Not long after, Lin Xiao was led by the First Peak Master to the peak that belonged to him.
This mountain stood deep within the range. The surrounding peaks were completely uninhabited, and the outer perimeter was guarded by dedicated personnel.
Clearly, this was a privilege reserved exclusively for the First Peak Master.
Once inside a building at the summit, the First Peak Master said to Lin Xiao, “For the coming days, cultivate here.”
Lin Xiao nodded. “Many thanks, First Peak Master!”
The First Peak Master did not make a fuss and continued, “Your cultivation methods and martial techniques are probably no inferior to those of the Azure Dragon Sect. You are not a disciple of the sect, so I have nothing to teach you. As for questions about cultivation, wait until Long Tutian emerges. He will guide you.”
“This junior understands!”
Lin Xiao replied.
“The old man has important matters to attend to. Unless something urgent arises, it is best you do not leave, to avoid anyone seeking trouble with you.”
The First Peak Master warned, then turned to depart.
Lin Xiao nodded. Suddenly he called out again, “First Peak Master!”
The First Peak Master paused and asked, “What else?”
“Would it be possible to trouble the First Peak Master to help me obtain a set of medicinal ingredients? This junior is willing to exchange them for spirit stones or other pills!”
Lin Xiao requested.
What he sought were ingredients for a pill that could assault spirit power boundaries. With the Azure Dragon Sect’s influence, acquiring such a set should not be difficult.
Asking the Azure Dragon Sect for ingredients was indeed somewhat awkward. Originally, Lin Xiao had planned to wait until Long Tutian emerged and ask him instead.
However, the second wave of Azure Dragon Sect members who had entered the Evil Domain had already been gone for more than ten days. They would probably return before long.
If he wanted to seize this opportunity, he needed to raise his strength quickly.
Otherwise, having offended the Ji family and possibly drawing attacks from the Saint Heaven Sect as well, his current power was still insufficient to protect himself.
In the short term, breaking through another realm with vital energy would be difficult. If he could rely on a pill to breach one level of spirit power, that would be the fastest way to increase his combat strength.
Of course, these ingredients were merely for an early seventh-grade pill. Though rare, they were not excessively precious. The blue spirit stones and pills in his possession were more than enough to cover the cost.
Yet Lin Xiao was also aware that the Azure Dragon Sect probably did not lack the modest wealth he could offer.
Whether they helped or not depended entirely on the First Peak Master. He had thickened his skin to make the request.
“Give the old man the list. I shall order people to gather them. Whether they can collect everything will depend on what is written on your list.”
The First Peak Master replied straightforwardly, “As for payment, consider it waived. If you truly wish to show gratitude, then simply owe the Azure Dragon Sect, or owe me personally, a favour.”
“Very well! If in the future I can be of assistance, this junior will spare no effort.”
Lin Xiao nodded just as straightforwardly.
He had anticipated this. The Azure Dragon Sect treated him well not only because of his connection to Long Tutian, but also because they valued his talent.
Forming ties with a gifted genius could prove greatly beneficial in the future. This was a common practice among major powers.
Of course, even if the First Peak Master had accepted payment, Lin Xiao would still have remembered the favour.
One could say the First Peak Master bore deep enmity with Long Tutian, yet he still treated Lin Xiao kindly and upheld reason and justice. Lin Xiao deeply admired the man’s character. If the need arose in the future, he would naturally not hold back.
Following a pill formula from the Heaven-Devouring Spirit Emperor’s memories, Lin Xiao wrote out a long list of ingredients and handed it to the First Peak Master.
The First Peak Master glanced casually at the list, frowned slightly, then departed.
For the following days, Lin Xiao cultivated within the building.
Three days later, an elder from the Azure Dragon Sect delivered all the ingredients Lin Xiao had requested.
Receiving the ingredients filled Lin Xiao with intense excitement. After sending off the elder, whose attitude had been neither warm nor cold, he immediately shut the doors and began pill refining.
The pill he intended to refine was called the Spirit Cliff Pill. It used Horizon Spirit Reed as the primary ingredient and could allow sixth-grade or even seventh-grade spirit controllers the chance to assault their spirit power cultivation.
The exact efficacy depended on the quality of pill the spirit controller could produce.
With Lin Xiao’s current spirit power, he was capable of refining early seventh-grade pills.
Thus, the supplementary ingredients he had requested were also of early seventh-grade quality.
Although the success rate of this pill for breaking through spirit power boundaries was only around sixty to seventy per cent, Lin Xiao’s spirit power had lingered at the edge of mid sixth-grade for a long time. He possessed far greater confidence and assurance of success.
Still, the first step was to successfully refine the pill.
Even with a familiar formula and process, those were the experiences of the Heaven-Devouring Spirit Emperor. Lin Xiao himself had never personally refined it before.
Of course, having countless successful refinements from the Heaven-Devouring Spirit Emperor’s memories to draw upon, he was still extremely confident.
Lin Xiao took out the primary ingredient, Horizon Spirit Reed, along with an early seventh-tier spirit core and a large pile of supplementary ingredients: angelica, ampelopsis, lotus stamen, cardamom, half-edge lotus, and many others.
With a surge of spirit power, he controlled all the ingredients to float before him.
This refining method required everything to be processed together, allowing the supplementary ingredients to slowly permeate into the Horizon Spirit Reed.
Hiss!
Cyan fire spirit energy poured from between Lin Xiao’s brows, hovering half a zhang below the ingredients, slowly burning them.
For this pill, pure cyan fire spirit energy was more suitable than spirit energy containing thunder or devouring properties.
After roughly half a day, Lin Xiao finally succeeded in condensing and infusing all the ingredients and the energy from the spirit core into the Horizon Spirit Reed.
The Horizon Spirit Reed had now been compressed into a small ball.
Then Lin Xiao gradually increased the flame intensity, calcining the Horizon Spirit Reed into liquid form before reducing the heat and using spirit power to envelop and contract it.
Finally, Lin Xiao carefully urged his spirit power to condense. The contracted liquid formed into a single pill.
He had succeeded in forming the pill. A rich medicinal fragrance began to fill the air.
“It worked!”
Joy flooded Lin Xiao’s heart. He could not help wiping the sweat from his face.
Only after a long while did his emotions calm.
After resting another full day and restoring his spirit power to peak condition, Lin Xiao took out the Spirit Cliff Pill once more.
“Let’s hope I can break through in one go!”
He tossed the pill into his mouth. Once it entered his stomach, he circulated his energy, guiding the medicinal power through every meridian, continuously channelling it towards his mind, pouring it in torrents.
Within his sea of consciousness, spirit power surged. He controlled the medicinal force, repeatedly assaulting the barrier.
At the same time, he continually expelled the impurities generated in his mind through the spot between his brows, dispersing them.
A full day later, the medicinal power was finally exhausted.
In the final moment, Lin Xiao fiercely directed all the remaining power in one concentrated rush. It felt as though some obstruction had been shattered. His entire sea of consciousness suddenly underwent a substantive transformation.
Even more terrifying spirit power surged violently from his mind. A fearsome late sixth-grade spirit power aura permeated outwards from his sea of consciousness, vast and mighty.
Lin Xiao had successfully refined the Spirit Cliff Pill and broken through, advancing from mid sixth-grade spirit power to late sixth-grade spirit power.
At that moment, his mind felt invigorated. His entire being clearly appeared more ethereal, more refreshed and energised than before.
This was the change brought by a spirit power breakthrough.
Lin Xiao could now distinctly sense the vast, surging spirit power within his mind.
At this point, he was confident that, relying solely on spirit power, he could battle a sixth-level Martial Emperor. If he unleashed spirit energy attacks, defeating a sixth-level Martial Emperor would pose no problem at all.
Combined with his ninth-level Martial Lord vital energy, Lin Xiao was certain he could now overcome a seventh-level Martial Emperor.
Even an eighth-level Martial Emperor could probably be contended with.
And if he pushed his vital energy, spirit power, and spirit energy to their limits and executed the Heaven-Devouring Spirit Gathering Finger, the resulting might was something he could scarcely imagine.
“If I faced Ji Yang again now, it would no longer be so troublesome. With my current strength, I could probably hold my own even against a heaven-tier genius of the Ji family.”
Expectation filled Lin Xiao’s heart.
