High-Grade Spirit Gathering Pill

"Grandfather, anything you set your eyes on is bound to end up in your palm. Why didn't you just take him with us to serve as my sword-practice dummy?"

High above the Yue Kingdom, amidst the ethereal clouds, two figures drifted.

The young girl who had just left the dilapidated temple gazed out at the distant mountains, her face full of displeasure.

She felt that her defeat had been far too unjust.

To think she hadn't lost because of her swordsmanship, but rather because of the spiritual energy reserves in her dantian.

The old man in plain clothes said indifferently, "He is at such an age, yet he has only cultivated to the third level of Qi Refining. Do you know why?"

"I don't know."

The young girl shook her head; she preferred things simple and direct, and disliked guessing games.

"He possesses a Five Elements Mixed Spirit Root, the worst aptitude in the world. Every step of his breakthrough is incredibly arduous, and in the entire history of cultivation, there has never been a precedent for such an aptitude reaching the Foundation Establishment stage..."

The old man in plain clothes stroked his granddaughter's head with affection and smiled gently. "Xiu'er, you are about to break through to the fourth level of Qi Refining. Your dantian's spiritual energy will increase significantly, and by then, you will far surpass him."

"Then I'll find him and fight him again!"

The young girl said, puffing out her cheeks.

"There is no point. Something has happened back home, and we must return. By the time you come back here again, you will already be a Foundation Establishment cultivator. He will still be a mere Qi Refining novice; when you see him then, it will be like looking at an ant, and you won't even feel a shred of interest."

The old man in plain clothes explained patiently.

"Foundation Establishment..."

The young girl paused, a trace of regret flashing in her eyes.

Her hometown was extremely far from this remote little place, and traveling back and forth was quite troublesome.

"However, Grandfather will let you come back here once more."

The old man in plain clothes said suddenly, his tone mysterious.

"Why?"

The young girl looked up at her grandfather.

"He has a Spirit-Devouring Insect on him, still in its infancy. It must have only just recognized him as its master."

The old man in plain clothes smiled meaningfully. "If I had forcibly taken it today, this spirit insect—ranked ninth on the list of exotic insects—would likely have suffered severe damage to its vitality, and it wouldn't be easy for you to raise it. It is better to wait a while, let the Spirit-Devouring Insect grow and strengthen, and then take it; the impact will be minimal by then..."

"As expected of Grandfather, truly calculating!"

The young girl laughed happily.

The old man in plain clothes smiled faintly, looking toward the distant mountains with a cold, heartless expression.

Having lived for so many years and possessing vast experience, he had scanned the boy with his divine sense dozens of times, yet he still could not discern the reason for the abundance of spiritual energy in the boy's dantian.

It was his first time encountering a Five Elements Mixed Spirit Root.

After all, in the place where he resided, such trash-tier spirit roots were never seen, so his understanding of the Five Elements Mixed Spirit Root was limited to descriptions found in ancient texts.

"Could it be that the reason this boy struggles to break through is because, through the accumulation of long-term effort, his dantian's spiritual energy has become so abundant?"

A thought arose in his mind.

The old man in plain clothes pondered it over and over, feeling that this reason was perhaps closest to the truth. As for that Spirit-Devouring Insect, it was still in its infancy and too weak to be of much help to the boy's growth.

The young girl blinked and suddenly asked with concern, "Grandfather, aren't you afraid he might die halfway?"

"I am not."

The old man in plain clothes smiled slightly. "Grandfather observed him carefully. He is extremely cautious, his intellect far exceeding that of an ordinary person, and he acts with great care. If I hadn't forced him, he wouldn't have used his full strength to spar with you. How could such a person die so easily?"

"Good, I will wait to retrieve the Spirit-Devouring Insect in the future."

The young girl looked determined.

A gust of cloud and mist drifted over, and the two figures vanished into it, disappearing completely.

No one knew where they had gone.

Inside the dilapidated temple.

After standing frozen for the duration of an incense stick, the boy's stiff body finally regained its vitality. He slowly reached out and took the Storage Bag from the air.

The Storage Bag was not hot, yet he felt as if it were scorching his hands.

Relying on his instinctive intuition, the boy believed that the old man in plain clothes had only been using him all along.

But caught in the rolling torrent of fate, he was powerless to defy the heavens and could only endure in silence.

He opened the Storage Bag.

A rich medicinal fragrance rushed into his nostrils.

Chen Changming felt a moment of dizziness; his body swayed, and he nearly fainted from the potency of the scent.

Inside the Storage Bag lay over a hundred medicinal pills, a precious sword, and a slip of paper.

"Warm porridge on a stormy night warms the heart; this old man offers these flowers to Buddha, presenting one hundred top-grade Spirit Gathering Pills and one Purple Lightning Sword."

The signature bore no name, only the three characters: "Xuanyang Mountain."

The youth was stunned as he finished reading the note.

"So, these are top-grade Spirit Gathering Pills; no wonder the fragrance is so rich!" he muttered to himself, his expression complex.

Last night, when that young girl said she was "tired of eating top-grade spirit rice," he had thought it was a jest, never imagining it was all true.

For an old man to casually bestow top-grade Spirit Gathering Pills—the scale of such a gesture was unimaginable.

Taking out the sword, Chen Changming gently stroked the blade, his entire arm trembling.

This sword actually contained the power of lightning.

He drew the sword and gave a light swing; a beam of light mixed with purple lightning flew out of the dilapidated temple and struck a giant boulder in the distance.

BOOM!

With a thunderous crack, the cyan boulder, several zhang high, shattered into pieces.

"A fine sword!"

The youth was overcome with excitement, but at that moment, a soft groan sounded from behind him, startling him into quickly stowing the sword back into his Storage Bag.

"Why is it thundering in broad daylight?"

Luo Lan opened her eyes, gazing at the familiar figure with a hazy, complaining look.

She had been in the middle of a sweet dream, only to be startled awake by the thunder.

"Senior Sister, you're finally awake."

The youth rushed over and crouched beside her, his expression filled with agitation.

Thank heavens, his Senior Sister was safe and sound.

His thousand-mile dash and the hardships of the night had finally paid off.

"Junior Brother, I... why am I in this dilapidated temple?"

After taking in her surroundings, Luo Lan was also stunned. She remembered being touched by purple mist deep within Cloud Mist Mountain, and then she had lost consciousness.

"Senior Sister, it's a long story..."

Chen Changming was in high spirits; with a smile on his face, he recounted the process, glossing over the details.

By glossing over the details, he meant he only mentioned that a Foundation Establishment cultivator had come to their rescue, and that they had been extremely lucky to escape Cloud Mist Mountain together, eventually resting in this temple for the night.

As for the silver insect that cured the poison and the mysterious grandfather and granddaughter, he omitted them entirely.

"So many Foundation Establishment cultivators, and their attire was so unfamiliar..."

Listening to his account, Luo Lan's expression turned serious; her intuition told her that something major was afoot.

Because these Foundation Establishment cultivators did not belong to any cultivation sect within the Yue Kingdom, and there were so many of them entering Cloud Mist Mountain to deal with the Man-Eating Flower Demon—what exactly was their underlying motive?

Sensing that something was amiss, Luo Lan said solemnly, "Junior Brother, wait for me to recover, and then we shall return to the sect..."

"Alright."

The youth nodded.

Luo Lan swallowed a medicinal pill and sat cross-legged to cultivate... Two hours later, the two of them departed on a spirit boat.

Upon returning to the Lingxiao Sect, Luo Lan hurried off to find her grandfather, while Chen Changming returned to his cave dwelling.

The youth did not cultivate.

Even though he had obtained the top-grade Spirit Gathering Pills and the Purple Lightning Sword, there was no joy on his face.

Chen Changming would never forget how Qin Changtian had turned a blind eye to his pleas for help in Cloud Mist Mountain, wishing for nothing more than his death at the jaws of the demonic beasts.

Furthermore, encountering multiple Blood Demon Sect disciples during the beast tide in Cloud Mist Mountain made him realize that Leng Shankui had a significant background; this failure was merely a prelude, and the next assassination attempt by the Blood Demon Sect would surely come again.

Now, he was beset on all sides.

There were those within the sect who wanted him dead, and those outside the sect who wanted to kill him to vent their rage.