Cultivated through Water Spirit Stones, the mutated Tier Two Water Thorns lacked the wood poison of the regular Wood Thorns or the fire poison of the Flame Thorns; they possessed only a cold poison. However, this cold poison manifested lethargically within the body, nowhere near as swift as the fire poison. Any cultivator would have ample time to suppress its spread and force the cold toxin out. Its effect, consequently, was greatly diminished. Though mutated, these Water Thorns were a failed variation.

How to enhance their potency?

Ye Qin’s gaze suddenly settled upon a small pile of Ice Spirit Stones within his Purple Mansion. He had gathered these stones from the Cold Pool; there were perhaps several dozen. Ice Spirit Stones were rare, and he had hoarded them, unwilling to use them.

He paused for a moment, then immediately retrieved several hundred seeds of the Wood Thorns. He crushed one Ice Spirit Stone and sprinkled the powder onto the planting bed, covering the seeds.

"Crack!"

The Wood Thorn seeds in the bed were instantly encased by a potent, frigid spiritual energy, freezing them into iced seeds. Never mind mutation; they lacked even the potential to sprout.

Ye Qin carefully extracted the Wood Thorn seeds, examining them one by one, vexedly realizing they had all been frozen into icy rods.

If Water Spirit Stones could induce mutation in Wood Thorn seeds, there was no reason Ice Spirit Stones couldn't do the same.

He grit his teeth and tried again!

This time, he experimented with the seeds of the more cold-resistant Water Thorns. Over a hundred Water Thorn seeds, inherently containing a stronger chill and possessing higher frost resistance.

He scattered the pulverized Ice Spirit Stone over the planting bed.

Once again, the hundred seeds were frozen by the intense cold energy. However, not all of these seeds perished. One or two seedlings managed to withstand the freezing air, slowly cracking their shells and beginning to absorb the ice spiritual energy, growing gradually.

Ye Qin watched with delight, waiting for them to mature.

After a considerable while, a Tier Two mutated ice-elemental Thorn grew in the planting bed—pale snow-white, resembling a transparent icy rod. The entire shrub, every leaf and every prickle, was coated in frost, radiating oppressive cold. Delicate snow-colored ice flowers even bloomed on the branches.

This stood in stark contrast to the field of Flame Thorns, whose thorns resembled living fire.

"Frost Thorns!"

A sense of breathtaking wonder struck Ye Qin, and a perfectly fitting name spontaneously emerged in his mind.

At a busy hornet's nest in the grey rock crevice, several golden little bees, drawn by the floral scent, immediately buzzed excitedly and flew toward the Frost Thorns’ planting bed. As soon as they reached the vicinity of the Frost Thorns, "Crack!"—the intense cold crystallized onto their golden wings. The ice crystals accumulated rapidly, weighing down their wings, greatly slowing their flight speed. Every flap became an immense struggle. Unable to bear the pressure, they simply dropped onto the Frost Thorns, leading to an even more tragic fate: they were instantly frozen onto the branches, becoming countless ice sculptures of bees—some caught mid-flap, some hanging upside down, some with wide-open eyes, capturing every conceivable posture. Only a very small number of bees managed to collect nectar and speed away, returning to the hive.

Ye Qin stared, dumbfounded; this icy energy was too tyrannical!

Since nesting within the Purple Mansion, these golden little bees had begun to multiply; there were now forty or fifty of them. Every time the Thorns flowered, they would come to gather nectar and pollen.

The intense heat emitted by the Flame Thorns significantly affected them; after gathering nectar once, they would become listless and sickly from the fire aura, requiring rest in the hive and honey consumption to recover.

The Frost Thorns, however, simply froze them solid, leaving them unable to escape.

Ye Qin did not want them all to perish, as without their help in pollination, the Thorns would never bear fruit. He carefully extracted these "ice-sculpted bees," shattered the ice shells, and released them. Since the freezing time was short, most had not died, only suffering wing damage.

Exhausting several Ice Spirit Stones, he successfully cultivated his second variant Thorn—the Frost Thorns.

On the Azure Pill Mountain Range, summer, autumn coolness, flying snow, and spring thaw cycled year after year.

In the mine shafts of North Camp Mountain, there were no seasons, no distinction between day and night; time seemed to have stopped, holding no variation. Mining, alchemy, meditation, mining, alchemy, meditation—a day-in, day-out repetition.

There was nothing else to do.

Occasionally, he would try to mutate the Wood Thorns, but having tested every Spirit Stone available, this repetitive experimentation eventually grew tedious.

The only surprise was that the colony of golden little bees had actually split.

One nest settled near the Flame Thorns’ planting bed.

The other nest relocated and established itself beside the Frost Thorns’ planting bed.

What made Ye Qin laugh and cry was that nature took its course unexpectedly. These two groups of little bees, long exposed to the Flame Thorns and the Frost Thorns, actually underwent changes. When the population of each nest exceeded a hundred, a very small number—one or two—of mutated Battle Bees appeared in each colony.

Gold Flame Thorn Bees: Tier Two mutated bees, large in size, with stingers possessing both gold and fire attributes. Capabilities: Armor piercing, fire poison.

Gold Frost Thorn Bees: Tier Two mutated bees, large in size, with stingers possessing both gold and ice attributes. Capabilities: Armor piercing, frostbite.

These few startlingly powerful Battle Bees did not typically gather nectar but were tasked with guarding the nest. Once they detected a golden little bee from the rival hive encroaching, they would immediately fly over to drive them away.

Occasionally, the Battle Bees from the two nests would accidentally engage in combat.

It invariably required Ye Qin to personally intervene and separate them.

Ye Qin sat cross-legged in the abandoned mine shaft, eyes closed, observing the void, his expression detached, gradually sinking into a state of self-suppressed aura.

The first to third layers required suppressing all outward energy, expression, and demeanor, transforming every wisp of his vital essence, energy, and spirit into true essence, while effectively minimizing consumption. This demanded silence, indifference, even coldness.

The fourth to sixth layers involved the 'Unstained and Unharmed' stage: gathering the spirit in his gaze and the workings of his mind, rendering him akin to deadwood. A dull, stiff exterior was preferred, reducing reaction to the external world. At this stage, only the mind remained active.

The seventh to ninth layers were 'Hidden Form, Accumulated Power': the mind also gradually stilled, striving for utter blankness in the brain, relying purely on bodily instinct to circulate the cultivation method, stockpiling all vital essence, energy, and spirit, aiming for a forced breakthrough past the final barrier of the Qi Refining stage, stepping onto the immortal path.

The sole purpose of this entire cultivation method was to seal off the leakage of true essence, reducing its outflow, thereby concentrating all essence, energy, and spirit within the body, allowing for the continuous accumulation of primal energy.

The early cultivators of the Spiritual Mist Immortal Fate City clearly lacked proficiency in refining spiritual pills at that time. Unable to rely on external aid, they depended purely on arduous self-cultivation to increase their true essence. To embark on the immortal path, they created this cultivation method, which bordered on extreme and possessed significant flaws. Only a select few ancient cultivators with exceptional talent managed to break through using it; many perished due to this technique. Later generations, recognizing this danger, mostly devised alternative cultivation methods to avoid losing control of their physical bodies in the late Qi Refining period.

Ye Qin cultivated this method purely by chance, having acquired it at the Herb Gathering Hall in Zhuqi County.

The Scripture of Sitting in Oblivion demanded that the cultivator restrain expression, emotion, and mentation, accumulating every particle of vital essence, energy, and spirit to convert into the primal energy of the nascent spirit. While not doing so was possible, it resulted in the loss of primal energy.

In the first layer of Qi Refining, one could cultivate seven strands of white radiance daily. If one failed to suppress outwardly leaking aura, a strand of true essence, or even more, would automatically leak away, diminishing the cultivation effect.

To enhance his cultivation, Ye Qin was forced to rigidly suppress all expression and emotion, maintaining a silent and indifferent demeanor, enduring the misunderstanding of his martial brothers and sisters. This was done solely to cultivate that single extra strand of white radiance each day, making himself stronger and less subject to others' control.

Later, the adventure at Eagle Cliff caused a Purple Mansion to manifest within him. The method for increasing true essence shifted from the Scripture of Sitting in Oblivion to relying on the spiritual power of the Dew-Descending Pills, leading to rapid progress. The role of the Sitting in Oblivion Scripture greatly decreased, serving only a minor auxiliary function.

It was only then that he ceased forcefully suppressing his emotions.

Upon reaching the fifth layer of Qi Refining, the method exerted little influence over him.

Cultivating in seclusion within this sunless mine, undisturbed by people or events, he meditated alone, his heart calm as still water. Naturally, he needed no special effort to conceal his expressions, nor did it drain his focus. The Scripture of Sitting in Oblivion achieved its maximum effect, building reserves to be released in one burst as he pushed with all his might toward the peak of the ninth layer of Qi Refining.

As his cultivation rapidly increased, the method began to reveal its true power. Even without actively suppressing it, his aura would automatically retract as much as possible, rendering him like deadwood, utterly placid.

This automatic retraction was already superior to the 'Aura Concealment Technique' employed by ordinary cultivators. A Qi Refining cultivator of equal strength would find it extremely difficult to sense the faint, almost non-existent aura leaking from him unless they saw him with their own eyes.

Yet, deep within Ye Qin’s pupils, that single ray of light grew steadily purer.

Three years passed.

Ye Qin was now a twenty-year-old youth cultivator, sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed.

A sudden shock jolted his mind, causing him to snap his eyes open. A divine light flashed in his eyes before dimming. That fleeting radiance had caused at least a sliver of true essence to leak out.

However, Ye Qin paid it no mind.

He glanced at a crude, homemade hourglass before him. This large hourglass contained enough fine sand to flow for seven days. Now, the sand was almost entirely gone, only a tiny remnant remained.

This meant that during his meditation, seven days had passed in a blink.

He had been at the peak of the eighth layer of Qi Refining seven days prior, intending only to meditate on the Scripture of Sitting in Oblivion for half a day. He never intended to cultivate for so long. But as the Scripture of Sitting in Oblivion ran its course, his mind unexpectedly stilled, and he unconsciously sank into slumber, advancing to the ninth layer of Qi Refining without realizing it.

Instead of elation, an inexpressible sense of dread filled Ye Qin.

The ninth layer of Qi Refining was already a dangerously precarious stage. Once the ability to willfully control his mind completely shut down, he would be involuntarily isolated from the outside world, and whether he could breach the bottleneck between Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment would be entirely left to fate.

Had it not been for that sudden shock waking him, not long from now, this abandoned mine shaft would have contained another cultivator who died due to practicing the Scripture of Sitting in Oblivion.

"It seems I cannot continue cultivating the Scripture of Sitting in Oblivion. I must find another way to ensure I can break through the bottleneck and successfully establish my foundation."

Ye Qin murmured to himself, sitting calmly for a moment.

He had only just stepped into the ninth layer of Qi Refining; it wasn't yet irreversible. As long as he didn't meditate, he would fall into that deep slumber. If he reached the peak of the ninth layer, resisting this automatic retraction might become impossible.

There were two methods for Foundation Establishment. One relied purely on strenuous self-cultivation, a method whose success rate for someone like him was exceedingly slim. The other method involved external aid—consuming a Foundation Establishment Pill, which offered about a ten percent chance of success.

A cultivator at the ninth layer of Qi Refining could consume a Foundation Establishment Pill to force a breakthrough.

Perhaps it was time to consider returning to the Azure Pill Sect to acquire this pill.

Ye Qin stood up, his body trembling slightly, shaking off a layer of dust. He popped a Flame Berry into his mouth and flew out of the abandoned mine shaft. These three years of constant, empty contemplation had made him forget how to exit the shaft; he could only fly around searching for an exit.

Within the mine, low-level miners at the first and second layers of Qi Refining, along with the thugs at the third and fourth layers who had seized control, only caught a fleeting shadow. A high-level cultivator flashed past their eyes.

They gaped in astonishment, unable to comprehend why a high-level cultivator would enter their domain. However, they dared not question the actions of a superior cultivator and buried their heads back in their mining.

Half a day later, Ye Qin finally located the exit and landed outside the cavern entrance. He spared a glance for Supervisor Wang waiting there before walking past indifferently.

The portly Supervisor Wang, sitting lazily in his large armchair, suddenly saw a flash of movement. A remarkably unfamiliar young cultivator stood at the mine entrance. He used the Spirit Eye Technique to examine the figure and froze, momentarily stunned, daring not to obstruct him.

He was profoundly confused. He guarded this spot daily; not even an ant could sneak in unnoticed. Yet, he had never seen this 'Senior Brother' enter the mine before.

"Senior Brother, when did you enter the mine?"

Suddenly, Supervisor Wang’s face contorted, and his body trembled as he watched Ye Qin’s receding back, utterly disbelieving: "It was the fellow who entered three years ago! He stayed in the mine for three full years, without eating or drinking, and he’s still alive? Moreover, he has cultivated to the ninth layer of Qi Refining—how did he manage that!" (To be continued, for what happens next, please visit www**m for more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!) First Release