Chapter 355. Golden Core, 3rd Tier (Cultivation Realm)

The rental fee for the high-tier Earthfire Chamber was exorbitant, so the 2 of them wasted no time.

Eldrin retrieved the Li Fire Essence obtained from slaying the Golden Core demon spirit, a faint smile gracing his lips as he remarked, "This Li Fire Essence lacks sufficient purity. It would be perfect to refine it further using the alchemical furnace."

Lyra nodded, then activated the formation to channel the earthfire energy into the alchemy furnace.

Eldrin then began to channel the Li Fire Qi into the alchemy cauldron, and together they activated the furnace to commence the refining process.

This strand of Eldrin Fire Qi was obtained by slaying a Golden Core demon spirit, now tainted with the demonic energy of that very entity. It had long lost its purity and required refinement in an alchemy furnace to purge the impure demonic power before it could be utilized anew.

In fact, using alchemy furnaces to refine Eldrin Fire Qi was not an isolated case. Over the years, the Frostflake Qi employed by Elara (Person Name) and Lila (Person Name) had also been refined through alchemy furnaces.

Since the world lacked pure glacial qi, the glacial qi they used to refine their life-bound treasures and mystical abilities was actually synthesized by combining 'Ren Water Qi' and 'Yi Wood Qi'.

This was hardly surprising. The Ice Spiritual Root (Spiritual Root) itself was a mutation derived from the water and wood spiritual roots. By fusing and refining the quintessential energies of these 2 elements from the 5 Phases, 1 could produce the 'Frostflow Aura'.

Other examples include the 'Thunder Qi' required for the Thunder Spiritual Root (Spiritual Root) and the 'Zephyr Qi' required for the Wind Spiritual Root (Spiritual Root), both of which are actually synthesized through the fusion of the 5 Elements' essential energies.

Metal begets thunder, fire and wood birth wind—since countless years past, the cultivation world had long since uncovered the optimal formula for refining essence and energy.

Getting back to the story, the 2 of them activated the Purple Aura Pill (Spiritual Object) furnace to refine the Li Fire energy. It took them a full 6 months to complete the refinement of all 3,000 strands of Li Fire energy.

After the tempering process was completed, they discovered that only slightly over 2,300 wisps of Li Fire Qi remained.

"There remains a trace amount of demonic aura, nearly impossible to refine completely."

"It seems this Li Fire energy still cannot be used to refine 1's Life-Bound Magical Treasure and supernatural powers."

Gazing at the successfully refined Li Fire energy, Eldrin remarked with regret.

This was well within his expectations, for this was not the pure 5 Elements essence painstakingly refined by cultivators from the spiritual energy of heaven and earth during their practice.

Although the cauldron had refined away the majority of the demonic energy, some residual traces inevitably remained. Should it be integrated into divine abilities or this Lifebound Magical Treasure, catastrophic consequences would likely ensue.

Fortunately, when crafting ordinary magical treasures, this issue need not be a concern. After all, even if flaws emerge in common artifacts, they would not affect the cultivator’s own foundation.

After all, it was a high-grade earth fire chamber and alchemical cauldron being used.

"Though some demonic aura lingers, it's far better than anticipated."

Lyra chuckled softly as she stored away the 2,000-some strands of Li Fire Qi. Though these elemental essences were somewhat less valuable, selling them for 4,000,000 spirit stones shouldn't pose much difficulty.

Having absorbed the Eldritch Fire Qi, the 2 began refining the elixir.

This time, the pill being refined was the Cauldron of Creation Returnto Void Pill, a supreme-grade fourth-tier elixir.

The refinement of this pill was exceptionally challenging, and both the primary ingredient, the Eldrin Spirit Jade of the Returning Abyss, and the 5 Elements Treasure Pearls were extremely costly. Should the refinement fail, the 2 of them would likely find it rather difficult to accept.

Moreover, whether they could successfully refine this pill would determine if their cultivation could advance another step.

To this end, they made thorough preparations—jointly refining the pill as a duo, even renting a high-grade alchemy furnace and an earth-fire chamber—determined to succeed in crafting this elixir in a single attempt.

With ample preparation, the 2 spent a full 3 months before successfully concocting the first batch of pills.

However, the difficulty of refining this pill was immense, and even with their utmost efforts, they ultimately succeeded in producing only a single pill.

With the aid of an advanced earthfire chamber and alchemical cauldron, only a single pill was successfully refined.

"It seems the refinement of this Chaos-Returning Void Elixir ranks among the most challenging even within the fourth-tier superior-grade pills."

Lyra remarked with a hint of regret. Her alchemy skills were exceptionally profound, and she had originally possessed great confidence in breaking through to the upper fourth rank.

But now, even with their combined efforts and the aid of the Purple Aura Pill (Spiritual Object) furnace and a fourth-tier earth flame, they had nearly failed.

Only a single pill had been successfully refined—insufficient for both of them—falling far below her expectations.

Seeing her somewhat dejected, Eldrin comforted her, "It's alright. We still have 1 Li Fire Spirit Jade of the Returning Abyss in our possession. We can refine another batch. With the experience from the previous attempt, our pill success rate is bound to increase significantly."

"So be it."

As Lyra spoke, the 2 of them began refining the second cauldron of Creation-Returning-to-Void Pills.

As expected, compared to the arduous refinement of the first batch of Creation Returning to Void Pills, the second batch proceeded much more smoothly.

The 2 had honed their skills through practice, and this time, the alchemy process proceeded without major mishaps. They successfully refined the Cauldron of Creation-Returning-to-Nothingness Pills, yielding a full 2 pills.

It is done.

After successfully refining the elixir, both of them revealed joyous smiles.

Strictly speaking, both of them had actually suffered considerable losses in refining these 2 batches of pills. The Creation-Returning Pill required precious Creation-Returning Herb and Fire Essence Orb—according to market prices, the cost for a single batch reached as high as 8,000,000 spirit stones.

The cost of refining these 2 batches of pills was so exorbitant that 1 could say the 2 of them had poured over 10,000,000 spirit stones into them, yet obtained merely 3 pills in return.

At the market price of 3,000,000 spirit stones per Creation-Returning-to-Void Pill, they had actually suffered massive losses.

However, advancing their alchemy skills inherently demanded such sacrifices. Though they had suffered considerable losses this time, both had made significant strides in their alchemy mastery.

Lyra's alchemy had now advanced to the upper fourth rank, and Eldrin estimated that he himself had likely reached the threshold of the middle fourth tier.

My alchemy skills had improved, so as long as I could refine 1 more Golden Core Formation Pill (Spiritual Object) in the future, I would effortlessly earn an additional 2,000,000 spirit stones. Sooner or later, I would recoup this expenditure.

Lyra handed 1 of the Return to Void Creation Pills to Eldrin and took 1 for herself before saying,

"The last remaining Guixu Creation Pill, I wish to give to Yan Zi Ji (Person Name)."

Her cultivation had already touched the threshold of the seventh layer of the Golden Core. Once he breaks through, consuming this pill will be sufficient to reach the eighth layer of the Golden Core. In the future, she will undoubtedly become a significant asset to us.

Eldrin nodded upon hearing this. By now, he had come to understand that the relationship between Yan Zijie and Lyra was far from ordinary.

Yan Zi Ji also hailed from the shores of the Eastern Sea and had been close friends with Lyra since their youth. Though she possessed no Dao Body, she was a peerless genius with a Heavenly Spiritual Root, having even forged a superior Golden Core.

The aptitude of the Heavenly Spiritual Root (Spiritual Root) is truly extraordinary. With such innate talent, 1 encounters no bottlenecks before breaking through to the Golden Core realm—not even Foundation Establishment or Purple Mansion stages carry any risk of failure.

Even breaking through to the Golden Core realm had a 50 percent chance of success. It was precisely why Yan ZiJi, at the age of 1 100 and 80, could achieve the pinnacle Upper Grade Golden Core without relying on external aids.

Her talent was truly remarkable. Once Yan ZiJi broke through to Golden Core, Late Stage (Cultivation Realm), her spiritual power would be on par with a Golden Core Great Perfection cultivator. By the time she reached the eighth level of Golden Core, her spiritual power would surpass even that of a Golden Core Great Perfection cultivator by 20 percent.

Although the Heavenly Spiritual Root (Spiritual Root) possessed only 1 Lifebound Magic Treasure, by then, with the grand supernatural powers she had cultivated, Yan Zi Ji's trump card would be enough to make even a False Infant cultivator think twice before acting.