Inferior Pill

Ten Spirit Stones had indeed crossed the female cultivator's bottom line, and because of Chen Lin's words, she even showed a hint of gratitude.

"Many thanks, fellow daoist. If we meet again in the future, I will surely repay today's aid."

The female cultivator spoke sincerely. With these ten Spirit Stones, she could first pay her rent and stop worrying about being evicted from her dwelling.

Now it was Chen Lin's turn to feel a bit embarrassed. He nodded and quickly left.

Having bought good things without spending much, his spirits lifted, and he began to browse the scattered stalls one by one.

Unfortunately, luck didn't strike this time. After wandering for a long while, he found nothing good—most items were for the Early Qi Refining Stage, beneath the notice of a dignified Qi Refining Mid-stage cultivator like himself.

Then, after a moment's hesitation, Chen Lin stepped into a shop again, purchased some materials, and headed toward the outer city.

After another round of detours, he returned to his dwelling, restored to his original appearance.

He placed the purchased materials on the table.

Two bags: the small one held items for attempting to craft something from that Artifact Refining Manual, of little value.

The remaining large bag contained the materials for refining the Enlightenment Pill.

Staring at the bulging bag, Chen Lin felt he had truly gone mad.

He had actually spent nearly three hundred Spirit Stones to buy all this!

Logically, with his usual cautious nature, he shouldn't have acted this way. Why had he been so impulsive today?

After puzzling over it for a while, he could only sigh helplessly.

"Since I've already bought it, I might as well treat a dead horse as a live one and give it a try!"

Muttering to himself, he began preparing to refine the Enlightenment Pill.

The artifact refining could wait.

What mattered most now was mastering the Object Manipulation Technique and the Flying Technique. The Artifact Refining Manual could be studied slowly later.

First, he carefully studied the Pill Recipe, then processed the materials.

By the time preparations were complete, it was already dark.

Chen Lin didn't rest. He placed the Fuel beneath the Iron Cauldron pill furnace and began alchemy.

The same situation as when refining the First Origin Pill occurred again—three batches of materials were wasted, filling the room with a burnt smell.

He didn't care in the slightest. After a short rest, he continued refining.

After two more batches, he stopped again.

This time, he didn't continue. Instead, he went to the window, opened it, and looked outside.

His alarm had gone off.

Chen Lin strained his eyes, gazing into the sky.

He stared for a long time but still couldn't spot a single red Fine Line. Instead, a strange sensation arose, as if something were being drawn out from within his body.

Ever since he had been pulled by that Fine Line, this happened every night, yet he could find no abnormality.

The change was extremely subtle—impossible to notice unless one paid special attention.

A quarter of an hour later, the sensation vanished.

Expressionless, he turned back to the pill furnace and continued refining.

He failed nine times in a row. On the tenth attempt, he finally pulled himself together.

"Whether it works or not, this is the one!"

Chen Lin muttered to himself, took a breath, and began controlling the flame while adding materials step by step.

When it came time to add the final Spirit Grass juice, his expression grew tense.

Every previous failure had happened at this point. Success or failure hinged on this moment.

Bang!

The moment a single drop of juice fell in, the liquid in the cauldron violently churned and splashed outward.

Chen Lin instinctively dodged back, then saw the familiar scene finally appear.

A mysterious force materialized out of nowhere, gathering the splattered liquid back into the Iron Cauldron.

A faint light flashed, and inside the cauldron appeared a round object.

"Success!"

Overjoyed at the sight, Chen Lin immediately grabbed the pill from the cauldron.

"What the hell is this?"

Holding the pill up to his eyes, Chen Lin realized something was wrong.

The First Origin Pills he had refined before were all pure white, smooth, and round, with a faint medicinal fragrance—clearly no ordinary items.

But this pill was not only irregular in shape, but its surface was dark and pitted with small craters. It didn't look like a miraculous elixir at all.

According to the Pill Recipe, this pill could only produce one per batch, so the quantity was correct, but the quality was terrible.

This was the most perfect refining state he could achieve relying on his Talent Ability; otherwise, it would likely have been even more unsightly.

He brought it under his nose and sniffed. A pungent, slightly sour odor drilled into his nostrils, causing Chen Lin's brow to furrow even deeper.

"Is this really an Enlightenment Pill?"

Chen Lin was momentarily uncertain.

Mainly because he had never seen what a real Enlightenment Pill looked like, so he had nothing to compare it to.

After studying it for a while longer, he put the pill away into an exquisite box and began cleaning up the mess.

Since his Talent Ability had formed this pill, it meant the Pill Recipe was reasonable and the refining method was correct.

He just couldn't determine whether it was truly an Enlightenment Pill.

When daylight came, Chen Lin shouldered his bundle and walked out of the room.

He still disguised himself midway, transforming into a pale-faced man, and arrived at Water Moon Pavilion.

"You want information about the Enlightenment Pill?"

It was still that middle-aged woman, looking him over with a scrutinizing gaze.

Chen Lin nodded. Since she had mentioned the Enlightenment Pill to him last time, she must know something about it.

By obtaining relevant information and comparing it with the Enlightenment Pill he had refined, he could roughly judge.

"What, are you really planning to buy an Enlightenment Pill to cultivate the Object Manipulation Technique?"

The middle-aged woman asked in confusion, then looked Chen Lin up and down and said, "Fellow Daoist, you must be quite wealthy. An Enlightenment Pill costs at least dozens of Mid-grade Spirit Stones, and as far as I know, no shop in all of Kaiyuan City sells this pill. Could it be that Fellow Daoist has some secret purchasing channel?"

After speaking, the woman stared into Chen Lin's eyes, her curiosity evident.

"Name your price. I want to know about the Enlightenment Pill and any possible purchasing channels. How many spirit stones?"

Chen Lin didn't want to waste words and spoke directly.

After all, he was disguised now; once he left, no one would recognize him.

The woman suddenly revealed an ambiguous smile, blinked, and said, "Fine. This information isn't that secret anyway. Let's say twenty spirit stones."

Chen Lin gritted his teeth and reluctantly took out a pouch of spirit stones.

After receiving the spirit stones, the woman's smile widened. She swayed her hips into the back room, soon emerged with a booklet, opened it to a certain page, and placed it in front of Chen Lin.

"This is the information on the Enlightenment Pill, but it's only general information, not the Pill Recipe."

She paused, then continued, "As for purchasing channels, I advise you to forget it. Even the alchemists of the Five Great Families don't have the ability to refine this pill. Don't expect to buy it in Kaiyuan City."

The woman tapped the page with her pale finger, dousing Chen Lin with cold water.

Chen Lin said nothing, his expression blank as he looked at the page.

After a moment, he nodded, stood up, clasped his hands to the woman, and hurriedly left.

Thank you to the friends who tipped. If you have recommendation tickets, please help cast them. I'm begging for everything. Thank you very much!