Chapter 270: Alone

Over the next two days, Li Weiyi and Zuoqiu Qingying became close friends, able to talk about anything. Through this connection, Li Weiyi successfully borrowed the alchemy room at Zuoqiu Manor.

Refining a high-grade magic pill like the Star Day Pill requires extremely high-quality cauldrons and flames.

Yin Er was pragmatic and highly efficient. The very next day, she sent someone to deliver thirty drops of Polar Day Dew to Taoli Mountain. With all the materials ready, Zen Master Guanwu didn't want to waste a single moment. If she hadn't promised to help Li Weiyi refine pills, she would have already gone to Fuzhou.

Zuoqiu Qingying watched Li Ling walk into the alchemy room and close the door, greatly surprised. "Can Li Ling already refine pills?" she wondered.

"Her? All passion, no skill. She's only a Great Nian Master in the Disaster Fire Realm; she can't refine magic pills."

Li Weiyi changed the subject and asked, "Sister Qingying, you're already a Spirit Nian Master, aren't you?"

Zuoqiu Qingying showed a proud look, but smiled humbly, "I've just entered the Spirit Nian Master realm."

"A One-Star Spirit Nian Master?" Li Weiyi asked.

A Great Nian Master in the Disaster Fire Realm must undergo the "Nine Disaster Fire Refinements" and condense a Nian Power Star to enter the Spirit Nian Master realm. Spirit Nian Masters are ranked from One-Star to Nine-Star. In terms of combat power, they are on par with Dao Seed Realm cultivators on the martial path.

Zuoqiu Qingying nodded and sighed, "Weiyi, the path of Nian Power cultivation is difficult; it's much harder than martial arts and incredibly expensive. Spirit Platform Blazing Star Fragments offer a shortcut, but they're too costly. My father tried talking to Elder Qi, but that old man is incredibly stubborn and won't give anyone face."

"However, there is one path we can try."

Li Weiyi showed a delighted expression and quickly asked what method she had in mind.

Zuoqiu Qingying said, "You can join the Secret Realm Division! Members of the Secret Realm Division, because they constantly operate in extremely dangerous areas, can purchase clan resources at only 60% of the price. Furthermore, you can use merit points instead of Yongquan coins for payment."

Li Weiyi's face fell. "Even at 60% of the price, it's 1.2 million Yongquan coins. I still can't afford it."

Zuoqiu Qingying chuckled, "Are you silly? You might not have merit points, but my father has been in the Secret Realm Division for thirty years; he has quite a few."

"This... I can't accept such a favor without earning it!" Li Weiyi fell silent.

Zuoqiu Qingying said, "At the Hidden Dragon Lantern Festival, if you hadn't fought so hard to help, Zuoqiu Manor wouldn't have won! I heard that the first batch of resources from the Du'e Temple, supporting Zuoqiu Manor, has already been delivered to Taoli Mountain. These include three Longevity Pills annually... You should know that for the past thousand years, Lingxiao Palace only produced ten every sixty years."

In the era of Zen Master Guanwu, Du'e Temple provided ten Longevity Pills annually to help her contend for power. However, at that time, the Lingxiao Living Realm encompassed three hundred states, with far more martial cultivators than in the current era, making the situation much more complex.

Li Weiyi was astonished. "Does that mean Thirteenth Uncle will soon break through to the Longevity Realm?"

Zuoqiu Qingying gently shook her head, though she couldn't hide the joy in her eyes. "Not that fast. My father only recently reached the Ninth Heaven of the Dao Seed Realm and still needs some time to accumulate power. But becoming a Longevity Realm grandmaster is only a matter of time. So, his merit points are just sitting there; it's better to use them to help you. Don't feel burdened by it; Zuoqiu Manor owes you."

Li Weiyi smiled, "If I refuse again, I'll seem overly modest... Well, thank you, Sister Qingying, and thank you, Thirteenth Uncle."

"However, you still have to go through the motions to join the Secret Realm Division; at the very least, you'll need to complete one mission in a secret realm," Zuoqiu Qingying said.

Li Weiyi said, "Naturally, but I'll have to wait a bit longer. I want to try cultivating the Wind Palace Dao Seed. It won't be too late to undertake secret realm missions once I become a Dao Seed Realm martial cultivator."

Zuoqiu Qingying smiled charmingly, "No rush. Focus on your cultivation. If anything comes up, you can always find me. Consider Zuoqiu Manor your own home."

It took Zen Master Guanwu five days to refine the Star Day Pills. There were twenty-nine in total.

The success rate was astonishingly high.

Li Weiyi asked, "When are you leaving?"

"Tonight," Zen Master Guanwu replied.

Li Weiyi said, "So soon? Since it's so important, why not just tell Zuoqiu Manor and let them figure something out?"

"If we can learn some things, those old folks can't be completely ignorant. Don't underestimate the transcendent beings of this era; none of them are simple, having lived for thousands of years."

Zen Master Guanwu's beautiful eyes clouded over slightly, and she continued, "I'm going because I have a compelling reason to. And those three old fellows are coming with me; Li Yuanzhe's Nine-Emperor Banner will be of great use."

Li Yuanzhe, who is Master Coffin, was also the leader of the Nine Li tribe a thousand years ago.

Zen Master Guanwu, Li Ling, Master Coffin, Master Jar, and Master Spirit Tablet left together that very night.

Li Weiyi did not accompany them, knowing very well what he should and shouldn't do at that moment.

What he needed to do now was to seclude himself for cultivation, strive to complete the Nine Disaster Fire Refinements as soon as possible, and break through to become a Spirit Nian Master. If he could truly activate the time power of the Dao Ancestor's Taiji Fish, his cultivation speed would be completely different.

At the same time, he also needed to continue refining his Qi and cultivate the Sixth Sea.

Before leaving, Master Coffin used the spatial power of the Nine-Emperor Banner to inject a Dao Fruit into Li Weiyi's Wind Palace, expanding it to twenty thousand square units. This additional ten thousand square units of spiritual energy would require at least two months of refinement.

The limit of the Wind Palace remained unknown, and its cultivation was far from complete.

When Li Weiyi returned to the Blood Mud Space, the entire world was quiet, and he felt an unprecedented sense of loneliness.

Zen Master Guanwu was not on the jade boat, nor was Master Jar's incessant chatter heard underground.

Master Coffin's coffin, Master Spirit Tablet's spirit tablet, and the Yongquan coins in the five boxes... were all gone!

"Why do I feel like she robbed my home? Could this Mist Emperor be scamming me into marriage?"

Li Weiyi sighed deeply, flew down onto the jade boat, and prepared to cultivate alone, only to find more than ten glittering ice crystals on board.

Inside the ice crystals were five dragon bones and seven dragon seeds.

"This..."

Li Weiyi couldn't believe his eyes and quickly took out his existing four dragon bones, two dragon seeds, and one Longevity Pill from his interdimensional bag.

"Alright, I misunderstood her! She does like to surprise people... She must have also taken Longevity Pills. Did she know I had one, so she didn't leave me any?"

Li Weiyi took out seven of the dragon bones and gave them to the seven little ones.

The seven little fellows had helped him countless times, and in many fierce battles, the outcomes might have been completely different without their assistance.

Now, they were nine inches long, and their combat power was comparable to some martial cultivators in the First Heaven of the Dao Seed Realm.

Of course, even within the First Heaven of the Dao Seed Realm, the disparity in combat power was immense.

Even without considering inheritor-level figures, a First Heaven Dao Seed Realm martial cultivator like Wang Zhi could only be considered average.

Firstly, they hadn't cultivated Dao Arts.

Secondly, they weren't pure immortal bodies.

Thirdly, their combat weapons were only first-grade hundred-character artifacts.

If the seven little ones could gain the power of one more dragon bone, the combat power of each would definitely reach the peak of the First Heaven of the Dao Seed Realm. They could even challenge experts in the Second Heaven.

Li Weiyi sat cross-legged on the jade boat. There were still twenty-one Star Day Pills in the elixir bottle.

The other eight were taken by Li Ling.

"Old Li must pay for these! Otherwise, if his daughter becomes a Spirit Nian Master before she's twenty, he'd be too pleased with himself to care about payment."

Li Weiyi held a Star Day Pill between two fingers; its radiance was blinding. He tried to read the pill script on it, but couldn't open his eyes.

He swallowed it whole!

Upon consumption, a warm power spread throughout every part of his flesh and every pore.

His entire being lit up, radiating brilliant divine light, and rosy glow filled the entire Blood Mud Space.

He activated the Fusang Divine Tree Meditation Technique, imagining himself as the two towering mulberry trees, transporting the rosy glow emanating from the pill within his body, wisp by wisp, into his spiritual realm, repeatedly refining it to achieve the transformation of spiritual light.

The first Disaster Fire Refinement took a full three days.

Over the next three months, Li Weiyi cultivated in seclusion while awaiting news from Zen Master Guanwu.

He performed the Nine Disaster Fire Refinements, refined his spiritual energy, practiced the Twelve Loose Techniques of the Chan Sect, and studied methods for condensing Dao Seeds.

Martial arts and Nian Power cultivation proceeded in parallel.

With the help of nine Star Day Pills, he completed the "Nine Disaster Fire Refinements" in just three months, a feat that would take other Disaster Fire Realm Great Nian Masters years, or even decades.

In his brow's spiritual realm, the spiritual light was intensely bright, almost on the verge of liquefying.

However, despite multiple attempts, he couldn't condense a Nian Power Star.

"Spirit Nian Master cultivation is truly difficult; each step requires significant time for accumulation and repeated refinement. I wonder if Yin Er has any news about Spirit Platform Blazing Star Fragments or three-thousand-year-old Thousand-Year Elixirs?"

With this thought, Li Weiyi put the seven little ones into a bug pouch, left his cave dwelling, and headed down the mountain.

Zuoqiu Qingying learned of Li Weiyi's emergence from seclusion and caught up with him at the mountain gate. "Weiyi," she said, "I heard someone is openly acquiring Spirit Platform Blazing Star Fragments in Qiuzhou City under your name?"

Li Weiyi smiled. "The Nine Li Hidden Sect is helping me look for them; we always need to explore more options. Hey, Sister Qingying, are there any recent missions to secret realms? I have time now!"

Zuoqiu Qingying's eyes lit up, and she then chuckled, "Almost everyone from the Secret Realm Division has gone to the underground of Fuzhou right now. There are a few tasks that aren't too dangerous; we can go together."

"How soon can we go?" Li Weiyi asked.

Zuoqiu Qingying said, "If you're in a hurry, we can depart together tomorrow after I help you with the Secret Realm Division enrollment process."

"That's wonderful! I'll go say hello to the Nine Li Hidden Sect members first, and we'll depart tomorrow." Li Weiyi expressed his gratitude to her once more.

Watching Li Weiyi depart joyfully, the smile on Zuoqiu Qingying's face faded, and she turned to head towards the council hall on the Fourth Heaven.

Li Weiyi and Yin Er sat in a noodle shop by the bridge, each ordering a bowl of soup noodles.

"There's news about the Spirit Platform Blazing Star," Yin Er said. "Xuejian Tangting secretly contacted my subordinates a few days ago, saying they have some. However, they insist on speaking with you personally. I feared a trap, so I didn't agree rashly. The existence of your seven strange insects has made many people covetous of you."

Li Weiyi added some vinegar to his bowl and chuckled, "Who can deny it? I am innocent, but my treasures make me guilty. Hmm! Tang Wanqiu is quite reliable; Xuejian Tangting probably isn't too bad. Let's meet with them!"

"Also, please inform Yin Wu to meet me outside the North City Gate tomorrow at noon to accompany me on a distant journey."