A single Dragon Bamboo Fruit was equivalent to a month of painstaking cultivation for a Qi Refining cultivator.
Shi Yu spent three days completely refining the first Dragon Bamboo Fruit.
Planted inside the Fate-Tapping Bell and nourished over such a long period, these Dragon Bamboo Fruits possessed a richer spiritual aura than ordinary ones. After refining it, her spiritual Qi increased significantly, and when Shi Yu looked inward at her dantian and saw the state within, she couldn't help but feel delighted.
Though she had only recently broken through to the sixth layer of the Qi Refining Realm, she now had sixty-three Qi cyclones slowly revolving around her yellow sprout Dao Foundation, constantly breathing in and out.
A massive crimson cloud haze rippled through her dantian, magnificent and brilliant.
“The effect is quite good.”
At the same time, Qingzhou returned with news regarding the Nightmare beast and relayed everything to Shi Yu without missing a word.
As it turned out, although Changxu Village was remotely located with few passersby, it wasn't entirely isolated. The entire village relied on growing spiritual grain to make a living, and every few months, merchant houses and noble clans from the main city would regularly go there to purchase the grain.
Shortly after Shi Yu arrived in the main city, merchants traveling to buy grain discovered the abnormality in Changxu Village.
Upon bringing the news back, several major clans in the main city joined forces to lock down the information and seal off Changxu Village, forbidding outsiders from entering.
After hearing this, Shi Yu raised an eyebrow. For several clans to unite like this, there had to be shared interests involved. She asked, “Did that Nightmare beast transform into a secret realm?”
Qingzhou nodded and spoke softly, “That's right. The illusion realm left behind upon the Nightmare beast's death has now evolved into a secret realm.”
“The guarding clans discovered that after the life-taking illusion realm transformed into a secret realm, entering it no longer poses any mortal danger. Instead, it has become an exceptional place to temper one's state of mind.”
“The secret realm is unstable and will eventually shatter, so it likely won't last very long. Those clans have kept the news strictly sealed until now simply so their young clan members can enter the secret realm to train and reap the benefits.”
After saying this, Qingzhou told Shi Yu which clans were currently guarding the location.
...
That day, Wen Wen arrived as usual with alchemy commissions. Shi Yu invited her to sit down and poured a cup of spirit tea. Wen Wen said, “This commission was issued by the Yun Clan, a prominent family. They need forty Body-Defending Pills and forty Instant-Power Pills, to be delivered before this time next month.”
With that, she detailed the compensation offered by the Yun Clan.
There weren't many alchemists in the city capable of skillfully refining these two types of pills, and hardly any could refine them as quickly and impeccably as Shi Yu.
Therefore, such prominent clans were usually queued up at the Alchemist Association. Those in urgent need would offer higher rewards to jump the line.
The Yun Clan was one such case, offering more than two and a half times the required spiritual plants, along with a handsome reward in spirit stones.
Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Shi Yu smiled and said, “Sister Wen, could you please pass a message to the Yun Clan and ask if we can change the reward?”
“Change the reward?” Wen Wen asked, confused.
The Yun Clan happened to be one of the clans controlling the lockdown on the Nightmare-transformed secret realm.
Shi Yu nodded. “I want a spot to enter that secret realm in Changxu Village. I wonder if the Yun Clan would agree. If they are willing, not only will I waive the fee for this alchemy task, but I will also cover the cost of the spiritual plants myself.”
Wen Wen had never heard of this secret realm, but she tactfully refrained from probing further. “Alright, I'll convey this to the Yun Clan.”
“Thank you for making the trip, Sister Wen.” Shi Yu couldn't let her leave empty-handed, so she took out a few newly refined Qi-Restoring Pills and gave them to Wen Wen.
The effect of the Qi-Restoring Pill was similar to the Dew-Condensing Pill, but as a Tier-2 pill, its effectiveness was naturally a step above.
Each of the pills bore a pill halo. After politely declining at first, Wen Wen accepted them, carefully storing them away like precious treasures. Pursing her lips with a light laugh, she said, “It's no trouble at all. This is my duty, after all.”
She paid close attention to Shi Yu's matters. Upon returning, it took less than half a day for her to bring back news.
“The Yun Clan agreed. In one month, they will send a new batch of young clan members into the secret realm, and you can go with them when the time comes.”
Shi Yu felt relieved. “Thank you for your trouble, Sister Wen.”
She already had plenty of Body-Defending Pills and Instant-Power Pills, just enough to fulfill this commission. Shi Yu didn't bother refining more; instead, she seized the time to devote herself entirely to refining the Dragon Bamboo Fruits.
On average, it took her three days to completely refine one fruit. After half a month passed, Shi Yu had refined five more.
The Qi cyclones revolving around the yellow sprout Dao Foundation in her dantian surged to sixty-five.
Such cultivation efficiency was truly astonishing.
Once her Qi cyclones increased to seventy, she would be able to smoothly break through to the seventh layer of the Qi Refining Realm and step into the late stage of the Qi Refining Realm.
Regrettably, the effects of consuming too many Dragon Bamboo Fruits diminished, a faint sensation she began to feel while consuming the sixth fruit.
At this rate, after consuming at most around ten more, the Dragon Bamboo Fruits would no longer have any effect on her and could only be eaten as ordinary fruit for flavor.
Furthermore, the further along she went, the more spiritual Qi was required for each additional Qi cyclone.
She set aside five fruits for Qingzhou and temporarily paused her cultivation.
Since it was her first time entering a secret realm and she didn't know what she might encounter, it was best to make as many preparations as possible.
Thus, for the remaining half month, Shi Yu either lit her furnace to concoct pills or drew spirit talismans, thoroughly replenishing her supplies.
She even drew out a few drops of Slaughter Spring water and refined dozens of meteoric iron needles as fine as hair.
These needles couldn't be considered artifacts, but Shi Yu had still invested a great deal of effort into them. Upon closer inspection, despite being so fine, the needles were actually hollow and filled with Slaughter Spring water.
When used, driven by spiritual power to shoot into an enemy's body, the tail of the meteoric iron needle would vibrate slightly from the force, causing all the Slaughter Spring water inside to gush out. Even if it didn't take the enemy's life, it would surely cause tremendous suffering.
Shi Yu had experienced the power of Slaughter Spring water firsthand; carrying these meteoric iron needles with her would serve as a life-saving trump card.
Unfortunately, the Slaughter Spring water possessed far too fierce a murderous aura; every time Shi Yu drew it out, she had to carefully wrap it in spiritual Qi.
Each time she drew it out, no matter how fast her movements were, most of the spiritual Qi wrapping the Slaughter Spring water would be eroded away.
Because of this, it was difficult for her to draw out too much Slaughter Spring water, so she was only able to refine about a dozen or so meteoric iron needles in total.
Having made full preparations, the agreed-upon date finally drew near.
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