57: Chapter 57: Refining Alchemy and Concealing Dao, Creating Talismans and Hiding One's Edge, and Obtaining News by Chance

With his Foundation Establishment Mid Stage cultivation consolidated, Ye Qing's life returned to a regular rhythm.

The contract with Baicao Hall was fulfilled steadily. Every month, he submitted the required quantity of Medicinal Pills, and the quality remained excellent as always, making Shopkeeper Zhou Ming smile until his eyes disappeared.

The Spirit Stones gained flowed in like water, mostly exchanged for strange seeds, obscure Materials, and Jade Slips recording niche knowledge.

His Immortal Cave had become a small Library Pavilion and testing ground.

In the Alchemy room, the true fire beneath the bronze Medicine Cauldron was stable.

Ye Qing was attempting to refine a Grade 2 Medicinal Pill, the "Turtle Breathing Pill."

After consuming this pill, one could significantly lower their life aura, simulating a turtle's hibernation, used for hiding, avoiding enemies, or surviving certain special environments.

The Pill Formula was obtained from Baicao Hall; the main ingredients required century-old "Mysterious Water Turtle Shell" and "Hibernating Dragon Grass."

He naturally did not have the Mysterious Water Turtle Shell, but he had planted a few Hibernating Dragon Grasses on the Floating Landmass, though they grew slower than snails.

But this could not stump Ye Qing.

He took out a piece of thick back armor debris from a Wind-Gale Rhinoceros that had been purified by space, and mixed it with a trace of moonlight clear and tranquil aura from his own pure water-attribute magic power, simulating the "heavy concealment" intent of the Mysterious Water Turtle Shell.

As for the Hibernating Dragon Grass, he used a few tender leaves from the seedlings on the Floating Landmass as a substitute.

With the auxiliary medicines ready, he started the furnace to refine the pill.

The true fire rose, Materials were added one by one, and the essence was extracted.

Ye Qing was fully focused, his Divine Sense like silk, precisely controlling every change in heat, guiding the medicinal power to fuse.

Ordinary alchemists refining the Turtle Breathing Pill pursued "stillness" and "concealment."

Ye Qing, however, had a sudden inspiration.

Since it was to be "Turtle Breathing," why not make it "breathe" more thoroughly?

Using his insights from the "Void Dao Seed," at the critical moment of pill condensation, he introduced a trace of an extremely faint Concept regarding "spatial isolation" and "fading presence."

At the same time, he slowly infused a wisp of "clear and tranquil" aura emitted by the moonlight jade tree and the "Chaos inclusiveness" characteristic contained in his own magic power into the pill liquid that was about to take form.

The pill cauldron vibrated slightly, and the medicinal fragrance was restrained.

He opened the furnace and obtained three pills.

The Medicinal Pills were grayish-brown, lusterless on the surface, unremarkable, and did not even have the Spiritual Qi fluctuations of ordinary pills.

But upon careful inspection with Divine Sense, one could discover that inside the pill, it was as if a miniature, static, and isolated strange space had formed, locking all medicinal power and characteristics firmly without leaking a single bit.

Ye Qing picked one up, pondered for a moment, and instead of consuming it, he carefully put it away.

"This pill... perhaps it should no longer be called a Turtle Breathing Pill. Calling it a 'void concealment pill' is more appropriate. After consuming it, I fear it won't just lower one's aura; it can even briefly confuse one's sense of presence, and even interfere with others' perception and deduction. It's just that its effectiveness and whether it has side effects need to be tested at a safe opportunity."

He continued refining pills and successfully refined several more batches of regular Grade 2 Medicinal Pills, all of High Grade quality.

After finishing the Alchemy, he began crafting Talismans.

The Talisman paper was special "Empty Cicada Gauze," obtained from Baicao Hall; its texture was tough and had excellent capacity for Spiritual Qi.

The Talisman ink was carefully prepared by mixing "star sand" powder with "Void Stone" debris, adding several auxiliary Materials to stabilize Spiritual Qi, and using his own essence blood as a guide, resulting in something containing specks of starlight and spatial fluctuations.

What Ye Qing wanted to create was the "Lesser Void Escape Talisman," combined with his insights from the "Void Step."

Once this Talisman was activated, it could allow a person to instantly teleport ten zhang away, ignoring ordinary obstacles; it was truly the best choice for saving one's life, launching surprise attacks, or escaping.

Of course, that was just the ideal.

The actual drawing was extremely difficult.

It required condensing the true intent of the "Void Step" into a stable, activatable Talisman rune that wouldn't get the user stuck in a wall or a spatial crevice.

Ye Qing failed countless times.

Either the rune structure collapsed, or the spiritual ink couldn't bear the Void Realm power and exploded. The most dangerous time, the Talisman paper spontaneously ignited without wind, almost burning his eyebrows.

But he had patience, had the "Void Dao Seed" to assist his insights, and even had the space providing nearly unlimited practice Materials.

The wasted Talisman paper and ink were thrown directly into the space's "waste area" for recycling, not a bit wasted.

Finally, after consuming enough Materials to bankrupt an ordinary Talisman Master, the first "Lesser Void Escape Talisman" was successful.

The Talisman paper was pale silver, with a complex and profound rune outlined in starlight and void lines, hovering quietly and emitting faint spatial fluctuations.

Ye Qing carefully picked it up and injected a trace of magic power to activate it.

The rune turned into a stream of light and sank into his palm.

With a thought, his figure instantly appeared in another corner of the quiet room, leaving only faint ripples in the original spot.

"It worked! Although the distance is short and it consumes the whole Talisman at once, it is enough to turn the tide at a critical moment. I should prepare a few more, just in case."

He struck while the iron was hot and successfully drew two more.

His Mental Energy was heavily consumed, so he stopped to rest and regulate his breath.

He turned to study that half of the ancient Void Realm sealing rune.

The rune mark hovered in his Sea of Consciousness, side by side with the "Void Dao Seed," its light still dim.

Ye Qing nourished and pondered it with his Divine Sense every day. Although he could not understand its complete structure, over time, his insights into "sealing" and "spatial stability" were indeed slowly deepening.

One day, as he was attempting to integrate a newly comprehended Concept of "spatial isolation" into the concealment function of the "Lesser Heavenly Cycle Five Elements Earth Vein Array," the Restriction outside his Immortal Cave was triggered again.

It was a sound transmission Talisman from Shopkeeper Zhou Ming, his tone carrying a hint of urgency.

"Fellow Daoist Ye, do you have a moment? My shop just received a batch of urgent goods, including a few rare 'earth vein spirit mushrooms,' which are said to have miraculous effects on stabilizing Formations and nourishing earth Qi. As you are well-versed in the way of Formations, you might be interested. Additionally, there is some news that might be useful to you."

earth vein spirit mushroom? Stabilizing Formations?

Ye Qing's heart stirred. He was just short of a Heaven And Earth Treasure to strengthen the "Lesser Heavenly Cycle Five Elements Earth Vein Array," and this item came just in time.

As for the news... this Shopkeeper Zhou Ming was well-informed and might have heard some rumors.

"Many thanks for informing me, Shopkeeper Zhou. I will come over immediately."

Replying to the sound transmission Talisman, Ye Qing tidied up a bit and came to Baicao Hall again.

In the back courtyard's quiet room, Shopkeeper Zhou Ming was already waiting. In front of him was an open jade box containing three mushrooms with thick caps, earthy yellow in color, with natural stone patterns on the surface, and emitting rich earth-attribute Spiritual Qi. They were indeed earth vein spirit mushrooms, and they looked close to a century old.

"Fellow Daoist Ye, please take a look. These mushrooms grow where earth veins converge and are rare to encounter in a century. It is said that consuming them directly can enhance one's earth-attribute insights, and using them for array Formation can greatly stabilize the array base and connect the earth Qi. These three are in perfect condition with abundant medicinal power," Shopkeeper Zhou Ming introduced.

Ye Qing examined them carefully, confirmed they were correct, and nodded, saying: "They are indeed good things. Shopkeeper Zhou, name your price."

"You are straightforward, Fellow Daoist. These items are rare; the market price is about eight hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones each. You are a regular customer, so two thousand two hundred Spirit Stones for all three will do." Shopkeeper Zhou Ming stated the price.

Ye Qing did not bargain and paid the Spirit Stones directly. Now that he was wealthy, this expense was nothing.

After putting away the earth vein spirit mushrooms, Shopkeeper Zhou Ming lowered his voice and said: "Fellow Daoist, have you heard recently that the City Lord's Mansion, along with Wanbao Tower, Tiangong Workshop, and a few others, are secretly recruiting Formation Masters and Artifact Refiners? The remuneration is extremely high, but one must sign a Divine Soul contract, and it is strictly forbidden to disclose the content of the mission."

Ye Qing's heart moved slightly: "Oh? For what purpose?"

"I don't know the specifics, but it is rumored to be related to border defense. It seems they want to set up a super-large Formation or refine some kind of strategic Magic Treasure. In the list of required Materials, 'Void Stone,' 'star sand,' 'ten-thousand-year iron wood,' and other such items are at the top of the list, and the quantities are frighteningly large." Shopkeeper Zhou Ming's voice became even lower. "Furthermore, there are rumors that the 'Starfall Valley' near the Dragonfall Abyss has had unusual movements recently. The star tides are more intense than the one three months ago, and there are suspected brief openings of spatial cracks, from which strange things have run out, causing several forces to increase their manpower."

Starfall Valley movements intensifying? Spatial cracks opening?

Ye Qing's eyes flashed. It seems there might really be a change at the ancient teleportation array site.

"Many thanks for the information, Shopkeeper Zhou." Ye Qing cupped his hands, "I am just a Loose Cultivator, and I have little interest in these big events; I only wish to Cultivate peacefully."

"That is natural, that is natural." Shopkeeper Zhou Ming smiled with understanding and said no more, turning the conversation to the recent market for Medicinal Pills.

After sitting for a while longer, Ye Qing took his leave.

Back at the Immortal Cave, he took out the three earth vein spirit mushrooms and carefully sensed the pure earth-attribute Spiritual Qi and the earth vein Dao rhyme within them.

"They are indeed good things for stabilizing Formations. Integrating them into the 'Lesser Heavenly Cycle Five Elements Earth Vein Array' might allow it to connect more closely with the earth veins and raise its defensive power by a notch."

He did not use them immediately but first put the spirit mushrooms into the space and planted them on the edge of the Floating Landmass, nourishing them with Chaos star Qi to improve their quality and vitality.

As for the news revealed by Shopkeeper Zhou Ming...

"Large-scale Formation, strategic Magic Treasure, Starfall Valley movements... The wind is howling before the mountain rain comes. The water in Liuyun City is getting deeper and deeper."

Ye Qing walked to the window and looked towards the City Lord's Mansion.

Under the night sky, that towering mansion was brightly lit, and one could vaguely see escaping lights entering and exiting; it was clearly very busy.

"However, when the sky falls, there are tall people to hold it up. I only need to develop steadily and improve my strength. If it really comes to a point where it is impossible to act, relying on the 'Lesser Void Escape Talisman' and the newly comprehended concealment methods, it should not be difficult to withdraw."

He withdrew his gaze, his expression returning to calm.

He turned back to the quiet room to continue his daily cultivation, deduction, and honing of skills.

Inside his body, in the two-hundred-zhang Immortal Cave, the Chaos airflow was vast, the newly planted earth vein spirit mushrooms were gently stretching, and the moonlight star seeds were intertwined with silver starlight; everything was growing, evolving, and becoming stronger in an orderly manner.

No matter how the outside world changed, one's own strength was the foundation for dealing with everything.

Foundation Establishment Cultivator Ye Qing knew this well.