I run a casino in the immortal realm.

With a wave of her hand, Zhao Ling summoned hundreds of precious third-tier spiritual herbs that floated in mid-air.

These are the main ingredients for refining the third-tier "Condensing Essence Pill" and "Nourishing Spirit Pill".

The Condensing Essence Pill is a top-grade spiritual medicine for Foundation Establishment cultivators to improve their cultivation, while the Nourishing Spirit Pill is even rarer, specifically used to nourish and strengthen a cultivator's spiritual consciousness.

In the world of cultivation, any pill that involves divine consciousness becomes exponentially more difficult to refine. A slight mistake can cause the furnace to explode, or even backfire on the alchemist's mind.

But in Zhao Ling's eyes, these insurmountable barriers that ordinary people see are merely steps that need to be crossed.

"rise!"

She formed a hand seal, and the Earth Core Flame instantly transformed into dozens of fire snakes, precisely engulfing the spiritual herbs in mid-air.

Even a regular alchemist, or even a third-tier high-grade alchemist, would have to refine each pill individually and carefully remove impurities when making pills of this level.

But Zhao Ling was different. With Zheng Yifei's almost unlimited financial support, she had gone through thousands of trials and errors over the years.

The vast amount of resources she possessed, coupled with her unparalleled talent in alchemy, gave her an intimate knowledge of the medicinal properties, melting points, and fusion reactions of various spiritual herbs, to the point that it had become an almost instinctive muscle memory.

The immense divine sense, like countless spider webs, instantly pierced into every clump of medicinal liquid enveloped in flames.

Impurities are instantly vaporized, leaving only the purest medicinal essence.

"melt!"

Zhao Lingjiao shouted, and dozens of colorful medicinal essences collided together inside the alchemy furnace.

The violent clash of spiritual energy within the alchemy furnace produced a series of muffled thunderous sounds, causing the entire third-grade top-quality alchemy furnace to tremble slightly.

Zhao Ling remained unfazed, her ten fingers moving like butterflies flitting among flowers as she manipulated fire control techniques, forcefully kneading and fusing the raging medicinal liquid with her divine sense and flames.

Two hours later, the tremors inside the alchemy furnace subsided, replaced by an intensely rich and unique fragrance.

"open!"

The furnace lid was blown off, and ten round, solidified pills shot out.

Zhao Ling stared intently, her breathing quickening slightly. Of these ten Qi Condensation Pills, five had clearly defined pill patterns on their surfaces, radiating a chilling aura of spiritual energy!

"100% success rate for perfect pills... 50% success rate for top-grade pills!"

Zhao Ling looked at the pills in the jade bottle and murmured to herself.

If this gets out, it will cause a massive earthquake in the entire Xuantian Sect, no, in the entire Southern Wilderness cultivation world!

It should be noted that, according to the generally accepted common sense of alchemy in the cultivation world, a success rate of 30% to 40% for third-tier pills is already considered that of an excellent alchemist.

If it can reach 60%, then it is definitely a treasure that is offered to the major sects.

As for top-grade pills? They can't be refined through technique at all; it all depends on luck and fate!

An ordinary alchemist might only manage to produce one or two top-grade pills with pill patterns after opening their furnace a hundred times, which would be enough to be the grand finale item at an auction house.

Now, Zhao Ling can produce 100% perfect pills in every batch, and the rate of top-grade pills is consistently at a terrifying 50%!

Such heaven-defying methods would shock even outsiders, let alone Zhao Ling's personal master in the Xuan Tian Sect's Spirit Pill Pavilion, that renowned fifth-level alchemy master. If he witnessed this scene, he would probably be so shocked that his jaw would drop to the ground, and he might even doubt whether his hundreds of years of alchemy cultivation had gone to waste.

But Zhao Ling was not blinded by this great achievement.

Looking at the top-grade pill in her hand, which radiated a captivating luster, the words Zheng Yifei had spoken to her late one night came to mind.

"Ling'er, remember this: in the dog-eat-dog world of cultivation, if a genius doesn't grow up, he'll just be prey and a tool in the eyes of others."

Zheng Yifei was sitting in the armchair at the time, his eyes deep and cold. "Your talent for alchemy is too terrifying. Once exposed, the higher-ups of the Xuantian Sect will definitely not treat you like a treasure. Instead, they will put you under house arrest and turn you into a ruthless machine that refines pills for them day and night."

Some Nascent Soul stage monsters might even use soul-searching techniques to place restrictions on you, all in an attempt to possess you exclusively!

"Therefore, keeping a low profile is the best way to protect yourself."

The wood is beautiful in the forest, and the wind will destroy it.

In the Xuantian Sect, you only need to demonstrate a level of skill that is "excellent but not excessively monstrous".

Don't try to stand out in the sect, and don't bother competing for those so-called sect resources.

"We have mirages, and I have no shortage of spirit stones. You need as many materials as you need, and I'll just provide them!"

"You have only one goal: to gain your master's approval, cultivate safely under the protection of the Spirit Pill Pavilion, and then use the resources I give you to forcefully push your cultivation to the Golden Core stage and your alchemy skills to the fourth level!"

Only when you reach that level will you truly possess the chessboard to control your own destiny.

Zheng Yifei's words echoed in Zhao Ling's mind like the resounding tones of a great bell.

"Brother Fei, don't worry, Ling'er knows what to do."

Zhao Ling took a deep breath, put the jade bottle away, and her eyes returned to their usual calm and serene state.

Within the sect, whenever she reported to her master, she only presented 30% of the pills that had been successfully formed, and she never revealed any of the top-grade pills.

All the light was carefully hidden by her in this dark, underground alchemy room.

Over the next ten days, Zhao Ling went completely mad.

She worked tirelessly, day and night, keeping the furnace running.

When hungry, swallow the fasting pill; when spiritual energy is depleted, chew the qi-restoring pill; when mentally exhausted, hold the soul-nourishing wood in your mouth.

This kind of high-intensity alchemy is itself an extremely cruel method of cultivation.

As Zhao Ling's spiritual energy was repeatedly drained and replenished, the spiritual energy within her body became increasingly solid, and her cultivation level steadily advanced towards the peak of Foundation Establishment without her even realizing it.

Ten days later.

When the five million low-grade spirit stones and the mountain of spirit herbs that Tie Feng had sent were completely consumed, hundreds of specially made jade bottles were neatly arranged in front of Zhao Ling.

This place is filled with third-tier Qi Condensation Pills and third-tier Spirit Nourishing Pills, more than half of which are top-grade pills with pill patterns!

This is a strategic resource that would drive any cultivation family or even a small sect crazy.

Zhao Ling exhaled a long breath, her originally rosy cheeks now showing a sickly pallor, but her beautiful eyes shone with an astonishing brightness.

She carefully categorized all the jade bottles and placed them into a high-grade storage bag, then removed the array from the secret room and went into the bathroom.

After washing away the medicinal scent and fatigue, Zhao Ling changed into a set of dark and rough clothing worn by a rogue cultivator.

She took out a high-grade human skin mask that Zheng Yifei had given her years ago and carefully applied it to her face.

Before long, the pure and clever alchemy genius disappeared, replaced by an ordinary-looking middle-aged female cultivator who could be easily lost in a crowd.

She then activated the Breath Concealment Technique, suppressing her cultivation level to the eighth level of Qi Refining.

After confirming that there were no flaws, Zhao Ling quietly left the dojo and blended into the bustling crowd of Xuantian Market.

Half an hour later, on the edge of Xuantian Market, there was an inconspicuous spirit tea shop.

Zhao Ling walked into the innermost private room on the second floor with ease.

Inside the private room, Tie Feng, disguised as a sallow-faced man, sat quietly at the table, sipping tea.

Upon seeing Zhao Ling enter, Tie Feng immediately put down his teacup and activated the isolation array and the restriction against divine sense probing in the private room.

"Ling'er, you've worked hard."

Tie Feng looked at Zhao Ling's slightly tired eyes, and a trace of heartache flashed in his eyes.

He knew that consuming five million spirit stones worth of spiritual materials in ten days was a hellish ordeal for a Foundation Establishment cultivator.