Back in the Bamboo House, Qin Dongcheng entered the cultivation chamber and began focusing on practicing the Mount Tai Body Strengthening Fist.
His mastery of this fist technique was now close to Major Achievement. He planned to push himself over the next few days and bring it to Major Achievement. That would greatly boost both its body-tempering effects and its might in actual combat.
He took Blood-Replenishing Pills one after another to replenish his depleted energy, though he dared not take too many lest they harm the foundation of his cultivation.
"You performed a set of the Mount Tai Body Strengthening Fist. Congratulations, you triggered a Double Critical Hit and received double the rewards!" "You performed a set of the Mount Tai Body Strengthening Fist. Congratulations, you triggered a Triple Critical Hit and received triple the rewards!"
With the critical-hit rewards from the Heaven Rewards Diligence System, Qin Dongcheng made rapid progress in the Mount Tai Body Strengthening Fist, while his cultivation steadily improved as well.
Several days passed quickly. While practicing his fists, he did not forget to practice Alchemy and refine various pills.
The critical-hit rewards over these few days had been mediocre, reaching Fivefold Critical Hit at most. His progress was not as fast as he had imagined.
"You performed a set of the Mount Tai Body Strengthening Fist. Congratulations, you triggered a fortyfold critical hit and received forty times the rewards!"
He had just been thinking that the critical hits were disappointing when the Heaven Rewards Diligence System gave him a pleasant surprise, granting him a fortyfold critical hit and sending his cultivation soaring.
At the same time, his comprehension of the Mount Tai Body Strengthening Fist broke through its bottleneck and reached a new level.
Major Achievement!
He smiled faintly. When he practiced the Mount Tai Body Strengthening Fist again, he could clearly feel the difference. Its power had increased greatly, and he could execute it with far greater ease.
Each set of the fists took less time, yet produced better results. That meant Qin Dongcheng could practice more often each day, spend less time, and advance his cultivation faster.
Even among most Official Disciples of the Five Elements Sect, the Mount Tai Body Strengthening Fist had only reached Minor Achievement. Few had attained Major Achievement.
They usually completed their Body Phase Realm cultivation with the Mount Tai Body Strengthening Fist at Minor Achievement, then began cultivating the Skin Phase Realm before reaching Major Achievement or the Perfected Realm.
Although some Official Disciples chose to keep improving the Mount Tai Body Strengthening Fist, hoping to awaken a Strange Phenomenon, the time and effort required were immense, and there was no certainty they would awaken one. Many eventually gave up.
Who could compare with Qin Dongcheng? He had only recently reached the Late Body Phase, yet the Mount Tai Body Strengthening Fist had already reached Major Achievement. At his current pace, by the time he reached Body Phase Perfection, he should be able to bring it to the Perfected Realm, giving him a high chance of awakening a Strange Phenomenon.
However, his talent was mediocre, and he had no special constitution. Both would affect his chances of awakening a Strange Phenomenon.
Not every Martial Artist could awaken a special Strange Phenomenon in different realms of martial cultivation.
Those who could were one in ten thousand, without exaggeration.
After stabilizing his mastery of the Mount Tai Body Strengthening Fist and adapting to its Major Achievement, Qin Dongcheng began refining a third low-grade pill.
The Detoxification Pill!
As its name suggested, it could purge the toxins from a Martial Artist's body. It was also an extremely common low-grade pill.
It was not much more difficult to refine than the Blood-Replenishing Pill or the Golden Wound Pill.
Qin Dongcheng had prepared nearly a hundred sets of Detoxification Pill ingredients. He wondered whether he could succeed even once.
He methodically processed the ingredients for the Detoxification Pill, and in only the time it took to drink a cup of tea, he had nearly finished.
Next came the actual refining. But less than three minutes later, smoke billowed out, and his first attempt failed.
"You failed to refine the Detoxification Pill. Congratulations, you triggered a Triple Critical Hit and received three batches of failed Detoxification Pills and three sets of experience and insights..."
The bad news was that he had failed right away. The good news was that he had triggered a Triple Critical Hit, earning three batches of failed Detoxification Pill ingredients. Most importantly, he had also gained three sets of experience and insights from the failure.
All in all, it was a decent haul. Next time, he should be able to hold out for a few more minutes.
He began his second attempt. This time, he lasted about half an hour before failing.
He could not keep refining. He needed a good rest. Alchemy and pill-making took a heavy toll on the mind, and Qin Dongcheng needed to recover. He might as well go practice the Mount Tai Body Strengthening Fist for a while.
Over the next several days, Qin Dongcheng kept refining Detoxification Pills, but never succeeded. He fought and lost, then rose to fight again. It was no easier than refining the Blood-Replenishing Pills and Golden Wound Pills had been.
Meanwhile, several more Herb Field chore disciples came to visit, hoping to receive Qin Dongcheng's guidance. He only needed to spare a little time to instruct them now and then; once every ten days or half a month was plenty.
Qin Dongcheng naturally would not pass up such an opportunity to earn precious medicinal ingredients. After all, among those Herb Field chore disciples were veteran hands who had served for decades, each responsible for more than ten acres of Herb Field and having accumulated many precious medicinal herbs.
Even though they had already mastered the Mount Tai Body Strengthening Fist, they still needed guidance in alchemy and pill-making. And Qin Dongcheng's Mount Tai Body Strengthening Fist had reached Major Achievement, so he could guide them in that as well.
He naturally would not turn down such a win-win arrangement.
This made him immensely popular among the nearby Herb Field chore disciples. They had taken it upon themselves to regard him as their leader, and his prestige and standing even surpassed the steward's.
By harvesting their precious medicinal herbs, Qin Dongcheng also earned quite a few critical-hit rewards. They still did not cover his alchemy expenses, but he no longer had to buy as many herbs at the Black Market, avoiding unwanted attention.
This also covered most of the cost of alchemy and pill-making. His once nearly depleted fortune was slowly growing again.
The cost of martial cultivation was simply too high, especially since Qin Dongcheng was constantly trying to refine new pills. He failed again and again, and every failure wasted a great many herbs.
Even so, he was quite satisfied as he felt his cultivation and Alchemy improving steadily.
At this rate, it would not be long before he could successfully refine Detoxification Pills and become an Official Alchemist.
That day, as usual, he went to the Herb Field to harvest precious medicinal herbs and give everyone some pointers on their cultivation. But he noticed that everyone looked grave and was discussing something.
"It's been confirmed. Apparently, there hasn't been any snow this year because demons of at least the eighth rank are running rampant, affecting the weather over Luo Cloud Prefecture. That's why it still hasn't snowed here."
"My heavens! Demons of the eighth rank or higher—what level of existence is that? Comparable to peerless experts of the eighth martial realm, right? No wonder it hasn't snowed here."
"Apparently, poor governance in other prefectures has let many Demons and Ghosts invade Luo Cloud Prefecture, throwing it into chaos too. The Mission Hall recently issued many demon-slaying missions, forcing Official Disciples to hunt them down. Quite a few Official Disciples have been killed or wounded."
"Good thing we're not Official Disciples. Chore Disciples don't have mandatory missions, or we'd be in danger too. I just don't know whether those Demons and Ghosts will invade Bamboo Forest Valley. Everyone should be careful."
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