Beauty Seeking You Out

In addition to suggesting that the vitality of the herbs should be preserved as much as possible, the author of the book also described the characteristics of celestial herbs in great detail: these items are rich in vitality (innate breath) and spiritual energy (acquired breath), and this vitality-infused spiritual energy is known as "celestial breath." Apart from mortals, who cannot endure an excessive amount of "celestial breath," cultivators face no restrictions regarding it. Essentially, the more, the better. Elixirs refined from it can be consumed continuously without causing the slightest harm to the physical body.

This was something that elixirs previously refined from spiritual herbs could never achieve.

Because the nature of celestial breath is mild, once a celestial elixir is ingested into a cultivator's belly, it does not violently volatilize and impact the meridians like spiritual elixirs do. Instead, it is released slowly according to the pressure the meridians can bear. Therefore, the absorption period may also be correspondingly prolonged.

After reading through the *Book of Cultivating Spiritual Immortal Plants for Elixir Refinement*, Luo Yu became deeply interested in celestial elixirs: viewed in this light, although celestial herbs and elixirs were graded according to their spiritual energy content and medicinal efficacy, they were suitable for any level of cultivation, with the only difference being the duration required for digestion.

Moreover, the author also stated that it is best not to store celestial elixirs in jade bottles. Instead, one should use the skeletal remains left behind by living beings to forge magical elixir-storing vessels. For instance, he himself used an ancient celestial plant called "Sihu" as an elixir gourd, which not only locked in the spiritual energy but also perfectly preserved the vitality.

Luo Yu took out the small pile of elixir gourds he had purloined from the Tusita Palace and examined them: they looked just as if they were carved from jade, and he had previously thought they were refined from some kind of spiritual jade or celestial essence... It turned out they were naturally formed. They had originally contained spiritual elixirs, but no celestial elixirs. This was probably because celestial herbs later became scarce, and after the celestial elixirs were all consumed, no more could be refined.

Having understood everything that needed to be known, Luo Yu eagerly attempted to refine a celestial elixir. The method for refining celestial elixirs was the same as that for spiritual elixirs. Luo Yu had previously refined "Foundation Establishment Pills," which were low-grade auxiliary celestial elixirs and posed no difficulty. He did not bother with "preserving the innate breath"—he could not even sense it, let alone take measures to protect it. Besides, since this aspect could not be absorbed anyway, trying to preserve it was entirely a waste of effort.

However, the Spirit-Transforming True Fire was extremely peculiar. After the celestial herbs were placed inside and burned for a while until they turned gelatinous, the individual essence cells remained remarkably active! Although Luo Yu could not sense the specific presence of vitality, the fact that this essence "still possessed life characteristics" could not escape his divine sense—this could only be explained by the "Spirit-Transforming True Fire" being far too mild, leaving their basic structure completely undamaged.

As auxiliary medicinal ingredients were added one by one, stirred, condensed into pills, opened, and finally formed into elixirs... Luo Yu stared blankly at the three freshly minted celestial elixirs—damn it, were these things actually alive?

The elixir patterns on the surface of the celestial elixirs suspended in the air flowed, and their soft, glossy brilliance rose and fell, resembling breathing... Probing with divine sense, one could discover that their structural layers were distinct yet completely integrated, with spiritual energy circulating orderly and unimpededly within them, as if they possessed meridians.

Luo Yu lowered his head and covered his face: was this utilizing various materials to provide the trace elements required by living organisms, combining them, and then automatically generating a new living entity called a "celestial elixir" under the influence of vitality? This was truly too fantastical! This purple-gold gourd used for alchemy was simply a... treasure, truly a treasure! Damn it, the Foundation Establishment Pills he had refined in the past showed no life characteristics whatsoever; were they burned to death by his own fire? So this was what a true celestial elixir looked like...

The alchemist pressed on with renewed vigor, successfully refining all fourteen celestial herbs and storing them in spiritual jade bottles. The majority of these elixirs were at the Void-Transforming grade, containing a massive amount of experience points. Since celestial elixirs do not harm a cultivator's body, Huang Xuan could naturally consume them as well, with a single pill equivalent to a dozen Nascent Soul grade pills. Huang Xuan had already reached the mid-Nascent Soul stage, and with good luck, ingesting these elixirs would likely be enough for him to advance.

During these past three years, the Junior Uncle and Gu Huo had returned to the Elegant Bamboo Courtyard once, and a few days ago, they had even visited the Yunlu Immortal Mansion to deliver some celestial herb seedlings to Luo Yu.

These seedlings were just as Huang Xuan had requested: aside from producing spiritual energy, they were completely useless. Thanks to this fact, they grew wildly across the continent without anyone plundering them, and their numbers were actually quite substantial.

This time, Luo Yu intended to personally venture out of the mountains to deliver the medicine to Huang Xuan and, by the way, return to the Heaven-Defying Palace to take a look. After the mainland branches of the Hegemonic Artifact company turned a profit, they even launched a business called "Garbage Celestial Herbs Exchanged for Magical Artifacts (with a monthly limit)." The excuse they used sounded dignified and high-sounding, publicly explaining that this was not only a promotional strategy tailored for their own brand but also a sincere customer-appreciation event—these exchanged celestial herbs were continuously shipped back to the Heaven-Defying Palace, finally improving the spiritual energy within the palace to some extent.

Luo Yu and Qin Yue stepped into the teleportation array from the Yunlu Immortal Mansion, and with a single stride, they arrived at the Heaven-Defying Palace. The Heaven-Defying Palace now looked vastly different; although the spiritual energy had dwindled to almost the same level as the outside world, the mountains were everywhere covered with shimmering celestial herbs, spiritual fungi, and even glowing exotic trees. The surface of the water also floated with celestial lotuses and several other aquatic celestial flowers, slowly improving the spiritual energy within the formation.

Although the spiritual energy within the formation had suffered severe damage, the daily lives of the subordinates in the palace had not been affected in any way, and they remained completely calm: after all, they did not rely on the spiritual energy here to level up—word had it that the wise Palace Master couple and the Second Palace Master had established a branch in a foreign land, specifically for fellow disciples who had reached the pseudo-elixir realm to form their elixirs there. Although they desperately wanted to go to the branch to witness palace affairs and broaden their horizons, no matter how vast the foreign land was and how abundant the celestial herbs and spiritual energy were—no matter how abundant it was, the speed of cultivation could not compare to the Spirit-Infusion Grand Ceremony. Once there, they would be reluctant to give up the opportunity for a spirit-infusion... Not to mention that the cultivators there were extremely powerful, and with low cultivation, it would probably be difficult to get by... It was better to follow the Second Palace Master's instructions: practice diligently, perform well, strive to form their elixirs as soon as possible, and take the opportunity to go over there and see something new.

Upon returning to the formation, the thing Luo Yu cared about most was getting intimate with his flock of feathered underlings. As soon as he entered the formation, he transformed into his true form and lunged into the valley, letting out a long cry to summon a large group of underlings, leading them in flying loops through the air.

Just as he was playing happily, he suddenly sensed seven cultivators approaching the outside of the formation: one at the Golden Core stage and six at the Foundation Establishment stage.

These cultivators wore their dark hair tied in topknots with jade pearls hanging from their smooth foreheads; their eyebrows were like painted strokes and their figures were slender and graceful. Every single one of them wore snowy palace gowns and stepped on pristine, light clouds. The one in the lead even wore a rare flying magical artifact styled with fluttering ribbons, and at a single glance, one could tell their origins were extraordinary.

"Chirp?" Luo Yu was very astonished: Where were these beauties from the Nine Heavens Palace heading? Having lived in the formation for so long, this was the first time he had ever seen anyone passing by!

Fairy Mihuan halted the Kunlun storm-cloud beneath her feet, her slender eyebrows slightly knitted as she suspiciously surveyed the expanse of mountains before her. There was nothing particularly strange about these mountains, yet they had searched the vicinity for three days without discovering anything. Others had said that a few years ago, strange phenomena had appeared among these peaks, with beams of light shooting straight into the sky, but when people rushed over to investigate, they found absolutely nothing. It was truly quite perplexing.

However, everyone knew that the partner of the Heaven-Defying Palace Master was skilled in formations, yet manifesting such a vast expanse of peaks was certainly no easy feat. Could this Immortal Lord's mastery of formations have reached such a terrifying height...

Luo Yu flew to the branch of an ancient tree at the edge of the barrier, folded his wings, and tilted his head to size up the straight-faced beauties outside: Why had they stopped? Could they be targeting the Heaven-Defying Palace? What were they here for? Hadn't they already been given celestial herbs? And they were all free giveaways... Alright, even though Huang Xuan was the one who gave them away, he had contributed to it as well! Surely this wasn't enough to settle accounts, and they still wanted to take back those spiritual herbs? They had been planted in the Heaven-Defying Palace for so many years; even if they originally belonged to them, they had now become his own property!

While he was muttering to himself, he suddenly heard the Golden Core beauty outside speak. Her voice was delicate, crisp, and melodious, carrying for a hundred miles: "Is this the Heaven-Defying Palace? If any disciple hears this, immediately report to the Heaven-Defying Palace Master that Fairy Mihuan of the Nine Heavens Palace has come to pay a visit!"

Upon hearing this, Luo Yu thought: Sure enough, they had come to pick a fight! What should he do? Seeing that their expressions were not very friendly, and since he had never quarreled with women before, with his street-scolding skill proficiency at 0, he might as well pretend he didn't hear anything... But since they had actually come knocking on his door, wouldn't it be a bit disgraceful to hide and refuse to see them if word got out?

While he was still hesitating, Ghost Claw had already brought a team of patrol guards over to investigate the situation. Looking up and seeing Luo Yu standing there, he immediately stepped forward to pay his respects and said, "Greetings, Master. These hags... Should this subordinate go and report to the Exalted Lord?"

Luo Yu glanced at Ghost Claw and the group of underlings behind him: they knew full well about him and Qin Yue stealing the spiritual herbs. If he didn't dare to step out and take responsibility at a time like this, wouldn't that damage his majestic, overbearing boss persona? Truly, doing bad things brought retribution... He was already a dignified Palace Master, yet he still had to pay such a heavy price for a few spiritual herbs...

The phoenix flew down from the tree, transformed back into its human form, concealed its cultivation level to the Foundation Establishment stage, and said, "You all attend to your own duties. I'll handle this matter." With a leap, he flew straight out of the barrier.