Chapter 80: External Elixir

What Li Mochen wanted to refine was the 'external elixir' of Daoism.

As the name suggests, 'external elixir' refers to a golden elixir outside the human body. In ancient times, cultivators of the Primordial Vault Realm often refined rare celestial objects and demon cores into external elixirs, either for rapid cultivation or as supplements to their own golden elixir and primordial spirit.

Since the spiritual energy in the Primordial Vault Realm was still extremely abundant at that time, this 'external elixir' became wildly popular throughout the cultivation world—everyone practiced it, everyone refined it.

Legend has it that some used top-tier demon cores or various celestial essences to refine a second primordial spirit, forging boundless magical power.

However, this method only cultivated life, not nature, and was ultimately not the orthodox path of Daoism. Few of those external elixir masters died a natural death.

When the spiritual tide in the world waned, not only did celestial treasures become rare, but even demonic beasts dwindled in number. Thus, the external elixir method gradually declined, becoming a supplementary practice in Daoism.

Li Mochen originally did not cultivate external elixirs in the Primordial Vault Realm. But when he attained Mahayana at over sixty years of age and, constrained by the deficiencies of the entire world, could make no further progress in cultivation, he began to delve into external elixir methods. Building on his sect's secret traditions, he improved them, attempting to achieve a second primordial spirit.

Unfortunately, he ultimately failed. The Primordial Vault Realm at that time had too few resources. After elevating his external elixir to a level second only to Mahayana in that realm, he could advance no further.

However, when it came to research on external elixirs, if Li Mochen claimed to be second, no one would dare claim to be first.

Inside the crucible furnace, the beast crystal of the Wildfire Mammoth had begun to melt. Li Mochen immediately manipulated the magical array within the crucible furnace, forcibly gathering the clusters of yellow and red spiritual light and confining them inside the furnace.

A so-called beast crystal is essentially a quasi-crystalline substance formed from the fusion of beast flesh and blood with high-purity magical energy. Once melted, the high-purity magical energy within would dissipate entirely.

What Li Mochen needed to do now was to replace the flesh and blood of the Wildfire Mammoth with other materials, serving as a vessel for the high-purity magical energy.

At the same time, he needed to further purify this high-purity magical energy and inscribe a vast and complex runic array inside the vessel, granting it abilities similar to a cultivator's golden elixir.

The reason the Wildfire Mammoth's beast crystal was more suitable than others was twofold: first, its magical energy reserves were over ten times greater than those of other beasts; second, the crystal contained a large amount of earth-type spiritual energy—also called magical energy.

In the eyes of Daoist immortals, the element of earth holds a unique position among the five elements. It is the source of all qi and blood, the foundation upon which all living beings and all things rely, hence called the 'postnatal foundation.'

This is the basis for the existence of an external elixir: only after nurturing earth-type spiritual energy can other types of spiritual energy attach to it.

Additionally, the Wildfire Mammoth's beast crystal had an extra benefit: it also contained some high-purity wood-type spiritual energy. Although it could not achieve the full cycle of the five elements, a small cycle of generation and restraint could still be formed among fire, earth, and wood—making it an excellent material for crafting an external elixir.

At this moment, Li Mochen's manipulation of the magical array and crucible furnace was still quite unskilled, even somewhat clumsy.

But now that he had suitable materials, Li Mochen was unwilling to miss the opportunity.

The original owner's surroundings were fraught with danger, and he had to restore some strength as quickly as possible. The 'external elixir' technique was the most feasible method.

If he succeeded this time in refining a 'external elixir' at the Extraordinary level, that would be ideal. As long as he could later gather good magical energy firearms and artifacts, it would be difficult for anyone below the fifteenth-level high-rank magical energy profession to harm him physically or through force.

But even if he failed, he would gain enough experience for the next attempt.

Li Mochen then devoted himself entirely, gradually losing track of time. Using the tools at hand, he repeatedly stirred, forged, and inscribed within the crucible furnace, completely oblivious to the sun setting and rising outside.

It was not until the crucible furnace began to draw magical energy from its surroundings like a vortex that Li Mochen relaxed slightly, a hint of joy appearing on his face as he wiped the sweat from his brow.

Although the process had been barely managed and perilous—only a hair's breadth from causing an explosion—he had finally succeeded in refining the thing!

After about ten breaths, the surging magical energy gradually subsided. At that moment, Li Mochen dripped his own blood through the dedicated gap in the crucible furnace. In the next instant, an even greater magical energy tide arose. The inside of the crucible furnace became like a bottomless abyss, voraciously devouring and absorbing the gathered magical energy.

This lasted for about half a minute before ending. When Li Mochen opened the furnace door, he saw a golden pill lying inside. The pill was about the size of a pigeon egg, and upon closer inspection, faint, mysterious spiritual patterns could be seen on its surface. These patterns were not fixed but changed with the movement of light.

With a thought from Li Mochen, this external elixir, which he had named 'Spirit Fire,' rose on its own and landed in his hand.

In the next moment, a sturdy stone shield formed in front of him, followed by flames—a ball of crimson fire leaped and burned in his palm.

These were all immortal arts from the Primordial Vault Realm, each performed with the power of this external elixir.

However, this was not a spell practice room, so Li Mochen dared not unleash more powerful techniques. After a brief test, he stopped and tucked the external elixir into his sleeve.

At this point, a hint of disappointment and helplessness showed in Li Mochen's eyes.

This was an external elixir at the Fusion stage. Given his current level, this was the best he could achieve—

The so-called Fusion stage corresponds to the Qi Refining stage in this world, or roughly level nine to ten in Western magical energy professions.

The reason the level-eleven beast crystal had degraded to this level was twofold: first, there was inherent loss during the purification process; second, his earlier mistakes had caused some high-purity spiritual energy to dissipate. Thus, the final product was only between levels nine and ten.

It was regrettable that the external elixir had not reached the level of an Extraordinary, but given his current situation, being able to refine it at all was something to be thankful for.

Apart from that, it was probably also due to the impure and mixed magical energy of the beast crystal itself.

Unlike human magical energy professionals, who could enter the Legendary realm at level twenty-one, these magical creatures often needed to reach level twenty-six or higher to enter the Legendary realm. This was the result of unconscious accumulation versus conscious cultivation.

Li Mochen judged that to forge an external elixir truly at the Extraordinary level, he would need to further improve his refining skills and obtain a beast crystal of at least level thirteen, or other celestial treasures.

This was because the gap between magical energy levels ten and eleven was like a chasm—not merely a difference of one level.

By the time Li Mochen walked out of the refining room, he found it was already noon. That meant he had unconsciously missed the four morning classes on Monday.

Li Mochen rubbed his forehead in headache, knowing that when he went to school later, he would inevitably be nagged or even reprimanded by the grade advisor.

But that was not the only problem; the key issue was class hours. If he lacked sufficient class hours, it would greatly affect his GPA. Unexcused absences would also affect the teachers' impressions and grading.

However, now that it had happened, regret was useless, and he would not regret it. If given the choice again, Li Mochen would still do the same. A few classes were not as important as his life.

Fortunately, the midterm exams were on Tuesday, so he had not missed them.