Two years had turned Lin Xiao into an elegant, exceptional young man. He stood more than eight feet tall, and his slightly lean frame looked perfectly suited to the azure Daoist robe, lending him an air of immortal grace and sage-like bones. On his somewhat long, square face, a pair of eyes that seemed to faintly shoot crimson glints had become his most captivating feature. Lin Xiao, who had been pink-cheeked and adorable as a child, remained handsome after growing up. Having succeeded in cultivating Daoist arts, he possessed an added charm that drew people in.
In two years, Lin Xiao had cultivated the True Fire Art to the eighth layer. Whether anyone would surpass this speed in the future remained unknown, but he had unquestionably broken the Great Luo Pill Dao's previous record. Before Lin Xiao, the fastest disciple to cultivate the True Fire Art to the eighth layer had still needed a full four years and nine months.
Dan Fusheng and Danxia had initially feared that Lin Xiao's rapidly increasing cultivation would leave his state of mind unstable. Yet after the Great Luo Pill Dao's elders carefully examined him, they discovered that his state of mind was incomparably steady. Though his comprehension of the Heavenly Dao was not especially profound, he showed not even the slightest sign of cultivation deviation. Clicking their tongues in amazement, the elders could only attribute this strange phenomenon to Lin Xiao's outstanding talent—when in truth, it was the marvelous effect of the Lotus Seeds he had continually consumed over the past few years!
At the eighth layer of the True Fire Art, Lin Xiao should originally have advanced to the Flood-ranked pill chambers. However, since Yao'er remained in the Desolate-ranked pill chambers, lavishly wasting all kinds of medicinal ingredients to "get some practice," Lin Xiao firmly stayed behind as well. By now, though, the number of pill furnaces under his charge had reached two hundred and thirty. With his current cultivation, handling them was as easy as turning his hand over.
Over the past two years, Lin Xiao had come to understand the current state of the cultivation world, as well as the Great Luo Pill Dao's standing within it.
No one knew when it had begun, but the Spiritual Energy of the cultivation world had steadily grown thinner. Two thousand years ago, the situation had suddenly worsened drastically. The Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth diminished by the day, as if a hole had been torn in the world and all Spiritual Energy were leaking out through it. This directly caused the present desolation of the cultivation world. There were very few deeply cultivated experts; a Golden Core Stage cultivator could dominate an entire region, while a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator was a grandmaster whose name rang like a bell.
As Spiritual Energy gradually dissipated, it became increasingly difficult for cultivators to advance. Since the Spiritual Energy between heaven and earth could no longer meet the demands of cultivation, they naturally had no choice but to seek help from external means.
In ancient times, the Great Luo Pill Dao had not held a high position in the cultivation world. Yet as Spiritual Energy gradually grew scarce—especially after the density of Spiritual Energy in the cultivation world began to plummet two thousand years ago—the Great Luo Pill Dao had risen with the tide. It had now become a force of great importance in the cultivation world. Though the Great Luo Pill Dao did not have many disciples, numbering only a little over three thousand even with the Daoist boys who chopped wood and carried water, no one dared underestimate it.
After all, the Great Luo Pill Dao was the only sect in today's cultivation world capable of mass-producing all kinds of spirit pills. No one could guarantee that they would not someday need to turn to the Great Luo Pill Dao, so every righteous sect in the cultivation world maintained excellent relations with it. Only demonic cultivators would unscrupulously take advantage of the Great Luo Pill Dao's periods of closed-door pill refinement to stir up trouble in the Great Yuan Kingdom, the Great Luo Pill Dao's traditional sphere of influence. The Great Luo Pill Dao's thunderous strike against the Jimo Sect and the Blood Kill Demonic Path, gathering experts from various righteous factions, clearly reflected its formidable prestige.
In short, according to Dan Fusheng, so long as the Spiritual Energy of the current cultivation world did not recover, and so long as all cultivators had to rely on swallowing vast quantities of pills to increase their strength, the Great Luo Pill Dao's position would remain unshakable. The Jimo Sect, the Blood Kill Demonic Path, and several other demonic sects daring to make waves in the Great Yuan Kingdom this time had purely been an extremely unlikely event.
Lin Xiao had originally been somewhat dismissive of Dan Fusheng's words. But after two years passed and not even the shadow of a Jimo Sect demonic cultivator appeared, while the Great Luo Pill Dao continued peacefully refining pills day after day, he tossed that tiny trace of concern beyond the clouds.
"Hmm, even if the Jimo Sect wants revenge, they'll have to see whether they can touch the Great Luo Pill Dao first, won't they?"
Lin Xiao recalled what he had learned some time ago—that several senior experts were still stationed within the Great Luo Pill Dao.
"Pill Energy Soars to the Heavens." The elders of the Dan generation were disciples from the same generation as the current sect master, Daoist Danling. But above the Dan generation, elders of the Qi and Ling generations still lived. There were even rumors that somewhere within the Great Luo Pill Dao, senior members of the Xiao generation lived in seclusion. They were all expert seniors from a thousand years ago. With such people guarding Spring Return Valley, Lin Xiao felt he could cultivate in peace without worrying about anything.
Sitting quietly cross-legged atop a meditation cushion, Lin Xiao casually swept the newly cultivated divine sense through the pill furnaces in the pill chamber.
The flames beneath the pill furnace before him had already turned milky white. The pills currently being refined within were an ordinary batch of Bone-Mending Paste. This commonly used ointment for treating tendon and bone injuries had a simple formula and uncomplicated refining procedures. Even the fire merely needed to be held at a constant temperature. Lin Xiao still dutifully watched over the flames, while the Daoist responsible for mixing ingredients, adding medicine, and collecting the finished pills had lazily seated himself beside the furnace, holding a Daoist manual and chanting from it carefully.
To Great Luo Pill Dao disciples, such low-grade pills truly inspired no enthusiasm for serious work. Had the Great Luo Pill Dao not imposed extremely strict rules on every step and every link of pill refinement, this Daoist would likely have wandered out of the pill chamber long ago and dumped all the finishing work on Lin Xiao.
The Daoists responsible for preparing medicines in the Desolate-ranked pill chambers were mostly so listless. They truly could not summon any spirit for refining these basic pills. The only one happily circling a pill furnace, constantly tossing portions of medicinal ingredients inside, was Yao'er, whose face was blackened all over. She danced and flailed as she ran wildly around the furnace, continually calling for Lin Xiao to increase or reduce the flames.
Most of Lin Xiao's divine sense rested on Yao'er. Whenever she made a request, he immediately followed her instructions and sent out hand seal after hand seal. With his current cultivation, Lin Xiao could already remotely control a pill furnace's flames from a hundred zhang away. He could precisely meet every demand Yao'er made of the fire.
Two years had passed. He knew what Yao'er was doing.
Yao'er might look foolish and dazed, but she was not stupid. On the contrary, she was an exceptionally clever girl. Her seemingly wild and fanciful methods of pill refinement were merely meant to make her pills better and more effective. With Yao'er's pill-refining skill, she could have advanced to the Flood-ranked pill chambers long ago to refine higher-grade pills. However, the medicinal ingredients in the Flood-ranked pill chambers' storehouses were no longer supplied without limit. In order to freely squander ingredients while carrying out her improvements to pill-refining techniques, Yao'er devoted herself wholeheartedly to remaining in the Desolate-ranked pill chambers, where low-grade ingredients were supplied without limit.
For two years, Lin Xiao had likewise stayed wholeheartedly beside Yao'er in the Desolate-ranked pill chambers.
Whenever Great Luo Pill Dao pill-refining disciples refined a batch of pills, they received a portion of them for themselves. Naturally, every disciple constantly sought to advance to higher-ranked pill chambers. Disciples like Lin Xiao and Yao'er, whose cultivation and experience were sufficient yet who remained in the lowest-ranked pill chambers, were truly a pair of oddballs. Fortunately, Lin Xiao was always there to assist her. Over the past two years, no matter how Yao'er altered pill formulas and refining hand seals, her pill furnace had encountered who knew how many dangerous moments, yet it had never exploded again. It was truly a miracle.
Lin Xiao was responsible for the firework of more than two hundred pill furnaces. In two years, he had accumulated enough low-grade pills to fill two Great Halls. If Danxia had not given him a storage bracelet, Lin Xiao would have had no choice but to waste all those pills by throwing them to the wine-brewing monkeys that covered the mountains behind Spring Return Valley. This was, naturally, another side effect of Yao'er refusing to advance to the Flood-ranked pill chambers.
A fire-controlling spirit art shot forth, and the flames beneath Yao'er's pill furnace transformed perfectly according to her wishes. Threads of civil and martial fire shifted with exquisite subtlety. Tiny tongues of flame wound around the pill furnace, licking, brushing, tracing, and touching it. The fire surged like a living creature. Yao'er deftly tossed portions of medicinal ingredients into the furnace along with the changing flames, occasionally adding auxiliary substances such as sweet spring water. Gradually, a strange fragrance drifted from the furnace, bitter and pungent yet refreshing to the heart and mind.
Lin Xiao turned around in astonishment and stared at Yao'er.
The pill Yao'er was refining today was the very ordinary Spirit Gathering Pill. It was used to assist cultivators of low cultivation in their practice, increasing their sensitivity to the Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth and improving the efficiency with which they absorbed it. In particular, the Spiritual Energy contained within a Spirit Gathering Pill was itself considerable. If one could completely absorb a single Spirit Gathering Pill, its effect would equal ten days of quiet cultivation.
However, the formula for the Spirit Gathering Pill had already been tempered a thousand times over, to the point where it could no longer be altered. Every portion of medicinal strength had been used to the fullest extent. Even the appearance and scent each pill should possess were perfectly familiar to every Great Luo Pill Dao disciple qualified to enter a pill chamber.
Yet the scent of this batch of Spirit Gathering Pills Yao'er had refined seemed somewhat strange. It was undoubtedly the scent of Spirit Gathering Pills, but other scents were mixed within it. Merely smelling the medicine gave one the sense that it was anything but ordinary.
Lin Xiao no longer paid attention to the other pill furnaces. All his focus settled on Yao'er's furnace. His hand seals shifted as streams of red light shot into the pill furnace, perfectly balancing the civil and martial flames, coordinating dragon and tiger, striving not to make even the slightest mistake. Over the past two years, Lin Xiao had controlled the pill fire for tens of thousands of batches of Spirit Gathering Pills, but this batch was clearly different.
This was the first batch of pills Yao'er had refined in two years that might truly form pills.
Seeing the foolish, dazed expression on Yao'er's face as she crouched beside the pill furnace, Lin Xiao could not bear to let anything go wrong with this batch.
The eyes of the normally carefree Yao'er were now filled with nervousness and confusion. Lin Xiao felt a sharp pang in his heart.
As long as that silly smile stays on her face forever, that will be enough. Lin Xiao controlled the furnace fire with utter concentration, holding only one thought in his heart: That nervousness and confusion should not be on Senior Sister Yao'er's face. She has always been such a happy little girl. How can she be so nervous and lost?
The final spirit art shot forth, and a mass of scorching fire surged up from beneath the ground, enveloping the entire pill furnace.
The fierce firepower ruthlessly "steamed" the formed pellets inside the furnace. The pills were done.
With a soft sound, a wisp of pale green mist spouted from the top of the pill furnace, gathering into a cloud like lingzhi that drifted faintly in the air. A strange fragrance burst forth. The earlier bitter, pungent scent had completely vanished, leaving behind only an exceedingly elegant fragrance carrying a trace of chill.
Nearly a hundred pill-refining Daoists in the pill chamber simultaneously cried out in surprise, staring at Yao'er's delighted face and the pill furnace before her.
A string of crisp crackling sounds like exploding beans rang out. Several hundred soybean-sized pills sprayed from the furnace.
Lin Xiao hastily formed a hand seal, repeatedly grabbing the cold jade bottles piled beside him and using a restraining art to seal the pills into them.
Daoist Qing Wu, who had somehow returned completely to the appearance of a young man, emerged from nowhere. He casually picked up a pill, rolled it about in his palm, and cried out, "Junior Sister Yao'er, you—you really altered the Spirit Gathering Pill formula? And you really only used the basic medicinal ingredients from the Desolate-ranked pill chambers?"
Yao'er gave a soft snort. She rose weakly to her feet, blinked once, then suddenly threw herself into Lin Xiao's arms and burst into loud sobs.
"Wuwuwu, Little Junior Brother, I finally beat Master. Wuwuwu, I finally improved a pill formula! Wu, hurry and come with me to find Master. I want to collect the wager between him and me—the Great Luo Pill Scripture." After crying out a few words, Yao'er suddenly lifted her head with a grin and vigorously smeared the black ash covering her face all over Lin Xiao's face.
The Daoists in the pill chamber all sucked in a sharp breath.
The Great Luo Pill Scripture—the Great Luo Pill Dao's treasured sect artifact. Could it be that Yao'er would now gain access to that supreme pill-refining classic?
Lin Xiao stood there blankly and dumbfounded, only to be forcibly dragged out of the pill chamber by Yao'er.
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