Cultivate Diligently

After finishing all this, Lin Xuan lay down to rest, conserving his strength and preparing for the cultivation ahead.

Over the next few days, Lin Xuan did not immediately take any Waste Pills to purify. Instead, he decided to quietly observe things for a few days first. Although Zhao Ming had already given him a detailed introduction to the situation here, whether it was truly as he said, without a single falsehood, still required Lin Xuan's own investigation.

Besides, the cultivators who applied to become stewards here were all rather lazy people, unwilling to cultivate diligently. If he appeared too hardworking, would that not arouse suspicion?

In any case, the road of cultivation was exceedingly long, and there was no need to hurry. Thus, Lin Xuan decided to spend some time secretly learning more about the situation while establishing an image among the attendants beneath him: someone very lazy, solitary by nature, who liked to shut himself in his room and refused to be disturbed.

Once everyone grew accustomed to that facade, no one would suspect him when he purified pills and cultivated diligently in his room later on.

Having made all these plans, Lin Xuan began carrying them out over the next few days.

Over roughly a week, he quietly observed from the shadows. Zhao Ming had indeed not lied. The miscellaneous duties of the Waste Pill Room were extremely easy; it could even be said there was almost nothing to do. Other than on the first day of every month, when attendants from the pill refining room brought over failed pills, neither cultivators nor even outer disciples came here at any other time.

It was practically an isolated, idle government office, but for Lin Xuan, it could not have been more suitable.

At the same time, the chaotic state of the Waste Pill storage room was just as Zhao Ming had described, if not worse. It was said that accounts had been kept a thousand years ago, but as for now... no one knew where they had long since disappeared to.

In short, the room full of Waste Pills had accumulated over a thousand years. No one knew the exact amount, and to Lin Xuan, it was a treasure vault from which he could take whatever he pleased.

Unfortunately, there were only Marrow Cleansing Pills used during the Spirit Movement Stage. That was the only regret.

But the need for higher-grade pills was still a distant matter. There was no need to think about it yet.

Having figured out the situation, Lin Xuan then spent roughly another half month successfully establishing a perfect false image in the minds of the attendants.

The attendants of the Waste Pill Room now all knew that this newly arrived Immortal Master loved sleep, was lazy and solitary, and liked to lock himself alone in his room.

What the Immortal Master hated most was being disturbed. Although the attendants had also noticed the ward Lin Xuan had set outside his living quarters, they found nothing strange about it. They even privately believed that this steward had arranged the formation to prevent anyone from disturbing his sleep.

With that understanding, naturally no fool would go looking for trouble. Within ten meters of Lin Xuan's living quarters, people would take detours, while all miscellaneous duties continued to be handled by Zhao Ming on his behalf.

And this result was precisely what Lin Xuan wanted. Next, he could finally settle down and begin his cultivation plan.

First, Lin Xuan openly took a bottle of Waste Pills from the Waste Pill Room, then returned to his house and began purifying them.

Of course, before that, he had prepared some steamed buns and dried meat as food. Low-level cultivators at the Spirit Movement Stage were still unable to abstain from eating.

It took Lin Xuan two days to purify the entire bottle of Waste Pills. Thanks to his previous research and practice, he was already extremely familiar with purifying low-grade Marrow Cleansing Pills. He handled the task with ease, and his success rate had risen further. From one hundred Waste Pills, he obtained a total of thirty-six usable spirit medicines.

His speed had also increased considerably compared to before. Naturally, this was thanks to reaching the second layer of the Spirit Movement Stage, which had greatly expanded the volume of the Star Sea within his body.

With spirit medicine in hand, Lin Xuan began taking it to cultivate. Following the maximum dosage recorded in the ancient books, along with his own experience, he took three pills each time, once in the morning, at noon, and in the evening.

Driven by the powerful medicinal effects and his own diligent effort, although he had no Spirit Root, his cultivation still advanced by leaps and bounds.

Whenever he finished the Marrow Cleansing Pills, Lin Xuan would go take more Waste Pills, purify them, and consume them.

Again and again.

Time flowed like water, passing swiftly. Before he knew it, half a year had gone by.

Lin Xuan cultivated diligently in the Waste Pill Room. He no longer went to the Heart Refining Path. Although the spiritual energy there was more abundant, and he was not afraid of hardship, there was no need. With the large quantities of Marrow Cleansing Pills he consumed each day, whether he cultivated in an environment rich in spiritual energy no longer made much difference to him.

However, Lin Xuan had not completely cut himself off from the world, deaf to all that happened outside his window. Every few days, he would still visit the Young Eagle Pavilion.

According to the rules of Floating Cloud Valley, after a certain interval, a Foundation Establishment Realm expert would teach the disciples of the Spirit Movement Stage. Lin Xuan naturally would not miss such an opportunity to learn cultivation methods.

Even if he could not use them for the time being, he listened with great attention, then recorded the methods of practice for future use.

Over the past half year, Lin Xuan had consumed thousands of Marrow Cleansing Pills. Under the effects of that powerful medicine, combined with his greater diligence and hard work, his cultivation method had finally reached the fourth layer, the peak of the middle Spirit Movement Stage.

With Lin Xuan's current cultivation, he ranked above average among the disciples who had entered the valley during the same period. Other than a few geniuses with exceptionally excellent Spirit Roots who had cultivated their methods to the fifth layer, most disciples were still lingering at the third layer.

In other words, Lin Xuan had left most people behind.

Half a year ago, he had only been at the first layer of the Spirit Movement Stage. Yet in just a few short months, he had crossed three layers in succession. Such speed was not unheard of in the Cultivation World, but it was at least exceedingly rare. Those capable of achieving it were all once-in-a-century prodigies, while Lin Xuan was merely an ordinary person without even a Spirit Root.

Spirit medicine was one factor. After all, aside from Lin Xuan, who possessed the ability to purify pills, not even the wealthiest great sects or the most powerful giants of the Demonic Path could let their disciples consume precious spirit medicines like candy.

The second factor was effort. Lin Xuan understood that to gain something, one first had to give. Thus, although he now possessed the ability to purify pills, he had never slacked off in the slightest. If anything, he cultivated even more frantically than before.

The Heavenly Dao rewarded diligence. Yet Lin Xuan had not been dazzled by his achievements before him. He was still a low-level cultivator, and he carried a secret that could not be revealed to others. He kept as low a profile as possible within the sect and avoided drawing attention, while privately cultivating with all his strength.