Inside the alchemy room, the alchemical fire crackled and popped, the pale blue flames leaping at the bottom of the furnace, illuminating the furnace body.
Lin Zhou sat cross-legged in front of the alchemy furnace, his fingertips forming hand seals, and spiritual energy flowed into the furnace like silk threads.
Although the Ice-Melting Pill is not a top-tier elixir, it requires precise control of the heat—it must melt the extreme cold power in the medicinal materials while preserving the gentle medicinal properties that guide the source. The slightest mistake could lead to failure.
"Hmph, you've been training for so long, and you still think you can run away?"
A low chuckle came from the alchemy room, tinged with nonchalance. The furnace lid trembled slightly, and a wisp of extremely cold air tried to escape through the crack, but it was instantly engulfed by the green flame flicked from Lin Zhou's fingertip and pulled back into the furnace.
Xiao Chen and Ling Xue were guarding outside the alchemy room. When they heard the voice, they tensed up but quickly relaxed—for their master to say such a thing, it must be almost done.
About an incense stick's time later, the stone door to the alchemy room creaked open.
Lin Zhou stepped out, holding a pill the size of a longan in his hand. The pill was pure white, surrounded by a chilling aura that was not piercing, and was enveloped in a faint layer of spiritual energy. It was the Ice Melting Pill.
"Here, take this." He casually tossed the pill to Ling Xue, his tone nonchalant. "Eat it directly."
Ling Xue quickly used her spiritual power to catch it. The moment her fingertips touched the pill, she felt a gentle coolness spread along her fingertips, without any icy aura. Instead, it slightly calmed the restless coldness within her body. She took a deep breath, glanced at Xiao Chen, and seeing him nod encouragingly, she put the pill into her mouth.
The pill melted instantly upon entering the mouth, transforming into a cool, warm current that slid down the throat into the dantian.
But the next moment, something unexpected happened!
"Buzz—!"
The chill within Ling Xue's body exploded like ignited explosives! An extreme chill, a hundred times stronger than before, surged from her body, instantly freezing the ground around the alchemy room into thick, solid ice. The moisture in the air turned into ice crystals, and even the sunlight shining on them shone with a cold light.
"It's so cold!" Xiao Chen instinctively took several steps back, circulating his spiritual energy to resist the cold, barely managing to avoid being frostbitten. He looked at Ling Xue, who was shrouded in icy mist, and a look of worry flashed in his eyes, "Master?"
"It's alright, let her absorb it on her own." Lin Zhou stood by the bamboo chair, looking calm and collected. "This is because the pill has activated her Ice Soul Essence, forcing out all the cold energy that was suppressed in her bones."
Lin Zhou ignored her and slowly lay down on the bamboo chair, letting the old locust tree shake him.
In the icy mist, Ling Xue sat cross-legged, her brows furrowed, but she remained calm. She could feel that the burst of cold energy, though violent, was much more "obedient" than before, as if an invisible hand was guiding it, flowing through her meridians and merging into her limbs and bones.
As time passed, the ice fog gradually dissipated, and the surrounding ice melted at a visible speed, turning into water vapor that rose up.
Two hours later, the last wisp of cold air was inhaled into Ling Xue's body. She slowly opened her eyes, her blue eyes clear and bright. No more cold air leaked out from her body, and even her breathing became peaceful and gentle.
Even more astonishingly, the spiritual energy fluctuations within her body steadily increased—from the early stage of Golden Core, all the way through the middle and late stages of Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Deity Transformation, Void Refinement... and finally settled steadily at the middle stage of Mahayana!
In just two hours, he broke through several realms!
Ling Xue also knew that she was currently at the mid-stage of the Mahayana realm, but not yet at the level of a mid-stage Mahayana practitioner. She needed to adapt and hone her skills.
Ling Xue's heart tightened, and she quickly circulated her spiritual power to suppress it—she knew that although such a leapfrog breakthrough was fast, it was easy to have an unstable foundation, so she had to stabilize it.
Once the spiritual energy had completely settled, she stood up, flexed her fingers, and felt the cold energy within her body that she could control at will. An incredulous joy flashed in her eyes.
She raised her hand, and a crystal lotus flower condensed at her fingertips, crystal clear, yet without exuding any chill; she raised her hand again, and the lotus flower vanished, her fingertips remaining warm as usual, as if the extreme cold just now was merely an illusion.
"I...I can control it!" Ling Xue's voice trembled, and when she looked at Xiao Chen, the excitement in her eyes was almost overflowing.
Xiao Chen nodded with a smile, his eyes full of satisfaction—his master was right after all.
Ling Xue took a deep breath, straightened her clothes, walked to Lin Zhou's bamboo chair, bowed deeply to him, and said with immense gratitude, "Thank you so much for saving my life, senior! Ling Xue will never forget this!"
Lin Zhou was basking in the sun with his eyes half-closed when he heard this. He just gave a lazy "hmm" and didn't say anything more. To him, it was just casually refining a pill; it wasn't a big deal.
But in Ling Xue's eyes, this was a debt of gratitude that would change her life. She straightened up and looked at Lin Zhou's languid profile, her heart filled with mixed emotions—this senior's strength was unfathomable, yet his temperament was as casual as an ordinary person's, and it was precisely in this casualness that the most reassuring power was hidden.
"Alright, you can leave now if there's nothing else." Lin Zhou waved his hand as if shooing away flies, then looked at Xiao Chen not far away, "Eldest disciple, go cook, I'm hungry."
"Okay, sure!" Xiao Chen quickly replied, turning to walk towards the kitchen. After taking a few steps, he turned back to Ling Xue and smiled, "Come on, I'll show you the kitchen."
Ling Xue nodded vigorously and followed Xiao Chen's steps. Her white skirt fluttered lightly in the sunlight, as if a heavy burden had been lifted.
On the bamboo chair, Lin Zhou watched the two figures from behind, a barely perceptible smile curving his lips. He then closed his eyes and continued basking in the sun.
Ling Xue knew that from the moment she stepped into this sect and took that pill, her life had finally ushered in a true spring.
Recently, the entire cultivation community across the continent has been abuzz with two things. Teahouses, taverns, sects, and families are all discussing and talking about them.
The first thing to do is to explore the ancient secret realm in the southern desert.
Thanks to the combined efforts of the forces from the four regions and the central region, the turbulent space finally stabilized, and the entrance to the secret realm officially opened. However, the conditions for opening it were incredibly stringent—only those under thirty years old and whose cultivation had reached the Refinement Void Realm were allowed to enter.
The news shocked countless people.
It's important to understand that reaching the Void Refinement Realm is already considered a significant achievement in the cultivation world. For an ordinary cultivator, reaching the threshold of Void Refinement before the age of five hundred is considered a stroke of good fortune. And a Void Refinement cultivator under thirty? Such talent is worthy of being called a "chosen one of heaven," and can be counted on two hands across the entire realm. But that doesn't even include the hidden geniuses within powerful families and sects.
"Have you heard? The young sect master of the Three Saints Sect in the Central Region is only twenty-eight years old, yet he has already reached the late stage of the Void Refinement realm, qualifying him to enter the secret realm!"
"The 'Ice Phoenix Maiden' of the Northern Region is only twenty-five, at the mid-stage of the Void Refinement realm, and it's said she's already set off!"
"Our Southern Region's rising genius, Xiao Chen, is only in his early twenties, isn't he? He'll definitely get in!"
Countless eyes were focused on the Southern Desert, both envying the geniuses who were qualified to enter and anticipating what kind of opportunities would arise in the secret realm.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com