Chapter 88: The Formation of Spirit Stones

Anyang has finally gotten on track, flourishing in every aspect, and Li Xian has finally found the time to retreat for further cultivation.

To be precise, what has been on Li Xian’s mind is the structure of the spiritual stones he saw in his consciousness world when he last entered the Foundation Establishment stage.

After gritting his teeth, Li Xian took out ten spiritual stones again and entered seclusion once more. He felt the pure spiritual energy overflowing from the stones, flowing through his acupoints into his body. He sensed his soul once again drifting upwards, arriving at the “world” he had seen during his previous Foundation Establishment.

As Li Xian had anticipated, he found himself at the same location where he had disappeared last time. Before him stood a stone peak—more accurately, a gigantic spiritual stone the size of a stone peak.

Li Xian widened his eyes, carefully observing while rapidly approaching.

Getting closer, closer still, an immense pressure surged toward him; Li Xian gritted his teeth and continued forward. Ahead, there was not just pressure but also extreme heat. After walking a hundred feet towards the peak, he finally found it impossible to move.

Here, Li Xian could barely stand upright, drenched in sweat. This time, he could clearly feel a “countdown.” He could only last for one hour; after an hour, when the spiritual stones were depleted, he would be forced to leave this consciousness world.

Ignoring the strange sensations, Li Xian meticulously observed every detail of the formation of the spiritual stones.

The heavy pressure surrounding him was enough to crush bones; the pressure from the mountain peak ahead was even greater, capable of shattering rocks. Layers of stone debris constantly peeled away from the surface of the peak, revealing the rocks inside that could withstand such extreme pressure. The rocks gradually turned milky white under high temperatures and pressures, becoming misty white, and eventually semi-transparent, with a crystalline sheen.

“This is a transformation from ordinary rock into quartz, and even into crystal,” Li Xian noted this change.

The wind surged and clouds roiled around him. Wait, this isn’t mist; it’s spiritual energy! These spiritual energies rolled and condensed under extreme pressure; the high temperature made the energies swirl even more violently, constantly battering the semi-transparent peak, as if seeking revenge.

Suddenly, the sky lit up with flashes of lightning; bolts of wild lightning struck down, piercing through the clouds formed by the spiritual energy and hitting the semi-transparent peak.

In an instant, the electric light dazzled, tinting the world in a brilliant blue hue.

The lightning became more and more concentrated, eventually falling like a tide; gradually, it seemed as if the peak was being “soaked” in lightning, flickering with blue electric light from within to without.

At that moment, a change occurred! The swirling and roaring spiritual energies around him surged into the peak along with the lightning. These spiritual energies continued to swirl inside the peak, like a river flowing through a chaotic rocky terrain, each swirling on its own.

Gradually, the lightning disappeared, and the spiritual energy ceased to penetrate. Countless fist-sized vortices had appeared inside the peak; some were powerful, while others were weak.

Then, more changes occurred. The weak vortices gradually dissipated; the slightly stronger vortices slowly calmed down, ultimately forming a thin cluster that slowly merged into the quartz, and this was the most common outcome.

The moderately strong vortices formed a misty white cluster that gradually integrated into the quartz; such spiritual stones had a pearly sheen, resembling the brilliance of the finest silk. These were already quite rare.

Stronger ones began to exhibit a hint of indigo color, remarkably luxurious. Such spiritual stones were few in number, yet they stood out like pearls on a crown!

Wait, most of the vortices had yet to condense and were still rapidly swirling…

Bang! Bang!

The remaining quartz began to explode one after another, sending clouds of stone powder flying in front of the peak. The massive rock explosions triggered a severe consequence—landslides! Without their support, large quantities of spiritual stones fell like rain, ultimately buried beneath layers of stone dust.

Li Xian was dumbfounded. “Is this the process of spiritual stone formation? Lightning, high pressure, and high temperature?”

Suddenly, Li Xian felt his feet give way beneath him, and he began to plummet rapidly, the sea of clouds swirling around him. Below, he could already see the lush green fields…

“No!”  

“Thud!” Li Xian crashed headfirst onto the ground, landing like a pancake.

In the real world, Li Xian jolted awake, wiping away the cold sweat. “That hurt like hell! It’s always like this!”

But in the next moment, Li Xian jumped up joyfully. “So this is how spiritual stones are formed! Can I produce a large quantity of them this way? But is this process too simple? Are there any traps within it?

Nonetheless, the prospects are enticing!”

Without wasting a moment, Li Xian couldn’t sit still. He fiercely hugged Xia Qingqing and nibbled a few times, took a few playful punches, and after giving Xu Ren some instructions, Li Xian headed straight for Qingyun Valley with Song Xing and a few others.

It had been only a few days since Tang Rong returned from An Yang, and his research work was already tangled and overwhelming when Li Xian burst in.

“Master, what brings you here again?” Tang Rong asked, his heart racing, fearing there might be yet another research task. He was truly at his wit’s end! Just look at the current research tasks; the detailed outlines had over a hundred points!

Excited, Li Xian didn’t care about Tang Rong’s tone at all. He opened his mouth and said, “Teacher Tang, I may have found the principle behind the formation of spirit stones.”

“You?” Tang Rong was filled with question marks. You found the principle of spirit stone formation? Haven’t you been dealing with government affairs these past few days? How could you possibly have time to research these things?

Li Xian ignored Tang Rong’s doubts. “Teacher Tang, I’ve thought of a possible method. We might be able to succeed.”

Seeing Li Xian’s confidence, and considering his past track record of being “correct,” Tang Rong became serious. “What method has the young master thought of?”

“Earlier, when I saw the kitchen boiling ribs, I thought of a feasible method. We boil ribs in a pot, while heaven and earth use themselves as a furnace to boil the ribs. Only that the ribs of heaven and earth are the spirit stones; the seasonings are the spiritual energy, etc.

Could we use this method to boil spirit stones? To re-energize depleted spirit stones by boiling them with compressed spiritual energy?

Of course, we need fire to boil the ribs; perhaps the spirit stones need something else as a medium, like… lightning!”

Tang Rong’s eyes lit up at this and he immediately agreed, “Boiling ribs? This might be feasible!”

“Then let’s hurry up and give it a try!” Li Xian couldn’t wait any longer.

“Well… we have to wait. Young master, I already have too many research tasks at hand; I simply can’t spare any time right now!” Tang Rong finally began to express his grievances.

Once, Tang Rong had been quite proud as the head of the research department, with the authority to allocate any resources. But as the pressure of research increased, he finally understood that it wasn’t an easy task; now, those bastards were following him around demanding research results. The resources in the research department had already begun to run short.

Li Xian naturally knew about these circumstances. “Teacher, let’s set up another department specifically for researching spirit stones. We can directly pull researchers from various branch factories to fill it.”

“Ah… that sounds great!” Tang Rong rubbed his hands together, feeling pleased—see, you all come to me every day for research results, and now it’s time for me to pull your researchers! Hmph!

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