Void-Soaring Origin-Unity, Empty Promises

When he heard this, Liu Dongqing was first taken aback.

He very plainly revealed a contemplative expression, as though he had truly taken Manager Hou's explanation to heart, and it had set off a chain of thoughts within him.

But before that thread of thought could continue to extend,

Liu Dongqing's entire attention was drawn away by the benefits Manager Hou had mentioned.

Then Liu Dongqing saw Manager Hou chuckle and pull a bundle from his robes, handing it over before him.

The bundle was opened.

Inside was a broadly round-bellied jade bottle. Beneath its snowy jade surface gleamed specks of deep azure spiritual light.

"There—

The Azure Flame Spirit Pills that Junior Brother Zhao once promised you. In terms of natural harmony, these are far inferior to the Azure Fire Heavenly Dew Elixir, but their medicinal power is far more fierce.

In terms of the Azure Light Dharma Power they can increase, one precious pill surpasses nine drops of jade-dew elixir.

Back then, this manager's tongue bloomed lotus flowers. That was likely the pinnacle of my silver tongue in this life—I painted all the twists and turns so vividly that it was like being there in person.

Thus, when Junior Sister Zhang heard Junior Brother Zhao's many lavish promises, she was startled as well. Without dwelling on it too deeply, she simply took this round-bellied jade bottle from the storage vessel in her sleeve and gave it to me, without even counting the precious pills inside.

But afterward, I opened the jade bottle and carefully counted them. There are some Sumeru Dao sigils imprinted within it, and it already possesses many of the qualities of a 'Vessel.' Do not be fooled by the fact that this precious bottle is only the size of a human head—inside, it held more than five hundred Azure Flame Spirit Pills.

This manager will count it as six hundred for you. We split it fifty-fifty. I have already taken my share, leaving three hundred Azure Flame Spirit Pills in the bottle for you.

Heh—do not say this manager does not look after you. This precious bottle alone is worth quite a bit!"

As he spoke, Manager Hou put on an expression that appeared sincere.

Yet Liu Dongqing did not respond at once.

Instead, he stared fixedly at Manager Hou with hook-like eyes, until the smile on Manager Hou's face began to stiffen.

Only then did Liu Dongqing slowly reach out and take the round-bellied jade bottle.

"Manager, you have indeed shown me great favor. Liu will remember it in his heart."

Were there truly only five hundred-odd spirit pills in the jade bottle?

Liu Dongqing did not believe a single word Manager Hou said.

The more flawlessly Manager Hou made the matter sound—going so far as to say that even Zhang Qiwei had handed it over casually without counting the pills, leaving the whole affair dependent solely on Manager Hou's own words and without any proof to verify it—

the more certain Liu Dongqing became that something was fishy.

But whether Manager Hou spoke truth or lies was not truly important. When Liu Dongqing had first sent Manager Hou to handle this matter, his primary aim had been to use the greed stirred up by these benefits to counterbalance Manager Hou's wariness toward him.

From that perspective, Liu Dongqing even wished for Manager Hou to reveal still more greed.

Beyond that purpose,

there was simply the gain of three hundred spirit pills.

Whether they were inferior to naturally harmonized elixirs or their medicinal power was thick and domineering,

these pills were meant to be thrown into the "Red Spring" within the jade vat. Liu Dongqing had faith in the Bloodthirsty Medicinal Vine: no matter how tyrannical a precious medicine was, it could be transformed into an Elixir Fruit containing the power of nature.

"Manager, what else is there?"

Only when he asked this did genuine anticipation arise in Liu Dongqing's mind.

Spirit pills were merely ordinary.

Any precious medicine had to pale by three parts before the Elixir Fruits produced by the Pill-Descending Art.

Moreover, auxiliary-path precious medicines without a stable source of supply were merely a windfall. Zhang Qiwei's indifferent manner of handing them over casually without even counting them made that plain enough.

But if he could gain anything from the remaining items, each one would be an inconceivable accumulation of foundation.

Upon hearing this,

Manager Hou's somewhat stiff smile became lively once more.

He slowly began.

"When Junior Sister Zhang heard the entire matter, she immediately made her judgment: all of those remaining promises were simply Junior Brother Zhao's bait to deceive you.

Once greed arose in you and you believed him, if you truly did something to betray Junior Sister Zhang, Junior Brother Zhao would cast you aside like a worn-out shoe in an instant. Those later empty promises would have no chance at all of being fulfilled.

Luckily, this manager was there at the time.

So I advised Junior Sister Zhang—

Little Liu is an honest child. You can see that these are empty promises, but Little Liu listened to them as though they were real. He truly believes he turned down quite a few of Junior Brother Zhao's offers to win him over.

This matter cannot be judged by what is practically the case. We must look at the loyalty in his heart. For the sake of that sincerity alone, Junior Sister, you ought to show some gesture.

Junior Sister Zhang felt my words made great sense, and only then did she give the matter further thought—

First, as for the notes on breaking through to the Foundation Establishment realm, Junior Sister truly could not provide them. Not only her—even Junior Brother Zhao, or anyone at Rising Mist Dao Academy, could not provide such notes.

Every similar set of notes she could access was part of the foundation of her birth family, not her own personal foundation.

But Junior Sister Zhang made a promise—

Once she successfully contends for her position, and once you, Little Liu, enter Rising Mist Dao Academy, she can then orally explain some of the critical hurdles of breaking through to Foundation Establishment.

After all, only when you have cultivated to the late stage of Qi Refining and then consider breaking through to Foundation Establishment will the timing truly be just right."

Upon hearing that, Liu Dongqing's brows furrowed slightly, then swiftly relaxed again.

This, too, was an empty promise.

But unlike Senior Brother Zhao, who might truly turn his back on him, Zhang Qiwei's promise seemed exceedingly vague and intangible today. Yet once Liu Dongqing entered the inner academy, there would truly be some chance of it becoming reality.

While Liu Dongqing considered this, Manager Hou's voice continued.

"Second and third: since you were given the Little Thought Primordial Furnace Fire-Nurturing Art in the past, you can forget about auxiliary-path cultivation arts. And a Pill Formula that eliminates bottlenecks is worth even more than a set of notes on breaking through to Foundation Establishment—it is an even more extravagant hope.

But the incomplete parts of these two requests, pieced back together, made Junior Sister Zhang think of a Pill Formula—

It is called the Li Fire Void-Soaring Origin-Unity Pill.

This is an ancient Pill Formula from Departure Peak. Our lineage all practices fire arts: the path of Bing Fire emphasizes the spirit, while the path of Ding Fire emphasizes the form. Those whose cultivation is somewhat unbalanced, or whose talent is excessively outstanding, can easily suffer an imbalance between body and soul.

Therefore, the ancient sages of Departure Peak drew upon the imagery of emptiness within Li Fire, of yin being born at the height of yang, and created two Pill Formulas, one yin and one yang, to harmonize the balance between body and soul.

One Pill Formula expends Blood and qi to replenish the mind and spirit; this is Void-Soaring Origin-Unity. The other expends the mind and spirit to nourish Blood and qi; this is the Void-Filling True-Returning Formula.

This is one of those Pill Formulas.

Junior Sister Zhang said that since you cultivate the Little Thought Primordial Furnace Fire-Nurturing Art, you should know that this pill suits you perfectly.

But Junior Sister Zhang instructed me to convey one point to you—

Although the ingredients used in this Pill Formula are common spiritual materials, the proportions of their medicinal properties do not follow the usual way of sovereign, minister, assistant, and envoy. Instead, they secretly accord with the true meaning of the Li Palace Eight Trigrams, making it harder than hard to refine!

Even Junior Sister Zhang herself has not completely mastered this Pill Formula.

Since Junior Brother Zhao promised you a Pill Formula, she has given this one to you in order to fulfill that reward.

But she also hopes you will retreat in the face of difficulty. Do not waste too much heart and effort on this, lest it delay your own cultivation—and delay the planting of the Jade Cloud Fruit Junior Sister Zhang needs even more!"

As his words fell, Liu Dongqing reached out and took the sheet of paper from Manager Hou's hand.

The graceful handwriting upon it was no different from that in the Little Thoughts book.

After casually sweeping his eyes over its contents, Liu Dongqing folded the Pill Formula and tucked it into his sleeve, then shook his head with a bitter smile.

"I do not even know how to light a pill furnace. Senior Sister thinks rather highly of me."

At that, Manager Hou's smile turned sly as well.

Zhang Qiwei appeared to have given him an immensely moving foundation, but in truth, the value of this Pill Formula was even inferior to the earlier empty promises.

After all, in Manager Hou's eyes, orally explaining the hurdles of a breakthrough might still be fulfilled, but Liu Dongqing successfully refining this pill was utterly without hope.

"That is why she told you to retreat in the face of difficulty. All right, I have explained everything.

This place has fouled all the clear radiance of sky light upon me. I'm leaving, I'm leaving!"

Just as he spoke, before Manager Hou could turn away, Liu Dongqing hurriedly called out to stop him.

"Manager, wait—"