Chapter 1331: Perfect Golden Core

You little brat. Since that's the case, let's begin.

Seeing Xiao Ling's confident appearance, Lin Feng couldn't help but chuckle lightly, then he patted the little brat's head.

Immediately, he flicked his storage ring, and the large quantity of medicinal herbs hidden inside instantly shot out like before, like a river of herbs flying forth, finally landing steadily in the distant sky.

At the same time, Xiao Ling in his embrace immediately waved her small hand, releasing tens of thousands of strands of golden flame, wrapping up all those medicinal herbs.

As the flames roasted those medicinal herbs again, the two repeated the refining process once more.

However, thanks to the previous experience, the two became much more skilled in refining these medicinal herbs.

In many places, Xiao Ling didn't even need Lin Feng's commands; she could precisely control the fire on her own.

After all, as a Strange Fire Spirit, her flame control ability on the Dou Qi Continent is virtually unmatched.

Therefore, releasing the same temperature as before posed no difficulty for her.

And with Xiao Ling's much more familiar help, after several days of such refining, those medicinal herbs were completely refined as expected.

Combine!

After Lin Feng sensed around and found no problem with the herbs' essence, he immediately shouted, releasing a vast soul power that pressed upon the tens of thousands of herb essences, beginning to draw them toward the central area.

However, because of the previous experience.

This time, he had also prepared his soul power in advance to cope with the incoming energy shockwave.

As for Xiao Ling, she nervously controlled the flame's temperature, her golden eyes fixed unmoving on the slowly merging golden flames.

After all, this time she didn't want to see her master's disappointed expression again.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

After a day of such fusion, on the second morning, the powerful energy shockwave familiar to Lin Feng and Xiao Ling again reverberated across the entire sky.

Furthermore, as those terrifying shockwaves spread, the heart-pounding shockwaves continuously echoed in this sky, making people involuntarily frown.

However, Lin Feng and Xiao Ling are both Eight-Star Dou Saints, and they had also prepared in advance.

Thus, they handled these shockwaves more calmly than before.

And in their fusion, a day quickly passed.

Meanwhile, under the focused control of Lin Feng and Xiao Ling.

The distant flames, like a sky full of stars, have now nearly merged into one.

Meanwhile, the medicinal essence within those flames has almost completely synthesized into a massive clump of colorful energy liquid.

Of course, seeing this situation, Lin Feng and Xiao Ling also quietly circulated their soul power and Dou Qi, ready at any moment to greet the greater energy shockwave.

Boom!

However, the next moment, above the distant sky, the tens of thousands of flames that had nearly gathered into a huge golden fireball, just as Lin Feng and Xiao Ling had expected, suddenly emitted an energy shockwave fiercer than all the previous ones.

However, facing this energy shockwave that would make even six-star Dou Saints turn and flee,

the distant Lin Feng and Xiao Ling, however, had long been prepared.

At the instant that energy shockwave appeared, Lin Feng immediately controlled his vast soul power to meet it head-on, violently colliding with the shockwave.

Bang!

Accompanying the violent collision of the two energies, instantly, terrifying energy gusts surged across the sky without warning.

Meanwhile, Lin Feng also promptly adeptly mobilized his inexhaustible, ocean-like soul power to go stabilize the imminent giant golden fireball about to fuse successfully.

As for Xiao Ling, at this moment she did not intervene in the energy shockwave matter.

Instead, she wholeheartedly sat in her master's embrace, stabilizing the flame temperature inside the huge golden fireball hundreds of zhang in size.

After all, at this critical moment, one cannot afford a negligence that would cause the flame temperature to lose control, thereby burning away the energy liquid within.

Those were the precious medicinal herb essences that she and her master had painstakingly refined over several days.

If they were destroyed, she would have no face to continue being a Strange Fire Spirit.

Boom!

After the fusion continued for several more hours, the medicinal essence within the distant flames finally condensed into a clump of colorful energy liquid.

Meanwhile, waves of astonishingly powerful energy also emanated from that energy liquid.

As for Lin Feng himself, upon seeing the successfully fused energy liquid again, he immediately patted Xiao Ling's pleasantly feeling round, perky buttocks, signaling her to start heating the flame to bake that energy liquid into a medicinal pill prototype.

Upon sensing his action, Xiao Ling lightly nodded her head, then began controlling the distant huge golden fireball, gradually raising its temperature.

Furthermore, her sensitivity to temperature this time was especially heightened, fearing to repeat the previous mistake.

Meanwhile, she also made a gesture toward Lin Feng.

Indicating that if she successfully condensed a Golden Core prototype this time, he would give her ten tasty treats and also kiss her ten times.

But seeing this, Lin Feng felt a dark cloud over his head.

He wondered whether, during this period of feeding him tasty food, Xiao Ling had awakened some strange hobby.

Otherwise, why does this little brat constantly think about eating?

Of course, although he felt this little brat had gone astray, he still nodded, indicating his agreement to her terms.

Although this little brat's hobbies are somewhat strange, his recuperative power is extremely strong, and he has plenty of descendants, so let her eat what she likes.

After all, even if this little brat doesn't eat, he would have to gratuitously give those wives or concubines of his to someone—giving is giving.

And when Xiao Ling saw her master agree to her conditions, this little brat's enthusiasm instantly surged.

Immediately after, she bright-eyed stared at the distant golden fireball, finely adjusting the flame temperature to reduce the failure rate of the energy liquid solidifying.

Of course, regarding those impurity eruptions before, she this time also exerted twelvefold effort, always ready to stabilize the temperature.

After all, no one wants to make the same mistake twice!

Meanwhile, after rising, Lin Feng likewise released powerful soul power, carefully observing this clump of energy liquid, any minute change.

And under their focused roasting, the volume of the massive energy liquid within the distant flames is gradually decreasing.

However, although the volume of that energy liquid is gradually decreasing.

But the energy's purity was steadily increasing.

And after a day passed, that energy liquid actually gave a slight tremor.

It seemed as if something wanted to surge out from within.

Seeing this, Lin Feng immediately patted Xiao Ling's perky butt in his arms and shouted loudly, "Xiao Ling, hurry, that situation from last time is back—adjust the fire temperature right away and keep the flame temperature stable!"

"Yes!"

Hearing that, Xiao Ling hurriedly adjusted the fire temperature while doing her utmost to maintain its stability, lest the previous tragedy happen again.

Meanwhile, while this girl was wholeheartedly controlling the temperature of that huge fireball,

Within its golden flames, the mass of energy liquid that was gradually solidifying also suddenly emitted a strange fluctuation.

"Bang!"

The next moment, thick black dust suddenly burst forth from within the colorful energy liquid.

And because the amount of impurities expelled at once was too great, in an instant the black dust stained the golden fireball a pitch‑black color.

Don't dare—since the energy liquid was being solidified right now, Xiao Ling had adjusted the flame temperature a bit too high.

Therefore, in less than a breath, those black impurities were roasted into nothing by the golden strange fire, vanishing forever from heaven and earth.

And as those black impurities disappeared, the now‑more‑pure semi‑solid energy mass within the golden flames reappeared in Lin Feng and Xiao Ling's sight.

However, its volume had become much smaller than before.

Roughly estimated, it had shrunk from a huge energy mass a hundred zhang in diameter to only half its original size.

Yet, although this energy mass had changed greatly, its purity and brightness had actually been enhanced.

This clearly shows that after shedding many impurities, the energy's purity had received a tremendous boost.

Meanwhile, when Lin Feng and Xiao Ling saw that the energy mass inside the fireball was undamaged,

they exchanged a glance, and simultaneously a relieved smile appeared on their faces.

Next, Lin Feng pinched the girl's tender, delicate cheek and warned, "Hey, don't be careless—there might be another impurity burst later; don't let this one slip by, or you'll fall in the next eruption."

"Rest assured, Master; with my ability, it's a sure thing."

Hearing that, Xiao Ling instantly straightened her chest confidently and patted her big heart, saying.

Seeing that the girl had confidence, Lin Feng said nothing more, then lifted his head and continued to seriously sense the energy mass within the distant golden fireball.

At this moment, the solid proportion within that energy mass was also steadily rising.

At this rate, it will take no more than three days.

That energy mass will become the prototype of a pill.

"Boom!"

And after about half a day had passed, the golden fireball suddenly emitted another fluctuation, followed by a large amount of black impurities bursting out from within, just like before, instantly filling the entire golden fireball.

At this moment, looking far away, the fireball several hundred zhang in size instantly turned into a pitch‑black sphere of black dust.

However, under the burning of the golden flames, the black dust was quickly incinerated into nothing.

Meanwhile, Xiao Ling, who had experienced this several times before, also succeeded in stabilizing the energy liquid inside the fireball.

To prevent it from exploding again.

Once the dust cleared, what appeared before the two was a sea‑urchin‑shaped semi‑crystal about the size of a human brain, nearly solid.

Of course, this sea‑urchin‑shaped thing is not actually a true crystal.

Rather, it is because the energy contained within is too enormous, and then forcibly compressed into a relatively narrow space.

Thus, due to the excessive concentration of energy inside, it has condensed into a substance resembling a crystal.

Meanwhile, extending his soul power outward, Lin Feng discovered.

Now, the sea‑urchin‑shaped crystal within the flame contains an energy purity that has risen even higher than before!

And after confirming that the thing inside the flame was fine, Lin Feng let out a sigh of relief, then immediately ordered Xiao Ling to continually adjust the flame temperature, continuing to temper the pill prototype that was about to take shape.

"Whoosh"

Not long after this tempering, an invisible vortex with extraordinarily strong gravity suddenly appeared out of nowhere above the distant fireball.

As soon as this vortex appeared, it immediately drew in all the heavenly and earthly energy within a radius of a thousand li.

Those vast tracts of energy, at this moment, seemed to have come alive.

They streamed continuously toward the space above the fireball, finally pouring straight into the vortex, and then being pulled into the energy crystal inside the fireball.

Of course, before entering that energy crystal, these colorful heavenly and earthly energies would first be tempered by the golden strange fire.

After removing their impurities and refining them into extremely pure energy.

Only this "slimmed‑down" pure energy could then enter the energy crystal below.

And as time passed, the volume of the invisible vortex in the sky also gradually expanded.

In less than a quarter of an hour, that invisible vortex had grown from being able to draw the heavenly and earthly energy of the surrounding thousand‑li area into being capable of pulling the energy of a hundred‑thousand‑li radius—a massive vortex!

Naturally, with so much energy gathering in one place due to accumulation,

it also formed a colorful cyclone with a diameter of a thousand li in the sky above the fireball.

Seen from afar, it was splendid to behold.

Meanwhile, as the vortex's suction kept expanding, the heavenly and earthly energy constantly rushing in from afar also suddenly surged in speed.

At this moment, the speed of that energy rush was so fast it even exceeded twenty‑ to thirty‑times the speed of sound!

And with such great speed, plus the fact that the nearer one gets to the vortex's center, the higher the energy density,

these energies inevitably collide with each other while flying.

Meanwhile, that extreme speed also gives them tremendous force.

Thus, every energy collision lights up the sky with a colorful flash like twinkling starlight.

However, this light soon fades away and then disappears completely.

However, the light here had not yet faded; often the energy from elsewhere would violently collide, flashing a ribbon of colored light.

Looking out, the fleeting light from the constant energy collisions resembled the incessant twinkling of stars in the sky, making it impossible not to be lost in this beautiful scene.

Lin Feng, gazing at the endless surge of heaven and earth energy, couldn't help but click his tongue.

The heaven and earth energy required for the Ninth Grade Mystic Pill he had previously refined paled in comparison to that needed for this Ninth Grade Golden Core.

But immediately afterward, Lin Feng gazed at the mottled energy piled up in the sky because the Infant Pill could not absorb it all at once, shook his head, and continued to wait silently for the semi-crystal 'sea urchin' inside the fireball to absorb enough energy to condense into an Infant Pill.

During this wait, two days quickly passed amidst the turning of the sun and moon.

During this time, the massive energy vortex hung above the sky.

Also, under Xiao Ling's constant control of the flame's tempering, it was completely merged into the 'sea urchin' inside the fireball.

Meanwhile, the energy liquid inside the golden fireball had completely vanished.

In its place was a strangely shaped, roughly fist-sized pale red crystal covered in various spikes.

Of course, that crystal was now completely solid.

Rather than the previous 'sea urchin', which was a soft semi-crystal.

This is precisely the medicinal prototype condensed after absorbing sufficient heaven and earth energy, also called an Infant Pill! Of course, the price for forming this Golden Core Infant Pill is this part of the extreme north of Gu Nanfang Dalu.

Heaven and earth energy has now been drained to an almost nonexistent degree!

However, Lin Feng naturally had no mood to worry about heaven and earth energy.

Instead, he focused all his attention on the distant fireball.

Seeing the Infant Pill they had longed for finally formed, he and Xiao Ling couldn't help but break into delighted smiles.

After refining for so long, their efforts could be considered to have borne fruit.

"Crack!"

However, things did not go as wished; just as the Infant Pill gradually retracted its spikes and became round, it suddenly burst, in the astonished gazes of Lin Feng and Xiao Ling, with a crack almost spanning the entire Infant Pill.

Upon seeing this crack, Xiao Ling's complexion instantly turned horrified.

Immediately, she hurriedly looked toward Lin Feng and asked, "Master, what is happening?!"

At this moment, Lin Feng's complexion likewise turned extremely grim.

Then he patted her little head and said, "Let me check it first; you reduce the temperature a bit."

As soon as his words fell, a large amount of soul power shot out from between Lin Feng's eyebrows and then blanketed the medicinal prototype inside the fireball.

Immediately, the vast soul power wildly scanned back and forth over the strangely shaped Infant Pill.

Meanwhile, traces of soul power swiftly followed the crack deep into the pill's interior to investigate the situation.

As for Xiao Ling, she immediately lowered the flame temperature according to his instructions.

Not long afterward, Lin Feng gave a bitter smile and then helplessly shook his head.

Immediately, he lowered his head to Xiao Ling and said, "I've examined it; the cause of the crack in the Infant Pill should be our poor fusion, causing the medicinal herbs' inherent energy to clash with the heaven and earth energy absorbed during the Infant Pill's formation, resulting in the crack. Now this medicinal pill is mostly ruined."

While speaking, Lin Feng's tone also carried a strong sense of unwillingness.

Seeing that the refinement of the Golden Core was about to succeed, yet on the eve of victory, it suddenly failed.

This disappointment need not be described.

"Master, what should we do now?"

Hearing this, Xiao Ling momentarily stared blankly as she asked.

"Now that the Infant Pill has cracked and become extremely fragile, it definitely cannot withstand the subsequent refinement and pill lightning; let's just leave it as is."

Gazing at the pale red crystal in the sky, split open by a crack almost running from top to bottom, Lin Feng shook his head helplessly.

Immediately, he flicked his palm, and a surge of battle qi shot out.

Instantly, it drew the pitted, oval Infant Pill rapidly into his palm.

He then swiftly took out a large jade bottle and placed it inside.

After setting the seal, Lin Feng then put the jade bottle back into his spatial ring.

Seeing this, Xiao Ling could only helplessly recall the flame.

After all, with the medicinal pill gone, what's the point of keeping the fire burning?

However, after storing the Infant Pill, Lin Feng promptly took out another jade bottle.

Inside it was a golden medicinal pill imprisoned by a cylindrical pillar of light.

Although this medicinal pill is only fist-sized and its surface is not very smooth.

But in terms of energy density, it far surpasses the pill Lin Feng previously refined.

It is precisely the Golden Core Infant Pill that Lin Feng previously captured from the remains of a Golden Core Master.

However, that Golden Core Master's alchemical skill far surpasses Lin Feng's by an unknown degree.

Furthermore, this Infant Pill has been cultivated for thousands of years and has devoured large quantities of medicinal herbs and pills from those remains.

Therefore, compared to the Infant Pill Lin Feng just refined, this one is undoubtedly much stronger.

Moreover, setting aside other factors, although both are Ninth Grade Golden Cores, that Return to Origin Increase Qi Pill is also considered a top-tier existence among Ninth Grade Golden Cores.

And Lin Feng's is merely an introductory formula for a Golden Core.

Thus, it naturally cannot compare to that Return to Origin Increase Qi Pill.

"Xiao Ling, with our prior experience, we can now nearly perfect it."

Taking out the jade bottle, Lin Feng gazed at the golden medicinal pill inside the cylindrical seal, its surface bearing a few pits.

Soon after, he immediately took it out of the jade bottle and hurled it toward the distant sky.

At the instant he threw it, the cylindrical pillar elongated with the wind.

In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a giant energy pillar tens of zhang in diameter and a hundred zhang high.

"Good."

At the same time, Xiao Ling, upon hearing that, didn't waste words, immediately opened her mouth and spat out a flame, rushing straight toward the distant cylindrical seal.

Meanwhile, the golden flame streaked across the sky, and in an instant it drilled into the cylindrical body, finally attaching to the surface of the golden pill.

Buzz!

At the moment the flame attached to its surface, the golden pill seemed to sense danger and immediately began to struggle desperately.

However, even though the golden pill struggled wildly, wanting to escape its original spot,

But due to the existence of the seal, everything it did was destined to be in vain.

At the same time, after sensing the condition of the pill, Lin Feng then patted Xiao Ling and said, "Little girl, this pill is far stronger than the ones we refined before; go ahead and increase the flame temperature."

No problem!

Upon hearing that, Xiao Ling nodded her small head, then immediately exerted full energy output, raising the temperature of the flame attached to the golden pill's surface to its maximum level.

Bang! Bang!

As Xiao Ling exerted full output, in an instant the flame on the pill's surface surged violently.

At the same time, its temperature also spiked sharply.

In the blink of an eye, the temperature of that golden strange fire reached a level that even an Eight-Star Dou Saint would find greatly alarming.

Such violent flames directly attached to the pill and roasted it, immediately causing it to tremble violently.

However, due to the existence of the seal, although it suffered greatly, it could not escape.

Finally, it could only endure the intense pain brought by the flames on its body.

When this refining continued day and night for about half a month, the motionless Lin Feng in the sky swiftly lifted his head, gazed at the distant cylindrical energy seal, and the corner of his mouth slightly rose.

At this moment, under the violent strange fire, golden light permeated; a fist-sized pill, radiant throughout like gold, hovered silently.

Around the pill, a rich medicinal fragrance continuously diffused.

At the same time, compared to before, when there were many pits and depressions in the pill,

Now this golden pill's surface is extremely smooth, with no bumps or flaws whatsoever.

Obviously, this Return-to-Origin Qi-Increasing Pill has been greatly improved compared to before.

"Looks like it's succeeded."

Lin Feng gazed at the distant golden pill, and immediately his expression turned excited.

After all, what lay before him was a genuine ninth-grade golden pill!

Facing such a pill, surely few on this continent could remain unmoved.

Bang!

However, just as the previous words fell, a terrifying energy shockwave suddenly emanated from within the golden pill.

Under that powerful force, Lin Feng's seal instantly shattered, breaking into a pile of transparent fragments like glass shards, which quickly fell from the sky.

At the very moment the energy shockwave from the pill appeared, a golden light suddenly appeared on the distant horizon.

Boom—!

Accompanying the emission of this golden light, the sky soon began to rumble.

Although the sound was dull, its penetrative power was extremely strong.

Furthermore, as the sound spread, it was accompanied by intense vibrations, causing the space it passed through to tremble incessantly.

Such a commotion was as if a terrifying giant beast were hiding in the sky and roaring.

And amidst those booming reverberations, the golden light in the sky also surged with the storm.

In an instant, it covered the sky within a radius of dozens of li!

Then, after the golden light's diffusion stabilized, the next moment a golden thunder dragon thousands of zhang in length appeared.

Immediately, under the watch of Lin Feng and Xiao Ling below, it slowly emerged from the golden light and finally came to hover above the pill.

Gazing out, Lin Feng discovered that the giant dragon was about a thousand zhang long and nearly a hundred zhang wide.

Upon its appearance, enormous golden lightning arcs crackled wildly across its body surface.

At the same time, the rumbling sound brought bursts of thunderstorms across the sky.

Such a scalp-tingling scene was akin to the arrival of doomsday.

"As expected of a top-tier ninth-grade golden pill, the power of this pill thunder is such that even cultivators below Nine-Star Dou Saint would be unable to withstand it, walking away with their pockets turned inside out—is this due to the enhancement it gained from previously consuming so many medicinal ingredients and pills?"

Meanwhile, Lin Feng below, looking up at the nine mysterious golden thunder that had emerged from the golden light, couldn't help but click his tongue and mutter to himself.

However, he then lightly laughed and said: "Speaking of which, I still need to thank that nascent pill; if it hadn't initially refined and fused the energy of those medicinal ingredients and pills, then my tinkering would probably leave me helpless."

Thinking of how the nascent pill had painstakingly fused energy only to end up doing work for him, Lin Feng couldn't help but shake his head with feeling.

No matter which world you're in, when you lack sufficient strength to protect your own treasures,

the outcome is usually not good.

Moreover, speaking of this top-tier ninth-grade golden pill, taking one can instantly boost the strength of Eight- or Nine-Star Dou Saint experts out of thin air, and even extend their lifespan by hundreds of years for no reason—a supreme treasure.

Even some women, no matter how beautiful, if they lack sufficient self-defense ability, will meet a bad end when encountering ill-intentioned people.

However, Lin Feng soon cast aside his distracting thoughts and fixed his gaze on the distant golden thunder dragon.

Next, he shook his head with a regretful expression and said helplessly: "It's just a pity; this golden pill must undergo tempering by the pill thunder to become perfect. Otherwise, I could also capture some nine mysterious golden thunder to refine a tribulation-thunder pill."

Meanwhile, as Lin Feng sighed, the thunder dragon in the high sky turned its gaze toward the fist-sized pill below.

Boom!

The next moment, it roared, twisted its body, and lunged headfirst toward its target, finally slamming heavily onto the golden pill below.

Upon collision, the fist-sized pill appeared utterly insignificant before the golden thunder dragon that was thousands of zhang long and nearly a hundred zhang wide.

However, this seemingly insignificant pill did not retreat an inch in the impact; instead, it firmly blocked the thunder dragon.

Sizzle!

However, the next moment, the thunder dragon suddenly disintegrated into countless zhang-long lightning snakes, which continuously corroded the golden pill below.

From a distance, the dense Lightning Serpents pressed together, like a river of thunder pouring wildly over the pill.

However, these Lightning Serpents not only failed to harm the pill, but made it even purer and more radiant.

That deluge, after lasting almost a quarter of an hour, ceased when the Lightning Serpents were exhausted.

But after the Lightning Serpents finished falling, the golden light high in the sky seemed unwilling.

It soon rippled, and then another golden thunder dragon, similar to the previous one, burst out.

Immediately, that thunder dragon, just like the earlier one, roared and surged downward.

This scene continued for almost an hour.

Finally, the golden light in the sky faded away, unwilling, as its energy was exhausted.

Bang!

At the same moment, as the golden light vanished, the floating pill below instantly blasted a beam of energy straight into the distant sky.

At this moment, it, together with the thunderous power of the Nine Mysterious Golden Thunder, was constantly being infiltrated.

Every speck of impurity inside it has been refined clean.

Now it is round in shape, emitting threads of energy that appear utterly pure.

And this is exactly the perfect state the earlier embryo pill sought!

However, now that it has already attained the perfect state it once dreamed of.

Its consciousness, however, has been burned away during this refinement.

Ha ha, finally succeeded, the perfect Nine‑grade Golden Pill—this should be the only one on the Dou Qi Continent now!

And Lin Feng, using his soul power to carefully sense, upon noticing the Golden Pill's perfection and its frighteningly dense energy, couldn't help but burst into an excited laugh, saying

After all, the Nine‑grade Golden Pill, a top‑tier elixir, not even the Soul Emperor or Gu Yuan have ever laid eyes on a physical specimen!

Thinking of this, Lin Feng couldn't help but lick his lips, his voice betraying his excitement as he muttered to himself, "A Nine‑grade Golden Pill, and already a finished product—on this continent, I may be the only one who gets to see it. It's priceless; how much can it boost me, can it help me break through the barrier and advance to the Nine‑Star Dou Saint Realm?"

—

Caught a cold, spent the whole day lying down, body weak; I'll add the rest later. (End of chapter)