Projection of the Heavens: I prove my immortality through slaughter.

Seven days passed in the blink of an eye during deep meditation.

Lin Xuan slowly opened his eyes from the treehouse. The starlight surrounding him seemed to be gathered by an invisible hand, disappearing entirely into his body. The morning light filtered through the gaps in the branches and leaves, casting dappled shadows on his handsome face. He felt the surging stellar spiritual power within him, several times stronger than it had been seven days ago, and a faint smile curved his lips.

His Qi Refining Level 5 cultivation was now completely stable. The silver vortex within his dantian rotated steadily, each rotation drawing even more abundant spiritual energy into his widened and resilient meridians. If the spiritual energy at Qi Refining Level 3 was a stream, it was now a raging river. What surprised him even more was the gift from the world's origin in the Tianyuan Realm, which not only helped him break through but also caused a qualitative change in his soul. His divine sense spread out, and within a radius of 150 feet, he could see everything clearly—the rustling of grass, the crawling of insects, even the faint flow of water deep within the soil—as if he were seeing it with his own eyes. This sense of control was unimaginable during his previous life, when he was bedridden with illness, or when he first entered the world of cultivation in this life.

"Power... Is this what it feels like to control the foundation of one's own destiny?" he murmured to himself, his five fingers slightly clenched, a flash of silver starlight disappearing from his fingertips, carrying a chilling sharpness. Now, when he used Star Finger and Star Step, the power and subtlety were worlds apart from before. Especially the subtle level of control over power, which was thanks to his experience in the Heavenly Origin Realm of analyzing and integrating all laws.

"It's time to return to the market." Lin Xuan stood up, his bones cracking with a series of crisp sounds. He needed to purchase some essential pills, indispensable in the perilous world of cultivation, whether for aiding cultivation, quickly replenishing energy, or healing and saving lives. At the same time, with the Qingyun Sect about to open its gates, he also needed to gather information, especially regarding the current situation of his enemy, Zhao Qian.

With a thought, the improved version of the Concealing Breath Technique quietly activated, instantly concealing the powerful aura of a fifth-level Qi Refining cultivator. Outwardly, his spiritual energy fluctuations were weak, indistinguishable from those of an ordinary third-level Qi Refining cultivator; in fact, due to his meticulous control, he appeared even more unassuming. Unless a Foundation Establishment stage expert was present, it would be extremely difficult to discern his true nature.

With a swift movement, he unleashed his Wind Control Technique, transforming himself into a gentle breeze that blended into the morning light. His speed was astonishing yet utterly silent as he swept towards the market. Wherever he passed, not even a few dewdrops in the forest were shaken off.

Half an hour later, the familiar market valley, filled with noise and chaos, came into view once again.

The sounds of hawking, arguing, and discussing mingled together, and the air was filled with various herbs, monster materials, sweat, and a faint smell of blood, creating a stark picture of the lowest levels of the cultivation world.

Lin Xuan stepped in, his expression one of unprecedented composure and tranquility.

Unlike his first visit, when he felt like he was walking on thin ice, and his second visit, when he was cautious and reserved, he now possessed a transcendent mindset. The surge in his strength and the broadening of his horizons made him seem to stand in a higher dimension, overlooking the myriad aspects of human life.

As far as his eyes could see, the strength of the spiritual energy attached to the herbs, ores, and magical artifacts on the stalls, their attribute biases, and even the subtle traces left during their processing or harvesting, were all revealed under the scan of his powerful divine sense. He could even easily see through the small illusions and tricks set up by some stall owners to confuse perception or raise prices; these tricks now seemed clumsy and laughable to him.

His gaze swept lightly over the monks in the market.

Those cultivators in the early stages of Qi Refining had scattered spiritual energy and unstable foundations, making them easily vulnerable in his eyes. Cultivators in the middle stages of Qi Refining, like the scarred-faced man he had encountered before, had impure and mixed auras, their spiritual energy flow was often sluggish, and they were riddled with weaknesses. Even the few cultivators whose auras had reached the late stages of Qi Refining (seven levels and above), in Lin Xuan's perception, although their total spiritual energy was abundant, its purity and refinement were far inferior to his stellar spiritual energy, their divine sense was weak, and their control over their own power was crude. Lin Xuan was confident that if it were a true life-or-death struggle, with the ultimate penetrating power of the Star Finger, the unpredictable nature of the Star Step, and the predictive power of his strong divine sense, he would be able to find weaknesses before his opponents could unleash their full power and defeat them with a single blow!

This confidence stems from absolute strength and a higher level of understanding. What was once something to be looked up to and carefully avoided is no longer an insurmountable mountain in his eyes.

He didn't waste time at the lower-end stalls, heading straight to the middle of the market, to the "boutique area" comprised of several relatively well-organized stone houses. This area was run by a few small cultivation families or powerful independent cultivators, where the quality of goods was higher, and the prices naturally followed suit.

Lin Xuan strolled into a stone house called "Hundred Herbs Pavilion." The shop was quite spacious, filled with the fragrance of herbs mixed with a faint scent of spirit stones. Behind the counter, an elderly man in a gray robe with a goatee was squinting, casually fiddling with an abacus; his cultivation level was around the sixth level of Qi Refining. Several other cultivators were also in the shop, conversing quietly and selecting items.

Lin Xuan's entry did not attract much attention. His deliberately concealed Qi Refining Level 3 cultivation was indeed inconspicuous here.

His gaze fell upon the rows of jade bottles displayed on the counter. The labels were clearly visible: Qi Gathering Pill, Spirit Recovery Pill, Healing Pill, Detoxification Pill…

"Shopkeeper, how much are the Qi Gathering Pills?" Lin Xuan asked, his voice calm and devoid of any emotion.

The goatee-bearded old man lazily raised his eyelids, sized up Lin Xuan's simple clothes and "low" cultivation level, and said with his usual perfunctory tone: "Low-grade Qi Gathering Pills, five low-grade spirit stones per bottle, ten pills per bottle. Mid-grade, twenty low-grade spirit stones per bottle."

The price was indeed exorbitant. A single bottle of low-grade Qi Gathering Pills was almost equivalent to the entire fortune of an ordinary mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator. However, Lin Xuan now possessed nearly forty low-grade spirit stones (mainly from hunting demonic beasts), giving him the confidence to spend them.

He didn't make a decision immediately, but instead quietly separated a wisp of his refined divine sense, like an invisible tentacle, and swept it across the jade bottles. With the current strength of his divine sense, such a subtle probe was completely undetectable to the Qi Refining Level 6 shopkeeper.

The information fed back by his divine sense was instantly clear to him: the mid-grade Qi Gathering Pill, priced at twenty spirit stones, was only about 30% more potent than the low-grade one, and still contained many impurities; while the low-grade Qi Gathering Pill was even more mixed with poison, and long-term use would inevitably damage one's foundation.

"Insufficient purification of medicinal herbs, poor control of the fire, and rough pill-condensing technique..." Almost instinctively, Lin Xuan, relying on his ability to analyze the essence of all things, honed in the Tianyuan Realm, instantly saw the many flaws in these pills. He thought to himself that if he used his own pure stellar spiritual power to simulate fire control and purify medicinal herbs, the quality of the pills would definitely far surpass these.

Unfortunately, he currently has neither a pill-making furnace nor the time to study this art.

"Give me two bottles of low-grade Qi Gathering Pills, one bottle of Spirit Recovery Pills, and one bottle of Healing Pills." Lin Xuan no longer hesitated, taking out twenty-eight glittering low-grade spirit stones and neatly placing them on the counter. He was buying low-grade pills not for his own use, but more to study the alchemy techniques of this world. Perhaps he could try to purify them in the future, or use them as bargaining chips in transactions with low-level cultivators.

Seeing that Lin Xuan was generous and didn't haggle like ordinary rogue cultivators, the shopkeeper's perfunctory expression softened slightly. While fetching the medicine, he struck up a conversation, saying, "Fellow Daoist, you look unfamiliar. Are you preparing to participate in the Qingyun Sect's entrance examination?"

Lin Xuan's heart stirred slightly, but his face remained expressionless: "Shopkeeper has a good eye."

"Hehe, at this time of day, most of the young people who come to buy pills are here for this very reason." The shopkeeper handed four jade bottles to Lin Xuan. "However, fellow Daoist, you still need to work harder. I heard that the competition this time is extremely fierce, with quite a few youngsters at the mid-stage of Qi Refining alone."

"Oh?" Lin Xuan casually accepted the pill and asked, "Shopkeeper, do you know of any noteworthy figures? I've heard there's someone named Zhao Qian who seems to be quite powerful?"

"Zhao Gan?" The shopkeeper stroked his goatee, thought for a moment, and said, "There is such a person. He is said to be a distant relative of an outer sect deacon in the sect. His cultivation level seems to have reached the third level of Qi Refining? He's considered above average among this group, but not quite at the top. The ones we really need to watch out for are those who are said to have reached the threshold of the fourth level of Qi Refining, and a few scions from small cultivation families. They have strong family traditions and their methods are not weak."

Qi Refining Level 3? Lin Xuan sneered inwardly. It seemed that Zhao Gan's cultivation had improved quite quickly thanks to his connections, but compared to him now, he was nothing more than a clay chicken or a clay dog. He even somewhat hoped to "accidentally" run into this old friend during the assessment.

After paying the spirit stones and putting the pills into his storage bag, Lin Xuan was about to turn around and leave when his gaze inadvertently swept over the corner of the counter—there lay a piece of dark, inconspicuous wood, its surface even resembling charcoal, seemingly just some odds and ends used to prop up the cabinet legs.

However, the moment his gaze fell upon the wood, deep within his sea of ​​consciousness, the two black auxiliary tokens that had been silently floating once again emitted an extremely faint yet incredibly clear tremor!

Although it wasn't nearly as strong as when I sensed the broken cauldron before, this was definitely a genuine feeling of resonance, there was no mistake!

Lin Xuan stopped abruptly, his heart skipped a beat, and an indescribable joy welled up inside him.

"This seemingly useless piece of wood... could it be some kind of treasure that has been covered in dust?"