"Using oneself as an ingredient... turning oneself into a pill?"

Fang Chen was somewhat shocked.

The Heavenly Supreme Tome contained only one recipe and one method for refining pill fire, the Heavenly Supreme Divine Flame. The recipe required 99 types of special spiritual energies, along with one core spiritual material. Among them, metal, wood, water, fire, and earth only accounted for five types... the majority of those special spiritual energies were ones Fang Chen had never even heard of.

The method for refining the pill fire was even more unusual. Just the mental aspect of it left him with a splitting headache, and he couldn’t progress even one percent.

"Now you understand why the Heavenly Supreme Pill Technique is so unique and why it’s considered the top inheritance by the descendants of the Jiang Family. Even though the Jiang Family has fallen for many years, many cultivators are still secretly coveting it."

𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Mirror of the Universe spoke with pride. "It’s the final section, the Heavenly Supreme Tome, that everyone is after. This chapter’s alchemy method is not only rare in the lower realms but also scarcely seen even in the Immortal Realm. If you can truly refine the pill, you will become a Supreme Immortal. Such figures are also beyond reach in the Immortal Realm."

"In the Immortal Realm... are they considered unreachable? Do you know if the Jiang Family’s ancestors ever had anyone successfully turn themselves into a Supreme Immortal?”

Fang Chen felt a shiver. According to Mirror of the Universe, this alchemical technique was beyond his imagination, even among the most elite techniques in the Immortal Realm….

"The Jiang Family.... The earliest individual came very close, but unfortunately, he only found 49 types of special spiritual energies and was missing 50, so he couldn’t truly refine the pill."

"Even so, his methods at that time were top-notch in the Mortal Realm, and there were less than three people who could match him," the Mirror of the Universe remarked with a hint of nostalgia.

"Was he not able to ascend to the Immortal Realm?" Fang Chen asked with a peculiar expression.

"By that time, the path to immortality was already completely blocked. It wasn’t so simple to reach the Immortal Realm. However, if he could turn himself into a Supreme Immortal, he would have been able to break through the Immortal Gate single-handedly," the Mirror of the Universe explained.

It paused for a moment, then continued, "However... There is a catch. Once you become a Supreme Immortal, that is the end of the immortal path; you won’t be able to advance any further. Moreover, if others find out the truth, they will see you as a living divine pill and will pursue you endlessly."

Fang Chen pondered. The Heavenly Supreme Tome was powerful, but the difficulty of walking this path was also terrifying.

"99 types of special spiritual energies... perhaps you won’t be able to find some of those in the mortal realm. You’ll have to venture into the Immortal Realm for them. So, as long as you can’t reach the Immortal Realm, you can’t gather them all," the Mirror of the Universe continued. "Moreover, with your current cultivation, you can’t even refine the Heavenly Supreme Divine Flame, so this tome is of no use to you at the moment."

"However, the Yellow rank introductory tome is quite useful. Many of the pills in it are as beneficial to your current cultivation as the Feather Spirit Pills. The Feather Spirit Pills are always a bit ahead, and using them with your current cultivation might waste too much of their effectiveness. In some ways, certain top yellow rank pills might be more beneficial."

"Once you advance to the Nascent Soul Realm, you might be able to barely refine the Heavenly Supreme Divine Flame, especially since you have the foundation of the Radiant Divine Eyes. At that time, you can try integrating one type of special spiritual energy. The Azure Lightning would be a good choice."

“This is one of the rarer ones among the 99 types of special spiritual energies. As long as you can fully integrate it, you don’t need to become a pill to reach the Ascension Realm. You should have no problem reaching the Ascension Realm,” the Mirror of the Universe explained.

“To reach the Ascension Realm with just one type of special spiritual energy... You can also consider it a top-tier technique with 99 paths. The more you gather, the more your strength will multiply. If you collect all 99 types, you could become a major figure in the Immortal Realm....”

Fang Chen pondered, nodding lightly. “I will keep it as a backup technique. When I can refine the Heavenly Supreme Divine Flame, I will explore this path.”

Over the next few years, Fang Chen focused on various methods of refining pill fires. From time to time, he consumed a Feather Spirit Pill. After finishing all twelve Feather Spirit Pills, and with about a year remaining before the ten-year deadline, Fang Chen felt that he had reached the peak of the early Golden Core Realm.

Compared to his breakthrough to the early Golden Core Realm, his spiritual energy reserve had increased by about thirty percent. A breakthrough would certainly result in a significant enhancement.

“It seems I’ve hit a bottleneck,” Fang Chen noted.

In recent days, every time he depleted his spiritual power, it did not increase after recovering, much like when he reached the grand completion stage of the Foundation Building Realm.

After some thought, he took out two mid-grade spirit stones, holding one in each hand, and began diligently practicing the Three Thousand Dao Golden Core Chapter.

The spiritual power of mid-grade spirit stones was incredibly pure, far exceeding that of low-grade spirit stones. As the two streams of spiritual energy continuously flowed into Fang Chen’s body, the once-solid bottleneck began to show signs of loosening.

Seven days later.

“It’s effective. Indeed, the real use of spirit stones lies in breaking through bottlenecks. For daily cultivation, pills are still more cost-effective.

Just using two mid-grade spirit stones, Fang Chen felt a slight increase in his spiritual energy. This small increase, which might have been negligible before, was now extremely valuable at this bottleneck stage. Accumulating small gains can eventually lead to a smooth breakthrough into the next realm.

Approximately a year later.

Fang Chen’s spiritual energy suddenly surged, like a torrential flood raging through his meridians. The entire process lasted about three days and nights. When the spiritual power settled, he discovered that his spiritual power had at least tripled. Not only had the quantity increased, but it had also become a lot more purer. His Golden Core had noticeably expanded, as well.

Fang Chen smiled. “The mid stage of the Golden Core Realm.”

The breakthrough was neither too difficult nor too easy. It consumed a total of 12 Feather Spirit Pills and 100 mid-grade spirit stones. The Feather Spirit Pills helped him reach the peak of the early stage of the Golden Core Realm. Without those 12 pills, Fang Chen might not have had enough time to advance to the mid stage of the Golden Core Realm.

Wiping his smile, Fang Chen closed his eyes and quietly felt the changes in his body. He noticed that his divine soul had also increased slightly after his cultivation breakthrough.

This might be a positive development. My divine soul could grow with each breakthrough, Fang Chen thought.

This was good news for him. The divine soul played a crucial role in stages like the Nascent Soul Realm, Enlightenment Realm, Soul Splitting Realm, Fusion Realm, and even in future stages such as the Dao Union Realm, Tribulation Realm, and Ascension Realm.

Fang Chen opened his eyes and waved in the distance. “Little Sword, how do you feel? How far are you from the fifth rank?”

Little Sword, like a nimble fish, flew over to Fang Chen and excitedly circled him. The speed was so fast that ordinary people could hardly even see its shadow.

“Little Chen, I’m only half a step away from the fifth rank. If I could have a mid-grade, profound rank treasure or three low-grade ones, I could break through in one go,” Little Sword said.

“Breaking through too quickly may not always be a good thing. Right now, you’re only at the Golden Core Realm. Your strength is only really equivalent to the third rank. Meanwhile, you’re already at the peak of the fourth rank. Although I don’t know much about the path of sword cultivation, if your cultivation level differs too much from your sword body, the sword might take over you,” said the Mirror of the Universe, pouring cold water over the two.

“Although the little guy has a good temperament and won’t harm you, don’t forget, there are still 9 evil entities sealed in it,” the Mirror of the Universe added.