Leaving

After gathering enough Spirit Stones, Zhou Er hurried to Wanbao Pavilion and bought the Purple Cloud Furnace.

The Purple Cloud Furnace stood about three feet tall, with a two-foot-wide mouth. Its three legs were firmly planted, and though its design was simple and compact, it contained a restrained spiritual aura.

Since Zhou Er didn't have a Storage Bag, he could only carry the Purple Cloud Furnace in his arms.

Others saw him like this and couldn't help glancing over.

After all, most people were Outer Sect Disciples or Servant Disciples, and they rarely saw such expensive things.

Zhou Er jogged all the way back to his little courtyard and immediately equipped the Purple Cloud Furnace in his Equipment Slot.

[Name: Zhou Er]

[Cultivation: Qi Refining Fourth Layer (64.92%)]

[Equipment Slot (3/3): Purple Cloud Furnace, Spirit Gathering Pill, Bigu Pill.]

[Unsolidified Attributes: Refining (White), Spirit Gathering (White), Taotie (White).]

[Solidified Attributes: Rune Mastery (First-grade), Self-Healing (White), High-speed Reaction, Wondrous Brush (White), Fire Attribute Amplification (White), Spirit Qi Purification (White), Qi Induction, Strength Increase (White).]

Zhou Er looked at the Purple Cloud Furnace in his Equipment Slot with satisfaction, then wondered where he could find a hundred kinds of herbs.

"Lin Shiyu's family grows more than ten kinds of medicinal herbs. I can try them."

After thinking it over, Zhou Er waited until Lin Shiyu got off work, then went to her home.

"Shiyu, I bought a Purple Cloud Furnace. If you want to borrow it, just come to me and take it."

Zhou Er brought up the Purple Cloud Furnace first.

"Senior Brother, was that why you were in such a hurry to borrow Spirit Stones from me?"

Lin Shiyu immediately realized why Zhou Er had been so eager to borrow Spirit Stones from her.

It turned out it was for her after all.

In Lin Shiyu's eyes, Zhou Er had no use for an Alchemy Furnace himself, so he could only have bought it for her.

Seeing this, Lin Shiyu was moved and threw her arms around Zhou Er.

The words on Zhou Er's lips abruptly died. With a beauty in his arms, he was at a loss for a moment.

Feeling the faint fragrance on Lin Shiyu, Zhou Er was stirred as well.

This body was, after all, that of a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old youth, brimming with vitality.

They were in Lin Shiyu's room, with no one to disturb them, and they were both in love with each other.

A lone man and woman, dry tinder meeting a raging flame.

Words were unnecessary. What was bound to happen happened.

Zhou Er had come to mooch some spirit herbs, but ended up losing himself here instead.

Still, it wasn't a bad thing. It was better to let his pent-up desire find release than keep it bottled up.

Besides, Yin-Yang Harmony was itself part of the Great Dao.

"Shiyu, don't go to work today. I'll go ask for leave for you."

Before dawn the next day, Zhou Er held Lin Shiyu and spoke.

"It's fine, Senior Brother. I've already reached Qi Refining Fifth Layer. This is nothing."

Lin Shiyu wasn't bothered by that little ache. She was more concerned about not offending Elder He.

After all, she still had to learn alchemy from Elder He.

Zhou Er and Lin Shiyu talked it over, but when she insisted again and again, he had no choice but to take her to Elder He's Cave Mansion.

"Junior Sister, I'm going to take some of the spirit herbs in your courtyard."

Zhou Er said this before they parted.

"It's fine, Senior Brother. Take whatever you like! What's mine is yours."

Lin Shiyu rose on tiptoe and whispered in Zhou Er's ear.

Zhou Er smiled faintly when he heard her.

After returning to Lin Shiyu's room, Zhou Er got to work on the medicinal herbs in the courtyard.

He picked one plant of each kind. After eating each one, he checked whether the progress bar had risen, then pulled up the next herb.

[Refining (White): Increases the body's digestive ability by fifty percent.]

[Solidification Condition: Sample a hundred herbs and refine them. (17/100)]

After eating every herb Lin Shiyu had planted, the solidification progress for the Refining attribute had increased by seventeen.

Fortunately, the requirement was to sample medicinal herbs, not spirit herbs. Otherwise, Zhou Er wouldn't have been able to gather enough in a short time.

Now he only needed to visit the sect's Spirit Herb Garden and eat some ordinary herbs to increase the solidification progress.

So, after tidying up Lin Shiyu's courtyard, Zhou Er went to the Spirit Herb Garden.

The Spirit Herb Garden grew not only spirit herbs, but also all sorts of ordinary medicinal herbs. These were auxiliary ingredients, and their price wasn't particularly high.

Zhou Er only needed to eat one plant—or even just a bite—to increase the solidification progress. He didn't spend many Spirit Stones; a few Godspeed Talismans were enough to win over the Servant Disciples working there.

There were plenty of auxiliary herbs, and they grew quickly. Zhou Er was only plucking a little, so it was no big deal.

Any random pill used more than ten kinds of auxiliary ingredients. Zhou Er easily ate the remaining eighty-three kinds of herbs and solidified the Refining attribute.

Afterward, he hurried back to his room and set the Purple Cloud Furnace inside.

He didn't need the furnace for now, so he would leave it for Lin Shiyu to try her hand at alchemy.

Then Zhou Er didn't waste time either. He continued making talismans to earn Spirit Stones.

He was deeply in debt and had no choice but to work hard.

Still, the debt was well worth it if it helped him cultivate faster.

When Lin Shiyu was about to return, Zhou Er asked her to come to his room and showed her the Purple Cloud Furnace.

"Senior Brother, I'll repay you someday."

Lin Shiyu was deeply moved.

"It's not too late to start now!"

Zhou Er teased her.

Still, Zhou Er didn't indulge himself excessively, and he never neglected his daily cultivation.

To avoid disrupting his cultivation, he didn't live with Lin Shiyu. They continued to stay in their own rooms.

Of course, their relationship had fundamentally changed.

They hadn't made anything official, but all their friends knew.

Lin Shiyu hadn't reached Foundation Establishment, so she didn't have Foundation Establishment spiritual fire and could only use ordinary fire to make pills.

Fortunately, Bigu Pills were unranked pills and didn't have such high requirements. The fire of a Qi Refining cultivator wasn't as powerful as Foundation Establishment spiritual fire, but it could just about refine the essence of some grain.

As for the ingredients needed to make Bigu Pills, one Spirit Fragment was enough to get a Servant Disciple to haul over a thousand pounds from the nearby villages, more than enough to keep Lin Shiyu making pills for a long time.

Lin Shiyu devoted herself to making Bigu Pills, but failed several times.

The one time she came close to succeeding, she hadn't even refined the grain. Instead, she had turned it into a huge clump of rice balls, which didn't meet the requirements for a Bigu Pill.

Still, with an Alchemy Furnace of her own, she could practice whenever she wanted, and her progress was very rapid.

Zhou Er was counting on Lin Shiyu to make Bigu Pills soon, so he wouldn't have to spend Spirit Stones buying them anymore.

Cultivation knew no years.

In the blink of an eye, a month passed. Zhou Er was just one step away from Qi Refining Fifth Layer, with his progress nearly at one hundred percent.

Beginning with Qi Refining Fifth Layer came the middle stage of Qi Refining.

There was a small bottleneck between the early and middle stages of Qi Refining.

Those with outstanding talent might be stuck for ten days or half a month. Those with poor aptitude could be stuck for a long time—some for half a year.

Zhou Er had already obtained the Spirit Qi Purification attribute, and the purity of his Spirit Qi was exceptionally high. He had a feeling that he could break through this barrier with ease.

Still, this was a breakthrough past a small bottleneck. To be safe, Zhou Er spent three Low-grade Spirit Stones to rent a Seclusion Chamber. He went there to meditate for a few days, so no one would disturb him.

On the first day of cultivation in the Seclusion Chamber, Zhou Er felt the loosened bottleneck give way with a single, effortless push. He reached the middle stage of Qi Refining.

Then Zhou Er gave up the rent for the remaining two days and left the Seclusion Chamber.

The Spirit Qi Concentration in the Seclusion Chamber was indeed much higher than in the Outer Sect, but there was no need to waste Spirit Stones just for that.

He was still in debt, so every little bit saved helped.

Lin Shiyu didn't ask Zhou Er to repay the Spirit Stones. After all, she had also benefited from the Purple Cloud Furnace, and now she and Zhou Er were as close as family. She naturally couldn't bring herself to ask him for the money.

Fu Qiu managed to collect some Spirit Stones every month, so he wasn't in a hurry to make Zhou Er repay him so soon.

Only the other Talisman Masters who had lent Zhou Er Spirit Stones occasionally came to press him for repayment.

Fortunately, Zhou Er could now make fifteen or sixteen first-grade talismans a day, earning two Low-grade Spirit Stones. His income had risen, and the pressure of repaying his debts was lighter.

In the blink of an eye, half a year passed. Zhou Er successfully paid off his debts, and his cultivation broke through to Qi Refining Seventh Layer.

Not only that, Zhou Er also successfully solidified the Bone Strengthening and Spirit Gathering attributes.

[Name: Zhou Er]

[Cultivation: Qi Refining Seventh Layer (13.71%)]

[Equipment Slot (2/3): Low-grade Spirit Stone, Bigu Pill.]

[Unsolidified Attributes: Mana Abundance (White), Taotie (White).]

[Solidified Attributes: Bone Strengthening, Refining (White), Spirit Gathering (White), Rune Mastery (First-grade), Self-Healing (White), High-speed Reaction, Wondrous Brush (White), Fire Attribute Amplification (White), Spirit Qi Purification (White), Qi Induction, Strength Increase (White).]

The Mana Abundance attribute would probably solidify soon after he broke through to Qi Refining Eighth Layer.

By now, his strength ranked in the upper middle among the Outer Sect.

His Dao Companion, Lin Shiyu, had also made great strides in alchemy. At the very least, she could now achieve a fifty-percent success rate with Bigu Pills, turning a thousand pounds of grain into around fifty pills.

At that level, she could already turn a profit, but her income was still too low, so she continued working part-time as a Fire Control Attendant.

The only regret was that she couldn't get hold of any Pill Recipes, so she couldn't try making other pills.

For now, she could only build up her resources bit by bit.

Zhou Er didn't have time to worry about her. He was now concerned about something else.

His cultivation had advanced too quickly, and he was starting to feel uneasy.

In just over a year, he had gone from an ordinary mortal to Qi Refining Seventh Layer. His pace was truly frightening.

He had even surpassed some Inner Sect Disciples, which made him far too conspicuous. Zhou Er urgently needed an attribute—or perhaps a cultivation method—that could conceal his cultivation.

Within Xiayun Sect, he hadn't seen any such attribute. He didn't know whether that was because he was too low-level, or for some other reason.

There were too many old monsters in the sect. If they ever discovered something fishy about him, he'd be cut open for examination.

After thinking it over, Zhou Er decided to leave Xiayun Sect for a while.

As it happened, the Void Breaking attribute for equipping a Storage Bag required him to hunt a hundred first-tier Demonic Beasts before it could be solidified.

He could use this time to hunt Demonic Beasts and search outside for a suitable attribute.

In short, he needed to keep his distance from the sect's senior cultivators, lest they see through him and search his Spiritual Soul.

Of them all, Zhou Er feared being discovered by Master Jide the most.

Master Jide knew his background. Zhou Er had originally been a mortal without a spiritual root. Rising to Qi Refining Seventh Layer in a year and a half wasn't something that could be explained away easily.

So Zhou Er had to slip away as soon as possible.

Before leaving, Zhou Er bought a Storage Bag and several bundles of all kinds of talismans, just in case.

The only regret was that he didn't have enough Spirit Stones on hand to buy a magic artifact.

But he was afraid it would be too late if he didn't leave now, so he could only slip away as soon as possible. At any rate, he had a whole pile of talismans.

If he really got into a fight, a sky full of flying Fireball Techniques might not be any weaker than a magic artifact.

Before leaving, Zhou Er said goodbye to several friends in the sect. At the end, he told Lin Shiyu:

"Shiyu, I have something to take care of and need to leave the sect for a while. I won't be back anytime soon. Cultivate well and study alchemy while you're here. If you run into trouble, you can ask Senior Brother Zhu Shunyang for help."

"Senior Brother! Why are you leaving in such a hurry?"

Lin Shiyu was puzzled, and she also didn't want him to go.

"It's hard to explain in just a few words. In any case, I'm leaving the Purple Cloud Furnace with you. I hope it'll help you."

Zhou Er couldn't explain. He just had a sense that danger was closing in.

With so many people around in the sect, it was less comfortable than being on his own.

If he found a better place outside this time, he might not come back.

Although Master Jide had been the benefactor who introduced him to cultivation, he knew far too much. Once Zhou Er grew a little stronger, staying in Xiayun Sect would bring all sorts of inconvenience. He might as well become a Rogue Cultivator.

Lin Shiyu had spent so much time with Zhou Er that she knew he seemed to have been wary of something these past few days.

She couldn't help feeling a little sad, as if Zhou Er would never return after leaving this time. But she couldn't make him stay.

"Shiyu, don't worry. I won't abandon you. I just have something to take care of for a while. Give me some time, and I'll definitely come back."

Seeing Lin Shiyu's sadness, Zhou Er immediately tried to comfort her.

"Senior Brother, can you take me with you? I won't hold you back."

Lin Shiyu said.

"Shiyu, you're overthinking it. I'm not running for my life. Why would you hold me back?"

Zhou Er waved his hand and said:

"I'll be back before long."

Naturally, Zhou Er couldn't explain much to Lin Shiyu. He could only leave first and talk later.

Although their parting was somewhat unhappy, Lin Shiyu still accepted the fact that Zhou Er was leaving. She saw him off for a while, then secretly vowed to study alchemy diligently, so that next time they met, she would make Zhou Er look at her in a new light.

After leaving the sect, Zhou Er didn't know where to go, so he decided to return home first.

When Master Jide had brought him to Xiayun Sect long ago, Zhou Er had remembered the direction. He set the Godly Travel Technique in motion and hurried back.

But his home was ten thousand li from Xiayun Sect. Even using the Godly Travel Technique, he couldn't get there in a day.

Zhou Er traveled by day and covered over a thousand li, getting well away from Xiayun Sect.

Near dusk, he found a village nearby.

The presence of a village meant the area was relatively safe. Zhou Er didn't disturb the villagers; he simply found a large tree and sat cross-legged beneath it.

Then he let Xiao Cang, who had been hidden on his person, out and whispered:

"Xiao Cang, keep watch for me."

Then Zhou Er leaned against the tree and closed his eyes to rest.

A little over an hour later, Xiao Cang bit him. Zhou Er immediately woke up, four Fireball Talismans pinched in his hand, ready to release them at any moment.

He looked around. The surroundings were pitch-black, lit only by the faint glow of the moonlight.

"Xiao Cang! Don't wake me up if there's no enemy."

Zhou Er said irritably.

Although he had trained Xiao Cang for a long time, it was only a first-tier, low-grade Demonic Beast, equivalent to a Qi Refining Early-stage cultivator, and its intelligence was limited.

Xiao Cang huddled inside Zhou Er's clothes, trembling.

Zhou Er was just about to tip it out and give it a good scolding when he saw that it seemed to be afraid of something. He immediately realized that there really might be something nearby.