Clear Heart Pill Method, Mortal Realm Mid-stage!

Several days later, at the edge of the Tagor Desert.

A towering city stood at the end of the yellow sands, its lofty walls gleaming with a metallic sheen beneath the blazing sun. In the giant plaza at the city's center, a dozen or so enormous Thick-winged Birds were quietly roosting.

These gentle giant birds had full, powerful wings. Though they were not magical beasts, they were easy to tame, making them the Jama Empire's unique form of aerial transport.

"Three hundred Gold Coins per person, one thousand for a private cabin," the transport company's steward introduced, rubbing his hands. "Our Thick-winged Birds can travel a thousand li in a day, and we guarantee a smooth, safe trip."

Lu Yu paid the fee readily and brought Little Fairy Doctor and the others into the specially built cabin on the bird's back. With a sharp whistle from the beast tamer, the giant bird spread wings fully ten zhang wide, whipping up a whirlwind across the plaza.

"Where are our honored guests headed?" the beast tamer asked respectfully.

"Blackrock City," Lu Yu said calmly, gazing into the distance.

Since he was going to participate in the Alchemist Assessment, he naturally had to choose a large city that had an Alchemist Guild, and Blackrock City fit the requirement perfectly.

For one thing, the city's location overlapped with their route back. For another, if he remembered correctly, Blackrock City also hid an old fellow named Gute, who had rare Ice Spirit Cold Spring in his possession...

"I can take this chance to trade it into my hands..." Lu Yu calculated inwardly.

Before long, at the beast tamer's command, the Thick-winged Bird spread its enormous wings and carried everyone into the air.

At this moment, inside the cabin.

Lu Yu took out a black Jade Slip. Recorded inside it was the "Clear Heart Pill Method" he had previously obtained through the Endless Fire Domain simulation.

Because he had been busy cultivating movement techniques before, he had never had the chance to study it carefully. Now was the perfect time to take a proper look.

He pressed the Jade Slip lightly to his brow, and his Soul power slowly seeped into it. A moment later, Lu Yu's eyes suddenly flew open, sharp light blazing in them. "This is actually an Earth-tier high-grade soul secret art?"

"I thought it was only Xuan-tier before. Looking at it now, I still underestimated the Endless Fire Domain's foundation."

Lu Yu could hardly suppress the excitement in his heart as he murmured to himself inwardly. According to the Jade Slip, this "Clear Heart Pill Method" was not only ranked God-tier high-grade, it was also the preliminary cultivation method for the Supreme Soul Secret Tome, "Three Souls Profound Secret Tome."

If he could cultivate this "Clear Heart Pill Method" to the stage of great completion, then switching to the complete "Three Souls Profound Secret Tome" would come naturally. After all, entry into a Heaven Tier soul cultivation method was extremely demanding. Without a preliminary method to lay the foundation, even ordinary people who obtained the secret manual would find it hard to comprehend its profundities.

Lu Yu's fingertips lightly stroked the Jade Slip as he calculated silently. "No wonder this 'Clear Heart Pill Method' was listed as Earth-tier high-grade. So it was paving the way for a Heaven Tier cultivation method..."

Immediately, he hesitated no longer. Unable to wait, he sat down cross-legged and gently pressed the Jade Slip against the spot between his brows. As his Soul power slowly seeped in, a vast torrent of information instantly poured into his mind.

"This is..."

Lu Yu felt the scene before his eyes change abruptly, and a vast starry vista appeared in his mind. Tens of thousands of stars revolved along profound trajectories, each one giving off a unique soul fluctuation.

What was even more wondrous was that there seemed to be some kind of resonance between these stars. When his Soul power touched one of them, the entire star chart would produce a subtle vibration in response.

"So that's it..." Lu Yu suddenly understood. "These stellar trajectories are precisely the circulation method for Soul Perception!"

He immediately followed the star chart's guidance and carefully mobilized his Soul power. At first, it was only a thin trickle. Gradually, his Soul power began to surge like rivers and seas. As his cultivation deepened, his perception ability increased at an astonishing speed—

Outside the cabin, every change in the airflow caused by each beat of the Thick-winged Bird's wings;

Several zhang away, Little Fairy Doctor's even breathing rhythm;

And even farther away, the low conversations of other passengers...

Suddenly, Lu Yu's entire body shook violently. The Soul power that had lain dormant in his body for so long surged without end like boiling magma—this was the sign that his soul realm was about to break through!

As a transmigrator, he already possessed a soul strength far beyond ordinary people, and he had long remained at the Mortal Realm early-stage peak. Now that the "Clear Heart Pill Method" had just reached the threshold of entry, his Soul Perception surged instantly, directly breaking through the bottleneck that had troubled him for so long!

"Boom—"

An invisible soul fluctuation exploded outward with Lu Yu at its center, and even the air inside the cabin froze for an instant.

He only felt as if some barrier in his mind had been completely shattered. His once-vague perception was now clear down to the finest detail, and his Soul power had increased by several times compared to before!

"So this is the Soul power of the Mortal Realm mid-stage..."

Lu Yu slowly let out a breath of turbid air, a sharp glint flashing through his eyes. He was surprised to discover that not only had the total amount of his Soul power doubled, but the precision of his control had also risen by several levels.

"The improvement is all-around..."

"With my current ability, I'm afraid the difficulty of refining any pill below the fifth grade would be greatly reduced..."

With a thought, he immediately took several medicinal ingredients out of his Storage Ring: hundred-year-old Wind Spirit Grass, a Third-order Wind Attribute Magical Core, and Jade Ganoderma. Then he took out a Red Copper Medicine Cauldron as well.

"I'll test it with a Third-grade Wind Hành Pill first..."

After that, he took a deep breath and gathered his mind. The Earth Core Flame in his palm suddenly leaped up, and with practiced motions, he tossed the Wind Spirit Grass into the medicine cauldron, controlling the fire to perfection.

The Wind Spirit Grass inside the medicine cauldron gradually melted. At the same time, the energy of the wood-attribute magical core was slowly guided out, and it merged with it in unexpectedly perfect harmony...

Time slowly flowed by amid pill refining...

Several days later, Lu Yu suddenly opened his slightly closed eyes, and his hand seal abruptly changed.

"Condense!"

With a soft shout, the cauldron lid opened in response. A greenish-blue pill rose into the air, tracing a beautiful arc before landing precisely in the Jade Bottle that had already been prepared.

"Finally..."

Looking at the pill in the Jade Bottle, glowing with a moist, lustrous sheen, Lu Yu let out a long breath. The exhaustion between his brows could not hide the joy in his eyes.

Over the past few days, he had opened the cauldron three times in a row, and each time he had successfully refined a superior-quality Third-grade pill. At this moment, he could finally be certain—he had formally stepped into the ranks of Third-grade Alchemists.

Just then, a hurried knock at the door interrupted Lu Yu's thoughts.

"Young Master!" Qing Lin's clear voice called from outside the door. "We've arrived at the station. Sister Little Fairy Doctor asked me to come get you."

Lu Yu paused at that, only then remembering that today was the day they reached Blackrock City.

He carefully put the final batch of Windwalking Pills into his Storage Ring, then swept his sleeve and stored away the Medicine Cauldron.

When he pushed the door open, he saw Qing Lin standing on tiptoe, waiting outside.

"Sorry to make you wait so long, Qing Lin. Let's go."

Lu Yu rubbed the top of her head, then lifted his gaze into the distance, where the towering outline of Blackrock City was already clearly visible.

"Prepare to land!" the old man controlling the flying Magical Beast called out loudly.

With a faint tremor, the huge Thick-winged Bird folded its wings and landed steadily in the dedicated docking area at Blackrock City's central square.

Qing Lin leaned excitedly over the railing and said, "Young Master, look! There's someone selling Candied Hawthorn over there!"

"I'll buy you some in a bit. Let's get down first."

Lu Yu smiled and nodded.

The previous chapter was flagged for review. I revised it several times, but it still didn't pass. I'll wait a while; it should be released tomorrow.