Chapter 345: Fourth-Rank Alchemist

Hua Changxi was attacked by a Lingtai realm cultivator. The injuries she sustained were such that third-grade pills were completely ineffective. She could only use spirit needles to suppress the injuries, prevent them from worsening, and simply treat the wound on her back.

To heal the injuries, she needed to refine a fourth-grade pill.

[Third-Grade Alchemist (Supreme Pill): Refined 9900 furnaces 9900/]

Hua Changxi glanced at the alchemy data. Refining 9,000 furnaces of third-grade supreme pills was truly no easy task. She had seized every spare moment to practice alchemy, and at last she saw the hope of advancing to a fourth-grade alchemist.

However, before starting to refine pills, she first summoned the Shennong Cauldron, and then took out the Luminous Cup.

She had been worried that the soul river water might be evaporated by the Fusang Divine Tree, so she wanted to quickly transfer the soul river water out of the Shennong Cauldron.

In light of the similar materials of the Luminous Cup and the Shennong Cauldron, and the experience of the Shennong Cauldron absorbing all the soul crystals upon first contact, Hua Changxi only dared to pour the soul river water into the Luminous Cup bit by bit.

If the Luminous Cup absorbed all the soul river water she had painstakingly collected, she would cry to death.

Fortunately, the Luminous Cup was not as vast as the Shennong Cauldron; after absorbing about 1000 m³ of soul river water, it went from rusty and spotted to brand new.

Although the cup did not have the divine charm that lingered around the Shennong Cauldron, it still appeared extraordinary.

After that, when more soul river water was poured in, the Luminous Cup did not absorb any more.

Hua Changxi poured all the soul river water from the Shennong Cauldron into the Luminous Cup, and it only filled about half the cup. The internal space of a full Luminous Cup was probably around m³ in size.

"How much soul crystal can 5000 m³ of soul river water condense?"

She would have to find time to experiment with soul river water.

One soul crystal could replenish ten points of soul power; in that way, she would be able to calculate how much soul power this soul river water could provide her.

After transferring the soul river water, Hua Changxi began to refine third-grade pills. Because she was injured, her alchemy speed slowed down a lot.

According to her previous speed, a hundred furnaces of third-grade pills could be finished in a few days, day and night. But this time, it actually took her over half a month to finish.

[Fourth-Grade Alchemist (Low-Grade Pill): Refined 0 furnaces 0/10]

After the data changed, Hua Changxi's mind was flooded with countless fourth-grade pill formulas: for healing wounds, for restoration, for enhancing strength, for breaking through bottlenecks, for detoxification—everything was available.

Hua Changxi's injuries were mainly from tears in the physical body. From the fourth-grade pill formulas, she selected one called 'Maternal Breath Pill' to refine.

The Maternal Breath Pill focused on body reconstruction, as if returning to the mother's womb—healthy, strong, and full of endless vitality.

However, fourth-grade pills were even harder to refine than third-grade ones. At first, Hua Changxi almost had a furnace explosion for every furnace she refined. After another ten days of groping, she finally succeeded in refining one furnace of mid-grade Maternal Breath Pills.

[Fourth-Grade Alchemist (Mid-Grade Pill): Refined 11 furnaces 11/100]

Hua Changxi looked at the mid-grade Maternal Breath Pill in her hand. Although she was somewhat dissatisfied with the quality of mid-grade pills, she still swallowed it in one gulp.

The pill poison of low-grade pills was too heavy; mid-grade pills were slightly better. If possible, she really didn't want to take them.

But to refine high-grade and supreme pills, she simply could not do it in a short time.

After taking the Maternal Breath Pill, Hua Changxi's injuries began to improve. That same day, her back became smooth as new, without leaving a single scar.

The medicinal effect of fourth-grade pills truly could not be compared to third-grade pills.

After her injuries were treated, Hua Changxi did not immediately leave the Lingguang Hall. Instead, she took out a bathtub, poured in soul river water, and began to take a bath.

In the Xuanyuan Mansion, her soul body had not recovered to its peak; now she needed to quickly replenish her soul power.

As her body submerged into the soul river water, Hua Changxi began to circulate the 'Vermilion Bird Divine Art'.

Previously, her perception of soul power was not clear. Now, through the decrease of the soul river water, she deeply felt that the Vermilion Bird Divine Art was a dual cultivation technique that simultaneously increased spiritual power and soul power.

No wonder so many cultivators were willing to join the Vermilion Bird Army. Although the Vermilion Bird Army required fulfilling certain duties, just for the sake of being able to cultivate the 'Vermilion Bird Divine Art', it was still worth it.

Bucket after bucket of soul river water was absorbed, and Hua Changxi clearly felt her soul body growing stronger.

At first, she kept count, wanting to calculate the soul power replenished by the soul river water. But later, as the number of times she poured soul river water became too many, she grew lazy and stopped counting. She only stopped when she could no longer absorb any more soul river water.

[Realm: Nascent Soul Realm 99.99 billion/1 billion; Divine Sense: 100 million/100 million]

Seeing that her divine sense had skyrocketed from over two million points to one hundred million points, Hua Changxi was greatly startled.

The amount of soul power her physical body could withstand had actually increased this much!

Hua Changxi quickly figured out the issue and felt that it must be because her physical body had become stronger.

She had cultivated the fifth chapter of the *Nine Revolutions Profound Art*. According to the method cultivation realm, her physical strength corresponded to the Lingtai realm. She had also eaten five Xuanhuang Fruits, and that was why the limit of soul power her body could withstand had reached as high as one hundred million points.

Besides that, what also surprised her was that her divine sense was cultivating too quickly.

She had only soaked in the Soul River water for one night, at most ten or so hours; at this rate, her divine sense cultivation speed was as high as increasing ten million soul power points per hour.

"Why is my divine sense cultivating so fast?"

Having experienced the boost in spiritual power cultivation speed before, she didn't dwell on this question for long.

The pattern of 'divine sense cultivation speed' and 'spiritual power cultivation speed' should be similar. Previously, every time her cultivation speed increased, it was related to her having done something in line with the general trend of spiritual energy resurgence.

Recently, she had indeed helped bring about some major events.

The emergence of the Star-Gazing Tower should count as one!

And also the emergence of the Xuanfu Manor!

It must be because of these two events that her divine sense cultivation speed had become so fast.

The explosion in soul power her physical body could withstand and the rapid progress of her divine sense cultivation—both of these made Hua Changxi's mood very joyful.

However, once she thought of her opponent, who was already a Numinous Platform realm cultivator, the joy quickly dissipated.

At present, to continue improving her strength, she either had to raise her realm or train her physical body.

To raise her realm, she had to solve the problem of her stalled cultivation and open up her Numinous Platform and Sea of Consciousness...

Hua Changxi frowned deeply. Was it really because her state of mind couldn't keep up that her realm had been unable to advance?

"How can I improve my state of mind?"

The issue of state of mind gave Hua Changxi a headache. She felt that matters of the mind were too mysterious and ethereal, completely beyond one's control. For now, what she could do was continue training her physical body.

"Physical training..."

The further she went in physical training, the greater the difficulty continued to increase.

The fifth chapter of the *Nine Revolutions Mystic Art*—the Blood Refining Chapter—she had been able to train so quickly, first because of that drop of Vermilion Bird's essence blood, and second because she had taken five Profound Yellow Fruits.

The sixth chapter of the *Nine Revolutions Mystic Art*—the Viscera Chapter—required all the internal organs to resonate in unison to achieve the effect of body refinement. Relying solely on medicinal baths was not enough to strengthen the body; she needed to find a suitable place for physical training, otherwise, it would be impossible to cultivate this chapter.

At this moment, Hua Changxi truly understood the saying, 'The path of cultivation only gets harder the further you go.'

For a method cultivator, the state of mind had to keep up; for a body cultivator, a harsh training ground was necessary. No matter which path one took, it was not easy.

The more Hua Changxi thought about it, the more her head ached. She simply stopped pondering and turned her attention to the Mausoleum of Light Hall. Raising her right hand, the roster of the Vermilion Bird Army appeared in her hand.

"So many people!"

Because cultivators from all over were entering the capital, the number of troops in the Vermilion Bird Army was rapidly increasing.

Hua Changxi emitted her divine sense, sweeping through the entire Mausoleum of Light Hall. Soon, her gaze fell on the mission hall.

Earlier, she had issued the mission to investigate the anomalies in Nanxiang County, and now many members of the Vermilion Bird Army had sent back messages.

"The territory of Nanxiang County has expanded, and the fire spiritual energy in the air has significantly increased."

"In a valley in Nanxiang County, a spatial rift has appeared. When cultivators approached, their physical bodies instantly shattered."

"The topography of Nanxiang County is changing. Some forests are rising from the ground, while some rift valleys are sinking into the earth."

"In a flat, open area of Nanxiang County, the sound of a waterfall can be heard, its roar so loud it seems to descend from the heavens, yet it cannot be captured by the naked eye."

As Hua Changxi looked at these reported messages, a gleam suddenly lit up in her eyes. She had thought of some places suitable for physical training.

The Twelve Caverns and Celestial Blessings of Nanxiang City!