A Bit of a Teacher Drain

Seeing that Cui Yu was so sensible, Ji Liuli was very satisfied and said, "If there are any precious medicines, show them to me before taking them. Try to find a few more types, as each precious medicine affects your Dao Foundation differently, and how they are combined makes a big difference. This also relates to your future Dao path choices, which is very crucial."

Cui Yu nodded solemnly.

After finishing with Cui Yu, Ji Liuli went to check on Bao Yun.

Both cultivated the Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon Diagram. Bao Yun's visualization at this time was five zhang, slightly smaller than Cui Yu's. However, her root bone was extraordinary, and her fortune was immense. The visualization was still expanding, far from reaching its potential limit. Moreover, the visualization was full of wondrous phenomena, like a world of Gods and Devils.

Compared to Cui Yu and Bao Yun, Wei Yuan's progress seemed quite slow. Ji Liuli was very dissatisfied and decided to take drastic measures.

After class, Wei Yuan followed Ji Liuli to the council hall as usual. Ji Liuli gathered the herbs from Xu Henshui's medicine cabinet, casually refined them into a powder, and poured it into a wooden tub. Then she said, "Take it off, what are you waiting for?"

Wei Yuan gritted his teeth, stripped off his clothes, and stepped into the tub that resembled a barrel filled with blood plasma. He immediately shivered upon entering. This medicinal soup, resembling blood plasma, was even colder than the frozen sea.

An hour later, Wei Yuan's small face had turned pale blue from the cold, and the medicinal soup in the tub had turned into clear water.

Re-examining Wei Yuan, Ji Liuli let out a surprised "Oh." She circled Wei Yuan, inspecting him carefully.

After the inspection, Ji Liuli frowned in thought. After a long while, she shook her head and said, "Strange, why has your root bone become so superficial again? I should have cleared out quite a bit of impurities last time."

Ji Liuli pondered for a moment, but found no clue. She said, "You can go back now. I need to consult some texts."

"Is it a big problem?" Wei Yuan asked.

Ji Liuli looked up at Wei Yuan's earnest and anxious little face and said, "It's not a very big problem, it's just a bit taxing for your teacher."

"Huh?" Wei Yuan didn't understand.

Ji Liuli pondered the medicinal formula while waving Wei Yuan out of the council hall. "This is not something you need to worry about. Go back and cultivate properly, don't be lazy!"

After leaving the council hall, Wei Yuan didn't go home immediately but went to the nearby Bo Si Hall first. Bo Si Hall was where Taichu Palace stored its texts, consisting of a vast expanse of interconnected palaces. Upon entering the main hall of Bo Si Hall, Wei Yuan saw several reception desks, each manned by a disciple on duty.

Wei Yuan approached the reception desk specifically for distributing beginner texts, presented his identity jade token, and said, "I would like to borrow the cultivation insights for the Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon Diagram."

The disciple looked somewhat surprised and asked, "This is a general cultivation method, didn't your teacher teach it to you?"

However, he only asked casually and didn't intend to interfere with Wei Yuan's cultivation. After taking the identity jade token, he quickly went into the back hall. A moment later, he returned with two jade slips in his hand and said, "This is the insight written by True Monarch Moon Swallowing, who created the Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon Diagram. The other is the cultivation insights of several disciples who achieved the highest accomplishments in the past. They should be helpful to you."

"You can borrow them for seven days and copy them, but you are not allowed to spread them outside. The rental fee is seven taels of Immortal Silver, which has already been deducted from your account."

Wei Yuan took the two jade slips and once again deeply felt that he didn't have enough Immortal Silver. Fortunately, he didn't have to worry about food for the first month, but he would need to buy more Qi Nourishing Pills in the second month when his supply ran out. Although the pocket money given by True Monarch Fen Hai seemed like a lot at first glance, with Taichu Palace's prices, it probably wouldn't last long.

Wei Yuan remembered something else and asked, "Senior Brother, do you have any information on the Heart Cleansing Pill?"

The Senior Brother's expression changed immediately. "Heart Cleansing Pill? What are you asking about that for? That's not something you should be thinking about!"

Wei Yuan said, "I just overheard elders chatting and mentioning that the Heart Cleansing Pill is exceptionally precious, so I was curious. How much does one cost in Immortal Silver?"

"Immortal Silver? How can you even ask that! Can the Heart Cleansing Pill be bought with Immortal Silver?"

After a few sarcastic remarks, the Senior Brother saw Wei Yuan's serious expression and said, "The Heart Cleansing Pill has the effect of clearing the illusions of the Primordial Spirit. It not only enhances the foundation but also improves comprehension. It is a sacred medicine for young disciples to improve their foundation. One Heart Cleansing Pill can potentially elevate a Human Tier Dao Foundation to Earth Tier. It is said that three Heart Cleansing Pills can help a top-grade Earth Tier cultivator reach Heaven Tier. The higher the Dao Foundation tier, the harder it is to improve, and the fewer precious medicines can have an effect. The Heart Cleansing Pill can even improve a Heaven Tier Dao Foundation. Do you think Immortal Silver can buy it?"

The Senior Brother spoke for a long time, then glared at Wei Yuan and said, "Zaohua Temple can only produce a few batches of Heart Cleansing Pills every three years, totaling just over a hundred pills. The palace regulations stipulate that they can only be exchanged with merit points, and no other means are allowed. If you were to measure it with Immortal Silver, hundreds of thousands would be a small amount! Besides, if the Heart Cleansing Pill could be obtained with Immortal Silver or treasures, do you think it would ever reach ordinary disciples like us? This path to the heavens is something the palace has specifically left for everyone!"

Wei Yuan knew the Heart Cleansing Pill was precious, but he never expected it to be so incredibly precious. When Zhang Sheng produced three Heart Cleansing Pills, he casually mentioned their name and gave them to Wei Yuan. Thinking of this, Wei Yuan's heart felt heavy, and he didn't know how to repay him.

Returning to his residence, Wei Yuan immediately began to carefully study the two insights.

Having spent three years with Zhang Sheng, Wei Yuan knew very well what his teacher wanted: to always strive for first place, and taking second place was a deep humiliation. Besides being vain and always claiming to be short on money, Zhang Sheng had no other flaws. Perhaps there were others, but Wei Yuan hadn't discovered them yet.

Wei Yuan entered Taichu Palace with the title of top scorer in the unified examination and received the grace of the Ancestor. He was originally quite arrogant. However, his first attempt at cultivation was a severe blow. His visualization was slow to expand, and wondrous phenomena were out of the question. Half a month passed, and not only was he trailing behind Bao Yun and Cui Yu, who were cultivating the same Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon Diagram, but many of his classmates had also surpassed him.

As the foremost Immortal Sect, Taichu Palace was teeming with geniuses. Even the most ordinary cultivation methods could be practiced with astonishing results, and wondrous phenomena were almost commonplace. Therefore, wondrous phenomena were not rare; rather, there was a hierarchy among them. For anyone who only cultivated the most basic template of the six general cultivation methods, they would undoubtedly be at the bottom, earning a reputation for low comprehension and insufficient talent.

For example, even if Wei Yuan's jade toad grew a lotus on its head, it wouldn't even make it into the top half of the class. Cui Yu's toad was a ghostly green all over, its color completely changed. In front of it grew a sword orchid, and it held an immortal sword in its mouth. Bao Yun's visualization was even more extravagant, with demons dancing wildly, truly ostentatious.

Wei Yuan had come to understand these days: what did Taichu Palace disciples compete on? They competed on wondrous phenomena!

Therefore, under immense pressure, Wei Yuan dared not be stingy with his Immortal Silver and went to Bo Si Hall to borrow books for reference. Although the Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon Diagram was a general cultivation method, and both Zhang Sheng and Liuli could guide him, Wei Yuan had already sensed that the problems he encountered in his cultivation seemed unusual. It was better to read more books.

Zhang Sheng had said: "Stones from other mountains can polish jade. Although others are certainly not as good as myself, it is always beneficial to look at the shortcomings of others."

Moreover, since his last encounter with True Monarch Fen Hai, Zhang Sheng had not appeared again, seemingly unwilling to see him.

Wei Yuan stayed up all night, reading the two insights thoroughly. He did indeed discover some problems.