"Nurture Pill, don''t be ungrateful!"


    Chen Xun shouted fiercely, his fingers moving with precision. One by one, rare spiritual herbs were thrown into the alchemy furnace, and fierce alchemical mes rose from within.


    His eyes gleamed with intense focus as his consciousness roamed inside the furnace. He was extremely confident in his alchemy skills now.


    There is no other reason but the abundance of spiritual herbs, his practiced hands, and the blessings of the celestial beings and Buddhas.


    "Old Ox, set up the formation. If we''re refining pills underground, how can the heavens bless us?" Chen Xun raised two fingers skyward, the fragrance of the herbs spreading in all directions and working smoothly. "Haha, it seems the sequence is a bit off; these two herbs are shing."


    "Moo~" The big ck ox responded and began setting up a bewildering array around them.


    It squatted in a corner of the formation, its big eyes staring at Chen Xun as he refined the pills with one hand and took notes in a small booklet with the other.


    "Moo~~" The big ck ox let out a cry, thinking that its big brother was indeed bing more formidable.


    It reminded me of when Chen Xun used to blow up the furnace, wasting many spiritual herbs without being able to produce even a single Qi Condensation pill.


    The big ck ox grinned at the thought, its tail gently swaying. It wanted to follow its big brother forever.


    A year passed silently through spring and summer.


    Chen Xun was still refining pills, but he had already figured out the correct pill form.


    The big ck ox frequently fetched spiritual herbs from underground, staying by Chen Xun''s side and asionally performing rituals with an incense burner.


    "So that''s it. The potency ratio of these Nascent Soul herbs can indeed be traced." Chen Xun asionally muttered to himself, filling pages of his small booklet, "I feel like I can create my own pill forms in the future."


    "Moo~" The big ck ox nodded to itself in the distance, as if responding to him.


    Chen Xun nced at the big ck ox at the edge of the formation, smiling inexplicably. He felt an immense peace of mind and continued his research.


    He believed that their breakthrough pills needed to have those pill patterns, eliminating the need for external spiritual energy, as the potency would suffice.


    One by one, inferior Nurture Pills gradually took shape in the alchemy furnace, only to turn into a puddle of waste liquid at thest moment.


    Chen Xun was never discouraged, hardly resting; his alchemy skills were honed to a terrifying level in the underground forest cave.


    The big ck ox would read the formation books whenever it saw Chen Xun tired. It never felt boring, knowing there was still much to learn.


    ...


    Time was never harsh to Chen Xun and the big ck ox, and the years were neverplicated. Eight more years passed.


    News had already spread from the Northern Territory that the cultivators of the Qian Nation were even waging war against the eastern nations at the borders, encircling and attacking reinforcements.


    The mes of war seemed to be spreading everywhere, with everyone understanding that there are no whole eggs under a broken nest; this was a struggle for the Dao!


    On the Tian Duan ins, a man and an ox lived in seclusion,pletely unaware of the earth-shaking events in the cultivation world.


    They sat on the ground, chatting andughing, then solemnly absorbing the purple qi of the sunrise.


    More than twenty Dao-patterned Nurture Pills were stored in a medicine box and sessfully refined in the previous year. Now it was all about umtion.


    When the pills formed, the weather changed dramatically, but it quickly subsided. Chen Xun attributed it to a coincidence.


    However, his alchemy skills had indeed increased significantly, even faster than when he refined the Five Elements Pills during the Foundation Establishment stage. His greatly improved strength was part of the sess.


    "Old Ox, do you remember the tribtions we faced during the Golden Core stage?"


    "Moo!"


    The big ck ox trembled, its heart filled with fear, feeling insignificant and powerless.


    "Haha, there''s actually no need to be afraid." Chen Xun shook his head and smiled, full of confidence.


    "Moo?"


    "The tribtion corresponding to our realm has its limits. If it really wanted to kill us, it could just send a tribtion with the power of a Nascent Soul." Chen Xun sneered, looking at the fearful big ck ox, "Think about it carefully, isn''t that right?"


    "Moo!!"


    The big ck ox cried out, realizing its big brother was right!


    If the tribtion really wanted to kill them, it wouldn''t need to go through all the trouble. A single lightning bolt, far beyond their realm, would be enough to end them.


    "You see, back then we jumped to conclusions, and that led to misunderstandings with the heavens, didn''t it?" Chen Xun sighed deeply, his voice rising. "Moreover, every time a tribtion strikes, it has the power to temper the body. Old Ox, don''t you understand yet?!"


    "Moo!!" The big ck ox realized this, jumping up and eagerly epting the wisdom of Chen Xun''s insights.


    Its eyes were filled with sincere reverence and hopeful anticipation, as if to say: "Big brother, keep talking; I want to hear more."


    "In those days, I was ignorant and foolish, daring to confront the tribtion head-on. Truly, ignorance is fearless.” Chen Xun''s eyes held an apologetic look, "This isn''t a cmity sent by the heavens, but a blessing and baptism from above. ept it calmly, there is no need to fear."


    "Moo~~~" The big ck ox snorted, recalling that the tribtion hadn''t really struck it hard back then...


    Now, with their greatly increased strength, thinking back, big brother was absolutely right. He always saw things more clearly than they did.


    Though the power of the tribtion was indeed frightening, it was mainly a psychological trauma, which was slowly being soothed by Chen Xun.


    "When we break through to the Nascent Soul stage, ept the heavens'' congrattory baptism with a ritual of thanks. There''s no need to resist." Chen Xun''s eyes were filled with enlightenment as he gently patted the big ck ox, "Get ready; let''s go deeper, burn incense, and bathe before breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage."


    "Moo!!"


    The big ck ox lifted its spirits, felt its fearpletely vanish, and hurried to tidy up the cave.


    Chen Xunughed heartily, starting to fiddle with various incense burners, wiping them clean, and looking increasingly satisfied.


    After the big ck ox had finished tidying, they headed west. Wind and sand followed them, constantly covering their tracks.


    Another half-month passed. A clear, round moon hung in the sky, casting a silver glow over the destend.


    Chen Xun and the big ck ox leisurely ced incense burners, scattering some petals of spiritual herbs around, showing great attention to detail.


    "Old Ox, stay back a bit." Chen Xun, rxed, sat cross-legged in the center, saying, "Don''t disturb the heavenly blessing."


    "Moo moo~" The big ck ox nodded frantically, leaping into the air and running far away, bing a small ck dot in an instant.


    "s, in these hundreds of years, my five Golden Cores haven''t changed at all." Chen Xun sighed, they hadn''t just been cultivating in vain, "We''ll have to use the pill''s power to forcefully break through. Come on, big baby."


    As he spoke, a medicine box opened, revealing a smooth, dark pill with a blue pill pattern encircling it. Even from a distance, one could feel its immense internal power, though none of it was emanating outward, seemingly confined by the pill pattern.


    Chen Xun pinched it between two fingers, feeling quite uncertain without a mentor to guide him through the breakthrough.


    "If the impact fails, the pill isn''t poisonous anyway; what''s there to fear?"


    Chen Xun muttered, suddenly swallowing the Nurture Pill. His expression changed dramatically in an instant.


    "Damn..."


    A trace of ferocity appeared in Chen Xun''s eyes; a feeling of restlessness arose, along with inexplicable irritability.


    But in a sh, a smile appeared on his lips.


    "Is this it? Breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage even affects the state of mind." Chen Xun spoke calmly, though the ferocity in his eyes grew. "But what major storms and waves haven''t I seen? Continue."


    The big ck ox, watching from afar, saw something strange: Chen Xun''s expression was clearly violent, yet his words were calm.


    "This feeling is indeed peculiar." Chen Xunughed heartily, as if the turmoil only affected his surface, not his true inner self, "Let''s perform the ritual first."


    His facial features twisted strangely, and bloodshot lines appeared in his eyes, yet he lit the incense unhurriedly.


    At this moment, a vast medicinal powerpletely spread over Chen Xun''s Golden Core.


    **_Crack!_**


    A slight cracking sound echoed, Chen Xun''s face twitched, and the feeling seemed to being...