The First Immortal of Destiny

In thirteen years, Master Zhao Lingyin and Wu Gong, along with other alchemists from the Hundred Arts Hall’s Herb Hall, researched and deciphered over a hundred valuable elixir recipes from the "Summary of Enlightenment Pill Recipe," including thirty Grade V recipes and over seventy recipes below Grade V.

The yet-unresearched recipes posed similar challenges to those encountered by Shen Mo and Zhao Lingyin during their collaborative research: either the alchemy techniques were bizarre, substitute materials were impossible to find, or the conditions for successful pill formation were exceptionally harsh...

As the elixir recipes recorded in the "Summary of Enlightenment Pill Recipe" were gradually deciphered, the overall level of the Red Flame Sect’s alchemists saw a certain degree of improvement.

However, the vast majority of alchemists found their limits around Grade V or VI;

Such as Wu Gong, a once-renowned veteran alchemist of the Alchemy Zone, who years ago seized the great opportunity of "Ascension to the Immortal Realm," formed a Golden Core, and entered the ranks of Grade V alchemists; yet in terms of talent, he clearly falls short compared to his disciple Zhao Lingyin. In recent years, his improvement in alchemy has begun showing signs of stagnation, possibly stalling at Grade VI!

Contrarily, a hundred years ago, "Liu Yuan," whose achievements in alchemy were only second to Zhao Lingyin in the Alchemy Zone, was already a Grade III alchemist at the time Shen Mo first ventured into alchemy. As years passed, he too has reached Grade V, gaining momentum with rapid progress.

Yet Liu Yuan, with poor cultivation talent, perhaps has dedicated too much effort to alchemy, despite his substantial wealth and surpassing many Spirit Sea Realm elders in the sect. Despite such opportunities as "Ascension to the Immortal Realm," he remains merely at the late-stage Qi Gathering Realm, with slim hopes of opening the Spirit Sea, let alone forming a Golden Core!

He is only a few years older than Shen Mo, yet already shows graying hair and a slightly hunched, middle-aged appearance. He might not have reached Grade VI before succumbing to life’s end.

For talented "low-class cultivators" like Liu Yuan to perish in this manner is undeniably a great pity...

For this reason, Shen Mo specifically instructed the Deacon Hall, urging elders and all deacons to pay attention to such individuals, increase the monthly stipend for talented people like them, and relax conditions for using sect merits to exchange for high-grade elixirs, heavenly materials, earth treasures, and high-grade cultivation methods, striving to provide them with better conditions to improve cultivation and extend their lifespan!

Meanwhile, Shen Mo also specially refined a batch of "Enlightenment Pills," which have been delivered to the Evil Punishing Hall and Enforcement Hall for arrangement.

The recipe for the "Enlightenment Pill" was derived from an ancient beast bone that recorded numerous ancient recipes; and this beast bone was excavated by Shen Mo, Lady Scarlet, and others from an ancient cultivator’s tomb during their exploration of the ancient battlefield of immortals and demons.

Total thirty-plus complete recipes and more than fifty fragmented recipes were compiled, with the "Enlightenment Pill" being the most valuable elixir among them!

After a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator consumes the "Enlightenment Pill," the pill directly enters the Dantian without dissolving, transforming into a kind of "fake Core."

Subsequently, the "fake Core" can be nurtured by the True Yuan of the Nascent Soul cultivator, starting to change color gradually from a jade-like hue to purple.

This unique "nurturing pill" process lasts three to five years, during which the person nurturing the pill will not experience any growth in cultivation; once the elixir completely changes to purple, it gains the miraculous effect of assisting enlightenment, and can be extracted for others to consume...

Though not as effective as the Enlightenment Spiritual Tea from the Ancient Vine Sect, it is nevertheless remarkable for cultivators below the Nascent Soul Realm!

Upon receiving the Enlightenment Pills, the Evil Punishing Hall and Enforcement Hall quickly set into motion, capturing evil cultivators and guilty Nascent Soul Realm individuals at Yuquan Mountain, the Corpse Mountain Range, and other places to nurture the "Enlightenment Pill," aiding talented sect members in opening the Spirit Sea and forming a Golden Core!

Although such actions may render these cultivators’ future paths obscure, at least they can live an additional three to five hundred years continuing to contribute to sect development.

As for this "Enlightenment Pill" recipe, apart from Zhao Lingyin, Shen Mo did not disclose it to others, including sect alchemists like Wu Gong... Ultimately, the "nurturing pill" process requires plundering others’ cultivation—a dubious path of deviancy, which, if circulated, could cause calamity!

...

Beyond developments in alchemy, Shen Mo and Zhao Lingyin’s cultivation have equally experienced varying degrees of growth!

Especially Zhao Lingyin, after more than a decade of "dedicated cultivation," with Shen Mo, a Divine Bridge Great Cultivator, serving as a "human cauldron" and co-cultivating "The Sutra of Cloudy and Rainy from Wushan," along with a supply of elixirs and spiritual items far exceeding ordinary Nascent Soul Realm offerings, she smoothly progressed to late-stage Nascent Soul.

Seemingly slightly less accomplished compared to Chen Mengze, Zhao Lingyin’s growth encompasses not only cultivation level but also profound alchemical accomplishments, marking rapid progress for her!

Shen Mo is now only a step away from the peak of the Divine Bridge Realm.

Yet for two years now, while cultivating, it feels as though he has hit an invisible barrier, rendering growth in cultivation exceptionally slow.

Neither "Mixed Yuan Qi Technique," which he has cultivated and extrapolated numerous times, nor his co-cultivation of "The Sutra of Cloudy and Rainy from Wushan" with Zhao Lingyin; nor the consumption of Grade VII elixirs refined in recent years could alter this situation... Having encountered similar circumstances before, he knew he was trapped in a bottleneck again!

It’s akin to a full water jar overflowing regardless of added water—he must shatter this old jar and replace it with a larger one to restore normalcy.

Therefore, for the past two years, besides assisting Zhao Lingyin in cultivation, Shen Mo has focused more on other aspects to boost his combat strength!

By cultivating the "South Hua Treasure Body Traversing Difficulty Immortal Scripture," he absorbs mixed breath of Primal Spirit filled with various Demonic Qi and Turbid Qi, such as Gold Iron Demonic Qi, herbal Qi, and evil Qi of stones and earth from nature’s spiritual energy, deriving quintessence from spiritual materials like metal, wood, jade, and rock to strengthen his vital organs, while consequently enhancing physical vitality;

Clear Spirit Qi which can’t augment cultivation is not wasted by Shen Mo either, he extracts it entirely, ready for use upon breaking the bottleneck for cultivation purposes!

Through "Performance Martial Arts" Destiny, he consumes an immense amount of Spirit Stones to elevate various skills and martial arts, then employs the Martial Performance body to cultivate, continually expanding proficiency in various cultivation methods.

Numerous magic treasures on him, including the Soul Refining Flag, are not neglected...

Shen Mo frequently visits Five Dragon Mountain, collecting demons and monsters from the Corpse Mountain Range and surrounding mountains, either refining them into Soul Generals or using them as blood food for the Demon Soul General.

Through his relentless efforts, the number of Soul Generals within the flag has finally been restored to the size prior to the Mingpeng’s slaughter, and the overall strength of the Demon Soul General has also increased significantly, producing more Class IV and V Demon Soul Generals!

Various magic treasures like the Taiyi Sword, the Demon Slaying Sword, the Big Dipper Sword, the Green Cloud Umbrella, the Nine-Extreme Crystal Sand Energy, the Immortal Binding Rope, the Mountain Pearl, and others, having been augmented with rare mineral spiritual materials over centuries by Shen Mo, have mostly reached a point where they can’t be reforged, hence nurtured continuously with the Spiritual Wisdom Skill.

Except for the Taiyi Sword which has long been elevated to a spiritual treasure, other magic artifacts are also gradually becoming more mystical, continually advancing toward the spiritual treasure level!