Chapter Eighty: Essence Spirit Pill

Wang Qiyi felt that today was the unluckiest day of his life. He had intended to forcibly take the jade pendant from Xiao Cheng, confident in his own strength. Yet when he attacked Xiao Cheng with his flying sword, Xiao Cheng managed to block it with an ordinary weapon. Worse still, Xiao Cheng caught the flying sword barehanded, rendering Wang Qiyi completely passive.

Although his power far surpassed Xiao Cheng’s, it was he who ended up seriously injured. Gazing at the fiery steel furnace and then at Xiao Cheng, who stood atop the platform with a calm, indifferent expression, Wang Qiyi realized for the first time how unfamiliar Xiao Cheng seemed—almost as if he had never known him. Not only had Xiao Cheng’s strength soared, but his mind was sharper than most.

Wang Qiyi’s emotions were a tangled mess of disappointment, regret, and fear—a bitter blend that even made him want to cry. What was happening in this world? Why was Xiao Cheng, clearly his inferior, able to torment him so thoroughly, and now throw his flying sword into the viscous steel furnace? The furnace's temperature would not destroy the sword, but once the steel solidified, retrieving it would be nearly impossible.

Xiao Cheng looked at Wang Qiyi, sitting motionless on the ground, and smiled. He found the furnace’s control panel and activated the cooling system. With a rush, thick steam billowed from the furnace as the molten iron quickly cooled.

Having finished, Xiao Cheng dusted off his hands, leapt from the platform, and, shielded by the mist, slipped through a wall and left the steel factory. How Wang Qiyi would reclaim his sword or comprehend his strength was of no concern to him.

After being tormented like this, Wang Qiyi would need at least a month or two to recover his vitality—unlikely to cause trouble in the meantime, a result Xiao Cheng found most satisfactory.

Leaving the steel factory, Xiao Cheng did not go to Jade Buddha Temple or Tangchen Villa but headed straight for She Mountain.

Tonight’s encounter with Wang Qiyi, though seemingly easy, had left him tense to the extreme. This was the most formidable opponent he had faced since his rebirth; a single misstep could spell utter ruin. Luckily, Wang Qiyi relied solely on his flying sword, and Xiao Cheng’s spiritual sense was far superior, allowing him to seize the advantage and toy with Wang Qiyi. Even so, he had suffered significant internal injuries. He came to She Mountain to absorb the spiritual essence of its flora.

...

The night was calm, and the northern edge of She Mountain Forest Park lay in silence.

She Mountain was the largest forest park in Shanghai, with dense vegetation—perfect for cultivation and healing. But Xiao Cheng had more than recovery in mind; he planned to use the abundant plant life to refine Spirit-Nurturing Pills.

The Spirit-Nurturing Pills held little use for him, but for others, their benefits were considerable. The spiritual energy they contained could help Zhuo Qinglian establish her foundation, stabilize Yun Tingyu’s illness, and most importantly, prolong Grandmother Tai’s life.

Hidden by night, Xiao Cheng found a stone and sat, quietly activating the Spirit-Seizing Technique. As the method flowed, the spiritual essence of plants within a kilometer seemed drawn to him, flying from their stems and gathering around.

After about half an hour, Xiao Cheng’s dantian was once again filled with true energy, and his cultivation had advanced a bit. The spiritual essence of plants naturally had healing properties; as he absorbed it, his injured meridians recovered almost completely.

Nodding in satisfaction at the technique’s effect, Xiao Cheng praised its power—Nine Mystical Immortal Sutra truly was a defiant method. As his strength grew, the speed at which he absorbed spiritual energy increased dramatically.

Scanning the surroundings with his spiritual sense, Xiao Cheng found the area’s vegetation nearly depleted of spiritual energy. He rose and ventured deeper into the forest, arriving at a place even more lush.

After preparing, he took out the jade aloe from his bag. With narrowed eyes, he entered a meditative state, reviewing the pill-refining process in his mind before picking up the jade aloe.

Refining the Spirit-Nurturing Pill was hardly true alchemy—it required neither advanced cultivation nor skill.

Channeling true energy into his hands, Xiao Cheng slowly levitated the crystalline jade aloe, controlling it steadily between his palms. He pressed his hands together, infusing more true energy, and soon the jade aloe became fibrous, forming a dark green sphere.

Ensuring none of the juice escaped, he continued to infuse true energy, raising the temperature until, after a few minutes, the moisture began to boil away.

The process was similar to crafting Daoist weapons: first purify the materials, then shape them. The difference was that pill refinement required the infusion of spiritual energy.

As time passed, the sphere shrank and darkened to a deep brown, the moisture evaporated, leaving only the solid herbal essence.

Xiao Cheng set down the fist-sized brown block, drew his Green Edge Sword, and sliced it into thirty-six equal pieces, each about the size of a fingernail. He rolled them into pill-shaped balls and, when finished, exhaled deeply.

The pill base had to be formed in one go; otherwise, it could not gather spiritual energy.

Gathering the thirty-six brown pills in his hand, Xiao Cheng activated the Spirit-Seizing Technique again.

This time, seizing the spiritual essence differed from cultivation. Instead of absorbing it into himself, he needed to condense it outside his body. Once enough spiritual energy was present, he would infuse it into the pill base.

Spiritual energy was inherently repulsive, and while small amounts could be gathered easily, accumulating large quantities was difficult—the greater the amount, the stronger the repulsion, demanding precise control from the cultivator.

...

After several minutes, a translucent, pale green orb the size of a soccer ball appeared before Xiao Cheng’s chest—the condensed spiritual energy.

Just this soccer-ball-sized orb nearly exhausted his true energy; any further attempt would cause it to dissipate. But reaching this stage, Xiao Cheng was satisfied. If placed in the world of cultivation, such a mass of spiritual energy would astonish even Golden Core masters, let alone innate cultivators. In these times of spiritual scarcity, nothing was more precious.

Sweat beaded on his forehead as Xiao Cheng forcefully stabilized the orb and then summoned the thirty-six pill bases. They floated up, one after another, entering the orb. Once inside, the pills wriggled like fish in water.

When all thirty-six pills had entered, Xiao Cheng guided the orb downward, pressing it tightly between his hands to force the spiritual energy into the pills.

Surprisingly, the fusion process was not as difficult as he had imagined. As he increased his strength, it seemed he broke through a balance point—the pill bases, like thirsty sponges, absorbed the surrounding spiritual energy at once, and within moments, the orb was completely drained.

Xiao Cheng quickly understood the reason: the pill bases were made from spiritual herbs, which had lived in a low-energy environment and were especially eager for spiritual energy. Purified and dried, they absorbed the energy without hesitation when exposed to it under pressure.

Once the spiritual energy was gone, thirty-six pills floated in the air.

These pills were now entirely different from the bases—each one resembled a jade bead, bright green, with layers of light swirling across their surfaces, crystal-clear and jewel-like.

Xiao Cheng reached out and gathered all thirty-six pills into his hand. Merely holding them brought a sense of comfort throughout his body.

Smiling slightly, Xiao Cheng murmured, “So this is the Spirit-Nurturing Pill—it even looks delicious!”

He casually popped one into his mouth, and his eyes lit up...