Great Bamboo Peak.
Shou Jing Hall.
"One Foundation Replenishing Pill is worth five years of cultivation."
The moment those words were spoken,
the hall fell so silent you could hear a pin drop.
Even the air seemed to freeze.
Then,
heavy breaths rose and fell throughout the hall.
Five years!
A whole five years!
"Cultivation knows no years" was easy to say.
But for those with mediocre talent, five years often marked a gap that was all but impossible to cross.
Why was Great Bamboo Peak so sparsely populated?
Because talent was hard to come by, and cultivation was grueling.
Before Ye Xuan joined Great Bamboo Peak,
everyone except Eldest Brother Song Daren and Fourth He Dazhi
had been stuck at the third level of the Yuqing Realm.
Now,
someone was telling them
that swallowing this pill, no bigger than a fingernail, would save them thousands upon thousands of days and nights of hard work.
Who could stay calm?
Who wouldn't go crazy?
"Gulp."
Someone's Adam's apple bobbed.
The sound of them swallowing was especially loud.
Even Tian Buyi, who usually loved putting on the airs of a stern master, unconsciously gripped the back of his chair with his chubby hand.
His knuckles turned white.
Wood shavings trickled to the floor.
He stared at the jade bottle in Ye Xuan's hand, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.
If anyone else had said that,
Tian Buyi would have slapped them and called them a traitor to their master, spouting nonsense.
But Ye Xuan was different.
The kid had an Innate Dao Body.
He was a freak who had the heavens chasing after him to feed him.
If he said he'd inherited the teachings of an elder, it was probably true.
And if he said a Foundation Replenishing Pill was worth five years of cultivation, he certainly wasn't making it up.
"Seventh..."
Tian Ling'er was the first to react.
Only moments ago, she had shaken Ye Xuan's arm off in disdain. Now she darted over, bringing a fragrant breeze with her.
With a slap,
the girl clung to Ye Xuan like a koala bear.
"Best Senior Brother!"
"Seventh Senior Brother, you're the best!"
"I was wrong just now. I shouldn't have shaken your hand off."
"Could you let your junior sister try one of those Foundation Replenishing Pills?"
"I'll only try one!"
"From now on, if you tell me to go east, I definitely won't go west!"
Tian Ling'er's bright, watery eyes brimmed with flattery.
She shook Ye Xuan's arm, her voice sickeningly sweet.
The speed of her change of heart was astonishing.
Ye Xuan felt a soft sensation against his arm.
This girl...
She'd thrown away all her dignity for a pill.
Just now she'd been ready to fight him, and now she was calling him "Best Senior Brother."
How realistic.
Far too realistic.
Ye Xuan calmly pulled his arm halfway free, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
"Who was it just now who called me a liar?"
"Who?"
Tian Ling'er's eyebrows shot up. She turned to look at Du Bishu and the others, her expression righteous.
"Who dares call Seventh Senior Brother a liar?"
"What terrible judgment!"
"Seventh Senior Brother has an Innate Dao Body. He's the pride of Great Bamboo Peak!"
Everyone: "..."
Du Bishu's mouth twitched.
That was shameless.
She'd been the one who said it just now!
But
that wasn't the point right now.
"Seventh..."
"You know, your Sixth Senior Brother usually treats you pretty well, right?"
"Remember? I even bought you candied hawthorns once."
"As for these pills..."
"Could you spare one for your senior brother?"
"Just one, that's all!"
Du Bishu rubbed his hands together and sidled over with a fawning smile.
His hand, usually only good for gambling, trembled as he reached toward Ye Xuan.
Even honest, mild-mannered Song Daren was blushing from head to toe.
As the Eldest Brother, he was supposed to maintain some dignity.
But he'd been stuck at the fifth level of the Yuqing Realm for quite some time.
If he could gain five years' worth of cultivation...
perhaps he could reach the threshold of the sixth level!
That would be a qualitative leap!
Song Daren opened his mouth to speak, then felt too embarrassed to say anything. He was sweating profusely from the effort of holding back.
Looking at their eager faces, Ye Xuan chuckled to himself.
Foundation Replenishing Pills were merely low-tier pills.
He had made plenty of them while at Tianyuan Mountain.
Besides,
now that Ye Xuan had reached the Shangqing Realm,
he no longer had any use for Foundation Replenishing Pills.
But for his senior brothers, these pills really were miracle medicines that could change their fate.
"All right."
Ye Xuan stopped stringing them along.
He turned his wrist.
Several exquisite little jade bottles appeared in his palm.
As soon as the stoppers came off,
a rich medicinal fragrance filled the entire Shou Jing Hall.
Just one breath of it
made everyone feel the spiritual energy within them stir, as if a parched riverbed had been blessed with rain.
"Hiss..."
"It smells wonderful!"
Lin Jingyu sniffed.
His eyes lit up as he stared intently at Ye Xuan.
Even Zhang Xiaofan, usually so quiet, showed a hint of longing in his eyes.
"Here."
"One for each of you."
Ye Xuan tossed them out casually.
Several streaks of light shot through the air.
Each landed precisely in the hands of Tian Ling'er and the senior brothers.
As for Lin Jingyu and Zhang Xiaofan?
The two youngsters hadn't started cultivating yet.
There was no harm in giving them pills once they began.
"Wonderful."
"Thanks, Seventh."
"Good job, Seventh."
They treated the pills like precious treasures.
Each of them held a jade bottle as though it contained their very lifeblood.
Tian Ling'er, in particular,
could hardly wait to open hers.
"Hold it!"
Tian Buyi suddenly barked.
Everyone jumped.
Tian Buyi walked up to them with a stern expression, his hands clasped behind his back.
"Pills may be good, but you have to know how to take them."
"Your cultivation is still shallow."
"If you swallow them just like that, the immense medicinal power might not disperse. You could rupture your meridians!"
Tian Buyi was strict most of the time.
But he cared deeply about his disciples' safety.
"Seventh."
"Are these pills really as miraculous as you say?"
Then
Tian Buyi looked at Ye Xuan and asked, his gaze complicated.
"If Master doesn't believe me, you can take one and examine it."
"I still have more, anyway."
Ye Xuan shrugged and said casually.
The low-tier Alchemy Mastery rewarded by the system surpassed the alchemy methods of the Zhu Xian World.
For the Zhu Xian World, pills like Foundation Replenishing Pills were indeed an overwhelming advantage.
It was hardly strange that Tian Buyi had his doubts.
There were more?
Tian Buyi's chubby face twitched.
What a wasteful brat.
He spoke of a divine pill as though it were a head of cabbage.
Still,
for the safety of his disciples,
Tian Buyi reached out and took the pill from Song Daren.
He held it beneath his nose and sniffed, then sent a thread of spiritual energy into it to examine it.
A moment later,
Tian Buyi's expression changed.
From solemn, to shocked, then to delighted.
Finally, it turned to utter disbelief.
"Gentle medicinal properties, pure spiritual energy..."
"And not a trace of impurities or pill toxins?"
"How is that possible?"
Every pill carried at least a hint of poison.
Even the Dahuang Pills he refined couldn't escape that ironclad rule.
But this Foundation Replenishing Pill...
It was as pure as the first handful of fresh snow at the start of winter.
Flawless.
Tian Buyi pressed the pill back into Song Daren's hand, took a deep breath, and struggled to calm the turmoil within him.
He gave Ye Xuan a long look.
This disciple...
It seemed the secrets he carried were even greater than Tian Buyi had imagined.
Still.
Everyone had their own opportunities.
A master shouldn't pry.
As long as Ye Xuan's heart remained with Great Bamboo Peak, that was a blessing for Great Bamboo Peak.
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