With this mid-grade spirit vein, the spiritual energy throughout the entire Jingyun Sect would rise to a whole new level.
The benefits were immense!
Not only would it be easier for the disciples to cultivate, but even the elders would have a much better chance of breaking through.
If one of them managed to break through and become a Xiantian expert, the crisis facing the Jingyun Sect would be resolved at once!
And that was nothing compared to what the increased concentration of spiritual energy would bring.
Ordinary plants would have a far greater chance of becoming spirit herbs. Just selling them would make the Jingyun Sect a fortune!
The benefits were too numerous to count.
It was enough to make anyone green with envy and set their heart racing.
The elders exchanged looks, each catching the wild joy in the others' eyes.
The same thought surfaced in all of them.
"The Jingyun Sect has truly risen!"
While the Jingyun Sect was full of celebration,
the Blood-Oath Sect was in no such mood. Elder Tian, the foremost of the Eight Protectors, waited anxiously.
He had never felt time pass so slowly.
"Third Elder and Fourth Elder have been gone for so long. Why haven't we heard anything?"
He had a terrible suspicion.
The two had probably met with disaster. Otherwise, they would have been back by now.
He didn't want to think about it, and he didn't dare.
The two hadn't just taken a treasured sect possession with them—a Xiantian spiritual artifact.
They had also taken the sect's spirit vein core!
Elder Tian was frantic. As time passed and Third Elder and Fourth Elder still didn't appear, despair slowly settled over him.
"They really did meet with disaster..."
Elder Tian's face turned ashen. He couldn't imagine how great a loss the Blood-Oath Sect had suffered this time.
His heart bled.
Losing the Xiantian spiritual artifact pained him, but it wasn't enough to drive him mad.
But the spirit vein core...
Its loss would even hinder the sect master's upcoming breakthrough!
He regretted it bitterly!
But there had been no other choice. The spirit vein core had just been extracted, and it had to be fused as soon as possible. Otherwise, it would gradually become incompatible, and they'd lose more than they gained.
"...Jingyun Sect."
Elder Tian's expression darkened as if water might drip from it. A terrifying force, comparable to that of a Xiantian expert, erupted in an instant. The palace couldn't withstand it and shook violently, nearly collapsing.
He wanted to attack and destroy the Jingyun Sect.
But years of hard-earned reason made him suppress the impulse.
The sect master's breakthrough was the most important thing now. Nothing could be allowed to go wrong, and he had to stay behind to guard the sect.
"Damn it."
"Jingyun Sect, I'll remember you. I swear I'll have my revenge!"
At the Jingyun Sect, in the Library Pavilion,
after killing the two men in black, Lin Cheng felt not the slightest stir in his heart. He carried on as if nothing had happened, eating when he was hungry, sleeping when he was tired, and cultivating when the time came.
He paid no attention to anything happening outside.
As for the Blood-Oath Sect elder's furious hatred...what did it have to do with him?
Those who did evil were bound to face Heaven's wrath.
He had merely carried out Heaven's will.
In the blink of an eye, another year passed. With just over a year left before the sect rankings, Lin Cheng had reached the fourth level of Foundation Establishment with the help of all the treasures he'd obtained through sign-ins. He had smoothly entered the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.
His progress could only be called astonishing.
However, the demands of cultivating in the Foundation Establishment Realm had far exceeded Lin Cheng's expectations. By now, few of the treasures that could raise his cultivation remained useful to him.
Among them, the most effective were pills.
According to the records, pills were divided into several grades, from lowest to highest: unranked, Yellow-grade, Profound-grade, Earth-grade, and Heaven-grade.
Unranked pills, such as the Foundation-Nourishing Pill, worked well only for those below the Xiantian Realm.
They were barely useful even to ordinary Xiantian experts.
As for Lin Cheng, eating one only gave him a taste to enjoy. It did nothing to improve his cultivation.
Even Yellow-grade pills, treasured by Xiantian experts, had little effect.
He would make faster progress cultivating on his own than eating them as meals.
At this point, only Profound-grade pills or higher could help him. Unfortunately, he had nearly run out of them.
The pills he received from sign-ins couldn't keep up with how quickly he used them.
Cultivating had grown slower and slower. Even a minor increase in his cultivation now took a year or two, and Lin Cheng frowned in displeasure.
"Too slow!"
"I have to think of another way."
If any other Foundation Establishment cultivator could raise their cultivation by one level in a year or two, they'd be overjoyed.
After all, cultivators in the Foundation Establishment Realm had immense reserves of true qi. Each time they advanced, they had to compress and replenish it, repeating the process until they reached the ninth level and perfection, at which point they could step onto the Golden Core path.
Raising their cultivation by one level took at least decades of hard cultivation.
It was perfectly normal to remain at this stage for a long time.
Take the ancestor of the Five Elements Sect, for example. He had become a Foundation Establishment Venerable countless years ago, yet he was still stuck at the first level of Foundation Establishment, without making the slightest progress.
Who would have thought Lin Cheng still found it slow?
One could only wonder how other Foundation Establishment Venerables would feel if they heard him.
As for getting pills elsewhere,
that wasn't realistic.
Even Yellow-grade pills were beyond the abilities of nearly everyone in the Southern Region to refine.
Profound-grade pills were even more out of reach. Even if one happened to appear, the major sects would snatch it up in an instant as a treasured sect possession.
There was no way anyone would hand one over easily.
Of course, Lin Cheng had signed in and obtained many treasures more precious than Profound-grade pills. If he were willing to trade them, he could certainly get some.
But Lin Cheng wasn't stupid. Why would he trade them?
Besides, even if he could make the exchange, every Profound-grade pill in the Southern Region wouldn't be enough to satisfy him.
"Ah, what a headache."
Lin Cheng was a little frustrated. He had gotten used to his cultivation soaring ahead, so when it suddenly slowed, the discomfort was worse than ever.
"Forget it. There's always a way over the mountain. I'll just sign in for today's reward first."
The next moment.
"Ding! Sign-in successful. Reward received: Immortal Fetus Avatar."
Lin Cheng's eyes lit up.
But just then—
"Ding! Congratulations, host. You have signed in at the Library Pavilion for four years and earned one super sign-in opportunity. Would you like to use it?"
Lin Cheng was stunned!
In all the time since he'd transmigrated to this other world, this was the first time something like this had happened!
A super sign-in?
That was a thing?
"Sign in!"
"Ding! Congratulations, host. Reward received: Perfect-grade inheritance, Supreme Alchemy Technique. Auxiliary profession unlocked: Alchemist."
Before Lin Cheng could react, an electronic panel suddenly appeared in his mind.
Host: Lin Cheng.
Alchemist Level: None.
Current Proficiency: 0/10
(System Prompt: Each alchemy attempt increases proficiency. Once proficiency is full, the Alchemist level will increase.)
This time, Lin Cheng was truly stunned!
He hadn't expected the Sign-in System to have such an incredible feature.
A super sign-in.
This was only the second time he'd received a perfect-grade reward. The first had been Nine Transformations of the True Spirit!
This time, it was the Supreme Alchemy Technique!
In an instant, he felt a vast amount of precious knowledge about alchemy techniques flood into his mind.
When it came to alchemy talent alone, even the most elite alchemists in this world couldn't compare to him.
All he lacked was experience.
It was much like cultivating Nine Transformations of the True Spirit: there were no bottlenecks to his progress. As long as he had enough true qi, his cultivation could rise without limit.
So if he kept refining pills, wouldn't he become a top alchemist with ease?
Wouldn't it be long before he could refine pills that would help him improve his strength?
Lin Cheng's face lit up with joy.
The Sign-in System was simply too thoughtful!
With alchemy as an auxiliary profession, wouldn't he have a steady source of pills and be able to cultivate as much as he wanted?
He now possessed Nine Transformations of the True Spirit, and his physique had been completely transformed. His cultivation had no bottlenecks; all he lacked was true qi.
In other words,
all he lacked was pills!
"This auxiliary profession and Nine Transformations of the True Spirit are a perfect match!"
Lin Cheng had noticed it too, and couldn't help wondering if the system had arranged this on purpose.
He had always had a question in the back of his mind: why had he transmigrated?
Why had he been bound to the system?
What was the system's purpose in helping him all this time?
Was it friend or foe?
He had no answers.
Lin Cheng took a deep breath and suppressed the thoughts roiling in his heart. Whatever traps might be waiting for him, raising his strength was essential.
As long as he was strong enough, he would fear nothing.
Before you continue