Chapter 169: Chaoyuan Elixir

Watching Feng Daogu die from the talisman, without even a chance to struggle, He Pingsheng let out a deep breath of relief.

Then he ran to where Feng Daogu had fallen, picked up her storage bag, and also retrieved a flying sword.

The flames generated by the Heavenly Fire Talisman, after striking Feng Daogu, exploded elsewhere with leftover energy; the mountain was filled with ancient trees, and in an instant, a massive wildfire erupted.

He Pingsheng dared not linger, drank a single drop of 【Golden Bee Sacred Elixir】 to refill his depleted dantian, then pulled out the Cloud-Piercing Boat and shot into the void with a hiss.

Outside his body, the 【Golden Armor Talisman】 remained active, not yet retracted.

After all, Feng Daogu had a master.

Who knew if the Golden Core sword bamboo might be nearby, lying in wait to strike him down?

Get out quickly!

Fortunately, the journey was uneventful; by the time he landed on Jade Dragon Peak, he encountered no ambush.

He Pingsheng hurried into the great array and reached his own cultivation ground.

Phew…

After returning to his cultivation ground, he finally relaxed completely.

"If I deny killing Feng Daogu, who can prove anything against me?"

"No one saw it!"

After comforting himself, He Pingsheng turned his gaze to Feng Daogu's flying sword.

The flying sword's quality was decent.

A spiritual artifact, top-grade.

No need to strengthen it—I'll give it to my master later.

Hss…

He Pingsheng swiftly activated his spiritual sense and erased its original markings.

Then he opened Feng Daogu's storage bag.

Victory meant inventorying the spoils.

First, this storage bag was of high rank.

Not an ordinary low-grade storage bag—it was top-grade!

Yes!

The kind that measures one zhang in length and width.

Inside the bag, the most obvious item was a large pile of spirit stones; as He Pingsheng's spiritual sense swept over them, the count became clear—over forty thousand.

He Pingsheng was stunned.

How did this woman accumulate so many spirit stones in the Enforcement Hall?

How did she embezzle them?

Ignoring the spirit stones, move on.

Materials, elixirs, magic treasures!

He didn't bother studying these in detail; instead, he sent out a thought and extracted all the jade slips and books from the bag.

During the battle, He Pingsheng had noticed that the old daogu's 【Ice Spike】 technique was impressive.

If used unexpectedly, it could deliver a devastating surprise to any enemy.

Hopefully, he'd find the Ice Spike technique among these jade slips.

He Pingsheng began examining them one by one.

Actually, searching was easy—just look for water- and ice-elemental cultivation methods and techniques.

There weren't many such records—only one in total.

A blue jade slip.

The jade slip contained only one technique.

Name: Ice Spike Technique.

Rank: Xuan Grade

Function: Using a water-element dantian to drive spiritual power, it can continuously summon one hundred and eight massive ice spikes to attack the enemy.

This was it!

He Pingsheng happily set this technique aside.

But then he replayed his battle with Feng Daogu in his mind.

The entire fight went smoothly enough.

Feng Daogu kept attacking; he defended while finding openings to counterattack once.

Given the huge realm gap, performing this well without using talismans was nearly perfect.

Yet He Pingsheng had a problem.

His wood-element dantian was completely drained.

This was extremely frustrating.

Though he had five dantians and cultivated all five elements, wood was his primary element.

Sacred Wood Shield, Sacred Wood Poisonous Dragon Technique, and Great Flag Rolling Thunder Technique all consumed wood spiritual power.

Though he had Golden Bee Sacred Elixir to replenish spiritual power instantly, in life-or-death battles, there was no time to consume it.

At such moments, it was painfully awkward.

He Pingsheng deeply missed the 【Grand Void Great Mystery Scripture】 that the Grand Void elder had mentioned.

According to the old man, once cultivated, it could transform all myriad forms into formless, shapeless energy.

The earth, fire, metal, and water spiritual powers within his body could instantly convert into wood spiritual power.

If he had the Grand Void Great Mystery Scripture, his magic power would truly be endless!

What a pity.

The old man was dead, and the Grand Void Great Mystery Scripture had vanished with him into another world.

Organize the jade slips!

Then He Pingsheng went through the rest of the items and discovered an unexpected object in Feng Daogu's storage bag: 【Chaoyuan Elixir】.

Though only low-grade, this 【Chaoyuan Elixir】 was a third-rank elixir.

What was the 【Chaoyuan Elixir】?

It functioned similarly to Foundation Establishment Elixir, used to break through major realms.

It was intended for Foundation Establishment Stage Twelve peak cultivators; after ingestion, it granted a certain chance to ascend to Golden Core.

"Strange," He Pingsheng muttered, staring at the elixir. "Feng Daogu was already at Foundation Establishment peak—why didn't she just swallow this 【Chaoyuan Elixir】 to break through? Why keep it?"

He Pingsheng didn't know that Feng Daogu had already consumed three 【Chaoyuan Elixirs】.

Of course, all were low-grade.

Unfortunately, none had enabled her breakthrough.

This one was her last; taking another would likely be useless, so she kept it, hoping for a future opportunity.

She never imagined He Pingsheng would take it.

"I can strengthen it!"

After clearing Feng Daogu's belongings, He Pingsheng brought out the items he'd bought at Matou Mountain Market.

Four items needed strengthening.

First: the technique 【Ice Spike Technique】.

Second: the 【Chaoyuan Elixir】.

Third: the second-rank talisman 【Sharp Metal Talisman】.

Fourth: the unknown, broken 【Array Disc】.

Now came the strengthening—one by one.

Day one: 【Ice Spike Technique】 strengthened into two versions.

One named 【Crystal World】, a Heaven Grade technique; when activated, it instantly forms a massive ice palace in midair to freeze the opponent.

But it consumed enormous spiritual power.

It could drain a water-element dantian completely in one use.

The second, named 【Poisonous Ice Spike Technique】, a Heaven Grade technique; when activated, it instantly summons massive ice spikes erupting from the ground, each carrying poison.

Which one to cultivate?

He Pingsheng hadn't decided yet—both ice techniques were extremely powerful.

He'd decide later which one to practice!

Continue strengthening!

Next: the 【Chaoyuan Elixir】.

One low-grade 【Chaoyuan Elixir】 strengthened into two Jipin 【Chaoyuan Elixirs】.

Two second-rank 【Sharp Metal Talismans】 strengthened into four Jipin 【Heavenly Metal Talismans】.

On the final day, he strengthened the broken 【Array Disc】 he'd bought for ten spirit stones at a roadside stall.

He Pingsheng had assumed that after strengthening, it would restore to full condition and split into two.

But…

It didn't.

After a night passed, the 【Array Disc】 still lay quietly in the Treasure Basin.

The quantity hadn't changed, nor had the degree of damage.

It was exactly as it had been before being put in.

Seeing this, He Pingsheng's eyes narrowed slightly.