Upon entering, a spacious road flanked by well-arranged buildings came into sight.

During his inspection, Jiang Xiaobai followed the guidance of the ethereal soul, proceeding along the road toward the depths of the Danling region.

Along the way, he also observed the environment of the place.

Perhaps due to the night, he did not see any people.

With the passing of another incense stick’s worth of time, Jiang Xiaobai, controlling the ethereal soul, entered a very spacious hall.

In the hall, several cauldrons were situated, with people sitting before them, refining pills.

The sight of flames dancing and spiritual seals flashing captivated Jiang Xiaobai so much so that he swallowed his saliva involuntarily.

Is this… pill refining?

Even just by watching, the visual impact was astonishing!

However, what was attracting his ethereal soul was clearly not here, but further inside.

With this in mind, he shifted his gaze and moved past the hall, heading deeper inside.

Soon, an inner hall came into view.

Upon entering, he felt a sense of comfort in his pill-concocting soul.

Invisibly, it seemed like streams of intangible force were being automatically drawn from the cabinets around him and merging into his soul.

Puzzled, Jiang Xiaobai looked around the environment.

In this place, there were three more cauldrons.

An elder was sitting in front of one of them, also in the process of refining pills.

It appeared as though the elder detected something, as he opened his eyes and looked around somewhat surprised: “Eh, why is the pill energy escaping faster than usual?”

Hearing this, Jiang Xiaobai’s heart skipped a beat.

Was his pill-concocting soul absorbing the pill energy?

Just like how a demon-concocting soul absorbs demonic energy.

But his absorption of demonic energy did not affect demon beasts.

So, this pill energy should not affect the pills either, right?

Indeed, as he thought this, the elder shook his head resignedly and closed his eyes to continue refining pills.

Jiang Xiaobai hesitated for a moment, then cautiously controlled the ethereal soul to move closer, observing the elder without being noticed.

It was perhaps due to the affinity of his pill-concocting soul with the art of pill refining that the elder’s techniques deeply imprinted themselves in his mind as he watched.

He stood there, gradually forgetting the time.

An hour later, following the elder’s guidance, a mysterious seal unfolded. Accompanied by the agitation of the cauldron, a pill levitated out and was grasped in his hand.

Looking at the round pill, Jiang Xiaobai’s eyes were filled with longing.

But in the next second, something unexpected happened. The elder sniffed the pill, sighed, and then surprisingly crushed it.

Faced with this scene, Jiang Xiaobai was astonished.

Why would he destroy such a good pill just like that?

While he was puzzled, the elder got up and walked up to the second floor.

Jiang Xiaobai hesitated slightly, then followed behind.

Upon reaching the second floor, Jiang Xiaobai discovered it was a library.

Inside, there were bookshelves of varying sizes crammed with books.

The elder pulled a book from one of the shelves and began to read.

Jiang Xiaobai couldn’t help but move closer.

He noticed that the elder was reading “The Compendium of Spiritual Herb and Medicine Fusion”.

While the elder browsed, Jiang Xiaobai was also captivated because of his pill soul, the content was etched into his mind just as clearly, equally marvelous.

While engrossed, the voice of Zhou Bin reached his ears: “Xiaobai!”

With the voice, back where his physical body was located, Jiang Xiaobai opened his eyes.

“That startled me, I thought you fell asleep here again!”

Because Jiang Xiaobai had not returned for a long time, Zhou Bin was concerned about his health and came to check.

Seeing Jiang Xiaobai with his eyes open in the stream, Zhou Bin breathed a sigh of relief.

He had just thought this kid died in the stream.

Embarrassed, Jiang Xiaobai stood up from the stream and said, “I just felt comfortable, so I soaked for a bit longer, worrying you, Brother Zhou!”

“It’s fine as long as you’re okay!”

While Zhou Bin was speaking, looking at Jiang Xiaobai, who was getting dressed, he said, “Let’s head back together!”

Jiang Xiaobai hesitated, pondering whether to recall his pill-concocting soul now.

But his gaze quickly began to flicker.

He made a bold decision in his heart, intending to leave his pill-concocting soul in this Danling region.

However, doing so would carry certain risks.

After all, if discovered, his pill-concocting soul would definitely be shattered, and there might even be a chance of tracing back to him.

But… what if it wasn’t discovered?

Not only could he absorb pill energy, but he could also learn the art of pill refining.

Especially the art of pill refining, which had great utility.

If he learned it, he could mix his treatments to heal his illnesses or refine pills that could help him break through his limits.

With this in mind, he completely discarded the idea of recalling his pill soul and left it inside.

On the way back with Zhou Bin, Jiang Xiaobai began to use his pill-concocting soul to follow the elder and read the books.

The feeling of learning while walking was something probably no one else could easily comprehend.

“Xiaobai, what are you smiling about?”

Zhou Bin saw a smile on Jiang Xiaobai’s face and couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity.

“Oh, nothing, just thought of something happy!”

Jiang Xiaobai coughed twice, though in pain, he still smiled happily.

Zhou Bin felt puzzled but did not inquire further.

Soon, they returned to their residence. Zhou Bin directly sat cross-legged on the bed and said, “Xiaobai, it’s getting late, you should rest too!”

After speaking, he closed his eyes to cultivate.

When Jiang Xiaobai approached the bed, he noticed the egg that Huang Linyuan had given him.

Remembering Huang Linyuan mentioning the need to add a drop of blood daily, he hesitated for a moment, then bit his finger and dropped a bead of blood onto it.

The blood touched the eggshell and was instantly absorbed into it.

The magical scene surprised Jiang Xiaobai.

He began to look forward to the moment when the Yunling bird would hatch.

After placing the egg to the side, he also sat cross-legged on the bed. After focusing his attention on the pill-concocting soul, his expression changed to one of surprise again.

He saw the elder was still on the second floor, browsing through materials.

But his position had obviously changed from before.

And what startled him was this:

His pill-concocting soul was still following the elder.

Logically, when his attention shifted to the egg just now, what happened in the Danling region would have been automatically disregarded.

But now, not only is the ethereal soul following the elder, but even the process of what the elder looked at could be perfectly recalled.

Was his ethereal soul subconsciously learning on its own?

Amidst the surprise, Jiang Xiaobai experimented a bit.

And to his delight, the results were surprising.

Indeed, when he attempted to shift his own attention while continuing to read, he was able to perfectly multitask.

Only when he focused his attention entirely on one thing would his pill-concocting soul genuinely stop.

This meant that he could also cultivate and learn simultaneously.

Thinking this, he couldn’t wait to try it out.

But soon, he reopened his eyes, his expression filled with resignation.

Yes, the elder had gone downstairs.

However, he swiftly entertained another idea.

Although the elder went downstairs, he himself could also read and learn from the books.

But this required a condition:

His pill-concocting soul had to be able to bear the weight of a book first.

He remembered that his demon-concocting soul, after much practice, could successfully lift a leaf.

Thus, he believed that with extra practice, his pill-concocting soul could likewise lift a book!

With a determined look, Jiang Xiaobai began to train his pill-concocting soul.