Immortal Refiner

After leaving the Soul Nurturing Temple’s Hidden Realm, Li Qing didn’t linger outside. He immediately hurried back to Heavenly River Market.

The lease on his cave abode had only a few months remaining. Once the term expired, he would have to move out.

Though he felt a pang of reluctance, Li Qing had no intention of renewing the lease.

He had originally rented the cave abode to provide a better environment for the Jade Locust Tree’s Spirit Seed to sprout. Now that the seed had taken root and sprouted, he could use the Sealing Wood Technique to harvest the sapling.

Li Qing couldn’t afford to waste a single day of the remaining months. Upon returning, he immediately began meditating and cultivating in seclusion.

His recent expedition had yielded significant gains, and he needed time to properly digest his newfound knowledge and resources.

Inside the cave abode, Li Qing immediately retrieved a mature Heavenly Star Grass, over fifty years old.

Despite its name, this ”grass” wasn’t green. It was a pale blue, its leaves speckled with star-like patterns that shimmered faintly.

”I’ve heard that this spiritual herb’s potency is maximized when refined into a medicinal pill,” Li Qing mused. ”Unfortunately, I lack the Pill Refinement Technique. I’ll have to make do with chewing it raw—a crude method, like feeding an ox a peony. Fortunately, I have an ample supply of Heavenly Star Grass!”

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Qing stuffed the entire Heavenly Star Grass plant into his mouth and began chewing vigorously.

The taste was slightly astringent, but the juice surprisingly sweet, making it easy to swallow.

After swallowing the entire plant, Li Qing quickly closed his eyes and began refining its medicinal power.

In the blink of an eye, the grass pulp dissolved completely, transforming into streams of pure energy that flowed throughout his body.

Almost immediately, Li Qing felt a refreshing coolness wash over him, like taking a cold shower on a scorching summer day.

But the next moment, this coolness converged toward the center of his forehead, leaving his mind even clearer and more invigorated.

His divine sense power had increased slightly!

Though the increase was minimal, Li Qing could clearly sense it.

It works!

Realizing the Heavenly Star Grass’s effectiveness, a delighted smile curved his lips.

”No wonder this Spirit Herb is priceless and impossible to find. If a mere fifty-year-old plant has such potency, I can’t even imagine what would happen if I consumed those millennia-old specimens!”

Li Qing’s heart pounded in his chest. In the cultivation world, enhancing one’s divine sense was an incredibly difficult feat.

This power typically only increased slightly upon breaking through to a new realm.

For most cultivators born with a weak divine soul, surpassing their peers in divine sense within the same realm was nearly impossible unless they encountered extraordinary opportunities later in life.

After consuming the first Heavenly Star Grass, Li Qing refrained from immediately taking the second. Spirit Herbs that enhance divine sense are best consumed gradually; rushing the process could lead to adverse effects.

Firstly, the body needs time to digest the medicinal power.

Secondly, a sudden surge in divine sense could potentially cause unforeseen complications.

A cultivator’s Sea of Consciousness is the most mysterious and delicate part of their being, and it cannot be treated carelessly.

Ideally, one should consume a Heavenly Star Grass every one or two days, allowing the divine sense to gradually adapt to its increasing power. Over time, the divine soul will naturally grow stronger, like water flowing into a channel.

”Slow and steady wins the race. I’m not in a hurry,” Li Qing murmured.

With these words, he retrieved a Guangling Pill from his storage pouch and settled into a meditative posture to cultivate.

Li Qing divided his cultivation time in the cave abode into three parts:

Consuming Heavenly Star Grass to enhance his divine sense.Meditating and cultivating with medicinal pills.Practicing the Vital Essence Enhancement Secret Art.

He believed that with consistent effort, his strength would undoubtedly experience another rapid leap forward.

Of course, being in the bustling Heavenly River Market, dedicating all his time solely to cultivation would be a waste.

Especially with the Ascension Conference approaching, the market’s foot traffic had surged. Cultivators from every corner of the Azure Ridge Domain were converging here in massive numbers!

Compared to the usual days, Heavenly River Market had become remarkably crowded recently.

Li Qing naturally wouldn’t miss such a grand event. More people meant more opportunities to earn spirit stones.

Although he had acquired Gu Ming’s storage pouch, which had boosted his spirit stone reserves to over three thousand for the first time, who would ever complain about having too many spirit stones?

After returning to his cave abode, more than a month passed in the blink of an eye.

Over the past month, Li Qing’s cultivation had grown even more profound, and his divine sense power had increased significantly.

In particular, the improvement in his divine sense had made his perception remarkably acute.

The benefits of regularly consuming Heavenly Star Grass were now becoming increasingly apparent.

”Fellow Daoist, how much for this Low-Grade Magic Artifact?”

In the Plaza District, a young man with a somewhat youthful face approached Li Qing’s stall.

Dressed plainly, without even the basic robes of an immortal cultivator, he looked less like a cultivator and more like a simple cowherd from a rural village.

Seeing this humble appearance stirred something within Li Qing, reminding him of his own days in the mountain village.

”This is a Golden Platform Seal, meticulously crafted from spiritual materials. The golden material isn’t ordinary worldly gold, but a spiritual material refined from Golden Marrow Stone, possessing considerable power!”

”It’s not too expensive—two hundred and twenty spirit stones will do.”

Though the young man seemed kind-hearted, Li Qing wouldn’t budge on the price, not even a single spirit stone less.

Especially with the recent price hikes at Heavenly River Market, where pills, talismans, and Magic Artifacts had all increased by 10-20%, Li Qing naturally followed suit, raising the prices of his own Magic Artifacts accordingly.

The simple-looking young man swallowed hard, his face flushing with embarrassment.

Gulp!

”So expensive...”

Li Qing remained unmoved. In his own days of weakness, he had often adopted a similar guise of rustic sincerity to lower others’ guard.

Who knew if this cowherd-like youth was also putting on an act? He might be hiding a jaw-dropping stash of spirit stones in his pocket.

”Excuse me, do you accept bartering? I have a Low-Grade Magic Artifact I’d like to trade for this gold brick,” the genuinely strapped young man asked.

Li Qing’s eyebrows arched at this. After a moment’s thought, he replied:

”You’ll have to show me your Magic Artifact first. If it’s something hard to sell, how am I supposed to get rid of it?”

”No problem!”

The simple-looking youth quickly retrieved an ancient-style Jade Ruyi from his storage pouch. It was small, only about the size of an infant’s arm.

When Li Qing saw the Jade Ruyi, his eyebrows lifted. He couldn’t immediately decipher the spirit patterns etched into its surface.

”Hmm? Let me take a look,” Li Qing said, reaching for the Jade Ruyi.

But the young man remained wary, clutching one end of the Jade Ruyi tightly, clearly afraid Li Qing would take it and refuse to pay.

Realizing this, Li Qing chuckled softly.

”Here, take this Golden Platform Seal to play with for a while,” he offered.

Only then did the young man release his grip, his face lighting up with joy as he cradled the Golden Platform Seal in his hands, looking utterly captivated.

As Li Qing examined the ancient Jade Ruyi, his eyebrows couldn’t help but rise. The spirit patterns were incredibly subtle, etched within the jade itself.

”Intriguing! What kind of inscription technique is this?!”

He hadn’t even had time to investigate the Jade Ruyi’s function before being completely absorbed by this extraordinary inscription method, eager to study it in detail.

Soon, Li Qing was completely immersed in his examination.

Yet no matter how closely he scrutinized it, he couldn’t decipher how the spirit patterns had been inscribed into the Jade Ruyi. This technique was utterly foreign to him, unlike anything he had ever seen or heard of.

Could this be a secret artifact refinement lineage?!

As an artifact refiner himself, Li Qing knew that some exclusive refinement lineages in the immortal cultivation world had developed to astonishing levels.

(End of the Chapter)

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