Chapter 57

In front of the bronze mirror, Han Luo had spent the whole night observing and taking notes. His efforts paid off—he gained a much deeper understanding of how to enhance the efficiency of spirit-cleansing using pills.

"Ahhh..."
Shen Xian’er yawned and stretched her tiny fists in the air.

To be honest, after five years of growth, her physique was much more developed—showing faint signs of growing into a mini-version of Chi Xiao.

"Brother, is breakfast ready?"

Indeed, for a true foodie, if the first thing you think about when you open your eyes isn’t food, then you’re just not committed enough.

"Come on, breakfast is already on the table."

Breakfast was simple but hearty: boiled eggs, fermented tofu, shredded pickled radish, seaweed strips, millet porridge, pork buns, and over a dozen types of fruit for dessert.

After stuffing herself contentedly, Shen Xian’er wanted to go play.
Luoxian Mountain was beautiful, sure, but boring—no cute rabbits, no colorful butterflies. There was so much more to do on Piao Miao Peak.

“Stop right there. You're not leaving Luoxian Mountain until you finish your spirit cleansing.”

Under a parasol tree, Han Luo continued drawing out the blueprint of a formation.

"Okay…"
Shen Xian’er obediently turned back, not daring to go against her brother.

"What are you working on, Brother?"
She was completely bored out of her mind.
No more spirit-cleansing pills, no games of house, and her senior brother spent all day buried in formations and pills like he was hiding some gorgeous lady in them.

“Brother, how many times have you gone through spirit cleansing? I heard Sister Xiao has already done it three times, even stronger than Junjun Senior Brother.”

She cuddled Xiaobai in her arms, plopped down opposite Han Luo, and made conversation like she was sharing some juicy gossip.

But Han Luo was in no mood to chat—he was in the middle of a major invention.

“Why aren’t you saying anything, Brother...?”

Xian’er was desperate for conversation. She truly couldn’t understand how her senior brother could tolerate such solitude. She could barely last a single second in silence.

Han Luo finally paused and pulled out a thin, rectangular object from his bronze ring—a little device shaped like a brick but much thinner.

"Here. Go play with this."

It was a handheld game console—a simple little device he had made out of boredom, originally meant to bait naïve young cultivators.

Inside were classics: Tetris, Tank Battle, Airplane Shooter, Super Mario... over a dozen retro games. They were all coded using illusion arrays, which were quite basic. In fact, he had even incorporated similar mechanics into his Trapping Immortal Formation, improving its strength by two entire tiers.

Shen Xian’er’s eyes lit up. Anything her brother made had to be fun. Following the user manual, she quickly immersed herself in the game, leaving Han Luo in blessed silence to focus on his work.

Ten days later…

By the time Shen Xian’er had beaten every game on the device three times over, Han Luo had completed his latest great invention.

The idea came while observing how Shen Xian’er refined the spirit-cleansing pill—slow and inefficient. The Luoxian Technique, while a solid foundation method, was clearly not designed to optimize pill refinement. And learning another method on top of it would only cause conflict.

As a result, she could only refine about 80% of the pill's power. The remaining 20%? Wasted.

Now consider ordinary cultivators—unlike Xian’er, they wouldn’t finish their first cleansing in ten days. It might take them a month, maybe six. And they’d likely leave 35% of the pill’s effects unused.

Thus, the Spirit-Cleansing Formation was born—a special formation created specifically to enhance pill absorption.

Its effects?

• It helps cultivators refine 100% of a spirit-cleansing pill.

• It boosts the effectiveness of the pill by approximately 20%.

Han Luo had designed it primarily for himself.
Talent was one thing—preparation was another. You couldn’t rely on natural gifts and ignore the details.

True strength came from precision.
Talent defined your floor. Effort defined your ceiling.
Even if his talent was most people’s limit, his master once said: If you want to compare, compare yourself to those in the heavens.

Sure, he didn’t know how powerful the ones "above" really were. But if they lived in the heavens, they couldn’t possibly be weak.

With that mindset, he called over Shen Xian’er.

“Brother, are we ready?” she asked, bright-eyed, eager for her second pill.

“Let’s begin.”
He handed her another perfect-grade Spirit-Cleansing Pill.

After taking it, Shen Xian’er sat cross-legged and focused, immediately beginning to report her sensations—like a diligent little assistant.

Han Luo felt genuinely pleased. At least all those gourmet meals weren’t wasted; she knew how to cooperate now.

"That’s all, Brother," she said at last, pulling out another packet of instant noodles.

During his closed-door refining sessions, she’d practically lived off the stuff. Oddly, the more she ate, the tastier it seemed. She even invented a new way to eat them—dry. Absolutely addictive.

Of course it was addictive.

Han Luo would never tell her he’d added a special ingredient to the noodles—something harmless, but stimulating enough to make them crave-worthy for cultivators.

“Not yet. First, try out my new Spirit-Cleansing Formation.”

He took out the formation disk and activated it under her feet.

A luminous twelve-petal pink lotus bloomed, about two meters wide.

"Sit on it. Begin refining the pill."

Shen Xian’er, curious as always, followed instructions and settled into the lotus, beginning to meditate.

Han Luo activated the formation. The pink lotus rotated slowly, bathing her in a soft white glow. That light gently helped her refine the pill’s effects.

Han Luo monitored her closely the entire time.
If anything looked off, he was ready to bolt—no way he was getting caught in an explosion.

Two hours passed.

The pink lotus gradually turned green—an indication that the refining process was complete.

What normally took ten days had just been compressed into two hours.

The Spirit-Cleansing Formation was a massive success.

Still, based on his observations, he felt there was room for improvement.

“How do you feel, Xian’er?”

Her cultivation aura had clearly grown stronger, but he wanted to hear it from her.

Xian’er opened her plump little hand. A mist of spiritual energy swirled in her palm—shockingly pure.

Han Luo immediately pulled out a testing instrument for spiritual purity.
After measuring, he confirmed it: her purity level had risen significantly, completing a second round of spirit cleansing.

“I got stronger, right?” Xian’er asked, still a little dazed. Ask her about rare cuts of meat and she’d give you a list a mile long. Ask her about cultivation? You’d be better off checking your own eyes.

“Yes, you’ve completed your second cleansing. You’re much stronger now.”

“Yay!”
She jumped up and threw a celebratory punch.

Han Luo’s eyes widened—her punch, seemingly playful, released a burst of force so intense it created a shockwave… aimed directly at him.