In the Myriad Medicine Mountains, Xiong Zhan's cave dwelling.
Xiong Zhan stood guard outside.
He was discussing with Cao Ying how to exchange herbs for elixirs. Cao Ying was a high-level alchemist, which impressed Xiong Zhan.
As a friend recognized by Liu Xi, Xiong Zhan was not against exchanging a few herbs for high-level elixirs.
Facing the powerful Dou Zun, who was engaged in a lively conversation with Liu Xi, Cao Ying did not play tricks and exchanged elixirs of equal value for the herbs she needed.
It was a mutually satisfactory outcome.
Zi Yan stood guard inside.
Entrusted with the heavy responsibility by Liu Xi, Zi Yan folded her arms across her chest, her expression stern, as if to frighten away strangers.
However, Liu Xi, sensing her presence with his soul power, only smiled and smacked his lips.
"Darling, I really want to pinch her!"
When everything was ready, Liu Xi gathered his thoughts, turning off his soul perception. With a wave of his hand, he took out a jade box, a jade flask, and a piece of blue stone.
Inside were the Earth Soul Essence, Danling Juice, and Tianma Jade Essence. The first two could be used directly, but the last one required processing.
This was not difficult for Liu Xi. He tossed the blue stone, suspended it in the air, and with one flick of his finger, it was engulfed in blue flames. A moment later, the blue stone cracked with a loud noise.
The calm expression on Liu Xi's face caused another powerful gust of wind to smash the blue stone and reveal its true essence: the essence of the stone.
However, this was not the end. The blue flames threw away the fragments of the stone and enveloped the resulting white liquid, beginning a new stage of refining.
The essence of the stone was different from its outer shell, so Liu Xi deliberately lowered the temperature of the blue flames without rushing. As the flames heated the essence of the stone, bubbles would occasionally emerge from it.
Each time these bubbles appeared and burst, a faint fishy smell would be released. These were the impurities contained in the essence of the stone.
Only by removing these impurities and leaving the remaining stone essence could it be used to neutralize the earth soul essence.
After a few minutes, the impurities were completely removed, leaving a translucent white paste without bubbles.
Liu Xi smiled faintly, extinguished the green flame with his fingers, and slowly poured the stone essence into the jade bowl he had prepared long ago with his fingertips.
He then opened the jade box and another jade bottle, pouring the earth soul essence and danling juice from them into two more jade bowls.
The three jade bowls were lined up in a row, each hanging in front of Liu Xi. He lowered his head, inspecting the bowls, and began his first attempt at mixing.
Neutralizing the Earth Soul Essence is not a simple matter of mixing them.
The three herbs have unique properties, both repelling and complementing each other. A certain ratio is required to neutralize the Earth Soul Essence and shape it into a usable form.
This optimal ratio was the result of pharmacological research and endless experiments by countless sages, resulting in the optimal mixture.
Using the power of his soul, he drew a trickle of liquid from the Earth Soul Essence, Danling Juice, and Stone Essence and slowly poured it into another jade bowl, maintaining the proportions.
Even rewriting the answer sheet by heart would lead to errors; the fine details were still dependent on Liu Xi's control.
When the three liquids merged, their interweaving revealed hostility, clear and mutually destructive. Tiny bubbles permeated the surface.
By this time, Liu Xi had already frowned slightly. The loss of medicinal properties was so severe that the first attempt was doomed to failure.
His spiritual power intervened, slowing down the process with great force. He carefully observed the collision and even destruction of medicinal properties, comparing them with known results.
By relying on fixed proportions and trying at random, he knew how many times he would fail before neutralizing the substance.
Only through careful observation, analyzing proportions and volumes, and starting from there, could he accurately determine the optimal proportion.
When the Danling Juice and Stone Essence had completely disappeared, leaving only the spotted Earth Soul Essence in the bowl, Liu Xi closed his eyes and recalled the neutralization process.
Sharpening a knife frees up time for chopping wood, so Liu Xi did not immediately begin another attempt at neutralization, but instead slowly recounted his experiences.
Only when the corners of his lips slightly lifted and a faint smile appeared did Liu Xi open his eyes, confidence shining in his eyes.
"There is a little more Earth Soul Essence, and in comparison, a little more Danling Juice, but the Stone Essence seems to be lacking. Reduce the amount of Earth Soul Essence and Danling Juice and try again."
He repeated the previous steps, taking portions of the Earth Soul Essence, Danling Juice, and Stone Essence, adjusting the proportions, and then pouring them into another jade bowl.
In the end, it didn't work.
However, Liu Xi's brows showed no sign of despondency, and the light in his eyes grew brighter, indicating that he was close to the correct proportion.
After the sixth failed attempt at neutralization, Liu Xi remembered the failed proportion, comparing it with the previous one, and a slight smile gradually lifted the corners of his lips.
"Next time it will definitely work. It will be the perfect proportion."
With these words, Liu Xi repeated the previous steps. This time, the three liquids merged, still separate and interpenetrating, but with greater harmony.
Gradually, the liquid became more and more transparent and emerald green, emitting a slight fragrance.
The fragrance was intoxicating, and a light breath would cause a tremor of excitement in the soul, making it even more alive.
Finally, the liquids merged, their distinct differences disappeared, leaving behind a bright emerald green mush.
"As expected, the loss was only one-tenth to one-twelfth, which is still within the acceptable range. Now, we need to neutralize the remaining Earth Core Soul Essence."
After pouring the neutralized emerald green mush into an elegant jade bottle, Liu Xi looked at the remaining Earth Core Soul Essence with shining eyes as he said these words.
After this initial success, everything else went much easier.
Two hours later, the Earth Soul Essence had been completely neutralized, filling the jade flask to the brim, almost overflowing.
"Soul cultivation is more difficult than martial spirit, but most of the strange lights have already found their owners. Hopefully, this Earth Soul Essence will have the desired effect,"
Lu Xi calmly muttered as he looked at the jade flask in his hand.
Lu Xi then tilted his head back and poured the emerald green liquid from the flask into his mouth, rhythmically moving his Adam's apple as he swallowed.
As the Earth Soul Essence engulfed his body, his eyebrows grew hotter and swelled. It was as if his soul was immersed in a hot spring containing a magical substance that could penetrate directly into the soul, causing an explosive force.
"Soul cultivation in the Spirit World does not only depend on the strength of the soul; it requires the accelerated refinement of spiritual energy through the Soul Tempering Technique."
Liu Xi formed hand seals and began to practice the Soul Tempering Technique. Suddenly, the boundless spiritual energy between Heaven and Earth, attracted by Liu Xi's soul ascension power, surged violently.
"Shishi!"
Pain erupted from the depths of his soul, causing Liu Xi to gasp and his cheeks to tremble involuntarily.
This time, thanks to the Earth's soul marrow, his soul strength increased at an unprecedented rate, and the pain was also unbearable.
However, in order to refine his soul, Liu Xi had to endure it. This was the price he had to pay for the rapid improvement of his soul.