Yuan Ming was in a relatively good mood at the moment. In the previous battle, most of his magical artifacts had been destroyed by Zuo Qinghui, but now he had obtained these two top-grade magical artifacts, which made up for the loss.

However, Zuo Qinghui was a cultivator from Changchun Temple. It was unlikely that he would spend significant effort to refine such malicious artifacts. The blood-colored jade slip and the two magical artifacts were probably seized from some rogue cultivator he had killed.

Yuan Ming collected the two magical artifacts, the two jade slips, and Zuo Qinghui’s body. He then waved his hand, sending out a cyan light that quickly swept through the cave, gathering all the damaged artifacts from the recent battle.

He glanced regretfully at the discarded artifacts, but then his eyes lit up as he picked up the inner armor pierced by the Golden Sun Ruler, feeling a stroke of luck.

Although the inner armor appeared to be pierced, the spiritual power flowing within it had only weakened significantly, and the four runes inside were still intact.

Yuan Ming, having some proficiency in artifact refining, knew that the golden inner armor could be fully repaired with the right spiritual materials.

Among the three top-grade spiritual materials in Zuo Qinghui’s storage bag, there happened to be a piece of metal ore. He could try to repair the inner armor later.

Yuan Ming put away the golden inner armor and was about to collect the other broken artifacts when he suddenly stopped and picked up a green broken sword, which was part of the green poison sword. The poison sword had been cut in half by the Golden Sun Ruler, its runes completely shattered, and the spiritual power within the material had dissipated. The broken sword itself was now worthless.

However, Yuan Ming’s eyes were fixed on the cut of the broken sword. He knocked it on the ground a few times.

With a light “clink,” a purple jade fragment about an inch square fell out. It had no magical fluctuations but faintly glowed green.

Moreover, as soon as the dark green jade fragment hit the ground, the nearby surface began to turn purple-black at a visible speed, as if something was spreading from the jade fragment, corroding the ground.

Yuan Ming raised his hand and used a technique to lift the purple jade fragment off the ground, stopping the corrosion.

“It seems the source of the green poison sword’s venom is this purple jade fragment. I wonder what its origin is?” He carefully examined the purple jade fragment, pondering.

On the other side of the jade fragment was a small scorpion emblem, lifelike, seemingly a kind of mark.

After studying it for a while and finding nothing else, Yuan Ming took out a white jade box and carefully placed the purple jade fragment inside.

The refined and warm jade material could effectively resist the corrosion of poisonous substances. This box was made of Bai Ge Jade, known for its anti-poison properties, and should effectively limit the spread of the purple jade fragment’s poison.

Sure enough, the poison on the purple jade fragment could not erode the white jade box.

Not feeling entirely secure, Yuan Ming took out a larger jade box and placed the Bai Ge Jade box inside before putting it away.

After handling these trivial matters, he sat down to consider his next move.

It was clear that he couldn’t stay here any longer.

It was a pity to leave such a secluded and safe cave dwelling.

Yuan Ming quickly moved around the cave, collecting the Five Elements Illusion Formation and the Bronze Thunder Rune Formation. He also gathered the forging furnace and all the spiritual herbs and medicines from the herb garden, including a black branch soaking in an ice vat.

He had studied this black branch several times over the past five years but still couldn’t determine its origin or use.

Yuan Ming took Vajra, Hua Zhi, and Lei Yu and left the cave dwelling, heading towards Wangyue City.

He didn’t enter the city but wrote a letter to Hu Tu, instructing him to close the spiritual incense shop and leave quickly. The spiritual incense and a few spirit stones in the shop would belong to Hu Tu and Sha Hao.

Yuan Ming then summoned Lei Yu, sat cross-legged on its back, and flew north.

He had already decided on his next destination.

Yuan Ming took out a wooden box containing several jade slips of various colors.

He selected one, a map jade slip of Zhao Country and its surrounding areas.

In the northwest of Zhao Country, there was a vast desert known as the Black Wind Desert, named for the black storms that swept through it. It lay between Zhao Country and the extreme northern wastelands.

Although it was an endless desert, it was not barren. Numerous spiritual material veins were buried underground, and many strange beasts lived within the desert, attracting sects from Zhao Country, Qin Country, and the Northern Wastes, as well as many rogue cultivators, to explore and mine.

The Black Wind Desert was situated between the three forces. Zhao, Qin, and the Northern Wastes had fought for hundreds of years, unable to completely overpower each other. The constant conflict had drained much of their strength.

Eventually, the three sides reached a truce, agreeing to stop large-scale direct conflicts and instead engage in covert battles.

With no large-scale battles to deter them, rogue cultivators became active, mining and treasure hunting to fill their pockets.

Over ninety percent of the Black Wind Desert’s mineral resources were controlled by the three major forces, but the remaining scattered benefits were enough to enrich many rogue cultivators. Moreover, there were countless beasts to hunt.

The Black Wind Desert’s reputation for wealth gradually spread, attracting more and more rogue cultivators.

Where there are people, conflicts are inevitable, and incidents of murder and robbery became commonplace.

To gain benefits, the sects in the Black Wind Desert only managed their own territories, turning a blind eye to the conflicts among rogue cultivators, mostly ignoring them.

Seeing the Black Wind Desert unmanaged, bandits, sect traitors, and wanted evil cultivators from the three regions also flocked there, making the place even more chaotic.

Today, the Black Wind Desert had become synonymous with chaos and bloodshed. No one knew how many cultivators were hidden there. Even the three major forces dominating the area could barely keep track of their own territories.

Yuan Ming was heading to the Black Wind Desert.

Changchun Temple was on the other side of Zhao Country, so even if they had long arms, they couldn’t reach here.

As for the dangers within the Black Wind Desert, Yuan Ming wasn’t worried. His Death Moon method had reached the fourth level, giving him formidable illusion techniques. Combined with powerful artifacts like the Soul Extinguishing Sword, he had no problem protecting himself against ordinary Nascent Soul stage cultivators.

Yuan Ming put the map jade slip back into the wooden box and took out a white jade slip.

This was a jade slip he had obtained from Sha Hao, containing the Grand Elder’s experiences with the Dream Butterfly Illusion Technique.

In the recent battle, the Dream Butterfly Illusion Technique had played a significant role, but its power was still insufficient and needed further refinement.

He activated his spiritual consciousness and entered the jade slip.

Boom!

The jade slip suddenly emitted a suction force, absorbing his spiritual consciousness.

Yuan Ming was startled. He had encountered this suction force when he first examined the jade slip, but it hadn’t appeared again in the past five years. Now that it had reappeared, there must be a reason.

After a moment’s thought, he didn’t withdraw his spiritual consciousness but let the jade slip absorb it. The jade slip began to emit a faint white light, quickly becoming bright.

Suppressing his excitement, Yuan Ming continued to send his spiritual consciousness into the jade slip.

After a few breaths, the jade slip stopped absorbing his spiritual consciousness, and the white light on its surface dissipated.

Yuan Ming hurriedly checked the jade slip, finding new content left by the Grand Elder.

The new content began with an explanation of the jade slip’s transformation, caused by a secret technique that required strong spiritual consciousness to reveal.

Yuan Ming realized that his spiritual consciousness hadn’t been strong enough before, but now that his Death Moon method had reached the fourth level, it met the requirement.

He focused on the new content, knowing that Xi Cangqiong had hidden it with great effort, indicating its importance.

As he read, Yuan Ming’s expression gradually changed, showing uncontrollable joy, and he eventually burst into laughter.

The new content described a soul cultivation secret technique called the “Soul Pill” method, which involved condensing spiritual power into a pill similar to a Golden Elixir.

According to the secret technique, the Soul Pill could greatly assist in breaking through the bottleneck of the Nascent Soul stage, increasing the success rate by half.

Since entering the cultivation world, Yuan Ming, like all cultivators, had longed to form a Golden Elixir, not only because Nascent Soul stage cultivators possessed far greater power than Foundation Establishment stage cultivators but also because forming a Golden Elixir significantly increased lifespan.

Foundation Establishment stage cultivators could live up to two hundred years, but forming a Golden Elixir could more than double their lifespan to over five hundred years.

However, forming a Golden Elixir was extremely difficult, causing countless cultivators to sigh in despair.

While breaking through the Foundation Establishment stage could be aided by spiritual medicines like the Foundation Establishment Pill, requiring good aptitude and determination, advancing to the Nascent Soul stage was a hundred times more challenging.

At this stage, aptitude and determination had minimal impact. Even cultivators with Heavenly Spirit Roots had little confidence in forming a Golden Elixir, relying almost entirely on fate and opportunity.

Bi Luo Cave had nearly a thousand disciples, but only a few Nascent Soul stage cultivators. Even larger sects like Shengye Sect and Changchun Temple, with ten times the number of disciples, had very few Nascent Soul stage cultivators.

Yuan Ming had the worst four-spirit root aptitude, and breaking through the Foundation Establishment stage had been a stroke of luck, aided by the Foundation Establishment Pill, Foundation Establishment Incense, and the Stealing Heaven Cauldron.

Now, having obtained a secret technique that could increase the success rate of forming a Golden Elixir by half, how could he not be ecstatic?

The reason the Soul Pill could assist in forming a Golden Elixir was that the soul power condensed into the Soul Pill was fundamentally similar to the spiritual power condensed into a Golden Elixir.

A Golden Elixir was not just condensed spiritual power; it also involved the integration of essence, energy, spirit, and intent, refined into a golden, round, and resilient pill, embodying the essence of the elixir.

Condensing spiritual power into a Golden Elixir could produce this essence, and condensing soul power into a Soul Pill could do the same. Forming a Soul Pill and understanding its essence made it much easier to form a Golden Elixir.

According to the jade slip, after forming the Soul Pill, one needed to guide it into the dantian, using the essence of the Soul Pill to attract and condense spiritual power, forming a pseudo-elixir.

With these two layers of assistance, the success rate of forming a Golden Elixir would greatly increase. Xi Cangqiong had relied on this Soul Pill method to break through to the Nascent Soul stage.