A Warning from a Senior Brother

Hong Ling looked Li Ping'an up and down, countless thoughts turning in her heart.

But in the end, she merely smiled faintly and accepted the pill Li Ping'an handed her.

No matter what, it truly was a pill refined from a pill furnace.

"Not bad. It seems this old man really does have some skill. Next time I come to refine pills, I'll still look for you."

Li Ping'an said with a smile,

"It is my honor to refine pills for Eldest Senior Sister."

"You old man, you're slick-tongued and utterly improper."

Thinking of how Li Ping'an had stared fixedly at her figure just now, Hong Ling could not help but blush.

Now that the pill refinement had succeeded, her earlier anger had faded as well, and Li Ping'an looked somewhat more pleasing to her eyes.

"Here, take this. Consider it a little reward from me, so Qingyue won't say I'm stingy."

After accepting the pill, Hong Ling took something from her storage bag and handed it to Li Ping'an.

Li Ping'an raised his eyes and saw that it was another talisman, though not the Golden Light Talisman from before.

This talisman was a deep blue throughout, with faint flashes of lightning glimmering across it.

Thunder Talisman.

A talisman one grade higher than the Golden Light Talisman, and an offensive talisman.

It could be activated with spiritual power to summon a bolt of mystic lightning, its might comparable to a full-force strike below the Foundation Establishment Realm.

This was good stuff! Li Ping'an hurriedly accepted it, cupped his hands, and loudly thanked her,

"Many thanks for Eldest Senior Sister's reward!"

"That's enough, no need to thank me. You earned it."

Hong Ling was not a stingy person either. She gave a grand sweep of her hand.

"Come find me again next time I need pills refined."

The stone door opened, and Qingyue, who had been waiting outside for a long time, hurried over and asked,

"How was it? Did Senior Sister succeed?"

Hong Ling smiled faintly.

"Mhm. What you said was true. This old man really does have some skill in controlling fire."

"How about that? I told you so!"

Qingyue grinned.

"My little brother's reputation isn't undeserved."

She gave Li Ping'an a thumbs-up and said,

"Little brother, you really did me proud. Here, this is the storage bag you wanted. Take it."

As she spoke, Qingyue pulled out a bag and tossed it before Li Ping'an.

Li Ping'an caught the bag and was overjoyed when he looked at it.

A storage bag!

He had wanted one for a long time.

The storage bag looked like an ordinary pouch, about the size of a palm, covered in profound and inscrutable runes.

Yet when Li Ping'an infused spiritual power into it, his divine sense instantly entered a space roughly three zhang square. That was all the space within his storage bag.

Li Ping'an hurriedly tossed all the spirit stones, magical artifacts, and miscellaneous items on his body into the storage bag at once, and his body instantly felt much lighter.

With this storage bag, taking things out would be much more convenient now.

More importantly, the storage bag could conceal the aura of items. Even if he carried a priceless treasure on him, no one would discover it.

Li Ping'an cupped his hands and thanked them.

"Many thanks for the rewards, Senior Sisters!"

These two inner sect prodigies were practically his gods of wealth!

They gave him waste qi that could increase his cultivation, and rewarded him with all sorts of magical treasures. All he had to do was select two discarded pills from the waste pills they refined and forge them into pills.

This deal was simply an unbelievable profit.

He said with a chuckle,

"Senior Sisters, remember to come often!"

After seeing the two Senior Sisters off, Li Ping'an immediately rushed back to his residence to cultivate.

He had already absorbed the waste qi from seven furnaces. A huge amount of spiritual qi was contained within his body, allowing him to cultivate like mad.

The arena tournament would begin in two days. Although he had already reached the Qi Refining Realm, he could not let down his guard.

After all, the sect was a place where crouching tigers and hidden dragons lurked. Who knew if there might be some sweeping monk quietly developing in obscurity around the mountain gate, only to astonish the world with a single feat at a critical moment?

It was better to be careful.

Li Ping'an urged himself on and began cultivating without delay.

In the blink of an eye, a day passed.

When Li Ping'an opened his eyes, a ripple of spiritual power shot from them.

"Phew!"

Li Ping'an let out a long breath.

Comfortable!

After a night of arduous cultivation, he had successfully broken through to the second layer of the Qi Refining Realm.

He also had six fragments of incomplete Qi-Nourishing Pills left.

However, Li Ping'an was in no hurry to forge them into complete Qi-Nourishing Pills.

Forging Qi-Nourishing Pills would consume a great deal of the Heaven-Tempering Hammer's spiritual power. For the moment, he could not forge so many in one go.

Forget it. He would first accumulate some spiritual power in the Heaven-Tempering Hammer.

Li Ping'an muttered to himself, stretched lazily to loosen his muscles and bones, then got up and took a deep breath.

Just then, a knock sounded at the door.

"Come in."

Long Yun pushed open the door and entered. The moment he came in, he said impatiently,

"Oh, Grandpa Li, where have you been? I've been looking for you all day."

Li Ping'an said with a dark expression, "Haven't I been staying in my room the whole time?"

"Grandpa Li, you really are diligent. It's for the arena, isn't it? Unfortunately, your diligence seems useless now."

"What do you mean?"

Li Ping'an frowned.

Long Yun took a drink of water, caught his breath, and said,

"I came this time to pass along a message from a senior brother."

"Oh? What message?"

Li Ping'an was somewhat puzzled.

"Which senior brother is looking for me now?"

"It's like this."

Long Yun said,

"Aren't you entering the arena tournament? The match list has already come out. Your opponent is a servant steward from the Herbal Medicine Hall named Zeng Xing, at the eighth layer of the Body Tempering Realm."

"Oh, the list is already out?"

Hearing that he would face a Body Tempering Realm opponent, Li Ping'an raised his brows.

He was now at the second layer of the Qi Refining Realm. A Body Tempering Realm opponent was no match for him at all.

"Yeah, but he's at the eighth layer of the Body Tempering Realm! Grandpa Li, you're in trouble this time."

Ever since entering the Waste Hall, Li Ping'an had only shown the Waste Hall disciples cultivation at the third layer of the Body Tempering Realm.

Thus, it was only natural that Long Yun believed he was doomed to lose.

Li Ping'an merely responded with a smile.

"It's fine. Let fate decide."

"By the way, was the message you brought simply to tell me that Zeng Xing is my opponent?"

Long Yun said mysteriously,

"Of course not! This might not even be bad news for you. Zeng Xing was injured a couple of days ago, and his injuries haven't healed yet. He can't perform on the arena stage and can't fight. He wants you to directly admit defeat on the arena stage, saving both of you a struggle."

"Oh, there's such a thing?"

Li Ping'an frowned.

"Grandpa, if you ask me, you might as well do Zeng Xing a favor and voluntarily admit defeat. He has people backing him, and you can't afford to offend him. Even if you fight, you can't beat him. Life in the Waste Hall is already so hard, and there's basically no hope of becoming an immortal. Why waste your time here?"

Long Yun advised.

Li Ping'an could tell that Long Yun was sincerely trying to persuade him.

Still, who exactly stood behind this Zeng Xing, that he wanted Li Ping'an to deliberately lose?

Interesting.

Long Yun seemed to know what Li Ping'an was thinking and added,

"Zeng Xing's son is a steward in the inner sect and has some power. You can't afford to offend him."

The corner of Li Ping'an's mouth lifted slightly, and he said,

"I understand. Go on ahead. I'll consider your suggestion."

"Alright, Grandpa Li, think it over. I don't think going down the mountain is such a bad thing."

After Long Yun left, Li Ping'an fell into deep thought. Zeng Xing himself was nothing to fear; he was merely a servant disciple as well.

But he had a son serving as a steward in the outer sect. It was his son who had sent Long Yun to warn him.

In other words, if he truly defeated Zeng Xing tomorrow, he would probably offend Zeng Xing's son as well.

Fine!

Li Ping'an gave a bitter smile.

Since he had already offended Senior Brother Zhang from the inner sect, what harm was there in offending one more outer sect steward?

I, Li Ping'an, must remain in the sect!