"Wan Fei, do you know of this Pill?" Fang Xuan asked curiously.

Wan Fei's body trembled slightly. She took a deep breath to calm herself before explaining to the group, "The Mystic Spirit Pill is a Third Rank Middle Grade Pill. For cultivators below the Black Rank Ninth Grade, taking it provides a ninety percent chance of breaking through."

"Sss-" Fang Xuan and the others couldn't help but suck in a breath of cold air. Third Rank Middle Grade! Even with their noble backgrounds, they rarely encountered such a precious Pill.

"Tang Yan, did you just say you were going to refine Pills?" Wan Fei's beautiful eyes fell upon Tang Yan.

Tang Yan gave Wan Fei a deep look. He had known her for some time now, yet he knew absolutely nothing about her background. However, judging from her conversational bearing and knowledge, her origins were no lower than Fang Xuan's, and perhaps quite a bit higher.

"My master taught me some alchemy, but this will be my first time refining the Mystic Spirit Pill, so there is a certain chance of failure. I will do my best. If it succeeds, we will all break through together!"

"Brother Tang... you're an Alchemist?" Du Shu's eyes widened, once again profoundly shocked by Tang Yan.

"Mm." Tang Yan smiled and nodded.

"Damn, a Third Grade Alchemist! You could walk right into the imperial capital and serve the emperor. At your young age, stepping into the Fourth Rank or even the Fifth Rank will be no problem. Next time we meet, we'll have to call you Lord Tang!" Du Shu was as lively and boisterous as ever.

Fang Xuan's eyes were also filled with intense shock. He had originally thought the gap between himself and Tang Yan was small, but the more he learned, the more he realized just how vast that distance truly was.

The status of a Third Grade Alchemist alone was enough for someone to walk sideways unchallenged through the entire Tingxiang Kingdom.

"It's just a bit of luck. I would ask that you all help me keep my identity as an Alchemist a secret for now," Tang Yan said with a smile.

Everyone agreed. Tang Yan then found a secluded spot and brought out his Pill Furnace.

"You're refining Pills right now? We aren't going to look for that natural treasure?" Fang Xuan was somewhat surprised.

"If a natural treasure were so easy to claim, the Raging Wave Gang would have taken it themselves rather than handing the information over so readily. It means they had absolutely no confidence in seizing it. If I'm not mistaken, there are far more powerful people guarding that place. Rushing over in a hurry will do us no good; it is better to elevate our strength first."

Fang Xuan and the others nodded in agreement.

"Scatter around the perimeter and don't let anyone approach," Tang Yan instructed. With a mere thought, a pile of medicinal herbs landed in his hands.

"Flame Fragrance Grass, Broad-Origin Flower, Snow Fragrance, Green Poria Seed..." He was Proficient as he tossed the medicinal herbs into the Pill Furnace, refining them over and over again.

With his strength at the Black Rank Fifth Grade, refining this particular Pill was somewhat taxing. However, relying on his formidable wealth of alchemy experience, his success rate for refining Pills was multiplied several times over.

Refinement, extraction, fusion, shaping... Everything proceeded methodically. The intricate, tedious alchemy process was actually elevated to a beautiful art in Tang Yan's hands.

Three hours passed, and a rich pill fragrance began to diffuse through the air. Fang Xuan and the others, who had been growing a bit bored, immediately perked up. Such a dense fragrance meant the refinement had reached its final stages.

After another half hour, Tang Yan finally let out a long breath. He slapped the side of the cauldron, and six Pills shot straight up into the air.

Tang Yan had already prepared porcelain bottles. He caught the Pills, stored them away, and pressed the stoppers firmly in place.

With a thought, he stored the Pill Cauldron and walked out with a smile.

"Brother Tang, did you succeed?" Fang Xuan asked excitedly upon seeing him.

"Mm. Here are the pills." Tang Yan distributed four porcelain bottles, handing one to each of his companions.

The four of them excitedly accepted the bottles. Wan Fei gave Tang Yan a complex look and said in a crisp voice, "The Mystic Spirit Pill is useful for all martial artists below the Black Rank Ninth Grade, but taking it at the Black Rank Eighth Grade is the only way to maximize its value. Wouldn't taking it now be a bit of a waste?"

Hearing Wan Fei's words, Fang Xuan and the rest also turned to look at Tang Yan.

"The further along you cultivate, the harder it is to advance. The Black Rank Eighth Grade is indeed the optimal time to consume the Mystic Spirit Pill, but our current strength is simply too weak. We can't afford to worry about such things right now.

"Besides, by the time we actually reach the Black Rank Eighth Grade, we may encounter an even greater Fated Chance," Tang Yan said decisively.

Wan Fei and the others deeply agreed. In the selection zone, every fraction of strength gained added another layer of security for their survival.

"Alright, then let's break through right now!" Fang Xuan said with absolute straightforwardness.

"Let's change to a more hidden location. We just refined Pills here, and the commotion likely attracted attention. It might not be safe anymore." Tang Yan led the four of them as they rapidly dashed toward the northwest.

After traveling for several dozen li, right as they were nearing Water Blue Peak, Tang Yan finally spoke. "We will break through here tonight, and hurry over first thing tomorrow morning to take a look."

The surrounding ancient trees were towering and lush, and the area was completely devoid of human presence. Tang Yan and the other four each found a large tree and sat cross-legged on the thick branches. With a thought, they all swallowed their Pills.

As the Pill entered his stomach, Tang Yan felt countless wisps of Spiritual Qi breeding within him, continuously nourishing his Dantian. Before long, his entire Dantian was thoroughly filled with dense Spiritual Qi.

He silently praised the miraculous efficacy of the Mystic Spirit Pill, calmed his mind, and entered a state of cultivation.

"Boom!" As the Spiritual Qi inside his Dantian accumulated more and more, it was exactly like when water flows, a channel forms-the swelling energy effortlessly shattered his original bottlenecks.

Feeling his Spiritual Qi grow several times more robust, Tang Yan was overjoyed. He immediately dedicated himself entirely to tempering his meridians and stabilizing his newly advanced cultivation base.

By the time Tang Yan opened his eyes, the other four had long since awakened.

"Did you all break through?" Tang Yan asked.

"Mm, the Mystic Spirit Pill is simply miraculous!" Wan Fei sighed in heartfelt admiration, a rosy glow lingering on her face.

Fang Xuan and Du Shu were even more thrilled. They had assumed it would take several more months of bitter training to break through, yet they had achieved it in a mere matter of hours.

"Then let us head to Water Blue Peak." Seeing that the sky was now fully bright, Tang Yan made the proposal.

Naturally, the group had no objections. Together, they hurried toward Water Blue Peak.

By mid-morning, the five of them arrived at the foot of a towering mountain peak.

"This should be Water Blue Peak." After surveying the surrounding landscape and confirming it matched the map's records perfectly, Tang Yan nodded.

This was a mountainous expanse filled with rolling, uneven slopes. Yet right in the center of these undulating hills stood a single, sheer peak nearly three hundred meters tall, thrusting straight into the sky like a spear. Many of the rock faces on the peak gleamed with an icy blue hue, which was undoubtedly how Water Blue Peak earned its name.

Staring up at the main peak, Tang Yan couldn't help but frown. The rock walls were unbelievably smooth with virtually no footholds; climbing it would be an incredibly arduous task.

Du Shu couldn't help but grumble, "How is this a mountain peak? It's practically a massive pillar."

"If we want to go up, unless we have sharp weapons on hand to carve footholds into the rock face, it's going to be exhausting physical labor." Wan Fei's delicate brows furrowed slightly as she pointed out the only method of ascent.

"That kid wasn't lying to us, was he? How does he know there's a natural treasure up there? Don't tell me he actually managed to climb it?" Du Shu muttered.

Tang Yan continued to study the peak, confirming that footholds were indeed scarce. Ascending would be far from easy.

However, he did not suspect Zhang Peng of providing false information. There genuinely was a natural treasure here-he knew this because the Heaven and Earth Creation Cauldron had already grown active within his body.

Even though he greatly desired to go up and investigate, Tang Yan did not act rashly. He had already sensed two extremely powerful streams of divine sense sweeping back and forth across his body from the shadows.

"Friends, this place is of extreme importance to my Immortal Sword Gang. I hope you all will depart immediately." A young man strode over from a distance, cupping his hands toward Tang Yan and his group.

He appeared courteous on the surface, but the haughty arrogance gleaming in his eyes made it abundantly clear that he did not take Tang Yan's group seriously in the slightest.

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