Qi Cultivation, Third Layer

Five days later.

Late at night, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse; all was silent.

"Hoo~"

Inside the Grade-D cave dwelling, Lin Changheng swallowed the remaining low-grade Blood Replenishing Pill. After refining it, the deficit in his vital essence was barely replenished.

However, the small square box in his hand was now completely empty.

"A single low-grade Blood Replenishing Pill costs two spirit stones. That's an extra twenty-four spirit stones in expenses per year out of thin air."

"The resources provided by the Xu Family, aside from a fixed amount of spirit rice and spirit tea, include an additional three low-grade spirit stones per month, as well as one set of alchemy materials for the Crimson Flame Pill."

The Xu Family had carefully calculated these resources; they were absolutely sufficient to meet the needs of daily cultivation.

For Lin Changheng, they were extremely generous—the labor of an alchemy apprentice could never trade for such things.

But the problem lay in the consumption of Blood Replenishing Pills, which left him strapped for cash and lacking resources for cultivation, forcing him to occasionally squeeze out his alchemy materials to trade for spirit sand.

In the first few years, knowing he had no chance of success in alchemy, Lin Changheng had used the materials to subsidize his expenses.

"No wonder it has been so difficult to break through to the third level of Qi Refining; this reason cannot be ignored."

This was a series of chain-linked negative effects.

Interlocking, they wove into an airtight giant net that descended to shroud him.

"This time, I must break through! And I certainly can!"

Lin Changheng's cultivation technique had advanced, his vital essence was replenished, and he felt a vague, intuitive premonition in his heart.

This was the sensing of an opportunity for breakthrough.

The realm that had held him back for so long was destined to be shattered!

Lin Changheng immediately took one of his two spirit stones, held it in his palm, and began to circulate the Flowing Fire Art.

He then crushed it with force. As the spiritual energy dissipated, a sudden suction erupted from his palm, drawing it all into his body.

Time flowed slowly forward.

Lin Changheng sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion with his eyes closed, his breathing steady. The spiritual energy within his body had gathered like a small, ceaseless river, surging forward through his meridians.

The circulation of the Flowing Fire Art was smoother than ever before, without the slightest obstruction, and the speed at which it refined mana was faster and more efficient.

The effect of the First-Level Origin Treasure Seed was manifested here!

As the cycles continued without pause, the spiritual energy was finally transformed, strand by strand, into mana that resembled smoke and mist, sinking into his dantian.

It made his dantian increasingly full.

The more this happened, the calmer his mind became—unruffled, neither impatient nor rash.

Finally, Lin Changheng faintly touched a critical threshold.

"Crack!"

It was as if there had been a sound, yet in reality, there was none.

Lin Changheng's state of mind remained like water. Only after refining the remaining spiritual energy from the shattered stone in his hand into his body did he slowly withdraw his technique.

He opened his eyes.

There was no joy at breaking through the realm, only a sense of composure that felt natural and deserved.

Third level of Qi Refining!

Lin Changheng had broken through. After sensing his condition slightly, he realized his mana capacity had surged by more than fifty percent.

This not only meant he could cast low-level spells twice more, but he also didn't have to worry too much about his mana running dry while refining pills.

Everything was moving in a positive direction.

He stood up tall and pushed open the window; the bright moon was like frost, spilling across the courtyard.

He couldn't help but chuckle softly.

"All that came before was merely a bit of frost and wind."

Three days later.

As soon as Lin Changheng stepped into the shop early in the morning, a clansman working as a handyman came to greet him.

"Brother Lin, Guest Elder Mo is looking for you."

Lin Changheng went straight to the second floor.

To the left was a reception area, while to the right was a secret cultivation chamber, reserved exclusively for Master Mo.

"Master Mo, did you call for me?"

Lin Changheng arrived at the reception room to find it empty. On the tea table at the main seat directly in front, two long wooden boxes were laid out. Seeing this, Lin Changheng's pupils constricted slightly.

This is...

"Not bad, sit down first."

Accompanied by an aged voice, Master Mo emerged from the practice room and took his seat at the head of the table.

"Please, give your instructions." After thirty years of wasted time, Lin Changheng's posture was perfectly measured.

Master Mo reached out and pushed two long wooden boxes forward. They shot across the table, landing before Lin Changheng, who caught them with both hands.

"Some time ago, did I not speak to you about the matter of inferior and waste pills?"

Lin Changheng nodded at the appropriate moment, not interrupting, though his heart raced with speculation and a faint sense of excitement.

"Originally, the handling of waste and inferior pills was Xu Hanzhou's responsibility, but since he has returned to the clan, you shall have to take his place."

"After all, you two are the only ones I can trust and who possess the capability."

Lin Changheng immediately forced a look of excitement onto his face. "I shall certainly not fail Master Mo's trust."

Master Mo then handed over an old manual. "This contains the methods for processing inferior and waste pills. Take it, study it, and return it to me once you have learned the techniques."

"These pills must be processed within two days. Afterward, you may deliver them to the Li Family Spirit Meat Shop on the east side of the market, hand them to the shopkeeper, and settle the accounts immediately."

Having finished his brief arrangements, he waved his hand to signal that Lin Changheng could leave.

"Yes!"

Lin Changheng clutched the old manual and held the two long wooden boxes tightly to his chest as he departed, his heart burning with fervor.

The backyard pill room was not firing its furnaces today, and with no one around, it was quiet.

Lin Changheng set the old manual aside and first lifted the two long wooden boxes.

These boxes were crafted from pear wood and were quite heavy; they could significantly delay the dissipation of medicinal potency and were commonly used to store low-grade pills.

If the pills were precious, they would be kept in specially made jade bottles or have a [Spirit Locking Talisman] affixed to the wooden box to suppress the loss of medicinal power to almost nothing.

He opened the wooden boxes one by one.

He discovered that each box had twenty slots for pills, totaling forty across both.

Only twelve slots were empty, and the pills themselves were marked with crimson cloud patterns.

[Crimson Flame Pill]!

There were twenty-eight of them!

This must be the number of waste and inferior pills refined over the course of a month.

Though he did not know why there were no Wood Origin Pills, Lin Changheng had no time to dwell on it.

As soon as his hand touched the pills, the [Origin Cauldron] resting quietly in his sea of consciousness reacted, its rim churning with azure mist!

"It really works!"

With this confirmation, Lin Changheng could not suppress the curve of his lips.

"Twenty-eight pills—I wonder how much Spirit Snatch can extract?"

Though he thought this, Lin Changheng did not act rashly; instead, he began to flip through the old manual on how to process waste and inferior pills.

Half a cup of tea later.

Lin Changheng slowly closed the old manual, a look of contemplation on his face.

According to the manual, Waste pills were easy to handle; one only needed to crush them, burn them thoroughly into ash using flames, and then collect the remains.

When the time came, they would be returned to the clan annually and scattered into the Black Water River to turn into black mud that nourished the grass.

Inferior pills, however, were far more cumbersome. One had to use a low-cost neutralization method to soak the pills, dissolving most of the medicinal toxins within to form a substance that was harmful to humans but harmless to beasts, before slicing the pills for sale.

"The essence and blood within the waste pills can be absorbed entirely, but for the inferior pills, I must only extract a portion. I cannot take it all, or I fear I shall be exposed..."