I rely on learning to achieve immortality.

After the Earth Fire Formation was set up, Xu Zhou entered a new period of seclusion.

Obtaining the inheritance is still too far away for him. He should calm down, continue to cultivate diligently and wait for his cultivation level to improve before making any plans.

During this period, he first focused on studying the medical tradition.

The inheritance that Ge Liancheng obtained for him was called "Thousand Needle Meridian Opening Method," which, as the name suggests, is a medical secret technique that uses specialized acupuncture to treat the human body.

Xu Zhou skimmed through it and felt that the records of the inheritance were extremely profound and could not be learned in a short time.

Roughly estimated, it would take at least ten years to fully understand it.

After studying it for half a month, Xu Zhou changed his mind.

He discovered that in addition to the sections on the body's mystical organs and acupuncture techniques, the "Thousand Needles Meridian Opening Method" also recorded many methods of administering medicine. Since his foundation in medicine was extremely solid, he could grasp these methods of administration after just one reading, requiring very little time.

In this way, it won't take more than ten years.

"I estimate... it will only take seven or eight years," Xu Zhou murmured to himself.

This period of time is neither too long nor too short.

Xu Zhou hadn't yet figured out where to find other sources of knowledge after that.

However, for now, we can only learn first and worry about the rest later.

While studying and learning the inherited techniques, the [Longevity Skill] was also slowly circulating.

Although the cultivation level increased by autonomous operation was not much, as long as the supply of Yellow Sprout Pills was maintained, Xu Zhou's cultivation level improvement speed was still quite considerable.

Thousand Wood Forest occasionally sends out alchemy tasks, just like in Hundred Herbs Hall.

Xu Zhou only accepts the lowest-paying tasks and takes the least reward. After all, no matter how much the reward, it's impossible to accumulate tens of thousands of dollars in a short time.

Thus, his cultivation and medical skills continued to grow, albeit slowly, but very steadily.

...

This reading took two years.

Throughout the changing seasons in the Thousand Wood Forest, he almost never stepped out of his cave.

On this day, he sat at his desk with paper and pen in his hand, seemingly deducing something. At a crucial moment, he suddenly had a feeling and broke out of his focused state.

He used his internal vision technique, and after a quick scan, his expression brightened with delight.

In his perception, his longevity magic had finally reached its limit and was about to undergo a transformation.

Xu Zhou did not dare to be negligent and sat cross-legged in the quiet room.

Every line of the Longevity Cultivation Technique was already imprinted in his mind. Now, he recalled them one by one and, according to the description of the technique, inhaled and exhaled the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, circulating it throughout his body.

Until a certain moment, the magical power within his body vibrated, and the shackles quietly broke.

call--

Xu Zhou slowly exhaled a breath of stale air and opened his eyes.

"It's a success."

He calmed his spiritual energy, then stood up, feeling as if he had thrown away a heavy object, and his body suddenly felt light.

"Light as a feather, Qi Refining Level Two!"

Xu Zhou couldn't help but feel excited.

Having been a disciple for twenty years, his actual age was over forty, and his cultivation had only just reached the second level of Qi Refining.

Other disciples within the sect, upon reaching this age, are at least at the mid-stage of Qi Refining. Those like Li Zelei, who have made rapid breakthroughs, are now at the sixth level of Qi Refining and are about to break through to the late stage of Qi Refining.

Although the pace was slow, Xu Zhou was very happy.

His foundation in the Longevity Technique was solid, his magical power flowed smoothly, and his aura was even stronger than that of an ordinary second-level Qi Refining cultivator.

In the past two years, he has been studying the "Thousand Needles Meridian Opening Method" and has learned about many cases of hidden injuries caused by practicing the method.

Having seen so much, Xu Zhou understood how wise his decision was to thoroughly understand the cultivation method before practicing. Many cultivators lacked this understanding; rushing into cultivation could easily lead to the accumulation of hidden injuries within the body. Over time, this would eventually cause them to encounter a bottleneck at a certain level.

For most disciples of the Golden Flame Sect, the seventh level of Qi Refining is considered a bottleneck.

There are over ten thousand Qi Refining cultivators within the sect, but only a few hundred have reached the late stage of Qi Refining. Most people are stuck at this bottleneck.

To heal hidden injuries, one needs to purchase a large quantity of Meridian-Opening Pills and take them long-term to resolve them. By the time the hidden injuries are truly healed, one will have passed the age of rapid advancement in cultivation.

Upon comparison, Xu Zhou found no hidden injuries in his body.

This doesn't mean he won't encounter bottlenecks in the future, but it will definitely be much easier for him to break through them than for others.

"The Thousand Needles Meridian Opening Method does record many techniques for resolving hidden injuries, but for some reason, this method has not been promoted in the cultivation world."

Xu Zhou had some doubts, but he quickly understood.

There's a reason why medical skills are stagnant in the cultivation world: even when cultivators are injured, they prefer to figure out how to treat themselves rather than seek out a doctor.

After all, once a cultivator seeks a doctor, they must abandon all physical defenses and allow the doctor to examine them freely. During the treatment, if the doctor harbors malicious intentions, the cultivator will be completely defenseless.

With this layer of suspicion, no matter how powerful the Thousand Needles Meridian Opening Method is, it will be difficult to popularize it.

Xu Zhou sighed and slowly suppressed his aura.

As usual, he manipulated his magic to make his aura weaker, so that it didn't seem special.

After his cultivation stabilized, he returned to his desk and picked up his pen to continue his previous deductions.

While breaking through to a higher realm is a joyous occasion, the current deductions may be more important in comparison.

Two months ago, Xu Zhou read about a medicinal decoction called "Detoxifying Decoction" in the book "Thousand Needles Meridian Opening Method", which immediately caught his attention.

It is said to dispel poison, but it is not a detoxifying medicine; rather, it is a miraculous medicine to clear away erysipelas.

After a cultivator takes ordinary pills, toxicity often accumulates in their body. They must wait for a period of time before taking any more, otherwise it can easily burden their body. The Detoxifying Decoction is a medicinal soup that accelerates the metabolism of toxicity, thus shortening the cultivator's recovery time.

For example, the Huangya Pill that Xu Zhou took could double his cultivation speed within three days, but after the effects wore off, he could not take it continuously for another three days, which meant he had to take one pill within six days.

If the detoxifying decoction can be used to significantly accelerate the metabolism of erysipelas, he can clear the erysipelas more quickly and shorten the cycle of taking Huangyadan.

This will undoubtedly significantly accelerate his cultivation speed.

Xu Zhou naturally wanted to refine this medicinal soup to accelerate his cultivation. Unfortunately, the ancient texts only provided the general idea. To specifically target the detoxification effects of a particular type of elixir, he needed to devise his own formula.

Formulating a prescription is a very time-consuming and labor-intensive process. You may spend a lot of time without getting results, or you may get results but the required medicinal materials are extremely difficult to find.

Most alchemists would have given up at this point, but Xu Zhou was determined to give it a try.

Anyway, as long as he can get into a focused state, even if it takes a year or two to deduce the results, it won't be a loss for him.

After some attempts, his deduction speed was faster than he had imagined.

He had a very solid grasp of the classics of medicine and knew the properties of common drugs like the back of his hand. In this respect, he was far superior to others, so he naturally felt that deduce prescriptions was not too difficult.

Thus, Xu Zhou began a months-long deduction process.

Each medicinal herb was disassembled and reassembled. The properties of the herbs were constantly being distinguished in his mind.

Failure, rejection, start over.

After two months, we finally reached the crucial final point.

Perhaps it was because of the breakthrough that his hearing and vision became clearer, and even his thinking became faster. Xu Zhou broke through several difficulties in this deduction, and the deduction progressed all the way.

Until one moment, he suddenly stopped.

The pen fell from the hand.

A brand new prescription was presented before me.

Xu Zhou stared at the prescription for a long time before finally revealing a satisfied smile.

"It's a success."

After two months of effort, he actually managed to deduce a detoxifying decoction specifically for dispelling the accumulated erysipelas of Huangyadan.

Although the new prescription is still unstable and may contain some redundant ingredients, and may be difficult to refine, Xu Zhou speculates that with his skill level, it should not be difficult to achieve.

However, there is still a small problem.

His gaze was fixed on a particular herb on the prescription.

This is a key ingredient in the Detoxifying Decoction, and it is the essence of the formula.

However, obtaining it is still quite difficult.

After all, this medicinal herb was deduced by him, and the sect rarely used it. It was also extremely troublesome to collect, requiring a knowledgeable alchemist to come in person to obtain it.

Fortunately, this medicinal herb is not hard to find; it can be found in the Thousand Tree Forest.

After thinking for a long time, Xu Zhou decided that it was worth a try.

The Detoxifying Decoction was quite helpful to him; once he took it consistently, it significantly increased his cultivation speed.

If his cultivation level were only at the first level of Qi Refining, he would naturally prefer to cultivate for a few more years rather than step into dangerous places.

However, now that his cultivation has improved, his magical power is no longer depleted after a single use, and he finally has some ability to protect himself.

If that's the case, why not go?

The Thousand Wood Forest isn't particularly dangerous; it only poses a threat to cultivators in the early stages of Qi Refining. If a cultivator prepares in advance, it's difficult for them to be killed.

Xu Zhou had also specifically investigated and found that in the previous thirty years, not a single cultivator had been killed in the Thousand Wood Forest.

If you don't even dare to take this little danger, how can you possibly reach the end of your long journey to immortality?

After making up his mind, Xu Zhou finally emerged from seclusion and began preparations.

In addition to the necessary talismans, he also needs to purchase two magical implements for wielding good fortune.

Finally, and most importantly.

He needs to find a fellow disciple to guide him.

...

Xu Zhou, as an alchemist, was an extremely rare talent in the area. Any request he made would be met with an immediate response.

He simply spread the word that he wanted to find people to go deep into the Thousand Wood Forest together, and immediately four or five groups of people came to offer their services, some even without any reward.

Xu Zhou did not agree immediately. Instead, he met with each of the groups of people one by one, asking about their backgrounds, experiences, and even the areas they had visited.

Finally, a team was selected.

Although the other party said they didn't want to accept payment and only wanted to make friends, Xu Zhou still thoughtfully prepared a bottle of Huangyadan for each person on the day of departure.

From then on, the five members of the team followed Xu Zhou's lead.

"Master Xu, this is your first time visiting Thousand Wood Forest, you should be careful."

The leader of the team was a cultivator named Fang Sheng, who possessed the cultivation level of the fourth stage of Qi Refining and was considered a master in the Thousand Wood Forest encampment. At this moment, he and Xu Zhou walked in the middle of the team, chatting and exchanging ideas.

Xu Zhou was quite humble and asked, "What should I be careful about when coming to this Thousand Wood Forest? Senior Brother, could you please tell me in detail?"

Seeing the generous treatment from Xu Zhou, a wealthy and powerful alchemist, Fang Sheng became somewhat smug and immediately said carefully, "The first thing to watch out for is naturally the wood spirits disguised as ordinary trees. In addition, there are some wild beasts and strange insects in the forest..."

He got so excited that he talked for ages without stopping.

Although Xu Zhou had already done his research beforehand, he listened carefully again, especially since Fang Sheng, as a seasoned veteran of Qianmu Forest, had more valuable experience than the information he had gathered himself.

After Fang Sheng finished speaking, he nodded and said, "Senior Brother truly understands Thousand Wood Forest; it has broadened my horizons."

Fang Sheng was overjoyed to receive such praise.

"Speaking of which, what exactly is Master Xu looking for as he ventures deep into the Thousand Tree Forest?"

He tentatively said, "If Master Xu thinks highly of us, why don't you tell us what you're looking for? Maybe in the future we won't even need you to go and get it for you."

Xu Zhou shook his head and smiled, "It's just to find a medicinal herb. Only alchemists who have studied the relevant knowledge know how to collect it. It's not so easy for others to learn."

"I was being presumptuous," Fang Sheng said.

"It's alright."

"However, Master Xu, what exactly are you looking for? You should tell us in detail. If you don't have a target, it won't be easy for us to find it."

Xu Zhou pondered for a long time before slowly saying, "A top-grade first-level wild spiritual herb, or a hundred-year-old tree spirit that has awakened its spiritual essence. Can you find one of these two?"