Blood Spirit Pill

"Pill Furnace!"

Wang Yugang's smile gradually stiffened. His face hardened as he shot a cold, accusatory tone: "Surely Junior Brother isn't reluctant to part with it?"

"Senior Brother misunderstands."

Lin Chang'an's smile was strained. "A pill furnace bestowed by Elder Lu—how could I, as a junior brother in the sect, have the means to keep it?"

Wang Yugang fixed him with a skeptical glare, but Lin Chang'an could only offer a bitter smile. Finally, the other man looked away, his expression turning colder.

"Fellow Daoist Lin, though Bigu Pills are easy to refine, the sheer demand cuts into cultivation time."

Having been beaten to the pill furnace, this short-statured Wang Yugang was still unwilling to let it go. His greedy eyes lingered on Lin Chang'an's storage pouch, hinting at something more.

Lin Chang'an saw through it clearly and hesitated for a moment. "Senior Brother, I still have two Spirit Stones here."

Well, upon hearing this, Wang Yugang's face turned ashen, and flames of fury blazed in his eyes. Since he had set his sights on this fat piece of meat, how could he not know that the other party had recently earned a tidy sum of Spirit Stones?

Staring at the unyielding Lin Chang'an, Wang Yugang sneered with a fake smile. "Junior Brother Lin, focus on your alchemy. The sect's tasks are quite heavy."

He tried to pat Lin Chang'an on the shoulder but found he couldn't reach. With a deeply mocking glance, he turned and left.

No sooner had Wang Yugang left than Alchemist Li, who had been hiding in the distance, walked over with a wry smile. He gently patted Lin Chang'an on the shoulder in consolation.

"Fellow Daoist Lin, you'll get used to it." Saying this, Alchemist Li cautiously pointed toward the innermost pill room, protected by a formation. "Our chief alchemist's concubine is this Alchemist Wang's elder sister."

With that one sentence, Lin Chang'an understood, and a bitter smile spread across his face. "Senior Brother, then what about me?"

"Lose some wealth to avoid disaster."

Watching Senior Brother Li's retreating figure, Lin Chang'an wore a look of frustration. But the moment he turned his head, the corners of his mouth slowly curled up, and a glint of sharp light flashed in his eyes.

"Spirit Gathering Array, restore my mana!"

Looking at the stone hut protected by the formation, Lin Chang'an took the issued token and entered his own room.

Inside the cramped space, with the stone door sealed shut, Lin Chang'an quietly breathed a sigh of relief and sat cross-legged on the bed.

"Elder Lu, this is the technique you made me cultivate."

The corners of his mouth lifted into a cold smirk. Lin Chang'an chose to cultivate the "Ice Muscle Jade Bone Art" that Elder Lu had gifted him.

Aside from its beauty-preserving effects, the "Ice Muscle Jade Bone Art" was actually a body-tempering technique.

"Tempering with yin energy... and the key to reversing yin and yang lies in this part of the yin energy fusion method."

As the cultivation method echoed in his mind, Lin Chang'an frowned and directly abandoned the most crucial yin energy fusion part of the technique.

When he activated the technique, the absorbed spiritual energy transformed into mana with a restless sensation. The next moment, a milky white Spiritual Light surged from his sea of consciousness, flowing through his entire body and calming the turbulent mana.

By discarding the key fusion method, the "Ice Muscle Jade Bone Art" operated gently, nourishing his body. Sensing the changes within, Lin Chang'an let out a long sigh of relief.

"Without the yin energy fusion method, I won't end up with yin and yang reversed even at great success. This way, the technique becomes a trump card."

A hint of joy flickered in Lin Chang'an's eyes. No need to fear turning into a freak, and he could also conceal his true strength—after all, the Heavenly Eye Technique judged a cultivator's realm by observing their mana.

Six hours later.

"Alchemist Lin, this is your share for today."

When Lin Chang'an arrived for his shift and saw how much the amount of pills he needed to refine had suddenly increased, his expression turned sour. Beside him, a weary Alchemist Li patted his shoulder.

"Sometimes taking a step back and losing some wealth to avoid disaster is also a way to live better."

Alchemist Li didn't say much, only offering a colleague's advice. Just then, a figure passed by outside the door, and he quickly lowered his head, dragging his tired body as he hurried out.

"Greetings, Senior Brother."

"Mm."

From outside came Alchemist Li's respectful voice, along with the short figure of Wang Yugang.

The man passed by deliberately, while inside the room, Lin Chang'an lowered his head, staring at the greatly increased number of Bigu Pills.

"Hmph!"

A cold snort came from outside. Wang Yugang looked at the scene inside the pill room, his face turning livid. "Kid, let's see how tough your bones really are."

As the door closed, Lin Chang'an stood before the pill furnace, the corners of his mouth lifting. "I don't know how tough my bones are, but I do know that without this, there'd be no opportunity."

Others would only feel a headache seeing so many Pellets to refine, but he was filled with nothing but joy.

Flames flickered inside the pill furnace, and the Spirit Stones embedded in the furnace wall glimmered with faint Spiritual Light. Lin Chang'an feigned exhaustion, staring intently at the pills being tempered in the fire, while his palm secretly greedily absorbed the Spirit Stones.

For several days in a row, Lin Chang'an's share of Bigu Pills to refine was nearly half more than anyone else's. Just as Wang Yugang sneered, waiting for him to come and submit, Lin Chang'an did indeed pay a visit—but not to his door.

With bloodshot eyes, Lin Chang'an bowed respectfully. "Greetings, Senior Brother Zhang Qing."

Seeing Lin Chang'an's request for an audience, Zhang Qing was not surprised. As Elder Lu's trusted aide handling affairs, how could he not know who was targeting whom among the lower ranks lately?

"Ah, Junior Brother Lin. Have you been getting used to things lately?"

Zhang Qing feigned ignorance with a casual smile, while Lin Chang'an forced a grin and cupped his hands. "Thank you for your concern, Senior Brother."

At this moment, there was no trace of anger on his face. Instead, with a full smile, he lightly flicked his finger. A glimmer of spiritual light flickered from his storage pouch, and a cauldron spun into view before him.

"Senior Brother."

Lin Chang'an put on a fawning expression, his face wreathed in smiles. "These days, this junior brother feels he is nearing a bottleneck, but he has little time to cultivate."

Zhang Qing could not help but let out a bitter laugh and sighed. "Junior Brother, it's not that I, your senior brother, won't help you. The entire sect, from top to bottom, even Elder Lu, toils tirelessly every day."

The Low-grade Artifact Cauldron before him was indeed fine, and he was somewhat tempted, but it was not enough to cloud his judgment.

Lin Chang'an, however, waved his hand repeatedly and laughed. "Senior Brother, you're overthinking it. It's just that this junior brother has no use for it in alchemy within the sect."

Pointing at the cauldron before him, Lin Chang'an wore a broad smile. Why use his own cauldron for alchemy when the sect provided one for free? Who would pay for the Spirit Stones consumed?

"This junior brother would like to trouble Senior Brother to exchange it for a few cultivation pills."

When Zhang Qing heard that it was a cauldron-for-pills exchange, he could not help but breathe a sigh of relief and smiled broadly. "Junior Brother, you know that recently, due to the matter of the Purple Copper Mine, countless cultivators have flooded into the Market, causing pill prices to skyrocket."

"This junior brother understands."

Damn it, he's jacking up the price on the spot. Cursing inwardly, Lin Chang'an's face instead showed a hint of determination. He cupped his hands directly and said, "Senior Brother, this junior brother wishes to exchange the cauldron bestowed by Elder Lu for a few Blood Spirit Pills!"

"Blood Spirit Pills!" Upon hearing this, Zhang Qing's expression shifted sharply, and he stared at the other in shock.

Ahem, if you have any opinions on this book, feel free to share them in the comments.