Chapter 33: Primordial Purple Qi

Han Li set aside a dozen small jade boxes containing different powders, waved his hand to cast a spell, reactivating the furnace's formation. Then he flipped his hand and took out a pill, which was the Wangxi Pill.

After a moment's deliberation, he waved his hand and threw the Wangxi Pill into the furnace, once again performing the Reverse Pill Art.

After about half an hour, the Wangxi Pill also turned into over a dozen different materials, which he similarly placed into jade boxes.

He laid out the materials from both pills together and examined them in detail.

"Eh!"

After a moment, Han Li let out a soft exclamation, a smile appearing on his face.

When comparing the materials of the two pills, most were naturally completely different, but one type of blue crystalline powder was identical in both color and form, clearly the same material.

However, the blue crystals in the Wangxi Pill were significantly more abundant than those in the Wuyun Pill.

Both pills were useful to him, and while it might not be entirely due to this blue powder, it was certainly closely related.

Han Li gently pinched a bit of the blue powder, sniffed it, then tasted it in his mouth, carefully identifying it, his brows slowly furrowing.

Since he began his cultivation, he had been inextricably linked to alchemy. He knew at least something about various alchemical materials from both the human and spirit realms, and even had some knowledge of materials from other realms. Yet, he had no clue about this blue powder before him.

"Perhaps this is something unique to the Linghuan Realm?"

Han Li speculated in his mind. After thinking for a moment, he suddenly stood up and quickly left the cave dwelling.

By now, the sky had grown dark.

A flash of green light flickered around Han Li, and he shot out.

Moments later, he landed before a cave dwelling on Luoxia Peak, dozens of li away.

This cave dwelling was quite secluded, with few signs of human habitation around.

Han Li glanced around, walked to the cave entrance, flipped his hand to take out a sound transmission talisman, whispered a few words, and waved his hand.

The talisman turned into a beam of white light and flew into the cave.

After a moment, the door rumbled open.

"Elder Gao, Han has come to disturb you," Han Li said with a cupped fist salute.

"Not at all! Fellow Daoist Han, I didn't expect to meet again so soon. Please, come in," Gao Buliu said with a beaming smile, stepping out to invite Han Li into the cave.

Gao Buliu's cave was noticeably larger than Han Li's, but the furnishings were quite simple, and a rich aroma of medicinal pills permeated the entire cave.

"Elder Gao, I'll be straightforward. I've come today to seek your advice on a matter," Han Li said directly after sitting down.

"Fellow Daoist Han, please speak freely," Gao Buliu said, startled.

Han Li flipped his hand and took out the jade box containing the blue powder, handing it over, saying, "Elder Gao, you are knowledgeable and learned. Do you recognize this item?"

Gao Buliu let out an "oh," took the jade box, examined it carefully, and his gaze sharpened slightly.

He reached out, pinched a bit of the powder, tasted it on his tongue, raised his white brows slightly, and looked at Han Li with a hint of meaning.

"It seems Elder Gao has already reached a conclusion," Han Li said with a slight smile.

"Hehe, you've come to the right person with this question, Fellow Daoist Han. But..." Gao Bulin chuckled slyly, hinting at something.

Han Li said nothing, simply flipped his hand to produce a high-grade spirit stone and tossed it to the other.

Old Gao caught the spirit stone deftly, a hint of a smile appearing on his face as he continued, "To be honest with you, this is actually powdered Cloud Crane Herb. This spirit herb, when aged sufficiently, is one of the main ingredients for several high-grade pills in our sect, quite rare. Moreover, your powder seems to have been processed by some other method. It's only because I've been alchemy for years and am familiar with various spirit materials that I could barely identify it."

"I see... Could Elder Gao elaborate on the medicinal properties of Cloud Crane Herb?" Han Li nodded thoughtfully, then asked.

Old Gao gave another sly, treacherous laugh, remaining silent as he rubbed his fingers together twice.

Han Li tossed another high-grade spirit stone to him.

Old Gao cheerfully pocketed the spirit stone, shook his head, and then slowly said, "This Cloud Crane Herb, also known as Color-Changing Herb, appears white at a hundred years, blue at a thousand, begins to turn red at three thousand, deep red at ten thousand, and purplish-red above thirty thousand. The most special feature of this spirit herb is its ability to absorb the morning sun's energy; after a hundred years, it will produce a trace of Primordial Purple Qi. Not only is it essential for cultivating several techniques of astonishing power, but it can also be directly converted into Primordial Spirit Power, having the effect of cleansing the marrow and strengthening the meridians. The older the herb, the purer the Primordial Purple Qi, and the more remarkable the effect."

"Primordial Purple Qi... Where can this herb be found?" Han Li's heart stirred.

"The growing conditions for this herb are very demanding. As far as I know, it can only be found in a few places, all of which are under the control of major sects. Nowadays, herbs over a thousand years old are mostly in the hands of the major sects; you won't see them outside." Old Gao scratched his head and continued.

After hearing what Gao Bulin said, Han Li had basically come to a conclusion: what had been restoring his magic power was most likely that trace of Primordial Purple Qi.

"Besides Wangxi Pills, what other pills are made with Cloud Crane Herb?" Han Li thought for a moment and asked.

This time, Gao Bulin did not play tricks and directly replied, "Besides that pill, Wuyun Pills also use a small amount. Additionally, Yangling Pills and Yuanxu Pills contain a little low-year Cloud Crane Herb, but the Primordial Purple Qi contained in them is negligible."

After parting with Gao Bulin, Han Li went straight to Tongyi Valley, spent a top-grade spirit stone to buy several of each of the pills mentioned, and also purchased several century-old Cloud Crane Herbs, then returned to Chuyun Peak.

In the secret chamber of the cave dwelling.

Han Li sat cross-legged on a cushion, with the pills and Cloud Crane Herbs he had just bought placed before him.

He first opened a white porcelain bottle, poured out a Wuyun Pill, and swallowed it. A warm current then rose in his dantian, and strands of spiritual power unfolded from the pill, gradually transforming into magic power and being stored.

Delighted, he picked up a century-old Cloud Crane Herb, put it into his mouth, chewed a few times, and swallowed it.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, his dantian warmed up again, and strands of magic power converged into his dantian, once again being stored.

Han Li's lips curled into a smile, finally confirming that this Primordial Purple Qi was indeed the key to restoring his magic power.

After a day and a night like this, when he had consumed more than half of the pills and Cloud Crane Herbs he had bought, his cultivation gradually rose and soon recovered to the late Nascent Soul stage.

Just as he was overjoyed and about to consume all the remaining pills in one go, his expression froze.

At that moment, the medicinal power that had not yet been fully transformed in his body finally turned into magic power bit by bit, converging toward his dantian.

However, his dantian was like a water tank already full to the brim, unable to store even a trace more of magic power.

He could only watch helplessly as that magic power, after lingering briefly in his dantian, dissipated bit by bit, vanishing into nothing.

Han Li sighed, knowing that this was mostly related to the abnormality of his Nascent Soul, and that taking more pills would likely be of no use.

As for the reason behind this, he could only figure it out after his physical body and divine sense had recovered a bit more.

Now, unable to increase his magic power through cultivation and only able to recover to the late Nascent Soul stage with pills, how to speed up the recovery of his physical body and divine sense became the primary issue.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel a headache, lightly rubbing his brow with his index finger as he fell into deep thought.

After a moment, he seemed to suddenly think of something, raised his head, flipped his wrist, and took out the guest elder token.

Han Li infused his divine sense into the token, and a map of the Cold Flame Sect's geographical distribution, formed by golden rays of light, appeared before his eyes.

After searching the map for a moment, his gaze finally fell on the three small characters "Scripture Depository" marked on Jisheng Peak.