After closing the door, Ji Yuan’s state of mind immediately calmed down, returning to a state of placidity.
This state of mind is often most desired by cultivators, for which they spare no expense or even precious natural treasures.
If any cultivator with at least the Third Realm cultivation were to see Ji Yuan’s current state, they would undoubtedly exclaim, “A born Dao seed.”
He strode to a corner of the room and summoned his white jade flying sword from his Violet Mansion in his brow. From it, he took out a bronze alchemy furnace and placed it on a simple mud stove.
This bronze alchemy furnace was as large as a watermelon. The furnace body was ancient and unadorned, with no carvings or embellishments. Its surface appeared somewhat dull, and even under the firelight, it did not refract a single gleam.
It looked very ordinary, and even if thrown into the market, few would buy it. In reality, it was one of the legacies left by the ancestor of the Xuan Tian Temple, which Ji Yuan had found among the clutter in the corner of the kitchen.
At this moment, using the technique of "Sleeve Universe," he took a hexagonal iron disk from his sleeve and placed it at the base of the mud stove. Then, he took out a spiritual stone with a quarter of its spiritual energy consumed and placed it in the center of the iron disk.
After completing all this, Ji Yuan silently recited a mantra, using a bit of his vital energy as a guide, injecting it into the iron disk at the base of the mud stove.
Instantly, a ball of crimson flame rose from the edges of the iron disk, using the spiritual energy from the spirit stone as fuel. This palm-sized flame could release an unusually high temperature.
While waiting for the alchemy furnace to preheat, Ji Yuan leisurely took out the medicinal herbs needed for alchemy from the two large bundles purchased from Ming Xin Xuan, arranging them one by one in order on the low table next to the mud stove.
A moment later, he slowly sat down in front of the alchemy furnace, his gaze falling on the round bead in his palm, which at that moment contained abundant water essence.
This should have been the proof of enlightenment for the catfish spirit, somewhat similar to a demon core cultivated by great demons. However, compared to the latter, this round bead was condensed from incense and wish power.
Originally, Ji Yuan thought it was just a spiritual item, but only after obtaining it could he truly discern its profound mystery.
If his guess was correct, more than half of the incense and wish power that the catfish spirit had accumulated over a hundred years had been used to condense this round bead. The remaining small portion was used to shape its golden body.
In other words, the fragment of the golden body obtained by Chief Constable Liu Hongsheng after smashing the idol was merely a small part of a hundred years of incense and wish power.
As for why the demon did this, Ji Yuan guessed that it wanted to completely break free from the manipulator behind the scenes on some future day.
It was a pity that in the end, to save its own life, the catfish spirit had to abandon this bead, which was condensed from most of its incense and wish power and contained a hundred years of dense water essence.
And now, all of this naturally benefited Ji Yuan.
He set aside the bead condensed from incense and wish power, which contained dense water essence, and took out the precious medicinal herbs one by one, gradually throwing them into the bronze alchemy furnace before him.
Under the high temperature in the furnace, these medicinal herbs could only last for a few breaths before being burned into powder. Large amounts of impurities turned into ash and fell to the bottom of the alchemy furnace, leaving only the powder containing pure medicinal efficacy.
These medicinal powders, suspended in the furnace and roasted for a long time, eventually turned into clumps of paste.
Seeing this, Ji Yuan immediately formed hand seals, and the vital energy within him poured out, merging into the alchemy furnace before him, causing the paste of medicinal herbs to intermingle in an orderly manner according to his will.
This process lasted for half an hour, at the cost of depleting all the vital energy within him. He finally managed to fuse all the medicinal pastes into a precise ratio, which then transformed into eight mud pills the size of a fingernail.
The pills were not yet refined; they only had a rough shape, and their medicinal properties had not yet been fully stimulated and fused.
Under normal circumstances, Ji Yuan would have lowered the furnace lid, sealed the alchemy furnace completely, and continuously refined the medicinal properties within the pills with both vigorous and gentle fires, allowing them to fully take shape.
However, at this moment, he picked up the round bead beside him, threw it directly into the alchemy furnace, and then placed the lid on, casting several special incantations to completely seal the furnace.
“Hope it succeeds…”
Ji Yuan muttered, lacking much confidence in refining alchemy at this moment.
Sighing, he took out a porcelain bottle from his sleeve, poured out a pill, and swallowed it, then began to meditate and refine the medicinal properties, recovering his depleted vital energy.
He had done everything he could. The rest was to carefully control the vigorous and gentle fires and use painstaking effort to fully stimulate and fuse the medicinal properties in the furnace.
However, this step did not require much mental effort. It was only necessary to ensure that someone was present near the alchemy furnace and to change the incantations and firepower at critical moments.
While Ji Yuan was refining alchemy, Qian Yu City was already in turmoil.
What happened last night spread among the common people with extraordinary speed, and even the content had completely changed.
For example, the heart-gouging demon, which originally only resulted in a dozen casualties, had become dozens or even hundreds of people having their hearts and livers gouged out overnight, with many of them being the elderly and children.
The demonic beings who attacked multiple gangs were also rumored to be killing people on the streets, acting like demons.
In just one morning, people discussing the matter could be seen everywhere in the county town. Many commoners described it vividly, as if they had witnessed the bloody and terrifying scenes firsthand last night.
Constables shuttled through the county town, desperately searching for any clues from last night’s events. Several chief constables even personally visited the headquarters of the attacked gangs.
Throughout Qian Yu City, all soldiers, except for those guarding the four city gates, were mobilized. They left their barracks and guarded the key points within the city.
As noon approached, Zhao Yuansong arrived at the Daoist temple with his junior brothers and sisters. This gentle and elegant senior disciple of the outer sect of the Nine Profound Sect had a face full of worry, and a hint of unease flickered in his eyes from time to time.
Although he had learned that Ji Yuan was in seclusion refining alchemy and could not see guests for a chat, he did not leave directly. Instead, he went to the main hall of the temple where the divine statues were enshrined, sat on a meditation cushion, and closed his eyes in meditation.
Several hours later, Ji Yuan gazed solemnly at the alchemy furnace before him. His hands rapidly formed incantations, and the vital energy he had just recovered surged out like a stream.
Finally, he concluded his actions, which had lasted for the time it takes to burn an incense stick, with a complex Dharma seal.
Taking a deep breath, the young Daoist flicked his finger, and the lid of the alchemy furnace immediately opened and suspended in the air.
In an instant, a clear fragrance permeated the air, filling the entire room. Just smelling it made him feel all his fatigue vanish, and his tired spirit become full of energy.
Although he had not yet seen the contents of the alchemy furnace, Ji Yuan was already greatly relieved. He knew that this batch of pills had been successfully refined.
He reached out, and the round bead in the alchemy furnace flew into his palm. After several hours of refinement, the incense and wish power and the dense water essence on it had not decreased much.
Ji Yuan nodded slightly, placed the round bead aside, and then began to examine the scene in the alchemy furnace.
In the red-glowing alchemy furnace, eight round, water-blue pills were slowly rotating in the air, emitting a clear fragrance. Their smooth surfaces also flowed with a layer of radiance.
After a brief observation, Ji Yuan put seven pills into a jade box, keeping one in his palm.
“Let’s call you… Water God Pill.”
He whispered to himself, an unconcealable joy in his eyes.
He had not yet consumed this pill, but he could already feel the medicinal efficacy within, which contained a portion of incense and wish power and pure water essence.
Such a pill would be of extraordinary benefit to water-element demons, spiritual beasts, and even water gods in the world, let alone cultivators who excelled in water magic.
And Ji Yuan's physique happened to be naturally water-aligned. Although he had not yet cultivated water-element magic power, if he took this pill, he would still gain unexpected benefits.
Even increasing his cultivation was secondary. The most crucial aspect was that it could nourish his physique, making it more attuned to the water element, and thus smoother in his cultivation.
Without any hesitation, Ji Yuan immediately swallowed the Water God Pill in his hand and closed his eyes, forming a Dharma seal.
As soon as the freshly refined Water God Pill entered his stomach, it continuously released pure medicinal efficacy, filling his limbs and bones.
A feeling of being enveloped by water arose, not only in his physical body but also in his soul.
Ji Yuan was almost lost, allowing himself to fall into this wonderful sensation. Fortunately, he still maintained a sliver of clarity and, at this moment, activated the core cultivation technique of the Xuan Tian Dao Sutra.
At this moment, the pure medicinal efficacy thickened his vital energy, the dense water essence merged into this body, making it more attuned to the water element, and the incense and wish power transformed into a warm current that flowed into his soul.
Ji Yuan’s soul was like parched sand, thirstily absorbing the incense and wish power to strengthen its fundamental soul light.
His cultivation quietly advanced a minor realm as a matter of course, and his foundation, in a very short period, became several times more stable and solid than that of cultivators who had practiced for years.
It was difficult to imagine that a realm that originally required constant reading of Daoist scriptures to nourish the soul and strengthen the soul light could be achieved with almost no side effects through the effect of a single pill.
It was only when the moon hung high in the sky that Ji Yuan emerged from his cultivation state, not only feeling refreshed but also having silently advanced a minor realm in his cultivation.
And the pill he had swallowed was only half-digested. The other half remained in his body, continuously releasing pure medicinal efficacy, slowly nourishing his physical body and soul.
He estimated that it would take him another day or two to completely refine this pill. The further it progressed, the purer the medicinal efficacy contained within the pill would become, and the slower the refining speed would be.
However, although he had anticipated this, after examining his current state, Ji Yuan could not help but click his tongue in amazement, marveling at the potency of the Water God Pill and the effect of the incense and wish power and water essence contained in the round bead.
Half an hour later, Ji Yuan rose with satisfaction. The flame under the alchemy furnace had been extinguished by him, but the remaining medicinal herbs and the alchemy furnace were not put away into his white jade flying sword.
For the next few days, he would continue to refine more batches of pills while refining the Water God Pill.
“Improving cultivation is indeed a good thing, but I cannot let it be exposed to others like this.”
Sensing the abundant vital energy within his body and his current realm, Ji Yuan muttered to himself, and then his hands rapidly formed complex incantations.
When the last incantation was cast, his aura, which was originally at the late stage of the Enlightenment Realm, immediately dropped by a minor realm, making it impossible for outsiders to perceive anything more than his cultivation at the middle stage of Enlightenment, no matter how hard they tried.
This was a minor illusion technique from the Xuan Tian Dao Sutra, which could conceal one's true cultivation and create a false impression for outsiders.
However, when facing cultivators who were one or two major realms higher than himself, this illusion technique would lose its effect. But once he cultivated magic power himself, he could slightly compensate for this shortcoming.
After making some minor adjustments, Ji Yuan planned to go out for some food. However, as soon as he reached the door, he heard that quite a few people had already gathered in the courtyard outside.
Feeling puzzled, he immediately opened the door before him and saw Xu Qiqi and Jiang He standing in the courtyard, confronting a group of people, who were his senior brothers.