While Xiao Ping was in a daze, a faint white mist suddenly rose from the tip of the enormous stalactite. Within the mist, the light from the stalactite's tip gradually intensified. As the light surged, a drop of milky white liquid, resembling a speck of light, abruptly condensed. This drop of liquid swayed at the very bottom of the stalactite for a moment, finally breaking free from its restraints and falling vertically through the air, gently landing in the groove at the top of the bluestone.
The impact of the stalactite caused ripples on the surface of the milky liquid, which was only a little over two inches deep, but no liquid spilled out.
Gazing at the milky-white liquid rippling within the small, emerald-green bowl-like groove, Xiao Ping suddenly felt a sense of awe. This groove in the bluestone had actually been carved out by the liquid dripping from the stalactites. Gently stroking the bluestone with his palm, feeling its hardness, Xiao Ping was once again amazed. How many years would it take to carve such a groove in this bluestone using only the power of dripping water? It truly was a case of water dripping through stone.
"Hehe! Although it's not a real stalactite, it's still quite useful. Let's keep it and see what happens!"
Looking at the small pool of milky white liquid, Xiao Ping took another deep breath of the strange fragrance, then took out several jade bottles from his storage ring and collected the entire pool of milky white liquid into them.
Having done all this, Xiao Ping once again summoned the Dou Qi wings on his back and slowly flew to the very top of the stalactite, where the true hiding place of the Earth Core Tempering Milk was.
"Tsk tsk tsk"
Suspended at the very top, Xiao Ping couldn't help but lick his lips. He took out a jade piece from his storage ring, imbued it with a burst of battle qi, and then carefully dug it into the base of the stalactite.
"Click"
As the jade piece in his hand completed the final segment of the circle, a fragment of the stalactite circle detached from its main body. Xiao Ping swiftly caught it, revealing a viscous, jade-colored liquid deep within the stalactite. This liquid seemed to possess a spirit, slowly flowing within the stalactite, but its movement remained confined to the vicinity of the circle's opening, never venturing beyond a narrow strip.
"As expected of the Earth Core Tempering Milk"
Looking at the constantly wriggling viscous liquid, Xiao Ping let out a long sigh of relief. "Although it's not as precious as the Bodhi Transformation Saliva, it's still a rare treasure for me right now!"
"With this Earth Core Tempering Milk, advancing to the Dou Huang realm will be much easier in the future!"
Sighing, Xiao Ping reached into his storage ring and retrieved a white jade spoon and a large jade bottle. He then carefully used the spoon to gently scoop the emerald-colored Earth Core Tempering Milk into the bottle. Of course, according to the unwritten rule of the alchemy world, Xiao Ping also reserved a small amount of the Earth Core Tempering Milk to continue nurturing the stalactite, which would take thousands of years to form.
"Done!"
After collecting the Earth Core Tempering Milk, Xiao Ping reattached the stalactite fragment he had previously removed. Soon, the stalactite returned to its previous calm state.
After doing all this, Xiao Ping flapped his Dou Qi wings and followed the path back into the valley. The entire valley remained completely silent, just as it had been before Xiao Ping entered.
Let's go!
With a joyful shout, Xiao Ping leaped off the mountain and disappeared into the dense forest, as if no one had ever been there.
A few days later, in another mountain forest, a figure darted among the branches. Upon closer inspection, it was none other than Xiao Ping. Since obtaining the Earth Core Tempering Milk, Xiao Ping hadn't used it immediately. Instead, he planned to suppress and solidify his Dou Qi before taking the Dou Ling Pill to attempt a breakthrough to the Dou Huang realm. Of course, before that, whether refining the peak fifth-grade pill—the Dou Ling Pill—or concocting the Earth Core Tempering Milk, both required a wide variety of extremely complex high-grade medicinal herbs.
For the past few days, Xiao Ping has been searching for medicinal herbs in the mountains, but he's still far from meeting his needs. Some particularly precious herbs simply don't exist in the mountains and can only be obtained by trading them with the inner courtyard. However, obtaining such precious herbs from the inner courtyard is no easy task.
"well..."
After searching for quite some time, Xiao Ping still couldn't find the medicinal herbs he needed. He stood on a thick tree branch with a wry smile, "There's nothing I can do but go to the inner courtyard and exchange them with fire energy. I don't even know if I have enough fire energy left to exchange for all the herbs I need!"
With another long sigh, Xiao Ping shook his head, then lightly touched the ground with his toes and flew back towards the inner courtyard. Of course, before approaching the inner courtyard, Xiao Ping had already changed out of his black robe, revealing the special uniform of Canaan Academy. Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, he returned to the main road of the inner courtyard and headed straight for the inner courtyard's medicinal herb storage.
After waiting for nearly half an incense stick's time in front of the inner courtyard's medicinal herb storage room, it was finally Xiao Ping's turn to register his information. Then, holding the white jade token issued by the registration desk instructor, and under the strict supervision of two Dou Ling-level instructors, he slowly stepped into the medicinal herb storage room.
Upon entering the medicinal herb storage room, one is greeted by rows and rows of wooden cabinets, each divided into countless neat square compartments. Each compartment holds only one medicinal herb, with the same type of herb stored close together.
"These are all low-grade medicinal herbs."
After casually glancing at the herbs on the first floor, Xiao Ping shifted his gaze to the staircase leading to the upper floors. The entire herb storage facility had five floors, and the herbs Xiao Ping needed were stored on the fourth floor.
Fortunately, Canaan Academy did not exclude students from entering all floors. Therefore, under the strict supervision of the instructors on duty, Xiao Ping also arrived at the medicinal herb storage area on the fourth floor.
"Blood Python Branch!"
Following the catalog of medicinal herbs, and passing through row after row of wooden shelves, Xiao Ping finally arrived at the end of the corridor. There, a strange, withered branch, its entire body as red as blood, twisted and gnarled like a winding python, lay quietly within an energy shield. Although the energy shield provided insulation, a peculiar medicinal fragrance could still be faintly detected.
"Eighty days of fire energy!"
His gaze swept over the information displayed beside the energy shield, and even someone as wealthy as Xiao Ping couldn't help but swallow hard. That was eighty days' worth of fire energy! A freshman entering the inner courtyard, even if they saved up for a year without eating or drinking, would probably only accumulate that much. With bad luck, they might not even have that much.
"Sigh, eighty days it is!"
There was no other way; this Blood Python Branch could only be obtained within the inner courtyard. If it were placed outside, countless people would fight over it, making it practically priceless. Thinking this, Xiao Ping suppressed his heartache and inserted the cyan crystal into the slot next to the grid. With a flash of light, the number on the crystal card already indicated a reduction of eighty days' worth of fire energy. At the same time, the energy shield slowly disappeared, revealing the strange, withered branch inside.
"So expensive!"
Almost spitting out those two words through gritted teeth, Xiao Ping grabbed the Blood Python Branch and put it into his storage ring.
"We're still missing a few medicinal herbs; I hope they're not too expensive!"
Shaking his head helplessly, Xiao Ping walked towards the medicinal herbs he needed again, clutching the cyan fire crystal card in his hand even tighter. "It seems I still have to rely on selling pills to earn enough fire energy! Otherwise, my current amount of fire energy probably won't be enough!"
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