I'm in Yellow Maple Valley, and I have one equipment slot!

The spiritual energy fluctuations within the cave finally reached their peak.

Then, it receded slowly like a tide.

The dark clouds dissipated, the silver snake disappeared, and the vortex of spiritual energy gradually subsided.

The sunlight shone down again.

It was as if the breathtaking celestial phenomenon just now was merely a fleeting illusion.

The door to the quiet room slowly opened.

Yuan Yao appeared at the door.

She still possessed that stunning beauty, with skin as white as snow and features as exquisite as a painting.

But at this moment, she was surrounded by a faint spiritual light, and her temperament was completely different from before—it was the ethereal and serene aura that belonged to a Core Formation cultivator after a complete transformation.

Her aura had clearly stabilized at the early stage of Core Formation!

"Yao-mei!"

Yanli was the first to rush forward, hugging Yuan Yao tightly, crying and laughing at the same time, "You succeeded! You formed your core! That's wonderful! That's wonderful..."

Yuan Yao gently patted her senior sister's back and said softly, "It's all thanks to Brother Zhou's massive resources over the years... If it weren't for Brother Zhou, I would never have been able to get to this point."

She raised her head, her beautiful eyes gazing at Zhou Yuan with tears glistening, yet overflowing with smiles and gratitude.

Zhou Yuan stepped forward, gently put his arm around her waist, and placed a kiss on her forehead: "Congratulations."

"Brother Zhou..." Yuan Yao's cheeks flushed slightly, but her smile was incredibly radiant.

Yanli, watching this scene, felt a pang of envy, but not a trace of jealousy. She took a deep breath and said sincerely:

"Yao-mei, I really envy you. But I will work hard! Brother Zhou taught us the Great Evolution Technique, and it's because you cultivated it to the third level that you were able to be more composed when you formed your core, right? I will also strive to cultivate the Great Evolution Technique to the third level and then try to break through to the core formation stage!"

Yuan Yao nodded and said earnestly, "Senior Sister, your foundation is also very solid, you can definitely do it. The Great Evolution Technique, this divine sense cultivation method, is indeed very helpful for breaking through the Core Formation stage and bottlenecks."

The three of them chatted tenderly in the main hall of the cave, the atmosphere warm and relaxed.

a few days later.

Zhou Yuan told the two women that he was going to the market to buy some medicinal herbs.

He opened the cave's protective barrier, preparing to go outside.

However, when he extended his divine sense and swept it across the protective light barrier at the entrance of the cave, he couldn't help but be slightly taken aback.

—On the barrier, more than ten transmission talismans floated, colorful and shimmering with spiritual light, clearly having been suppressed for some time.

Zhou Yuan took each of the communication talismans into his hands and probed them with his divine sense.

A small portion of them were congratulatory messages from Core Formation stage cultivators living nearby.

The words were polite, but the gist was simply, "I heard that someone in your family has achieved the Core Formation, so I am writing to offer my congratulations."

They also included some small gifts as a congratulatory gesture, as a way to establish goodwill.

The other few were recruitment offers from organizations of different sizes.

Some organizations offered to vacate the positions of guest elders; others offered rare treasures as a hiring fee; and one organization even stated in a communication talisman that it was willing to give a pair of beautiful maids as a token of sincerity to recruit the newly promoted Core Formation cultivators of this cave.

Yuan Yao couldn't help but chuckle as she listened to the contents of the communication talismans: "These people don't even know whether the newly promoted Core Formation cultivators in the cave are male or female, yet they come to recruit..."

Zhou Yuan shook his head slightly and casually put away the communication talismans.

The final transmission talisman.

It was sent by the Six-Linked Palace.

Fifteen years ago, the Miaoyin Sect publicly displayed portraits of its guest elders, and eight years ago, a cultivator from the Six-Linked Hall who had previously served on Kuixing Island and knew Zhou Yuan was on business in Tianxing City.

I recognized Zhou Yuan's portrait at a glance.

Knowing that Master Zhou had settled in Tianxing City, the temple came to contact him, sincerely inviting him to continue refining pills for the Six-Linked Palace and hoping that he could move to Dengxing Island headquarters to take up a position.

The terms are favorable, and everything is negotiable.

Zhou Yuan thought about it for a moment and then agreed.

He agreed to the part about alchemy.

After all, we have been cooperating with Liuliandian for many years, we are familiar with the process, and they have never been late with their dividends.

As long as we stay within Tianxing City, everything is fine.

As for moving to Dengxing Island—he never agreed, and he would never agree.

Although the people of the Six-Halled Palace were unwilling, they were helpless.

This is Tianxing City, not a place where they can run wild.

Zhou Yuan's willingness to continue taking on missions is already a sign of consideration for their past relationship.

Forcing others to do something else might actually force this alchemy master to completely side with another school of thought.

Thus, the new cooperation model was established.

The Six-Linked Palace regularly delivers alchemy materials to the Boundless Cave, and Zhou Yuan accepts the task.

however.

The person who actually practiced alchemy was not Zhou Yuan.

Instead, it transforms into the Zhou Tian (a concept in Chinese astrology).

He inherited Zhou Yuan's alchemy memories, and although he lacked the equipment slots, he still possessed considerable alchemy skills.

The success rate of refining mainstream pills for Core Formation stage cultivators can be consistently maintained at 60% to 70%.

Each time the Six Palaces delivered materials, Zhou Tian would open the furnace in the special alchemy room in his cave and refine the finished product.

Zhou Yuan only needs to take out half of the corresponding amount of pills and deliver them to the Six Palaces.

After the remaining pills are consumed, another 10% of the sales revenue will be collected.

Everything was just as harmonious as it had been back on Kuixing Island.

It's even easier—after all, he's not the one doing the work.

Zhou Yuan put away the last transmission talisman, his expression calm.

The message talisman indicated that the steward of the Six-Hall Palace had also come to offer his congratulations.

"Master Zhou, I heard that your esteemed partner recently succeeded in forming their inner core. Congratulations! Our Six-Linked Hall has prepared a small gift to express our congratulations, which has already been sent to the Myriad Sounds Sect. Please find time to check and receive it, Master Zhou."

"You're well-informed."

Zhou Yuan smiled faintly.

He didn't take the gift to heart. What truly put his mind at ease was the profound depths of the Boundless Cave:

—He himself was at the peak of the mid-stage of Core Formation.

— He transformed into Zhou Tian, ​​at the early stage of Core Formation, and his combat power was no less than that of an ordinary Core Formation cultivator.

—Yuan Yao, newly promoted to the early stage of Core Formation.

Three Core Formation level warriors.

This lineup is enough to establish a formidable force.

Even in Tianxing City, no one would easily provoke a cave dwelling with three Core Formation cultivators, let alone a Grandmaster of Alchemy among them.

Especially since Yuan Yao's formation of her core this time has caused quite a stir, the news must have already spread.

Zhou Yuan didn't linger any longer, left the Boundless Cave, and flew straight to the first level of the market.

His goal was clear: to purchase the medicinal materials for either Tianyuan Dan or Biling Dan.

However, after five days, he had searched dozens of material shops and medicine stores of all sizes in the market, but with little success.

The rare auxiliary ingredients required for the Tianyuan Pill were barely about 80% complete.

However, the core ingredient—a level seven demon beast inner core—was not for sale at all.

The situation is even worse at Bilingdan's place.

Zhou Yuan couldn't find out a single clue about the main ingredient, the demon core of a level seven jade spirit python.

When the shopkeepers heard that he wanted to find this item, they all shook their heads, saying that demon cores of this grade were usually consumed internally by the major powers, either used to cultivate core disciples or reserved for refining pills to break through bottlenecks.

Very few people would put it out for sale.

Zhou Yuan was not surprised.

Level 7 demonic beasts possess combat power comparable to those in the late Core Formation stage, and some with powerful or mutated bloodlines can even contend with those in the early Nascent Soul stage.

Such an inner core is a strategic resource.

How could it be easily found in the market?

He stood amidst the bustling crowds of the market, pondering for a moment.

"Let's go to Miaoyin Gate."

He calculated that the timeframe from when the Myriad Sounds Sect obtained the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo in the original story should be within the last ten years or so.

Go and give them a heads-up beforehand.

If one happens to be there at the right time, being in a good position to benefit from the opportunity would be an unexpected delight.

Even without news of Lei Zhu that day, Miaoyin Sect had been operating for many years and had a wide network of connections.

Perhaps we can find clues about the seventh-level demon core for him.

Zhou Yuan determined the direction and headed towards the temporary base of the Miaoyin Sect in Tianxing City.