Earth Core Soul Marrow

This was a desolate plain where the earth was mostly a dull yellow, with only occasional patches of green providing a hint of vitality.

From time to time, small Demonic Beasts would dart across the plain, kicking up trails of yellow dust before vanishing into the distance.

The silence of the desolate plain lasted for a while until the void suddenly distorted, and a beautiful figure stepped out from the space. The person who had first entered the space tunnel was, naturally, Cao Ying. With her strength in this realm:

"The energy here is exceptionally abundant, but there seems to be a hint of violent factors within it. Could this be the reason for the Pill Realm's decay?"

Cao Ying clenched her hand in the void before her, looking thoughtful. Opening space was a god-like power that only Dou Saint powerhouses possessed. Of course, even after successfully opening a space, it required continuous maintenance; otherwise, the space would eventually degrade.

However, this kind of space was not enough to surprise Cao Ying. She had seen even more grand scenes within Shen Feng's Sealed Realm; this space was merely a small-scale affair.

After a moment of contemplation, Cao Ying dismissed these thoughts and clenched her hand, causing a piece of parchment to appear. This was the Pill Formula given by the old man riding the turtle upon entering the tunnel; one had to collect all the natural treasures listed on it to successfully pass this selection.

Such a task was slightly challenging for Cao Ying; otherwise, if it were merely a mission to hunt Demonic Beasts, it would be far too simple for her to simply crush them.

"These three types of medicinal herbs are somewhat unique. Let me check the map first!"

Cao Ying shook her head and took out a map. On it, three locations were circled in red. After finding the right direction, she intended to head toward the Wanyao Mountain Range. At that moment, a thirty-foot-long giant python shot out from beneath a sand dune like a bolt of lightning, its ferocious bloody maw snapping toward an Alchemist who had just appeared.

Although the giant python ambushed him, it failed to wound the Alchemist. Once he sensed it, he struck with thunderous force and killed the python.

"Earth Emperor Python?"

Seeing this, Cao Ying suddenly remembered something. Feng Wu Yi had once mentioned that wherever an Earth Emperor Python appeared, there would surely be Earth Emperor Pith. Judging by the strength of this python, the Earth Emperor Pith it guarded was likely over a hundred years old.

Thinking this, Cao Ying intended to go down into the pit where the python had emerged to search. However, the Alchemist who killed the python seemed to realize this as well. He suddenly reached down, and a dark golden root the size of a child's head appeared before everyone's eyes.

"A hundred-year Earth Emperor Pith is usually only the size of a fist and is very rare. To think the Earth Emperor Pith in this Pill Realm has grown to this extent; it's truly astonishing. It must be at least a thousand years old. If this were outside, it would surely attract countless greedy eyes."

Cao Ying mused to herself, and then her gaze suddenly became sharp. Earth Emperor Pith is formed from the condensation of pure earth energy, but it has limits. Once it grows for a hundred years, its energy becomes saturated, and it no longer increases in volume. This is why Earth Emperor Pith over a hundred years old is so rare.

Ancient texts recorded that if an Earth Emperor Pith could far exceed a hundred years of age, then the thing nourishing its growth was surely not earth energy, but some other natural spiritual treasure!

"Move aside!"

Cao Ying directly unleashed her aura, pushing back the people around her before walking to the edge of the deep pit. She made a light beckoning motion with her hand, and a large amount of soil was sucked out, revealing a piece of snow-white jade at the bottom of the pit.

"This is... Earth Core Jade Mother?"

Earth Core Jade Mother is a miraculous jade formed from earth energy over countless ages. Because earth energy is uniquely stable, Earth Core Jade Mother is a treasure worth more than gold to cultivators. When cultivating or refining pills, using a cushion made from Earth Core Jade Mother provides an excellent suppressing effect against violent energy in the body, reducing the chance of Qi Deviation to the lowest possible level.

"Not bad, it seems this harvest is quite good!"

Looking at the Earth Core Jade Mother, Cao Ying was delighted. She placed her hand on the jade, bent her legs slightly, gave a low shout, and suddenly exerted force. Soil flew everywhere as she forcibly uprooted the Earth Core Jade Mother from the ground.

This piece of jade was about half a zhang tall and as wide as an arm; a size like this was almost never seen in the outside world.

"With this, it will be of no small help during future cultivation!"

Cao Ying nodded with satisfaction. As she withdrew her hand, she noticed a thick, pale jade liquid sticking to her palm.

"This..."

Cao Ying suddenly thought of something. A thin fire blade appeared in her hand, and she swept it across the surface of the Earth Core Jade Mother like lightning.

*Phut phut!*

A piece of jade as thick as a finger peeled off, revealing a hole the size of a peach pit inside. From the hole, a faint white mist seeped out. Cao Ying did not stop, her hand moving like a fire blade in a continuous dance.

With every strike, a thin layer of jade was removed. When the height of the jade had been cut in half, a pit the size of a head appeared, containing a white liquid less than half a knuckle deep.

"Earth Core Soul Marrow!"

Cao Ying was overjoyed. This substance was even harder to form than Earth Core Jade Mother. Earth Core Soul Marrow is an extremely rare natural treasure, and for an Alchemist, it held a maddening attraction. Because it could forge the soul!

Soul forging meant tempering and refining the soul. Earth Core Soul Marrow could strip away impurities from the soul. Even with Cao Ying's current soul realm, it would provide significant help, perhaps even allowing her to break through to the Soul Realm Perfection.