What a masterful overt scheme.
An overt scheme that none of the cultivators could refuse, one they would swallow as gladly as honey.
Lin Changheng gained a little more understanding of the upper echelons of this cultivation world.
They were certainly no mediocre incompetents.
After chatting a while longer, Lin Changheng stopped disturbing Xu Fugui's rest. They agreed to drink their fill together once he recovered, and Lin Changheng left.
During their conversation, Lin Changheng mentioned the spirit stones for purchasing the blood essence, but Xu Fugui reacted as though he had touched a thunderbolt. He flatly refused to accept them, speaking with righteous conviction and even elevating the matter to the level of "sacrificing one's life for righteousness." Lin Changheng could only gape and give up.
Before he left, Xu Fugui also mysteriously hinted at another possibility. "If that old man from the Chen Family at the Qi Refining sixth layer is confirmed to be permanently crippled, the family will award us another share of contribution credits and rewards."
He also declared that when the time came, Brother Lin would get a share of the rewards!
He was saying it in advance: no refusals.
Hurrying back to his courtyard,
Lin Changheng looked at the collection of empty bottles in the chest before him, quite satisfied.
At the mouth of the cauldron in his sea of consciousness, the earthen-yellow treasure seed trembled faintly.
[Rock Mountain Turtle Treasure Seed: Spirit Snatching Transformation in progress] [Spirit Snatch: 54/100]
Less than two days later,
Lin Changheng received a letter.
It came from their overseeing sect, the Purple Extreme Sect, and bore none other than Mo Zhaoli's name.
Master Mo's beloved granddaughter.
Over these past few years, Lin Changheng had received several letters from her almost every year, describing her current circumstances and sharing things she had seen, heard, or learned.
Lin Changheng also replied diligently to maintain their relationship.
This time, when Lin Changheng opened the letter, he found Mo Zhaoli sharing her joy—she had finally broken through to the Qi Refining sixth layer!
Finally?!
Lin Changheng was somewhat dumbfounded.
It had only been three years, hadn't it? Perhaps not even that, and she had already broken through to the Qi Refining sixth layer? A mid-grade spirit root with fifty strands of spiritual essence was terrifying indeed!
But on second thought, Mo Zhaoli had the full support of her grandfather, Master Mo, a mid-grade alchemist, as well as the resources she had fought to obtain within the Purple Extreme Sect...
Seen that way, breaking through to the Qi Refining sixth layer in less than three years was quite reasonable.
"Mo Zhaoli should only be around twenty-three now, right? Tsk, tsk. Already at the Qi Refining sixth layer. She truly has a promising future."
In this cultivation world, it was generally believed that anyone who broke through to late-stage Qi Refining before forty would have a decent chance of reaching Foundation Establishment later.
If they managed it by thirty, their chance of reaching Foundation Establishment could be considered quite substantial.
That was because they would have enough time to patiently wear away at the bottleneck, accumulate what they needed for a breakthrough, and even seek out a Foundation Establishment Pill.
With every preparation made, their chances would naturally rise.
If someone still had not reached the Foundation Establishment bottleneck by their fifties, they were essentially out of the running.
Never mind the lack of time to prepare for Foundation Establishment; declining blood and qi, a deteriorating body, and other such problems were all enormous tigers barring the path, difficult to overcome.
After that, Mo Zhaoli made a request.
She asked Lin Changheng to visit Master Mo on her behalf from time to time.
She explained that her grandfather had been somewhat dispirited lately because a close friend in the family had recently passed away. She could glean as much from their correspondence.
Presumably, it had dealt him quite a blow.
Worried, and unable to stay by her grandfather's side herself, Mo Zhaoli had made this request.
"A close friend in the family recently passed away?"
Naturally, Lin Changheng would not refuse. Whether out of affection, reason, or duty, he ought to go.
But he truly had not noticed anything. He had happened upon Master Mo outside the pill room several times, and on the surface, Master Mo had seemed no different from usual.
There had been nothing to detect.
At the end of the letter,
Mo Zhaoli mentioned an important piece of information closely related to the Xu Family.
Yet it concerned not the Xu Family itself, but the Chen Family!
The letter said that the Chen Family had lately been trying to cultivate connections throughout the Purple Extreme Sect, bringing lavish gifts to solicit support.
Most likely, they wanted to deal with the Xu Family and gain an advantage in the Wilderness Valley.
But no one within the Purple Extreme Sect had responded.
It was not that they did not want the gifts. Rather, the sect had issued stern instructions, reiterating them time and again: its members and disciples were to coordinate and manage land reclamation, not intervene and become links in the chain of vested interests, constrained by greed and swept along by profit.
They had to plant themselves on the right side first if they wanted to stamp such things out!
"Now, unwilling to give up, the Chen Family seems to have turned to an aristocratic clan. I don't know how things stand. The Xu Family should plan its response early."
"I've also told Grandfather about this."
Looking at the delicate handwriting on the letter, Lin Changheng knew that she felt little sense of belonging to the Xu Family. She merely extended her affection for her grandfather to those around him, loving the house and even the crows on its roof.
Thus, it would not be easy for the Xu Family to ask her to do anything.
Besides, Mo Zhaoli was still growing into her own and might not have much say within the sect.
He picked up his brush to reply.
Not only did he agree to visit Master Mo, but he also described his own recent circumstances.
He mentioned that he could now occasionally refine premium-grade pills, that he had made progress in the Pill Dao, and that his cultivation had also broken through to the Qi Refining fourth layer.
He also stated plainly that the Xu Family was currently mired in the swamp of war, while he was not skilled at combat and would be better off refining pills in peace.
His unspoken meaning was to ask Mo Zhaoli to keep the latter matter confidential.
Lin Changheng had carefully weighed his decision to deliberately reveal this information.
His aim was to give himself greater weight.
Being able to refine premium-grade pills meant he had the potential to become a first-tier mid-grade alchemist.
And nearly four years had passed since he became a ranked alchemist, so he could appropriately reveal a little.
It would not shake the world or shock its people; it would merely show a modest degree of talent.
Soon, he would also sell a few premium-grade pills to the Hundred Treasures Hall for the first time, earning greater regard within the Xu Family.
Only then would he have a chance to lay his hands on the Xu Family's secret mid-grade Pill Dao teachings.
Next, he would simply have to wait for circumstances to change.
That was beyond his control.
Lin Changheng's improvement in both the Pill Dao and cultivation also kept the gap in standing between him and Mo Zhaoli from widening further.
Without contact, affection from the past alone was not enough.
For the moment, adding the "benefit" of a promising future could ease that problem.
As the gulf in standing widened, the lower party would lose their voice and receive less regard. It was an inevitable consequence of complicated human nature.
Although Mo Zhaoli had broken through to the Qi Refining sixth layer this time, the gap between them was actually narrowing.
Lin Changheng did not want to become a mere relic of nostalgia. He needed to be treated as an equal and enjoy shared access to information, so it was necessary to flex his muscles a little.
Only then could he continue receiving information from the Purple Extreme Sect. After all, it was a Core Formation sect, the overlord of an entire region. Through it, he could glimpse the broader situation and prevailing trends, and make his plans early.
That afternoon,
After finishing his pill refining, Lin Changheng went straight to the Hundred Treasures Hall.
"Alchemist Lin, here to sell pills again?"
The steward, Xu Xuyang, immediately brightened. His thin, splayed mustache quivered as he hurried out to greet him. This was a major customer.
Whether selling pills or buying magical artifacts and formations, he was always the same.
He never even blinked an eye.
"Senior, take a look at these pills."
Without confirming or denying anything, Lin Changheng pushed forward a box of pills.
"Please wait a moment."
Xu Xuyang took out an appraisal artifact resembling a bronze mirror and shone it over the pills one by one.
It distinguished them by differences in their medicinal aura.
Lin Changheng watched with a faint smile.
Yellow light kept flashing across the bronze mirror's surface, proving that these were standard-grade pills.
Just as the appraisal was nearly finished, the bronze mirror suddenly shuddered, and a glimmer of golden light flashed across it.
"Oh? What's this?"
Before you continue