Qi Refining Mid-Stage

The next day, Lin Changheng went straight to the General Affairs Hall to submit his choice regarding the "profit-sharing" arrangement, then began to examine the massive light-projection panel centered in the hall.

Lines of task information scrolled across it.

It was a projection artifact that required only a small amount of spiritual energy to operate and record information.

The board was filled with routine tasks.

These included sowing spiritual plants, casting spells for maintenance, raising spiritual fish and harvesting them on schedule, guarding the medicinal gardens, tilling soil, and sowing seeds. All of these required little professional skill—one only needed to learn a specific spell or two to perform them—and they were aimed at the ordinary clansmen.

Tasks with technical barriers, such as alchemy or talisman-making, were not displayed.

Lin Changheng, lost in thought, went directly to inquire with the steward in charge.

"A newly promoted ranked alchemist?"

Seeing Lin Changheng nod, the man produced a thick ledger and indicated that for any tasks involving medicinal pills, he should come directly to him in the future.

"Are there any tasks related to medicinal pills other than alchemy?"

Lin Changheng acknowledged this, then deliberated before asking, "For instance, the disposal of waste or inferior pills?"

"Oh?"

Steward Xu Xuzhong looked at him with slight surprise. Seeing the eager, driven expression on Lin Changheng's face and recalling the age recorded in his file, he suddenly understood.

In his early thirties—the prime age for striving, a top-tier workhorse.

If he had a wife and children to support, he would be even more useful, practically a natural-born saint of labor.

What a pity...

He muttered to himself, then moistened his finger with his lips and lowered his head to search through the ledger.

Lin Changheng, unaware of the man's thoughts, simply waited.

A moment later, Xu Xuzhong looked up. "There are currently no tasks for processing low-grade waste pills; an old alchemist has claimed them long-term. There are other alchemists already in the queue after him."

An old alchemist?

This time, it was Lin Changheng's turn to be puzzled.

But Xu Xuzhong quickly added a brief explanation, "He has a grandson who just reached adulthood, possessing a low-grade spiritual root."

So that was it.

Another scene of a candle burning itself to ashes, hoping to see his grandson become a dragon.

Even in the world of cultivation, one could not escape such things.

Nodding, Lin Changheng earnestly requested, "When a new task for processing pills becomes available, I ask that you please reserve a portion for me. It would help add fuel to my own path of cultivation and allow me to contribute more of my humble self to the rise of the clan."

Upon hearing these resounding words, Xu Xuzhong immediately held Lin Changheng in higher regard. "Rest assured, I will certainly save them for you."

"Many thanks."

Lin Changheng departed, leaving Xu Xuzhong with a back as straight as a pine tree.

Two years flew by in the blink of an eye.

It was the dead of night, and the independent courtyard within the Tide-Listening Dojo was deathly silent.

"Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!"

A faint fluctuation suddenly emanated from the room, growing increasingly intense.

The spiritual energy gathered by the low-grade [Spirit Gathering Array] formed a small vortex, continuously drilling into the figure sitting cross-legged and forming seals in the center of the room.

Within his body, the activity was equally significant.

A faint glow lit up his dantian as the [Flowing Fire Art] completed its cycle, continuously refining the spiritual energy into his body and transforming it into trickles of mana to nourish his dantian.

Lin Changheng could feel the bottleneck that had prevented his cultivation from advancing finally being polished smooth and beginning to loosen.

Without hesitation, he crushed two low-grade crimson spirit stones, and the pure spiritual energy surged into his meridians like a rushing torrent.

He did not know how much time had passed.

"Crack—"

It felt as if something had shattered within his body.

An indescribable sense of comfort instantly swept through his entire being.

"It's done."

Lin Changheng was filled with excitement, a look of joy appearing on his face. However, he did not interrupt his cultivation state, instead continuing until he had absorbed all the remaining spiritual energy before slowly withdrawing his power.

At this moment, he had broken through to the fourth level of Qi Refining, becoming a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator.

"Sixteen years of cultivation, and at thirty-four, I have finally broken through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining... Although it is somewhat slow, as long as there is progress, it is enough. Besides, once my spiritual root is improved in the future, my speed will increase accordingly."

Lin Changheng cast a cleansing spell on himself to wash away the sweat, then walked out into the courtyard to pour himself a drink under the bright moonlight.

Raising his cup to invite the moon, his shadow made three.

It was a fitting scene.

"If I hadn't decisively shelled out eighty spirit stones to buy the flags and array disk for this first-tier low-grade Spirit Gathering Array from the Hundred Treasures Hall and set it up, I fear this breakthrough wouldn't have been so easy."

After finishing a cup, Lin Changheng couldn't help but shake his head as he recalled the event.

Heaven is unkind, and all cultivators suffer.

He had still underestimated the stubbornness of this mid-stage bottleneck.

Had his spiritual roots not reached the low-grade level, and had he lacked the aid of the first-tier low-grade Spirit Gathering Array, he feared he would have spent an unknown amount of time trying to break through this barrier.

It might have even taken double the two and a half years he had originally estimated.

The limitations of his previous mixed spiritual roots had been far too great...

"Fortunately, from here on out, I only need to cultivate step by step, accumulate mana, and forge ahead with courage until I reach the perfection of the sixth level of Qi Refining, at which point I will encounter another bottleneck."

Lin Changheng chuckled, feeling a sudden sense of relief.

"I wonder if I can upgrade my spiritual roots to mid-grade before that bottleneck arrives; that would certainly ease the pressure of breaking through."

"I must keep working hard!"

Only after pouring the entire pot of spirit wine into his belly did a tipsy Lin Changheng head inside to lie down.

He fell into a deep sleep.

For some time now, he had been refining pills incessantly, and the pressure of cultivation had been immense; he hadn't had a proper rest in a long while.

The next day.

The sun was high in the sky when Lin Changheng finally woke up, feeling refreshed and clear-headed.

The spirit wine of the cultivation world was truly extraordinary; it had a high alcohol content, yet left no negative side effects like the headaches of a hangover.

With the furnace extinguished for a day of rest and no pills to refine, Lin Changheng ate a hearty breakfast in the courtyard and fell into deep thought while staring at his storage bag.

He had accumulated far too many pills on his person.

It wasn't just the Crimson Flame Pill; he had also become extremely proficient in refining the Wood Origin Pill, capable of producing one fine-quality pill per batch of five.

In terms of fine-quality pills alone, he had over three hundred in his storage bag!

He had originally received one hundred and eighty standard-quality pills as his share, all of which he had sold to the Hundred Treasures Hall.

At the market rate of seventy percent, he had received two hundred and fifty-two low-grade spirit stones.

He hadn't dared to sell a single fine-quality pill, keeping them all in his possession and only daring to consume two per month himself.

In reality, however, the "Great Reclamation" was in full swing, and with the high number of casualties, pill prices outside had soared by at least twenty percent, yet the so-called "market price" at the Hundred Treasures Hall remained at two spirit stones.

The Xu Family was playing both sides and earning quite a lot.

But for the sake of safety, Lin Changheng had no choice but to act this way; it was the optimal choice, and since it minimized the risks of going out, it was worth it.

For two years, he had stayed holed up in the Xu Family estate, never stepping outside, and the bloody storms of the outside world had nothing to do with him—he was content in his seclusion.

However, holding onto so many fine-quality pills was not a long-term solution; he would eventually have to make a trip out, but only on the condition that he had sufficient means to protect his life.

To that end, he was planning carefully.

Once these pills were released, the number of spirit stones in his possession would surge, approaching a thousand!

It was an extremely considerable fortune.

As for the treasure seed.

The Origin Treasure Seed had already accumulated more than halfway...