sbdcsierra Chapter 127 Refining
Chapter 127 Refining
A day later, Zhang Yunling left the Quanzhen Sect and walked out of Chang'an City. He took out the communication jade pendant from his storage bag and sent a message to Lin Wan'er.
In an instant, a purple light flashed, and a beautiful figure appeared in front of Zhang Yunling. It was his sister, Lin Wan'er.
"Brother Yunling!" Lin Wan'er rushed forward without saying a word and hugged Zhang Yunling tightly. Her long, dark green hair swayed slightly as she nestled in Zhang Yunling's arms, exuding a sweet fragrance.
Zhang Yunling reached out and patted Lin Wan'er's head, comforting her, "Alright, alright, sweetie. I'm going on a long trip this time and may not be back for a long time, so I came here to say goodbye."
Upon hearing this, Lin Wan'er immediately became unhappy, pouting and saying, "Brother Yunling, why are you leaving again? Last time you went to the Immortal Ruins, you almost didn't make it back. Where are you going to go on adventures this time?"
Zhang Yunling scratched his head and said helplessly, "My father's killer is still at large. I have to find her. I need to get stronger quickly. Staying in this Dao Tian Continent all the time won't help me improve. I need to go out and gain some experience."
"Sigh... I can't argue with you... Well then, take these space scrolls. You used up the two I gave you last time, right? Here are two more." Lin Wan'er pulled Zhang Yunling's hand and stuffed two space scrolls into his hand.
Upon hearing the mention of the spatial scroll, Zhang Yunling slapped his forehead: "Oh my god, I completely forgot about this magical artifact! I haven't even used it yet!"
Seeing Zhang Yunling's left sleeve hanging in the air, Lin Wan'er hugged his only remaining right arm and said with heartache, "Brother Yunling, even if you have to leave, wait a few days. The Thief Heaven Sect still has the Jade Bottle, which should be able to heal your arm."
Zhang Yunling shook his head and smiled, "No need. I already had a plan. I obtained a method to refine arms with pills. It's been a long time since I've refined pills, so I want to try it out."
"Don't worry about me, Wan'er. Go back now. When I'm strong enough, I'll definitely come back for you," Zhang Yunling said softly, stroking Lin Wan'er's head.
Lin Wan'er knew she couldn't persuade them to stay, so she could only cherish this brief reunion. The two embraced tightly and shared their innermost feelings.
Zhang Yunling felt guilty for not caring for and spending time with his younger sister, Lin Wan'er, but the path of cultivation was too difficult, and he had not yet grown to the point where he could bear everything.
Lin Wan'er reluctantly bid farewell to Zhang Yunling and returned to the Thief Heaven Sect using a spatial scroll, leaving Zhang Yunling alone on the empty plain once again.
Taking a deep breath, Zhang Yunling used his divine sense to examine his body, something he hadn't done in a long time. Although the world was static in the Immortal Ruins, he had indeed spent more than fifty years in the secret realm.
By this reckoning, it's been decades since he last examined his dantian meridians. This time, he's determined to give his body a thorough check-up.
However, upon closer inspection, he discovered something extraordinary. Since experiencing Pei Yao's underground secret chamber and many other events, he had been constantly exploring with his early-stage Golden Core cultivation.
But now, when he used his divine sense to explore the past, he discovered that his cultivation had actually reached the late stage of the Golden Core realm, and he was just one step away from advancing to the Great Perfection of the Golden Core realm.
Just as he stood there, bewildered, the wine gourd flew out of his Qiankun bag and spoke: "Little Zhang, have you forgotten the fortune bestowed upon you by Immortal Lord Chang Geng?"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Yunling understood: "Enlightenment?"
The wine gourd laughed and said, "Hmm, not bad. That moment of enlightenment surpasses your decades of cultivation. Although I don't know what the trial the Immortal Sword gave you is, before that, the Immortal Lord had already laid a more solid foundation for you."
Zhang Yunling summoned the Immortal Sword and held it in his hand. Looking at the once-glowing blade, now dull and lifeless, he frowned and said in a deep voice:
"Yes, the Immortal Lord chose me to inherit his true teachings, and I will certainly dedicate my life to this task. But this trial... without Elder Lu's help within the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, I would probably have been directly refined by An Lushan... Even now, I cannot unleash even one-tenth of the sword's power, and perhaps I will only understand why in the future."
The gourd floated over and touched the Qiankun bag at Zhang Yunling's waist with its spout, asking, "Putting aside the trial for now, how do you plan to heal your arm? Given your style, you probably wouldn't feel any guilt even if it meant killing someone for it."
Zhang Yunling shook his head. He recalled the perfect Foundation Establishment Pill he had refined. Just like enlightenment, the pills he refined must have been created by predecessors. However, he had never seen any formula for Foundation Establishment Pills and had only refined them based on his intuition.
"These elixir formulas that have been passed down to this day were actually created by the ancients through flashes of inspiration. This is the path I must take to become an immortal." Zhang Yunling's expression was solemn. He spread his divine sense and repeatedly confirmed that there was no one else within a radius of several hundred meters before he felt at ease. He then sat cross-legged on the spot and began to practice breathing exercises.
Although the wine gourd didn't understand alchemy, it understood what Zhang Yunling wanted to do, because the most important thing before doing anything is to stabilize one's mindset.
Fifteen minutes later, as dusk fell, Zhang Yunling opened his eyes; he had recovered to his peak condition.
He took off the Qiankun bag from his waist and used his divine sense to take out all the items in the bag: a few changes of clothes, dozens of low-grade mortal flying swords, a dilapidated pill furnace, dozens of medicinal herbs, a few small white porcelain bottles containing pills, and finally, the four spatial scrolls that Lin Wan'er had given him.
Seeing this, the wine gourd exclaimed in surprise, "Wow, you've filled such a big bag with so little junk. It's such a waste that this magic treasure is in your hands."
Zhang Yunling rolled his eyes, ignoring the gourd. He remotely controlled the cauldron, a thought forming in his mind, and shouted, "Ignite!"
Instantly, a purple flame ignited in the alchemy furnace. This was Zhang Yunling's primordial alchemical fire, which changed from its initial orange-yellow color to dark purple due to the Xuan Dao Purple Pill.
Zhang Yunling then took out the formula for the Bone and Flesh Pill, spread it out, and examined it carefully.
Zhang Yunling has always had the habit of collecting medicinal herbs. He would collect any strange or unusual herbs he saw along the way and put them in his storage bag, so he had all the medicinal herbs needed for the pill formula.
"Frostbone Flower?" Zhang Yunling narrowed his eyes. He was actually missing this most essential medicinal herb. The most important part of this pill was the Frostbone Flower. Only by extracting the Frostbone Spiritual Power from it could the entire pill be condensed.
After a few moments of contemplation, Zhang Yunling smiled to himself, "Excellent, just what I wanted."
The gourd remained silent, watching quietly from the side. When it noticed that Zhang Yunling seemed confident, it became interested as well.
After putting away the prescription, Zhang Yunling's gaze suddenly sharpened. He raised his right arm and waved it, drawing several medicinal herbs from the grass away from a distance.
Zhang Yunling then added another bit of fire to the furnace, making the fire more intense. The furnace, which had not been used for a long time, began to emit a faint medicinal fragrance that had lingered on it.
"Enter!" Zhang Yunling's right hand fell, and the herbs in mid-air fell into the furnace together. This was a very risky move. The refining time for each herb was different. Except for alchemists who were in a hurry and had a lot of experience in alchemy, almost no normal alchemist would do this.
However, Zhang Yunling regarded all of these as his trials. Although he did not know what the Immortal Sword was trying to test him on, if he only focused on passing the trials, then he would have wasted his cultivation path.
Six herbs were simultaneously placed into the furnace. Zhang Yunling relied entirely on his divine sense to carefully monitor the burning of each herb after it entered the furnace. This was a process that required sustained mental strength and patience.
The wine gourd on the side was bored. This scene only made Zhang Yunling look reckless. In terms of visual appeal, it was not as good as refining each herb separately. Each time he refined a herb, he would condense its essence on the alchemy furnace for later use. In the end, six drops of essence of different colors would hang in mid-air, which was quite beautiful.
This process only lasted one night. If each plant were processed separately, it would take at least two days and two nights.
He had to control the heat of the alchemy furnace while protecting the essence of the medicinal herbs from being burned by the flames. This was a trial he deliberately set for himself, increasing the difficulty of the task.
Once all the essence has been extracted, the next step is to fuse these six drops of essence together, which presents an even greater challenge.
Because the Frostbone Flower responsible for fusion is missing, this condensation should not have succeeded in the first place.
But recalling how Sun Jie used the Formless Hand to transport him through space, and the strange feeling he had when using the space scroll, he became even more certain of his thoughts.
Suddenly turning around, Zhang Yunling picked up the Qiankun bag beside him from a distance and threw it into the alchemy furnace to burn.
"Huh?! Zhang Yunling, what are you doing?" The wine gourd was so startled by his action that it flew up. Just as it was about to go over to investigate, it heard a voice coming from not far away:
"Hey! What are you doing?"
At this critical moment, without Zhang Yunling and the wine gourd noticing, a stranger with unclear intentions suddenly appeared, further increasing the difficulty of this alchemy attempt.