They descended along the winding mine shaft, where the quality of the spirit stones around them gradually improved, from low-grade spirit stones to a few mid-grade spirit stones now appearing occasionally.

Later on, almost all the stones were mid-grade spirit stones, and occasionally a few high-grade spirit stones could be seen embedded in the rock wall, radiating a dazzling spiritual light.

It felt like they had descended hundreds of meters underground before the view suddenly opened up before them.

Before them was a large pool, with a small secret realm floating above it, sending Rong Jiaojiao a strong desire, but she did not absorb it on her own.

The spring water was pale gold in color and emitted a refreshing fragrance that soothed the soul.

"This is... Spirit Marrow Liquid!" Qing Xuanzi exclaimed in surprise, his voice trembling slightly.

"Master, what is Spirit Marrow Liquid?"

Qing Xuanzi tried to calm his excitement and explained after a while: "Spiritual Marrow Liquid is the essence formed by the sedimentation and condensation of spirit stone veins over millions of years. One drop is worth hundreds of spirit stones! Moreover, its spiritual power is pure and can be absorbed without much refining."

Upon hearing this, Rong Jiaojiao's eyes lit up immediately: "So precious? Doesn't that mean we can quickly improve our cultivation?"

“That’s right,” Qing Xuanzi nodded. “This pool of spiritual essence liquid must have been accumulated over thousands of years. Its value is unimaginable. If word gets out, the entire cultivation world will probably be shaken.”

Zi Ling, who was listening nearby, swallowed hard and whispered, "Then what are we waiting for? Hurry up and put it away!"

Rong Jiaojiao cautiously looked around: "Master, how could such a precious treasure not have any protective formations or demonic beasts?"

Qing Xuanzi thought for a moment and said, "It must be that the restrictions here are preventing the spiritual energy from leaking out, so no one or no sea beasts have discovered it."

"What do we do now?" Rong Jiaojiao asked.

"Now take out all the jade bottles that can hold spiritual liquid and fill them up. If there's any left over, we'll cultivate and absorb it right here."

Rong Jiaojiao sensed in her mind whether there would be any danger if they did this. If she did not sense any danger, she immediately took action.

Jade gourds, jade bottles, jade pots... they took out all kinds of containers that could hold liquids.

Qing Xuanzi made a hand seal and cast a spell. The spiritual essence liquid was lifted up as if by an invisible hand, turning into a thin stream and slowly pouring into the container.

However, there was simply too much spiritual essence in the pool. The containers they brought were quickly filled, but there was still a lot left in the pool.

Rong Jiaojiao thought the little secret realm wanted to absorb the spiritual essence liquid, so she said to Qing Xuanzi, "Master, can you give my treasure some? It seems to be really craving it."

Qing Xuanzi nodded, "Of course, we couldn't have gotten in here without it."

Rong Jiaojiao transmitted her thoughts to the little secret realm, instructing it to absorb the essence, but the little secret realm remained motionless, suspended above the pool, as if it craved something else entirely, not the spiritual essence liquid.

Rong Jiaojiao and Qing Xuanzi both used their divine sense to examine the bottom of the pool. The pool, which was not large to begin with, was completely visible under their divine sense, but they found nothing. However, the small secret realm continued to float, as if a hunter was waiting for its prey to appear.

Qing Xuanzi said, "Let's cultivate first. Perhaps after we've absorbed all the spiritual essence liquid, we'll know what's down there. But we still need to be careful."

"Um!"

Zi Ling was already pacing anxiously to the side. It didn't have a storage magic item, so it could only watch helplessly.

"Don't rush." ​​Rong Jiaojiao smiled, took out a small jade bowl, scooped out a bowlful, and handed it to Ziling. "Drink this first."

Zi Ling happily accepted it and sipped it, her fur glowing with a faint purple light.

Rong Jiaojiao pointed to the side: "Go there to absorb and refine it. Take it yourself after you're done, but don't rush it or waste it."

Zi Ling nodded obediently and ran off to absorb the nutrients.

With a flick of his sleeve, Qing Xuanzi unleashed a golden light, and a giant golden python appeared before everyone's eyes.

When Rong Jiaojiao saw Xiao Jin, she remembered that this guy was still around.

As soon as Xiao Jin came out, he bared his teeth at Qing Xuanzi: "Bad master, you always forget me."

Qing Xuanzi said, "It's all your fault for being so useless. Of course I wouldn't remember you."

Little Gold was on the verge of tears. It couldn't do anything about it. It didn't have the same opportunities as Zi Ling. Not only was its growth not as fast as Zi Ling's, but it also couldn't awaken its bloodline talent.

Rong Jiaojiao smiled and said, "Alright, Master, let's start cultivating now. The spiritual energy here is so rich, let's make good use of it. We'll continue our journey after you break through to the mid-stage of the Earth Master realm."

Qing Xuanzi hummed in agreement and scooped some spiritual essence liquid for Xiao Jin before the master and disciple began their cultivation.

Both of them took a small sip of the spiritual essence liquid and swallowed it, then sat cross-legged to begin absorbing and refining it.

As soon as the Spirit Marrow Liquid entered her mouth, Rong Jiaojiao felt a warm and gentle spiritual energy instantly spread throughout her body, like a spring breeze caressing her meridians and nourishing her limbs and bones.

She dared not delay and immediately began to circulate her spiritual energy throughout her body.

Qing Xuanzi also closed his eyes to regulate his breathing, and a faint blue light emanated from his body, clearly indicating that he was also doing his best to refine the power of the spiritual marrow liquid.

Zi Ling lay on a rock, her whole body shimmering with purple light, and spiritual mist swirling around her fur, clearly absorbing the essence of the spiritual marrow liquid.

Time passed slowly, and the cave was quiet, with only the ripples of the Spirit Marrow Pool reflecting on the stone walls, creating a shimmering play of light and shadow.

Suddenly, the small secret realm trembled slightly, then slowly sank, disappearing directly into the Spirit Essence Pool!

Although Rong Jiaojiao was cultivating, she could still sense the unusual activity in the small secret realm, and was startled: [Why did it go down by itself?]

She stopped cultivating and prepared to check what the small secret realm was doing.

The spiritual essence liquid in the pool seemed to be drawn by some force, and began to swirl at the bottom of the pool.

"Get back quickly!" Qing Xuanzi grabbed Rong Jiaojiao and jumped backward, keeping a wary eye on the pool of spiritual essence liquid.

The golden liquid at the bottom of the pool spun rapidly, forming a vortex.

At the center of the vortex, a golden hand quickly reached out, followed by an arm, a shoulder... slowly transforming into a tiny golden figure.

"This is... the transformation of spiritual essence!" Qing Xuanzi exclaimed in surprise. "The spiritual essence liquid has accumulated to its limit and has developed sentience!"

The little man jumped out of the water and tried to escape, but was caught by the blue light emitted from the small secret realm that followed him, and instantly disappeared from Rong Jiaojiao and the others' sight.

The little secret realm flew into Rong Jiaojiao's brow and disappeared, and then it closed again.

Rong Jiaojiao sighed helplessly. The little secret realm was too capricious, offering no hints whatsoever.

Qing Xuanzi asked, "What happened?"

Rong Jiaojiao said, "The treasure might be about to be upgraded again, and it won't be able to be opened."

Qing Xuanzi smiled and said, "Very well, let's continue our cultivation."

Rong Jiaojiao nodded and continued to absorb the spiritual essence liquid while cultivating, keeping a portion of her divine sense attentive to the situation in the small secret realm.

For some reason, the upgrade of the small secret realm took a long time this time; it wasn't until more than ten days later that the small secret realm began to tremble.