Chapter 27: The Nine-Storey Tower Starts with Pile of Earth

For the next few months, Luo Xuanyi immersed herself in a sea of books, moving directly into the left side hall. Taoist Hua Shen's collection was extensive and well-categorized, making it easy to find the right book. Su Yang would occasionally come to retrieve a book, but he was used to taking it back to his room to read before putting it back. However, the look in his eyes, filled with confusion and shock, always left Luo Xuanyi feeling a bit lost.

After intensively brushing up on herbal medicine knowledge these days, Third Sister Yi finally understood the corresponding properties of the forty-one medicinal properties within her body. There are six primary herbs—activating blood circulation, promoting vitality, gathering vital energy, invigorating qi, controlling qi, and purifying blood; thirty-two auxiliary herbs—strengthening vital energy, promoting spiritual movement, and calming evil spirits; and three guiding herbs—cold, hot, and neutral. The function of all herbs in the alchemy furnace is to skillfully combine these properties to create countless medicinal remedies.

Try to quickly convert the medicinal liquid into poisonous spiritual energy. After all, this is currently the most lethal method. The spiritual energy must be compressed into the medicinal liquid, and then converted back into gas at the moment of liquefaction, so that the poison can be used anytime and anywhere. Luo Xuanyi always felt that the conversion was slow at first, and even the fastest conversion would take place at intervals of a breath. She also discovered that these conversions were layered, often without any conversion within a breath, and then after a breath, the conversion from the relatively superficial medicinal liquid to gas was very rapid.

Taoist Hua Shen patiently instructed, "If that's the case, don't convert all your spiritual energy into liquid medicine for storage. Instead, leave a trace of it to connect with the liquid. This way, the conversion will be faster." Luo Xuanyi tried it a few times, and it worked. This was the progress that could be made with the guidance of an accomplished senior. Otherwise, relying on self-study would be far too difficult. Luo Xuanyi became even more convinced that her choice was the right one.

In order to try to refine the elixir inside her body, Luo Xuanyi began to memorize the elixir formulas again. She memorized all the elixir formulas collected by Taoist Hua Shen and tried to refine the elixir, but she could not succeed. She asked Taoist Hua Shen, and he said, "You just need to configure the amount of medicine in your body to simulate the purified herbal medicine." His tone was very matter-of-fact, but she did not have such a heaven-defying talent, so she had to find an opportunity to go to Danxin Pavilion to observe the elixir refining in those furnaces for a long time.

But faced with so many books, Luo Xuanyi still wanted to find two kinds of tome: one that could enhance her current strength, and one that held the key to her life. But the latter was incredibly difficult. If there truly were a heart-entry technique or other treasured tome that could extend her lifespan, why wouldn't the elders rush in? Furthermore, if it could extend her lifespan and allow her to use these materials for a longer period, would the Zang Yao Sect not value it? For now, there was no hope, so she could only focus on strengthening her own strength.

He still couldn't learn how to make the elixir. Although he could accumulate spiritual energy now, he was still affected by the drawbacks of the initiation and couldn't practice the heart skills to improve his realm. Luo Xuanyi could only focus on other places. With a body that could only use three moves, it was impossible for him to fight head-on. No matter how he thought about it, he needed a way to improve his speed.

Luo Xuanyi channeled her spiritual energy into her eyes, quickly scanning the entire list of footwork techniques. With a flick of her hand, she took a copy of the "Yin Yang Rain Body Technique Fragmentary Manuscript" and examined it carefully. The techniques she could practice were very demanding, requiring minimal spiritual energy consumption, and this was the only one on the shelf that met the requirements. Unwilling to give up, she wandered around the main hall again, pulling out another copy of the "Xiao Yun Huan Body Technique" from a corner.

Now that the two forms were before her, Luo Xuanyi examined them carefully, then fell into deep thought. The complete Xiaoyun Huan form appeared quite impressive overall. It originated from the Lianqiu Monastery in Tianyan Prefecture, a territory under the Heavenly Dao, just like Xuancheng Prefecture. After practicing this form, one could achieve a form as ethereal as a cloud, circling the enemy with little spiritual energy, making it difficult for the enemy to detect.

But the Yin-Yang Rain Body Technique, which she had briefly glimpsed before, was even more captivating upon closer inspection. This ancient form of body technique, combined with a battle formation, was only partially known, but its power was enough to make her heart flutter. Practicing this technique, one's figure becomes blurred by rain and mist while moving, while the rain itself remains untouched. This rain and mist, a product of the battle formation, comes in two varieties: Yin-Yang Rain and Yang-Yang Rain. Yin-Yang Rain is a method of escape, where perception of position is reversed; the closer the pursuit, the further away one actually is. Yang-Yang Rain is a killing formation, where, under the fierce wind and heavy rain, every raindrop burns spiritual energy, and at advanced levels, it can even directly burn spiritual roots.

Such a skill couldn't possibly be undocumented. Luo Xuanyi searched the bookshelf and, sure enough, found the master who created this form of movement in a slightly yellowed biography. He was, surprisingly, a semi-wasted master of formations. In the first half of his life, he cultivated swordsmanship with great brilliance, earning him many enemies. But after being plotted against and rendered semi-wasted, unable to cultivate further, he turned to formations in anger and became a renowned master.

Since this path had already been proven successful, why hesitate? It was actually a matter of cultivating formations. The guidance Taoist Hua Shen had given her regarding alchemy and poison control was undoubtedly unmatched within the Zang Yao Sect, but formations were not his primary focus. The main focus within the Zang Yao Sect was the Soul-Calming Pavilion on Changliu Mountain.

Weighing the pros and cons, Luo Xuanyi gritted her teeth and copied the fragments of the Yin-Yang Rain Body Technique into her sleeve, letting out a sigh of relief. She was a cautious person, yet also greedy. If it weren't for her desperate spirit, she might not have made it this far. If there was no opportunity here, then she would find it herself! It seemed the immediate priority was to leave Zhaojian Palace and observe alchemy.

Thinking that Luo Xuanyi was about to put the three books back to their original places, she suddenly became curious about the formation method. She thought that it would be better to read the rest of her life. Thinking of this, she opened the book again and started reading:

"...The Beast Cloud disaster suddenly struck, and the Myriad Souls Sect made matters worse by summoning the Ghost Realm. From then on, the Ghost Realm took shape... Ji Ye used himself as the center of the formation... Within ten days, tens of millions of corpses lay dead in Tianyan Province. If Ji Ye hadn't already caused the Ghost Realm to truly descend upon Tianyan Province, even though he died, he would have been a role model for our generation..."