Chapter 306: Spirit Realm

As the temperature reached its peak, Xiao Ming flicked his finger and a weak force struck the Heavenly Numb Jade Essence, causing it to crack and reveal a pale white liquid inside.

With the appearance of this white liquid, Xiao Ming gradually reduced the temperature of the flame until it became a thin wisp burning beneath the stone as if the flame was steaming a stone bowl.

Inside the bowl, the white liquid bubbled, and every time a bubble burst, a faint fishy smell rose up. This smell was the impurities within the stone, and only after refining it could it be used to blend with the Core Soul Marrow.

For Xiao Ming, this refining process did not require much mental effort. In just a few minutes, all the fishy odor within the white liquid was expelled.

After completing the refining of the Heavenly Numb Jade Essence, Xiao Ming's expression remained unchanged as he waved his hand and some exquisite jade bottles and containers appeared in his hand. Then, with a thought, a small stream of liquid flowed out of each of the three jade boxes in front of him, and under Xiao Ming's control, they all flowed together into a transparent jade bowl.

Hiss!

As soon as the three liquids were mixed, a faint mist erupted, and then they started to corrode each other like mortal enemies. Upon contact, numerous small bubbles constantly emerged.

Xiao Ming stared intently at the mutual corrosion of the three liquids, and after a while, the Pill Soul Serum and the Heavenly Numb Jade Essence completely dissipated, leaving behind only the slightly mottled Core Soul Marrow.

'It seems like it's not quite successful, I put too much Core Soul Marrow in it...'

Seeing this, Xiao Ming shook his head slightly. The successfully blended Core Soul Marrow should be emerald green, but the one in the bowl was obviously a failed product with a rather mottled appearance. He didn't feel discouraged by this first failure. If he had succeeded the first time, he would have been too lucky.

The following events were nothing new, as it was still the same process of constantly adjusting the proportions of the three types of treasures. This blending had to be done carefully, as adding or subtracting even a little bit could upset the balance between the three liquids, resulting in failure. Therefore, one must remain calm during the blending process, even in the face of repeated failures.

Chi!

After six failed attempts, a drop of stone essence fell, and a faint mist immediately filled the jade bowl. After the mist dissipated, what was left was a small bowl of viscous and vibrant green substance, like jade.

"Phew..."

Looking at the color of the liquid in the jade bowl, Xiao Ming couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. He carefully transferred the viscous substance from the bowl into a well-crafted jade bottle.

Of course, this small amount of blended Core Soul Marrow was not enough to transform a soul. But with this first success, the next steps would be much easier.

...

In just two hours, nearly half of the remaining three treasures had been successfully blended by Xiao Ming.

As he gazed at the emerald green liquid overflowing the bottle's neck, a relieved and pleased expression finally appeared on his face. Although he had failed many times, the remaining successful product was enough for his needs.

'Now, the most important thing is whether I can reach the eighth tier...'

With this thought in mind, Xiao Ming eagerly raised the jade bottle to his lips and gulped down its contents, feeling nearly half of the precious Core Soul Marrow pour down his throat with a gurgling sound.

As it entered his body, his head buzzed and the soul power at his brow rapidly expanded, as if it had been catalyzed, swelling rapidly. The suddenness and speed of this expansion caused intense pain in his forehead as if it was about to burst open!

Feeling this sudden change, Xiao Ming steadied his mind and carefully observed the changes within his body.

As the blended Core Soul Marrow flowed into his body, it turned into scorching hot streams that quickly evaporated, releasing a strange deep green smoke. This smoke rose up, rushing through his body and finally settling in his forehead where the soul power resided, intertwining with it.

With the smoke and soul power entangled, Xiao Ming quickly perceived an incredibly powerful and strange energy seeping into his soul. His soul strength began increasing at an alarming rate as if he had just taken some sort of potent tonic!

As the soul power rapidly increased, the pain in Xiao Ming's forehead grew stronger and stronger. He couldn't help but marvel at how powerful the Core Soul Marrow was in enhancing soul power, and how worthwhile it was for him to spend so much effort on it.

More and more green smoke poured into Xiao Ming's soul, continuously strengthening it.

This feeling was not pleasant, as it felt like someone was continuously stuffing something into his head. The temples on both sides of his head bulged like small drums, continuously pulsating.

Eventually, the strength of his soul reached a certain threshold, and a low, explosive sound erupted in the depths of his mind, making his eardrums ache.

Boom!

With this explosion, Xiao Ming's consciousness was directly blown into a daze, and his vision was filled with golden light. In his mind, everything was chaotic.

At the same time, the energy of heaven and earth around him seemed to have been stirred up by something, and in the midst of the turbulence, extremely faint streams of air were quietly overflowing from space and surging towards Xiao Ming's forehead.

This airflow was naturally spiritual energy.

These streams of spiritual energy continuously poured into Xiao Ming's forehead and finally fused with the soul power residing there. As they merged, Xiao Ming's soul was enveloped in warm spiritual liquid, and the spiritual energy quietly seeped into every part of his soul, allowing him to gradually regain consciousness.

Upon regaining consciousness, Xiao Ming realized that he was able to absorb spiritual energy without using his soul technique, which delighted him as it was much faster than when he used his soul technique alone. However, this level of spiritual energy infusion was clearly not enough to allow his soul to advance to the Spirit Realm.

Therefore, after absorbing for nearly an hour, the strange power at Xiao Ming's brow suddenly intensified, and finally, an invisible ripple spread out silently, pierced through the inn, and spread out into the sky.

During this period, Xiao Ming was also silently reciting his soul technique to accelerate the absorption speed.

The commotion caused by Xiao Ming immediately caught the attention of many alchemists in the Holy Pill City.

At the top of the Pill Tower, a beautiful woman looked up at the huge invisible vortex of spiritual energy in the sky, her eyes showing some surprise.

"Someone has broken through their soul and entered the Spirit Realm!"

Not far from the beautiful woman stood an old man with dark skin, a large beard, and an unusually cold and stern face.

"It should be Xiao Ming. Qiu Ling said that this little guy's soul is already in the half-step Spirit Realm. After obtaining the Core Soul Marrow, it is quite normal for him to step directly into it."

"An 18-year-old eighth-tier alchemist, such a character has never appeared in the Pill Tower before. He really is a little monster. I wonder if the other party has a famous master to guide him..."

"Probably so. It's hard to reach this level without a famous master. Xiao Ming even has the Ten Thousand Beast Cauldron and a Heavenly Flame, but it's unclear which old monster he is a disciple of."