Improving the Pill Formula

In two years, Lin Xiao had grown into a strikingly handsome young man. Standing over eight feet tall, his slightly lean frame looked perfect in a cyan daoist robe, exuding an air of immortal grace. His slightly long, square face was dominated by a pair of eyes that seemed to faintly flicker with red light, making them his most captivating feature. The Lin Xiao who was so adorable and fair-skinned as a child retained his striking looks as a youth, enhanced by his successful cultivation of Daoist techniques, which lent him an even more alluring aura.

In these two years, Lin Xiao had cultivated the True Fire Art to the eighth level. Whether this speed was unprecedented was unknown, but it had definitively shattered the previous record of the Great Luo Pill Dao. Before Lin Xiao, the fastest disciple to reach the eighth level of the True Fire Art had taken a full four years and nine months.

Dan Fusheng and Danxia had initially worried that Lin Xiao's rapid increase in power might destabilize his mental state. However, after careful examination by the elders of the Great Luo Pill Dao, they discovered Lin Xiao's mental state was incredibly stable. While his comprehension of the Heavenly Dao wasn't yet profound, his mind showed no signs of qi deviation. Amazed, the elders could only attribute this strange phenomenon to Lin Xiao's exceptional talent—in reality, it was the miraculous effect of Lin Xiao's continuous consumption of those Lotus Seeds over the past few years!

With the True Fire Art at the eighth level, Lin Xiao could have been promoted to the Hong-class Pill Room. However, because Yao'er was still in the Huang-class Pill Room, squandering various medicinal ingredients in large quantities to "get a feel for things," Lin Xiao resolutely remained in the Huang-class Pill Room. Now, Lin Xiao was responsible for the furnace fires of over two hundred and thirty pill furnaces. With his current cultivation, he handled it with ease.

Over these two years, Lin Xiao had gained some understanding of the current state of the cultivation world and the Great Luo Pill Dao's position within it.

At some point, the spiritual energy in the cultivation world began to dwindle. This situation became extremely severe about two thousand years ago, with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth decreasing day by day, as if a hole had appeared in the world, leaking all the spiritual energy out. This directly led to the current decline of the cultivation world; there were very few cultivators with profound attainments. Those at the Golden Core Stage could dominate a region, and those at the Nascent Soul stage were considered renowned masters of their generation.

As the spiritual energy gradually dispersed, it became increasingly difficult for cultivators to advance. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth could no longer meet the demands of cultivation, so they naturally had to seek external aids.

The Great Luo Pill Dao's status in the cultivation world was not high in ancient times. However, with the gradual scarcity of spiritual energy, especially after the spiritual energy density of the cultivation world began to plummet two thousand years ago, the Great Luo Pill Dao experienced a surge in importance. It had now become a pivotal force in the cultivation world. Although the Great Luo Pill Dao did not have many disciples, numbering just over three thousand including the woodcutters and water carriers, no one dared to underestimate it.

After all, the Great Luo Pill Dao was the only sect in the current cultivation world capable of mass-producing various spiritual pills. No one could guarantee they wouldn't need the Great Luo Pill Dao's help one day, so all the righteous sects in the cultivation world maintained excellent relations with the Great Luo Pill Dao. Only demonic cultivators would brazenly take advantage of the Great Luo Pill Dao's closed-door pill refining sessions to cause trouble in the Great Yuan Kingdom, the Great Luo Pill Dao's traditional sphere of influence. The Great Luo Pill Dao's thunderous strike, gathering experts from various righteous sects against the Jimo Sect and the Blood Kill Demonic Path, clearly demonstrated the Great Luo Pill Dao's current formidable prestige.

In short, according to Dan Fusheng, as long as the spiritual energy in the current cultivation world did not recover, and as long as all cultivators had to rely on consuming large quantities of pills to increase their strength, the Great Luo Pill Dao's position would be unshakeable. The fact that people from the Jimo Sect, the Blood Kill Demonic Path, and several other demonic sects dared to stir up trouble in the Great Yuan Kingdom this time was purely a low-probability event.

Lin Xiao had initially been somewhat dismissive of Dan Fusheng's words. However, after two years passed and he found no trace of the Jimo Sect and other demonic cultivators, and the Great Luo Pill Dao remained as peaceful as ever, refining pills daily, he cast aside his slight worries.

"Well, even if the Jimo Sect wants revenge, they'll have to see if they can even touch the Great Luo Pill Dao."

Lin Xiao recalled what he had learned recently about the Great Luo Pill Dao having several elder masters still guarding it.

"Dan Qi Ling Xiao"—the elders of the Dan generation were of the same cohort as the current sect leader, Daoist Danling. But above the Dan generation, there were still elders of the Qi and Ling generations alive. It was even rumored that in a certain place within the Great Luo Pill Dao, a senior of the Xiao generation was in seclusion. These were all senior experts from a thousand years ago. With these individuals safeguarding Spring Return Valley, Lin Xiao felt he could cultivate with peace of mind, without any worries.

Quietly sitting cross-legged on a futon, Lin Xiao's newly formed divine sense casually swept over the pill furnaces in the pill room.

The flame under the pill furnace before him had turned milky white. The pill being refined in the furnace was a common "Bone-Mending Paste." This paste, used for treating bone injuries, had a simple formula and its refining process was not complicated. Even the fire only needed to maintain a constant temperature. Lin Xiao was diligently tending the fire, while the daoist responsible for preparing, adding, and collecting the ingredients sat lazily by the furnace, engrossed in chanting a Daoist scripture.

For the disciples of the Great Luo Pill Dao, this most basic type of pill couldn't muster the enthusiasm to be treated seriously. If not for the extremely strict regulations the Great Luo Pill Dao had for every step and aspect of pill refining, this daoist would have long since slipped out of the pill room, leaving all the finishing work to Lin Xiao.

The ingredient-preparing daoists in the Huang-class Pill Room were generally listless like this. They simply couldn't muster the energy to refine these basic pills. The only one excitedly darting around the furnace, constantly adding portions of ingredients into it, was Yao'er, her face covered in soot. She danced and ran around the furnace, repeatedly calling out to Lin Xiao to increase or decrease the fire.

The majority of Lin Xiao's divine sense was focused on Yao'er. As soon as Yao'er made a request, he would immediately cast the spiritual art according to her instructions. Lin Xiao's current cultivation was sufficient to control the furnace fire from a hundred feet away, allowing him to precisely meet Yao'er's demands for the fire's intensity.

For two years, he knew what Yao'er was doing.

Yao'er seemed foolish, but she wasn't actually stupid; on the contrary, she was a very intelligent girl. Her seemingly whimsical pill-refining methods were actually aimed at making her pills better and more potent. In fact, with her pill-refining techniques, she could have long ago been promoted to the Hong-class Pill Room to refine more advanced pills. However, the medicinal ingredients in the Hong-class Pill Room's storeroom were no longer unlimited. In order to waste medicinal ingredients lavishly for her improvements to the art of pill refining, Yao'er had wholeheartedly remained in the Huang-class Pill Room, where low-grade medicinal ingredients were supplied without limit.

For two years, Lin Xiao had also wholeheartedly stayed with Yao'er in the Huang-class Pill Room.

The pill refining disciples of the Great Luo Pill Dao could take a portion of the pills from each batch they refined. Naturally, all disciples constantly desired promotion to higher-level pill rooms. Disciples like Lin Xiao and Yao'er, who had sufficient cultivation and experience but remained in the lowest-level pill room, were truly a peculiar pair. Fortunately, with Lin Xiao's constant attention, no matter how Yao'er changed the formulas and refining hand seals over these two years, her furnace had never exploded, which was truly a miracle.

Lin Xiao was responsible for the fire control of over two hundred furnaces. In two years, he had accumulated enough low-grade pills to fill two great halls. If Danxia hadn't given Lin Xiao a storage bracelet, he would have wasted all those pills, feeding them to the wine-brewing monkeys that roamed the mountains behind Spring Return Valley. This was, of course, a side effect of Yao'er's refusal to be promoted to the Hong-class Pill Room.

He cast the Fire Control Spiritual Art. The fire under the furnace Yao'er was tending transformed perfectly according to her wishes. Delicate threads of "wen" and "wu" fire shifted skillfully, with wisps of flame coiling around the furnace, licking, stroking, drawing, and touching. The flames rose as if alive. Yao'er skillfully tossed portions of ingredients into the furnace as the fire changed, and from time to time, she added auxiliary substances like pure dew. Gradually, a refreshing, slightly bitter, and exotic fragrance wafted from the furnace.

Lin Xiao looked back in astonishment at Yao'er.

The pill Yao'er was refining today was a very common "Spirit Gathering Pill." This pill was used to aid the cultivation of those with lower cultivation levels, increasing their sensitivity to the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and improving their absorption efficiency. Especially since the spiritual energy contained within the "Spirit Gathering Pill" itself was not weak, fully absorbing one Spirit Gathering Pill was equivalent to a week of focused cultivation.

However, the formula for the Spirit Gathering Pill had been refined to the point where it could not be altered further. Every bit of medicinal power was utilized to its fullest. Even the shape and scent of each pill were clearly understood by all disciples of the Great Luo Pill Dao who were qualified to enter the pill rooms.

Yet, the Spirit Gathering Pill Yao'er had refined had a peculiar scent. It was indeed the scent of a Spirit Gathering Pill, but it was mixed with other aromas. The scent itself gave one an extraordinary feeling.

Lin Xiao stopped paying attention to the other furnaces, his entire focus fixed on Yao'er's furnace. His hands moved through hand seals, and streams of red light entered the furnace, perfectly harmonizing the "wen" and "wu" fires and coordinating the "dragon and tiger," striving not to make a single mistake. For two years, Lin Xiao had controlled the furnace fires for tens of thousands of Spirit Gathering Pills, but this batch was clearly different.

This was the first batch of pills Yao'er had refined in the past two years that had a chance of succeeding.

Just looking at Yao'er's dazed expression as she squatted by the furnace, Lin Xiao couldn't bear to let anything go wrong with this batch.

In Yao'er's usually carefree eyes, there was now a look of tension and a hint of confusion. Lin Xiao felt a pang of tightness in his chest.

As long as her face always held that silly smile, that was all that mattered. Lin Xiao focused intently on controlling the furnace fire, with only one thought in his mind: "This tension and confusion shouldn't be on Senior Sister Yao'er's face. She's always been such a cheerful young woman; how can she be so tense and confused?"

With the final spiritual art cast, a surge of intense heat erupted from beneath the ground, enveloping the entire furnace.

The powerful heat vigorously "steamed" the formed pellets within the furnace. The pill was ready.

With a soft sound, a faint wisp of cyan mist puffed from the top of the furnace, forming a cloud that vaguely resembled a lingzhi mushroom, drifting gently. A peculiar fragrance emanated, the previous bitter-sweet scent completely vanishing, leaving only a trace of extremely elegant, slightly cool aroma.

Nearly a hundred daoists tending furnaces in the pill room simultaneously gasped in surprise, looking at Yao'er's delighted face and the furnace before her.

With a series of crisp cracking sounds like popping beans, hundreds of bean-sized pills sprayed out from the furnace.

Lin Xiao quickly formed a hand seal, continuously grabbing the cold jade bottles piled up beside him and using a sealing technique to contain the pills within them.

Daoist Qing Wu, whose youthful appearance had fully returned, emerged from somewhere. He casually picked up a pill, rolled it between his fingers, and exclaimed, "Junior Sister Yao'er, you, you actually modified the formula for the Spirit Gathering Pill? And you really only used basic ingredients from the Huang-class Pill Room?"

Yao'er let out a soft hum. She stood up a bit weakly, blinked her eyes, and suddenly threw herself into Lin Xiao's arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Wuwuwu, Junior Brother, I finally beat Master. Wuwu, I finally improved a pill formula! Wu, hurry and take me to Master, I want to claim the bet between him and me—the Great Luo Pill Scripture." After crying for a few sentences, Yao'er suddenly looked up with a beaming smile, forcefully smearing the soot on her face onto Lin Xiao's.

The daoists in the pill room simultaneously drew in a sharp breath.

The Great Luo Pill Scripture, the supreme treasure of the Great Luo Pill Dao—could it be that Yao'er would gain access to this ultimate Dao of Alchemy scripture?

Lin Xiao was stunned, but Yao'er forcibly dragged him out of the pill room. (To be continued)