185: Chapter 184 Divine Transformation Pill

Chen Zilong flew over a thousand miles in one breath, not slowing down until the familiar, yellowish-brown mountains belonging to the Qingyan City territory were completely left behind, becoming a blurry gray silhouette on the horizon.

Waves of faint pain from deep within his soul, like fine needles, reminded him of the exhaustion from the fierce battle and the fact that his old wounds had not yet healed.

He looked down at himself; his green robe was stained with a few spots of dried blood, indistinguishable whether it was from Wang Bufan, Tian Yin, or from his own internal organs rupturing and seeping blood when he forcibly activated his cultivation technique.

The wind blew, making his clothes flutter, carrying a desolate scent mixed with gunpowder and blood.

He needed to find a place, a place that was absolutely quiet, absolutely safe, and where the spiritual energy was barely adequate, to finish that last bit of business.

To fully restore his Spirit Transformation Realm cultivation.

His gaze swept over the undulating mountain range below, finally landing on an inconspicuous mountain hollow.

This place was far from human habitation, without even a decent mountain path, only overgrown wild grass and rugged strange rocks.

The mountain range also had a peculiar shape, like a natural broken bowl that gathered spiritual energy. Although the bottom of the bowl leaked and the spiritual energy was pitifully thin, it had the advantage of being hidden; even birds didn't like to defecate here.

"This will do."

Chen Zilong muttered to himself, his figure swooping down like a hawk, silently landing in front of a steep rock face deep within the mountain hollow.

He didn't rush to act, but first released his divine sense, sweeping meticulously over a radius of dozens of miles like mercury flowing across the ground.

Only after confirming that there were no other cultivators or demonic beasts, apart from a few ignorant wild animals and a few nests of mountain sparrows, did he finally relax.

After ten years of dormancy, he had long grown accustomed to this caution, or rather, had been forced to develop this almost instinctive vigilance.

Walking to the rock face, he extended his right hand, fingers slightly spread, and gently pressed it against the cold, rough rock.

He didn't use spiritual energy, relying purely on the formidable physical strength tempered by the Vajra Demon Subduing Scripture and his precise perception of earth and rock structures.

His palm exerted a slight force, and a gentle yet irresistible power permeated the rock layer.

"Crack... crackle..."

Subtle sounds, like ice cracking, emanated from within the hard rock face.

Immediately after, with his palm as the center, the rock, like soft mud kneaded by an invisible hand, silently caved inward and separated, forming a deep, downward-sloping cave entrance just wide enough for one person to pass through.

Throughout the entire process, no broken rocks fell, no dust rose, and there wasn't even much sound, as if this mountain wall had always concealed such a secret passage.

Chen Zilong flashed inside, then pressed his hand back with a phantom motion.

The separated rocks rejoined like flowing water, fitting seamlessly.

Only a few tiny cracks, almost blending with the surrounding rock Texture, remained, completely imperceptible without a close look.

The cave was pitch black, one couldn't see one's hand in front of one's face, and the air carried the unique chill and earthy smell of underground.

A tiny, bean-sized purple lightning glow lit up on Chen Zilong's fingertip, barely illuminating a few steps in front of him.

He continued to 'excavate' downwards, deeper into the mountain's core.

This time, the speed was slower, but it was more precise.

He wasn't just digging a hole, but creating a temporary, fully functional cultivation cave abode.

About half an hour later, a stone chamber roughly three zhang square and a person's height was formed.

He took out several fist-sized 'Moonlight Stones' emitting a soft white glow from his storage ring and casually embedded them in the ceiling and four walls of the stone chamber.

The cool light immediately dispelled the darkness, illuminating this simple new home.

The stone walls had been smoothed relatively flat by his palm force, and the ground was also roughly leveled.

He then took out several small array disks and set up a composite Restriction of concealment, sound insulation, and early warning at the cave entrance and inside the stone chamber.

Although the materials were ordinary and the Restriction's power was limited, it was better than nothing; at least it could buy him some reaction time.

After completing all of this, he let out a long sigh of relief and sat cross-legged on the cold ground in the center of the stone chamber.

No meditation cushion, no soft mat, just sitting directly.

He needed to adjust his state as quickly as possible.

After a moment of adjustment, suppressing the discomfort in his soul and the soreness in his meridians, Chen Zilong solemnly took out a palm-sized cold jade box from deep within his storage ring.

The jade box was cold to the touch, with a faint layer of white frost condensed on its surface.

Opening the lid, a peculiar medicinal scent, a blend of dozens of rare herbs, permeated the air, instantly filling the entire stone chamber and even suppressing the earthy smell.

Inside the box, a 'pill' the size of a longan, with a chaotic color, lay quietly.

Calling it a pill wasn't entirely accurate.

Its surface wasn't smooth; in some places, one could even see traces of herbal fibers that hadn't completely melted, and its color was mottled and impure, grayish, with hints of dark red and scorched yellow, like an unkneaded ball of mud.

More importantly, it lacked the smooth luster and integrated spiritual charm that a medicinal pill should have; instead, it faintly exuded a sense of...

'Vitality,' or rather, a restless feeling of medicinal powers not yet fully tamed and conflicting with each other.

This was a semi-finished Soul Transformation Stage Pill.

The Soul Transformation Stage Pill, as its name suggests, is a top-tier medicinal pill that assists cultivators at the Great Perfection of the Late Nascent Soul Stage in breaking through the Spirit Transformation bottleneck.

It is incredibly precious, extremely difficult to refine, and all the required materials are heavenly treasures and earthly delights.

Chen Zilong had prepared for this when he was in seclusion in the Zhou Family's underground cave abode.

He used his spare time to pre-process and condense some auxiliary herbs suitable for refining Soul Transformation Stage Pills from his storage ring, initially fusing them into this 'medicinal embryo'.

However, because he was in the Zhou Family at the time, he neither had a suitable alchemy environment nor dared to cause too much commotion.

So he could only reach this stage, resulting in an awkward semi-finished product.

Now, he had time and this relatively safe environment.

It was time to complete this final step.

He placed the cold jade box in front of him and then successively took out several other items from his storage ring.

First was a half-person-tall, three-legged bronze cauldron. Its body was engraved with complex flame cloud patterns and spirit-gathering arrays, and its belly was hollow, faintly exuding a hot earth vein aura.

This was an 'excellent earth fire furnace' of quite good quality, capable of stably drawing and controlling subterranean fire, making it a good helper for alchemy and artifact refining.

Then, with a thought, a tall black shadow silently appeared in the corner of the stone chamber, almost touching the ceiling.

It was a humanoid puppet, but its physique was much more robust and imposing than an ordinary person, nearly one zhang tall.

Its entire body was covered in unknown dark golden metal armor. The armor was heavy, with crude lines, and the joints were cleverly designed, not affecting its movement at all.

The helmet was full-face, revealing only a pair of deep, now dim and lifeless eye sockets.

The puppet stood there silently, like a silent ancient metal giant.

Although no spiritual energy fluctuations emanated from it.

But that armor and its motionless stance gave off a heavy, indestructible sense of oppression.

This puppet was crafted by Liu Mei—his master and Dao companion—before he left the Heavenly Domain, at the cost of immense effort and precious materials, as a protective item for him.

Its core drive was not ordinary spirit stones, but a composite of a trace of an ancient battle soul's remnant thought and complex mechanical arts. Purely in terms of physical strength and defense, it was comparable to a body cultivator at the mid-Spirit Transformation Realm!

Chen Zilong gave it a simple and direct name—"Vajra."

"Vajra, guard."

Chen Zilong issued the command to the puppet, his voice calm.

"Click... hum..."

Deep within the puppet's helmet eye sockets, two points of crimson light suddenly flared, as if a sleeping fierce beast had opened its eyes.

It slowly turned its heavy head to 'look' at Chen Zilong, then knelt on one knee, emitting a dull grinding sound of metal, indicating obedience.

Then it rose, taking heavy and steady steps to the inside of the stone chamber entrance, standing majestically like the most loyal guard, with its back to Chen Zilong and facing the sealed cave entrance, utterly silent again.

Only those two points of crimson light flickered faintly in the dim light, vigilant against any possible disturbance from the outside world.

With Vajra guarding, Chen Zilong felt a little more at ease.

He no longer hesitated, focusing all his attention on the alchemy before him.

He first used his finger as a brush to carve a few simple spirit-gathering and fire-controlling array patterns on the ground around the earth fire furnace. Although crude, they could slightly improve the furnace's efficiency and stability.

Then, he took a deep breath, formed hand seals, and let out a low shout:

"Earth fire, rise!"