Starting from the Tiger Demon Yaksha, the demon immortality

Chapter 247, Section 256: Deducing the Elixir Formula, Nine Revolutions of the Spirit Pearl

"Why are there only women's clothes? Where are the rare and precious herbs?"

Having overcome the obstacle that had been holding him back for months, Li Cunxiao was in high spirits. He smiled as he pushed open the door to Qunfang Pavilion, and finally shook his head and sighed as he walked out.

His guess was right.

After several searches, no weapons or elixirs were found, only a large number of women's clothes and some ordinary gold and jade treasures.

After all, Qunfang Pavilion was the location of Emperor Yang's harem. The concubines and palace maids who served the emperor did not need to have superb martial arts skills. On the contrary, as his bedmates, they should have the lowest possible cultivation level.

Like those palace maids, they cultivate the original forms of castrated flower-scattering goddesses, fragrant goddesses, and gandharvas.

After completing their training, their skin becomes fair and smooth, light and fragrant. Their purpose in practicing martial arts was solely to entertain the emperor.

Fortunately, he didn't have high expectations for it anyway. After all, the Four Divine Pills in his belly could last for a few more months, and there were quite a few rare and precious materials found in other palaces, but they hadn't been refined into suitable pills yet.

"The method of gathering demonic energy uses the Yin energy of the Taiyin Flowing Pearl to injure the enemy."

"Martial arts form the framework, and malevolent energy forms the flesh and blood. The demon pills can be refined and stored in the dantian, and can be detonated directly when needed."

"With this skill in hand, I can refine more magic pills in my spare time and unleash them all at once when fighting enemies, doubling my output."

"However, this method also requires the filling of evil energy, otherwise the Demon Orb will soon dissipate and the troubles of happiness will be gone."

The vajra had already filled two-thirds of the dantian. Once this was filled, the power needed for the five breakthroughs in the deduction would be ready immediately.

Li Cunxiao had wandered around this place countless times and knew which areas were inhabited by demon captains.

With a light tap of his toes, he moved towards his target, while another demonic orb began to condense in his palm.

"The evil aura is the condensation of evil desires. Martial artists who cultivate the demonic martial arts generate evil aura at any time and in any place. Moreover, the higher the realm, the more ferocious the evil aura generated. Human demons are just more extreme on this basis."

"Just like Emperor Yang, he only used less than half of his life to deduce half of a divine skill, and the key to elevating the Nine-Headed Dragon King Scripture to a divine skill also lies in him."

"But because of the presence of the Vajra, my mind is clear and I rarely fall into extreme emotions, which makes it difficult."

"Upgrading and deducing martial arts techniques requires murderous aura, and so does refining demonic pills. This method of extracting demonic treasures cannot last."

"I hope that in this competition, the upgraded Tranquilizing Pill will be the final blow, allowing me to take over the Azure Dragon Pavilion directly."

"In this way, by controlling the entire alchemy supply chain of the sect, I only need to collect the evil energy periodically, and the income will be a steady stream. Compared to slaughtering at Tiangu Temple, it is much more efficient."

As he pondered, he could faintly hear the bloodthirsty roars of the demons and humans.

Li Cunxiao glanced at his right palm. Without the baleful aura from the demonic artifact, relying solely on his own killing intent and rage, the demonic pill he condensed had become noticeably thinner. The poisonous dragon within the demonic pill was also very emaciated, resembling an earthworm.

Left with no other choice, he had to draw the Dragon Sparrow Blade again and repeat the same method.

This time, however, less than half of the malevolent energy was extracted before the Dragon Sparrow Blade Ring emitted a low, hoarse cry:
If you squeeze any more, there really won't be a single drop left.

"Useless! It's already failing so quickly. Does it even deserve to be called the Demon Blade?"

In a fit of anger, he got angry.

Li Cunxiao's frustration and dissatisfaction surged into the Demon Orb, and the black mist flowed into the Poison Dragon's body, causing the latter to grow slightly larger.

But that's about it.

"If it were on a battlefield, the murderous aura of thousands of people fighting would be quite considerable."

At this moment, the Demon Captain also noticed his location and charged at him with his sword.

Li Cunxiao remained calm and composed. In the blink of an eye, six more arms rose up behind him, and within each of the eight arms, a pitch-black demonic orb condensed.

If quality is lacking, quantity can compensate.

Eight demonic orbs flew out one after another, exploding in the air with dark green flames.

The Demon Captain was able to hold off the first few attacks, but he gradually became overwhelmed and was eventually eroded into a pile of bones by the burning wood blade energy, leaving only his armor and weapons lying on the ground.

Li Cunxiao, familiar with the process, placed it together with the belongings of the previous Demon Captain.

He could tell that these Imperial Guard experts were all wearing magical artifacts, although upon closer inspection, obvious standard markings were visible, with few additional unusual functions.

But a magic treasure is a magic treasure after all. As sets are accumulated, there are now about a hundred sets, enough to arm a personal guard.

"You never know when you might need it."

The thought flashed through his mind, and Li Cunxiao's attention returned to the vajra.

It was filled with golden light, which contracted from the two pointed ends toward the middle, and finally condensed onto a Capricorn claw.

The five Capricorn claws gleamed, reminding him that he was now ready to deduce the formula for the pill.

“Go back to Qianyang Palace, it’s safer there.”

He leaped into the air, his fiery wheels moving with him, and before long, the flying fire meteor rushed into the central palace.

"Leaving aside everything else, the Nine Revolutions Flowing Pearl Nine Elixir Scripture alone has the ability to condense the evil energy within a martial artist's body into a demonic pill. This can both assist in cultivation and enhance combat power, achieving two goals at once, and is worthy of the name of a divine skill."

"Master said that this divine skill originated from the lineage of the sect leader, which should be true."

"My master is so talented. Back then, I only got the introductory chapter, but the patriarch passed on the whole book to me. Did he think that I could not only take over Qinglong Peak, but also the entire Louguan Sect?"

Li Cunxiao, who was stepping into Qianyang Palace, was amused by his own thoughts.

Thinking like that is a bit too arrogant. Xue Tianyun, the current chief disciple and the sect leader's top disciple, is young but has broken through the Xuan Gate and is unmatched among his peers.

Unless this person dies, there is no chance for him, a disciple of Azure Dragon Peak, to compete for the position of sect leader.

However, the various behaviors of the Demon Orb precisely illustrate the extraordinary nature of this divine skill.

If the Demon Gathering Pill is already like this, what about the Spirit Refining Pearl?
"Vajra, deduce!"

On the vajra, the golden light stored in the five makara claws collapses inward, then is released and flows out.

A cool sensation entered his mind, and for a moment, Li Cunxiao was in a daze as all the books on alchemy he had read during this period of time unfolded in his mind.

During this process, all sorts of insights and understandings emerged from the bottom of his heart, which quickly allowed him to integrate all this knowledge.

Then he had a strange feeling that he was not in the Qianyang Palace, but in the alchemy room.

The flames of true energy danced in his hands, and the lid of the alchemy furnace opened from time to time, allowing him to add medicinal herbs at just the right moment.

The pills in the alchemy furnace gradually changed from a liquid state to a solid state, and then gradually became perfectly round.

Soon, the calming pill was successfully made.

The whole process was so smooth and natural, it was as if Li Cunxiao was already a highly skilled alchemist in this illusory world of deduction.

In reality, he had only seen the formula for the Heart-Stabilizing Pill from Taiyi and had never actually tried to make it. Just as Li Siqi had learned, since joining the Louguan Sect, Li Cunxiao had focused all his energy on improving his cultivation level and had no time to refine pills.

However, at this moment, he had an inexplicable intuition that if he had a pill furnace and the corresponding materials at hand, he would definitely be able to refine the Tranquilizing Pill.

However, he was not satisfied with the result in the illusion he was in, and frowned as he stared at the pill in his hand:
"The Drum Flower is the main ingredient of the Heart-Soothing Pill. Several flowers are needed to refine enough nectar in one batch."

"The other auxiliary materials are also quite numerous, and they cannot be refined in advance."

"This greatly increases the number of steps in the refining process, making it more difficult and yielding less output. We need to find a solution."

Muttering to himself, "Li Cunxiao" struck the alchemy furnace, and the azure dragon within his body emerged, once again spewing forth flames representing the Crimson Emperor's flowing mercury. He then added the medicinal herbs, refining them three times.
The first stage involves refining the medicine, removing its impurities, reducing its ordinary qualities, and extracting its essence.

The second step involves subduing its fiery nature and regulating its yin and yang to make the medicinal properties mild.

The third step is to nourish the medicinal properties, warm the spirit, and purify the medicinal nature.

The Nine-Turn Method is the core of the "Nine-Turn Flowing Pearl Nine Elixir Scripture".

One turn leads to entry, three turns to minor mastery, six turns to major mastery, and nine turns to perfection.

The Spirit Pearl Method is especially suitable for alchemy. With each additional transformation, under the same conditions of materials, it can improve the efficacy of the pill and reduce the evil energy contained within it.

The Demon Orb, on the other hand, becomes more ferocious with each additional rotation, and its martial arts killing moves become more powerful.

Li Cunxiao's "Nine-Turn Flowing Pearl Nine Elixir Scripture" is now at the third stage of minor completion. He watches himself use the Spirit Pearl method to start the fire, regulate the temperature, extract and mix the ingredients, and then stop the fire and seal it.

The Yang energy of the Crimson Emperor's Flowing Mercury is more dynamic than that of flames. It is less likely to damage materials during refining and can better enhance the medicinal properties of the material, making it more forgiving of errors.

Although it was a simulation rather than reality, every step of the process was imprinted in his mind as if he had personally experienced it.

Even with the release of yet another reassuring pill, he frowned:

"It's still not right. Although the number of medicinal ingredients has been reduced by five, the effect of the pill has not been weakened, but this is not the limit of the Spirit Pearl Technique."

"This herb should be replaced, and the heat should be adjusted during the refining process."

Just like when he deduced the cultivation method last time, Li Cunxiao devoted all his attention to it, forgetting the passage of time, modifying the formula again and again, and constantly trying new methods.

Successes came and went. It was through these repeated successes and failures that the initial source of reassurance subtly changed, until…
"I did it, I did it!"

Suddenly, an excited shout came from Qianyang Palace. The moment Li Cunxiao opened his eyes, he immediately took out paper and pen from his personal storage magic treasure, and quickly wrote a modified formula for the calming pill on the paper.

Beside the paper and pen, on the table was a water clock used for timing. A quick calculation showed that the entire deduction process took only a quarter of an hour.

But looking at the prescription in his hand, hundreds of days and nights involuntarily surfaced in his mind.

Inside that small hut, the flames of the alchemy furnace burned constantly, never going out.

He lost his appetite, neglected sleep and meals, and even when walking, sitting, or lying down, his mind was filled with nothing but various proportions and combinations, as well as the corresponding refining techniques and the switching between gentle and intense fire.
Li Cunxiao couldn't help but shiver, recalling his previous experience of deducing the divine skill.

Whether it was a unique skill or a divine power, it was far beyond his capabilities. So, on that occasion, he was basically an observer, witnessing the process of the divine power being created by the Vajra Pestle.

But this time was different. The existence of the "Nine-Turn Flowing Pearl Nine Elixir Scripture" and the rich accumulation of knowledge greatly enhanced his sense of participation.

It was as if he was locked in a dark room, and he had to use all his knowledge and wisdom to solve the problem before he could finally regain his freedom.

"What's the difference between these two? The baleful energy hasn't been used up yet?"

Within the dantian, the light on the vajra was dim, but still about three or four tenths remained.

A few guesses immediately formed in his mind.

"The more I control, the less gaps the Vajra needs to fill, the less evil energy it consumes, and the deeper my own involvement and control."

"Just like the 'Nine-Headed Dragon King Subduing Poisonous Barriers Sutra,' when I was deducing it, this half of the divine skill seemed to be from my own hand."

"But once you exit that state, although you know all the experiences and insights, there is still a sense of unfamiliarity."

Li Cunxiao suddenly understood, but he also felt a sense of helplessness.

Because of the existence of the Vajra Pestle, his cultivation level improved much faster than that of ordinary people, which meant that he lacked the foundation of a martial artist of the same level.

However, now that I've entered the Heavenly Ladder, my cultivation speed has slowed down, giving me time to make up for this deficiency.

"These things aren't urgent. Let's try it out first and see how the improved formula turns out."

Li Cunxiao enthusiastically pulled out various medicinal herbs, half of which were obtained from the palaces throughout the dragon boat.

Apart from a few rare specimens that he gave to Taiyi Zhenren as seeds for cultivation, most of the rest were placed in the Qianyang Palace.

As for the main ingredient of the calming pill, the bewitching flower, the powerful and wealthy people of Huayin County specially sent him a lot of it in order to curry favor with him.

After all, for the powerful and wealthy, survival is the top priority.

To ensure that the family produces strong individuals generation after generation, while minimizing the risks during cultivation, the Tranquilizing Pill is an essential life-saving item for the True Form stage.

For a grandmaster like Taiyi Zhenren to refine a fifth-grade pill would be far too costly.

Besides Li Siqi, Li Cunxiao is also rising like a new star.

The powerful and wealthy were eager for this prodigy to learn the skills of the Taiyi Zhenren as soon as possible, so that three or four generations of his descendants could enjoy the elixirs personally refined by the true lineage of the Louguan Dao.

Ignition and temperature control, extraction and mixing, conversion between heat and heat, and sealing after ignition.
The azure dragon's head spews forth crimson flames, sometimes fierce like a bursting dam, sometimes gentle like a drizzle or a breeze.

Li Cunxiao gazed at the alchemy furnace before him, skillfully controlling the changes in the medicinal materials and flames based on the color and shape of the elixirs.

"open!"

As the crimson flames subsided, the Azure Dragon, carrying a rich and mellow yang energy, rolled out the white jade-bead-like elixir.

"The size, color, and smell are exactly as I guessed, with very little error."

Looking at the calming pill in his hand, Li Cunxiao could even estimate the strength of its effects after consumption.

After all, he had already filled his stomach with countless calming pills in the illusionary realm he was in, so he was extremely familiar with it.

"But most importantly, the original Tranquilizing Pill used the Drum Flower as the main ingredient, supplemented with thirteen kinds of bone and blood from fifth-order demons, seven kinds of fourth-order spiritual herbs, and twenty-four kinds of bone and blood from fourth-order demons."

"The improved formula reduces the amount of Drum Flower by half, the number of fifth-order demon bone and blood to six, the number of fourth-order spiritual herbs to six, and the number of fourth-order demon bone and blood to twelve, greatly reducing the difficulty of refining."

"Lower difficulty means greater output. And more Tranquilizing Pills mean more True Forms and Heavenly Ladders."

Li Cunxiao clenched his fist and held the pill in his palm.

He had only glimpsed a small part of the whole picture, but he had already seen a much wider world.

The power of the vajra is no longer limited to him alone; perhaps one day in the future, it will unleash an even more powerful wave.
Compared to the towering waves of the future, what is Li Siqi now?
(End of this chapter)