Ascending from the mortal realm to become an immortal begins with taking charge of a grotto-heaven.

After purchasing the Kongming Spirit Tea, Zhang Li made a detour to Hanxi Market on his way back, where he bought a large gourd of spiritual spring water and a set of exquisite tea utensils.

"A spirit spring and a hundred spirit stones for just one ounce of spirit tea—how many Qi Refining disciples in the entire inner and outer sects can enjoy such a thing?"

Back in his small courtyard, Zhang Li set up a tea stove with practiced ease, boiled the spiritual spring water, and then put some tea leaves in to preserve the medicinal properties to the maximum extent.

Before long, a fragrant aroma wafted out, and the mere scent of tea instantly dispelled most of the chaotic thoughts in Zhang Li's mind, bringing a sense of lightness to his head.

"Let's see how it goes."

Zhang Li took out an exquisite cup, poured himself a cup, blew on it to cool it down, and with anticipation, slowly took a sip. Then he closed his eyes and savored it carefully.

The tea was still a bit hot when he first tasted it, but that temperature was nothing to a cultivator. As soon as the Clear Spirit Tea entered his stomach, a cool sensation immediately spread throughout his body, making him feel refreshed.

"Truly excellent tea!"

Zhang Li couldn't help but praise it, drank all the spiritual tea in the cup, and then continued with the next cup.

After drinking the entire pot of clear and bright spiritual tea, Zhang Li indeed experienced the state of "clear mind and no distracting thoughts" that Su Qinghe had described.

He dared not hesitate for a moment and immediately concentrated on comprehending the Azure Flame Technique.

With the help of the spiritual tea, Zhang Li's thoughts became exceptionally focused. The obstacles he couldn't understand before were easily resolved, making him unconsciously immersed in the process.

This state lasted for a full hour before slowly disappearing.

After exiting that state, Zhang Li felt as if his mind was filled with rusty gears, sluggish and dull. The clear and bright feeling he had just experienced was completely gone, and he was even worse off than before he drank the spiritual tea.

He gently rubbed his temples, realizing that this was the drawback of external aids. The Clear Mind Tea forcibly cleansed the mind and elevated thoughts in a short time, but once the effects wore off, the mind would fall into a brief period of fatigue and stagnation.

Fortunately, this stagnation was only temporary. The insights gained from the past hour of contemplation had not faded at all and were firmly imprinted in my mind.

"It's still a bit short. If I drink the spiritual tea a few more times, I should be able to fully comprehend the Azure Flame Technique."

However, he did not intend to drink the Clear Spirit Tea a second time. After witnessing the side effects of the tea, Zhang Li decided to follow Liu Lin's advice and brew it once a day.

……

Three days later, Zhang Li drank the spiritual tea again and finally fully comprehended the first stage of this technique.

Under his guidance and control, the magical power within his body slowly opened up one tiny meridian after another. The magical power flowing through these tiny meridians eventually condensed into a pale blue flame with extremely high temperature under the control of the incantation.

Zhang Li carefully manipulated the azure flame condensed on his fingertips, flicking his finger.

The next moment, the wisp of blue flame shot out and landed directly on the stone bench in the courtyard.

Shila-

A faint burning sound suddenly rang out, and the surface of the bluestone was instantly scorched white by the high temperature. The surface stone softened rapidly, leaving a dent the size of a baby's fist.

"As expected of a spirit fire technique that can be cultivated to the Foundation Establishment stage, the power of this Azure Flame Technique is even stronger than I imagined."

This is only the first stage of Azure Flame. If it is cultivated to perfection, it may truly be able to achieve what is recorded in the jade slip, making it difficult for cultivators of the same level to withstand.

He raised his hand and channeled his magic power again, and the blue flames at his fingertips reappeared. The problem that had stumped him for months was completely solved in just three days thanks to the clear mind brought by the Clear Spirit Tea.

"It wasn't in vain that I spent a hundred spirit stones to buy the spirit tea." Zhang Li chuckled and waved his hand to dispel the flames at his fingertips.

Remembering Liu Lin's admonition not to be greedy, he no longer had the idea of ​​brewing.

Although this powerful tool should not be used frequently, its value is extremely high if used only in critical moments. In the future, when encountering obscure and difficult classics, taking it out to brew will make the process twice as effective.

Thinking of this, Zhang Li immediately wanted to plant one himself. With the Cave Heaven at his disposal, he could have as much of the Clear Spirit Tea as he wanted.

But then he frowned. In the entire Qingxuan Sect, he knew of only three Kongming Spirit Tea Trees, all of which were carefully cared for by Liu Lin. This person regarded the tea trees as his life, so there was absolutely no possibility of him directly asking for a complete tea seedling.

If one were to secretly cut off the main branches for seedling cultivation, it would be extremely easy to severely damage the mother tree's foundation. Liu Lin has been guarding Qingmu Valley for many years, and would definitely notice any damage to the spiritual plants immediately. Once caught in the act, not only would Su Qinghe's face be completely lost, but one would also be accused of stealing and damaging the sect's spiritual trees, which would be a great loss.

In the cultivation world, there are generally two methods for cultivating spiritual herbs and plants. One is sowing and seedling cultivation, which relies on the spiritual seeds that naturally mature and sprout from the plant. The advantage is that it does not harm the mother plant at all.

However, some spiritual plants, such as the Void Spirit Tea Tree, do not flower or bear seeds, so the second method must be used.

The second method is propagation by cuttings. This involves taking the main stem or root of the mother plant. Cuttings from the main stem or root have a high survival rate, but they can deplete the mother plant's resources. If not done properly, they can cause irreversible damage to the mother plant. Even Liu Lin himself, who has cultivated the Kongmingling tea tree for more than ten years, only managed to grow two seedlings by cuttings.

Given his nature of treasuring spiritual plants, it's unlikely he'll use the mother plant to cultivate a third sapling.

"We can't force it; we have to proceed gradually," Zhang Li thought to himself.

Those three tea trees are right there; they can't run away. He'll always have a chance.

Having made up his long-term plans, Zhang Li temporarily suppressed this thought and continued to cultivate the Azure Flame Technique.

The cultivation of magic is not something that can be achieved overnight. It requires a long period of practice to reach a level of proficiency before one can activate it in just a few breaths.

Fortunately, it has already been initially mastered; it will be much easier if we just need to improve our proficiency.

In the following days, Zhang Li practiced this technique repeatedly whenever he had a spare moment. He didn't know how many times he had exhausted his magical power before he was able to control it at will.

Zhang Li looked at the dancing blue flame in his hand and nodded in satisfaction. With this spiritual fire by his side, he finally had a certain ability to protect himself.

The time to go now should be dedicated to breaking through to the third level of Qi Refining.

Once his cultivation breaks through, the total amount of mana in his body will increase dramatically, and the capacity of his meridians will also be greatly enhanced. At that time, he will be able to unleash his full potential and try to refine Qi-Nourishing Pills.

The Bigu Pill is only the lowest-level basic pill, with meager profits, and the income it brings him is not as good as selling spiritual herbs directly.

However, the Qi Nourishing Pill is indeed a necessity for all cultivators, and its purchase price is several times higher than that of the Bigu Pill. If it can be refined stably, the speed at which spirit stones can be accumulated can be multiplied several times.

After making a plan, Zhang Li sat cross-legged on the futon, took a Qi-nourishing pill, and began to cultivate diligently.