So Good to Your Big Sister

Upon hearing this, Shen Jingchuan was completely relieved.

"Come, let's celebrate today with some spirit wine."

As Xiao Mingshu spoke, she filled Shen Jingchuan's glass with wine, then gestured with her Huan'er:

"Huan'er, pour yourself a drink too, let's drink together."

After speaking, Xiao Mingshu took out several Spirit Stone bags from her Storage Ring and placed them on the table:

"Here are five thousand two hundred Spirit Stones, the full payment. Please keep them."

Shen Jingchuan didn't stand on ceremony with her. With a thought, he put all the Spirit Stone stones into his Storage Ring.

He picked up the wine glass, and a clear, refreshing aroma of wine mingled with a faint, pure Spiritual Qi wafted out. It was Shen Jingchuan's first time drinking spiritual wine. He took a sip, and the wine was smooth and sweet on the palate. Once inside his stomach, it transformed into a warm, comforting Spiritual Qi that spread along his meridians, with a truly powerful aftereffect.

He secretly dismissed the idea of bringing wine from the modern world to sell in the market—this spirit wine possessed its own Spiritual Qi, which ordinary wines simply couldn't compare to, making it completely uncompetitive.

On the other hand, a thought suddenly occurred to him: bringing this spirit wine back to the modern world might actually be a good idea.

After a few drinks, the atmosphere became more relaxed. Shen Jingchuan took the opportunity to ask many questions about cultivation. Xiao Mingshu was in high spirits and genuinely treated him like a younger brother, so she answered every question.

" In the Early Stage of Qi Refining, one should honestly consume Qi Nourishing Pills to build a solid foundation; in the middle stages, one should switch to Qi Gathering Pills to condense Spiritual Qi; and in the later stages, one should use Qi Condensing Pills."

It's best not to take medicine beyond your level. In the early stages, forcing down Qi Gathering Pills can be too potent and easily rupture your meridians; conversely, taking Qi Nourishing Pills in the middle stages will result in weaker medicine that won't be very effective even if absorbed.

The grades of Law Artifact also discussed:

"The Law Artifacts used by cultivators are divided into several levels. The ones we can use now are Law Artifacts Law Treasures. Above that are Spirit Artifacts, Spirit Treasures, and Dao Artifacts... uh, I don't know about anything above that. It's useless for our cultivation level to know."

Shen Jingchuan listened attentively and memorized all these basic facts about the cultivation world.

As he drank to his heart's content, Shen Jingchuan casually glanced at his Storage Ring with his Divine Sense. The upgrade aura surrounding the pills he had put in that afternoon had completely dissipated, indicating that they had all undergone a grade upgrade.

We're leaving tomorrow, and if Xiao Mingshu could improve her cultivation by one level, her safety would be better guaranteed.

This beautiful girl has been stuck at the Qi Refining Sixth Layer for many years, probably just one step away from breaking through. Would giving her High-Grade Qi Gathering Pill help her break through?

With a thought, he produced two jade bottles in his hand and gently pushed them in front of Xiao Mingshu.

"Sis, I found some nice things while shopping this afternoon, take a look."

Xiao Mingshu opened a bottle, poured out the pills inside, glanced at them in disbelief, then looked and smelled them carefully. The wine glass beside her clattered to the table. She abruptly looked up at Shen Jingchuan, her voice trembling, and exclaimed in a low voice:

"This... this is High-Grade Qi Gathering Pill? Is there one in this bottle too?"

Xiao Mingshu clutched the two bottles of pills, stared intently at Shen Jingchuan, and asked in a low, rapid-fire voice:

"Where did you get this? A single High-Grade Qi Gathering Pill costs eight or nine Spirit Stones, one is equivalent to ten mid-grade ones, and you can't buy them even if you have the money! Where did you get so many Spirit Stones to buy this?"

Shen Jingchuan thought to himself, "Oh no!" He had forgotten that in Xiao Mingshu's eyes, he had long since run out of Spirit Stones.

Fortunately, he reacted quickly, chuckling awkwardly twice.

"Sister, I finally came across this rare item, and I thought you'd really need it. I secretly kept some makeup bags for you, but I sold them this afternoon and managed to get these two High-Grade Qi Gathering Pills."

Xiao Mingshu's eyes widened immediately, and she raised her hand as if to slap him:

"Well, you've got some nerve! Now you dare to secretly do business behind my back?"

Shen Jingchuan covered his head and shrank back:

"Sis! Sis! I bought this especially for you! You're almost at the seventh level, this will come in handy!"

Xiao Mingshu's hand, which was raised in mid-air, suddenly stopped.

She has a quirk: when she drinks spirit wine, she never likes to circulate her Spiritual Qi to neutralize the alcohol. She just loves the dizzy, lightheaded feeling. And when she drinks too much, she's especially prone to tears, completely out of control.

At that moment, the alcohol took effect, and upon hearing these words, her nose stung, and tears immediately rolled down her cheeks.

She was used to deceit and petty calculations, and no one had ever given her something so precious without batting an eye.

One of these High-Grade Qi Gathering Pills is equivalent to ten mid-grade pills. The medicinal power is extremely pure, and the absorption speed is fast. It greatly helps in breaking through the barrier of the Qi Refining Sixth Layer. It is a hard currency that money can hardly buy.

Shen Jingchuan himself was also cultivating and was about to reach the Middle Stage of Qi Refining. If he had kept it for himself, his cultivation speed could have increased dramatically, but he traded it for himself.

The more I thought about it, the softer my heart became, and the more sour it felt. All sorts of grievances came to mind.

She lunged forward, resting her head heavily on Shen Jingchuan's shoulder, wrapping her arms around his waist, and silently weeping, the tears falling and soaking a small patch of his clothes.

Huan'er, standing to the side, kept her head down, seemingly lost in thought. She couldn't persuade or pull her away; she just felt the scene was too unbearable to watch and wished she could just disappear on the spot.

Shen Jingchuan froze, unsure whether to raise or lower his hand, and just sat there obediently, letting her hug him and cry.

After a while, Xiao Mingshu gradually calmed down and realized that she was still tightly hugging the other person's waist. She quickly pulled her hand back, and her cheeks flushed red.

She turned her face away, wiped her tears, and said reproachfully:

"You brat, it's all your fault! Why did you make me cry like that?"

As she spoke, her brows furrowed, and her Spiritual Power circulated rapidly within her body, instantly dispelling the effects of the alcohol and restoring her usual agility.

"This spirit wine is really no good; I should drink less of it in the future."

The two of them didn't say much after that, and quickly finished their meal. Shen Jingchuan didn't waste a single bite; he left no spiritual meat or fish on the table, and he also downed the half-empty pot of spiritual wine, making sure nothing was wasted.

As Xiao Mingshu walked from the private room toward her guest room, she stopped just before they parted ways:

"I won't rest tonight. I'll refine these two High-Grade Qi Gathering Pills and see if I can break through to the Qi Refining Seventh Layer. If I can, our journey back will be much safer. Don't wake me tomorrow; just have Huan'er protect me."

Huan'er nodded slightly in agreement.

Shen Jingchuan thought to himself that this was the result he wanted, and nodded in agreement.

He actually had a thought in his mind: to take out the newly upgraded Mid-Grade Spirit Gathering Formation Plate to help her, but he swallowed the words back.

They keep pulling out good stuff one after another, it's too conspicuous, and I can't even explain where they came from, so let's just forget about it.

After watching Xiao Mingshu and her servant enter the room, he turned and went back to his own room.

He first sat down cross-legged, focused his mind and circulated the [Five Phases Spirit Guiding Instruction], and began to refine the scattered Spiritual Qi from the spiritual meat and wine he had eaten that evening.

Once Dantian internal energy had stabilized, he took out the Mid-Grade Spirit Gathering Formation Plate, placed a Spirit Stone inside, and then took out the last two upgraded Mid-Grade Qi Nourishing Pills and popped them into his mouth.

As the medicinal effects dissipated and the Spiritual Qi circulated through his meridians, Shen Jingchuan frowned.

He found that taking more Mid-Grade Qi Nourishing Pills was no longer very effective; the Spiritual Qi in his Dantian only increased slightly, almost negligible.

Without further hesitation, he took out a High-Grade Qi Nourishing Pill and swallowed it.

The pure Spiritual Qi burst forth, and he guided its flow through his Spiritual Qi Cultivation Method, feeling an unparalleled smoothness. The absorption speed was far faster than that of a mid-grade pill. He didn't stop that night, taking out the high- High-Grade Qi Nourishing Pills he had just upgraded that afternoon and refining them one by one. The more he refined, the more astonished he became—the [Five Phases Spirit Guiding Instruction] seemed to be naturally suited to high-grade pills, absorbing their medicinal power quickly and thoroughly without wasting a single drop.

After the last pill was refined, he slowly stopped his practice, and the sky outside the window was already turning a pale white.

Shen Jingchuan felt the Spiritual Qi in his Dantian becoming increasingly abundant. He felt that the barrier of the Qi Refining Third Layer was already trembling slightly, and he was only one step away from the Qi Refining Fourth Layer.