Yi Wood True Formula

"They returned to the Yellow Mountain Sword Sect yesterday. Qingxuan isn't interested in alchemy, so she's better off cultivating in the sect. Jingwen should be coming over again in a few days."

"Thank you, Senior. Then this junior will take his leave first."

After leaving the Lin Family Pill Shop, Qin Huaian returned to his cave dwelling.

With grain in hand, the heart knew no panic!

"Deduce the Yi Wood True Formula!"

[Consume 500 spirit stones. The mirror body can deduce the Yi Wood True Formula to the Beginner level, requiring 1 day; consume 1,000 spirit stones to halve the time required.]

"Consume 500 spirit stones for the deduction."

A day later, Qin Huaian felt waves of insight flood into his mind like enlightenment poured straight into his head. The Yi Wood True Formula had reached the Beginner level!

He tried circulating the Yi Wood True Formula. The spiritual energy around him was swiftly drawn into Qin Huaian's body. As the technique circulated, the spiritual power entering his body was gradually converted into his own and gathered within his dantian.

The cultivation speed of the Beginner-level Yi Wood True Formula had already caught up to the Mastery-level Azure Splendor Art. A Profound-rank technique was terrifying indeed!

"Deduce the Yi Wood True Formula!"

[Consume 1,000 spirit stones. The mirror body can deduce the Yi Wood True Formula to the Proficient level, requiring 2 days; consume 2,000 spirit stones to halve the time required.]

"Consume 1,000 spirit stones for the deduction."

Qin Huaian then spent another 1,000 spirit stones and 2,000 spirit stones respectively, deducing the Yi Wood True Formula to the Minor Achievement level.

The Proficient-level Yi Wood True Formula was inferior to the Perfected Azure Splendor Art. But the Minor Achievement Yi Wood True Formula had already slightly surpassed the Perfected Azure Splendor Art.

After cultivating the Yi Wood True Formula to Minor Achievement, Qin Huaian was nearly out of spirit stones.

He would first finish refining the remaining Qi Recovery Pills. Qin Huaian had the mirror body continue cultivating, while his main body refined pills and cultivated at the same time.

In the blink of an eye, nearly twenty more days passed. Qin Huaian had finished refining the remaining Qi Recovery Pills, and he now had 101 bottles of them.

But Qin Huaian also discovered a problem.

By this time, Qin Huaian's cultivation had reached Qi Refining Level Six, 99/100. He could sense an invisible barrier between Qi Refining Level Six and Level Seven. This should be the barrier between mid-stage Qi Refining and late-stage Qi Refining.

This barrier had kept countless cultivators from ever reaching late-stage Qi Refining in their entire lives.

From the books in the Scripture Repository, Qin Huaian learned of a kind of pill called the Essence-Breaking Pill. This pill was specifically used to break through the barrier between mid-stage and late-stage Qi Refining. So long as one's aptitude was not too poor, an Essence-Breaking Pill could help a cultivator swiftly break through to late-stage Qi Refining.

However, Essence-Breaking Pills were extraordinarily expensive. A single pill cost at least ten thousand spirit stones. To an ordinary Rogue Cultivator, that was simply an astronomical price; even for disciples of major sects, it was no small expense.

Of course, inner sect disciples of a great sect like the Yellow Mountain Sword Sect had no need for Essence-Breaking Pills at all. With their aptitude, the barrier to late-stage Qi Refining was hardly an obstacle.

That day, Qin Huaian came to the Lin Family Pill Shop once more. Lin Zhenglan was not in the shop today. The shop clerk recognized Qin Huaian and knew he was their partner, so he smoothly purchased one hundred bottles of Qi Recovery Pills at eighty spirit stones per bottle.

The clerk receiving Qin Huaian was also surnamed Lin and was likely a member of the Lin family. Qin Huaian had come twice already and was fairly familiar with this clerk.

Qin Huaian put away the spirit stones handed over by the clerk and placed them in his storage pouch. Then he asked, "Brother Lin, does your shop have Essence-Breaking Pills?"

"Essence-Breaking Pills are generally quite scarce. We only receive three to five each month, and they usually have to be reserved several months in advance. This month's batch had just been transported over from the family when they were bought up by the cultivators who had already reserved them."

They were that sought-after? Qin Huaian asked again, "How many spirit stones for one Essence-Breaking Pill?"

"Our Lin Family Pill Shop sells Essence-Breaking Pills for 12,000 low-grade spirit stones each, which is already quite affordable in New Peace City. Not every pill shop can get its hands on pills like Essence-Breaking Pills." The clerk's face showed a trace of pride.

"Alright. Thank you, Brother Lin, for clearing up my doubts."

Qin Huaian only had 8,000 spirit stones now. Even if he wanted to buy one, he would need to keep earning spirit stones first.

Now that he had spirit stones, he could choose to deduce the Essence-Nurturing Pill and then refine Essence-Nurturing Pills for sale. Qin Huaian was pondering whether to continue buying spirit herbs for refining Qi Recovery Pills or buy herbs for refining Essence-Nurturing Pills instead.

Just then, Fu Jingwen walked in from the rear courtyard.

"Brother Qin, long time no see!" Fu Jingwen greeted Qin Huaian with a smile when he saw him there.

"Brother Fu!" Qin Huaian returned the greeting with cupped fists.

"Brother Qin, there are only two months left until year's end. Have you returned to the sect lately?"

"No, Brother Fu. I plan to stay in New Peace City a while longer."

"Brother Qin, have you used your two Trial Tower opportunities this year? The sect rules say we can enter twice a year, and they reset at the end of the year."

"Brother Fu, have you entered? What mysteries are there inside the Trial Tower?" When Qin Huaian had first joined the sect, Elder Meng had specifically said that the Trial Tower was a good place, but he had not explained what was so special about it.

Qin Huaian only knew that the top ten Qi Refining disciples in the Trial Tower's annual rankings could directly enter the inner sect. This ranking was not just for outer sect disciples, but a combined ranking of all Qi Refining disciples.

"Brother Qin, Elder Meng said that the annual top ten can enter the inner sect, but the top ten are generally inner sect disciples, and usually disciples at Qi Refining Level Nine or above. With our current strength, we naturally can't make the top ten—we might not even make the rankings."

"Though we can't make the rankings, the Trial Tower has an even more important function: it can help us cultivate sword arts. Practicing sword arts inside is ten or even a hundred times faster than outside."

"Brother Fu, have you gone in before?" Upon hearing that it was for comprehending sword arts, Qin Huaian immediately lost much of his interest. He had the Seed Space; as long as he spent enough money, he could quickly learn all kinds of cultivation techniques.

"I have. When I returned to the sect some time ago, I used one Trial Tower opportunity. The Trial Tower truly holds endless wonders. Brother Qin, you must give it a try when you return to the sect," Fu Jingwen said.

"Then I'll definitely try training inside next time I return." Qin Huaian replied perfunctorily.

"By the way, Brother Fu, do you know where I can buy spirit herbs for refining Essence-Breaking Pills?"

"The main ingredient for Essence-Breaking Pills is Essence-Breaking Grass, which is rather scarce. The other supplementary herbs are all fairly common. Once ordinary shops obtain Essence-Breaking Grass, they won't sell it; they'll refine it into Essence-Breaking Pills instead."

"A cultivator who gathers Break-Origin Grass and sells it to a pill shop can generally get four to five thousand spirit stones for it. But if it's refined into Break-Origin Pills, it can sell for over ten thousand spirit stones. A single batch can produce two pills; even with a fifty-percent success rate in pill refinement, the profit is still enormous."

"So pill shops generally won't sell Break-Origin Grass. If you want to buy some, you can only try your luck at the market stalls where Rogue Cultivators gather," Fu Jingwen explained.

"What, Brother Qin, do you want to refine Break-Origin Pills?"

"If there's Break-Origin Grass, I'd like to try and see whether I can refine them successfully."

"If Brother Qin wants to purchase Break-Origin Grass, why not take a look at the sect's trading hall? The variety of medicinal herbs there is far more complete than in the average pill shop in New Peace City. However, everything must be bought with sect contribution points."

"It isn't easy for ordinary disciples to earn sect contribution points. Of course, with Brother Qin's pill-refining skill, he should be able to scrape together enough if he spends some time."

Qin Huaian's eyes lit up. How had he not thought of that? He was no longer a poor, struggling Rogue Cultivator—he had become a disciple of the great sects he had once envied!