Ordering Wu Tian to loot her body, he could not hide his smile.

So many herbs! We only need an auxiliary Soul Fire Plant.

Even if the ingredients were of low quality, Guizou did not mind. In contrary, it was much better for him. Not only did he lack energy, but Wu Tian was brain dead. What would happen if they needed to refine a godly pill? They would only be able to give up.

"Let's go kid, time to find that stupid plant."

Darting ahead, they continued their exploration.

After a week, Wu Tian's body had already recovered. His muscles were full and his skin lacking its prior looseness.

During this time, both had explored the forest's outskirts, not meeting with anyone else.

They did have a few skirmishes against beasts here and there, but none could contend with Wu Tian.

After finding a small cave, they decided to rest inside.

Guizou was out of the pendant, stroking his beard.

"Kid, can you do alchemy?"

"..."

"No..."

"I see."

Aiz, rest in peace my dear spiritual energy. But I can't continue like this.

Ordering Wu Tian to stay near the cave's walls, he sat cross-legged in the middle.

His spiritual energy domineering, he asked Wu Tian for certain ingredients.

All of them in front, he cursed.

If only I had a damn furnace!

His spiritual energy enveloping the ingredients, they slowly began to float in front of him. The same energy suddenly turning into a raging fire, Wu Tian started to convulse.

This idiot!

Ignoring him, Guizou continued.

Extract their medicinal essences. Combine them in the right order. What was it again? Neutral Grass mixing with Gentle Yin Flower. Then I put it away and mix both the Soul Fire Plant and the Soul Cleansing Grass together. Put them away as well and add some Nature Seeds to the first mixture.

Now I combine both the mixtures carefully. Decrease the temperature a bit. Alright the new mixture is turning a pearlescent white. But in his case I need a bit more power.

Taking the dried Soul Fire Plant, Guizou tossed it inside while increasing the fire, mixing it with the white liquid.

The color is turning pale red, perfect! Condensing!

Reducing the flames even more than before, the medicinal liquid shows sign of solidifying.

After a quarter of an hour, a pale red opaque bead appeared. Immediately, Guizou forced Wu Tian to eat it.

Making him sit cross-legged, Guizou waited for the results.

It was of low quality, but it's better than nothing. Aiz! To think a Diamond Alchemist like myself would one day refine a low grade Mind Cleansing Pill!

It was too shameful! Guizou, a revered Diamond Alchemist, had refined a low grade pill. It was a disgrace to his name, but what could he do?

He could only comfort himself with the circumstances.

What I did was actually quite good. Still, feeding a poor kid a low grade pill...

In the meantime, Wu Tian was feeling the effects. A cooling sensation filled his stomach before heading for his brain. The higher it went, the hotter it became.

Frowning, Wu Tian's mind was on fire. He felt his brain melt under the powerful fire, yet nothing happened.

He wailed incessantly and almost collapsed. But at the critical moment, he opened his eyes wide.

"I'm alive!" Screaming, his hibernating consciousness had been forcibly awoken.

"Shut up you brat!" Scolding the youth, Guizou felt like kicking his face in.

Even if nothing can really threaten you in here, you never know!

"Master!" His memories flashing by, Wu Tian's delighted expression turned darker and darker. He remembered his mother's death and his Hell-like experience while first cultivating. He also remembered the most recent event where he killed a young girl his age.

Turning pale, Wu Tian felt chaos invade his mind. Luckily, the Mind Cleansing Pill was not to be underestimated. But seeing his state, Guizou cursed.

I have enough to refine a few more batches, should I do more? Yes! Let's not get careless now. This is an opportunity! If I can appease his mind now, he will gain an expert's mentality. Well not really, but it's better than nothing!

Quickly getting to work, Guizou began to refine a new pill.

After an hour, Guizou fed Wu Tian the still warm pill.

The same effects took place, but amidst the pain, Wu Tian's face regained clarity and peacefulness.

Phew! Almost ended worse than before.

"Master..."

"I know, I know. Don't fret it, you'll feel uncomfortable like this for quite a bit. Better get used to it now."

The Mind Cleansing Pill, especially one of such low quality, was not omnipotent, and Guizou knew this perfectly well.

Wu Tian would still suffer from leftover mental scarring.

"We'll camp here for a bit, when you feel a bit better tell me, I'm going back to recuperate. If you have the energy, send Qi inside the pendant."

Seeing Guizou enter the pendant, Wu Tian felt lonely inside the dim cave.

Should I cultivate?

Casually sending Qi inside the pendant, Wu Tian felt miserable. In less than a year he had lost his mother, endured Hell and even became a puppet. He also murdered an innocent young girl for no reason. Even the pills' effects could not stop him from feeling the damage.

Exhaling a mouthful of hot air, Wu Tian sat cross-legged. Closing his eyes, he felt the Qi inside him.

Being a fifth layer Mortal, Wu Tian still needed at least four more cleansings of his body to attain its peak. But remembering about Guizou's [Nine Shedding Method] he understood this method to act somewhat differently. It did not restrict to nine extractions of impurities, but as many as possible. It was just that under perfection it could require only nine sessions.

Calming his raging mind and rumbling emotions to the best of his abilities, Wu Tian started by forcing the Qi within him to act. Turning the ethereal entity into a physical entity of sorts. Guiding it outside of his body, he made it enter it. After passing layers of skin, muscles, fat and overall flesh, it attained the six viscera and five organs. The viscera was done, but the organs were still untouched.

Carefully manipulating Qi, Wu Tian made it enter its original ethereal state to let it go through. Once it came out from behind, Wu Tian made it regain its physical powers. Then, as the Qi turned a notch more physical, he forced it in a giant tarp form, pushing it outside of his body bit by bit. Along their expulsion, the black impurities were caught in this Qi, pushed away as well.

After a day, some black goo seeped out of Wu Tian's pores.

Over the months, I have made such progress with cultivation. My mastery over Qi has become so profound. At the start, doing something like this would've taken me a couple of months.

Feeling the changes in his body, Wu Tian realized that a day of cultivation felt like a moment. His body did not demand food or water nor sleep. It was the might of a cultivator.

Not bothering with the disgusting black goo, as he was already used to it, Wu Tian resumed.

He had now done the skin, muscles, fat, flesh, six viscera and five organs. He only needed to cleanse the bones, bone marrow and overall body.

Carefully reproducing the last procedure, he forced the Qi inside his body to take the shape of his bones but smaller and to stay at their core.

But a problem soon arrived.

I can't do it!

Understanding the issue, Wu Tian felt embarrassed. He was trying to run before even knowing how to walk. He could control Qi, but cleansing something so small and elongated like bones would require more precision than just brute forcing a giant ball or tarp of Qi.

This is going to take some time.

Contracting Qi in a ball shape inside a part of his spine, Wu Tian made it expand continuously.

Black goo leaving from his pores once again, Wu Tian did not feel much joy.

Most of it was from other parts of my body. The goo near the bones is so hard to move. The Qi seem to just pass right through. So tenacious!

Over the next four months, Wu Tian would feed the pendant Qi, cultivate and feed himself. After those months of arduous cultivation, he finally managed to remove almost all of the impurities from his bones.

Guizou would sometime check on him and his situation. Seeing the amount of black goo around his cultivation spot, he smiled.

The bone marrow revealed itself even more difficult than the bones. It took Wu Tian over a year of bitter cultivation, and it was taking into account the continuous bettering of his skills.

Inside the pendant, Guizou was not sure about what to do after this.

He only needs to finish the Mortal Realm. It should take him less than two years, and if he is good enough, doing it in less than five months would be possible. But after that, he will become a peak Mortal Realm cultivator with no real battle experience or martial arts knowledge. He has no foundation for anything like this. What do I do? Should I teach him... I can't teach him anything that requires no time.

Since it has come to this, I'll just teach him some barebone martial arts and let him fight my soul for battle experience.

Aiz, it's gonna take some time...

Exiting the cave, a young man. This youth had long dark blue hair and a beggar outfit. He had no facial hair and a pair of bright eyes. Never having looked at himself in a mirror seriously before, he did not know whether his eyes were white or light pink.

Bathed by the warm setting sun, he exhaled deeply. Laughing at the sky, the now seventeen years old youth had simple thoughts coursing through his mind.

Peak Mortal Realm!

A white ethereal figure of a brawny old man beside him, stroking his short yet lush white beard, this same old man spoke.

"Kid, now that you're done with the Mortal Realm, it's time to think about the Warrior Realm!"

"But don't worry, I have a nice [Spiritual Body Refining Method] right there!"