: Both Women Have Made Progress

Swallow and refine.

The time required to condense the Yin and Yang spirits will likely be even longer.

Lu Jianghe originally thought that he could finish the project in two or three years at most, but he never expected it to be such a long and arduous process.

Since that's the case, there's no other way to cheat.

It's not like taking a shortcut or achieving success overnight.

We can only be patient, accumulate little by little, and slowly persevere.

He then set up two additional layers of isolation barriers outside the alchemy room in his cave to prevent the leakage of spiritual energy fluctuations.

Since it's a gradual process, there's no use rushing it. So let's proceed step by step and take it slowly.

This time, he no longer confined himself to refining small quantities. With a slight thought, he captured eight sixth-order demon cores at once and put them into the furnace.

True fires clustered together, their brilliance intertwined.

The entire alchemy room was illuminated with a bizarre and fantastical light.

Lu Jianghe closed his eyes and began the long process of refining.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

A grand hall somewhere in the Star Palace.

Shi Songpo, dressed in the robes of an elder, looked at the open jade box before him.

He raised the corners of his mouth slightly, let out a soft hum, and a meaningful smile appeared on his face.

"interesting……"

He muttered to himself, casually fiddling with the demon core in the box with his fingertips.

"So eager to distance yourself, as if you're afraid of owing me even the slightest favor? Ha, it's been a long time since I've seen a Nascent Soul cultivator with such a temperament."

The clues that led to the previous investigation of this person on Kuixing Island have become largely clear.

Despite claiming to be a rogue cultivator from Kui Xing Island, this person's origins seem to have appeared out of thin air, with no trace of his background.

As for the shipowner who made the introduction, his background was also investigated, and there was no trace of any major forces from either the righteous or demonic paths behind him.

Since that's the case, let's just assume he's a rogue cultivator from Kui Xing Island.

They left and returned in less than three months...

Is it truly to slay the demonic beast, or is there another motive?

Just as he was pondering this, the storage pouch at his waist trembled slightly.

With a thought, Shi Songpo sent a golden "recording bead" flying out from his waist and floating in mid-air.

The light flowing from the pearl poured out, condensing into two clear light screen images in front of us.

The first image is of the nameless island where the eighth-tier demon beast's lair lies, covered with demon beast corpses, and the lingering stench of blood is almost visible to the naked eye through the light screen.

The second picture shows Lu Jianghe's sea route back to Qiyuan Island. Below the sea, mid-to-high-level demonic beasts are almost extinct.

All images are displayed in real time.

As the observer's perspective shifts, differences in various directions can be clearly identified.

This gold bead is completely different from ordinary photo-memory beads.

These are artifacts crafted by the previous Star Palace Saints using special methods; there are twelve in total.

Although named "Photo Retention Bead", its core function is not recording.

Instead, it allows an elder holding a single Star Palace Nascent Soul to instantly activate their abilities when faced with a major upheaval, simultaneously transmitting what they see, hear, and even their surroundings back to the other eleven.

Each golden memory bead, regardless of its actual function, is no less valuable than a precious ancient treasure in terms of its symbolic meaning and the instant communication value it provides among the elders of the Star Palace.

Even if they are thousands of miles apart, they can still send messages in a timely manner.

This set of artifacts laid part of the foundation for the Star Palace's current scale.

Shi Songpo gazed at the ever-changing scene in the painting.

Various corpses were scattered throughout the island, mixed with seventh-tier demonic beasts.

Those who can possess this golden "recording bead" and receive real-time images are all core elders of the Star Palace. Their cultivation level is at least at the peak of the early Nascent Soul stage, and their knowledge and experience are naturally extremely profound.

Such a large-scale massacre.

It was no ordinary fight; it was more like... a one-sided crushing defeat.

Both images were personally investigated and reported by the Star Palace Elder, so they cannot be faked.

Previously, it was reported that a large number of demonic beasts had gathered in the abyss, but they were so easily wiped out.

Shi Songpo put the photo-recording bead back and looked thoughtful.

The timing is right.

If that's the case, then we can't treat the person surnamed Lu as an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator.

The Star Palace is not a unified entity; instead, it is divided into different factions and camps.

Shi Songpo belongs to the lineage of Elder Jin Kui.

He preferred to wait until Elder Jin Kui emerged from seclusion so that he could personally handle such matters, as this would be more advantageous to his faction.

Calculating the time, it will be nearly seventy or eighty years before Elder Jin Kui takes over.

For cultivators, a few periods of seclusion pass by very quickly.

Shi Songpo stroked his beard and chuckled, "I never thought I'd have to cover for him."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Time stands still in the mountains; seclusion makes one forget the passing years.

Yan Ruyan and Xin Ruyin emerged from seclusion one after the other, with a short interval between them.

When they met again, they were in the Xieshan Pavilion.

Xin Ruyin's plain-colored robes made her figure appear even more slender, but her eyes shone brightly, and the spiritual energy around her flowed smoothly and harmoniously, clearly indicating that she had already reached the Great Perfection of the Qi Refining stage.

Yan Ruyan, on the other hand, exuded a more profound and powerful aura.

Over the years, the results have been remarkable for this person with a divine spiritual root.

He has already reached the peak of Foundation Establishment, and is only half a step away from the threshold of Core Formation, the Pseudo-Core Realm.

Yan Ruyan looked somewhat surprised.

In just a few years, the other party's cultivation level has improved so much that it is beyond expectation.

She took out a storage bag and handed it to Xin Ruyin.

This was prepared by Lu Jianghe specifically for the two of them before he went into seclusion.

Inside were cultivation necessities such as pills and spirit stones.

He even stuffed all the odds and ends he didn't need into it.

"Sister Ruyin, these are cultivation materials that Senior Lu specially left for us before he went into seclusion. Please accept them."

As Yan Ruyan spoke, she took out a pill with a bluish hue from her storage bag.

"These are Foundation Establishment Pills. I no longer need them. There are still a few left in my bag, all given to me by my elders when I was establishing my foundation. I'll give them to my sister as well."

Xin Ruyin did not refuse and accepted it calmly.

"Thank you, sister."

She understood that with her current cultivation level, once she removed the constraints imposed by her exquisite body,

The most urgent task is to improve one's cultivation level as much as possible.

Besides, excessive formalities can seem like a distance.

"Ruyin, what are your plans next? Are you preparing to attempt to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage?"

Yan Ruyan asked.

Xin Ruyin nodded gently: "That is the plan. If we calculate the time, it's been more than four years since Senior Lu went into seclusion, hasn't it?"

Yan Ruyan smiled and corrected, "It's more than four years. Counting from the last time he went into seclusion, this is already the fifth year. According to the communication jade talisman that Senior Lu left before he went into seclusion, he should have returned not long after we went into seclusion. The intervals between seclusions for Nascent Soul stage cultivators are not as short as ours. They may take anywhere from ten to several decades."

She paused, then looked at Xin Ruyin with a mischievous smile, jokingly saying, "Ruyin, if you can't break through to the Foundation Establishment stage as soon as possible and increase your lifespan to two hundred, I'm afraid you might not be able to see Senior Lu again?"