Chapter 1: When the father suffers humiliation, the son will surely avenge him

  "This matter has no solution even for a Taoist friend, so let's put it off for now and discuss it later. By the way, what was that Taoist reward all about?"

  Yu Ji heard this and paused for a moment, as if many memories that had been sealed away for a long time needed a moment to be recalled.

  "The heavens reward, this is a legend passed down since ancient times."

  "Ordinary people only know that practicing the eight layers of Qi can allow them to swallow the foundation pill and reach the foundation realm, but ancient legends say that if someone can cultivate up to 29 layers, reaching the extreme limit of Qi practice, they will receive a reward from Heaven. As for what this reward is, it's unknown. The first fifteen layers of the Refining Qi period can be reached through the power of alchemy or other means, but after that, each breakthrough to the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth layers requires experiencing great terror between life and death, requiring a person with a strong heart and sufficient luck to achieve. According to legend, someone in ancient times had reached such a realm, but nowadays it's likely that no one has attempted this again."

  Xiao Chen nodded upon hearing the words. As a cultivator, before building their foundation, their lifespan would be at most a hundred years. Naturally, no one would gamble with their limited lifespan for an ethereal legend. If he were to reside in Linggen, he would have probably built his foundation by now and wouldn't still be lingering in the Qi Refining stage.

  "However, little brother, you can try it out. According to legend, reaching the limit of Qi training can establish a foundation, and one's cultivation can reach the late stage of establishing a foundation. Moreover, when condensing the elixir, it adds three-tenths to the success rate, which is not a small reward."

  Xiao Chen's heart stirred, he had narrowly escaped death in the pursuit of Xuan Zhen and was promoted to the 16th layer of Qi Refining. The 17th and 18th layers would certainly be even more difficult to cultivate. However, Yu Ji's words also made sense, after all, at this moment he still hadn't found a way to establish his foundation, if he could reach the limit of the Qi Refining stage it would naturally be better.

  "Alright little brother, I've said so much already and I'm getting tired. Go back to sleep, see you later." After that, Yuji's voice completely disappeared from his mind, apparently having fallen asleep once again.

  Xiao Chen's face showed a hint of contemplation, he sat down cross-legged, turned his hand over and took out several Pei Yuan Dan pills to swallow, continuing to temper the law force within his body. Although it was impossible to break through to the next level with this, it could still make the law force more refined by a fraction.

  Half a day later, Xiao Chen opened his eyes, and the spiritual consciousness and magical powers consumed by the refinement of the sword energy had all recovered to their peak state. He thought for a moment, then turned over his hand and took out a jade pendant. This jade pendant was exactly what Wanmo Sect's Yan Lao had given him, which could withstand a full-strength blow from any Golden Elixir cultivator below the middle stage, such a defensive treasure was equivalent to having an extra life-saving artifact, so it was naturally better to recognize its owner as soon as possible.

  Xiao Chen's spiritual power circulated, forcing a drop of fresh blood to fall onto the jade pendant. The blood was absorbed as soon as it touched the pendant, and suddenly endless strands of blood emerged from its surface. The strands were densely intertwined, forming a ghostly face. After the face formed, it let out two eerie laughs before slowly dissipating. The entire jade pendant flashed with a bloody glow before returning to its original appearance.

  Xiao Chen's heart skipped a beat, indeed it was a demonic treasure, and the Blood Refining process was also so mysterious. Holding the jade pendant in his hand, he probed with his divine sense and felt the powerful restrictive force hidden within, Xiao Chen nodded in satisfaction and tied it around his waist.

  After the jade pendant recognized its master, Xiao Chen took out a small jade box from his storage bag again. He opened it and revealed the unremarkable pale yellow talisman inside. With just a few strokes of his brush, he drew a vivid little sword - Dan Bao. As he looked at this object, Xiao Chen's eyes showed a hint of fervor. In the past, relying on that needle-like Dan Bao, he was able to instantly kill that demonized cultivator whose cultivation was comparable to the False Dan realm. The power of this object could be imagined. After blood-refining this Dan Bao, with these two Dan Bao, for Xiao Chen, Foundation Establishment cultivators could basically be completely ignored. Even if it were a Golden Dan cultivator, he might be able to catch them off guard and make them suffer a great loss.

  The Blood Refining Technique requires not ordinary blood, but the body's essence and blood. Even for cultivators, if they lose too much of their bodily essence and blood, it will result in a light case of their cultivation falling behind, or in severe cases, instant death on the spot. Therefore, when Xiao Chen bit his tongue tip, he only sprayed out a small stream of blood sword, but his face immediately turned pale, looking like he was weak and feeble.

  But at this moment, Xiao Chen did not dare to be careless in the slightest. Although the Blood Refining Technique was extremely simple, any slight mistake in the middle could lead to the Dan Treasure backfiring, and in severe cases, it would directly destroy it.

  The essence of the blood fell on the small sword Danbao, and it was instantly absorbed. Xiao Chen's hands waved continuously, and several talismans were thrown out in an instant, falling on top of it. As the talisman progressed, this Danbao gradually emitted a vast spiritual pressure. Fortunately, Xiao Chen had already set up an array to prevent the leakage of spiritual energy in the mountain belly, otherwise, it would have been detected by the cultivators in the valley.

  His hands moved faster and faster, and Xiao Chen's forehead even broke out in a fine layer of sweat. However, the small sword-shaped Dan Treasure did not show any significant changes, which made Xiao Chen secretly anxious. This Blood Refining Technique was extremely consuming of spiritual power and divine consciousness, and there could be no pause at all in between each move. Otherwise, it would be a complete waste of effort, and might even cause the Dan Treasure to backlash, or worse, suffer irreparable damage.

  At this moment, Yu Ji's voice suddenly echoed in Xiao Chen's heart, with a few hints of surprise and fear, "High-ranking Dan Treasure!"

  However, she also understood that this was not the time for a detailed explanation, and spoke extremely quickly: "The amount of essence blood is insufficient, use some more."

  Xiao Chen's heart skipped a beat as he heard the words, and his mouth opened to spew out another mouthful of vital blood. This time, the amount was more than double the previous time, causing Xiao Chen's face to instantly turn pale and his breathing to become much weaker.

  Fortunately, the Dan Treasure absorbed more essence and blood, and its aura gradually subsided. However, as the spell was cast, although it was being refined step by step, progress was slow. At this moment, Xiao Chen's internal strength had less than 20% left. If he couldn't complete it within this period, the consequences would be unthinkable!

  Fortunately, however, as the last few spells were cast, the dan bao fu talisman suddenly burst into a brilliant light and began to burn, and a small sword appeared in mid-air, emitting a sharp whirring noise that circled around Xiao Chen several times before disappearing into his body.

  The blood refining was completed, and Xiao Chen didn't have time to carefully examine the newly obtained Dan treasure. He turned his hand over and took out a few pills that replenished his vital energy and swallowed them. Half a breath later, he barely managed to refine the medicinal power, and his complexion only then looked slightly better.

  "Fellow Daoist, what's so special about this high-grade Dan Treasure? Why is it so perilous to refine and assimilate? If you hadn't spoken up just now, I'm afraid I would have already suffered the backlash of this treasure." As he thought about this, a cold sweat suddenly broke out on Xiao Chen's back. Being counterattacked by the Dan Treasure would be devastating, even with his current cultivation level; if he didn't die, he would at least suffer severe injuries.

  "Hehe, little brother, I have to say that your luck is indeed very good. This Danbao is a great thing." Yu Ji smiled and explained in detail, only then did Xiao Chen understand the origin of the high-grade Danbao.

  In ancient times, the heaven and earth were more abundant than they are today in the cultivation world. The speed of cultivation was naturally much faster than that of modern cultivators. Although it cannot be said that Nascent Souls were everywhere and Golden Dans were as common as dogs, it was not far from that. In the most prosperous period of ancient cultivation, it can be said that there were many talented people, various top-level techniques and magical treasures with incredible power, which can be described as a golden age! However, due to uncertain factors, the entire cultivation world experienced a catastrophe, resulting in the fall of tens of millions of cultivators, and various techniques and magical treasures also disappeared. This is the main reason why the modern cultivation world is so barren.

  Danbao is another kind of lost alchemy method.

  Danbao, in ancient times also known as Xubao. It is a treasure that is voluntarily extracted from the heart of a Jindan practitioner who is about to reach the end of their lifespan and has no possibility of breaking through to the next step. The practitioner uses secret methods to separate out a portion of the treasure's power, seal it within a talisman, and can use it multiple times or give it to their disciples or descendants as a protective object. Although only a part of the treasure's power is stored, having this object in hand allows one to dominate among Jindan practitioners below their level.

  Xiao Chen obtained that needle-shaped Dan treasure, which belongs to this category.

  As for the high-ranking Danbao, although it is also refined by Jindan cultivators, its power is not comparable to that of ordinary Danbao. Although there is a limit of only three uses, each burst of energy released is no less than that of a magic treasure itself. To achieve this, the Jindan cultivator refining the Danbao must voluntarily infuse part of their own Jindan essence into it.

  The Golden Elixir Essence is the culmination of a Golden Elixir cultivator's lifelong practice, containing all their magical powers and vital energy, which are infused into the elixir treasure. The elixir treasure naturally becomes extremely powerful, hence it is also known as a High-Grade Elixir Treasure. However, such treasures rarely appear, because even for a Golden Elixir cultivator who has reached the Great Circle of Completion in the Infant Realm, if they successfully refine a High-Grade Elixir Treasure, there is still a 50% chance that their cultivation level will drop by one realm, and a 20% chance that their lifespan will be reduced by a hundred years. The price is so steep that unless someone has a death wish and intentionally seeks to die, no one would be willing to sacrifice themselves for the sake of others.

  The small sword-shaped Dan treasure that Xiao Chen had just refined was actually a high-grade Dan treasure.

  "High-grade Danbao!" Xiao Chen's eyes lit up, something that could rival a Golden Elixir Realm treasure, although it could only be used three times, but if utilized well, it was enough to guarantee several uses. Not expecting to obtain such a treasure, Xiao Chen was naturally overjoyed.

  This time Xiao Chen's outing was very rewarding, and just these two items were enough to make all the Golden Elixir cultivators' eyes turn red with excitement, crazily fighting for them.

  "Little brother's luck isn't bad, this high-grade Dan treasure should be a mid-stage golden dan's small fry who refined it. Although his strength is not great, but when refining, he poured all the essence of the golden dan into it, its power is still decent. With this thing, you can also add a few more ways to save your life." Yu Jie's soft voice echoed in her heart, "What about that Buddhist bead we got last time? I felt that thing was unusual at the time, you rest for a while and then blood-refine it again, let's see its true face."

  Xiao Chen also felt a surge of excitement upon hearing the words, but unfortunately, his body's vital energy had been depleted too much. Despite having an ample supply of elixirs, it was impossible to replenish them so quickly, and he could only close his eyes, sit in meditation, and wait for their recovery.

  PS: Brothers collect red tickets and get started, new book list has stood firm, hehe, continue to move forward and explode! Wow wow wow!