Absorbing the inner elixir

The first floor of the Xuantian Pavilion displayed various herbs and Medicinal Pills, while the second floor housed Cultivation Techniques and combat skills.

However, upon arriving here, the vast hall was almost empty, guarded by dozens of expert-level Senior Brothers dressed in white garments.

Embedded into the walls were individual wooden shelves, each independent, with Secret Manuals placed upon them.

Below the Secret Manuals were descriptions of the Cultivation Techniques and combat skills, with the price marked at the very bottom.

Upon seeing that price, Long Chen couldn't help but gasp; seventy-six thousand eight hundred.

That was an Earth Rank combat skill. However, any combat skill accepted by the Xuantian Branch Pavilion was undoubtedly a high-quality product, entirely on a different level compared to the Gale Three Styles that Long Chen had learned.

Yet even so, it was ridiculously expensive. After seeing it, Tang Waner also shook her head.

No wonder there was no one here; the items were simply too expensive. For them at their current stage, they couldn't afford it at all.

After all, their points all needed to be used to improve their overall combat power; it was impossible to just use them to arm one person.

If they really did that, the strength of the entire team would decrease, and in future competitions, they would be ruthlessly suppressed by others, which wouldn't be worth the loss.

The fifty thousand points in Tang Waner's hands were her own, but it seemed these points weren't enough to do anything, so it was better to save them for later use.

Those dozens of Senior Brothers glanced at Long Chen and the others indifferently and didn't speak, evidently long accustomed to their shock.

"It seems we came for nothing," Tang Waner sighed.

"It's fine, it's good to take a look."

Long Chen smiled slightly and began looking back and forth at the bookshelves here, discovering that the Secret Manuals here were basically all Earth Rank Elementary or higher.

There were also several Earth Rank Intermediate combat skills, but Long Chen didn't even look at them because the price tag required hundreds of thousands of points, causing him to lose interest.

Long Chen simply stopped looking at combat skills and only looked at the points. If it was only a few tens of thousands of points, Long Chen would take a look.

The ones with low prices were basically just some secret methods or secret techniques, not true combat skills, and their Rank wasn't high, so their practical value wasn't very great.

Suddenly, Long Chen's eyes lit up. He stood before a bookshelf and couldn't move; written on the shelf was—Soul Space Opening Technique.

Finally found it. Long Chen couldn't help but be overjoyed in his heart; he didn't expect that he would actually find it.

Opening a Soul Space is one of the essential skills for a Beast Tamer. By using one's own Soul Power to open an alternate dimension, one provides a place for their pet to reside.

In the secular world, such secret methods were not popular. Long Chen had searched for a long time in the Fengming Empire but hadn't found one.

And back when Lu Fang'er brought Little Xue over, constrained by sect rules, she didn't dare to teach it privately, so Long Chen had never been able to get his hands on it.

With Long Chen's Soul Power, he could have opened a Soul Space long ago. That way, he could have brought Little Xue by his side, and no one would have been able to stop him.

He looked at the price tag: sixty-three thousand. Long Chen really wanted to spit fiercely; were they all crazy poor?

This was just an Entry-Level skill for a Beast Tamer, yet it was so expensive. He had seen shameless people, but he had never seen anyone this shameless.

Tang Waner looked at this Secret Manual and asked curiously, "You want to learn this?"

Long Chen nodded and said, "Yeah."

Tang Waner smiled slightly and said, "Then learn it. Anyway, there are still points; I haven't touched mine yet."

"Thank you. The matters of the Heaven and Earth Alliance will be on me," Long Chen said gratefully.

Now, Long Chen was essentially misappropriating public funds for personal business, but opening the Soul Space was extremely important to him. After opening the Soul Space, it would be equivalent to having a powerful assistant.

At that time, he would have one more identity—Beast Tamer. When battling others, he could openly summon Little Xue to assist in the fight.

Even if others were envious, it was useless, because even if they opened a Soul Space, if the Demonic Beast was not connected to their Soul, it could not be put into the Soul Space.

Therefore, their Demonic Beasts could only be considered mounts, whereas Long Chen's Little Xue could be considered a contracted pet. It was just that Long Chen hadn't planted a Soul mark on Little Xue, but their Souls had a connection, which was no different from a contract.

Now, because of everyone's advancement, Long Chen had almost instantly become the one at the bottom, but with Little Xue's help, although he couldn't say he had returned to his Peak, he was definitely not someone anyone could bully.

"You're suddenly so polite, it's really making people uncomfortable. Anyway, you are now the steward of the entire Heaven and Earth Alliance. If the strength of the Heaven and Earth Alliance drops, hee hee, I will hold you accountable," Tang Waner giggled.

"Please rest assured, Chief, Long Chen will definitely go all out," Long Chen gave a very standard military salute and said very seriously.

"Alright, stop messing around," Tang Waner tapped Long Chen lightly, chiding him.

At this moment, someone walked over. The person looked at Long Chen and kindly reminded him, "This item doesn't have much practical value. Are you sure you want it?"

Clearly knowing it doesn't have much practical value, yet it still has such a high price? However, Long Chen knew this had nothing to do with these Senior Brothers.

Long Chen nodded and said, "Thank you, Senior Brother."

That person took Long Chen's Nameplate and swiped it. Afterward, Long Chen's points hit rock bottom, which made Long Chen's heart ache.

After collecting the points, that person opened the cabinet, took a jade plate from below the Secret Manual, and handed it to Long Chen, saying, "This is a Soul Jade Plate. It contains the full content of the Secret Manual. The content within the jade plate can be saved for three days."

"If you haven't learned it within three days, you can come back here to receive it again. However, if you haven't learned it after two consecutive times, then no one will care about you anymore."

Long Chen nodded. If someone hadn't learned it after two times, that person would probably be a pig. He guessed the second chance was prepared for those who had lost the jade plate or had the jade plate damaged.

After saying thanks, the three of them simply didn't continue browsing downwards; looking at things they couldn't afford was a form of torture.

Although Tang Waner's points hadn't moved at all, as the person in charge, one always needed some reserve funds.

The guild's points had been almost entirely spent by Long Chen alone. Tang Waner didn't dare to look at other things; she was afraid she wouldn't be able to control herself.

The three left the Xuantian Pavilion. Tang Waner asked, "Long Chen, let's go recruit new members first and fill up the numbers."

Currently, the guild only had seventy-nine people and could still recruit twenty-one more, so the ones selected this time had to be elites.

Because during the assessment, a large group of people who hadn't joined any faction also passed the assessment.

However, these people were basically all Outer Sect Disciples; there were very few Inner Sect Disciples. But even if they recruited twenty-one Outer Sect Disciples, it could supplement quite a bit of strength.

Long Chen said, "Waner, you and Guo Ran go recruit people. I need to hurry back and prepare for Alchemy; improving everyone's strength is a matter of urgency."

"Also, when recruiting, strength is not important; what is important is their perseverance and determination, as well as absolute loyalty."

"If anyone looks as sleazy as Guo Ran, then forget it. In our team, having one such existence is enough."

Guo Ran couldn't help but be speechless, while Tang Waner chuckled and led Guo Ran toward the Xuantian Square. Currently, most people who hadn't joined a faction were waiting there with anticipation.

Long Chen immediately returned to his Immortal Cave. Seeing Qing Yu at home, he asked her to go to the square to help recruit people.

After all, this recruitment was for permanent partners, so he had to be cautious; having one more person to lend a hand was good.

After Qing Yu left, Long Chen took out the Pill Furnace and at the same time took out a large pile of medicinal herbs. With a stretch of his hand, a dark red flame rose up.

"I feel like I haven't done Alchemy for a long time. I must not be rusty; I only brought one portion of medicinal herbs."

After warming the furnace, Long Chen increased the firepower and simultaneously began to slowly place the medicinal herbs into the Pill Furnace.

What Long Chen was thankful for was that the art of Alchemy seemed to have melted into his bone marrow. Not only was he not rusty, but because his cultivation base had become stronger, his Soul Power was even more profound, making him even more adept.

"Boom!"

One hour later, the Pill Furnace shook violently. Long Chen slowly opened the Pill Furnace, and a Medicinal Pill the size of a dragon's eye appeared.

That Medicinal Pill didn't have any luster; it looked like a rusty copper ball, but a satisfied smile appeared on Long Chen's face.

"The Fire Gathering Pill is finished, and the quality is not bad."

After putting away the Fire Gathering Pill, he continued to decoct medicinal herbs, but this time it wasn't for Alchemy, but to decoct a type of medicinal liquid.

The medicinal liquid was deep red like blood and exceptionally viscous. After the medicinal liquid changed color three times, Long Chen stopped the decoction.

When the medicinal liquid inside the Pill Furnace cooled down, Long Chen took out the Monster Core of the Fire Lizard Beast and slowly dripped the medicinal liquid onto the Monster Core.

The egg-shaped Monster Core actually began to crazily absorb the medicinal liquid. The originally snowy white Monster Core actually began to change color, also becoming deep red like blood.

Following the change in the color of the Monster Core, a terrifying heat began to slowly flow within the Monster Core.

When all the medicinal liquid inside the Pill Furnace was absorbed by the Monster Core, the Monster Core began to flicker on and off, and the fluctuations inside became increasingly intense, like a volcano about to erupt.

"Alright, the fire-element energy inside the Monster Core has been completely activated. Whether I can absorb the rune power inside along with it all depends on this attempt."

Long Chen hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he walked out of the Immortal Cave, closed the door, and ran toward the back of the mountain.

Finding a secluded spot, he took out the Fire Lizard Beast's Monster Core and placed it on the ground, then swallowed the Fire Gathering Pill he had just refined in one gulp.

After the Medicinal Pill entered his abdomen, it immediately dissolved, and a faint warm current flowed toward all the meridians in his body.

Long Chen initiated internal vision and discovered that his meridians seemed to have been plated with a layer of gold, protecting the inside of the meridians and forming a protective film.

This was also why Long Chen hadn't gone to absorb the Fire Lizard Beast's Monster Core for such a long time.

Even as strong as he was, he didn't dare to absorb it just like that. The Fire Lizard Beast's Monster Core, with energy almost at full capacity, contained terrifying flames that would severely damage his meridians.

The Beast Fire of a Third Rank Demonic Beast, and one ranked ninety-seventh on the Beast Fire Ranking, meant Long Chen had to be careful.

Furthermore, what Long Chen wanted wasn't just as simple as the Beast Fire; he needed to obtain something even more powerful than the Beast Fire.

He took a deep breath, adjusted his body to its best state, gently pressed his hands onto the Fire Lizard Beast's Monster Core, circulated his Spiritual Qi, and began to absorb the violent energy inside the Monster Core.