The process of consuming the Soul-Congealing Fruit lasted for three months. During these three months, the Spiritual Strength contained in the Soul Bead in Xiao Yan's mind also grew stronger day by day. The Spiritual Strength in the Soul-Congealing Fruit was constantly being transferred to the Soul Bead in Xiao Yan's mind.
After three months of long refining, the size of the Soul-Congealing Fruit Soul-Congealing Fruit the vortex has changed dramatically. Originally the size of a palm, it is now only the size of a soybean. Even so, upon closer inspection, one can discover that the Spiritual Strength contained within it is still terrifyingly strong.
Around the Soul-Congealing Fruit, raging Heavenly Flames roared like a mad lion, releasing terrifyingly high temperatures capable of melting mountains and severing seas. These flames condensed into a cauldron, enveloping the Soul-Congealing Fruit in the center. As the Heavenly Flames rose and released the high temperature, wisps of milky-white aura slowly drifted up from the Soul-Congealing Fruit. Then, guided by the Heavenly Flames, they passed through the meridians and internal organs of Xiao Yan's body, finally reaching the Soul Bead deep within his mind.
Such a careful and meticulous refining process is like peeling back layers of an onion; it is something that ordinary people cannot imagine, let alone concentrate on. If it were someone else, they would probably give up within three days and resort to a more violent method of direct refining.
During the process of refining the Soul-Congealing Fruit, Xiao Yan's state of mind not only remained unchanged, but he also persisted for a full three months. This alone is enough to prove how tenacious Xiao Yan's character is.
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, another week had passed. By now, the Soul-Congealing Fruit within Xiao Yan vortex had shrunk to the size of half a grain of rice. It seemed that it wouldn't be long before Xiao Yan had completely refined it.
Day after day, week after week, night falls, the dark night sky is filled with stars, and the entire world is shrouded in a sweltering heat. The magical beasts in the mountains cannot rest, and their restless roars often echo through the mountains. These guys haven't had a proper rest for a long time. This damned weather has caused them a lot of suffering. If they could tear a hole in the sky above their heads, they would definitely not hesitate.
At this moment, Xiao Yan remained calm, and the expression on his face did not change due to the environment.
Having spent years cultivating in the wilderness, he had long since adapted to any environment in this world. Even in dire situations that ordinary people would find impossible to survive, Xiao Yan would always see a glimmer of hope.
Unbeknownst to many, a faint glimmer of dawn appeared on the horizon, followed by a hazy light that gradually spread across the entire land.
Three poles in the sun.
When the last wisp of refined Spiritual Strength merged into the Soul Bead in Xiao Yan's mind, Xiao Yan's body, which had been sitting calmly, suddenly trembled. After sitting cross-legged for more than three months, if no one had noticed, his body would have long been mistaken for a statue. However, at this moment, this "statue," which had been almost completely isolated from the outside world, finally awoke from its long slumber.
"Buzz buzz buzz!"
Immediately afterwards, a pair of clear, water-like eyes snapped open. At the same time, an invisible, vast soul pressure, like a Hai Xiao, swept out of Xiao Yan's body. Centered on Xiao Yan Xiao Yan's body, an invisible energy ripple quickly formed around him, like an invisible city wall, hundreds of feet high, with an awe-inspiring aura.
"Boom!"
The instant this invisible energy ripple swept across, the entire mountain range trembled violently. Boulders rolled down the cliffs, and the booming sound echoed like muffled thunder throughout the mountain range. The mountain peak beneath Xiao Yan was violently shaken, and huge cracks appeared, which quickly spread. In the end, the dense cracks enveloped the entire mountain, as if it would collapse instantly with the slightest push.
Xiao Yan slowly raised his dark eyes, staring blankly at the void before him. At the same time, the immense Spiritual Strength that surged forth swept even more rapidly into the depths of the mountain range.
Along the way, various powerful magical beasts from the mountains all appeared in Xiao Yan's Spiritual Strength detection.
First came some Seven-Star Half-Emperor level magical beasts, then eight-star ones, and finally, Xiao Yan's Spiritual Strength even reached a rather scorching volcano.
The sheer size of this volcano is unparalleled in the entire Xilin Mountain Range. As his Spiritual Strength spread to this place, Xiao Yan couldn't help but smile to himself. This was the very place where the Yan Shi resided.
With a faint smile, Xiao Yan's thoughts stirred, and his immense Spiritual Strength continued to penetrate deeper, directly plunging into the volcano, wanting to observe the Yan Shi's current movements.
But just a short moment later, Xiao Yan was slightly startled. Deep inside the volcano, he actually sensed a rather powerful force, and within that energy, there was a familiar aura.
Filled with curiosity and questions, Xiao Yan continued to delve deeper into the depths, controlling his Spiritual Strength while pondering the answers.
When Xiao Yan's Spiritual Strength arrived at the bottom of the volcano, in the churning stone chamber, what appeared under the detection of Xiao Yan's Spiritual Strength were Yan Shi and his two companions. At the same time, above the magma, a giant beast enveloped in a powerful energy keratin layer was also perched in the void.
As scorching heat rose from the magma, the energy keratin layer on the giant beast's body emitted a glowing light. Immediately, Xiao Yan clearly saw strands of energy Formation Plate along the beast's body before flowing into it.
" One-Horned Whale Serpent?!"
Startled, Xiao Yan never expected to encounter the One-Horned Whale Serpent here. Logically, shouldn't it have been taken away by Leng Bingshuang? How come it's here now...?
"Who goes there! How dare you act so recklessly in the Xilin Mountain Range!"
Just as Xiao Yan's emotions began to shift, the three Yan Shi sitting cross-legged around the lava seemed to sense it instantly. Their eyes, filled with solemnity, immediately looked up at the sky above them.
Upon being discovered by the three, Xiao Yan quickly withdrew his Spiritual Strength.
The powerful Spiritual Strength that had spread out for thousands of miles was withdrawn in the blink of an eye. Immediately, Xiao Yan came back to his senses, and a look of surprise appeared on his face. He never expected that the One-Horned Whale Serpent would appear in the Yan Shi's cave.
However, after some rough deduction, Xiao Yan understood.
All of this was probably Leng Bingshuang's intention. Saying she would take away the One-Horned Whale Serpent was just to put pressure on him so that he would focus on Bodhi Restoration Pill. In reality, she never intended to kill the One-Horned Whale Serpent from the beginning. Otherwise, she wouldn't have had Tian Ying and the others place the One-Horned Whale Serpent at the bottom of the volcano to speed up One-Horned Whale Serpent absorption and refinement of the energy keratin layer.
Having figured this out, Xiao Yan immediately smiled. It seemed that Leng Bingshuang wasn't as Leng Bing as she appeared on the surface.
On the other side, the three members of the Sky Tian Ying also had solemn expressions. The sudden and terrifying Spiritual Strength they had just witnessed had made their minds tremble. The strength of that Spiritual Strength was far beyond what they could compare to!
"What terrifying Spiritual Strength! Just who is that guy?!"
Yan Shi wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, still shaken. Even with his fiery temper, he couldn't help but tremble when faced with that sudden and powerful Spiritual Strength.
As a magical beast, its ability to sense powerful auras is always superior to that of ordinary humans. Moreover, when that soul pressure descended upon this place earlier, it was able to clearly feel the strength of that Spiritual Strength.
"The owner of that Spiritual Strength is either a Third-Tier Alchemist, or perhaps someone with terrifyingly high strength!"
Tian Ying's face was gloomy. Being spied on on their own territory was a disgrace, but they also understood how terrifying the person who spied on them was. Regardless of whether the person was the former or the latter, they were not a terrifying existence that they could easily provoke.
Even if they have a thousand grievances in their hearts, they can only swallow their anger and keep quiet.
"Be careful. Tell those kids in the Xilin Mountain Range to be alert. If a powerful enemy attacks, they must notify us here immediately. Otherwise, if something happens to that guy, we won't be able to explain it to the adults, let alone Brother Xiao Yan."
Tian Ying said in a heavy, solemn voice.
Upon hearing this, the two people beside him nodded repeatedly, and then they each set off and left the bottom of the volcano. As for Tian Ying, he stayed behind to guard the One-Horned Whale Serpent.
Having regained his composure, Xiao Yan turned his gaze back to his own surging Spiritual Strength.
Feeling the surging Spiritual Strength contained within the Soul Bead in his mind, Xiao Yan couldn't help but feel excited. Ever since he obtained the recipe for the Ice Spirit Pill, Xiao Yan had been thinking day and night about when he could raise his Spiritual Strength to the level of Third-Level Alchemist. After nearly three years, he had finally achieved this.
With his Spiritual Strength reaching the third level, Xiao Yan has finally met the first requirement for refining the Ice Spirit Pill.
However, although the problem of Spiritual Strength has been solved, another problem still lies before Xiao Yan. If it cannot be solved, the Ice Spirit Pill still cannot be refined.
Fire Plume Flower
Besides the Ice Spirit Cold Liquid, there is one more ingredient needed to refine the Ice Spirit Pill: the Fire Plume Flower.
Fire Plume Flower is a rare and precious medicinal herb among fire-attribute herbs. As far as Xiao Yan knows, not only is this Fire Plume Flower extremely valuable, but its growing environment is also very demanding. Since arriving in the Origin Martial Continent, Xiao Yan has never heard of any information about this herb. Now, however, this Fire Plume Flower has become Xiao Yan's final problem.
If he cannot find the Fire Plume Flower, even if Xiao Yan obtains the Ice Spirit Cold Liquid, he will still be unable to refine the Ice Spirit Pill. As a result, Xiao Yan will be unable to devour the Bone Spirit Cold Flame and thus improve his strength.
Shaking his head helplessly, Xiao Yan withdrew his thoughts. Although the Fire Plume Flower was not easy to find, now was not the time to rush it. He could find the Fire Plume Flower slowly. However, there was something else that was constantly reminding Xiao Yan.
With a flick of his wrist, a flash of light appeared in Xiao Yan's hand, and an ancient scroll appeared in his palm. This scroll was the very same ancient scroll he had obtained in the Ancient Ruins that day. Although he did not yet know what was inside the scroll, Xiao Yan had a vague feeling that this scroll would bring him a great surprise.
With a hint of joy in his heart, Xiao Yan slowly opened the scroll with both hands. The first thing that caught his eye was a piece of golden leather. The leather material was so special that Xiao Yan's eyesight could not tell what it was. However, Xiao Yan did not care about this. Next, what appeared in Xiao Yan's eyes were five large characters written in a vigorous and graceful style.
The Four Saints Manifestation Technique
Upon seeing those four words, Xiao Yan Xiao Yan momentarily stunned, and as he turned around, a strange feeling welled up within him.
With that strange feeling, Xiao Yan slowly unfurled the scroll in his hand. The moment the scroll was fully opened, a dazzling light was released from it, transforming into four figures in front of Xiao Yan.
The four figures were all human, only the size of a normal person's palm, with slightly ethereal forms. Their bodies shimmered with dazzling golden light, and mysterious runes condensed around them, each enveloping one of the four figures.
Looking at the four figures that had materialized before him, Xiao Yan couldn't help but frown slightly. Such a strange scene made him quite suspicious. After observing them for a long time, he still couldn't tell what these four figures were, or even whether they were Dou Technique or cultivation methods.
"What... what the hell is this thing?"
Xiao Yan looked completely bewildered. The golden light that had been reflected in the image flickered for a moment before disappearing. All that remained before Xiao Yan's eyes were four somewhat illusory figures. Even the scroll in their hands looked unremarkable and showed no reaction whatsoever.
"Well..."
Xiao Yan looked bewildered. He couldn't just stand there staring at the four ethereal figures in front of him.
After hesitating for a long time, Xiao Yan raised his hand with a lot of suspicion, carefully extended a finger, and gently touched one of the four figures.