Mortal: Junior Sister Song Yu

The aftershocks of the battle had not yet dissipated.

The scorching heat of the parched earth and the damp chill of the dark water still lingered in the air, intertwining to create a strange and desolate atmosphere.

Li Xiao, leaning on his Tang sword, forced himself to stand up.

His chest heaved violently, and with each breath, it felt as if countless tiny needles were pricking his parched veins.

pain.

A pain like being cut by a knife.

"Senior brother, take this again."

With a flick of his wrist, Song Yuqian revealed a warm, smooth mutton-fat jade bottle in his palm.

The bottle was uncorked, and a refreshing medicinal fragrance instantly dispelled the stench of blood in the air.

Inside the bottle, three pills, each the size of a longan, lay quietly, their entire bodies a vibrant green, with patterns on their surfaces flowing slowly like clouds.

Rejuvenating Pill.

Before she set off, she traded a stack of exquisite talismans that she had personally hand-painted with a senior sister in her sect who was obsessed with alchemy.

It can instantly restore 30% of one's cultivation when spiritual energy is exhausted.

Li Xiao didn't stand on ceremony, poured out one pill, tilted his head back, and swallowed it.

The elixir melts instantly upon entering the mouth.

A warm, spring-like stream instantly surged into his nearly depleted Qi Sea, flowing along his meridians.

The tearing pain was gradually soothed and melted away by the warm current.

He immediately sat down cross-legged and began circulating the "Golden Essence Technique," guiding the powerful medicinal energy to repair the wounds in his body.

Song Yu stood to one side, holding his sword.

Her divine sense spread out without reservation, like an invisible net, encompassing every possible movement in the vicinity.

My palms were already soaked with sweat.

The battle just now, though seemingly overwhelming, was actually fraught with peril.

If any one step goes wrong, it would be the two of them lying on the ground right now.

Half an hour later.

Li Xiao slowly opened his eyes, and some color finally returned to his pale face, but deep in his eyes, there was still an undisguised weariness.

He looked up at Song Yu, only to find that the girl was staring at him intently.

Her eyes were somewhat unfocused, and a captivating blush graced her fair cheeks.

"What's wrong?"

Li Xiao subconsciously touched her face. "Is there something on my face?"

"No!"

Song Yu was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on; he suddenly came to his senses, and his cheeks instantly turned red to the roots of his ears.

She hesitated for a long time before finally whispering a sentence.

"I just thought... that strike from my senior brother was really cool!"

Li Xiao chuckled to himself.

This girl.

Even with life hanging by a thread, he still had the mind to appreciate the posture of the swordsmanship.

However, upon further reflection, Song Yutian's spiritual root aptitude had always made his cultivation path smooth sailing. Although he had faced enemies before, he had never experienced a life-or-death struggle like this.

That strike was indeed the pinnacle of his cultivation to date.

The sharpness and ferocity of the metal and fire, combined with the Xuan Shui Zhen Long, achieved a sublimation of yin and yang in perfect harmony at the final moment.

"Silly girl!"

He stood up, reached out and ruffled her hair. Her hair was like soft black satin, carrying a faint fragrance of orchids.

"There will be plenty of opportunities to see it later. Let's pack up the spoils first."

Li Xiao's gaze fell on the massive corpse, his eyes sharpening.

"This demonic ape is a treasure trove, but things could change if we delay."

The two walked toward the corpse of the demon ape.

Even though it was split in two, the corpse of this peak level two demon beast still exuded a ferocious and terrifying pressure that made people tremble.

Its fur was dark gold and as hard as steel needles.

Li Xiao crouched down and painstakingly cut off the demon ape's two palms with his Tang sword.

The metacarpal bones are harder than refined gold, and the three-inch-long fingernails gleam with a ghostly light, making them top-quality materials for crafting offensive magical weapons.

He then cut open his chest cavity and removed the two thickest ribs.

This bone can be refined into defensive inner armor, which is more than ten times stronger than those made of refined steel on the market.

Song Yu then took out a row of specially made jade bottles and carefully collected the still-uncongealed essence blood of the demonic ape.

The essence blood of second-tier demonic beasts is an excellent material for drawing high-level talismans, and each bottle is quite valuable.

"Senior brother, look what this is?"

Song Yu suddenly pointed to the split sternum of the demon ape.

Embedded within the broken bones was a fist-sized dark gold crystal.

Inside the crystal, the faint phantom of an ape could be seen roaring silently, emanating extremely rich spiritual energy fluctuations of both metal and earth attributes.

Li Xiao used the tip of his knife to pry the crystal out of the bone.

Beast Crystal!

This is the essence of a demonic ape's hundred years of cultivation!

If this item is incorporated into a magical artifact, it will acquire the characteristic of toughness, making it indestructible.

"This trip was worth it."

Li Xiao solemnly placed the beast crystal into the jade box, and a smile appeared on his face for the first time since the start of this battle.

"This beast crystal alone is enough to make up for all the costs we paid to enter the secret realm."

Song Yu nodded repeatedly, then frowned and said worriedly, "Senior brother, the roar of the demonic ape before it died carried too far. I'm afraid all the cultivators within a hundred miles heard it. We must leave as soon as possible."

"you're right."

Li Xiao made a decisive decision: "Don't go back to the outer perimeter, let's go deeper in!"

"The outer areas are crowded and full of eyes, with Foundation Establishment cultivators eyeing them covetously. We won't get our hands on any good stuff. We'd be better off venturing into unexplored regions; fortune favors the bold!"

After a short rest and taking some pills to recover some of their spiritual power, the two headed deeper into the secret realm without hesitation.

The Cloud Dream Secret Realm is vast and boundless.

After a thousand years of exploration, the three sects have only managed to understand less than 40% of the area.

The deeper you go, the more viscous the spiritual energy becomes, and the more materials and spiritual herbs you find. However, the dangers also increase exponentially.

Three days later.

"Senior brother, look at that valley ahead!"

Song Yu pointed to a secluded valley shrouded in mist in the distance, his eyes shining.

"The concentration of spiritual energy there is almost ten times that of the outside world! There must be spiritual herbs inside!"

Li Xiao scanned the valley with his divine sense and found that there were two nearly thousand-year-old trees that sheltered the entrance, making it extremely secluded.

Two crimson-scaled pythons, each three zhang long, were coiled at the entrance of the valley, flicking their tongues.

A first-tier peak monster can spew out bone-corroding poison mist, but its speed is its weakness.

"Leave it to me."

Before Li Xiao finished speaking, his figure had already moved like a ghost, silently approaching the valley entrance.

The two red-scaled pythons sensed the intruders, suddenly raised their heads, and spewed out two streams of foul-smelling, dark green poisonous mist.

When the toxic fog touched the vegetation, it instantly corroded it into a pool of yellow liquid.

Li Xiao had already held her breath.

Tang sword drawn!

Gale-Splitting Golden Blade - Gale-Swept Rain!

With a sudden flash of light, twelve blade beams shot out like splashed ink, striking the two pythons precisely at their vital points!

puff!puff!

Before the two crimson-scaled pythons could even utter a mournful cry, their enormous heads shot skyward, their bodies, now cleaved into dozens of pieces, twisted wildly on the ground, their dark red blood staining the valley entrance.

Inside the valley, there was a hidden paradise.

A winding stream flows gently, its water surprisingly a pale milky white.

It's diluted Heaven and Earth Spirit Milk!

On both banks of the stream, a spiritual light shimmered, revealing a garden of medicinal herbs, the youngest of which were over a hundred years old.

Song Yu only glanced at it briefly before his breathing became rapid.

"Jade Marrow Fungus! Three hundred years old, one of the main ingredients in the Foundation Building Elixir!"

"Heavenly Spirit Fruit, 500 years old! Priceless and unavailable!"

"Seven-star begonia, water lily, golden flame grass..."

Li Xiao's heart was pounding. He took out the specially made jade shovel issued by the sect and carefully dug out each spiritual herb, roots and all, and sealed it in a jade box.

Song Yu then quickly set up an illusion array and a breath-concealing array at the valley entrance to prevent spiritual energy from leaking out and attracting uninvited guests.

Three hours later, the two had looted the entire valley.

A total of 27 medicinal plants over 300 years old were obtained.

Two of them are even older than eight hundred years!

Nine-leaf Ganoderma lucidum, Dragon Blood Vermilion Fruit!

Both of these are supreme treasures for refining pills that aid in Core Formation. If they were taken out, they would be enough to drive even Core Formation Ancestors crazy!

"Senior brother, these spiritual herbs..." Song Yu looked at the enormous harvest and didn't know how to start the conversation.

After a moment's thought, Li Xiao put away the "Golden Flame Grass" that was entirely crimson and looked like it was burning with flames, and handed a "Water Spirit Lotus" that emitted a moist glow to Song Yu's pouch.

"The metal element belongs to me, and the water element belongs to you."

Song Yu shook his head, pushed the Water Spirit Lotus back, and took out several water-attribute spiritual herbs from his storage bag, giving them all to Li Xiao.

Her eyes were incredibly serious.

"Senior brother, you contributed the most, and you were the main attacker of the demonic ape. You should take all of these; your mana consumption was already higher than mine."

Li Xiao felt a warmth in her heart, but she put on a stern face.

"Nonsense! I'm the senior brother, listen to me."

His tone was firm, but his eyes were so gentle they could melt ice and snow.

Seeing his resolute attitude, Song Yu had no choice but to pout and accept it, but she secretly made up her mind to give all the spiritual tea she had stored to her senior brother when she got back.

As Li Xiao left the valley, he found a broken stone tablet half-buried in the soil at the valley entrance.

After clearing away the mud, several blurry ancient characters were revealed.

"Yunmeng...Medicine Garden..."

Li Xiao's eyes narrowed slightly: "It seems that this was once an ancient medicinal garden. What we just saw was probably only the outermost corner."

"Then we..." A hint of excitement and worry flashed in Song Yu's eyes.

"No rush."

Li Xiao was very clear-headed. "The core medicine garden is guarded by a monster of at least the fourth rank, comparable to the late Foundation Establishment stage. Going there now would be suicide."

He looked up into the depths of the secret realm, his gaze intense.

"First, we need to find a place to turn these opportunities into our strength!"

The two found a secluded cave hidden by vines and rocks.

Song Yu skillfully set up a four-layered formation for concealing breath, early warning, gathering spirit, and defense.

After everything was in place, Li Xiao took out the alchemy inheritance jade slip given to him by Elder Zhao.

As my consciousness probed in, a massive amount of information flooded into my mind.

He quickly identified an ancient elixir formula.

This pill can stabilize cultivation, strengthen divine sense, and restore magical power. The main ingredients needed to refine it are the spiritual herbs they just collected!

"Junior sister, protect me!"

Li Xiao's eyes flashed with a sharp light as he took out a bronze cauldron engraved with cloud patterns.

"Instead of handing over the pills to the sect in exchange for them, let's start refining them now!"

"This place is rich in spiritual energy; it's a divinely bestowed paradise for alchemy!"

"If we can refine this pill, we can recover to our peak condition, and perhaps... even advance further!"

Li Xiao took a deep breath, used his magic to ignite the bottom of the furnace, and once the furnace temperature reached a suitable level, he began his first alchemy session in the secret realm.