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

Chapter 304 Consuming the Creation Pill, Experiencing the Realm of Divine Transformation! Factional Conflict!

"Little Purple————"

After leaving the Fallen Demon Valley and returning to the relatively safe outer perimeter of the Wanling Mountains, Zhou Yuan stopped his escape light in a secluded valley.

He held the lazy, seemingly unsatisfied Purple Sky Beast "Little Purple" on his shoulder in his palm, took out a high-grade wood-attribute spirit stone, and offered it to its mouth.

Little Purple's eyes lit up immediately, and she sniffed the air with her little nose, letting out a cheerful "squeak".

Then it opened its small mouth and unceremoniously snatched the high-grade spirit stone, which was quite precious even to a Nascent Soul cultivator, and chewed it like a candy, making "crunch crunch" sounds.

Green spiritual light wafted from the corner of its mouth, only to be greedily absorbed back into it.

He looked completely satisfied.

"Alright, little one, you've eaten enough, time to get back to work."

Zhou Yuan gently communicated with Xiao Zi using his divine sense, while simultaneously transmitting a clear divine map into its little head.

It is a rough outline of the terrain of the inner valley of Fallen Demon Valley and some surrounding areas, with several areas marked as potentially containing hidden secret realms.

"For the next period of time, you will be operating on your own deep within the Fallen Demon Valley. Do not take the passage with the Arctic Primal Light. Instead, find the spatial rifts elsewhere and explore them one by one. Your task is to find any special areas that may exist, connected to or hidden by spatial rifts —"

Xiao Zi understood what Zhou Yuan meant.

It nodded its little head and rubbed against Zhou Yuan's fingers to show that it understood.

It has a natural affinity and sensitivity to spatial rifts, and as long as they are not extremely unstable and destructive rifts, it can find a relatively safe path to traverse.

It would be most suitable to let it explore those hidden spatial rift areas that are difficult for human cultivators to reach and detect with their divine sense.

Moreover, its small size and high speed make it ideal for performing this "treasure-hunting mouse" task.

Having settled Xiao Zi, Zhou Yuan didn't linger any longer. He rode his escape light and returned to the Ascension Sect.

A few days later, Zhou Yuan returned safely to Xingyi Mountain and landed directly on Shengxian Peak.

-

They then opened the barrier and entered the depths of the cave where the Spirit Eye Spring was located.

"Zhou Yu is back!"

"My husband!"

"Master!"

Sensing Zhou Yuan's presence, Yuan Yao, Yan Li, Zi Ling, Mei Ning, and Ouyang Qing, who was meditating by the Spirit Eye Spring, all came out to greet him with joy.

Seeing that Zhou Yuan was safe and sound, the girls finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The Fallen Demon Valley has a terrible reputation, and even if one has confidence in Zhou Yuan, worries are inevitable.

"The trip went fairly smoothly."

Zhou Yuan smiled and reassured the women, his gaze sweeping over Yuan Yao's aura, which had already stabilized at the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm, and a look of satisfaction appeared in his eyes.

"Yao Mei has a solid foundation, very good."

"My husband, you've worked hard," Yuan Yao said softly, her beautiful eyes full of concern.

"Brother Zhou, did you have any thrilling or exciting experiences on your trip to the Fallen Demon Valley?"

Yanli pressed for more information.

Zhou Yuan smiled slightly, and without keeping him in suspense, he took out the strange fruits that were fiery red and translucent, shaped like candles, and with a faint red glow at the top. They were the Spirit Candle Fruits.

"Spirit Candle Fruit! And there are six of them!"

Zi Ling's beautiful eyes lit up. She was the most knowledgeable about alchemy among the girls, and she recognized the item at a glance. Her voice was filled with surprise.

"Indeed, this is the main ingredient for refining the 'Creation Pill,' the Spirit Candle Fruit."

Zhou Yuan nodded, "We were lucky to find six. Combined with the other auxiliary ingredients we prepared beforehand, that's enough to start refining pills."

"Very good!"

Yanli, Mei Ning, and Ouyang Qing also showed joy on their faces.

They all already knew the wonderful uses of the "Creation Pill," and if they could experience the mysteries of the next realm in advance, it would undoubtedly be a great help to them when they formed their Nascent Souls in the future.

"I'll go and start refining the pills now. This pill-refining process is a bit special; it needs to be completed in one go," Zhou Yuan said, putting away the jade box and instructing the women.

"Go, my husband!" the women replied in unison, knowing that this matter was of great importance.

Zhou Yuan arrived at the most well-equipped, top-tier alchemy room deep within the cave.

After setting up several layers of soundproofing and spiritual energy-isolating barriers, he sat cross-legged on the futon in front of the alchemy furnace, his expression turning solemn.

A thought crossed my mind.

The first seven slots of the equipment bar were instantly replaced with seven top-tier auxiliary items closely related to alchemy: "Purple Heart Alchemy Furnace!"

"The Jade Slip of the Dao of Alchemy!"

"Fire Marrow Essence!"

"The Herbal Furnace!"

"The Jade Slip of the Dao of Alchemy!"

"Ancient elixir recipe!"

"A Comprehensive Record of Alchemy by Ancient Cultivators!"

With the support of seven top-grade auxiliary items, coupled with Zhou Yuan's already mastered alchemy skills and powerful divine sense control, the success rate of this alchemy has reached a new level.

He took a deep breath and cleared his mind.

The furnace was slowly heated by the infant fire.

Then, following a specific order and temperature, he put the prepared "spirit candle fruit" and other rare auxiliary medicines into the alchemy furnace.

His divine sense, as fine as silk, meticulously controlled the fusion, transformation, and sublimation of every bit of medicinal power within the furnace.

Time flowed slowly in the silent alchemy room, with only the steady burning of the earth fire and the subtle sound of the medicinal liquid churning inside the furnace.

One day later.

"Buzz—!"

The alchemy furnace trembled slightly, and the aroma emanating from the gaps in the furnace lid was no longer a mixture of medicinal herbs, but a unique fragrance that was refreshing, cleansing the soul, and making one feel as if they were floating on air!

A divine light shone through the cracks in the furnace lid, illuminating the entire alchemy room in a hazy, holy light.

A glint flashed in Zhou Yuan's eyes, his hand seals changed, and he uttered a low shout: "Withdraw!"

The furnace lid flew up on its own, and a perfectly round pill, milky white, the size of a longan, with natural cloud patterns flowing on its surface and shimmering with spiritual light, flew into Zhou Yuan's hand as if it possessed a spirit.

It worked!

However, the elixir had just been acquired.

Zhou Yuan keenly sensed that the spirituality and medicinal power of the pills in the bottle seemed to be slowly flowing away and dissipating at a barely perceptible but real speed!

At this rate, it will probably take at most three days for this precious Creation Pill to lose all its medicinal power, turning into an ordinary object with no further effect.

"As the ancient texts describe, the Creation Pill seizes the power of heaven and earth, allowing one to glimpse future realms; it is a heaven-defying treasure. Once formed, without special methods to preserve it, its medicinal power cannot last long and will dissipate within three days."

Zhou Yuan understood and was not surprised.

This is one of the reasons why, despite its miraculous effects, the Creation Pill could not be passed down and is extremely rare.

But he has an equipment slot!

"equipment!"

Zhou Yuan silently recited the name of the newly refined Creation Pill in his hand, which had already appeared in the invisible space of his consciousness.

In the "equipment slot".

The moment the elixir was "equipped," a sudden change occurred!

Zhou Yuan felt a slight tremor in his sea of ​​consciousness, and a strange, indescribable torrent of insights surged into his mind out of nowhere!

It wasn't a specific cultivation technique or a clear law of the Dao; it was more like a vague "feeling" and "cognition" about a higher realm!

It was as if a corner of a previously blurry windowpane had been gently pierced, allowing some light and scenery from a higher vantage point to shine through.

His ability to operate his own magical power, his perception of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and even his understanding of the "Nascent Soul" realm itself all seemed to have undergone a subtle yet real improvement and optimization!

"This is----"

Zhou Yuan's heart stirred, and he immediately brought up the attribute panel that only he could see.

[Equipment Slot 2: Creation Pill]

[Effect: Increases the success rate of alchemy and the quality of pills; permanently grants the "Advanced Understanding of the Next Minor Realm" status, increasing the probability of breaking through the bottleneck of the next minor realm and accumulating insights!]

"Haha! I didn't know it had such a miraculous effect!"

After reading the description, Zhou Yuan was overjoyed and almost burst out laughing!

He originally intended to use the equipment slots to permanently preserve the medicinal power of the Creation Pill.

In order to avoid wasting it, I never expected that equipping the Creation Pill would produce such an abnormal and continuous buff effect!

Although the effect of "gaining a preliminary understanding of the next minor realm" is far less intense than directly consuming a complete Creation Pill.

But its advantage lies in its "long-term acquisition", "permanent existence", and "stackability"!

Moreover, it can slightly increase the probability of breaking through bottlenecks and the speed of accumulating insights!

What does this mean?

This means that from this moment on, until he replaces this equipment, he will be in a state of "slightly cheating" during training!

At all times, one can have a clearer "perspective" than other cultivators of the same level to observe, comprehend, and approach the next minor realm!

Although the insights may be subtle, they accumulate over time, like water dripping on a stone, and the benefits they bring, especially in helping to break through those difficult bottlenecks, will be immeasurable!

This is a wonderful surprise and another amazing use of the equipment slot!

"Continue refining pills! Refine all the remaining Spirit Candle Fruits into Creation Pills!" Zhou Yuan suppressed his excitement and, without hesitation, opened the furnace again.

Several days later, with the powerful assistance of the equipment slots and Zhou Yuan's superb skills...

The remaining five Spirit Candle Fruits were successfully refined into five Creation Pills.

Including the initial one, he now has a total of six Creation Pills in his hands.

Without hesitation, he put all the newly refined Creation Pills into his equipment slot.

"The combined effect of several stripped-down versions—the result is indeed impressive?"

Zhou Yuan was very satisfied after carefully considering it.

After properly disposing of the Creation Pill, Zhou Yuan took out the two medicine bottles he had obtained from the remains of the ancient cultivator in the lava cave.

Upon opening the bottle, a rich medicinal aroma wafted out, revealing a pill the size of a longan and of a different color inside.

One was crimson like blood, the other emerald green, both radiating inner brilliance, clearly not ordinary items.

He then placed the two pills into the last slot of his equipment inventory, and the inventory immediately sent a feedback message:

【Crimson Sun Fusion Pill】: An ancient elixir, made primarily from ten-thousand-year-old Crimson Sun Fruit, supplemented with various rare fire-attribute spiritual herbs. When consumed by Nascent Soul stage cultivators, it can significantly enhance their fire-attribute cultivation techniques, temper their Nascent Soul, and strengthen their origin. Its medicinal properties are potent; it requires the assistance of cold-attribute cultivation techniques or treasures for refinement.

[Mysterious Origin Condensing Pill]: An ancient elixir, made primarily from deep-sea Mysterious Origin Pearls, supplemented with various rare water-attribute spiritual herbs. When taken by Nascent Soul stage cultivators, it can stabilize the Nascent Soul, nourish the spirit, purify magical power, and assist in breaking through minor realm bottlenecks. The medicine is mild and easily absorbed.

"Excellent!" Zhou Yuan's eyes gleamed even brighter. These two pills were actually top-grade pills capable of directly boosting one's Nascent Soul stage cultivation!

In particular, the "Mysterious Origin Condensing Infant Pill" has an auxiliary effect on breaking through bottlenecks, which is perfect for him!

With these two ancient pills, plus the many spiritual pills he had refined and accumulated for improving his cultivation, he was able to achieve his goal.

And the continuous "enlightenment blessing" provided by those Creation Pills, as well as this giant spiritual spring that can be called a sacred place for cultivation—

Zhou Yuan was confident that he would hone his cultivation to the peak of the mid-Nascent Soul stage within the next few decades and attempt to break through to the late-stage realm that countless cultivators dreamed of!

"However, before that, let's experience the full effects of the 'Creation Pill'!"

After a moment's thought, Zhou Yuan "unloaded" a Creation Pill from his equipment inventory.

That hazy state of understanding seemed to have weakened slightly, but it didn't really matter.

He sat cross-legged, adjusted his breathing, and brought himself to his optimal state.

Then, without hesitation, he put the milky white Creation Pill with flowing cloud patterns into his mouth.

The pill melted instantly upon entering the mouth, transforming into a cool yet powerful warm current that surged into every part of the body. Furthermore, a strange force rushed straight into the Purple Mansion and Sea of ​​Consciousness!

"Buzz—!"

Zhou Yuan felt a jolt in his mind.

The already incredibly powerful divine sense, under the catalysis of this medicinal power, began to grow and expand wildly and uncontrollably at an astonishing speed!

In just a short while, he felt that the range of his divine sense had broken through a limit, easily reaching thousands of miles away!

Within a thousand miles, every rustle of grass and every whisper of wind is vividly reflected in my heart.

Before the feeling of a surge in spiritual power had subsided, the surrounding environment suddenly began to distort and change.

The stone walls, alchemy furnace, and futon of the secret chamber—all the physical objects—were like reflections in water tossed with pebbles, rippling and blurring, eventually transforming into a dazzling, boundless silver light that extended infinitely in all directions.

He appeared in a strange world made entirely of silver light.

There are no directions, no concepts of time and space, only endless light and the flowing rhythm of the "Tao".

The next moment, it was as if a sudden inspiration struck, or as if he had rehearsed it a thousand times.

With a slight thought, he raised his hand and gently pressed it against the "void" in front of him.

"boom--!"

A gigantic azure hand, formed entirely from pure spiritual energy and covered with profound azure runes, as large as the sky and thousands of feet in diameter, appeared out of thin air. With a terrifying power that could suppress the eight wastelands and crush stars, it slowly pressed down into the depths of the endless silver light!

Wherever the palm strike passed, the silver light dissipated, as if even this strange space was about to be shattered by this palm!

With another thought, without using the Wind and Thunder Wings on his back, his figure vanished from the spot and instantly appeared in another "void" two hundred feet away. He even felt that he could go even further if he wanted to!

It was as if the distance in space could be compressed and traversed at will in front of him at this moment.

"Sword, come!"

A silent whisper echoed in his heart. He pointed his fingers like a sword and casually slashed at the void.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh—!!"

It wasn't like the Myriad Swords Technique where spiritual energy transformed into swords; it seemed to be directly composed of the power of heaven and earth!

A brilliant golden sword light, refined to its extreme and seemingly capable of cleaving through the barriers of the world, burst forth from his fingertips and vanished in a flash.

It doesn't stop there.

His mind started racing again.

Countless golden points of light suddenly lit up the sky above this silver world, densely packed, like an inverted Milky Way in the summer night.

Upon closer inspection, each of those points of light is a golden flying sword that is as solid as a solid object and incomparably sharp!

The number is far more than 100,000.

"go."

A single word spoken softly.

"Zheng—!!!"

Hundreds of thousands of golden swords rang out in unison, their sound shaking the entire world!

The next moment, like the Milky Way turning upside down, or the starry sky collapsing, endless golden sword light transformed into a destructive metal tidal wave, pouring down in the direction his mind pointed!

Wherever it passed, the silver light vanished, and nothing remained! The terrifying power that seemed capable of destroying everything in its path, even an entire world, instilled in Zhou Yuan a tremor from the depths of his soul, along with—a sense of overwhelming power to control everything!

Is this the power of a higher realm? Moving mountains and overturning seas, summoning wind and rain, teleporting space, and having ten thousand swords converge upon it—

It all depends on a single thought!

However, this invincible feeling, as if one had transformed into a god and was in control of the heavens, along with the clear "memory," did not last long.

Just moments later, Zhou Yuan felt that the immense power and clear understanding that filled every corner of his soul and "body" began to recede and go far away, like the receding tide.

The endless silver light around them began to fade, shrink, and recombine.

The scene before my eyes changed once again.

When he could "see" his surroundings again, he was back in that familiar, restricted alchemy chamber.

The alchemy furnace stood silently, the earth fire burning slowly, and a faint fragrance of elixirs lingered in the air. The breathtaking, almost divine experience of just moments before seemed like nothing more than a brief and bizarre dream.

Zhou Yuan slowly opened his eyes, a glint of silver light flashing within them before he regained his composure. He carefully contemplated everything that had just occurred in the "illusion."

"This Creation Pill is indeed incredibly miraculous."

He muttered to himself.

With his current mastery of the fifth level of the Great Evolution Technique and his spiritual strength far exceeding that of his peers, he was still powerless to resist when he took the pill, and his spiritual sense collapsed, falling into the incredibly realistic "next realm experience illusion" constructed by the medicinal power.

In the illusion he had just experienced, he became a completely different and powerful being, undergoing all sorts of incredible battles, insights, and mastery of power.

Those great supernatural powers that could move mountains and overturn seas, summon wind and rain, and cleave the void with swords were used as instinctively, without any hesitation.

But now, upon careful reflection, I can't recall a single word of the specific techniques, incantations, or energy circulation routes used to unleash those supernatural powers; everything is a blur, as if shrouded in a thick fog.

Only some of the deeper insights into "the spiritual power of heaven and earth" and the vague touches on "space" in the middle...

His intuitive understanding of the "essence of power" and his profound experience of the mysterious "state" of the higher realm after "Nascent Soul" and "Deity Transformation" were like a brand, firmly imprinted deep into his soul.

Although these insights could not directly enhance his magical power, nor could they allow him to immediately learn those earth-shattering supernatural abilities.

But it was like a dim guiding light illuminating the path ahead of him.

This gave him a vague but correct "concept" and "feeling" of what the "next realm" would be like.

This will be of immeasurable help in understanding one's own path when breaking through bottlenecks in the future.

It's like getting a taste of the Nascent Soul realm in advance, so when you actually face that insurmountable barrier in the future, the invisible obstacles will naturally be smaller.

After digesting the insights gained from this "illusion," Zhou Yuan stood up, pushed open the door, and walked out of the alchemy room.

Instead of immediately returning to his meditation room to cultivate, he strolled out of his cave and arrived at the summit of Ascension Peak.

It was dawn, and the eastern sky was just beginning to lighten. A cool mountain breeze carried the fresh scents of grass, trees, and springs.

In the distance, the sea of ​​clouds churned and the first rays of dawn appeared, illuminating the entire Xingyi Mountain Range like a fairyland.

Zhou Yuan stood atop the summit, hands clasped behind his back, eyes closed. He no longer consciously circulated his cultivation technique, nor did he use his divine sense to probe the surroundings.

He simply stood there quietly, letting the mountain breeze caress his robes, feeling the morning dew, listening to the faint chirping of birds in the distance and the babbling of the nearby spring, breathing in the abundant and vibrant spiritual energy in the air.

His mind seemed to slowly merge with the mountain peaks beneath his feet, the surrounding mountains, the sky above, the gentle breeze, and the flowing spiritual energy—all becoming one.

Those vague insights about higher realms that he had just gained from the illusion of the Creation Pill seemed to melt away like ice and snow in this state of communion with heaven and man. They quietly merged, permeated, and settled with his original cultivation experience and understanding of the Dao.

He just stood there.

Sunrise and sunset, clouds drift and gather.

One stop lasted for more than half a month.

During this period, his personally taught disciple Ouyang Qing visited the vicinity of Shengxian Peak.

It seems there's something to report.

But when she saw the figure on the summit that seemed to blend into the mountains and rivers, and sensed the mysterious and unfathomable aura emanating from her master, she wisely refrained from going forward to disturb him.

He simply bowed respectfully and quietly withdrew, deciding to come back in a few days.

Until one afternoon two months later.

Ouyang Qing arrived at the summit of Shengxian Peak once again.

This time, she did not approach immediately. Instead, she sat down quietly on a blue stone a hundred feet away from Zhou Yuan, as if in meditation, waiting silently with a respectful expression.

Three days later, at dusk.

The afterglow of the setting sun dyed the clouds on the horizon golden red, and also gilded the figure that had been standing still on the peak for a long time with a warm glow.

Zhou Yuan's eyelashes trembled slightly.

The next moment, he slowly opened his eyes.

There was no gleam in his eyes.

There was no intimidating or oppressive force.

There was only a calm and deep pool, like an ancient well, which seemed to reflect the clouds and rosy glow of the entire sky.

The mysterious aura that had been subtly merging with the heavens and earth around him receded into his body like a tide, leaving not a trace.

At this moment, he looked like a mortal without any magical power.

She has a gentle and peaceful temperament.

It's like returning to simplicity and authenticity.

He turned his head slightly, his gaze falling on Ouyang Qing, who was sitting quietly waiting ten feet away.

"Qing'er, is something the matter?"