Inferior Pill

Ten spirit stones did indeed break through the female cultivator's bottom line, and thanks to Chen Lin's words, she even seemed somewhat grateful.

"Thank you, fellow Daoist. If we meet again in the future, I will certainly repay you for helping me today."

The female cultivator meant every word. With these ten spirit stones, she could pay her rent first and no longer worry about being thrown out of her lodgings.

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

Having bought something good without spending much, his enthusiasm rose, and he began inspecting the individual stalls one by one.

Unfortunately, his luck had run out. Even after browsing for a long time, he found nothing worthwhile. Most of the goods were for the Early Qi Refinement Realm, beneath the notice of a dignified Mid Qi Refinement Realm cultivator like him.

Then, after a moment's hesitation, Chen Lin entered a shop again. Once he had purchased some materials, he headed toward the Outer City.

After another round of twists and turns, he restored his original appearance and returned to his lodgings.

He placed the materials he had bought on the table.

There were two bags. The smaller one contained inexpensive materials for attempting to refine an item described in the artifact refining book.

The remaining, larger bag held materials for refining an Enlightenment Pill.

Looking at the bulging bag of materials, Chen Lin felt he really had gone mad.

He had actually spent nearly three hundred spirit stones to bring all this back!

Given his usual cautious nature, he should never have done such a thing. Why had he been so impulsive today?

After questioning himself for a while, he could only sigh helplessly.

"Since I've already bought them, I might as well treat a dead horse as though it were still alive and give it a try!"

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

Artifact refining could wait.

What mattered most right now was mastering the Object Manipulation Art and the Flight Technique. There would be plenty of time to study the Artifact Refining Tome later.

First, he carefully studied the pill formula for a while, then processed the materials.

By the time his preparations were complete, night had already fallen.

Chen Lin did not rest. He placed fuel beneath the Iron Cauldron Pill Cauldron and began refining pills.

The same thing that had happened when he refined Chuyuan Pills occurred again. He ruined three batches of materials in succession, filling the room with a burnt smell.

He paid it no mind and resumed refining after a short rest.

After another two batches, he stopped again.

This time, rather than continuing, he went to the window, opened it, and looked outside.

The alarm he had set had gone off.

Chen Lin strained his eyes as he searched the sky.

After looking for a long time, he still failed to spot a single thin red thread. Instead, a strange sensation arose, as though something were being drawn out of his body.

Ever since the thin thread had begun pulling at him, his body had experienced this every night, yet he could find nothing wrong.

The change was so subtle that he would never have noticed it without deliberately paying attention.

A quarter of an hour later, the sensation vanished.

Expressionless, he turned back to the Pill Cauldron and continued refining pills.

Nine consecutive attempts had failed. When the tenth came, he finally rallied his spirits.

"Whether this works or not, it all comes down to this attempt!"

Chen Lin murmured to himself and took a breath. Controlling the heat, he began adding the materials according to the prescribed steps.

When he reached the final ingredient, Dianling Grass juice, his expression grew tense.

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

Bang!

The instant a single drop of juice fell in, the liquid in the pot churned violently and splashed out.

Chen Lin instinctively ducked backward, then saw the familiar scene finally unfold.

A mysterious energy appeared out of nowhere, gathering the scattered liquid back into the iron pot.

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

"It worked!"

Overjoyed at the sight, Chen Lin immediately snatched the pill from the iron pot.

"What on earth is this?"

Only after bringing the pill before his eyes did Chen Lin realize something was wrong.

The Chuyuan Pills he had refined before had all been white, smooth, and round, with a faint medicinal fragrance. One look was enough to tell they were extraordinary.

This pill, however, was not only somewhat misshapen, but also had a darkened surface covered in tiny pits. No matter how he looked at it, it did not resemble a miraculous spiritual pill.

According to the pill formula, each batch could indeed produce only one pill, so the quantity was correct. The quality, however, was far too poor.

And this was already the most perfect result he could achieve through his talent ability. Otherwise, it would probably have been even harder to look at.

He held it beneath his nose and sniffed. A pungent, slightly sour odor entered his nostrils, making his brows furrow even more deeply.

"Is this thing really an Enlightenment Pill?"

For a moment, Chen Lin could not be sure.

The main problem was that he had never seen a real Enlightenment Pill and had nothing to compare it with.

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

Since his talent ability had caused the pill to form, the pill formula had to be valid, and there could be nothing wrong with the refining method.

He simply could not determine whether it was truly an Enlightenment Pill.

Once daylight fully broke, Chen Lin left his room with a bundle on his back.

As before, he disguised himself along the way, transforming into a fair-skinned man before arriving at Shuiyue Pavilion.

"You want to ask about Enlightenment Pills?"

It was the same middle-aged woman, who looked at him appraisingly.

Chen Lin nodded. Since she had mentioned Enlightenment Pills to him last time, she certainly knew something about them.

By comparing the relevant information with the Enlightenment Pill he had refined, he should be able to make a rough judgment.

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

The middle-aged woman sounded puzzled. Then she looked Chen Lin up and down and said, "You certainly have deep pockets, fellow Daoist. A single Enlightenment Pill costs at least several dozen medium-grade spirit stones. And as far as I know, none of the shops in Kaiyuan City sell them. Could you have some secret purchasing channel?"

With that, the woman stared into Chen Lin's eyes, plainly probing for answers.

"Name your price. I want information about Enlightenment Pills and any possible channels for buying them. How many spirit stones?"

Unwilling to waste words, Chen Lin asked directly.

He was disguised anyway. Once he left, neither would know who the other was.

The woman suddenly gave him an ambiguous smile and blinked. "All right. This information isn't particularly secret, so let's call it twenty spirit stones."

Chen Lin gritted his teeth and took out a bag of spirit stones, pained by the expense.

Once she accepted the spirit stones, the woman broke into a broad smile. Swaying as she walked into the inner room, she soon returned with a booklet, opened it to a particular page, and placed it before Chen Lin.

"Here is the information about Enlightenment Pills. But it's only general information, not a pill formula."

After a pause, she continued, "As for where to buy them, I suggest you forget about it. Even the Alchemists of the Five Major Families lack the ability to refine these pills. Don't expect to buy one in Kaiyuan City."

The woman tapped the page with a fair finger, dousing Chen Lin's hopes with a bucket of cold water.

Chen Lin said nothing, studying the page expressionlessly.

After a while, he nodded and stood up. Cupping his fist toward the woman, he hurried away.