The Qi Refining Middle Stage

The next day, Lin Changheng went straight to the General Affairs Hall, submitted his choice of "profit sharing," then examined the enormous projection panel in the center of the hall.

Lines of mission information scrolled across it.

It was a projection artifact that could be powered with a small amount of spiritual energy to record and display information.

Everything listed on it was a routine assignment.

These included sowing spirit plants, tending them with spells, raising spirit fish, harvesting them on schedule, watching over herb gardens, tilling soil, and planting seeds. None required much specialized knowledge; learning one or two particular spells was enough to do them. They were intended for ordinary clan members.

Tasks with technical requirements, such as alchemy and talisman crafting, were not displayed.

Looking thoughtful, Lin Changheng went straight to the steward to ask.

"A newly ranked alchemist?"

When Lin Changheng nodded, the steward took out a thick ledger and told him to come directly to him for pill-related assignments in the future.

"Are there any pill-related assignments besides refining pills?"

Lin Changheng answered in the affirmative, then weighed his words. "For instance, disposing of defective pills?"

"Oh?"

Steward Xu Xuzhong gave him a mildly surprised look. Then, seeing how eager Lin Changheng looked and recalling the age recorded in his file, he understood at once.

Barely past thirty—the prime age for working himself to the bone. A first-rate beast of burden.

If he had a wife and children, those family ties would make him even easier to put to work. He would practically possess an innate sacred physique for drudgery.

What a pity...

He muttered inwardly, moistened a fingertip against his lips, and lowered his head to search through the ledger.

Lin Changheng had no idea what the man before him was thinking. He simply waited.

After a moment, Xu Xuzhong finally looked up. "There are no assignments for disposing of low-grade defective pills available at present. An elderly alchemist has taken them on a long-term basis. There are other alchemists waiting in line after him, too."

An elderly alchemist?

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

But Xu Xuzhong soon added a brief explanation. "He has a grandson at home who has just come of age, with a lower-grade spirit root."

So that was it.

Another tale of a candle burning itself to ash, all in the hope that a grandson would become a dragon.

Even the cultivation world could not escape such things.

Nodding, Lin Changheng made an earnest request. "When a new pill-disposal assignment becomes available, please reserve a share for me, Steward. It would add fuel to the fire of my Dao Path and let me contribute more of my humble self to the clan's rise."

These ringing words made Xu Xuzhong regard Lin Changheng in a new light. "Rest assured. I'll save one for you."

"Thank you."

Lin Changheng departed, leaving Xu Xuzhong with the sight of a back as straight as a pine.

Two years flew by.

It was late at night, and the private courtyard in the Tide-Listening Dojo was utterly silent.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

A faint fluctuation suddenly spread from within the room, growing stronger and stronger.

The spiritual energy gathered by the low-grade [Spirit Gathering Array] formed small swirling currents that poured steadily into the figure sitting cross-legged at its center, his hands forming a seal.

The activity within his body was no less intense.

A faint radiance shone in his dantian as the [Flowing Fire Art] circulated through his meridians, continuously refining spiritual energy into his body and turning it into trickles of magical power that suffused his dantian.

Lin Changheng could feel that the bottleneck preventing his cultivation from advancing had finally been worn smooth and was beginning to loosen.

Without hesitation, he crushed both low-grade crimson spirit stones. Pure spiritual energy surged into his energy channels like a rushing torrent.

He had no idea how much time passed.

Crack—

It felt as though something inside him had shattered.

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

"It worked."

Lin Changheng was thrilled, delight spreading over his face. Still, he did not interrupt his cultivation. He continued until he had absorbed all the remaining spiritual energy, then slowly brought his practice to a close.

At this moment, he had entered the fourth layer of the Qi Refining Realm and become a cultivator at the qi refining middle stage.

"I've cultivated for over sixteen years, and I'm already thirty-four. At last, I've broken through to the qi refining middle stage... It's a little slow, but progress is all that matters. Besides, once I improve my spirit root, my speed will increase accordingly."

Lin Changheng cast a cleansing spell on himself to wash away his sweat, then stepped into the courtyard and poured himself some wine beneath the clear moonlight.

He raised his cup to invite the bright moon; together with his shadow, they made three.

The scene suited those lines perfectly.

"If I hadn't decisively spent eighty spirit stones at the Hundred Treasures Hall to buy the flags and disc for this first-tier, low-grade [Spirit Gathering Array] and set it up, this breakthrough probably wouldn't have come so easily."

After draining a cup, Lin Changheng could not help shaking his head as he thought back on it.

Heaven was unfeeling, and all cultivators suffered.

He had still underestimated how stubborn this middle-stage bottleneck would be.

Had his spirit root not already reached the lower grade, and had he not had the help of a first-tier, low-grade [Spirit Gathering Array], there was no telling how long breaking through this bottleneck would have taken.

It might well have taken twice the two and a half years he had originally estimated.

His former mixed spirit root had imposed far too many limitations...

"Fortunately, from now on, I only need to cultivate step by step, accumulate magical power, and forge boldly ahead. I won't encounter another bottleneck until I reach the peak of the qi refining sixth layer."

Lin Changheng chuckled, suddenly feeling much more relaxed.

"I wonder whether I can raise my spirit root to the middle grade before that bottleneck arrives. That would make breaking through much less taxing."

"I'll have to keep working hard!"

Only after pouring the entire flask of spirit wine into his belly did Lin Changheng stagger drunkenly back into the room and lie down.

He fell into a deep, snoring sleep.

Lately, he had been refining pills nonstop, and the pressure of cultivation had weighed heavily on him. It had been a long time since he had rested properly.

The next day.

The sun was already high when Lin Changheng slowly woke, refreshed and clearheaded.

Spirit wine from the cultivation world truly was extraordinary. It was extremely strong, yet caused no headaches or other unpleasant hangover symptoms.

Today, he was leaving the furnace cold and taking a break from alchemy. After enjoying a proper breakfast in the courtyard, Lin Changheng gazed at his storage pouch and sank into thought.

He had accumulated far too many pills.

It was not just [Crimson Flame Pills]. He had also become extremely proficient at refining [Wood Origin Pills], producing five pills per batch, including one premium-grade pill.

His storage pouch held over three hundred premium-grade pills alone!

After the profit split, he had originally had one hundred and eighty standard-grade pills, all of which he had sold to the Hundred Treasures Hall.

At seventy percent of the market price, they had earned him two hundred and fifty-two low-grade spirit stones.

He did not dare sell even a single premium-grade pill. He kept them all, only daring to take two a month himself.

In reality, however, the "great reclamation" was proceeding like a raging fire, with heavy casualties. Pill prices outside had therefore soared by at least twenty percent, yet the so-called "market price" in the Hundred Treasures Hall remained two spirit stones.

The Xu Family profited at both ends and made a tidy sum.

But for the sake of safety, Lin Changheng had no choice. It was his best option; avoiding the risks of going outside made it worthwhile.

For two years, he had stayed holed up with the Xu Family, never venturing out at all. The bloody storms raging outside had nothing to do with him, and he was perfectly content.

Still, letting ever more premium-grade pills pile up in his hands was no solution. Sooner or later, he would have to go out—but only once he had sufficient means to keep himself alive.

To that end, he was making careful plans.

Once he sold these pills, his spirit stones would surge to nearly a thousand!

That was an extremely substantial fortune.

As for the treasure seed.

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