Mortal: Starting with the Golden Jade Book

After a while.

Lin Zui piloted the Divine Wind Boat away from the small mountain, leaving behind a table full of large and small bottles of pills and two spiritual herbs that were about five hundred years old.

"Husband, what exactly does this Fellow Daoist Han do?"

Yan Ruyan was still somewhat incredulous. How could a cultivator in the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, who didn't seem to be from any major clan, actually produce so many pills?

Although the vast majority of them are pills for the Qi Refining stage, there are a few for the Foundation Establishment stage. Including those two spiritual herbs, they are worth at least tens of thousands of spirit stones.

"Him? He's... in charge of the medicinal herb garden."

"what?"

Ignoring Yan Ruyan's bewildered expression, Lin Zui went to the table.

"Brother Lin, look at this..."

Qi Yunxiao and Xin Ruyin were also staring in disbelief at the huge pile of pills. They had only cooperated with Lin Zui in his pre-arranged act, but they never expected to get so many pills.

"It's alright, this little bit of stuff is nothing to him. Take as much as you need."

"Well... thank you very much, Brother Lin."

The two no longer held back, each taking more than a dozen bottles of pills suitable for the Qi Refining stage. As for the pills for the Foundation Establishment stage and the two spiritual herbs, they naturally didn't touch them.

Seeing that they had finished taking the pills, Lin Zui swept up the remaining pills and handed the two spiritual herbs to Yan Ruyan.

"None of us know how to refine pills, so we'll have to find someone else to refine these two spiritual herbs. Go and find out which alchemist in the market is skilled enough to spend some spirit stones to get rid of these two herbs."

"it is good."

Yan Ruyan agreed and took the elixir. Then, as if remembering something, she suddenly asked a question.

"Husband, what did you mean by those last words you said to him? Telling him to get away from the Seven Sects as soon as possible... Could it be... the Seven Sects are going to lose?"

"Ha, you're quite clever."

Indeed, the demonic path began planning this great war decades ago. The seven sects have long been infiltrated, their ability to hold out for so long is merely a carefully crafted situation by the demonic path. Once the opportunity arises, the seven sects will be utterly defeated.

Lin Zui sighed.

"Just wait and see, it shouldn't be long before we know the outcome."

……

a few days later.

Another round of spiritual root tempering has ended.

Lin Zui wrapped his arms around Yan Ruyan's slender waist, feeling the stable operation of the spiritual root vortex in his dantian, and said with satisfaction.

"Ruyan, you've worked hard these past few months. You won't need to temper it so frequently anymore. Just consolidate it once every few years, and it will grow to its maximum size on its own."

"Really? That's great! If this continues for any longer, Ruyan really won't be able to handle it."

Yan Ruyan looked up in surprise. Tempering her spiritual root not only consumed her mind and spirit, but also greatly damaged her heavenly spiritual root. Now she could finally adjust and recover for a period of time.

"What are your plans next, my husband?"

"I plan to go into seclusion for a while and try to break through to the tenth level of Qi Refining. I managed to get quite a few pills from Han Li this time, which should be enough to raise my cultivation by one or two levels."

Lin Zui's expression was solemn. Although he was relatively safe here, the Yuanwu Kingdom would also undergo a major change after the Seven Sects were defeated. It would always be better to improve his cultivation level as much as possible.

"As for those Foundation Establishment stage pills, if you need them..."

"Ruyan, no. Master once said that it's best not to take any pills that can promote cultivation before I reach the Core Formation stage, as that would be detrimental to my future. So, let's save those pills for my husband after he reaches the Foundation Establishment stage."

Yan Ruyan shook her head. With her Heavenly Spiritual Root aptitude, her cultivation speed was extremely fast, and the spiritual energy here was sufficient. Once her spiritual root recovered, she could cultivate on her own without needing to rely on pills.

Lin Zui nodded. He didn't understand the world of geniuses, but given their current relationship, since the other party had said so, it probably wasn't necessary.

"By the way, I have a secret method for tempering the soul, which can strengthen the primordial spirit and condense the soul. However, it requires two people to practice together. Unfortunately, I am not qualified yet. But you can study it first."

Lin Zui took out a jade slip, and Yan Ruyan took it, her eyes revealing undisguised surprise.

The spirit, as the name suggests, refers to the primordial spirit and the soul.

The primordial spirit originates from the sea of ​​consciousness and is a direct manifestation of a cultivator's divine sense power. The stronger the primordial spirit, the stronger the divine sense.

The importance of the soul and spirit goes without saying. With three souls and seven spirits, even slight damage can lead to mental insanity or, in severe cases, complete annihilation of the soul and spirit.

Refining the soul not only makes the soul stronger, but also nourishes the physical body, enhancing resistance to ghosts, illusions, and deceptions—it's all beneficial and harmless.

However, apart from cultivators who specialize in the Ghost Path, there are very few ways to actively condense one's soul, strengthen one's primordial spirit, and enhance one's divine sense. Although there are relatively more methods, they are still extremely rare.

However, the secret technique Lin Zui presented could work in two ways, strengthening the primordial spirit while simultaneously refining the soul. No wonder Yan Ruyan was overjoyed.

"The Soul Resonance Technique?"

Yan Ruyan examined it for a long time before saying regretfully:

"The conditions are indeed a bit harsh. It seems we can only wait until my husband has achieved Foundation Establishment before making any decisions."

"Um."

Lin Zui also sighed softly. If it weren't for this, he would have started practicing long ago, and wouldn't have waited until now.

……

Inside the secret cultivation chamber.

Lin Zui circulated his cultivation technique, rapidly refining the medicinal power of the pill and transforming it into strands of magical power that flowed into his dantian.

A moment later, Lin Zui opened his eyes.

"As expected of pills refined by Han Li, they are probably made from spiritual herbs that are decades or even hundreds of years old. They are much better than ordinary pills sold on the market."

"However, it's still not enough..."

Lin Zui frowned. Although the medicinal power was stronger than ordinary pills, it was still only a pill for the Qi Refining stage. It was still not enough for him to refine all five spiritual roots at the same time and for his bottomless mana needs.

"How about... eating a few more at once?"

After glancing at his fairly ample supply of pills, Lin Zui hesitated for a moment before taking out three and swallowing them.

Instantly, a medicinal power several times greater than before exploded within his body. Lin Zui quickly focused his mind, circulated his cultivation technique, and guided this medicinal power into his dantian. He then manipulated the spiritual root vortex to refine this medicinal power.

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

With the abundant spiritual energy within the cave and the extravagant elixirs provided by Lin Zui, his cultivation level quickly reached the bottleneck of the ninth level of Qi Refining.

He was originally planning to cultivate step by step and break through to the tenth level in no time, but a day ago, news of the seven sects' great defeat suddenly came, which made him impatient.

So today he swallowed five pills at a time, the massive amount of medicinal power causing his meridians to swell and ache slightly, but he ignored it.

Finally, after taking five pills for the third time, the bottleneck of the ninth level was broken through in one go.

His dantian meridians expanded once again, and his body was filled with surging magical power, far surpassing that of an ordinary Qi Refining Level 10 cultivator.

"We've reached the tenth floor; it's time to go out and take a look."

Lin Zui murmured.

The chain reaction caused by the defeat of the seven factions has already spread to the Yuanwu Kingdom.

The Tianxing Sect, Shenbing Sect, Wanmiao Temple, and other sects also suffered heavy losses in the great battle and are in dire straits, just like the Seven Sects. These days, they are gathering their forces and preparing to flee the Yuanwu Kingdom.

Chaos erupted in the Tianxing Sect's market as well, with rumors spreading and people wondering how the demonic forces would deal with them after their invasion.

In fact, apart from the large shops directly under the Tianxing Sect, the rest of the people don't really care whether the market is managed by the Tianxing Sect or some other sect. As long as they can continue to do business, what difference does it make who they pay protection money to?

The worst fear is that those who follow the demonic path are bloodthirsty and will indiscriminately wipe them out; that would be a truly unjust death.

Lin Zui's Wanfu Residence has a teleportation array, so he's not too worried about these things. It has been open for business these past few days. However, just in case, Lin Zui still sent Yan Ruyan over to oversee things.