Half a month later.
Inside the seclusion chamber.
Fang Qing sat cross-legged with his eyes tightly closed.
Before him moved several doll-like puppets, awkwardly shuffling about.
One puppet had a humanoid shape but stood only palm-sized, clutching a tiny bow.
It drew the bowstring back and released!
Whoosh!
A verdant green beam comparable to late-stage Qi Refining power shot out and struck the cave residence wall, only to be swiftly neutralized by the protective restrictions and fade into nothingness.
Another puppet, shaped like a small bird, circled lazily through the chamber. Every so often it would falter as if about to crash, yet at the critical mont it would flap its wings desperately and regain altitude.
Not far away, a gecko-shaped puppet crouched in the corner, occasionally twitching.
After a long while, all the puppets returned to their box. The little humanoid puppet closed the lid on its own.
Fang Qing opened his eyes and rubbed his brow. "Dividing the mind into ten uses really puts a heavy strain on divine sense. Even I feel a bit overwheld."
Thanks to the Ice Soul Cold Heart, he had successfully entered the threshold of the Puppet Control Technique and could barely manage dividing his mind into ten uses.
But suddenly gaining so many new perspectives required ti to adjust.
"Hmm, my divine sense has already reached seventy zhang. The Ice Soul Cold Heart truly lives up to its reputation as a divine sense spiritual item. If it reached third rank, it could even stimulate a Foundation Establishnt cultivator's divine sense to break through to Core Formation level."
He stood up and stored the puppets away. "I cannot really be considered a puppet master. I can only barely operate puppets for now. If any get damaged, I would still need a professional puppet master to repair them or craft higher-grade ones."
Puppet arts ranked as a minor path among the hundred immortal cultivation arts. Fang Qing had already devoted most of his energy to water-thod pill refining, and with so many matters awaiting him in Ancient Shu, he had no spare ti to pursue other distractions.
Practicing the Puppet Control Technique served only to make puppet manipulation more convenient and to temper his divine sense.
"Ti... Foundation Establishnt cultivators and Dao Foundation cultivators both have roughly two hundred years of lifespan. There truly is not much idle ti to spare unless one reaches Core Formation and gains five hundred years. Only then can one afford to branch out into other immortal cultivation arts. Hmm?"
Fang Qing's eyes suddenly brightened as he spotted a blind spot.
"On the Ancient Shu side, True Lords live in seclusion with unknown lifespans, but Purple Mansion cultivators generally have around five hundred years, yet their divine abilities and mana are astonishingly powerful."
"On the Qi Refining path, Core Formation cultivators also have five hundred years of lifespan, but Nascent Soul monsters enjoy a thousand years!"
"And legends speak of Soul Transformation cultivators who can ascend, with lifespans of at least several thousand years!"
"If ti feels insufficient, I could simply pursue Core Formation or even Nascent Soul on the Qi Refining path first, securing a long lifespan, then slowly plan for Purple Mansion in Ancient Shu."
"I could even cultivate longevity techniques on the Qi Refining path, consu life-extending pills and spiritual items. With such extended lifespan, even Purple Mansion great cultivators would eventually be outlived by ."
After all, Purple Mansion only granted five hundred years.
The mont this thought arose, Fang Qing felt the world open wide before him.
Using the profound Dao arts of Ancient Shu to assist his Core Formation breakthrough on this side was entirely feasible!
"Hmm. On the Ancient Shu side, continue to advance steadily and cautiously. No need to stand out unnecessarily. If one can endure in hiding, do so. Of course, for truly critical opportunities that may never appear again even after waiting a thousand years, one must still act when the ti cos."
"Hmm?"
At that mont, a transmission talisman flew in and landed in his hand.
Fang Qing listened for a mont, then raised an eyebrow. "It is about to begin?"
Several days later.
At the summit of Cold Spring Peak.
Beside the third-rank spirit spring, Elder Tianding still wore his short hair and full beard, exuding a rough and heroic air. His voice bood like a great bell. "This ti we are refining the Great Barrier-Breaking Pill on direct orders from Ancestor Ruan herself."
"We will naturally give our full assistance to Senior Brother."
Fang Qing, Han Qingfeng, and two other second-rank alchemists all cupped their hands in respect.
This pill refinent emphasized quality over quantity, so their small group of assistants was sufficient.
"Hmm. What we are refining this ti is the third-rank Great Barrier-Breaking Pill. This pill assists late-stage Foundation Establishnt cultivators in breaking through bottlenecks to reach the pseudo-core realm of Foundation Establishnt perfection. You junior brothers have already reviewed the formula. The main ingredient is third-rank Purple Splendor Water Chestnut Flower."
Elder Tianding continued. "This old man will handle the main ingredient. The remaining auxiliary materials I leave to you junior brothers."
Though he was only a second-rank superior alchemist, with the aid of this third-rank spiritual spring and the combined efforts of Fang Qing and the others, he still held so confidence in refining the Great Barrier-Breaking Pill.
After all, while the pill bore the na of third rank, it was sowhat difficult in truth.
Fang Qing glanced at the materials assigned to him and saw a second-rank superior Qionghua Branch. He could not help feeling speechless. 'As expected, the truly good things are all hoarded by Core Formation ancestors. I have never even seen this Qionghua Branch in the pill hall storeroom.'
Still, processing a Qionghua Branch once would add valuable experience.
He perford the Water Control Technique, refined spiritual water, and extracted the dicinal properties from the Qionghua Branch.
Refining a third-rank pill proved far more difficult than second-rank ones. Their group of second-rank alchemists encountered nurous small problems one after another. Fortunately, Elder Tianding's rich experience allowed him to resolve them all properly.
Fang Qing silently observed and stole lessons, deepening his comprehension of the Heavenly Cauldron Pill Scripture. Afterward he felt confident enough to refine the Great Barrier-Breaking Pill independently.
Even second-rank superior Barrier-Breaking Pills had beco sothing he could succeed at on the first try.
Several months later.
"Combine!"
Elder Tianding commanded the third-rank spirit spring water, transforming it into slender water dragons that circled a nascent pill embryo, continuously spraying essence of dicinal liquid.
"This pill... should succeed."
Han Qingfeng let out a long breath. The months of high-intensity pill refining had far exceeded the workload of refining Foundation Establishnt Pills. Even he felt utterly exhausted.
"Hmm. Originally we could have attempted two pills, but both carried risks. Senior Brother Tianding used the sacrificial pill thod and willingly discarded one to guarantee at least one successful pill. As for the quality, that is another matter."
Fang Qing's alchemy skill subtly surpassed Tianding's, allowing him to see even more details.
"Success!"
In an instant, accompanied by Elder Tianding's delighted shout, the third-rank pill fully took shape. Purple light overflowed in all directions.
This was the characteristic phenonon of a third-rank pill forming.
At the center of the purple glow floated a perfectly round great pill, the size of a dragon's eye, entirely purple with three half-golden pill patterns etched across its surface.
"Inferior quality?!"
Han Qingfeng sighed with so regret. "Still, it is fine as long as it ford. We can continue nourishing this pill in the third-rank spiritual spring for four or five years to fully eliminate the pill toxins and transform inferior into proper quality!"
Water thods excelled at nurturing!
This was precisely one of the great advantages of water-thod pill refining.
Elder Tianding seed deaf to the words. He began forming hand seals to collect the pill, drawing the inferior Great Barrier-Breaking Pill into a jade bottle.
"This..."
Han Qingfeng was stunned.
"Ancestor Ruan has ordered that once this pill is refined, it must be delivered imdiately without delay."
Elder Tianding shook his head, turned into a streak of escape light, and flew toward the main island.
"All right, let us return and rest as well."
Fang Qing patted old Han on the shoulder without saying more and returned to his own cave residence.
Qin Ruxue had already prepared a banquet and was waiting. "Young Master has worked hard on pill refining."
"I am fine."
Fang Qing drifted to his seat, lifted a cup of spiritual wine, and took a sip. "Hmm? This wine is quite good?"
"It is Azure Bamboo Wine offered to this consort by the servants below. They say it has been cellared for several hundred years. If Young Master likes it, this consort can have more sent over."
Qin Ruxue smiled charmingly.
"No need. Moderation in enjoynt is enough."
Fang Qing shook his head and casually brought up the recent pill refinent. "The Great Barrier-Breaking Pill has been successfully refined. It seems Ancestor Ruan intends for so late-stage Foundation Establishnt cultivator to break through to pseudo-core and thereby take control of the Tide Birth Pearl. From the looks of it, the Tide Birth Pearl still has cultivation thod restrictions. It can only display its full effects when paired with the Blue Sea Technique at pseudo-core level?"
Qin Ruxue had been utterly shocked when she first learned the secret of the Tide Birth Pearl, but by now she had grown accustod to it.
Moreover, knowing this secret gave her far greater understanding of Ancestor Ruan's strategic choices.
She pondered for a mont. "Many cultivators in our sect practice the Blue Sea Technique, but very few have reached the peak of late Foundation Establishnt. Only a handful qualify. Island Lord Xue's lifespan is nearing its end, so in truth there is only one candidate: Sect Master Shi Tiexin, Senior Brother Shi!"
This Senior Brother Shi was in the pri of life. To have been chosen as sect master naturally ant he had powerful factions supporting him from behind.
Moreover, he had reached late Foundation Establishnt early in life. After becoming sect master he gained access to even more resources and had now cultivated to the peak of late Foundation Establishnt!
Most crucially, he was a Blue Sea Technique cultivator and t all the conditions perfectly!
"At most one or two years, and the great chaos in the Minor Huan Sea will finally co to an end."
Fang Qing drained a cup of wine and sighed contentedly.
"Oh?"
Qin Ruxue looked sowhat surprised.
"That Heiyuan True Personage understands arrays and possesses restriction-breaking talismans. He is actually of great help in dismantling the restrictions at the entrance to the ruins."
"Ancestor Ruan previously only had the lower-level cultivators resist. Major clashes among the upper echelons rarely erupted. She was waiting for this Great Barrier-Breaking Pill. If Sect Leader Shi can break through successfully, the two of them joining forces to eliminate Heiyuan True Personage would be ideal."
"If they cannot eliminate him, then they can only develop the site jointly, and the sooner the better. After all, no one knows whether those ruins might attract other cultivators to the Minor Huan Sea."
Fang Qing spoke calmly.
For upper-level cultivators, it was acceptable for those below to fight and die, but personal life-and-death struggles were another matter entirely.
It was far better to sit steadily on the fishing platform. Even negotiating peace with the demonic path would draw little opposition within the sect.
"Then in Young Master's view, what are our sect's chances of success?"
Qin Ruxue asked curiously.
"There is no need for divination; simple deduction is enough. Shi Tiexin's chance of successfully breaking through with the Great Barrier-Breaking Pill is roughly fifty-fifty. And even if he succeeds, the probability that he and Ancestor Ruan can jointly kill Heiyuan True Personage remains fifty-fifty. Heiyuan True Personage is, after all, a demonic path Core Formation cultivator who ca from the Eastern Sea cultivation world. His trump cards are plentiful."
"Moreover, he may very well already know the secret of the external core!"
Once a trump card is used, it is no longer a trump card.
Linghu Jin's earlier outburst of Core Formation-level power followed by his failure and death was no secret. Gathering such intelligence was not difficult.
For soone as experienced and knowledgeable as Heiyuan True Personage, it was highly likely he had already guessed the Blue Sea Sect could rapidly produce Core Formation combat power. He might have long since prepared counterasures against two Core Formation cultivators.
"Therefore, if everything goes perfectly and they eliminate Heiyuan True Personage, the chance is only about twenty-five percent."
"The remaining seventy-five percent probably ans the war will end in a ceasefire."
Fang Qing smiled. "For you and , that is also good news. We will no longer have to live in constant fear with our nas on the black list."
Qin Ruxue rolled her eyes inwardly upon hearing this. "This consort has heard that Puppet Master Lu Qianfan died inexplicably. In the entire Minor Huan Sea, aside from the two Core Formation ancestors, who else could single-handedly kill such a person?"
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