Pill Purification

There was no other reason. In the Cultivation World, pill refining was an extremely technical craft. Even experienced masters did not have a high success rate. Usually, out of every three batches of pills refined, one batch would be ruined. Because Waste Pills contained too many impurities, consuming them not only brought no benefit to one's cultivation, but actually harmed the body. They could usually only be discarded with a pained heart.

Spirit herbs and medicinal ingredients were already scarce, and refining them was difficult with a low success rate. This made pills even rarer.

This gave cultivators endless headaches, especially small sects like Floating Cloud Valley. Their pill refiners had limited skill, and their failure rate was even higher, said to be as much as fifty percent. Thus, even for Marrow Cleansing Pills, the most common and lowest-grade pills in the Cultivation World, disciples received only a paltry two each month.

Pills were precious, while wolves were many and meat was scarce. This was precisely what constrained cultivators' advancement in power. Even cultivators with excellent Spirit Roots who worked diligently could not do without the aid of pills.

Yet for Lin Xuan, this was an enormous opportunity.

Because the mysterious light spots within his body could defy the heavens and turn waste into treasure...

Taking Floating Cloud Valley as an example, it had roughly three hundred disciples in the Spirit Movement Stage. With two Marrow Cleansing Pills per person each month, that came to more than six hundred pills. Yet due to refinement failures, the number of Waste Pills produced was approximately the same.

Waste Pills were harmful and useless, nothing but trash. This had been the understanding in the Cultivation World for tens of thousands of years. Although failed Waste Pills were not simply discarded at will, their management was extremely disordered, and no one paid them any attention. Thus, Lin Xuan set his sights on them.

There were six hundred Waste Pills every month. If he could get his hands on them, then use the Blue Light Spots to turn them into useful spiritual medicine...

Then he could eat pills like candy. Even without a Spirit Root, his cultivation speed would surpass that of his fellow disciples.

The prospects were exceedingly bright, but Lin Xuan did not let it go to his head. Even now, he remained exceptionally clear-minded and began planning what he should do next.

First, he needed to investigate the reason. How had a Waste Pill become a precious spiritual medicine? He had to understand the cause, what conditions were required, and how to control the Blue Light Spots. He needed to figure out the entire process. Otherwise, his wonderful vision from earlier would be like flowers reflected in a mirror, the moon mirrored in water—visible but untouchable. In any case, he needed to thoroughly master how to use the Blue Light Spots.

Having settled on his goal, Lin Xuan held the spiritual pill before his eyes and examined it carefully.

Its color and fragrance were both correct. Aside from the time Elder Ma had made things difficult for him, Lin Xuan had previously consumed low-grade Marrow Cleansing Pills, so there was no way he could mistake it.

To be safe, he also took a genuine Marrow Cleansing Pill from his Storage Bracelet. He had extorted this pill from Zhou Yan, and now compared the two.

Compared to an authentic Marrow Cleansing Pill, the only difference was that this pill transformed from a Waste Pill was slightly smaller. Beside it lay a pile of black, sticky powder that gave off a foul smell, drawing Lin Xuan's attention.

Impurities?

Of course Lin Xuan would not overlook such an important detail, and he accurately recognized its origin. The reason spiritual pills refined from rare medicinal ingredients became ruined was because Waste Pills contained too many impurities.

In other words, Waste Pills did not lack their essential components. It was merely that the impurity content was too high, affecting them and rendering them useless for cultivation.

If the impurities in a Waste Pill could be removed and its essence purified, the Waste Pill could likewise become spiritual medicine. Yet this was only theoretical. It was easy to say, but actual execution was harder than climbing to heaven. Over tens of thousands of years, great sects and powerful Rogue Cultivators had made countless attempts, yet not a single successful case existed.

After countless failures, cultivators had given up. They could only discard Waste Pills with aching hearts. For tens of thousands of years, the Cultivation World had come to believe that the impurities in Waste Pills could not be removed.

Yet before his eyes, that pile of black, sticky powder was clearly impurities!

Lin Xuan pondered for a moment, then began to entertain a bold notion. Could the function of the Blue Star Sea within his body be purification—removing impurities, concentrating the essential components, and thereby turning waste into treasure?

Of course, this was only a guess. As for the true situation, it still required further proof through action.

No sooner thought than done. Lin Xuan poured another Waste Pill from the jade bottle and held it in his hand. Sitting down cross-legged, he found that after his earlier rest, the Star Sea's expenditure had recovered. He once again mobilized the Blue Light Spots and began a Great Circulation.

The process was extremely difficult, but Lin Xuan had long since grown accustomed to it. When the light spots reached his wrist, he concentrated his spiritual sense and observed carefully, striving not to miss a single detail.

Under the effect of his spiritual sense, the scene before him was magnified several times and clearly imprinted in his mind. One light spot after another passed through the skin of his palm and spilled out of his body. Some entered the Waste Pill, while others dispersed into the air.

As more light spots entered the Waste Pill, some black powder separated from within it and broke away. These were the impurities.

At the same time, the pill's color gradually faded, changing from black to gray, then to white...

Lin Xuan carefully recorded every detail. Watching the pill change, it seemed his guess had been right nine times out of ten.

At the same time, he noticed that not all the light spots entered the Waste Pill. Some also dispersed into the air, which was clearly wasteful. Thus, Lin Xuan consciously altered the light spots within his body, gathering them more tightly so that more of them would enter the Waste Pill.

Sure enough, the impurities separated faster. However, two or three minutes later, bang, with a soft sound, the pill in his palm burst apart.

Lin Xuan opened his eyes and raised his palm before him. Resting there was a spiritual pill split into fragments, giving off the charred, burnt smell of paste. This attempt had ended in failure.

"It seems the Blue Light Spots truly can separate impurities, purify the essential components, and turn waste into treasure." Lin Xuan muttered to himself, without the slightest hint of dejection on his face. Although the experiment had not succeeded, he had gained quite a bit and confirmed his conjecture.

Next came the analysis. He first reviewed the process of controlling the blue light, and there had been no mistake. Then the only possible reason for failure was speed. Could it be that the light spots had entered the pill too quickly, exceeding what it could endure?

Lin Xuan formed a hypothesis, and the only way to prove it was to try again. However, the Blue Star Sea within him was now too small to support the purification process once more. It seemed he could only rest for a while and try again later.