Qi Refining Fourth Layer

After waiting quietly for an hour.

Wang Yu's fingers twitched one or two times. A small amount of alchemy experience and insight appeared in his mind, as though he had personally opened a furnace and refined a batch of pills—only to fail.

This felt entirely different from before. He had never possessed any foundation in alchemy, and the experience gained from diving straight in was terrible. It felt as though he was heading toward becoming a practitioner who relied purely on intuition.

"So this is what it feels like..."

Muttering inwardly, Wang Yu paid it no further mind. If he read more books on medicinal principles and herb properties in his daily life, he would sooner or later make up for his lack of fundamentals.

The mission had entered its latter half, with two months remaining. The spirit power within Wang Yu's body had nearly finished condensing, with only the final three strands of spirit power left to merge into one.

The time of his final breakthrough was roughly as he had predicted before.

The room where Tantai Chan was in seclusion also grew more active by the day. The temperature near the house became increasingly high, while waves of pill fragrance spread through the air.

His days in the Medicine Garden were exceptionally peaceful. No blind fool dared come looking for trouble.

Thus, Wang Yu passed through his most stable period of days.

When the time came to the one hundred and eighty-ninth day.

As Wang Yu sat cross-legged in meditation, the air around him suddenly distorted. Spirit Qi gathered at a speed visible to the naked eye, and in the silence, it seemed as though a soft "pop" rang out.

His aura crossed a new step, and the bones throughout his body crackled. Like a second growth spurt, he completed a minor transformation.

His glabella itched unbearably, as if invisible feelers had finally broken through the limits of flesh and could sense the outside world.

This was precisely the sign of Divine Sense leaving the body. Within a radius of roughly ten feet centered on himself, every tiny detail was laid bare, scarcely different from seeing with his own eyes.

Qi Refining Fourth Layer, achieved!

A hundred strands of spirit power transformed into ten even more condensed strands. They were far denser now, already carrying a mist-like quality. Though few in number, they could crush his former self.

Most importantly, both the Ice Sword Technique and Ice Shield Technique were middle-grade spells. This meant Wang Yu could finally unleash the full power of both techniques, and his combat strength soared.

The superficial aging caused by his rapidly draining lifespan also recovered with this breakthrough. He no longer possessed his former aged appearance.

Most of his hair was still white, with only a little black emerging at the roots. He estimated that it would not completely turn black until he broke through to Foundation Establishment.

Wang Yu was extremely excited.

After all, with the aptitude of Useless Spiritual Roots, reaching the Qi Refining Mid Stage often took an entire lifetime.

He was only seventeen this year and still had ample time to cultivate. The Placement Slot deserved the greatest credit!

Calming his mind, Wang Yu tried activating the Night Concealment Spell.

His aura instantly returned to the Qi Refining Third Layer without any flaw. The qualitative transformation of his spirit power greatly extended its duration, bringing it to three incense sticks' time. It was now usable.

Cultivation at the Qi Refining Fourth Layer once again entered the stage of accumulating spirit power.

Once he accumulated ten strands to three hundred, he could break through to the Qi Refining Fifth Layer.

At the rate of ten strands merging into one, that meant 2,900 strands of spirit power. The difficulty of cultivation had increased by far more than several times. At the efficiency of the Placement Slot, if he placed only one cultivation method inside, it would take two days to return a single strand of spirit power.

It would take 5,800 days—more than sixteen years—to complete the accumulation and break through naturally. That figure made Wang Yu's scalp tingle.

The disadvantage of his aptitude was becoming increasingly obvious. One Placement Slot was no longer enough; even using two Placement Slots together would still take over eight years. Improving his aptitude could not be delayed.

The Cold Blood Art had a slight effect in this regard, but it would only become apparent once he cultivated it to completion.

"Right, since my cultivation has broken through to the Qi Refining Mid Stage, perhaps the Placement Slot will undergo new changes..."

Just as Wang Yu was about to inspect it, he suddenly sensed Tantai Chan's aura appearing within Wind Piercing Hall. He hurriedly activated the Night Concealment Spell and went to greet her.

She was a few days later than their agreed half-year term.

When they met again, Tantai Chan inspected the Medicine Garden first before releasing her aura to summon Wang Yu. Seeing his handsome, fair-faced appearance, Tantai Chan's brows knitted tightly.

"Wang Yu?"

"It is me. Greetings, Senior Tantai."

"Your appearance..."

Wang Yu had long prepared an explanation for this point. Feeling Foundation Establishment Divine Sense sweep over his body, he cursed inwardly, but his expression remained calm.

"Wang Yu was born a Spirit Slave, and my lifespan drained away severely, which caused me to age prematurely in my youth. Fortunately, True Inheritor Su promoted me, allowing me to luckily enter the Outer Sect. Over these past six months, I have recuperated properly and consumed quite a few spirit pills that replenish Qi and blood, which is why I recovered my original appearance."

Tantai Chan ignored all his explanations and only heard several words—[True Inheritor Su favors him!]

Indeed, there were exceedingly few examples of Spirit Slaves advancing into the Outer Sect. If he had been specially promoted, there must naturally have been another reason. Tantai Chan dismissed the thought of withholding his reward, and her icy expression suddenly became much kinder.

"And yet, you never mentioned your relationship with True Inheritor Su."

"Senior Tantai did not ask, so Wang Yu naturally did not dare say more."

"Very well."

Taking out the Steward Token, she lightly tapped Wang Yu's Black Blood Waist Token. Two hundred Contribution Points were immediately transferred over, while the three hundred belonging to Ice Snow Tower had already been deducted.

"Many thanks, Senior Tantai." Wang Yu gave a salute, then added, "Wang wishes to purchase two stalks of Cold Ice Nine Leaf Grass from the Medicine Garden. Would you be willing to sell them, my lady?"

Tantai Chan agreed after only a moment's consideration.

"Yes. If you are gathering spirit herbs for alchemy, come find me once you have collected everything. With This Seat's rank as a Second-Tier Middle-Grade Alchemist, helping you... would be more than easy."

Wang Yu could only thank her again. After breaking through in cultivation, he had roughly calculated the time needed to reach the Qi Refining Fifth Layer. Spirit pills such as the Cold Blood Pill, which could assist cultivation, had become extremely important as well.

He would not trust something meant to enter his own stomach to someone else's refining. This was also one of the reasons he insisted on learning alchemy!

The Demonic Path environment was far too harsh. He had to keep his guard fully raised.

Rubbing his hands together, Wang Yu's expression became awkward.

"Then... what price would you set?"

Tantai Chan fell silent for a moment.

"Two stalks of Cold Ice Nine Leaf Grass are rather rare. Their exchange price in the Sect Treasury is one hundred and twenty Contribution Points. How about one hundred Spirit Stones per stalk?"

The value of Spirit Stones was defaulted to be slightly lower than Contribution Points, yet this price was quite favorable. Moreover, this was the main ingredient of the Cold Blood Pill, while the auxiliary ingredients would cost even less. Wang Yu nodded repeatedly.

It just so happened that he had made a windfall half a year ago. Aside from food, he had not spent any of it. The Spirit Stones Wang Yu handed over were even mixed with eighty jin of Spirit Sand, making him look utterly shabby.

After obtaining what he wanted, he stored it away in jade boxes.

Preserving spirit herbs was also a technical craft. Jade Sealing was the most common and cheapest method. More advanced methods generally used the Talisman Sealing Method, while Cauldron Sealing, Stone Sealing, Wax Sealing, and other techniques also existed.

Some old alchemists even possessed unique secret techniques. Every field of knowledge in the Cultivation World had existed for countless years, and the content derived from them was so vast that one could not finish learning it in a lifetime.

Therefore, cultivators generally only specialized in one or two auxiliary arts.

But as their realms gradually rose, the scope of their studies would also broaden. From a high-level perspective, it was perfectly normal for a Nascent Soul Cultivator to be proficient in the four arts of the first and second tiers.