The Joy of Cultivating with Pills

The Sect Master did not know his circumstances, but Lu Ye knew his own affairs best.

Not to mention the thirty Qi and Blood Pill residues he had exchanged from Steward Yang and consumed bit by bit over the past year—in that cave alone, he had eaten two or three hundred pills' worth in just over ten days.

Under normal circumstances, consuming so much pill residue would certainly pose enormous hidden dangers to one's body.

Yet the Sect Master had said that his Spiritual Power was fairly pure?

The Sect Master should not be mistaken about such a thing. Lu Ye did not know how high his cultivation was, but as the master of a Ninth-Rank Sect, he should at least be in the Cloud River Realm.

In other words, there was probably truly nothing wrong with his Spiritual Power.

But where did the difference lie? Lu Ye immediately thought of the Talent Tree. Back in the Mine Cave, he had vaguely felt that the Talent Tree was capable of more than merely carrying Spiritual Patterns. Now it seemed that the purity of his Spiritual Power must also be related to the Talent Tree. Otherwise, there was no way to explain his current condition.

It was not easy to speak plainly to the Sect Master about this. After thinking it over, Lu Ye asked, "Sect Master, if Pill Toxin accumulates excessively and one's Spiritual Power becomes murky and sluggish, how should it be resolved?"

"Naturally, one can only suspend cultivation and slowly dissolve the Pill Toxin. That requires a great deal of time. Thus, relying excessively on Spiritual Pills for cultivation will not only fail to increase one's cultivation speed, but may instead have the opposite effect. Still, you need not worry. Using pills appropriately as an aid is not a problem. The key is to grasp the proper measure yourself."

"This disciple understands."

"Mm. Your cultivation is still shallow, so borrowing the aid of pills is understandable. But since you have Spirit Nurturing Pills, why do you not use them? Why use Qi and Blood Pills to refine essence into Qi instead? Though both kinds of Spiritual Pills can aid cultivation, the latter is more important for replenishing Qi and Blood Power, strengthening the foundation, and nourishing vitality."

Lu Ye was embarrassed. "This disciple did not recognize Spirit Nurturing Pills..."

Just now, he had habitually taken out a Qi and Blood Pill to consume. He had only wanted to restore his Spiritual Energy as soon as possible and strike at the Aperture Barrier, without giving it much thought.

Old Man Tang gave a surprised laugh and pushed a bottle before him. "The ones inside are Spirit Nurturing Pills. Though they are the lowest-grade Spirit Nurturing Pills, their quality is passable enough, and they are just right for you."

Lu Ye poured out one pill from the bottle and clearly saw what a Spirit Nurturing Pill looked like. He thought to himself that Steward Yang really had possessed Spirit Nurturing Pills as well. He had seen this kind of Spiritual Pill in Steward Yang's Storage Bag before, but had not dared consume one carelessly.

Now that the Sect Master had instructed him, he naturally had nothing to worry about. He swallowed the Spirit Nurturing Pill in his hand and calmly began refining it.

"After consuming a Spiritual Pill, you must guide its pill power, lest it stagnate and leave behind future troubles." The Sect Master's voice sounded by his ear. This was also why he had said that the lowest-grade Spirit Nurturing Pills were just right for Lu Ye. With Lu Ye's current cultivation of one Aperture Opened, if he truly consumed an overly fine Spiritual Pill, he would inevitably be unable to guide its dense pill power in time. Once too much pill power stagnated in his body, it would greatly affect his cultivation as well.

Lu Ye heard the Sect Master's words and followed his instructions.

A warm current slowly surged from his lower abdomen. It was the pill power of the Spirit Nurturing Pill being released, transforming into Spiritual Power that cultivators could use.

Under Lu Ye's guidance, the Spiritual Power transformed from the pill power was gradually poured into the Source Spirit Aperture.

The Source Spirit Aperture, which had nearly run dry, gradually became full.

The medicinal effect of this Spirit Nurturing Pill was far better than the Qi and Blood Pill Residue he had taken before!

Spirit Nurturing Pills were inherently more suitable for cultivation than Qi and Blood Pills. What Lu Ye had previously consumed had been Residue left over from Evil Moon Valley cultivators' failed pill refining. It also had to undergo a process of Refining Essence into Qi before his own Qi and Blood Power could be transformed into Spiritual Power. Naturally, there was no comparison.

Only now did he truly experience the joy of cultivating with pills!

In less than half a day, the nearly dried-up Source Spirit Aperture was full again, while the pill power of the Spirit Nurturing Pill continued to take effect.

Lu Ye hurriedly guided the Spiritual Power in his Source Spirit Aperture and sent it crashing against the barrier of the second Spiritual Aperture, again and again.

Until, at a certain moment, he vaguely sensed something within his body shatter. The Spiritual Power that had been obstructed in its advance suddenly flowed freely.

The second Spiritual Aperture, opened!

The full Spiritual Power from the Source Spirit Aperture trickled into the second Spiritual Aperture, and Lu Ye felt utterly refreshed in body and mind.

The medicinal effect of the Spirit Nurturing Pill still lingered. Only after a long while, when he sensed that its effects had been completely exhausted, did Lu Ye open his eyes. Just as he was about to report the good news to the Sect Master, he found that the Sect Master was no longer there.

He had left at some point.

Lu Ye did not mind. The Sect Master was the master of a sect and had matters of his own to attend to. In any case, the Sect Master had already helped him identify the positions of several Spiritual Apertures to open next. All he needed to do was proceed step by step and cultivate diligently.

Lu Ye's goal was to open those Spiritual Apertures as quickly as possible, then follow the cultivation route of the technique and use Spiritual Power to link them together, reaching the Spirit Stream Realm. Only then could he be considered a cultivator who had truly entered the path.

Wanting to test whether his earlier guess about the Talent Tree was correct, Lu Ye did not stop. He took another Spirit Nurturing Pill and swallowed it.

Dense pill power transformed into Spiritual Power and, under Lu Ye's guidance, filled his Spiritual Apertures. Two days later, after consuming roughly six Spirit Nurturing Pills in total, the second aperture was full.

Lu Ye was stunned by this speed.

From opening his aperture to filling the first aperture, he had spent more than ten full days. Yet now, the same progress had taken only two days. The gap was simply too great.

The medicinal effects of Spirit Nurturing Pills truly could not compare to those Residues, even if these were the lowest-quality Spirit Nurturing Pills.

He thought of Yu Xiaodie again.

Yu Xiaodie had told him then that it had taken her more than twenty days to go from opening her aperture to filling the first one. She had also taken Spirit Nurturing Pills, given to her by a cultivator from Evil Moon Valley.

Comparing the two, Lu Ye's cultivation speed was clearly abnormal.

What he could be certain of was that all of this had a great deal to do with the Talent Tree. But what exactly that connection was, he had no way to investigate at present.

No matter what, this was a good thing for him. Perhaps after his cultivation grew stronger in the future, he would slowly uncover the secrets of the Talent Tree.

The Sect Master still did not appear. Though Lu Ye had cultivated for two days, he did not feel tired. He was simply ravenously hungry.

Ever since he had successfully opened his aperture, his appetite had greatly increased. He had noticed this back in the Mine Cave. Still, at his current age, being able to eat was a good thing. The more he ate, the more abundant his Qi and Blood Power would be.

It was inconvenient to go out and look for food. Fortunately, Zhou Cheng's Storage Bag still contained some provisions. Lu Ye was not picky, so he took them out and ate and drank with some clear water.

After eating and drinking his fill, Lu Ye continued cultivating.

Half a day later, the Aperture Barrier of the third aperture shattered.

A little over two more days later, the third aperture was full.

He had again consumed six Spirit Nurturing Pills.

He wanted to continue cultivating, but the moment his mind relaxed, weariness swept over him. Knowing that he had cultivated for too long, he could only rest first.

Taking bedding from the Storage Bag, Lu Ye dropped onto it and fell asleep, quickly entering dreamland.

Announcing a QQ group,