The overwhelming medicinal power contained in the top-grade pills allowed him to guide the spiritual energy for longer while cultivating the Evergreen Technique, flushing through and widening his clogged meridians.
The top-grade Body-Tempering Pill slowly and continuously strengthened his aging bones, muscles, and flesh. Though it could not reverse his aging, it made his body feel more resilient and restored some of his strength.
The top-grade Spirit-Condensing Pill helped him enter a state of calm concentration more quickly, improving his cultivation efficiency.
Three months later.
Inside the little stone hut behind the Hall of Discarded Treasures, Li Qingshan sat cross-legged.
A faint blue-green glow enveloped him, far more substantial than it had been when he was at the first layer of Qi Refining.
The sparse spiritual energy in the air gathered around him in thin wisps, flowing into his body and following the Evergreen Technique's course before finally converging in his dantian.
Within the sea of qi in his dantian, the cluster of wood-attributed magical power had grown from the faintest trace of qi into a small, stable vortex. It turned slowly, radiating vigorous life.
The third layer of Qi Refining!
Li Qingshan slowly ended his cultivation and opened his eyes. A flash of brilliance flickered in them and vanished.
He rose to his feet, feeling lighter and stronger than ever before. His skin was still covered in wrinkles, and his hair was still white as frost, but most of the decay within him had been dispelled.
He walked outside and casually swung his fists a few times. They even made a faint whooshing sound as they cut through the air.
"These top-grade pills really are miraculous. Three months to reach the third layer of Qi Refining? I heard that even someone with a Heavenly Spirit Root needs at least a year of cultivation during the Qi Refining stage to reach the third layer!
"With top-grade pills to help, cultivation really is fast! It's just that I've used up all the top-grade pills, and there are fewer and fewer discarded pills left!"
Li Qingshan murmured to himself, overwhelmed by gratitude toward the Yellow-Skin Gourd.
In just three short months, Li Qingshan had practically been reborn.
The third layer of Qi Refining?
That was already the level of many outer sect disciples.
"I can't keep raising my cultivation. In two months, disciples will come to burn the discarded treasures. If my cultivation is exposed, the consequences will be unthinkable!"
A glint flashed in Li Qingshan's eyes.
He understood better than anyone how astonishing it was for a hundred-year-old man to break through to the third layer of Qi Refining in just a few months.
Even a Heavenly Spirit Root couldn't explain it.
If his cultivation were exposed, those old monsters of the Spring Autumn Sect would likely set their sights on him. They would use Soul Taker to rip through his soul and torture him for his secrets.
A treasure like the Yellow-Skin Gourd must never be exposed.
"Next, I should try out the gourd's other abilities!"
Li Qingshan thought to himself.
One day, while clearing a pile of refuse mixed with withered spirit herbs and ore, he spotted a Clear Heart Grass. A trace of moisture still clung to its roots, but its leaves had withered completely and curled up.
The grass was young and weak in medicinal power. It was utterly useless.
An idea struck him. On a whim, he put it into the Yellow-Skin Gourd.
When he took it out the next day, the Clear Heart Grass had turned a lush, vibrant green. Its leaves had unfurled, and it brimmed with life. Its medicinal power had increased more than tenfold!
A Clear Heart Grass that had been barely a year old had become one twenty years old.
"Even withered spirit herbs can be revived and improved?"
Li Qingshan was once again shaken.
This discovery made him start paying attention to the discarded low-grade spirit herbs in the Hall of Discarded Treasures, especially those that were still partly intact.
One day, while sorting through a pile of broken, rusted low-grade magical weapon fragments, he found a short sword with only half its blade remaining.
The hilt was still in decent condition. Though the break was covered in rust, the weapon patterns inside seemed not to have completely collapsed.
It was clearly a scrapped low-grade magical weapon.
He hesitated, then decided to put the broken half-sword into the gourd too.
But he soon found himself troubled.
The gourd's mouth was too small. There was no way a low-grade flying sword would fit inside.
"If only you could get a little bigger."
Li Qingshan thought as he stroked the Yellow-Skin Gourd.
The moment the thought crossed his mind, he felt the gourd in his hand grow slightly warm. Then, under his astonished gaze, it slowly grew larger!
It went from the size of a fist to the size of two.
"Bigger!"
Li Qingshan was beside himself with excitement.
The Yellow-Skin Gourd grew another size.
"Bigger, bigger..."
As Li Qingshan silently repeated the words, the Yellow-Skin Gourd eventually grew to over ten feet tall, almost touching the ceiling of the Hall of Discarded Treasures.
Only then did he feel a deep wave of fatigue.
"Does the Yellow-Skin Gourd's ability to grow and shrink have something to do with my spiritual power?"
Li Qingshan guessed.
"Smaller, smaller..."
As Li Qingshan silently repeated the words, the Yellow-Skin Gourd eventually shrank to the size of a speck of dust. Unless he searched carefully, he could hardly detect it at all.
"That's perfect! If the Yellow-Skin Gourd shrinks, it'll be easy to hide. From now on, I'll call you the Wish-Fulfilling Gourd!"
Li Qingshan thought to himself.
The Yellow-Skin Gourd could grow or shrink as he wished, and it could turn trash into treasure according to his will.
Wasn't that exactly what a Wish-Fulfilling Gourd was?
After playing with it for a while, he enlarged the Wish-Fulfilling Gourd and put the broken sword inside.
When he took it out the next day, Li Qingshan was stunned.
The short sword in his hand was whole again, its blade gleaming coldly. The weapon patterns along its spine, which had been blurred and broken, were now clear and smooth, and a faint spiritual glow seemed to flow through them!
The sword radiated a sharpness far beyond what it had before. How could this still be a low-grade magical weapon? It had clearly reached the level of a top-grade magical weapon!
"Repair... and improve its grade?!"
Holding the renewed short sword, Li Qingshan felt the spiritual power it contained, and his breathing grew hurried.
The Yellow-Skin Gourd's abilities far exceeded anything he had imagined!
To test it, he tried putting a completely shattered, spiritless piece of ore into the gourd. When he took it out the next day, nothing had changed.
He then put in a dagger so rusted it had become nothing but a lump of iron, its weapon patterns completely worn away. It didn't react either.
"It seems only objects that are 'damaged but not dead,' with a trace of spiritual nature or the foundation of their structure still intact, can be transformed and improved by the gourd..."
As Li Qingshan summarized the pattern, his gaze swept over the mountain of discarded treasures in the hall.
To him, this was no longer a dump, but a treasure trove awaiting discovery, with limitless potential!
A strong urge welled up within him to test more things at once.
But a century of experience forced him to calm down. A man could be innocent, yet a treasure could bring him ruin.
The secret of this gourd was his only means of surviving—and perhaps even advancing—in this cruel world of cultivation. He could not let it be exposed, not even in the slightest.
He took a deep breath and suppressed his excitement.
For the next two months, Li Qingshan did not continue cultivating. Instead, he tested the Wish-Fulfilling Gourd's wonders while waiting for the disciples assigned to clear out the Hall of Discarded Treasures.
Two months later.
A disciple came to clear out the Hall of Discarded Treasures, riding a flying sword.
When Li Qingshan saw the figure, his eyes immediately lit up.
The graceful figure wore a long blue-green dress, its sleeves fluttering in the wind. She had delicate features and an icy gaze, and carried an ethereal, otherworldly air.
It was Ye Lingshuang!
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