5: Chapter 5: Life-threatening Crisis, Immortal Cauldron Refining Treasures

His heart gave a "thud": Oh no, that scene yesterday where Ye Qingcen pulled his hand must have completely set off Chen Yin, that jealous vat!

Return to the Scrap Yard now?

That would be walking right into a trap, delivering oneself right to the door!

With a turn of his thought, he swerved his feet and headed straight for the External Affairs Hall.

Anyway, the small tripod had sufficient energy, so he might as well take the opportunity to enter seclusion and Breakthrough Realms.

Over at the Scrap Yard, the scrap was delivered once every seven days, so he didn't need to worry about it for now.

His once-a-month three-day free cultivation room quota happened to be unused!

Previously, it was always yielded to Ye Qingcen to use, and this month's, Ye Qingcen hadn't had time to use it yet!

Three days were enough for him to pop pills to level up and get some life-saving trump cards.

When the time came, let's see who kills whom!

Xiao Yuan quickened his pace, his figure quickly merging into the Sect's crowd.

But as soon as his front foot left, two sneaky figures crawled out from the shadows of the Dan Peak mountain gate on his back foot.

Both of them wore ordinary Outer Sect Disciple robes, and their cultivation was impressively at the Qi Condensation 4th Layer.

They stared in the direction where Xiao Yuan disappeared, their eyes gloomy and full of unwillingness.

"Damn it, we lost him!" one of them spat.

"This brat is quite clever," the other narrowed his eyes, "However, the monk can run away, but the temple cannot run away. Isn't he from the Scrap Recycling Station? Let's go wait there!"

The two looked at each other, smiled coldly and nodded, turning around and sneaking towards the Scrap Yard direction.

Waiting for rabbits by a stump!

On the other side, Xiao Yuan had successfully received the cultivation room token from the External Affairs Hall and dove right in.

The stone door closed with a "rumble", isolating the inside and outside.

He finally heaved a sigh of relief.

"Whew... Safe now. Now, let's get to work!"

He impatiently summoned the small tripod and poured out all the Treasure Trove he had swiped from the Scrap Yard out of the Storage Pouch.

The remaining fifty-two marrow cleansing pills, twenty-five Qi-Returning Pills, and thirteen Blood-Explosion Pills were stuffed into the cauldron all at once.

"Refine for me!"

The cauldron's body shimmered with flowing light, operating like an assembly line, "swish, swish, swish" spitting out one perfect Medicinal Pill after another, and the medicinal fragrance instantly permeated the entire stone chamber.

"We're rich, we're rich!" Xiao Yuan's eyes shone, and then he threw in those thirty-seven tattered Talismans and a rusted broken sword.

A burst of light flashed—

The Talismans took on a completely new look, compelling with Spiritual Qi, impressively turning into Tier 1 Supreme-grade Talismans!

Each and every one of them was equivalent to a full-strength strike at the Peak of Qi Refining Level 9!

Thirty-seven sheets, that would be thirty-seven "greetings" at the Peak of Qi Refining Level 9!

That broken sword underwent a complete rebirth, with a chilling and biting cold light, and flowing light faintly visible on the sword body, undoubtedly a top-grade Spiritual Artifact!

This was a treasure that even those in the Foundation Establishment Stage would turn red with envy over, and his breathing hitched because of it!

"Awesome!" Xiao Yuan held the new sword, unable to put it down.

However, he glanced at the small tripod—the energy consumption was nearly half.

He didn't dare to move the remaining dozen or so tattered Spiritual Artifacts for the time being.

Refining Spiritual Artifacts consumed too much energy, so the energy had to be used sparingly; who knows, there might be other wonderful uses.

An idea struck him, and he took out the few Cultivation Techniques he had plucked from Ye Qingcen.

"Cultivation Techniques... can they be refined too?"

Trying it doesn't cost money!

He first threw the Turtle Breathing Technique into the cauldron.

A flash of light, and the name of the Cultivation Technique changed—Great Turtle Breathing Technique!

The description was also upgraded: Cultivate this technique, and below Nascent Soul, no one can see through your true cultivation Realm at all!

"Holy cow, a divine skill!" Xiao Yuan was ecstatic, this was simply a must-have divine skill to pretend to be a pig to eat the tiger and develop stealthily!

Striking while the iron was hot, he threw all the remaining ones in as well.

The Qingfeng Sword Technique shone brightly, turning into the Gale Shadow-Chasing Sword Art!

Not only was the name cool, but the power also soared several times over, drawing the sword as fast as a gale, and it could even leave afterimages to confuse opponents!

The three low-grade Spell booklets also collectively upgraded:

Fireball Spell → Flame Explosion Spell (What is kneaded out is no longer a fireball, but a fire cluster that can explode in a small area!)

Water Ball Spell → Condensed Water Arrow (Water bubbles turn into water arrows capable of piercing attacks!)

Vine Spell → Thorny Cage (A few small vines upgrade into thorny briars, and can also trap people!)

All became mid-grade Spells!

"Hahaha... This wave is a bloody profit!" Xiao Yuan hugged the brand new Cultivation Techniques, his mouth grinning almost crookedly.

He immediately crossed his legs and sat down, starting to Cultivate.

As soon as he circulated his Qi, a "ding" suddenly sounded in his Sea of Consciousness, and several lines of clear information appeared:

[Gale Shadow-Chasing Sword Art: Cultivation Progress 0% (Not Initiated)]

[Great Turtle Breathing Technique: Cultivation Progress 0% (Not Initiated)]

[Flame Explosion Spell: Cultivation Progress 0% (Not Initiated)]

It also thoughtfully marked the Cultivation Technique Realms behind: Initiation, Minor Achievement, Major Achievement, Perfection.

"Good fellow, it comes with its own cultivation progress bar?"

Xiao Yuan's heart stirred, this progress bar seemed to have appeared because of the creation cauldron.

Could it be that the creation cauldron had other functions?!

He tried to guide the energy out of the small tripod and inject it into the Cultivation of the Gale Shadow-Chasing Sword Art.

The next moment, the progress bar jumped forward by a small section, visible to the naked eye!

"Energy can even be used as experience points?!"

Xiao Yuan was shocked, "Where is this a power bank, this is a universal modifier!"

Wild joy instantly drowned him.

If there was enough energy, wouldn't his Cultivation of techniques be like riding a rocket?

Saying and doing!

He smashed all the remaining energy in the small tripod into it without hesitation!

Amidst the flowing light, the progress bar in the Sea of Consciousness leaped forward violently with "swoosh, swoosh, swoosh".

A moment later—

[Gale Shadow-Chasing Sword Art: Cultivation Progress 100% (Initiation)]

[Great Turtle Breathing Technique: Cultivation Progress 100% (Initiation)]

[Flame Explosion Spell, Condensed Water Arrow, Thorny Cage: Cultivation Progress 100% (Initiation)]

All Cultivation Techniques were completely initiated!

Xiao Yuan opened his eyes, feeling the brand-new power surging within his body, as well as the cold, glittering top-grade spiritual sword in his hand, a confident arc curling up at the corner of his mouth.

"Now... even if the assassins sent by Chen Yin block the door, even if I am only at the Qi Refining Stage 2 right now, I have the certainty to counter-kill!"

Thirty-seven Tier 1 Supreme-grade Talismans could kill those below Qi Refining Stage 8 like cutting vegetables.

Not to mention he also had initiated sword art and mid-grade Spells, plus the Turtle Breathing Technique that could hide cultivation.

However, he quickly calmed down.

"Relying on Talismans to smash through the assessment is unrealistic. For one, there might be more than thirty-seven fights, and secondly... pulling out so many top-grade Talismans, isn't it blatantly telling others 'I have treasures on me, come and rob me'?"

One's own strength is the hard truth.

It seems he must find a way to recharge the small tripod.

"Go find Ye Qingcen again?" Xiao Yuan touched his chin, "When pushed to a corner, even a rabbit bites. If she ends up in a desperate struggle with me, it will be troublesome..."

This Jade Maiden Palace... surely couldn't have only Ye Qingcen as a "power bank", right?

Shaking his head, Xiao Yuan decided to stop letting his imagination run wild and first boost his cultivation up.

He used fifty of the sixty-two perfect marrow cleansing pills in his hands, and his cultivation finally broke through to the Peak of Qi Condensation Level 3.

Looking at the remaining twelve perfect marrow cleansing pills, Xiao Yuan gave up on continuing Cultivation; twelve pills probably couldn't break through the barrier of Qi Condensation 4th Layer.

It was better to keep them for backup.

Xiao Yuan put away his things, pushed open the stone door of the cultivation room, his eyes clear and his steps steady.

Let's go back to the Scrap Yard to take a look.

If there really are "guests" waiting... hehe, it's just right to test whether the newly acquired "gadgets" are handy or not.