The Ancient Spirit Mountain Range was bursting with Spiritual Qi!

Countless peaks pierced the sky, wreathed in rising purple mist and celestial light. Exotic Beasts appeared and vanished among them. Between the valleys and deep ravines, a hazy, colorful glow lent the landscape an even more fantastical beauty, like a celestial mountain range on earth.

At this moment, an old man and a young man stood atop a nameless mountain peak.

The elder wore a purple robe adorned with a vast, profound pattern of stars that seemed to emit their own light. Even more peculiar, the stars on his robe would occasionally shift their positions ever so slightly, as if mirroring the constellations in the heavens above.

The other, a young man, was dressed in white robes that fluttered in the wind, his features handsome and distinguished.

The two were none other than Ye Wushuang and the Star Elder. They stood in silence, gazing at the horizon as a cool, refreshing breeze occasionally swept past.

After a brief pause, the Star Elder turned to Ye Wushuang. "Are you returning to the Sect, or...?"

"Elder, I’d like to stay here for a bit," Ye Wushuang replied, turning and bowing deeply. The Star Elder had saved his life and was a senior worthy of his respect.

"Very well." The Star Elder was worldly and wise; how could he not see that Ye Wushuang had matters to attend to? He smiled. "I won’t keep you from your business. But once you’re finished, remember to come find me."

"If I may ask, Elder, what is it about?" Ye Wushuang was curious. ’What could it be that he won’t tell me until I’m done with my own affairs?’

"Hahaha, you’ll find out," the Star Elder boomed with laughter. His figure abruptly vanished into thin air, his voice echoing from the void, "Settle your affairs, then come and find me!"

Watching the Star Elder come and go with such ease, Ye Wushuang’s eyes gleamed with a brilliant light.

SWOOSH!

A moment later, his figure also vanished from the summit as he sped toward the Fierce Demon Cave.

In the Divine Temple, he had undergone the process of Scattering and Rebuilding, breaking through to the Qi Vortex Third Layer. However, he hadn’t had time to stabilize his new power and needed to find a place to do so.

Moreover, with the clan assembly less than a month away, he needed to increase his strength. Thus, Ye Wushuang set his sights on the Thunder Pool within the mysterious cavern of the Fierce Demon Cave.

An hour later, Ye Wushuang’s figure appeared beside the Thunder Pool.

CRACKLE, CRACKLE!

Brilliant bolts of lightning danced within the Thunder Pool like writhing silver serpents. They streaked through the air, emitting a series of loud CRACKS and POPS.

Gazing at the Thunder Pool again, Ye Wushuang felt no fear, only a pleasant surprise. The source of this surprise was his Chaos Heaven-Devouring Dragon Body.

The Spirit Thunder in this pool was exactly what he needed to strengthen his Chaos Heaven-Devouring Dragon Body.

Although Ye Wushuang had reforged his Chaos Heaven-Devouring Dragon Body, it was merely a reforging; it hadn’t even reached the Minor Achievement stage. He needed to constantly devour and strengthen it until he could revert to the primordial Taichu Chaos Heaven-Devouring Dragon, with a body that could suppress heaven and earth and a fearsome might that could dominate all of antiquity!

Taking a deep breath, Ye Wushuang strode into the Thunder Pool.

This time, he didn’t linger at the edge but walked directly toward the center—the most terrifying, but also the most effective, part of the pool.

With his formidable physique and the Evil Moon Thunder Order he’d summoned to protect himself, the Spirit Thunder, no matter how terrifying, could not pose a fatal threat to him.

The next moment, Ye Wushuang sat cross-legged in the center of the Thunder Pool like a Thunder God bathing in lightning. Anyone who witnessed this sight would have their jaw drop in astonishment.

TSSS! TSSS! TSSS!

Dense, thin tendrils of lightning swarmed toward Ye Wushuang’s body, only to be blocked by streams of Dragon-Shaped Qi. Many were even devoured and assimilated, forming an electric web across the surface of his skin.

Ye Wushuang’s Divine Sense sank into his Dantian.

A Divine Cauldron bathed in Golden Dragon Blood stood in the center of his Dantian. The Golden Divine Flame blazed within it, resembling a miniature golden sun, its light searing and brilliant.

The Golden Flame possessed a World-Burning Power, but Ye Wushuang was not afraid. He probed it with his Divine Sense and discovered several crystalline, pearl-like beads floating within the flames, radiating pure energy.

Ye Wushuang was amazed. With a thought, one of the crystalline beads landed in his hand. It was oval, translucent with a hint of crimson, and contained an incomparably pure energy.

The moment he swallowed it, a pure and immense energy surged through him. It was absorbed instantly without any need for Refinement, converting directly into power and raising his Cultivation.

"Essence Pill!"

A name for it surfaced in his mind and escaped his lips.

He had previously used the Alchemy Divine Cauldron as his Dragon Foundation and performed Refinement on the Dragon Blood Divine Cauldron. This ingenious setup had unexpectedly granted it a miraculous, heaven-defying function.

From this point forward, the Dragon Blood Divine Cauldron could perform Refinement on all things, turning them into pure Elixirs!

This meant that if Ye Wushuang killed a person, he could perform Refinement on their corpse to create an Essence Pill. If he hunted Desolate Beasts and Demon Beasts, he could create Beast Essence Pills. Even Heaven and Earth Spiritual Medicine could be refined into Spiritual Essence Pills!

It had become a Pill Cauldron that performed Alchemy automatically. Without him even needing to lift a finger, it could provide him with a steady supply of Cultivation Resources.

"Excellent!"

Ye Wushuang was thrilled. ’A heaven-defying ability like this... I’m the only one who has it!’

"Heh heh, kid, you should check out those Qi Vortexes of yours. That’s the real highlight," the Dragon Cat reminded him.

"Qi Vortexes?" A thought struck Ye Wushuang. ’After Scattering and Rebuilding, my Qi Vortexes mutated. The number of golden vortexes has increased significantly... I haven’t even counted how many there are yet.’

The number of Qi Vortexes was directly related to one’s innate talent and Combat Power. Growing impatient, Ye Wushuang directed his Divine Sense toward the golden vortexes beneath the Dragon Blood Divine Cauldron.

"Twenty-seven!"

"Twenty-eight!"

...

After a quick count, Ye Wushuang discovered he had a total of eighty-one Qi Vortexes. They were scattered throughout his Dantian, forming a resplendent, golden cosmos.

’Only eighty-one? I thought I’d have a hundred,’ Ye Wushuang thought, slightly disappointed. ’If I had a hundred, my Combat Power would be immense. The gap between me and the strongest Disciples would be much smaller.’

"Kid, eighty-one is a bit on the low side," the Dragon Cat replied calmly. Inwardly, however, it felt like it had been struck by lightning and was on the verge of freaking out.

’Damn it all! Eighty-one Qi Vortexes! Lord Cat has lived for ages and seen everything, but I’ve never, ever seen anyone with this many Qi Vortexes! And this brat has the gall to think it’s not enough?’

’Lord Cat despises you!’

The Dragon Cat rolled its eyes, fighting the urge to rush out and throttle Ye Wushuang.

"Really?" Hearing this, Ye Wushuang’s interest was piqued. "Fat Cat," he asked curiously, "tell me, what’s the most you’ve ever seen anyone have?"

"Not that many. Maybe eight hundred, a thousand at most," the fat cat said with a completely straight face.

"Really?"

Ye Wushuang found that hard to believe. ’After all, eight hundred or a thousand Qi Vortexes... how terrifying would that even be?’

"Damn it, kid! The world is a vast place full of wonders. A thousand or so is perfectly normal!" the Dragon Cat snapped impatiently, putting on an air of ’you-know-nothing.’ It was a shameless lie, but it absolutely had to knock this kid down a peg. ’How dare he wound Lord Cat’s fragile heart!’

’The world is a vast place indeed. It seems eighty-one Qi Vortexes aren’t the limit. If I get the chance, I have to find a way to add a few hundred more!’ Ye Wushuang took the bait. After all, the Dragon Cat was truly experienced, so it must be telling the truth. He imagined having hundreds of Qi Vortexes. ’My Combat Power would be absolutely heaven-defying!’

"You god-damned brat! Lord Cat is going to bite you to death!"

But hearing this, the fat cat roared through gritted teeth, nearly coughing up blood. It was completely triggered by Ye Wushuang’s words. Eighty-one was already an anomaly; if he managed to add a few hundred more, even "heaven-defying" wouldn’t begin to describe it.

’This kid has to be doing this on purpose!’ the Dragon Cat thought, its shifty eyes darting about as it pinned all the blame on Ye Wushuang.

But as the saying goes, if you play stupid games, you win stupid prizes. How could the creature possibly know that it had brought all this anguish upon itself? Who told it to lie to Ye Wushuang in the first place?