Change

Time passed, bit by bit.

As the medicinal pill was continuously absorbed and refined, Chen Lin felt his long-stagnant cultivation once again stir with vitality, and that layer of obstruction, like an impassable heavenly moat, showed the faintest sign of loosening.

Seeing this, he hastened the circulation of his technique, relentlessly battering against the bottleneck.

Suddenly.

Chen Lin's body trembled, and a faint pop seemed to sound from within.

He then felt his accumulated spiritual power, as if finding an outlet, surge forth from the breach in the bottleneck, and a sense of freedom and ease welled up from within.

Qi Refining Level 3, achieved!

Feeling the spiritual power in his body, nearly double what it had been before, Chen Lin could hardly believe it.

The bottleneck that had stymied the original owner for nearly twenty years—had it just broken through like this?

Was it the effect of the pill, or had his transmigration caused some change in this body, making it no longer so worthless?

For a moment, he couldn't figure out the reason, so he simply stopped thinking about it.

No matter what, as long as he had broken through, that was enough. He was now one step closer to the goal of Qi Refining Mid-stage.

Exhilarated, Chen Lin immediately took out his talisman-making materials, leaned over the table, and began crafting Fireball Talismans.

After a flurry of brushstrokes, the talisman paper went bang and turned into a pile of ash.

Failure.

But Chen Lin wasn't discouraged; instead, he showed a satisfied expression.

Just as he had expected, after entering Qi Refining Level 3, his spiritual power was far more abundant and pure, making drawing Fireball Talismans effortless.

This meant the crafting time would be greatly shortened, allowing him to produce more talismans each day.

Although he had successfully refined the First Origin Pill, he had no intention of letting anyone know.

For someone who had never dabbled in alchemy to suddenly be able to refine pills—even an idiot would know something was off. If the news leaked, he would definitely be targeted, and his fate would be anything but good.

So he still had to rely on his old trade: making talismans to earn spirit stones.

Pushing aside stray thoughts, Chen Lin continued crafting talismans.

A long while later.

A batch of Spirit Ink was used up.

In his hands, he now had two finished talismans.

This made his face light up with joy.

Truly, blessings come in pairs—not only had his cultivation broken through, but his Fireball Talisman crafting ability had also advanced.

This way, combined with the Ten Times Certain Hit ability, every ten attempts would yield two Fireball Talismans!

This was far more profitable than making Great Strength Talismans, and as his proficiency increased, the success rate could climb even higher.

If the success rate could reach thirty percent, or even forty percent...

Just imagining that scene got Chen Lin excited.

But soon, he calmed down.

Distant water can't quench a present thirst. Even if his talisman-making skill had improved, it wouldn't solve his immediate crisis.

The most important thing right now was to raise his cultivation to Qi Refining Mid-stage and leave this place as soon as possible.

He couldn't afford to delay, nor could he aim too high.

Suppressing his restless emotions, Chen Lin took out another pill, swallowed it, and began to cultivate with single-minded focus.

Whether it was the excellent effect of the First Origin Pill or the change in his body's aptitude after transmigrating, with the aid of the pill, his cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds.

But just as he was immersed in the pleasure of rapid growth, something terrifying suddenly happened.

That night.

When the copper bell in the corner rang, he still went to the window as usual to observe the eerie scene outside.

But this time, something new occurred.

Just as countless Red Threads shot into the sky, a vague Giant Shadow suddenly appeared in the air.

The moment that shadow emerged, a dangerous sensation that made every hair stand on end enveloped him.

Before he could react, a Red Thread descended from the sky and connected to his body.

Then.

He felt something inside him flowing away endlessly along the Red Thread.

No matter how he moved or what method he tried, he couldn't shake off that Red Thread.

Suddenly.

Chen Lin's body emitted a sinister red glow, and his entire demeanor changed drastically, becoming eerily wicked.

At the same time, an exaggerated, manic expression spread across his face.

A quarter of an hour later, the hazy shadow in the sky slowly dissipated, and the countless red fine lines vanished along with it.

Chen Lin's body returned to normal.

"The moon is really full tonight!"

Staring at the pitch-black sky, he inexplicably let out a sigh of emotion before returning to his bed and falling into a deep sleep.

Early morning.

Chen Lin felt unusually refreshed today.

It wasn't just because of his breakthrough in cultivation; there was also an indescribable change.

Opening the door and stepping into the courtyard, he found the snow had stopped.

The entire city was draped in silver, with wisps of cooking smoke curling upward, painting a scene of ethereal beauty.

"Truly worthy of the Cultivation World—this feeling is something else!"

Taking a deep, satisfying breath of the Spiritual Energy in the air, Chen Lin felt utterly content with his transmigration.

"Now that I'm at Qi Refining Level 3, with my Golden Finger, Foundation Establishment won't be a problem. When the time comes, I'll marry eight or ten female cultivators and become the founder of the sixth great family in this city!"

"No, I can't settle for Foundation Establishment. I'm a transmigrator—I should have bigger goals. At the very least, I need to reach Golden Core and unify Kaiyuan City, or I'll have let down the face of all transmigrators!"

As Chen Lin was basking in self-satisfaction, the door opposite suddenly pushed open.

The sallow-faced female cultivator stepped out from inside.

Seeing her, Chen Lin immediately squinted and sneered, "Old woman, seeing this Chen Lin and not greeting me first—I think you're asking for trouble!"

The female cultivator's face flushed with anger as she prepared to retort, but then her expression shifted to shock.

"You, you actually broke through!"

Her reaction pleased Chen Lin immensely. He said calmly, "A mere Qi Refining Level 3—how could it possibly stump me?"

The female cultivator pursed her lips, a look of envy spreading across her face.

"How did you do it? Did you buy some pills? Can you tell me what method you used?"

Living in the same courtyard, everyone knew each other's situations clearly. It was no secret that Chen Lin had been stuck at Qi Refining Level 2 for nearly twenty years, so the female cultivator simply didn't believe he had broken through normally.

Her eyes were full of anticipation.

She too had been stuck at the peak of Qi Refining Level 3 for countless years. If she could buy a Cultivation-Boosting Pill, she could break through to Qi Refining Mid-stage—that would be a whole new world!

"How could that be? Where would I have any channels to buy pills?"

Chen Lin waved his hands repeatedly.

He absolutely couldn't let news of the pills leak out, or the trouble would be enormous.

But before she could speak, he squinted and sneered again, "Pills? Why would I need to buy them? I can just make them my—"

At that point, Chen Lin's words cut off, and he fell into a daze.

"You can what? I say, Chen Lin, we're old neighbors here—don't keep good things to yourself. If you want some benefits, I don't mind serving you well for a bit."

The female cultivator grew anxious.

But Chen Lin remained frozen.

Then, without another word, he turned and left the courtyard.

"You old bachelor! Breaking through to Qi Refining Level 3 is nothing to brag about! Look at you, strutting around! When I break through to Qi Refining Mid-stage, I'll chop you up and boil you into soup!"

The female cultivator fumed, her curses rising in waves.

Chen Lin, however, seemed not to hear her. He just walked with his head down.

As he walked, his brows furrowed tightly.

He sensed something wrong with himself.

In the past, he would never have been so conspicuous.

Not only had he flaunted his breakthrough, but he had nearly blurted out that he had refined pills himself—this was completely at odds with his usual cautious and low-key style.

Moreover, he realized he seemed to have forgotten something.

But exactly what he had forgotten, he couldn't recall.

"Forget it. No need to overthink this. The real way forward is to keep lying low and quietly develop."

After thinking it over and finding nothing amiss, he decided to stop dwelling on it and headed straight to the market.

After purchasing a large batch of materials, he hurried back.