After placing the Chaotic Immortal Stone into the black jar, Shu Han had no idea when he would be able to replicate another fragment. However, he was certain that it wouldn't be anytime soon.
Thus, using the Triple Rotation Avatar Technique, he divided himself into three. Following Zhang Village's cultivation habits, his main body was responsible for cultivation, while his avatars focused on crafting tools and talismans.
After ingesting the Grand Yin essence of the Grand Yin Jade Rabbit, Shu Han's main body began to refine it to enhance his cultivation. However, before even half a day had passed, something went awry.
Shu Han spat out a mouthful of blood. At this moment, the spiritual power in his meridians and Dantian surged chaotically, bringing him close to a cultivation deviation. He quickly recalled his avatars and devoted his entire focus to suppressing the tumultuous flow of spiritual power.
He couldn't help but chuckle bitterly, "It seems I've underestimated cultivation!"
Back in Zhang Village, he could efficiently multi-task using his avatars to cultivate and craft simultaneously. But now, that wasn't possible. The reason being, what he did with his main body in Zhang Village wasn't true cultivation.
Cultivation involves drawing spiritual energy into the body, and circulating it throughout, all while practicing specific cultivation techniques. Which cultivator doesn't give their undivided attention during cultivation? Multitasking during cultivation is a dangerous gamble.
Back then, thanks to Shangguan Ruolin's presence—a Core Formation cultivator—she helped Shu Han refine the fragments of the Golden Core within him, alleviating the pressure on him. This allowed him to multi-task. But now, without Shangguan Ruolin and the Golden Core fragments, forcefully attempting to multitask would inevitably lead to cultivation chaos and deviation.
Shu Han sighed deeply, his thoughts drifting to Shangguan Ruolin once again. He decided to postpone his cultivation for now and focus on creating a Stellar Wish Formation. With this formation guarding his cave, Shu Han could confidently use a large number of mid-grade spirit stones to modify the cave, enhancing its spiritual energy density and thereby accelerating his cultivation.
The materials required for the Stellar Wish Formation were intricate and diverse. Fortunately, Shu Han had already acquired all the necessary items from the Purple Sun Sect through Fei Zhengyang and duplicated two complete sets with the black jar.
He took out the materials and summoned the Black Abyssal Fire, preparing to melt and refine them. Having crafted the Stellar Wish Formation once before, he was familiar with the process. With the assistance of the heavenly fire this time, the crafting duration should be significantly reduced.
However, as he began the refinement, he noticed an issue. The efficacy of the Black Abyssal Fire was surprisingly inferior to the Earthfire of the Purple Sun Sect!
Shu Han was dumbfounded. The heavenly fire he had longed for turned out to be inferior to the earthly fire. How could this be possible?
Shu Han began analyzing the Black Abyssal Fire intently. Quickly, he came to two conclusions.
Firstly, the source of the Black Abyssal Fire was too small. Even when Shu Han poured a great deal of spiritual power into it, the flame produced was pitifully small. But this was a minor issue. After all, it was a heavenly fire. Even a tiny bit of it could produce a temperature and malleability that far surpassed the earthly fire.
The second point was the most critical. Shu Han couldn't control this flame! It was challenging to manipulate it as seamlessly as he would with the Pill Fire or Earth Fire.
Shu Han was baffled. His fire-controlling technique was already impeccable. So why did it feel as if he was a novice? Could it be that this heavenly fire had its unique controlling technique?
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Another problem emerged, making Shu Han scratch his head in confusion. He realized that self-study had its limitations.
Cultivation, especially refining tools and elixirs, requires a vast accumulation of experience and knowledge. This made Shu Han fully appreciate the importance of having a sect or mentor. Stumbling forward blindly wasn't as beneficial as a single pointer from a renowned teacher.
Left with no choice, Shu Han clumsily continued refining materials with the Black Abyssal Fire. There were many items he needed to understand and refine; it wasn't time to seek external help yet.
Shu Han planned to advance his cultivation to the mid-phase pinnacle, further practice the Heaven-Earth Transformation technique, create the Stellar Wish Formation, master the Green Thunder Tribulation technique, and refine three Thunderstone magic treasures before leaving the mountain. By then, he should be able to face any late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.
In cultivation, haste makes waste. He reminded himself to remain patient.
Shu Han then focused wholeheartedly on using the Black Abyssal Fire to refine the Star beads for the Stellar Wish Formation.
Three and a half months flew by.
Finally, 108 Star beads appeared in his hands once again. The refining process was 30% faster than the previous time, and the quality was slightly better. This improvement showcased his significant progress in skills, much to Shu Han's satisfaction. He dismantled the surrounding illusion formations and replaced them with the new Stellar Wish Formation.
Now, his cave was impregnable. Unless it was a late-phase pseudo-pill cultivator or a Core Formation practitioner, it would be challenging for anyone to breach his cave.
At this moment, when Shu Han looked at the black jar, he noticed it still contained only the original fragment of the Chaotic Immortal Stone. This realization gave him a headache. In three and a half months, considering the spirit energy intake of the black jar, it should have absorbed the equivalent of nearly ten thousand mid-grade spirit stones. Was such a vast amount of spirit energy still not equivalent to this tiny fragment of Chaotic Immortal Stone? Could it be that the black jar couldn't replicate the Chaotic Immortal Stone?
Shu Han was reluctant to accept such a possibility!
The black jar couldn't replicate man-made objects or living beings. The Chaotic Immortal Stone was neither of these, so how could it not be duplicated? He refused to believe this and decided to keep the Chaotic Immortal Stone inside the black jar for a bit longer.
Next, he summoned the Grand Yin Jade Rabbit from his jade pendant space, looking at it with clear intentions.
"Heh heh, Cabbie, it's time to pay up. Come on, be obedient, and don't make me use force."
The Jade Rabbit whimpered, weakly trotting over to Shu Han and spat out a single Grand Yin essence. Shu Han frowned, his finger poised to flick its forehead. The little rabbit, startled, quickly spat out two more Grand Yin essences.
"That's a good one! Now, continue eating those spiritual herbs!"
Despite its pitiful appearance, Shu Han could clearly feel that the Jade Rabbit's energy was significantly stronger than it had been three months prior. Thanks to Shu Han's continuous supply of spiritual herbs during this time, the rabbit had consumed what would typically last half a lifetime.
However, now with the black jar preoccupied with the Chaotic Immortal Stone, it couldn't replicate more spiritual herbs, and the herb supply was running low. Shu Han was reluctant to remove the Chaotic Immortal Stone and pondered whether the rabbit could consume spiritual stones instead, as he had plenty in reserve.
Shaking the thought away, he decided against tormenting Cabbie any further. Thus, he took out a dozen mid-grade spiritual stones and set up a simple spirit-gathering formation. It transformed the spiritual power of the stones into pure energy, transforming his cultivation spot from barren to a paradise.
Shu Han then entered a deep cultivation state, focusing on refining the Grand Yin essence to improve his cultivation base.
After completing one major cycle of his cultivation technique, Shu Han made a startling discovery in his dantian. Deep within his dantian, in a place usually undetectable, was an incredibly robust cluster of spiritual power! This spiritual power exuded an aura of both dragon and phoenix. It seemed as though a dragon and a phoenix lay coiled deep within, waiting for an opportunity to soar.
"How did this get here?"
Shu Han was taken aback, for this cluster of spiritual power was dozens of times more potent than his own spiritual power! Considering he practiced the Mystical Dragon Triple Rotation Divine Art, which inherently had thrice the spiritual power of peers, this was shocking.
"When was such a rich and massive spiritual power infused into me?"
The power of the dragon and phoenix...
Shu Han gasped, recalling the passionate night he spent with Shangguan Ruolin.
The dragon was the dragon chant energy from the loach, and the phoenix was Linlin's "Sunrise Phoenix Art." But why did dual cultivation with Linlin result in such a massive reservoir of spiritual power in him?
Buzz!
A realization made Shu Han's head throb. The "Sunrise Phoenix Art" was a top-tier dual cultivation technique!