“Ahem, sorry about earlier, flying in the air made me too excited,” Qian Yu scratched his head. By now, the two had found their own private areas and cleansed themselves before changing into a new set of robes. 

“Hmph! Take it! You pretty much did all the work,” Zhao Xieren refused to further comment on the matter and instead, just gave him a beast core. 

Much larger than what Qian Yu was normally used to, it was the beast core of the Frost Belly King Frog. Managing to charge Lightning Spasm with a contact time of at least 5 seconds, the frog had lost a chunk of its back from the explosion. Falling down, it became easy prey for the Fire Sword soldiers. Tonight’s dinner was freshly barbecued frog meat.

Qian Yu took the rare grade beast core. It was the first time he had gotten in it. Previously, his merits and strength were too low for people to give him one during the Soba Empire spiritual beast raid.

“Anyways, now that the frog isn’t protecting the Cold Dew Bamboo anymore, let’s get it,” Qian Yu said. Hurrying along with Zhao Xieren, the two crossed the marsh and reached the other side.

“There’s two stalks!” Zhao Xieren exclaimed seeing the blue bamboo plant. Both were around the same height, reaching three feet tall and was considered an adult bamboo plant.

Touching it, Qian Yu confirmed it was freezing cold. Bending down, Qian Yu took out his spear and gave two quick cuts before putting it away in his storage ring.

With that, the search had come to a close. Returning to the Zhao Family in the capital, Qian Yu received the Purifying White Flower from Miss Zhao and immediately headed back to the Ice Arts Sect. All in all, 2 and a half weeks had passed since they first left.

In a room, 4 people were sitting on the ground. Numerous scrolls were unraveled while in the middle, there was a large wooden tub filled with water and a 4 legged spiritual beast inside.

With the nourishment of numerous beast cores everyday with the help of Sun Hong, Tian Xinyi’s condition had stabilized. Nonetheless it was time to get rid of the poison.

“Let’s get started,” Qian Yu clapped his hands.

“Alright, let’s do this!” The girls yelled, somewhat excited. In their hands, they were all holding a scroll with the same formation on it. 

Saying no more, Qian Yu got on the ground and channeled his qi into his index finger. Pushing it onto the wooden floor, he started drawing. There were many complex symbols in the formation and precision was key. Each symbol needed to be drawn correctly, otherwise there would be issues and it wouldn’t work properly. It wasn’t an easy task and Qian Yu felt droplets of sweat slide down his face as he continued. 

However, that wasn’t all. Speed was also important. The qi that he had imprinted on the wooden floor didn’t last forever so they couldn’t just take their time. It was why formation experts were experts. Not only were they educated about formations and the symbols in them, they were also able to create formations with their high levels of mastery over the craft. 

Minutes passed and after an hour, Qian Yu wiped the sweat off his forehead as he had finally finished his part of the formation. 

“Are you guys-?” Qian Yu had turned to look at the three girls, but as he did, he realized that part of his had already dissipated. 

“My qi has dissipated already,” Zhen Yue, who was in the same realm as Qian Yu said. 

“Same here,” Zhao Xieren had the same issue as well. 

“I’m fine, just taking a while,” Sun Hong said as she continued on working. 

Qian Yu looked over to check her progress. Of all the people here, Sun Hong was the slowest and it was obviously not something she was good at. Perhaps, the only good thing was that her qi hadn’t dissipated due to her higher realm. 

“It’s okay. It’s our first time, don’t be discouraged,” Qian Yu said as he returned to work.

Hours passed as the sun set and by the time it was night, they had finally succeeded.

The circle glowed as everyone successfully finished their part of the formation and connected it together. No longer dissipating, the qi peacefully sat there.

Finally, it was the time for the Cold Dew Bamboo and Purifying White Flower.

Putting the Cold Dew Bamboo in a certain spot of the formation, Qian Yu then headed to the other end of the circle formation. As for the Purifying White Flower, it was extremely large, needing both his hands to carry it. From afar, it didn’t look too special but as Qian Yu touched it, it made him feel more peaceful.

Lastly, Qian Yu took out a handful of spirit stones and put them in certain spots of the formation to power it.

*Sssiiizzzz* The formation grew brighter than before. It was night time but the light was strong enough to light up the entire street on where the inn was.

The spirit stones started dissipating as a strong force came from the formation. The piece of bamboo started floating and the room suddenly started feeling colder.

It was hard to see due to the blinding light but as Qian Yu looked at the water in the wooden tub, he saw that it was starting to get darker and darker. As for the flower, it started shriveling up as if its energy was being sucked out.

Minutes passed and the formation continued glowing. ‘Master, it’s working! I can feel myself getting stronger!’ Tian Xinyi said to him. 

“Alright alright, that’s good,” Qian Yu was relieved seeing it worked. 

“Did it work?” Zhen Yue asked from the side. 

“Yeah, Xinyi said she feels herself getting stronger,” Qian Yu said as he continued watching the formation. 

After about half an hour, the formation dimmed, as if it suddenly ran out of energy. 

*Plop* Suddenly, Tian Xinyi jumped out of the wooden tub which by now, was completely black and filthy.

“Eh!?” Everyone was startled, seeing her jump out of the bucket. A moment ago, she was peacefully in the purification formation but now, she looked to be fully energetic.

‘Master! I feel great! The poison is all gone!’ she shouted in his consciousness.

“Alright alright, calm down,” Qian Yu said. 

Taking out the beast core of the Frost Belly King Frog, Qian Yu gave it to Tian Xinyi. 

‘Master… I’m kind of sick of beast cores. I want real food!’ Tian Xinyi didn’t seem too enthusiastic to absorb the beast core. 

“Y-... go clean yourself first!” Qian Yu was speechless. The first thing she wanted was food. Clearly, she was healthy now.

‘Okok, sorry!’ Tian Xinyi scurried into the bathroom.

“I’ll help her,” Zhen Yue got up and followed her in. 

Staring at the formation circle, the qi had disappeared along with the spirit stones. As for the flower, it was as if it had gone from a young maiden in her primes to an old grandma. It was full of ridges and folds and had become smaller as well. Going over to the bamboo, Qian Yu grabbed it, easily. It was no longer frigid cold and while it still contained its blue luster, it was but a shell without power anymore.