For the next few days, Ji Yuan did not even cultivate. After his daily meditation, he would chat with everyone.
Sometimes, accompanied by Xia Dong and Zhao Yuebai, he toured the almost unrecognizable Xuan Tian Peak from top to bottom.
It had to be said that Ming Xin Xuan indeed had extremely rich experience in managing their dojo.
Besides the opened beast gardens and spiritual fields on the mountain, many spiritual plants were also planted, serving as the eyes and foundations of various formations. These formations were used to gather spiritual energy from heaven and earth, while also regulating the spiritual energy and earth veins within the mountain.
If this continued, the spiritual energy on Xuan Tian Peak would become increasingly abundant and much purer than the outside world.
Over time, the mountain itself would grow slightly each year, making the earth veins and the mountain's roots more robust.
If a cultivator were to practice in these key areas, it would not only significantly boost their cultivation but also benefit Xuan Tian Peak by gathering more spiritual energy.
It was a pity that Xuan Tian Peak was currently too sparsely populated. Even the main hall on the peak was not full, let alone the areas at various elevations along the hundred-zhang mountainside.
However, Ji Yuan was not too anxious about this. Once he reached the third realm, he would be qualified to recruit people from the outer sect.
He could either transfer some handyman disciples or directly recruit outer sect disciples, and Xuan Tian Peak would gradually become lively.
Yet, no matter which method he chose, he had to consider it carefully. He did not want to bring in a group of disciples with varied intentions that would tarnish the atmosphere of Xuan Tian Peak.
Perhaps he could ask Lin Miaoyi for help later. With her abilities, she should be able to identify which outer sect disciples would be more suitable.
But these were matters for the future, and at least for the next few years, he did not need to worry about them.
After a few more days, once Ji Yuan had adjusted his state to its optimal condition, he finally began to construct the spiritual spring.
He went to the back of the mountain, to a pre-excavated cave, and then became busy.
For this spiritual spring, he had prepared over ten layers of formations. The arrangement alone took nearly half a month, and the subsequent adjustments took several more days.
Once the formations were properly set up, Ji Yuan went to the depths of the cave and surveyed the spiritual spring before him.
This spiritual spring was acquired through Liu Ruyan. She had mobilized a significant portion of Ming Xin Xuan's forces in Feiyun Prefecture, and with great divine power, a third-realm cultivator had moved it to this location.
However, despite the long process, the grade of this spiritual spring was not particularly high. After all, truly rare and high-quality spiritual springs were mostly occupied by major forces and sects.
Ji Yuan sat by the spiritual spring. Once his internal mana had recovered sufficiently, he took out the prepared spiritual materials and poured them in one by one.
After pouring in dozens of spiritual materials, he began to form hand seals, channeling streams of mana into the spiritual spring to shatter the spiritual materials within.
Then, he took out a yellow bronze alchemy furnace. With a slight surge of mana, a ball of crimson flame erupted from the bottom of the furnace.
Spiritual herbs were thrown into the furnace. Ji Yuan refined the essence of the medicinal properties while also investing spirit stones into the spiritual spring.
For every hundred low-grade spirit stones he added, he would break the surface of the spirit stone with mana, drawing out the spiritual energy and allowing it to integrate into the spiritual spring.
In about an hour, the spiritual spring immediately became suffused with spiritual energy. The spiritual materials that had been shattered by mana were gradually merging into the spiritual spring, causing the water surface to emit multi-colored halos.
Once the essence of a furnace of spiritual herbs had been refined and its medicinal properties were baked out by a gentle fire, he poured it into the spiritual spring and used mana to fully dissolve it.
Over the next half a month, Ji Yuan repeatedly performed similar operations, refining the medicinal essence of a large number of spiritual herbs and then pouring them into the spiritual spring.
He used tens of thousands of low-grade spirit stones alone. Combined with numerous spiritual materials, he had forcefully elevated the grade of the spiritual spring by a large margin.
It was now visible that the source of the spiritual spring, originally as thin as a strand of hair, had grown to the thickness of a finger.
The entire spiritual spring was filled with spiritual essence, and the spiritual energy was so dense that it was almost tangible, contained within every drop of spring water.
After fully restoring his mana, Ji Yuan took out a golden core emitting five-colored light and solemnly placed it directly above the spiritual spring.
Then, he crushed the ice crystal in his hand and used mana to support a drop of Heavenly Cloud Water Essence, letting it fall onto the golden core.
Within a few breaths, the golden core, having absorbed the Heavenly Cloud Water Essence, began to slowly melt. Drops of golden liquid fell into the spiritual spring, causing the spring water to immediately emit a profound Dao charm.
Seeing this, Ji Yuan’s expression tightened. The critical moment had arrived.
Without hesitation, he swallowed a Spirit Nurturing Pill, then channeled the mana within his body, continuously feeding it into the spiritual spring, and began to refine the spiritual materials and medicinal essences poured into it.
As the complex spiritual materials and medicinal herbs were refined, the Dao charm within the spiritual spring seemed to be purified, shedding its original attributes and leaving only the most fundamental, Dao-approaching aura.
The entire process lasted for over a month. When the outer layer of the golden core had mostly melted, a golden bead the size of a fingernail was revealed.
This was the core of the golden core, condensing all the vital energy and Dao principles of a great cultivator.
With a thought, the golden bead sank into the spiritual spring. Ji Yuan then threw the remaining over a hundred types of spiritual materials and medicinal herbs into the spring before him, channeling his mana without regard for the cost.
Under his refinement, the colored light on the surface of the spiritual spring gradually diminished, until finally, only five-colored light shimmered, perfectly corresponding to the five-colored golden core.
However, at this point, it was only the beginning.
In the time that followed, Ji Yuan continuously refined the spiritual spring with mana, repeating the one hundred and eight seals recorded in the secret technique countless times.
During this process, he also had to continuously invest spirit stones and even spirit crystals to increase the spiritual energy and essence of the spiritual spring.
In addition, some pre-prepared key spiritual materials and bottles of medicinal liquids were added in order according to the sequence.
When the expected number of days was reached, Ji Yuan finally let out a sigh of relief. Looking at the shimmering spiritual spring before him, his worried heart finally settled.
The refinement of the spiritual spring was not a smooth process; on several occasions, it had almost failed.
Fortunately, this method was not too difficult. With his current alchemy attainments, he only needed to proceed step by step.
The few troublesome incidents he encountered were eventually overcome. On two occasions, he even had to use the divine power stored in the jade bead within his sea of consciousness, which was comparable to the third realm.
Now that the spiritual spring had been refined, it only needed a few more days of settling and nurturing before it could be used.