On a pitch-black night, in a deserted cave deep within a silent mountain range.
Xiao Fan watched the Medicine Cauldron before him with a solemn gaze. Pitch-black flames roasted its underside, while the ingredients within had already melted into a rich liquid, giving off an enticing fragrance.
Xiao Fan carefully controlled the flames' temperature, devoting his full attention to the changes inside the Medicine Cauldron. He set the herbs that had already become medicinal liquid to one side, slowly heating them.
He took the mountain essence he had obtained from Eagle Protector out of his Storage Ring. It was a translucent, grayish-black mass, resembling a tiny person curled into a ball.
Mountain essence could only form in a mountain range abundant in spiritual energy, beside a spirit spring. It had an exceptionally powerful restorative effect on souls, making it extremely difficult to find.
He carefully placed the mountain essence inside the Medicine Cauldron. Enveloped by the heavenly flames, the translucent, grayish-black mountain essence slowly melted like jelly exposed to high heat, gradually becoming a mass of transparent liquid.
Xiao Fan extracted threads of black impurities and burned them to nothing.
He let out a soft breath. Even he could not help feeling somewhat exhausted. After all, fifth-grade pills were not easy to refine, and he did not have much experience refining them.
Fortunately, among fifth-grade pills, the Spirit Fusion Pill was chiefly troublesome because its ingredients were so difficult to find. As for the difficulty of refining it, Yao Lao's soul fragments had left Xiao Fan fairly familiar with the process.
"Next comes the final fusion..."
Xiao Fan murmured softly, then turned toward Medusa, who sat a short distance away. "You Ruo, there will be energy ripples when the pill forms. I'll be counting on you."
Hearing him, Medusa gave