Waiting for You in Nü Zhi City

Lu Ping's eyes darkened slightly.

There's still no news about Jiang Mutian.

Lu Ping thought for a moment and chose B.

[You chose B.]

[You put down your teacup and said,]

"My last departure was rushed, which disrupted the schedule for Gathering Immortals Tower. Now that I'm back in the city, I'll stay for another three months."

"Following the old rules, three orders a month. I'll trouble Fellow Daoist Ning to arrange it for me. This is also a way to give an explanation to the fellow Daoists who lined up before."

Upon hearing this, Ning Junqiu's eyes flashed with joy, and she immediately stood up to agree.

"It is an honor for Gathering Immortals Tower."

"The fellow cultivators whose journeys were previously delayed have been waiting in the city. They will surely be overjoyed to hear that the Grandmaster has reopened the furnace."

Ning Junqiu rose, bowed, and hurried to the front hall to make arrangements.

The news of Grandmaster Lu's return to Nü Zhi City spread throughout the entire city within half a day.

Those Nascent Spirit Transformation cultivators who had initially thought all hope was lost now surged towards the Gathering Immortals Tower, brandishing their Spirit Stone bags.

[You maintain a consistent pace of three furnaces per month, making a move every ten days. You then dedicate the remaining time to processing and reaping the rewards of this period.]

[You immerse your Divine Sense into the inner Grotto-Heaven of the Moon Palace Fire-Devouring Furnace.]

[Within the Grotto-Heaven, the spiritual soil brought from the Desire Sea Pavilion and the isolated island of the North Sea has been neatly arranged by Little Toad.]

[The transplanted Thousand-Whisker Spirit-Luring Grass and various high-level Spirit Plants, under the doubled effect of "Growing Flowers at the Workstation," unfurled their leaves, and a rich medicinal fragrance condensed into a thin mist within the Grotto-Heaven.]

[You've already obtained the Creation Spirit-Promoting Dew from Gu Wusuan; its main purpose now is to use it on the Thousand-Whisker Spirit-Luring Grass.]

[After all, only when the Thousand-Whisker Spirit-Luring Grass has fully grown and matured can you refine the Lesser Creation Spirit-Stimulating Dew in batches.]

[This grassland requires a hundred years to mature enough for medicinal use.]

[However, the tenfold ripening effect of the Creation Spirit-Promoting Dew, combined with the blessing of the Yi Wood Nine-Turn Spirit-Nurturing Art, and various Trait, directly increased the growth rate of the Spirit Plants within the Grotto-Heaven by thirty times.]

[As the master of this Grotto-Heaven, with a mere thought, the Yi Wood Nine-Turn Spirit-Nurturing Art can naturally manifest within the Grotto-Heaven, which is far more convenient than outside.]

[Judging by the days, the Thousand-Whisker Spirit-Luring Grass will be ready in a little over two years.]

[At that time, you will be able to completely obtain the Lesser Creation Spirit-Stimulating Dew.]

[You have high hopes for Little Toad's Grotto-Heaven. It will be your future logistical base.]

[The nearly thousand-year-old Nine-Yang Essence-Restoring Zhi has also taken root, its cap a fiery red, and it is growing exceptionally well.]

[You cut off a piece of the Nine-Yang Essence-Restoring Zhi and used it to refine the Qi-Returning Pill.]

[The Artisan Spirit is now in effect.]

[Cost Reduction and Efficiency Improvement, effective.]

[Workaholic, effective.]

[...]

Seven times the efficiency, five times the profit.

[A batch of twenty-five Qi-Returning Pills, each containing the pure Spiritual Qi equivalent to two thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones.]

[You should now take the Qi-Returning Pill, Qi-Consolidating Pill, and Qi-Gathering Pill together.]

[Your current daily limit for consuming Spiritual Qi Pills is approximately thirty.]

[Any more than that would exceed the body's absorption and conversion limits.]

[The Spiritual Qi contained within the Qi-Returning Pill is twenty times that of the Qi-Gathering Pill.]

However, regardless of the potency of the Pills, a cultivator needs to circulate their energy throughout their body to absorb and neutralize it.

[Refining a Qi-Returning Pill requires completing one full cycle, and the same applies to refining a Qi-Gathering Pill.]

The process of absorption and refining remains essentially unchanged.

[This is what makes high-grade Pills truly precious.]

[Under the same timeframe and physical load, it can increase the total amount of absorbed Spiritual Qi by several times or even dozens of times.]

Otherwise, low-grade Pills would be plentiful and filling. If one could truly swallow thousands of Qi-Gathering Pills in one go to artificially boost cultivation, who would bother to painstakingly seek out high-grade Pills?

[With the Qi-Returning Pill, your original main Qi Qi-Gathering Pill suddenly doesn't seem so appealing anymore.]

[However, given the current situation, the regeneration rate of the Nine-Yang Essence-Restoring Zhi is simply not keeping up with your daily consumption of one Qi-Returning Pill.]

[You take out the Creation Spirit-Promoting Dew, then hesitate.]

[Just a drop added will increase the regeneration speed of the Nine-Yang Essence-Restoring Zhi, and naturally, the quota of Qi-Returning Pills will also increase accordingly.]

[But after thinking for a moment, you ultimately put the Jade Bottle away.]

[The amount of Creation Spirit-Promoting Dew is limited; for now, it can only be used to nourish the Thousand-Whisker Spirit-Luring Grass. Once the Thousand-Whisker Spirit-Luring Grass matures and the Lesser Creation Spirit-Stimulating Dew is refined, the growth of the Nine-Yang Essence-Restoring Zhi will naturally no longer be a problem.]

[You looked at the newly refined Qi-Returning Pill, then at the Nine-Yang Essence-Restoring Zhi with a missing corner, and sighed helplessly.]

[This feeling is truly like seeing something you can't have, but being unable to possess it.]

[As for the Nine-Revolution Heaven-Defying Pill, you've already placed a bounty on the missing key ingredients through the Gathering Immortals Tower.]

[Two doses of the Severed-Fate Hehuan Powder remain.]

[Although this medicine is of a higher rank than Spirit-Binding Gauze, its effects are unique, and its applications are extremely limited. In contrast, Spirit-Binding Gauze is not only versatile but also much easier to prepare.]

[Moreover, this medicine was once used to plot against Jiang Mutian, and you don't want it to continue circulating in this world.]

[Let's make the most of it and consume the remaining two portions to cultivate the Hundred-Forged Medicine Body Formula.]

[After Severed-Fate Hehuan Powder, as the medicinal effects dissipated within your body, not only did your physical body become stronger, but your deduction path for the Sixth Layer of the Hundred-Forged Medicine Body Formula also became increasingly clear.]

[You never leave your home, spending all your time refining elixirs, taking pills, cultivating, and deducing Cultivation Method.]

[Your cultivation level is steadily rising from the Early Spirit Transformation Stage realm.]

Two months of peaceful and fulfilling days have passed in the blink of an eye.

[That night, you had just finished storing the third batch of Earth Grade Pills ordered this month into your Jade Bottle when your hand stopped.]

Outside the door, a figure had appeared out of nowhere.

[You immediately stood up, instinctively casting a Dust-Cleansing Incantation on yourself to dispel some of the lingering smell of smoke.]

[Your fingertips twitched slightly, and you were just about to cast another Light-Congealing Instruction for a "Starlight Effect," but you abruptly stopped halfway through the Method Formula.]

[Disperse the Spiritual Power from your fingertips.]

You straightened your clothes, walked to the door, and opened it.

A person was standing outside the door.

The man was dressed in white, with clear and sharp features.

Two glass palace lanterns hung under the eaves, their cool light falling on her, making her appear even more ethereal.

[Options pop up.]

[A: Greet them calmly and invite them inside for tea.]

[B: Hmph, woman...]

[C: Suddenly rips open his collar, revealing a large expanse of his chest, leans back three steps in a tactical leap, and shouts in grief and indignation: "Hey! What kind of white-clad female ghost is knocking on the door of an innocent young man in the middle of the night! I warn you, this master is chaste and sells her body, not her art! If you lust after my body and insist on forcing yourself on me...]