12 Qi-Nurturing Pills. They could be used by Qi Refining cultivators to gather the spiritual energy of heaven and earth in their dantian. Each pill saved a Qi Refining cultivator at least one year of gathering spiritual energy.
12 Heavenly Origin Pills. They could be used by Qi Refining cultivators to purge impurities from the body. Half a year of cultivation after taking one would feel as if the gods were lending a hand.
Heavenly Secret Spirit-Replenishing Pills!
Li Xiang didn't know whether the immortal cultivation world in the game even had those last 12 pills.
But he knew that even in the present-day Earth, Heavenly Secret Spirit-Replenishing Pills were practically impossible to find on the market. For as long as three years, they could give someone a certain chance of improving their spiritual roots. Whether they did or not was entirely a matter of personal fortune.
Only the Li Family had the recipe for refining such pills. After years of experiments at the Li Family's pill-manufacturing company, the record belonged to someone whose spiritual root score had been just 24. In only three years, he had raised it all the way to 50, and that didn't even count the increases to his other spiritual roots.
They were truly a blessing to cultivators!
Of course, the stronger a pill's effects, the greater the body's resistance to it after taking it. Each person could take a Heavenly Secret Spirit-Replenishing Pill only once in their lifetime.
"Thirty-six pills. That's almost a tenth of all the pills I have."
Watching the pills being delivered, Li Xiang didn't feel the slightest sting.
His family had sent all this stuff over the years, and none of it was any use to him now!
"Our ancestor has shown his divine power again!"
"Pills! So many pills! Just smelling them, you can tell they're extraordinary."
"Thank you for your Bestowal, Ancestor! I swear I'll do whatever it takes to lead the children and strengthen the clan!"
Li Dalong's family was overwhelmed with gratitude.
[Incense +16 obtained]
Li Xiang shifted his gaze away from the computer screen.
He laid a hand on the Mysterious Spear and gently stroked it. A wave of air rippled across its surface, sending the things in the room fluttering.
A prompt soon appeared on the screen.
[Spend Incense to lift the seal on the "Mysterious Spear"?]
"???"
I've scraped together only 80 Incense, and you want a million? Why not just rob me?
But at the same time, Li Xiang became even more certain of how powerful this spear was.
He took a deep breath and glanced at the time on his computer. Four in the morning.
"I've been playing all night?"
Li Xiang slowly stood and stretched. Ordinarily, he would've gone to bed, but he had no intention of sleeping tonight. He still felt full of energy. "Looks like I'll have to go out."
The game was important, but there were other things in real life he had to deal with, too. And while they'd been having a late-night snack, Yuexian had told him some unwelcome news.
Especially...
Li Xiang put the spear into his Storage Ring. He had tried, but the seal inside was too strong. He couldn't open it at all.
Then he placed a stone that could detect things in front of the computer. At the same time, he took a wooden puppet from his Storage Ring and set it in the gaming chair. Only after confirming that he could operate the computer remotely did he leave the room.
"Master, should I prepare breakfast?"
Li Xiang had just closed the door and stepped into the living room when Yuexian, standing in the center with her eyes closed, opened them and greeted him with the first smile before dawn.
"No need."
Li Xiang smiled back, then asked, "By the way, is Grandma Ling from Cave Abode No. 12 at home?"
"She's been there the whole time. She returned from the Beyond two months ago and hasn't left her cave abode since." Yuexian watched him put on his shoes and blinked. "Are you going out, Master? Would you like me to accompany you?"
"I'm just making a quick trip. I'll be back soon. Get a car ready for me."
Li Xiang gave the order.
As he did, he took out his phone and used the monitoring Spirit Stone to check the computer screen.
In no time, everyone in the game's Li Family had started secluded cultivation after receiving the pills. They looked ready to stay inside until they'd used up every last bit of food.
Li Dalong had clearly learned what the pills were from the Qi Refiner Cultivation Manual.
Almost every member of the Li Family had taken a Heavenly Secret Spirit-Replenishing Pill. Even the Iron Forest Horse had gotten one.
Their aptitude had improved, but for now, there were no major changes.
Meanwhile...
Aside from Li Dalong, who was at the fourth level of Qi Refining, the Li Family now had two more cultivators.
Li Dalong's wife had apparently lacked the fortune to become a cultivator and seemed destined never to be one. But after taking the pill, and with the most basic cultivation guidance from the Qi Refiner Cultivation Manual, she had reached the first level of Qi Refining.
Li Yaozu had also become a Qi Refining cultivator. A five-year-old at the first level of Qi Refining—his future was bright!
"May the Ancestor watch over us!"
"My children must cultivate well. They can't let the Ancestor's painstaking efforts go to waste."
"We failed to offer the Ancestor a gift that pleased him at this ancestral rite. In ten years, we must repay him properly!"
The Li Family members in the game were brimming with fighting spirit.
Li Xiang nodded in satisfaction, then slipped the antique phone in his hand back into his pocket.
"You seem especially happy today, Master." Yuexian's laughter pulled Li Xiang out of his thoughts about the game.
"Make braised pork for lunch, and I'll be even happier."
Li Xiang grinned, took a box from Yuexian, and opened it. Inside was a cake.
Then he drove away from the villa.
He hadn't gone far when he reached Jixian Manor No. 12. The sky was just beginning to brighten. The weather should have been chilly, but Cave Abode No. 12 looked perfectly ordinary, even as heat poured from inside.
He took out his phone and checked the game. No special event had been triggered; the family was still developing in an orderly fashion. Only then did he knock on the door of No. 12.
"Ding-dong!"
"Grandma Ling, it's Li Xiang. I've come to visit!"
At his call, the door to Cave Abode No. 12 opened. Unlike Li Xiang's home, the cave abode glowed red within. A scorching wave of heat burst out the moment the door opened, ruffling his coat and hair.
An old woman hunched over a cane appeared before him like a phantom. She looked as if every step was a struggle, yet she had reached him in the blink of an eye.
Li Xiang seemed used to this by now. He didn't panic, but smiled warmly at her. "Grandma Ling, I hope I haven't interrupted your artifact forging?"
Grandma Ling's hair was white as snow, and her face was covered in wrinkles, but she had a kind smile. "Of course not. I'm just an old bag of bones. I couldn't be happier to have a young person come visit me."
"Come on, Xiang. Come inside and have tea with me."
Grandma Ling took Li Xiang by the hand and led him into the cave abode.
The moment the old woman and the young man stepped inside, the flames in the cave abode died away. Everything returned to normal, and wooden tables and chairs appeared. They sat down, and a pot of hot tea had already appeared on the table.
Li Xiang and Grandma Ling chatted about everyday life for nearly half an hour. Mostly, she asked the questions, fussing over him and nagging like any elderly person might.
But Li Xiang knew that Grandma Ling had lived for at least three hundred years. She was an extraordinary artifact refiner, and every resident of Jixian Manor who needed an artifact made would come to her.
"Grandma Ling, I've run into a bit of a problem this time."
Li Xiang let out a weary sigh.
"Oh?"
Grandma Ling's brow immediately furrowed. "Did some blind little brat at school bully you? Or is it a problem with your family?"
"Neither. You know I'm not one to go looking for trouble."
Li Xiang didn't beat around the bush. His Storage Ring flashed, and a spear appeared in his hand. The moment Grandma Ling saw the patterns on it, her eyes lit up. Li Xiang smiled. "A friend gave it to me. I couldn't make heads or tails of it, so I thought of your expertise."
"It's at least a magic treasure!"
The moment Grandma Ling took it, a wave of air swept out. The antique surroundings blazed with flames before fading away again. She held the spear for ten seconds before nodding. "It's at least a high-grade Spirit Artifact. The seal is nothing special. If you trust this old woman, you can come pick it up the day after tomorrow at dawn."
"If I can't trust you, Grandma Ling, who can I trust?"
After another ten minutes of flattery, Li Xiang left the Mysterious Spear with her and walked out of Cave Abode No. 12.
He checked his phone. Nothing had happened to threaten the whole family, and only then did he relax. He drove toward the entrance.
"Uncle Chen, wake up! I've got somewhere to go!"
When he reached the entrance, Li Xiang called out to Uncle Chen, who was dozing in the guard booth.
A moment later, Uncle Chen poked his head out, bleary-eyed. "Young Master Li? You're heading out this early?"
"Yeah."
Li Xiang sighed, slowly opened the car door, picked up the cake from the passenger seat, and handed it to Uncle Chen. "I got up pretty early today. Four in the morning."
"Oh, cake? Young Master Li sure knows how to enjoy himself."
Uncle Chen beamed at the cake. "What happened? Why were you up so early?"
"Nothing much."
Li Xiang grinned. "I found a sealed weapon and took it to Grandma Ling at Cave Abode No. 12 to have her take a look. Oh, I forgot to ask when it'd be ready. When you make your rounds, could you ask her for me?"
"No problem. I'll ask when it'll be ready. Don't worry, she's a good person. Whatever you gave her, she'll return it to you."
Uncle Chen tapped a finger lightly on the table. "But that's no reason for you to go out so early."
"Oh, it's because of the family. The head of the Li Family died in battle on the foreign battlefield. Several elders took a large force there to avenge him. Now the new head of the family has taken over, and he's a real piece of work. He's cut off my allowance. At this rate, I might not even be able to afford food soon."
Li Xiang sighed. This was the news Yuexian had brought him last night.
If he weren't scrambling just to afford food, he'd never have left his desk for a moment!
"Huh?"
Uncle Chen's eyes went wide. "That's serious. You'd better deal with it quickly. Mr. Han from Cave Abode No. 82 knows about this kind of thing. Go ask at his law firm. He might be able to help."
So, this world had lawyers too. Li Xiang was already preparing to sue his family.
He nodded. "Thanks, Uncle Chen. I'll go ask him right now. Yuexian's making braised pork for lunch. I'll have her bring you some when I get back."
"Sure, sure."
Li Xiang's car sped off. Uncle Chen waved after him, then yawned and headed toward Cave Abode No. 12, where he rapped hard on the door.
"Bang, bang, bang!"
The noise echoed across the villa district, and lights came on in several houses.
"Resident of Cave Abode No. 12, greetings. I'm a guard of the villa district, and it's my heartfelt honor to serve you!"
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