"Ding! Successfully refined 10 low-grade Yellow Grade True Spirit Pills, 5 with Pill Patterns. Proficiency +2,000."
He had successfully refined another batch of True Spirit Pills. Each pill he made added 100 proficiency.
Each pill with a Pill Pattern granted an additional 200 proficiency.
After refining batch after batch, the extra buffs increased both his success rate and the number of pills he produced.
After another two months of hard work, Lin Cheng had finally managed to grind his alchemist level up to low-grade Profound Grade.
Host: Lin Cheng.
Alchemist Level: Profound Grade One-Star Alchemist.
Proficiency: 11312600/100000000.
To reach the next level, he would need a full hundred million proficiency. That was enough to drive anyone to despair.
Even more despairing was the fact that Lin Cheng had run out of medicinal ingredients.
He had refined every ingredient he'd obtained into pills, and they all had just one effect.
That was, increasing his reserves of true qi.
He'd prepared them specifically for himself, hoping to build up his true qi and thereby improve his cultivation.
Still, looking at the piles of Yellow and Profound Grade pills, Lin Cheng felt rather pleased.
These pills should be enough to get him to the Golden Core Realm.
As for what he'd do after finishing them, he'd worry about that later.
Drink wine while there's wine to drink.
First, he would turn the benefits in front of him into a solid foundation. Once he was strong enough, he wouldn't have to worry about where his pills came from.
After two months of nonstop, high-intensity alchemy, Lin Cheng had gained much better control over his true qi. The constant influence of medicinal herbs, combined with his regular consumption of high-grade pills, had also helped his cultivation advance by one minor level.
He had reached the sixth level of Foundation Establishment.
He was already at the peak of the middle stage of Foundation Establishment.
As for his actual combat strength, it far surpassed his cultivation level.
If Lin Cheng fought the five Foundation Establishment great demons from the Mist Forbidden Land again now, he believed... the outcome would probably be about the same.
At least he wouldn't be in such a sorry state.
"No, my strength is still too low. I need to keep improving. This time, I'm not leaving until I reach the Golden Core Realm and master the third transformation of Nine Transformations of the True Spirit!"
Lin Cheng hated anything beyond his control.
He hated even more having his life out of his own hands. That was something he absolutely couldn't tolerate.
For now, the Library Pavilion was still the safest place.
When his strength made him invincible under heaven, he could consider traveling the world and changing his sign-in location.
But for now, he still had a long way to go.
"Without realizing it, I've been in this world for nearly five years."
Lin Cheng stuffed a handful of True Spirit Pills with Pill Patterns into his mouth and washed them down with a gulp of the 100%-pure Spirit Qi Liquid he'd gotten from signing in. He couldn't help sighing at how quickly time passed.
Five years.
He'd gone from a lowly sweeping servant in the Library Pavilion of Jingyun Sect, newly arrived in this world, to a sixth-level Foundation Establishment expert.
He had to admit, a lot had changed.
"I haven't achieved invincibility yet. I still have to keep working hard!"
He swallowed another handful of pills. Feeling the medicinal power roil inside him, Lin Cheng dozed off on the recliner.
Nine Transformations of the True Spirit circulated on its own.
The rolling medicinal power continuously transformed into true qi, rapidly filling his meridians and dantian.
Gradually, he began the seventh compression of his Foundation Establishment.
Once his true qi was completely full and the compression was complete, Lin Cheng would successfully enter the late stage of Foundation Establishment.
At the same time.
Suddenly, a beam of white light shot up from the forbidden area behind Jingyun Sect, soaring tens of thousands of feet into the clouds before bursting apart and fading like fireworks.
The next moment, the bells of Jingyun Sect rang nine times. A wave of intense grief swept through the entire sect.
Lin Cheng, cultivating in the Library Pavilion, cracked his eyes open. A complicated light flickered in them as he let out a slow sigh, then closed his eyes again.
He knew what had happened.
The pillar holding Jingyun Sect steady, its Grand Elder, Old Lady Xu, had finally passed away just moments ago.
That white light was the innate true qi dissipating after her natural death.
Jingyun Sect was about to fall into chaos.
Sure enough, before long, all the disciples of Jingyun Sect seemed to receive some kind of order and swiftly drew in the sect's defenses.
Jingyun Sect was sealed off.
At the same time, orders were rapidly dispatched throughout Jingyun Sect's territory, summoning its elders and disciples stationed abroad to return as quickly as possible.
And, without attracting anyone's notice, a letter marked with the highest-level secret order was quickly escorted to the front lines by an elder in person.
The sect master had to be told: Jingyun Sect's world was about to change!
The Grand Elder had passed away.
Without an Innate expert to hold the fort, Jingyun Sect might soon follow Beast Taming Mountain's fate.
It could become the second of the Ten Great Sects to be wiped out.
The Southern Region's Ten Great Sects had already become the Nine Great Sects.
Beast Taming Mountain had been struck from the list.
The Five Elements Sect had temporarily sent people to guard the Ten Thousand Beast Canyon, which Beast Taming Mountain had once been responsible for protecting.
Soon, forces with keen eyes noticed the commotion at Jingyun Sect.
Some spies lying in wait even saw the white beam shoot into the sky. They stared in the direction of Jingyun Sect, then quickly left to report the news.
The fall of a human Innate expert caused far too much of a stir to conceal.
Besides, Jingyun Sect wasn't in some remote backwater. It was in the Southern Region's bustling heartland, crowded with people and prying eyes.
Countless people had already seen the white light marking an Innate expert's death. In just half a day, those eager to spread the news had carried it across the entire Southern Region.
Jingyun Sect's leaders had never intended to hide it.
First, the commotion was too great. They simply didn't have the strength to cover it up.
Second, the Ten Thousand Alliance Assessment was imminent, with less than a year remaining. They could hide for a time, but not forever.
Even if they managed to keep the news under wraps for a while, it wouldn't do much good.
Jingyun Sect's decision to let the news spread meant that all the major forces learned of it immediately.
For a time, the entire Southern Region was swept by upheaval.
Five Elements Sect.
An old man in coarse clothes looked up at the sky, a trace of regret in his eyes.
"Patriarch, it's confirmed. Jingyun Sect's Innate expert passed away half a day ago."
"Is the information reliable?"
"It is!"
"You may leave."
"Yes!"
The old man was none other than the Five Elements Sect's Foundation Establishment Ancestor, Five Elements Venerable, the Southern Region's strongest expert.
"Junior Sister Xu, I promised to protect Jingyun Sect and keep it from being destroyed... But whether it can hold on to its one-star sect status will depend on its own Creation."
Before Old Lady Xu died, she had contacted Five Elements Venerable.
She had traded a favor from long ago for his protection, so that Jingyun Sect's legacy would endure.
But that was all.
As a great sect of the Southern Region, it could be said to have preserved its legacy.
Even if it declined into a third-rate sect with only two or three disciples left, it could still be said to have preserved its legacy.
In the end, everything depended on Jingyun Sect's own Creation.
Blood-Oath Sect.
"Hahaha! Jingyun Sect, oh, Jingyun Sect! The heavens turn, and retribution never misses!"
"This time, it's finally your turn to suffer!"
The moment Elder Tian received the news from his subordinates, he burst into delighted laughter, a cold glint in his eyes.
"What a pity."
He glanced toward the depths of the sect, regret showing in his eyes. "Our patriarch is on the verge of a breakthrough, and I need to stay here and keep watch in case petty troublemakers cause chaos. Otherwise, I'd personally avenge Third Elder and Fourth Elder!"
Still, the patriarch's breakthrough mattered more than anything.
A mere Jingyun Sect, without an Innate expert to hold it up, was no longer a threat.
There was no need to risk losing sight of the bigger picture just to vent his anger. Without an Innate expert, Jingyun Sect was doomed to fend for itself.
It might disappear from the world before long.
Elder Tian gazed toward Jingyun Sect and smiled coldly.
"Too bad. You may not live long enough to see the day my Blood-Oath Sect rises."
"I hope you struggle a little longer, though. Maybe I'll get the chance to take my revenge in person..."
After that, Elder Tian stopped paying attention to the matter.
A sect destined to decline wasn't worth much of his attention. There was no point.
This was a world where the strong preyed on the weak, and only the fittest survived.
The Jingyun Sect he had once hated now barely even stirred his interest when he heard its name.
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