He quickly skimmed the Body Refining Technique, his gaze landing on the final magic technique.

"Three-Body Core Formation Technique."

Li Chang’an read it carefully, his expression focused.

This Three-Body Core Formation Technique was a Core Formation Secret Technique that Mo Qingkuang had created himself!

Cultivating this technique required one to cut themselves twice, slicing off two pieces of their own flesh. Then, they had to separately nurture the Essence, Qi, and Spirit within those two pieces.

During Core Formation, devouring these two pieces of flesh would cause one’s own Essence, Qi, and Spirit to skyrocket, thus increasing the chances of success.

According to the description, it could increase the success rate by at least twenty percent!

After finishing, Li Chang’an couldn’t help but be secretly impressed.

’Mo Qingkuang from ten thousand years ago was truly a heaven-sent genius. Just how profound was his comprehension to have created such astonishing Cultivation Techniques and magic?’

’With such heaven-defying comprehension, the shackles of one’s Spiritual Root were nothing.’

’If I had such comprehension, I’m afraid I would’ve reached Core Formation long ago!’

Next, he took out the Three-Eyed Bodhi Seed.

After years of accumulation, the Three-Eyed Bodhi Seed now had over ten hours of usable time.

Li Chang’an looked at the four techniques—both magic and cultivation—and thought for a moment.

’Blood and Fire Overlapping requires burning my lifespan, so I’ll ignore it for now. I already have the Demon Dragon Body Refining Technique, so I don’t need Blood Demon Body Refinement either.’

’As for the Three-Body Core Formation Technique, it isn’t very useful to me either. My chances of reaching Core Formation are already high enough.’

In the end, he chose to deduce the magic technique: Blood-Dripping Demon Transformation.

After regulating his breath for a moment, Li Chang’an sat cross-legged in the depths of his cave residence. Holding the Three-Eyed Bodhi Seed, he began to deduce the magic technique.

The difficulty of deducing this magic technique was greater than he had anticipated.

「Eight hours later.」

He slowly opened his eyes, a trace of joy flashing in their depths.

’It should be done.’

He flicked his finger, sending out a drop of blood.

This drop of blood landed in front of him, transforming into a blood-red Wood Seed. It grew blood-red branches, which in the blink of an eye took the shape of a human skeleton.

Immediately after, the branches began to seep blood. The blood filled the gaps and grew skin, rapidly taking on Li Chang’an’s appearance.

This Li Chang’an, whether in terms of aura or the Magical Power fluctuations around his body, was identical to the real Li Chang’an.

But its actual combat strength was quite poor. The Magical Power fluctuations were fake; after all, it was just an incarnation formed from a single drop of blood.

’I’ll name this magic technique the Blood-Dripping Incarnation Technique.’

Li Chang’an nodded slightly, quite satisfied.

With a thought, the incarnation left the cave residence. It went to Luo Yunshu’s and Wang Lingjing’s respective caves and spoke with them.

Neither of them noticed anything was wrong.

After a while, Li Chang’an recalled the drop of blood.

He transformed into a streak of light, left Changqing Mountain, and headed straight for the Ancient Sect Ruins.

His strength had grown yet again. It was time to deal with Wang Xiao!

...

「A few days later.」

Li Chang’an arrived inside the ruins and used several Tier Three Middle Grade Arrays to lay an inescapable trap—a Heaven and Earth Net.

Once everything was in place, he had the controlled Pu Jie and his three companions meet with Wang Xiao. They told him a fortuitous opportunity might be present and that they needed his help to investigate.

"A fortuitous opportunity?"

Wang Xiao suspected nothing and immediately accompanied the four into the trap Li Chang’an had prepared for him.

He scanned the area and detected a faint fluctuation of Spiritual Power.

"Yes, there should be an opportunity deep within these ruins. Let’s join forces to..."

Before he could finish speaking, the four men standing beside him suddenly attacked in unison.

BOOM!

The four of them wielded Magical Treasures that Li Chang’an had prepared for the ambush. Having gathered their power for some time, they unleashed their most vicious strike!

Wang Xiao couldn’t react in time. The Protective Treasures around him shattered in an instant, and his body was severed at the waist. Blood splattered everywhere in a gruesome display.

In the blink of an eye, he was in two pieces on the ground, the earth beneath him soaked with his blood.

Such an injury would be considered severe even for a Golden Core Master.

His face was deathly pale and his breathing was faint as he stared at the four in utter disbelief.

"You... why would you..."

Before he could finish his question, a streak of Spiritual Light flew by and decapitated him.

"Come!"

Li Chang’an raised his hand and beckoned.

Wang Xiao’s Soul emerged next to his corpse.

The moment he saw Li Chang’an, he finally understood the cause of all this.

"Li Chang’an, it was you!"

Wang Xiao glared fixedly at Li Chang’an.

He couldn’t believe that the four sect brothers he trusted would conspire with Li Chang’an to ambush him.

"Pu Jie, what did Li Chang’an give you?"

He roared hoarsely.

Compared to Li Chang’an, he hated Pu Jie and his other sect brothers even more.

But Pu Jie and the others remained silent, standing aside motionlessly, like four corpses.

At this moment, Wang Xiao finally realized something was wrong.

His gaze shifted back to Li Chang’an, and he asked, "Li Chang’an, what Evil Technique did you use? How can you control the four of them?"

Li Chang’an said nothing, simply drawing him into the Venerable Soul Banner.

He took Wang Xiao’s Storage Pouch and searched it carefully, soon finding the object of his quest.

"Thousand-Year-old White Jade Ganoderma!"

With a flash of Spiritual Light in his hand, a palm-sized ganoderma appeared.

The ganoderma was pure white, like a piece of precious jade. The moment it appeared, it exuded a refreshing medicinal fragrance. Even consuming it on its own would provide considerable benefits.

But its most important use was for refining the Five Elements Golden Condensation Pill.

It contained an immense yet gentle power, capable of fusing the medicinal energies of all the main and auxiliary ingredients.

’I finally got it!’

A look of joy appeared on Li Chang’an’s face.

At this point, all the materials needed for the Five Elements Golden Condensation Pill had been gathered.

This portion of the Thousand-Year-old White Jade Ganoderma was enough for one refining attempt.

With his current Alchemy Skill, the possibility of failure was very low.

Even if he did fail, he still had the Mu Family’s Tier Three Wood Element Demon Pill as a backup.

’I shouldn’t fail.’

Li Chang’an was very confident in his Alchemy Skill.

He carefully put away the White Jade Ganoderma.

Then, he activated the Wood Seed Technique, causing Pu Jie and the other three to all explode, turning into four clouds of blood mist.

These men were all members of the Purple Mist Sect, and Golden Core Cultivators were considered high-ranking. They could be summoned by a Nascent Soul True Monarch at any moment, so killing them was the safest option.

Li Chang’an couldn’t risk a Nascent Soul True Monarch discovering his plot. After all, even he possessed a Treasure like the Stone Eye, which could see through the Bloodline.

He erased all traces and auras from this place, transformed into a streak of light, and returned to Changqing Mountain.

...

「A few days later.」

Li Chang’an returned to Changqing Mountain and entered the Alchemy Room.

With a thought, a series of Treasures flew out.

The Thousand-Year-old White Jade Ganoderma, Qinghua Wood, Profound Yellow Earth, and more—all of them Treasures for refining the Five Elements Golden Condensation Pill—bobbed in the air around him.

’It’s time to begin the alchemy.’