Baoji Mountain, hinterland.
This was already the fifth day. Lin Fan had searched a great number of caverns, yet he had found nothing at all.
At this moment, Lin Fan was drawn by a foul stench.
Beneath his feet lay bat guano. With a smell this heavy, Lin Fan certainly did not want to go inside.
Yet, after some deliberation, he plunged headfirst into the cave anyway.
Bats hung densely packed upside down from the cliff ceiling, making one's scalp tingle.
Lin Fan held his breath, every step sinking deep into piles of excrement.
Human bones were mixed into the dung heaps, and from time to time, connected passages branched off nearby; it appeared there was more than one route leading to this bat nest.
"That is..."
After walking a full li through the sea of excrement, the end of the path opened into an ancient nest.
The upper reaches were piled thick with bat guano, and the sight of what lay within the nest caused Lin Fan's jaw to drop.
Inside were the corpses of two dark pythons, their bodies intertwined, one of the snake heads clamped onto the other's head in an attempt to devour it.
Alas, the devouring had failed, and the two massive serpents had ultimately perished together.
"This is the coiling python swallowing the dragon, shedding its shell to transform into a feather, as recorded in the *Classic of the Golden Man*."
"The cultivation of these two giant pythons had reached the threshold of transformation, which is why they needed to devour an equally powerful creature to shed their shells and step into the legendary Dragon Transformation Realm."
"What a pity they failed."
Lin Fan's eyes slowly grew blazing hot.
Upon entering the nest, it was like stepping into a cesspit, reeking to high heaven.
Lin Fan began to retch.
Ahead, besides the stench, there was also a terrifying black vapor.
This was "malignant Qi", formed from a mixture of demonic aura and the ghostly energy of the dead. Once it touched a human body, it could cause severe corrosion.
Inhaling the malignant Qi could even prove fatal.
"With such dense malignant Qi here, it's likely not that no one discovered this place, but rather that everyone was kept out by the miasma."
Lin Fan finally understood why such a treasure trove had never been visited by anyone.
"I can only hope the profound energy within my body can suppress this malignant Qi."
Hesitating for a moment, Lin Fan was unwilling to return empty-handed.
He recalled that deep within the rosy pond, executing the *Book of Burial* had even suppressed extreme heat.
Perhaps it could suppress the malignant Qi as well.
The moment he executed the technique, his internal profound energy erupted instantly, forming a vortex like a silvery net that enveloped Lin Fan.
Fortunately, he had previously succeeded in refining the Qi-Nurturing Liquid, thereby breaking through to the 4th Layer of Qi Refining; otherwise, his profound energy would not have been sufficient for a prolonged release.
*Hiss, hiss.*
The instant the silvery vortex came into contact with the malignant Qi, they tore at each other, leaving Lin Fan's internal organs churning violently.
Fortunately, after a few breaths, the malignant Qi failed to tear apart the silvery vortex, and thus naturally could not block Lin Fan's path.
He seemed to carve a path through an ocean of malignant Qi, finally arriving before the corpses of the two dark serpents.
"To think these are primordial exotic beasts, Crimson-Flame Dark Pythons!"
Witnessing the true forms of the dark pythons, Lin Fan could not help feeling a chill run down his spine.
Crimson-Flame Dark Pythons belonged to an extremely rare breed of exotic beasts, highly venomous.
Beyond that, their demonic pupils could spew "crimson fire".
This sort of crimson fire was commonly known as demonic fire, possessing astonishing might akin to heavenly flames.
Even cultivators in the Core Formation Realm could be reduced to ashes by the crimson fire in the blink of an eye.
"One male and one female, though the female python was no match for the male; yet in the end, neither managed to consume the other and complete their shell-shedding transformation."
Lin Fan inspected the corpses of the two Crimson-Flame Dark Pythons along their lengths, filled with awe.
Meeting a single Crimson-Flame Dark Python in one's lifetime would already be extremely fortunate, yet here he had encountered two at once.
"Let's hope the python corpses still retain their 'beast essence'."
Lin Fan's heart pounded anxiously.
The *Classic of the Golden Man* recorded that after the death of certain powerful demonic beasts, their demonic aura and demonic cores would slowly fuse with the earth's energy to transform into vital essence.
Nether Spirit Grass was born and nurtured by absorbing the aura of this vital essence.
Vital essence was the remaining quintessence of a great demon's lifelong energy, fused with the earth's vein Qi, making it a miraculous medicine countless alchemists dreamed of obtaining.
Harboring a nervous heart, Lin Fan first cut into the vicinity of the seven-inch mark on the right-hand male python's corpse.
The corpse of the Crimson-Flame Dark Python was nearly petrified, possessing a hardness comparable to ordinary rock, but with Lin Fan's profound essence doing the cutting, it was still relatively easy.
A flash of dark red luster suddenly surged forth, dazzling Lin Fan so much that he could not keep his eyes open.
Rubbing them, he saw clearly that it was a dark red bead the size of a walnut.
Vital essence!
Overjoyed, Lin Fan hastily retrieved it.
Looking closely, it only possessed the appearance of a bead on the surface; in reality, it was purely a mass of concentrated energy.
He quickly stored it away in a medicine bottle, then moved to the female python's corpse and used the same method to unearth a second bead of vital essence.
"Why are the powers of these two vital essence beads identical?"
Amidst his joy, Lin Fan made a different discovery.
Logically speaking, the powers of the two Crimson-Flame Dark Pythons should not have been the same, so their vital essence beads naturally ought to have differed.
Yet these two vital essence beads were identical.
Lin Fan's consciousness resonated with the *Classic of the Golden Man*, and he quickly found the answer.
It turned out that the two Crimson-Flame Dark Pythons were mates who had been practicing yin-yang dual cultivation, and thus their powers were identical.
"Forged by yin and yang, this is a one-in-a-million supreme vital essence among vital essences, capable of refining the extremely rare Dragon Transformation Pill."
Lin Fan drew a sharp breath, treating the find like a supreme treasure.
"The *Classic of the Golden Man* mentions one more thing: since they were dual-cultivating serpents, their innate crimson fires must have fused, leaving a trace of yin-yang crimson fire within their skulls."
He continued cutting and, sure enough, discovered wisps of dark red refined fire in the center of the skull.
Yin-yang crimson fire!
"This place is a lair of giant demons, and the spiritual Qi below is abundant."
"I shall first fuse with the yin-yang crimson fire, and then utilize this superb blessed land to refine the two vital essence beads into Dragon Transformation Pills."
Lin Fan learned from the *Classic of the Golden Man* that refining Dragon Transformation Pills would trigger anomalous phenomena, and since this location was extremely secluded, it would make slipping away very convenient.
He began mastering every detail of refining the Dragon Transformation Pill, rehearsing it repeatedly.
Having gained absolute certainty, Lin Fan took his first step by executing the *Book of Burial* to smelt the yin-yang crimson fire.
This belonged to the innate abilities of the two Crimson-Flame Dark Pythons, and after countless years of natural smelting, the power was not only heaven-defying, but also free of any terrifying demonic malignant force.
If it were an ordinary cultivator, they would never dare to directly smelt the yin-yang crimson fire with their physical body.
Yet Lin Fan, who practiced the *Book of Burial* and had awakened his Spiritual Roots, successfully completed the smelting in no time.
"Rise!"
At this moment, Lin Fan excitedly channeled his Qi, and instantly a silvery flame darted from his palm, burning quietly in mid-air.
"Only when a cultivator steps into the Void Refinement Realm can they cultivate 'True Fire' within their body; this means that from this moment on, I am a grandmaster-level senior alchemist."
Lin Fan found it hard to believe.
This was True Fire, something only the "Void Refinement Realm" could master, belonging to the realm of divine abilities.
"I'll call you the 'Rising Dragon True Fire'!"
Thinking of the two Crimson-Flame Dark Pythons defying the heavens to transform into dragons, Lin Fan instantly came up with a name.
He cautiously retrieved the medicinal ingredients, used the two supreme vital essence beads as the medicinal guide, and released a wisp of the Rising Dragon True Fire to roast and refine them.
*Boom!*
The malignant Qi emitted by the corpses of the Crimson-Flame Dark Pythons surged violently into the sky, followed by two pillars of white light that shot out of Baoji Mountain.
In an instant, the great mountain trembled, mountain beasts roared to the heavens, and all sorts of giant monsters fled out of Baoji Mountain.
"Is a monster being born?"
This violent tremor caused hunters and cultivators searching for treasures in Baoji Mountain to flee in panic.
"It's a demon, yet not a demon."
Someone gazed up at the mountain peak.
"It looks like a giant serpent has succeeded in its cultivation and is transforming into a dragon to ascend."
Those closer by could see somewhat more clearly.
"Twin dragons soaring to the heavens, shedding their shells to become saints!"
At this moment, even in the outer regions of the Luoxia Mountain Range, many people witnessed this miraculous spectacle.
"Perhaps these aren't demonic entities shedding their shells."
Some extraordinary figures emerged from the depths of the mountains.
"What on earth is it?"
Someone asked him for guidance.
"Weapon refining or pill refining can both produce such anomalous phenomena," the person said.
"That being the case, a weapon-refining grandmaster or a pill-refining grandmaster must be deep within some place here, refining some heaven-defying miraculous item."
People grew increasingly eager to learn the truth behind that pillar of light.
While Baoji Mountain was still trembling, a reeking "man of shit" seized the opportunity to flee far away.