I run a casino in the immortal realm.

Zhao Ling did not leave the Earth Fire Spirit Cave.

She took two pills to restore her spiritual power, closed her eyes and meditated for half a day to readjust her condition to its peak, and then took out the spiritual materials to refine the Breakthrough Pill.

The Breakthrough Pill is also a fourth-tier pill, and its refining difficulty is no less than that of the Golden Core Pill. However, through repeated refinement of the Golden Core Pill, Zhao Ling has developed an almost instinctive intuition for the fusion of the medicinal properties of fourth-tier spiritual materials.

The first batch, due to a slight discrepancy in the age of one of the auxiliary medicinal plants, caused a conflict during the fusion of the medicinal liquids, turning into a batch of black ash.

This was the only failed batch out of the seven.

The second batch produced ten pills, all of which were of superior quality.

When the third batch was opened, a clear, crisp sound of pills emanated from the Crimson Dragon Furnace. When the furnace was opened, three top-grade Breakthrough Pills, each bearing a golden pill pattern, lay quietly in the jade plate.

With the experience gained from the third batch, the success rate of the fourth batch soared to 50%.

Over the next few days, the fragrance of pills lingered in the Earth Fire Spirit Cave. Zhao Ling's movements became more and more skillful, and the consumption of her spiritual energy gradually decreased, as if she were not refining pills, but completing some kind of rehearsal.

Half a month later, the stone gate of the Earth Fire Spirit Cave slowly opened.

Zhao Ling walked out looking slightly tired, but her eyes were unusually bright.

Inside a side hall of the Xiaoyao Palace, Zheng Yifei, Ye Tianqiong, Su Chenyuan, and others were all present. Upon hearing the commotion, they all turned to look.

Zhao Ling walked to the table, waved her hand, and a dozen jade bottles were neatly arranged on the table.

"The Golden Core and the Barrier Breakthrough Pill have both been refined."

Zhao Ling's voice wasn't loud, but it instantly froze the atmosphere in the hall.

She pushed two of the white jade bottles to the middle and uncorked them.

A rich, almost tangible fragrance of elixir instantly filled the air. Su Chenyuan abruptly stood up, strode to the table, and stared intently at the mouth of the bottle.

"This...this is..."

Su Chenyuan's hands trembled slightly.

"Eight top-grade Golden Core Pills and twenty-three top-grade Barrier Breakthrough Pills."

Zhao Ling calmly said, "The rest are all high-grade and mid-grade. I didn't keep the low-grade ones; I destroyed them directly."

The hall was completely silent.

Ye Tianqiong's gaze sharpened, and he stepped forward, picked up a jade bottle, poured out a Breakthrough Pill, and placed it in his palm.

The surface of the pill was smooth and flawless, with three golden pill patterns that appeared naturally, radiating a spiritual energy fluctuation that made one's heart tremble.

"Seven sets of materials, enough to refine eight top-grade Golden Core Pills and twenty-three top-grade Breakthrough Pills?"

Ye Tianqiong took a deep breath, and his gaze toward Zhao Ling revealed a hint of undisguised shock: "Master Mu, the head of the Pill Pavilion of the Xuantian Sect, has a maximum success rate of 10% in refining fourth-grade pills. Your success rate is probably over 30%."

Su Chenyuan was so excited that he was incoherent: "Flawless Golden Core, a genius in alchemy... With such alchemy skills, what is there to worry about in achieving great things!"

Faced with everyone's praise, Zhao Ling shook her head and turned to look at Zheng Yifei.

"It's not that I have exceptional talent."

Zhao Ling said earnestly, "It's because Brother Yifei has given me too many resources. If it weren't for the massive amount of spiritual herbs I had to try and practice with, I wouldn't have achieved what I have today, let alone refined top-grade pills."

Zheng Yifei didn't say much, but stepped forward and redistributed the jade bottles.

He took five top-grade Golden Core pills for himself. For someone with five spiritual roots to break through to the Golden Core stage, the spiritual energy and medicinal power required far exceed those of ordinary people, and five pills are the minimum guarantee.

Su Wanqing received one top-grade Golden Core Pill and two top-grade Barrier Breakthrough Pills.

Zhao Wenyuan and Zhang Biao are currently in the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment, and are still some distance away from perfection.

Zheng Yifei took out two top-grade Golden Core Pills and handed them to them for safekeeping: "Keep them for later use, and take them when you have completed your Foundation Establishment."

The two carefully took the jade bottle and put it away close to their bodies.

Finally, Zheng Yifei took out two high-grade Golden Core Pills and handed them to Chen San and Lin Bao respectively.

"Both of you have average aptitude, and a high-grade Golden Core pill is enough to ensure your successful breakthrough."

Chen San and Lin Bao accepted the jade bottle with both hands and knelt down on one knee in excitement.

"Thank you so much, employer!"

Chen San's eyes reddened. As rogue cultivators, they never dreamed that they could even touch the edge of the Golden Core stage in their lifetime, let alone a high-grade Golden Core.

In Xuantian Market, even a low-grade Golden Core pill can cause countless Foundation Establishment cultivators to fight tooth and nail for it.

"Go and prepare."

Zheng Yifei waved his hand.

The remaining high-grade and mid-grade Golden Core Pills and Breakthrough Pills were distributed to Li Jianfeng, Wang Changsheng, and other core disciples of the Qingyun Sect. Twenty-five of them were at the Foundation Establishment Perfection stage, but the Heavenly Demon Sect did not allocate many cultivation rooms to them, so they had to wait in line to break through.

That night, the underground secret chamber behind Xiaoyao Palace was opened.

Zheng Yifei, Su Wanqing, Chen San, and Lin Bao each entered one of the four separate stone chambers.

The heavy dragon-slaying stone fell, activating the formation and isolating it from all external influences.

A month later.

The weather above Tianmo City was originally very clear, but in the afternoon, a surge of spiritual energy suddenly rose from the back mountain of Xiaoyao Palace.

The clouds in the sky began to gather, forming a vortex of spiritual energy that was about four or five miles in circumference.

Ye Tianqiong, Su Chenyuan, and Zhao Ling stood outside the side hall, looking up at the strange phenomenon in the sky.

"Is it Chen San or Lin Bao?"

Zhao Wenyuan asked.

"It should be Chen San; his breathing is a bit more composed."

Ye Tianqiong said calmly.

The vortex of spiritual energy lasted for less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn before transforming into a pillar of spiritual energy that poured into the underground chamber.

Immediately afterwards, another surge of spiritual energy rose up, its scale almost identical to the previous one, and it too lasted only a very short time.

Half an hour later, the dragon-slaying stone in the secret chamber rose up.

Chen San and Lin Bao walked out one after the other. The auras on the two were completely different. Although the pressure of the early stage of Golden Core was still somewhat weak, they had truly crossed that insurmountable barrier.

The two exchanged a glance, unable to hide their elation, and quickly walked to the side hall, bowing deeply in the direction where Zheng Yifei was in seclusion.

Ye Tianqiong looked at the two of them, shook his head slightly, and gave his evaluation.

"The bottleneck they forcibly broke through with high-grade pills has made their foundations barely stable. However, their aptitude has reached its limit. Their maximum potential in this lifetime is the Golden Core stage. It is almost impossible for them to break through to the Nascent Soul stage."

Su Chenyuan nodded in agreement: "For a rogue cultivator to have reached this level is already an immense stroke of luck. For Yifei, having two loyal Golden Core stage subordinates is more than enough."

Time continued to pass.

Until the middle of the third month, the weather above Xiaoyao Palace suddenly changed.

This commotion was more than ten times greater than when Chen San and Lin Bao broke through.

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth within a radius of thirty miles seemed to be subjected to some kind of intense pull, frantically converging towards the back mountain.

The clouds in the sky were dyed blue and white, forming a huge funnel-shaped vortex.

From the depths of the vortex, the faint sound of swords echoed, accompanied by waves of spiritual energy that surged like the tides.

"Such a powerful aura."

Feeling the heavy spiritual energy in the air, Zhao Wenyuan couldn't help but take a step back.

A look of wild joy appeared on Su Chenyuan's aged face: "This is the extraordinary phenomenon of my Su family's 'Azure Nether Technique' at its peak! Wanqing has succeeded!"

The strange phenomenon lasted for a full two hours, even longer than when Zhao Ling formed his core.

As the vortex of spiritual energy completely dissipated, a beam of azure sword light shot into the sky from the underground chamber, circled once in mid-air, and landed steadily in front of the side hall.

Su Wanqing sheathed her longsword.

She was dressed in a neat blue outfit, her long hair tied back. Her originally gentle temperament was now imbued with a sharp sword intent. Her cultivation at the early stage of the Golden Core realm was extremely stable, and she was even faintly approaching the peak of the early stage of the Golden Core realm.

Su Chenyuan strode forward, tears streaming down his face, "Good...good! My Su family has finally produced another Golden Core cultivator!"

Ye Tianqiong looked at Su Wanqing, a hint of admiration flashing in his eyes.

"Born into a prominent family, she has never lacked resources since childhood, giving her a foundation far deeper than that of ordinary cultivators. In addition, with the help of a top-grade Golden Core to cleanse her meridians and marrow, this girl's potential has been fully unleashed."

Ye Tianqiong gave her a very high evaluation: "Her cultivation path will go very far. Reaching the Nascent Soul stage is just a natural progression for her."

Su Wanqing walked up to Ye Tianqiong, cupped her hands in greeting, and said, "Thank you, Sect Master Ye, for granting me this place for seclusion."

"No need to thank me, thank Zheng Yifei instead."

Ye Tianqiong smiled and turned his gaze to the last stone chamber that had not yet been opened.

Chen San, Lin Bao, and Su Wanqing emerged from seclusion one after another, and everyone's attention was focused on the stone chamber where Zheng Yifei was in seclusion.

"Why is there absolutely no sound?"

Zhao Wenyuan paced back and forth outside the stone chamber, his brows furrowed: "Yi Fei has five spiritual roots. Logically speaking, the spiritual energy required to break through to the Golden Core stage is extremely vast. Even with five top-grade Golden Cores, it's impossible that there isn't even a trace of spiritual energy from heaven and earth to draw upon."

Su Wanqing looked at the stone gate with some worry: "Could something have happened?"

Zhao Ling said confidently, "No, Brother Yifei never leaves any loopholes in his work. Since he dared to go into seclusion, he must be confident."

Ye Tianqiong stood not far away, his brows slightly furrowed.

He was knowledgeable and experienced. He knew that it was indeed difficult to form a core with five spiritual roots. It often required a massive amount of resources to forcefully break through the barrier. Once successful, the resulting celestial phenomena were usually extremely violent because the spiritual energy of the five attributes would flow back at the same time.

But this was the first time he had ever seen someone like Zheng Yifei, who had secluded himself for three months without causing even the slightest ripple in the surrounding spiritual energy.