivator approached, He Cong would hide in the bushes and resume cultivation after the person left.
One day, He Cong placed the last Condensing Qi Pill from the bottle into his mouth.
After absorbing the last trace of spiritual energy, he slowly opened his eyes.
After exhaling a breath of murky air, He Cong stood up, feeling the abundant spiritual energy in his body, but with a hint of helplessness on his face.
"I've finally reached the ninth level of Condensing Qi!" He Cong muttered to himself.
When he took the first Condensing Qi Pill, he directly advanced from the sixth to the seventh layer, but when he advanced from the seventh to the ninth layer, he consumed a full nine Condensing Qi Pills.
It seemed that each time he took the pill, there was a slight resistance, with the first pill having the strongest effect. With each subsequent pill, the amount of spiritual energy that could be absorbed was far less than the first.
Additionally, the amount of spiritual energy needed to cultivate each level doubled, which was another reason.
However, being able to successfully reach the ninth layer of Condensing Qi, he was already very satisfied.
According to the manual left by Wang Bo, it only recorded the mantra up to the ninth layer. Even if he absorbed more spiritual energy, without the follow-up mantra, he could not progress further.
"My cultivation has improved, and it's time to start practicing spells!"
Thinking like this, He Cong reached out and took out a book from his storage bag.
This book belonged to Fang Mu. He Cong had briefly flipped through it a few days ago and found that it contained three supernatural spells.
Due to being busy with cultivation, He Cong had not yet started practicing these three spells.
The three spells recorded in the book were "Heavenly Eye Technique," "Concealment Technique," and "Object Control Technique."
According to the descriptions, the first two spells could respectively probe the cultivation of immortals and conceal one's own cultivation.
These two spells were quite simple, and He Cong had only glanced at the key points and already mastered them.
The last Object Control Technique, like the Thunder Technique, was not easy to cultivate.
Fang Mu was able to fly on his sword, thanks to this Object Control Technique. As long as he mastered the basics, he could control the flying sword.
This Object Control Technique was essentially the ability to control objects from a distance.
At first, He Cong used fallen leaves as targets. After becoming proficient, he practiced on stones.
After practicing on stones for a few hours, he gradually mastered the tricks.
As his proficiency increased, he switched to larger, heavier rocks.
Half a month later, he was able to skillfully control the flying sword. With just a thought, even if the flying sword was several zhang away from him, he could control it from a distance and make it fly back into his hand.
As for flying on the sword, he had also tried it. With the Object Control Technique, although the flying sword could barely lift He Cong, it was difficult to maintain balance while moving.
This was ultimately because he was not yet proficient in the Object Control Technique.
"I am already very proficient in the Heavenly Eye Technique and the Concealment Technique, but I am still lacking in the Object Control Technique."
"In these past few years, there haven't been any other immortals coming to trouble me. Could it be that this matter has already faded away?"
"Regardless, I still need to be careful."
Thinking like this, He Cong leaped up, climbing to the top of a tall tree in a few ups and downs. He surveyed the surroundings from a high vantage point and then relaxed.
He had experienced a lot in these years, and his actions had become more cautious. Coupled with the improvement of his cultivation, his thinking had also become more agile.
Just as he was about to leave, his face changed slightly, and his gaze fell on a black spot floating in the distance.