Qi Gathering Pills

After returning to the sect, Li Mo began preparing to make pills.

He had no plans to explore the tomb Jade Fox Wang Ying had mentioned anytime soon.

First, according to Wang Ying, the tomb had already been emptied, with only a mysterious altar remaining. It didn't sound like it contained anything he urgently needed. Second, he knew nothing about the way of runes, so he needed to prepare a little and learn the basics before going. Third, making Qi Gathering Pills was undoubtedly more important to him right now.

After all, once he had cultivation, everything else would be easier.

Besides, the summer thunderstorm season was fast approaching, and he had to prepare for it.

One month later.

Li Mo continued improving his spiritual power while carefully preparing to make pills, doing his utmost to ensure nothing went wrong.

He felt that his cultivation had reached the peak of the fourth layer of the Qi Refining Stage. With just a few more days of accumulation, he could try to break through to the fifth layer.

At the afternoon meal, Li Mo saw Yang Guang.

"What have you been busy with lately?"

Yang Guang spotted Li Mo and hurried over, delighted.

"I haven't run into Ma Ling or Niu Li in a while. Those two are trying to make the most of their time and complete commissioned tasks. A few days ago, I heard something happened to Ma Ling's family. When the elders in her family were handing over power in the Zhang River Sect, it seems they backed the wrong side and got suppressed. As for Niu Li, that guy got insanely lucky. He rescued a wealthy merchant while carrying out a task, and I heard he made quite a bit of silver..."

"Huh?"

Li Mo was surprised for a moment.

Then he explained to Yang Guang that he had been in seclusion, preparing to make pills.

Most of the second-year disciples in the Advanced Study Hall had begun leaving to carry out various commissioned tasks. They would have all sorts of different encounters along the way, and might even make connections with senior members of the sect and gain access to more cultivation resources. Their families would also do their best to raise silver and provide them with a certain degree of support. As a result, the disciples' strength would improve rapidly during this period.

Although Li Mo had earned quite a bit of silver from Jade Fox Wang Ying and the Black Wind Mountain bandits, he hadn't decided to sit by the road waiting for more rabbits to run into trees.

For one thing, he had lived in the Eighteen Mountains for a time and knew just how dangerous they were.

The most terrifying thing about those notorious bandits wasn't their strength, but their lack of any moral restraints. They could use all sorts of underhanded tricks without a shred of guilt. Anyone who went deep into the Eighteen Mountains alone to hunt bandits was doomed, even if they were a cultivator. After all, once a cultivator's spiritual power ran out, there wasn't much difference between them and an ordinary person. They still needed to eat, drink, and breathe every day. They hadn't truly escaped the mortal world.

As for the rewards for hunting bandits, unless he caught one of the leaders, ordinary petty thieves simply weren't worth the trouble.

But if he did that, provoking public outrage and getting surrounded would be the least of his worries.

If he drove the bandits to start raiding the nearby villages and towns, that would truly bring endless trouble and be a case of losing far more than he gained. By then, he might even become a thorn in the side of Heaven's Mandate Bureau.

For another, as a disciple of the Lingmu Sect in the Da Gan Kingdom, Li Mo cultivated the Eye of True Spirit, whose techniques also included methods for cultivating serenity and curbing desire.

If he let thoughts of killing for wealth cloud his mind every day, it would hinder his long-term cultivation.

For cultivators, whether they were good, evil, or somewhere in between, the most important thing was to keep their thoughts clear and have a conscience free of guilt.

And so.

The first thing Li Mo did after returning to the sect was set his mind straight and focus on cultivation.

Over the next few days, Li Mo continued cultivating diligently.

Seven days passed in a flash, and he finally broke through the fourth layer of the Qi Refining Stage, reaching the fifth.

"Mm..."

The sudden increase in spiritual power in his Dantian made him let out a long sigh. A pleased smile rose involuntarily at the corners of his mouth as he clearly sensed the changes in himself. Now, when he cast the advanced low-tier spell Thunder Slave, he no longer felt as if he were about to collapse from exhaustion.

In theory, however, one needed to reach at least the seventh layer of the Qi Refining Stage to cast an advanced low-tier spell with complete ease.

Li Mo didn't let this make him complacent.

After stabilizing his current spiritual power a little, he went to the market at the foot of the mountain and spent Spirit Stones on the many auxiliary spirit herbs needed to make Qi Gathering Pills. In an instant, he had spent nearly all the Spirit Stones he'd earned from his previous commissioned task.

"Thirty-year-old Spring Tranquility Grass, thirty-year-old Warm Sun Flowers, thirty-year-old Pure Ding Orchids... I've got all twelve auxiliary spirit herbs. With the Hundred Year Red Essence Fungus, I can finally make Qi Gathering Pills!"

To be safe, Li Mo didn't choose to make pills in his own lightless chamber.

He went to the Alchemy Hall.

It had many pill rooms specially prepared for alchemists. They were not only quiet and secure, but also protected by the sect's restrictions—a benefit reserved for Alchemy Hall disciples.

"Good morning, Li Mo."

When Tao Ran saw Li Mo, he greeted him first.

The two had run into each other several times since their last pill-making assessment, at gatherings where alchemists exchanged insights. By now, they were quite familiar with each other.

Li Mo could tell that Tao Ran had a very good temperament. Not only did he not resent Li Mo over the Hundred Year Red Essence Fungus, he even seemed to regard Li Mo as someone to catch up to. Li Mo held him in high regard for it.

The two were now something between rivals and friends.

"Good morning, Tao Ran. Have you been to the spirit fields?"

"Yeah. Thanks to my master, I applied to the sect for spirit fields ahead of time, and my application was officially approved. My master isn't actually very good at making pills. He's better at cultivating spirit plants, so the sect made an exception for me."

Li Mo felt a little envious when he heard that.

It was great to have a master. Tao Ran had already received treatment on par with an inner sect disciple. Unfortunately, Li Mo didn't have a special spirit body, so he could only work hard to earn that kind of opportunity or seek out a fortuitous encounter and find a master.

But Li Mo didn't lose heart. His ideal was to become an inspector.

Applying for a plot of spirit fields in the Alchemy Hall would mean constantly traveling between the fields and working the land. That conflicted with his ideal, since an inspector couldn't stay in the sect all the time to tend medicinal fields. So he didn't think too much about it.

After saying goodbye to Tao Ran, Li Mo found an Alchemy Hall disciple named Nie Zhen and successfully applied for a pill room.

It was a spacious chamber surrounded by solid stone.

As Li Mo triggered the mechanism, the enormous stone door slowly closed. The chamber immediately fell silent, and the light from the formation shone on the stone platform, filling him with a sense of peace.

He went to the stone platform and took a pill furnace, the Hundred Year Red Essence Fungus, twelve auxiliary herbs, clear water from the morning dew, and water- and wood-aspected Spirit Stones out of his Storage Pouch, arranging them one by one.

"Time to use the Lightning Refining Method again."

The last time he had used the Lightning Refining Method, he'd been lucky to have a foundation in martial arts. Another cultivator with a lightning affinity might have injured their own spiritual power. The feeling of blood and qi running wild had certainly been unpleasant.

After setting down the water- and wood-aspected Spirit Stones, Li Mo activated the Lightning Refining Method by following its special breathing technique.

Crackle!

As a bolt of lightning appeared, Li Mo positioned the pill furnace and began adding the spirit herbs one by one in the proper order. From time to time, he added some clear water from the morning dew to balance the medicinal properties within the furnace; at other times, he reined in the lightning to avoid pushing too hard.

Time passed slowly.

About an hour and a half later, the lightning gradually died out under Li Mo's control.

Ignoring his discomfort, he smelled the medicinal fragrance wafting out of the furnace and knew the batch had definitely succeeded. He couldn't hide his joy.

Now all that remained was to see how many pills had formed.

Ignoring the damage caused by the disruption of his blood and qi, he slowly lifted the lid, his heart full of anxiety, anticipation, and excitement.

"Whoa!"

Li Mo cried out in surprise, unable to suppress the joy on his face.

A thick layer of pills lay atop the small amount of residue in the pill furnace, each one round and plump, brimming with medicinal potency.

There was almost no extra residue in the furnace.

That meant Li Mo had fully extracted the medicinal properties using the Lightning Refining Method and had managed to produce this many Qi Gathering Pills.

Li Mo quickly took the Jade Bottles he had prepared out of his Storage Pouch and removed the pills from the furnace one by one. He put ten pills into each bottle, carefully placing them into separate bottles as he checked each one for flaws.

"There are actually twenty-two!"

Three of the Qi Gathering Pills had cracks and flaws. Their spiritual power and medicinal properties would slowly dissipate over time, so he had to swallow them soon or let them go to waste. The rest of the pills were smooth, glossy, and fragrant—flawless in every way. They could be stored in Jade Bottles for a long time, and he was quite satisfied.

As for why the pills were stored ten to a bottle, Chen Rong had explained it during a lecture.

Li Mo had simply followed the convention without giving it much thought.

"The average cost of each Qi Gathering Pill in this batch was around fourteen to fifteen Spirit Stones, yet a single pill costs thirty-eight Spirit Stones at the market at the foot of the mountain. Even buying a whole bottle costs three hundred and fifty Spirit Stones, more than double the price per pill. Maybe I can try making a living this way!"

After his brief excitement, the pain in Li Mo's body surged in like a tide.

He endured his many aches and discomforts, put away the pill furnace and Jade Bottles from the stone table, and began to pant heavily. He couldn't see what he looked like, but he knew he must be a mess.

"Auntie Chen was right. I really should think carefully about how to deal with the side effects of the Lightning Refining Method."

Li Mo could think of two solutions.

One was to strengthen his body and improve his resistance to lightning. The other was to make pills that regulated blood and qi.

Besides practicing martial arts, he also had a Creation Pill recipe that could strengthen his body. But that still left him constrained by the Ephemeral Demon Core.

As for pills that regulated blood and qi...

Just as Li Mo was considering whether to spend some resources to trade with another alchemist for a suitable recipe at the next Alchemy Hall gathering, he suddenly remembered something. Ignoring the pain, he slapped his forehead hard.

"How can I be so stupid? I'm a physician!"

He shook his head, his face full of helplessness.

"Whether it's regulating the body with decoctions or using acupuncture to stimulate the right points, both can regulate blood and qi. I really am too stupid."

That wasn't Li Mo's fault.

As his knowledge of alchemy grew, he had gradually become accustomed to thinking like an alchemist—or, more broadly, like a cultivator—and had slowly drifted away from the mindset of a physician.

After returning to his room, Li Mo eagerly took out a flawed Qi Gathering Pill and swallowed it.

Buzz!

Li Mo felt an intense surge of pure spiritual power burst forth from his abdomen. It first filled his Eight Extraordinary Meridians, then surged toward his limbs and every branch of his body.

He quickly circulated his Lesser Celestial Circuit, doing everything he could to convert it into spiritual power.

The feeling was so wonderful that even the pain in his body eased considerably.

But Li Mo did feel a little regret.

If he had circulated the Greater Celestial Circuit, he could undoubtedly have absorbed more of the pill's spiritual power and converted it into his own.

But that was far too dangerous. Many people had suffered a backlash from their spiritual power for attempting it back in the Enlightenment Hall. He had no intention of taking that risk in his room.

"Wait."

Li Mo paused and slowly opened his eyes.

"Maybe... I can go to the pill room and cultivate by circulating the Greater Celestial Circuit?"

He trusted the pill room's safety completely. He didn't need to worry about outside interference while circulating the Greater Celestial Circuit inside.

Over the next few days.

With a combination of herbal decoctions and acupuncture, Li Mo recovered quickly. He also refined nearly all of the Qi Gathering Pills he had swallowed. After another couple of days of refining, he would be able to take and refine a new Qi Gathering Pill.

The Qi Gathering Pills were indeed exceptionally effective.

Li Mo estimated that the gains from these few days of cultivation were nearly as great as those of the entire previous month—at least four or five times better.

At that rate.

He would break through to the sixth layer of the Qi Refining Stage after taking, at most, four more Qi Gathering Pills.

And right now, he still had twenty-one Qi Gathering Pills in his possession. Combined with his ability to enter the Mystic Dream during the upcoming summer flood season, in theory, they would be enough to raise his cultivation to the eighth layer of the Qi Refining Stage—or even the ninth!

"But something seems a little off."

After his brief excitement, Li Mo began to feel that something was unusual.

If Qi Gathering Pills were so effective at improving spiritual power, why weren't the Aristocratic Clan disciples rapidly raising their cultivation? Why were they still painstakingly cultivating?

He didn't know about the others, but Wang Feng could certainly afford Qi Gathering Pills.

Even if their spiritual roots were a little worse, if five pills weren't enough, why not take eight? Or ten? Why did they all act as if they were miserly and penny-pinching?

"No, I need to ask someone about this when I get the chance."

Two days later.

Li Mo found Wang Feng, and soon got an answer to his question.

"That's because after taking more than ten of the same pill, the body gradually develops a resistance to it, and its spiritual power becomes much less effective. So unless you're a disciple the sect or your family is sparing no expense to raise, with all sorts of pills to support you and no need to worry about drug resistance, you're better off cultivating honestly. Save your chances to take pills for when you need to break through a bottleneck."

As he spoke, Wang Feng shrugged.

"Let's leave aside the major bottlenecks at the fourth, seventh, and tenth layers of the Qi Refining Stage. After reaching the tenth layer, cultivators face a bottleneck at almost every layer they try to break through, unless they're born with extraordinary talent. They also need ever greater amounts of spiritual energy from heaven and earth to build up their spiritual power. The real difference between Aristocratic Clan disciples and unaffiliated disciples only starts to show during this period."

With that, Wang Feng gave Li Mo a meaningful look.

"Aristocratic Clan disciples have their elders to guide them, so they almost never take pills indiscriminately in the early stages. That leaves them with more chances to break through one bottleneck after another at the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth layers of the Qi Refining Stage, accumulate the spiritual power they need, and eventually attempt Foundation Establishment—or save up more cultivation resources for it. Unaffiliated disciples, on the other hand, often lack a long-term plan. Their cultivation may not differ much in the early stages, but after the tenth layer, unless an unaffiliated disciple has better aptitude or a great opportunity, Aristocratic Clan disciples will have a higher chance of Foundation Establishment, all else being equal."

Li Mo was stunned.

He had never imagined such a thing!

But according to Wang Feng, the fourth layer of the Qi Refining Stage already counted as a major bottleneck.

He had encountered difficulties then, too, but had ultimately broken through on his own. That meant his aptitude was probably pretty good. His spiritual sense back in the Enlightenment Hall had also hinted as much, so breaking through bottlenecks should be much easier for him.

Besides.

He had a vague sense that the insights into the tribulation of lightning he gained in the Mystic Dream could improve his aptitude and weaken bottlenecks. This was likely what people called enlightenment.

Also, as an alchemist, he had already heard that several alchemists in the Alchemy Hall possessed exclusive recipes for pills that could improve cultivation during the Qi Refining Stage. If necessary, he could consider making a new pill. But gathering the materials for those pills would be much harder and inevitably cost more time and Spirit Stones.

Most importantly.

According to the precedent set by past year-end assessments, any disciple who placed in the top three and didn't have a master would be accepted as a nominal disciple by a Golden Core Stage hall master. Once they achieved Foundation Establishment, they would automatically become a formal disciple. The hall master would receive a special reward from the sect in return, making it mutually beneficial.

That being the case.

It couldn't be said that unaffiliated disciples who chose to take pills early were wrong. They had different circumstances, so of course they saw things differently. Many unaffiliated disciples had no support or foundation and were simply trying to seize a chance to survive.

"Thanks."

Li Mo thanked Wang Feng sincerely, then turned and left.