Jiang Yun took out several jade jars and sealed the medicinal liquid inside.
These were all essences extracted from spirit herbs. If they were not sealed and left exposed to the outside world,
their vital essence would dissipate after some time, greatly reducing their effectiveness.
Jiang Yun refined the remaining five Black Jade Ginseng plants one by one. With his previous experience, he directly sealed the extracts in jade jars.
Looking at the large ceramic jars and six jade jars before him, Jiang Yun felt his harvest was plentiful.
Jiang Yun released his divine sense to inspect them briefly, then placed the medicinal liquids into the pill furnace in batches.
He let them fully blend together.
Next came purification. He did not need to be overly meticulous; once they reached the standard of Hundred-Grass Liquid sold in the Heavenly Cave, Jiang Yun stopped.
This batch of Hundred-Grass Liquid was not intended for his own consumption, but to be exchanged for resources.
Jiang Yun stopped controlling the Fire Fiend, and the pale cyan flames gradually subsided.
He removed the freshly refined Hundred-Grass Liquid and slowly poured it into the jade bottles he had made.
Jiang Yun calculated that he had used sixty bottles of Hundred-Grass Liquid to buy six spirit herbs and some supplementary medicinal ingredients.
In the end, he obtained ninety bottles of Hundred-Grass Liquid—a tearful profit of thirty bottles, for a fifty-percent return.
Ten bottles of Hundred-Grass Liquid could buy the resources for one batch of Hundred-Grass Liquid.
Producing ten bottles from a single extraction meant a loss; eleven bottles was only a small profit.
He had to admit that the Dao Venerable Alchemy Art was truly unfathomably profound.
It allowed someone refining Hundred-Grass Liquid for the first time to achieve output far beyond the average—fifteen bottles from one batch of ingredients.
Of course, part of the credit also went to the Fire Fiend. The spiritual energy consumed by the Fire Fiend was also a resource.
But as long as he did not drain the Fire Fiend's spiritual energy dry, it could continually recover and was a renewable resource.
As Jiang Yun's grasp of alchemy improved, the profit from refining Hundred-Grass Liquid should rise again.
Jiang Yun saw that it was already evening outside the courtyard. Refining the medicine had taken roughly four shichen.
Earning thirty bottles of Hundred-Grass Liquid in four shichen was quite a lot. This time, he had refined the spirit herbs one by one; next time, he could refine them together.
The herbs also did not need to be refined in separate batches, which would greatly increase his speed.
There was quite a bit to earn. Twenty bottles of Hundred-Grass Liquid could be exchanged for one jin of Source.
The main purpose of refining Hundred-Grass Liquid was not to earn resources, but to improve his alchemy skills.
It was to pave the way for refining the One-Turn Golden Core next.
His current resources were sufficient. His main focus still had to be cultivation.
Once he reached the Dao Palace or Four Extremes Realm, he could take a trip to Purple Mountain and find the Source Heavenly Book. Would that not be more profitable than refining Hundred-Grass Liquid?
That evening, Jiang Yun studied the profound methods of the Dao Scripture for a while before returning to the room he shared with Jiang Shuanglan.
A night passed, and the moon shyly hid behind the clouds, not daring to show its face.
After Jiang Yun's physique improved, Jiang Shuanglan found him even harder to handle. Before losing consciousness, she made up her mind that she truly could not delay any longer. If this continued, she would be played to ruin.
Jiang Yun changed the bedding again. He did not know about other women, but Jiang Shuanglan truly seemed to be made of water.
Not wishing to disturb Jiang Shuanglan's rest, Jiang Yun sat for a while before returning to the alchemy room. The materials for refining Hundred-Grass Liquid had run out, while the materials for the One-Turn Golden Core could not yet be touched.
With nothing else to do, he continued cultivating.
Jiang Yun had cultivated to the Divine Bridge. To reach the next realm, his will had to be incomparably firm and unwavering.
Only then could he see through illusion and mist to find his own Other Shore.
Throughout this process, not only did his physical body need to transform, but his spirit also needed to ascend. Spirit and body had to become one, breaking through restraints and transcending the self.
Only then could he Return to Root and Source and find the origin. At that time, the Divine Bridge would arrive like a rainbow, forcefully crossing the Sea of Bitterness. This was the fourth realm of the Sea of Bitterness Secret Realm... the Other Shore.
To explore the next secret realm of the human body, the Dao Palace, one had to reach the Other Shore first. The Other Shore could be regarded as the starting point for leaping into the Dao Palace.
Crossing the Sea of Bitterness to reach the Other Shore did not merely require opening up the Sea of Bitterness to nourish the physical body.
One's spirit also had to grow stronger and ascend.
Once cultivators reached a certain realm, only by strengthening their divine sense could they comprehend heaven, earth, and nature.
At that level, the only way to improve cultivation was through "comprehension"; there was no other method.
Divine sense and spiritual perception were manifestations of a sufficiently powerful spirit, and they were hurdles Jiang Yun could not avoid.
Fortunately, the nourishment provided by Divine Spring Fluid was not limited to the physical body. As the Divine Spring used to cultivate Undying Medicine, if cultivators consumed it over a long period,
it not only provided life essence for cultivation, but also contained strange energy that nourished both body and divine sense.
Above Jiang Yun's Sea of Bitterness, the Divine Veins he had condensed were crystal-clear, though somewhat short.
Looking upward, the sky above was hazy, and he did not know how to proceed.
Yet a brilliant rainbow floated overhead, spanning the heavens in dazzling splendor. To evolve a Sea of Bitterness Vision, such wondrous scenes were the foundation.
Every increase in realm had its own extraordinary aspects, and visions were the greatest distinction of the Sea of Bitterness Secret Realm.
Jiang Yun increased his consumption of Divine Spring Fluid. Cultivation grew more difficult the further he progressed.
Originally, one or two drops of Divine Spring Fluid could be refined for a long time. Now, each dose was nearly equivalent to an entire bottle of Hundred-Grass Liquid.
Fortunately, he had obtained quite a bit of Divine Spring Fluid in the Desolate Forbidden Land. Otherwise, relying solely on Hundred-Grass Liquid and Source Stone would have made his cultivation far too slow.
By the time he finished refining it, it was already noon, so Jiang Yun went out.
He exchanged ninety bottles of Hundred-Grass Liquid for the raw ingredients needed to make it, obtaining a full nine batches.
Three days gradually passed. Jiang Yun became a master of time management: cultivating in the morning, going out at noon, and refining medicine in the afternoon.
At night, he returned to Jiang Shuanglan's room to rest.
The quantity of Hundred-Grass Liquid gradually increased, reaching more than three hundred bottles.
At most, he could refine ten batches of ingredients each day. If he wanted to refine more, he would not have enough time.
The yield from each batch had stabilized at between sixteen and seventeen bottles of Hundred-Grass Liquid.
He had already reached the limit, with the differences determined by the spiritual nature of the spirit herbs.
This was merely the limit of ordinary spirit herbs sold in the Heavenly Cave. Better spirit herbs could produce more, but there was no need.
Commonplace spirit herbs were best refined into Hundred-Grass Liquid, while precious spirit herbs were better used to refine Golden Cores.
At noon that day, Jiang Yun went out again, intending to buy thirty batches of ingredients at once.
It would save him the trouble of making the trip every day. He could also refine some concentrated Hundred-Grass Liquid for Jiang Shuanglan to consume, which would be somewhat more effective.
The moment Jiang Yun stepped out of the courtyard gate, Xia Weier stopped him.
"Big Brother Jiang Yun, here are five bottles of Hundred-Grass Liquid. Use them first. Thank you for protecting me during this time."
After saying that, Xia Weier seemed afraid Jiang Yun would refuse. Blushing, she hurriedly ran away.
"Why are you suddenly giving these to me?" Jiang Yun called after Xia Weier.
Jiang Yun could not figure out what had happened. He knew that although Xia Weier looked delicate and easy to bully,
she was extremely stubborn about matters she believed were right.
Back when he and Xia Weier had been clearing the medicinal fields, he had even angered her to tears several times. In the end, Xia Weier had proven to be right, leaving Jiang Yun rather embarrassed.
Unable to understand why Xia Weier had done this, Jiang Yun went to find Jiang Shuanglan and ask what was going on.
Before you continue