Gou Zai Fei Men made up myths

Shen Mo pondered for a moment, then shook his head: "Insufficient evidence. A single crystal of unknown origin and a piece of animal hide are not enough to convict the Xuan Yin Sect; on the contrary, they might alert them."

"The Blazing Sun Sect and the Heavenly Sword Sect will not admit it, and may even turn around and accuse us of framing them and trying to take the relics for ourselves. We just need to keep this in mind."

He paused, a sharp glint in his eyes: "They want to operate in the shadows, so we'll go with the flow. Perfect, let's take this opportunity to see just how many demons and monsters are lurking beneath this swamp."

Su Xiao seemed to be deep in thought: "What does the sect leader mean...?"

"Since they're all secretly watching and waiting for their chance, let's give them that chance," Shen Mo said slowly, his fingers unconsciously tapping lightly on the window frame.

"An 'opportunity' that makes them feel they can take advantage of the chaos, or even deliver a fatal blow to us. An opportunity... enough." This was bait that forced them to jump out.

"Bait?" Su Xiao's eyes flashed with doubt.

Shen Mo did not answer immediately, but turned around, his gaze sweeping over the rows of towering bookshelves behind him again, finally settling on a secluded corner.

What was stored there were not cultivation techniques, nor formations or pill formulas, but rather some ancient travelogues, miscellaneous notes, and even some incomplete, tattered jade slips that resembled pill formulas and artifact manuals, which no one cared about.

Over a thousand years, the Qingyun Sect has accumulated a collection of seemingly useless "junk" items that were casually collected by its predecessors.

He walked to that corner, scanned it with his divine sense, and finally stopped on a dusty jade slip with burn marks on the edges.

The jade slip was made of ordinary, even inferior, material, and the inscription on it was crooked and messy, as if it had been casually written down.

Shen Mo remembered that he had picked up this jade slip from a pile of discarded jade when he was organizing the library in his early years. At the time, he just thought the words on it were ancient and somewhat like ancient elixir formulas, so he put it back without further investigation.

He took out the jade slip and immersed his consciousness into it. Sure enough, it contained the method for refining a pill called "Golden Condensation Pill".

However, the formula was severely incomplete, with only a few main ingredients such as "Golden-Veined Jade Fungus," "Nine-Aperture Star Fruit," and "Earth Vein Purple Core." The auxiliary ingredients, dosages, heat control, refining techniques, and even the description of the unusual phenomena during the pill's formation were all missing. Only a vague sentence remained: "When this pill is successfully formed, it can help solidify the Golden Elixir and allow one to glimpse the path to the Nascent Soul stage," along with a blurry, flame-like mark at the end.

"Golden Core Formation..." Shen Mo murmured the name. Pills that assist in core formation are not uncommon in the cultivation world, but those that can "help the Golden Core solidify and pave the way to the Nascent Soul stage" are extremely rare, and each one is a closely guarded secret.

If this incomplete prescription were to be leaked, it would be enough to cause a bloodbath. More importantly, the main ingredients of this prescription are all rare treasures that are hard to find in the world. The "Golden-Veined Jade Fungus" and the "Nine-Aperture Star Fruit" alone only exist in legends and have been extinct for thousands of years.

An ancient, incomplete formula that is impossible to refine is of greatly reduced value, but it holds a fatal allure for some people who are stuck in a bottleneck and dream of instant success.

"This is it." A cold smile curled at the corner of Shen Mo's lips.

He needs a card that is precious enough, enough It is a "bait" that is subtly linked to "ancient times" and "Star River Ruler," yet its authenticity cannot be immediately verified. This incomplete "Golden Elixir" formula is just right.

"Junior Sister Xiao, go to the Hundred Herbs Pavilion yourself and see Li Xiaocao. Ask her for three jade slips detailing the medicinal properties of 'Jade Marrow Lingzhi,' 'Star Pattern Grass,' and 'Earth Core Fire Lotus.' Get the most complete and oldest records, especially descriptions of their possible ancient names and mutated forms. Be careful to keep it a secret; don't let her know their purpose," Shen Mo instructed.

Although Su Xiao was puzzled, she answered without hesitation, "Yes."

"In addition, secretly retrieve all the ancient books and rubbings in the Scripture Pavilion that contain information about ancient alchemy, spiritual plants, and other unusual items, as well as those bearing this flame mark, and send them to my meditation room." Shen Mo pointed to the blurry flame mark at the end of the jade slip.

"Understood." Su Xiao accepted the order and left.

Shen Mo then returned to the quiet room deep within the Flowing Cloud Palace with the jade slip containing the incomplete recipe for the "Golden Condensation Pill." He needed to "process" this bait.

The door to the quiet room was tightly shut, and the array was activated. Shen Mo sat cross-legged, placing the tattered jade slip in front of him. He did not act immediately, but closed his eyes and concentrated, sinking his mind into the depths of his sea of ​​consciousness.

The Myriad Laws Source Pearl slowly rotated, emitting a hazy, chaotic light that nourished his soul and made his mind clearer and sharper than ever before.

He recalled the shock and doubts brought about by the "Star River Ruler" incident, the words "Star Source" and "Awakening" on the Xuan Yin Sect's animal skin map, and the various fragmented legends about ancient times.

A vague but bold idea gradually took shape in his mind.

He wanted to "complete" the "Golden Condensation Pill" formula. Not to actually complete it—that would require unimaginable mastery of alchemy and a profound understanding of long-extinct medicinal herbs—but to "fabricate" a seemingly flawless, logically consistent, and even classically based "complete" formula.

"The Golden Jade Mushroom, with its warm and moist nature, is primarily used to strengthen the body's foundation and nourish the vital energy. It belongs to both earth and metal elements and should be the principal medicine. The Nine-Aperture Star Fruit, imbued with the essence of the stars, is spiritually vibrant and is primarily used to open the acupoints and refine the spirit and soul, and should be the secondary medicine."

"The Earth Vein Purple Core, condensed from the essence of earth fire, is extremely potent. It is primarily used to refine impurities and unblock meridians, and should be used as an adjuvant medicine..."

Shen Mo mentally deduced the process, his fingertips unconsciously tracing patterns in the air, outlining the phantom of the elixir and simulating its melting.

"The three medicinal properties clash and need to be harmonized. Hmm... we can add 'Celestial Star Grass' and 'Moonlight Dew' as supplements to harmonize the stellar power and earth fire. 'Star Fruit' is too potent and needs 'Sinking Star Sand' to moderate its effects. 'Earth Vein Purple Core' is violent and needs 'Cold Jade Marrow' to neutralize it. The principal, assistant, and adjuvant herbs complement and counteract each other, and a delicate balance needs to be achieved..."

He kept deducing and adjusting, sometimes frowning, sometimes suddenly realizing something.

This is not real alchemy, but rather the construction of a theoretically "perfect" lie.

He referenced dozens of known high-level alchemical formulas, drew on the ancient alchemical concepts of "using celestial phenomena as medicine" and "drawing fire from the earth's veins," and even included the "power of stars" that the "Star River Ruler" might attract as a component of the medicine.

The types and dosages of auxiliary medicines, the timing of their addition, changes in heat, hand gestures, and even unusual phenomena that may occur during the formation of the elixir, such as "seven stars aligning" and "golden lotuses emerging from the earth"...

He "created" it bit by bit, striving to make every detail conform to the ultimate principles of alchemy. It sounds mysterious and unpredictable, yet it subtly forms its own system.

Then, it is about giving this "prescription" a reasonable, The origin of.

He recalled a travelogue he had read years ago, almost a myth, which recounted how the Flowing Cloud Ancestor had explored an ancient secret realm called "Fallen Star Sea," a place fraught with danger but also full of opportunities. Alright, this is it.