One person: I, Daoist Master, am a cultivator of immortality!

Sun Yao shook his head as he walked out of the Corpse King's tomb. "This Corpse King is too inferior. The burial goods are just a bunch of useless gold and silver jewels. Couldn't they have included something useful? Look at Li Chunfeng, he built a decoy tomb in Lantian and there are countless rare treasures inside. No wonder these alien races are all ignorant. All they know is gold and silver. He's supposed to be a great general, guarding a region, but he doesn't know how to use his brain or broaden his horizons." Sun Yao cursed as he walked, and his curses were indeed quite harsh.

He leaped out of the sinkhole on his flying sword and bumped head-on into Chen Yulou, who was rushing towards him. Among Chen Yulou's group were three people he had never seen before. These three appeared to be from a Miao village, but their behavior showed no trace of Miao heritage. They seemed to be the Mountain Moving Trio: Partridge Whistle and his junior brothers and sisters.

"The chief is a bit late. After all, the luminous pearl in the Pill Palace has already been dug out."

"Master Daoist, that luminous pearl was indeed quite difficult to dig out. Even if you complain about my slow arrival, there's nothing I can do about it. But seeing you soar into the sky from the sinkhole, you must have already seen what's down there!"

"Yes, this sinkhole is the tomb of the Corpse King of Bottle Mountain. Inside, there's a guardian general and the Corpse King's true form. I've already dealt with both. Go inside and see for yourselves. There's a lot of gold and silver treasure, but I don't need much. Take it all out and exchange it for gold and silver to help the people. However, I put in a lot of effort this time going down Bottle Mountain, so I'll take 30% of the spoils. Do you and Luo Laowai have any objections?"

Just as Chen Yulou was about to speak, Luo Laowai, standing beside him, spoke up first. "No, no, not at all. Daoist Master, taking only 30% is actually too little, but we all have brothers waiting to eat, so our leader and I won't refuse. We thank Daoist Master for understanding us!"

This old Luo is a complete lackey; it seems the allure of immortality is far greater than gold and silver. Chen Yulou shook his head helplessly, then looked at Sun Yao, "Commander Luo's words are rough but true. Daoist Master, you've put in a lot of effort this time. Without you, we wouldn't have been able to do so easily. Your 30% is indeed too little. But as Commander Luo said, besides finding relief for the refugees, our men also need to make a living. Here, Chen Yulou thanks Daoist Master for your understanding. If Daoist Master ever needs Chen Yulou's help in the future, just ask. I, Chen Yulou, will not hesitate to face any danger."

"No need, no need for anything like mountains of knives and seas of fire. Besides, if I can't solve it, you probably can't either. Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. I'll go back to the Miao village and wait for your news. By the way, Luo Laowai, your adjutant is not being honest. He's been in contact with another group behind your back. I heard his name is Ma Zhenbang. You can decide how to deal with him yourselves; I won't interfere."

Sun Yao had informed them beforehand about Yang, Luo Laowai's adjutant, contacting Ma Zhenbang. After all, given Luo Laowai's subservient attitude, he might become an asset in the future. Although Luo Laowai wasn't much, he did have a gun. As Wu Gensheng aptly put it, "Left hand holding incense, right hand holding a gun; I offer incense when it's time to offer incense, and fire my gun when it's time to fire my gun."

These days, guns have more say than anything else. Why is Zhang Dafoye able to sit firmly at the top of the Nine Gates? It's simply because he's officially armed.

Getting back to the main point, after reminding Chen Yulou and Luo Laowai, Sun Yao immediately stepped onto his flying sword and soared into the sky, flying straight down from the summit of Ping Mountain. In less than a quarter of an hour, Sun Yao had already returned to the vicinity of the Miao village. He was in a great hurry now. He didn't know how effective the jade box really was, so the efficacy of the Fulong Pill might be lost. His immediate priority was to consume and refine it as soon as possible.

He went directly to a fellow villager, gave him three bags of salt, and moved into the villager's home. In these remote Miao villages deep in the mountains, salt was more valuable than silver coins, so the villagers were happy to let him stay in their homes.

Upon arriving at his room, the first thing he did was swallow the Dragon-Subduing Pill. He immediately began refining it. While he was refining, the Purple-Backed Centipede coiled around his arm and the Silver-Winged Arrow on his headdress were also busy. They both flew out, the two Gu worms fluttering around Sun Yao to protect him. After all, refining pills was a matter that couldn't afford to go wrong, and having two powerful Gu worms protecting him was actually safer than having human protectors.

Sun Yao continuously used the Qi Refining Technique to deplete the Dragon-Subduing Pill he had swallowed. As the technique consumed the energy, the pill began to dissipate its medicinal power into Sun Yao's body. In less than half an incense stick's time, a pale blue aura rose around Sun Yao. Immediately, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth accumulated over nearly a hundred years in this deep mountain forest began to converge upon him frantically. In less than half an hour, Sun Yao's cultivation had successfully broken through the seventh level of Qi Refining, reaching the eighth level. But he didn't stop; his cultivation continued to deepen and consolidate.

He practiced his cultivation from noon until night. Before he went into seclusion, he had instructed that no one should disturb him if he did not come out on his own. Although the villagers of Miao Village wanted to invite him to dinner, they voluntarily refrained from disturbing him when they saw that he did not come out.

As dawn broke the next morning, with the first light of day on the eastern horizon and the clear crow of a rooster, Sun Yao finally opened his eyes, emerging from his meditative state. This was the first time in years that he had devoted himself fully to refining pills; previously, he had refined one pill over several days. While on Longhu Mountain, he not only had to cultivate and refine pills but also study the ancient texts, so his pill-refining speed was actually not fast.

Only then did he realize that he had been able to refine a pill with nearly ten times the potency of the Little Yellow Pill in less than a day.

He successfully refined the Dragon-Subduing Pill, which raised his cultivation level by three levels. Now, he is a cultivator at the ninth level of Qi Refining, having successfully entered the late-stage peak of Qi Refining, just one step away from the peak. The Qi Refining realm is divided into four stages: early, middle, late, and peak, each representing three levels of Qi Refining. His current ninth level of Qi Refining is precisely at the peak of the late-stage Qi Refining realm.