Several days later, a deacon elder from Yue Tian Pavilion arrived at Zhao You Heavenly Pond. He had been tasked with delivering the crown and robe, spirit talisman sleeve pouch, and jade ornaments for Mingcang Sect’s Hua Dan cultivators. Along with these, he also brought the Five Elements Divine Sand for the cultivators to absorb Essence Qi, totaling thirty-eight Flying Boats full.
This Five Elements Divine Sand is nurtured from the sect’s Earth Veins Evil Qi and is far superior to any mundane divine sand.
Zhang Yan instructed Liu Yan Yi to greet the deacon, while he himself swung his robe sleeve. With a wisp of smoke flying out, he effortlessly gathered all thirty-eight boats of divine sand and sent them down into the main mansion.
The Yue Tian Pavilion deacon elder was left dumbstruck. Though he heard rumors of Master Zhang lifting the Nine Whales at the Elixir Tasting Conference, he had no concrete impression of it. Seeing Zhang Yan collecting all thirty-eight boats of divine sand with a single gesture, he was completely astonished.
Initially, he felt slighted that Zhang Yan had sent only one disciple to tend to him. Now, however, he retracted these thoughts and dared not underestimate Liu Yan Yi.
Zhang Yan returned to the jade couch in the main mansion to sit upright. He made a casting gesture with his spell, activating his Elixir Evil. A thin mist spread out, covering one of the Five Elements Divine Sand-filled boats in front of him, grinding it down relentlessly. Before long, the sand disintegrated into countless black specks as fine as powder, while faint strands of grayish Essence Qi floated outward.
After roughly an hour, he withdrew the smoke and, with a flick of his finger, consolidated the scattered Essence Qi into a singular mass the size of a fist. Opening his mouth, he swallowed it whole. His Golden Core trembled and cycled the energy through a few rounds, finally refining it entirely.
With a wave of his sleeve, he drew up the next boat of divine sand and proceeded as he had done previously.
And so, he continued for an entire day. Once he finished refining all thirty-eight Flying Boats of divine sand, he silently calculated. Despite consuming such a massive amount of Essence Qi, it equaled merely seven to eight days of seated Qi absorption within the Cave Mansion in terms of refining Elixir Evil. It was pitifully insignificant.
These thirty-eight boats of divine sand, if given to Lower Three Grades Hua Dan disciples, would take them half a year to refine. Even Middle Three Grades Hua Dan cultivators would require at least a month. But for Zhang Yan, it only took a single day to assimilate it all.
Not to mention, for someone like him—a First-grade Elixir Formation cultivator—even Second or Third-grade cultivators would find this amount of divine sand akin to a drop in the ocean, far from sufficient.
He contemplated briefly before reaching into his sleeve to retrieve a jade bottle. Uncorking it, he tilted the bottle, and a pill the size of a dragon’s eye, as bright as jade and frosty white, imbued with dense spiritual energy, rolled out.
Tilting his head back, he consumed the pill and closed his eyes to slowly assimilate its medicinal power. After a quarter-hour, he reopened his eyes, finding the pill’s effects vastly superior to the Essence Qi he’d just absorbed.
This pill was refined by Zhou Chongju using the Essence Qi of rare herbs and plants, aiding Hua Dan cultivators in strengthening their cultivation.
However, this pill had its shortcomings. These extraordinary flowers and grasses grew extremely slow, and even with the Medicine Garden in the Elixir Cauldron Institute, only one batch could be produced every three months. Much of it had to be distributed across various islands and mansions, leaving insufficient amounts for Zhang Yan alone. For ordinary disciples, it might suffice, but for someone of his stature as a First-grade Elixir Formation cultivator, it was woefully inadequate.
Zhang Yan mulled over the matter. If only he could cultivate an Earth Evil vein within his Cave Mansion, it would solve his predicament.
The Five Elements Divine Sand is nourished and refined from Earth Veins Evil Qi, but the most refined essence has long been appropriated by others. For example, the True Sand gifted by Zheng Hongtu during the Elixir Tasting Conference had been painstakingly selected from countless divine sand grains.
This True Sand was reserved for the sect’s direct lineage disciples, while the remaining lower-quality, impure divine sand was distributed among other disciples.
Planting an Earth Evil vein is a laborious process that requires decades, even centuries, to mature fully. Higher-quality Earth Evil veins demand even greater lengths of time.
The Cave Mansions of the sect’s Cave Heaven True Masters indeed contain numerous high-grade Earth Evil veins, but these are exclusively reserved for their disciples. They would not be shared with outsiders.
Unfortunately, though Gui Congyao is a Cave Heaven True Master, he lacks disciples by his side and thus has no need for an Earth Evil vein. Consequently, there exists no such vein within Zhao You Heavenly Pond.
If Zhang Yan relied solely on the divine sand provided, honestly cultivating within the Cave Mansion and absorbing nature’s spiritual energy, even with the superior environment of a Cave Heaven True Mansion, it would take over a hundred years to push his Elixir Power to its limit. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡~𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚~𝙣𝙚𝙩