Alchemy Book

The group from Nine Star Kui Island left the Primordial Taoist Temple in great haste.

Only Xu Yan and the other independent cultivators remained here.

The alchemy chamber stood empty, save for the sealed stone door.

Xu Yan first returned to the Library Pavilion without drawing attention, sitting quietly and reading. Once the alchemy chamber was completely empty, he cautiously made his way back.

His divine sense spread out, ever vigilant of the outside. Xu Yan focused slightly and extended his left hand.

The [Wondrous Method] Edict Script in his palm glowed with golden light. His divine sense transformed into ripples and entered the [Eight Gates Celestial Cycle Array Disk], swimming through its intricate lockways and array patterns. Within a few breaths, he found the position of the array eye.

Clack, clack, clack, clack—

The array disk began to turn. Visible to the naked eye, the runes on the stone door were drawn into the disk. In less than half an incense stick's time, the array disk had been opened!

Xu Yan's heart gave a leap. He suppressed his emotions and immediately stepped inside.

After entering, he at once turned back and shut the door, activating the array disk again to seal the stone door.

Only then did he begin to examine the stone chamber.

It seemed to be a place for secluded cultivation. The furnishings were sparse, while an ancient, rustic aura filled the air and rushed toward him.

Directly ahead was a stone pit a zhang wide. Within it sat a three-legged pill furnace, entirely black and half a zhang tall. Exquisite patterns had been carved upon its body, resembling some primordial exotic beast.

"Is this the item the Edict Script pointed to?"

Xu Yan raised a brow.

He walked over and pressed a hand against the black cauldron.

[Candle Breath Cauldron: A pill cauldron from the primordial era, of superior quality]

This was not what he had been searching for, but Xu Yan still casually stored the pill cauldron away. Its value was comparable to a Mystic treasure.

He walked to a nearby table, where a bottle of pills and several jade booklets still rested.

At that moment, his Edict Script reacted intensely.

Clearly, it was because of the bottle of pills on the table.

The porcelain jade bottle, inscribed with runes, sealed away the aura within. Even Xu Yan's divine sense could not probe inside, so he could only hold the bottle in his hand and identify it with the Edict Script.

[Dragon Breath Pill: A Pulse Opening pill from the Taiyi Alchemy Book, one of the twelve ancient methods of Pulse Opening pills. Having settled through endless years, its quality has reached perfection—flawless and immaculate, with medicinal efficacy at its peak.

Xu Yan was startled at the sight.

Most pills in this world fell into the upper, middle, and lower grades. So long as one opened the furnace to refine pills, some turbid qi of heaven and earth would inevitably be drawn in.

To refine a perfect pill that was flawless and immaculate required exceptionally harsh conditions.

When this Dragon Breath Pill had first emerged from the furnace, it had still contained some turbid qi. Yet after who knew how many years of settling within this Immortal Treasury, where the qi of heaven and earth was abundant, its quality had become flawless.

"Good stuff!"

Xu Yan pulled the wooden stopper from the porcelain bottle.

In an instant, a refreshing pill fragrance flooded the air. Five Dragon Breath Pills remained in the bottle, each the size of a thumb, with a ring of golden patterns circling its surface. The Mystic Qi within was immensely vast; merely inhaling a wisp of their fragrance made one's entire body feel incomparably refreshed.

Xu Yan then looked toward the jade booklets on the table.

This was clearly the Taiyi Alchemy Book, an esoteric alchemy tome that recorded the methods for refining many primordial pills. However, many of those pills could no longer be refined, because numerous medicinal herbs had long since vanished from the world.

Take this Dragon Breath Pill, for example. Its main ingredient required a Dragon Breath Grass that was more than a hundred years old. At the very least, such grass could no longer be found in Cang Province.

After putting away the alchemy book and pills, Xu Yan rose to inspect the place. There was nothing else of value, so he walked to the stone door.

He wanted to see whether he could remove the Eight Gates Celestial Cycle Array Disk.

But to his disappointment, the array disk had been embedded in the stone door for endless years and had already fused as one with it. Even if he removed it, it would be damaged.

Only after sensing that there was no one outside the alchemy chamber did Xu Yan step out.

Xu Yan and the other independent cultivators remained there for half a day before preparing to leave.

The reason was that the qi of heaven and earth within a ten-li radius of this Primordial Taoist Temple was quite abundant. It would have been a pity not to cultivate for a while, since spiritual lands within the Immortal Treasury were limited—some places were sparse, while others were rich.

A dozen or so people spent half a day devouring the qi here clean, leaving it somewhat thin.

They headed east, intending to first settle down in Spirit-Sealing City before making further plans.

It was roughly three hundred li away.

The group traveled for two days, encountering some specters along the road.

This was the first time Xu Yan had encountered living beings within the Immortal Treasury after entering it so many days ago.

They were Earth-Bound Specters, all transformed from cultivators and Taoists who had died within the Immortal Treasury over endless years. They were currently only in the front section of the Immortal Treasury, so the demons and evil specters they encountered were relatively easy to deal with.

If they reached the latter half and carelessly became trapped in a demonic land, it would be a case of nine deaths for every chance of survival.

As they drew closer to Spirit-Sealing City, the sky gradually brightened, and the sun slowly rose. It was exceedingly wondrous.

The Dragon Ridge Immortal Treasury had formed a world of its own, with ever-changing seasons and climates. The only thing that remained unchanged was Spirit-Sealing City, which had existed since the primordial era.

It had been established by the Divine Sect's Patriarch, True Person Taiyuan. Even with a True Person's heaven-reaching means, he could only interfere to such an extent. If he intervened any further, the Immortal Treasury might collapse and would be unable to open and evolve in the future.

In the distance, a majestic ancient city stood amid the mountains. Its walls seemed piled from white jade and were carved with ancient array patterns. Once Xu Yan and the others approached, they felt as though the mana within their bodies had been suppressed and sealed.

Supernatural arts could not be used here. The Patriarch had established this city precisely to give his disciples a place to rest.

There were three Spirit-Sealing Cities in the entire Immortal Treasury, located in its front, middle, and rear sections. They also served as reference points for disciples to determine their bearings and draw maps, because each Spirit-Sealing City stood at the center of its respective section.

Upon reaching this Spirit-Sealing City, Xu Yan and the others had only completed half their journey through the front section of the Immortal Treasury.

Xu Yan roughly calculated that they had traveled about a thousand li along the way, yet ten days had already passed.

The entire Immortal Treasury was modeled after the Dragon Spine Mountain Range in the real world, and the Dragon Spine Mountain Range stretched for nearly a hundred thousand li!

At Xu Yan's current escape speed, he would have to travel day and night without pause to cross the Immortal Treasury within a hundred days. If he encountered any specters or other cultivators blocking his path along the way, much more time would be wasted.

I need to hurry.

Xu Yan frowned as he thought to himself.

They landed outside the gates of Spirit-Sealing City. Inside, crowds already flowed like a river. Cultivators and Taoists could be seen setting up stalls everywhere along the ancient avenues, displaying many spiritual items scavenged from other spiritual lands in the Immortal Treasury. Here, people exchanged spiritual wealth and cultivation attainments.

As they traveled together, Xu Yan shared his concerns with Yan Qihu and Fang Che beside him.

Fang Che heard this and said steadily, "Brother Xu, many places within the Immortal Treasury contain Ancient Teleportation Arrays. In an instant, they can shrink a thousand li into a single step. There is no need to worry. So long as we join forces, avoid those elite heirs of great clans, and do not contend with them for the lead, we still have a good chance of crossing the Immortal Treasury within a hundred days."

"Ancient Teleportation Arrays?" Xu Yan raised a brow, seeming lost in thought.