The Hehuan Sect cultivates alchemy; my senior sister helps me refine alchemy throughout the world.

After finishing the Beast Soul Pill, the little monster let out a burp, kicked its four short legs, and jumped in front of Shen Yifei.

It squatted on the ground, tilting its head, which was almost as big as its body, with its eyes staring straight at Shen Yifei. Its mouth was open, and its tongue was sticking out, giving off an expression that said, "I'm awesome, right? Praise me!"

Shen Yifei squatted down and gently patted its head.

"You son of a bitch, you didn't leave me a single bite?"

The little monster's head tilted to the side after being slapped, its eyes darted around, and suddenly it opened its mouth and spat out a fist-sized ball of black liquid, which smeared onto Shen Yifei's palm.

The liquid was sticky and had a fishy smell.

"What...what is this?"

"The essence of the snake demon." Liu Mengli squatted down and poked the dark, gooey thing with a finger. "It regurgitated the most essential part of the Beast Soul Pill to you. It digested the impurities itself. This little thing is quite conscientious."

Looking at the sticky mess in his palm, Shen Yifei felt a wave of nausea. "This stuff is essence? It feels like it's just leftovers that it couldn't digest?"

Seeing his hesitation, the little monster wagged its tail and nudged the puddle of liquid with its mouth.

Liu Mengli urged, "Eat it quickly, don't waste it. This essence contains eight hundred years of cultivation from that snake demon. Although most of it has been worn away, what's left is enough for you to break through to the Golden Core stage."

Shen Yifei hesitated for a moment, but still chose to believe him. He pinched his nose and stuffed the dark, gooey thing into his mouth.

The initial taste was a sweet, fishy flavor, like swallowing a live loach. But once it entered the throat, it dissolved into a scalding hot stream that flowed down the esophagus and into the lower abdomen.

Shen Yifei felt as if a bucket of boiling oil had been poured into his dantian, scalding him so much that he bent over, and beads of sweat dripped down his forehead.

He quickly sat down cross-legged, closed his eyes, and forcefully guided the heat flow through his meridians.

That heat was too intense.

The meridians of a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator simply could not withstand the essence of an eight-hundred-year-old serpent demon.

Where the heat flowed, the meridians were stretched open and then healed under a strange force.

It splits open and heals again and again. But each time it heals, the meridians become wider and stronger.

Shen Yifei gritted his teeth and remained silent.

Shen Yifei's clothes were soaked with sweat, and he looked as if he had been pulled out of the water. Wisps of white steam rose from his head, which were the water vapor overflowing from the boiling spiritual energy within his body.

After a long while, a muffled sound came from Shen Yifei's dantian.

In the very center of his dantian, a ball of golden liquid slowly spun, faster and faster, becoming increasingly solid. It grew from the size of a fingernail to the size of a pigeon egg, and finally came to rest.

Shen Yifei opened his eyes, a faint golden light flashing across the surface of his pupils, disappearing in an instant.

He skipped a small realm from the late Foundation Establishment stage to the early Golden Core stage, directly forming his Golden Core.

"That feels good." He stood up and stretched, his joints cracking and popping all over.

The little monster squatted on the ground, tilted its head to look at him, and wagged its tail like a windmill.

Shen Yifei squatted down, cupped its head in his hands, and rubbed it vigorously: "You've done a great job."

The little monster let out a cheerful gurgling sound from its throat.

Liu Mengli floated over and poked his dantian: "You've reached the Golden Core stage, not bad. But your Golden Core is a little different from others."

"Huh? Why is it different? What went wrong?"

"Don't worry, it's just the color that's wrong. A normal Golden Core is pure gold, yours is dark gold." Liu Mengli tilted her head and thought for a moment. "It's probably because of that snake demon's Beast Soul Pill. Snakes are inherently lustful, so the medicinal fragrance on your body will be stronger in the future, and its influence on female cultivators will be even stronger."

"So be it, it's not a bad thing anyway." He stood up and looked into the depths of the cave.

Where the giant serpent had been coiled, its body had completely turned into black liquid, leaving only a stark white skeleton. The skeleton was coiled in circles, forming a mountain of bones in the very center of the cave.

Behind Bone Mountain, there is a narrow crack.

The crack wasn't high, just enough for one person to squeeze through sideways. It was pitch black inside, and you couldn't see the bottom.

Shen Yifei walked to the crack and reached out to probe it. A cool breeze blew out of the crack, carrying the earthy smell of soil. The wind meant the crack led outside, and might be the exit.

Shen Yifei squeezed in sideways. He sucked in his stomach and moved further in, and after about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the crack suddenly widened.

Before us was a naturally formed cave, not large, only about two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters) square.

A sword was stuck in the center of the cave.

Most of the sword was embedded in the rock, with only the hilt and a section of the blade visible. The hilt was black, and the exposed section of the blade was engraved with two characters—"Listening to the Tide."

Shen Yifei walked over, grasped the hilt of the sword, and tried to pull it out.

Not moving.

He channeled his spiritual energy, pouring all his early-stage Golden Core cultivation into his arm, and pulled it out sharply.

"Zheng..."

With a clang, the longsword was drawn.

At the same time, some information appeared in my mind.

The Listening Tide Sword is a superior-grade spiritual weapon. Primarily used in water-attribute techniques, its strikes flow like a surging tide, with each wave overlapping and doubling in power. When used in conjunction with the "Listening Tide Sword Technique," it can unleash power exceeding its grade.

Information about the "Listening to the Tide Sword Technique" also flooded in. It consists of three forms: Rising Tide, Surging Tide, and Vanishing Tide. The three forms are linked, with increasing power. Mastering the first form can kill a Golden Core cultivator, the second can kill a Nascent Soul cultivator, and the third can kill a Deity Transformation cultivator.

It looks quite mysterious.

Shen Yifei examined it over and over again. It was indeed a high-grade spiritual weapon, but to say that the third move could slay a Nascent Soul cultivator was probably just the weapon refiner trying to make a name for himself.

But it doesn't matter. I got a high-grade spiritual weapon for free, and a ready-made sword manual. I can practice it slowly when I have time later.

Shen Yifei sheathed the Listening Tide Sword. Liu Mengli floated over and touched the scabbard: "A top-grade spiritual weapon. The scabbard is made of black iron wood, and the blade is forged from meteorite iron mixed with deep-sea icy crystals. It's a good sword, but what are you, an alchemist, doing with a sword?"

"Can't alchemists wield swords? Look at me today, I've lost my furnace, and I have nothing in my hand."

The little monster squatted on the ground, tilted its head to look at the Listening Tide Sword, rolled its eyes twice, and suddenly opened its mouth to bite the scabbard.

Shen Yifei reacted quickly, raising the swords above his head one after another.

"You think you can eat everything? This is a sword, not bones!"

The little monster, having failed to bite the sword, stood with its mouth open, tongue lolling out, looking utterly aggrieved. It sat on the ground, making whimpering sounds like a puppy begging for food.

Shen Yifei took out a Qi Gathering Pill from his storage ring and tossed it over. The little monster opened its mouth, swallowed it whole, smacked its lips twice, and wagged its tail, seemingly satisfied.

There wasn't much else in the cave. Shen Yifei walked around the cave and found a skeleton in a corner.

The skeleton leaned against the stone wall, its clothes long since rotted to ash, with only a few strips of cloth hanging from its bones. In its hand, it clutched a jade slip.

Shen Yifei squatted down, pried open the white bone's fingers, and took out the jade slip. He probed it with his divine sense and saw that it was the complete version of the "Listening to the Tide Sword Technique." The version that had flooded his mind when he drew the sword was the abridged version, but this jade slip contained the detailed version, with diagrams and spiritual energy circulation routes for each move.

He put the jade slip into his ring, stood up, and bowed to the skeleton.

"Senior, I've taken the sword and the sword manual. You've been lying here for who knows how many years, and no one has offered you incense. Today, I've taken your belongings and will kowtow three times to you as a way of seeing you off in your final days."

After saying this, he knelt down and kowtowed three times, then stood up, turned around, and left.

He took two steps and came back, taking out a Qi Gathering Pill from his ring and placing it in front of the skeleton.

"Senior, I don't know what you liked to eat when you were alive. I'm an alchemist, and all I have are pills. Please take this Qi Gathering Pill; take a bite if you get hungry on your journey to the Yellow Springs."

Liu Mengli poked her head out of the cauldron, her lips twitching slightly: "You're kowtowing to a skeleton and offering it pills, but it can't eat them."

"The thought is what counts; even if you can't eat it, just smelling it is enough."