Chapter 4: Flawless Pills
"Senior, have you been afflicted by the fire poison of a Poison Tail Crab demon beast?"
Qu Rou, who was ascending the stairs, halted her steps.
Standing on the staircase, she looked down at Li ng with a face full of surprise. She hadn't expected this Outer Disciple to possess such keen eyesight.
"If Senior returns empty-handed, you may seek out at Little Bamboo Peak in the Outer Sect!"
A flicker of disdain passed through Qu Rou's eyes. A re sixth-layer Qi Condensation cultivator, yet his tone was so presumptuous.
Her expression turning slightly cold, Qu Rou ignored Li ng. Her graceful figure hurriedly disappeared from his sight.
Li ng simply smiled and continued his leisurely stroll around the first floor with an air of contentnt. The fire poison of a Poison Tail Crab was not so easily resolved.
Not long after, another Inner Disciple of the Joyous Union Sect hurriedly entered the Thousand Treasure Pavilion. His face was anxious, his steps rushed. Without the slightest pause, he scurried up to the second floor.
"Sir Li, your items are ready!"
A shop assistant approached Li ng, holding a storage pouch. Li ng swept it with his Divine Sense. Then, with a wave of his hand, the contents within the assistant's storage pouch flew en masse into the storage pouch at his waist.
"That will be 134 spirit stones in total. Thank you for your patronage!"
134 spirit stones was no small sum. One must rember that an Outer Disciple's monthly stipend was only five spirit stones.
After settling the bill, Li ng left the Thousand Treasure Pavilion. He had purchased quite a lot this ti. Besides the beast blood and hides for crafting talismans, Li ng had also bought a large quantity of spirit plants around a hundred years old.
Not long after Li ng departed, a man and a woman descended from upstairs. The female cultivator was none other than Qu Rou, whom Li ng had approached earlier. The male cultivator beside her supported her as they ca down.
"Junior Sister, if it really cos to it, I'll go beg Senior Brother Su!"
"No! Su Can is a man who eats people without spitting out the bones. Do you want to beco his 'Cauldron'?"
"I... that's not what I ant."
"Then don't go provoking him. I'll think of sothing myself!"
Qu Rou's gaze swept across the first-floor hall. She recalled that old man at the sixth layer of Qi Condensation from before.
Little Bamboo Peak in the Outer Sect?
Joyous Union Sect, Outer Sect, Little Bamboo Peak.
Li ng returned by flying sword, dismounting with a graceful leap. His thin, withered body landed lightly in the courtyard. He did not linger outside but pushed open the door and entered the alchemy chamber.
The alchemy chamber was quite spacious. A furnace nearly three ters tall stood within. It was a high-quality furnace Li ng had spent five hundred spirit stones to acquire. It perford excellently, but its Mana consumption was enormous.
Alchemy furnaces were not magical instrunts; their function was singular. They ca in four grades: low-quality, dium-quality, high-quality, and supre-quality. Supre-quality ones were the most expensive, costing dozens of tis more than high-quality ones. Low-quality ones were cheapest, purchasable for just a few dozen spirit stones.
Li ng did not rush to begin alchemy. He sat cross-legged on a ditation cushion, regulating his breathing to recover his Mana. A cultivation base at the sixth layer of Qi Condensation was far too low. The round trip had consud a significant amount of his Mana, and his pseudo-spiritual root made recovery painfully slow.
After popping several Spirit Recovery Pills into his mouth, Li ng closed his eyes and entered a ditative state. His breathing gradually beca deep and prolonged.
Two hours later, Li ng opened his eyes.
"Let's begin!"
With a wave of his hand, over ten spirit plants flew into the alchemy furnace. Li ng ford seals with both hands, and five-colored spiritual light emanated from his body. Following this, raging flas burst forth within the furnace.
Bathed in five-colored spiritual light, Li ng resembled an immortal descending to the mortal realm—a sight that might awe ordinary folk but would hardly impress fellow cultivators.
An hour later.
"Heh heh, truly effortless!"
A rich dicinal aroma wafted from the alchemy furnace. The potent fragrance brought an expression of intoxicated delight to Li ng's face. With another wave of his hand, he opened the furnace.
Seventeen Flawless first-grade Spirit Gathering Pills floated before him.
"Seventeen pills! The system really is outrageously powerful."
In the past, producing seven pills would have been considered good work. Yet today, a single batch yielded seventeen Flawless first-grade Spirit Gathering Pills.
Spirit Gathering Pills accelerated a cultivator's absorption rate of Spiritual Power and were among the most commonly used auxiliary cultivation pills. Even Foundation Establishnt cultivators would scramble to get their hands on Flawless first-grade ones.
"Excellent. Let's continue."
Pills of Flawless quality, even if only first-grade, were qualified to appear at auctions. Li ng seed to see piles upon piles of gleaming spirit stones flying toward him.
"Hah!"
Li ng exhaled a turbid breath. Focusing his mind and guarding his core essence, he expelled all distracting thoughts.
More spirit plants flew out from his storage pouch, streaming into the alchemy furnace in one go. Raging flas once again ignited within the furnace, and five-colored spiritual light again radiated from Li ng's body.
Ti flowed steadily onward as the sun gradually sank in the west.
"What an incredibly rich dicinal aroma!"
A graceful figure clad in purple robes arrived by flying sword. The lovely form descended gracefully into the courtyard.
The intense dicinal aroma invigorated Qu Rou's spirit; even the fire poison within her seed suppressed by it. A flash of astonishnt crossed her eyes. Such a potent fragrance likely indicated Superior-grade pills.
Could that Outer Disciple inside actually be an Alchemist? A Qi Condensation sixth-layer Alchemist capable of refining Superior-grade pills? If true, then that Outer Disciple was undoubtedly an alchemical genius. Once he reached Foundation Establishnt, he would surely be taken in as a True Disciple by an Elder of the Alchemy Hall.
Qu Rou did not disturb the Outer Disciple inside. Instead, she sat down cross-legged under the eaves outside the door to ditate and regulate her breathing. The fire poison within her caused great discomfort; she had to expend all her Mana just to suppress its spread.
Qu Rou could only hope that the Outer Disciple inside truly had a thod to resolve the fire poison afflicting her. Otherwise... she would make sure he learned the price of mocking a Foundation Establishnt cultivator.
An indeterminate amount of ti passed; a full moon now hung high in the sky.
An even more intense dicinal aroma drifted out from within the room.
Qu Rou, ditating outside the door, snapped her eyes wide open.
"This is... Flawless pills?"
Utter shock surged within Qu Rou's heart.
A Qi Condensation sixth-layer cultivator refining Flawless pills? How was that possible?
Moreover, this dicinal aroma actually caused her sea of consciousness to churn violently. It indicated these were pills for nourishing and warming one's soul!
Foundation Establishnt Great Perfection cultivators needed soul-nourishing pills above all else. Only by strengthening one's soul could one increase their chances of achieving a breakthrough to form their Golden Core.
Click!
Just then, the door was pushed open.
"Senior Qu! My apologies for making you wait."
Li ng stepped out of the room and bowed respectfully toward Qu Rou, who had risen to her feet.
Looking at this old man before her now brought another flicker of surprise to Qu Rou's eyes.
"You know ?"
Li ng chuckled softly and stroked his beard.
"This Junior has admired Senior Qu for decades now. While Senior may not know this Junior... how could this Junior possibly be unaware of Senior Qu's esteed reputation?"
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