The story begins with the bride marrying off her daughter, and the woman, at the age of one hundred,

The moon is bright and the stars are sparse.

The bright moonlight shines on the ancient, dense trees.

It also illuminates the winding paths through the woods.

In front of the Sutra Repository.

Moonlight illuminated Changshou's gray robe.

The peach wood cane, which he had long since polished to a patina, reflected the moonlight, elevating this ordinary cane to a higher level.

Chang Shou personally saw Ru Chang off at the door.

Only after the pale-faced figure turned a corner and disappeared from sight did Changshou turn around and close the door.

Inside the house, candlelight cast shadows.

The two baby raccoons were fast asleep.

The round-faced, plump chicken, like a mother fox, tucked her chicks under the downy feathers of her wings.

Good news, the babies have gained a mother.

Even better news: this woman is a round-faced woman.

Changshou sat in front of the candlelight, took a deep breath, and carefully opened the wooden box, inside which were three porcelain bottles.

The largest porcelain bottle had a note attached to it that read "Spirit Dispersing Pill." Inside were fifty poison pills, the same ones he had used when exterminating the rats, twice the number he had consumed.

Below the level of immortals, it is difficult to resist.

A medium-sized porcelain bottle, also labeled with the words "Replenishing Vitality Pill," contains ten elixirs that can nourish the body and strengthen its foundation.

Ten spirit pills can save Changshou ten months of arduous cultivation, reducing the obstacles he faces in his attempt to break through to the Human Immortal Dao Fruit, since time is what he lacks most.

The smallest porcelain bottle was labeled "Huangya Dan." Staring at these three words, Chang Shou smiled broadly, adding another layer of wrinkles to the corners of his eyes and cheeks.

I served as a steward in the library for a year.

Through the changing seasons, they turned the pages of scriptures and read the books.

Chang Shouzao is no longer the same as before; his knowledge and experience have increased many times over compared to when he was a novice cultivator.

This is good stuff!

There are two types of alchemy, one internal and one external.

The internal alchemy method uses the microcosm as a furnace to refine oneself, achieve harmony between heaven and man, and prolong life.

External alchemy uses the universe as its furnace and spiritual objects to achieve harmony between heaven and man, thus extending blessings and longevity.

Internal alchemy and external alchemy are not superior or inferior to each other; they are simply different methods of cultivation. In reality, they complement each other and lead to the same goal through different paths.

Although the two immortals had their own focuses, they also learned from each other. Cultivation methods were merely means and processes; immortality was the ultimate goal.

---

Huangyadan also comes in two varieties.

One type is the yellow sprout of Neidan (internal alchemy).

It is precisely the substance that a ghost immortal needs to condense to become a human immortal.

One type is the yellow sprout of external alchemy.

The Supreme Dao Ancestor is the ancestor of external alchemy.

Later immortals used his classification as a basis to divide external alchemy into three grades and nine levels, with the first grade of nine levels being the highest and the third grade of one level being the lowest.

The first to the third stage is the third grade of spiritual pill.

From the fourth to the sixth stage, it becomes a second-grade divine pill.

Seven cycles to nine cycles result in a first-grade golden elixir.

Huangya Dan is a three-stage elixir.

It is more precious than the Spirit Dispersing Pill and the Vitality Replenishing Pill.

Yellow sprouts transform into immortal bones, eternally existing with heaven and earth.

Huangyadan has extraordinary effects. It can treat all kinds of deficiencies and injuries, cure the five types of fatigue and seven types of injuries, make up for congenital deficiencies, and long-term use can have a transformative effect.

Chang Shou had read about this in "One Hundred Biographies of Human Immortals". He learned that the immortals Fang Hui from the Yao and Shun period, Qiu Sheng from the end of the Shang Dynasty, and Lu Tong from the Chu Kingdom all attained immortality by consuming various elixirs over a long period of time, extending their lives by hundreds of years and living a carefree life.

This includes Huangyadan.

Those who cultivate the Tao can take Huangya Dan (a type of medicinal pill) for a long period of time, one pill per month, without changing the method for years. After nine years, they may encounter an opportunity to become human immortals.

If you slack off for even a month, all your previous efforts will be wasted, and you'll have to start all over again.

To achieve immortality through external alchemy, one needs not only to cultivate into a ghost immortal and successfully establish a foundation, but also substantial financial resources, superb alchemy skills, and exquisite spiritual cultivation techniques.

Most cultivators who follow this path squander their fortunes and achieve nothing. In the end, they either succeed in becoming ghost immortals, become obsessed and turn into evil ghosts, or fail the trials and their souls are scattered.

Chang Shou was clear about his own worth, understood his own limitations, and knew his own strengths and weaknesses.

Therefore, he chose to focus on internal alchemy and supplement it with external alchemy. In this way, he could maximize the accumulation of great power within himself and also utilize his spiritual cultivation techniques to increase his success rate in obtaining the Dao fruit of human immortality before his death, achieving multiple benefits in one fell swoop.

The Bodhi Patriarch possessed profound spiritual attainments and extensive knowledge.

Although he didn't pass on the true teachings during his sermons, and the ten thousand volumes in the library were insignificant, they were just superficial things to him, but extremely precious to the outside world.

These are things that can only be encountered by chance and cannot be sought after.

Any one of these schools is enough to create a lineage of Dao.

Only those who are destined to receive it can obtain it.

Even common goods can be transformed by the patriarch into something new and timeless, turning them into top-tier items of the same level.

This is the source of Changshou's confidence in its ability to embrace diverse ideas.

Thinking of this, he was filled with gratitude for his ancestor.

The lamp wick flickered, making the candlelight even brighter.

Chang Shou pulled his wandering thoughts back to the porcelain bottle containing Huangyadan.

One Yellow Sprout Pill is equivalent to four months of arduous cultivation. There are five Yellow Sprout Pills in the bottle. Although the quantity is small, it can save him two years of arduous cultivation.

Staring at the Yellow Sprout Pill, Chang Shou thought of the Snow White Spirit Pill, which was of the same grade.

White Snow and Yellow Bud, two essences from the same family.

Yellow sprouts carry kidney water, white snow carries heart fire.

Ghost immortals are pure Yin, human immortals are Yin and Yang, earth immortals are Kun Yin, divine immortals are Qian Yang, and celestial immortals are pure Yang.

To achieve immortality, besides internal cultivation, he needs auxiliary elixirs, including the Yellow Sprout Elixir and the Snow White Elixir.

Fortunately, when the elixir of immortality is condensed in the future, it will capture Kan and fill Li, achieving harmony between water and fire.

The Huangyadan has been obtained.

He believed Bai Xuedan shouldn't be far off.

At the very least, he had developed a better relationship with Ru Chang, which made obtaining the Snow White Elixir much easier.

---

Keep the yellow bud pills safe.

Chang Shou took out a Replenishing Yuan Pill.

After swallowing the elixir, he carefully sensed its energy, circulated his Qi-absorbing technique, and mobilized his magical power to refine the elixir.

The effect is immediate.

As his vital energy increased, his aged body was nourished, and his bark-like face gained a rosy glow, with even the wrinkles diminishing.

Midnight.

Chang Shou exhaled a breath of stale air.

He got up from his bed, went outside, sat cross-legged, and drew in the moonlight to refine his yin and replenish his yang.

Morning, evening, midnight!

These are the three periods of his spiritual practice.

Chang Shou was already used to it and was very skilled at it.

After finishing his cultivation, he returned to his room to rest.

Time flies, and a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

Maintain the rhythm of one pill every three days.

On this day, Chang Shou had just finished refining and digesting the last Replenishing Spirit Pill and was exhaling a breath of turbid air when he suddenly heard familiar footsteps.

He laughed upon hearing the sound, got up, and left the room.

Sure enough, a golden-haired monkey dressed in a Taoist robe hopped and leaped over.

It was Sun Wukong.

"You monkey, you're usually chopping wood on the back mountain at this time. What brings you here now?"

Chang Shou's tone couldn't hide his friendliness and curiosity.

The monkey scratched its armpit and chuckled.

"A month ago, during a short lecture by the Patriarch, Brother Zhenli and Brother Ruchang reported the matter of Huangfeng Ridge to the Patriarch, and the Patriarch agreed to contact Brother Guangzhi."

That senior brother has already arrived at Huangfeng Ridge.

Senior Brother Zhenli specifically sent me to invite you to go for a walk at Huangfeng Ridge together.

Chang Shou immediately agreed.

He got up to leave, but suddenly remembered something, turned back into the house, and nudged the round-faced fat chicken that was fast asleep with his cane. Amid the fat chicken's dissatisfied grumbling, Changshou summoned Sun Wukong and ordered him to pick up the two sleeping cubs and go out together.

The babies are a month old now, so we can go back to visit them.

It's estimated that the matter of the mountain fox seeking refuge has been resolved.