Chapter 83: Three Arts Improved, Dark Pavilion Begins

The subtle guidance of Master Muyun was like a reassuring stone cast into the turbulent waters of his heart. Ye Li knew that until his strength was insufficient to overturn the chessboard, forbearance and accumulating strength were his only options. Accumulating strength hinged not only on advancing his cultivation level but also on strengthening his overall abilities. Secondary duties like alchemy, talisman making, and formation formation often played unexpected roles at crucial moments and were crucial pillars of Youge's survival and development.

The external undercurrents against Youge seemed to have subsided temporarily thanks to the decisive concealment of its core members, but Ye Li knew this was only the calm before the storm. She must use this precious opportunity to rapidly enhance Youge's overall strength and self-sufficiency.

In the underground fire alchemy room of the Yundan Peak courtyard, waves of heat billowed. Ye Li, intently controlling the underground fire, carefully tempered the liquid medicine in the alchemy furnace. This time, she was refining no ordinary elixir, but a second-grade, top-grade elixir—the "Barrier Breaking Pill."

This pill had a single, yet crucial, effect: it slightly increased the success rate of breakthroughs for cultivators in the Condensing Veins realm. While its effect on her was limited, it was a much-needed item for core members of the Nether Pavilion, such as Lin Feng and Xia Zhihe, who were still at the Condensing Veins realm. Furthermore, Barrier Breaking Pills were in short supply and extremely expensive in the market. If they could maintain a stable production, they would become a significant source of revenue for the Nether Pavilion.

The difficulty of refining the Barrier-Breaking Pill lies in the ultimate control of the heat and the perfect blend of the various medicinal properties. Ye Li held her breath and concentrated, her consciousness like the most delicate chisel, sensing every subtle change within the furnace. Thanks to the enhanced understanding of the Samsara Mirror and her rich experience from past lives, her understanding of the medicinal properties far surpassed that of other alchemists of her level.

"Congeal!"

Seeing the time was ripe, Ye Li changed her hand seals and gave a low shout. The alchemy furnace hummed, and the lid opened. Three longan-sized, lustrous pills, surrounded by a halo, flew out and were caught by the jade bottle she had prepared.

The elixir is top grade! And with three elixirs in one furnace, the success rate is 100%!

Looking at the Barrier-Breaking Pill emanating an alluring medicinal aroma from the jade bottle, Ye Li's face lit up with satisfaction. After this period of dedicated study and countless hours of practice, her alchemy skills had stabilized at the level of a second-grade, superior alchemist. Besides the Barrier-Breaking Pill, she could also expertly refine a variety of commonly used second-grade healing and vitality-restoring elixirs, all of which were of superior quality.

Besides refining pills, Ye Li devoted even more energy to studying formations. As an ancient sect, the ruins of the Bingpo Xuan Palace were bound to be heavily restricted, and mastering formations would provide a significant advantage in exploration. She combined the formation texts she had consulted from the Sutra Library with the scattered insights she had learned from the legacy of Venerable Xuanhuan, making rapid progress.

That day, she retrieved the puppet core and some star gold from the meteorite ruins. She didn't intend to repair the puppet, but instead took a different approach, using it as the core to refine a portable "Small Zhoutian Star Array."

This array was conceived based on ancient texts and her own understanding of stellar power. With the puppet core as the center, the array pattern is outlined with stellar gold. If activated successfully, it can form a small stellar force field, providing defense, trapping enemies, and gathering spirits. It is particularly suitable for use at night or in areas with strong stellar power.

Refining an array disk is more complex than refining an elixir, involving multiple steps such as material smelting, rune inscription, and energy circuit construction. It requires extremely high levels of spiritual awareness and control over spiritual power. Ye Li failed several times, wasting a considerable amount of precious star gold, but she remained undaunted. After each failure, she carefully reviewed and adjusted her plan.

Finally, after consuming most of the star gold, a palm-sized dark silver array disc, its surface covered in mysterious star patterns, took shape in her hands. She carefully inserted several high-grade spirit stones into the center of the array disc as a driving force, then took a deep breath and injected a trace of spiritual energy into it.

Buzz!

The array disk trembled slightly, and the patterns on its surface gradually illuminated, emitting a hazy starlight. An invisible force field spread out from the array disk, enveloping the quiet room. Ye Li could clearly feel the spiritual energy within the force field become more active, and the space seemed more stable, while also having a certain effect of isolating and detecting.

"Success!" Ye Li's eyes flashed with joy. Although this small Zhoutian star array disk was only the prototype of an initial-level magic weapon, it had diverse functions and enormous potential, enough to play a vital role at a critical moment. This marked her official entry into the realm of array master.

As for talisman crafting, she didn't spend much time on it, instead focusing her efforts on optimizing and improving existing talismans. She cleverly incorporated a hint of the "Ice Soul Sealing Finger"'s sealing essence into the "Ice Soul Sealing Talisman," increasing its power. While the difficulty increased accordingly, the success rate remained stable at around 20%. These enhanced Ice Soul Sealing Talismans were designated as a strategic reserve for Youge, distributed only to core members for self-defense.

As she advanced in her secondary duties, Youge's revenue generation capacity significantly increased. With the ample resources provided by Lin Feng, Xia Zhihe's alchemy skills also steadily improved, and she was now able to consistently refine a variety of second-tier elixirs. The high-quality elixirs they refined were quietly released into the market through Zhao Xiaoyi's newly established, more secretive channels, bringing Youge a stable and substantial income in spirit stones.

While Zhang Yuan and Li Yun were on their "hiding from the spotlight" mission in the northern border, they were also busy. With his keen sense of materials, Zhang Yuan discovered a small deposit of "cold iron" within the ice sheet. While the reserve was small, it was of exceptional quality. Secretly mining it significantly alleviated the shortage of refining materials at Youge. Li Yun collected numerous seeds of ice-type magical herbs unique to the northern border and secretly sent them back to Xia Zhihe, who attempted to cultivate them in the secret herb garden on the back mountain of Yundan Peak.

Although core members were scattered across the country, thanks to Ye Li's remote coordination and resource support, Youge was like a tenacious vine, quietly growing in the shadows, its roots becoming increasingly solid. Financial resources, material resources, and even intelligence capabilities (Sun Xiaohou still transmitted sporadic information back through covert means from a distant location) were steadily improving.

On this day, Ye Li received an encrypted message from Lin Feng from a distant mission location through the sub-mirror. The content was brief but exciting:

"Pavilion Master, I have fulfilled my mission. I have touched the barrier of the Spiritual Mansion Realm and will attempt to break through soon. Senior Sister Zhihe has also made rapid progress and is not far from the Spiritual Mansion Realm."

Upon receiving this news, Ye Li breathed a sigh of relief. If Lin Feng and Xia Zhihe could successfully break through the Spiritual Mansion Realm, Youge would usher in a qualitative leap! Two Spiritual Mansion Realm cultivators would be enough to support a force within the sect that could not be underestimated.

She replied, "Excellent! Safety is paramount when it comes to breakthroughs. Prepare enough medicinal elixirs and choose an absolutely safe place. I wish you success!"

Turning off the communication, Ye Li walked to the window and gazed toward Xuantian Peak. The day for the Heart Mirror inspection and the ruins exploration drew closer. She spread out her palm, a wisp of extremely cold spiritual energy surging in and out of her palm, faintly carrying a star-like glow.

"I've achieved minor success in my deputy position, and the Youge Pavilion has begun to stabilize... Next, it's time for a breakthrough in my cultivation." She whispered to herself, her eyes gleaming with confidence. Before heading to the ruins, which were like a den of dragons and tigers, she had to take her strength to the next level!