Crazy Cultivation

However, at this point, Li Ping'an truly did not have much confidence in his heart.

After all, he had used his spiritual sense to control Xu Yan just now; it had not been the real Wuchen Elder descending.

Perhaps not long after Xu Yan returned, he would come to his senses. Then, relying on his status as a steward, he might mercilessly squeeze and suppress them.

That would be truly difficult to handle.

After all, he had received a transfer order from the sect. If Li Ping'an dared to resist, it would count as defying the sect's orders.

He would be punished by the Law Enforcement Hall.

No, he had to raise his strength as quickly as possible.

Only once his strength could firmly overpower Xu Yan would Xu Yan not dare act recklessly or make a clamor.

Thinking this, Li Ping'an no longer exchanged pleasantries with everyone.

He tossed the food he had brought back from the foot of the mountain to them.

Then he hurried back to his dwelling to sit in meditation and cultivate.

After cultivating, he continued practicing the Heaven-Severing Battle Fist.

Until he rose early the next day and began another day of labor.

Now that he had gained prestige in the Waste Hall, Li Ping'an's words carried some weight as well.

He no longer stood on ceremony and directly took on every dirty and exhausting task.

He did them all by himself.

The disciples whose work had been snatched away had no choice but to sit aside and rest.

Everyone could not help exchanging looks when they saw this.

This Master Li was far too strange.

He even fought to do the work. Truly... too strange.

Yet even as they found it strange, everyone's gratitude toward Li Ping'an grew with each passing day.

Gradually, they had already come to regard Li Ping'an as an extremely important leader.

Li Ping'an did not care about any of that. He simply kept absorbing waste qi.

Then converting it into spiritual power.

Then continuously absorbing waste qi again.

Thus the cycle repeated itself.

During this time, Wang Steward did not come over to make trouble again.

After what had happened last time, Xu Yan also rarely appeared around the Waste Hall.

This gave Li Ping'an ample time to cultivate.

During the day, he madly absorbed waste qi.

At night, he closed his eyes and meditated.

He cultivated the Great Dream Soul-Drawing Art to increase his spiritual power.

He cultivated the Taiyi Qi-Guiding Art to strengthen his spiritual energy.

Once he finished, he would practice another set of the Heaven-Severing Battle Fist.

Day after day passed.

Li Ping'an's cultivation improved remarkably.

First was his realm, which had already soared to the peak of the third level of Qi Refinement.

In a little while, he would be able to break through to the fourth level of Qi Refinement.

Next was the Taiyi Qi-Guiding Art.

After this period of arduous cultivation, the Taiyi Qi-Guiding Art had successfully broken through to the second level.

This made the spiritual qi within him even more vigorous and powerful, flowing on without end.

Though the Taiyi Qi-Guiding Art could not compare to those cultivation arts that wielded tremendous power the moment one began practicing them,

it excelled in its deep and enduring foundation, in accumulating strength before unleashing it.

Though Li Ping'an appeared to be merely a third-level Qi Refinement cultivator at present,

his true capabilities had actually nearly reached the level of the fifth, or even sixth, level of Qi Refinement.

The Great Dream Soul-Drawing Art had also improved significantly.

His spiritual power was far more abundant than it had been some time ago.

If he controlled someone else's mind again, Li Ping'an was confident he could maintain it for over a minute.

Of course, that was only against cultivators at the same level as him.

If it were someone in the late stage of Qi Refinement, or even the Foundation Establishment Realm, then the duration would be greatly reduced.

Still, it was already quite good.

Then there was the Heaven-Severing Battle Fist.

Though this fist technique did not have many moves, as Li Ping'an gradually became more proficient through practice,

he had the feeling that every move and every stance carried the sense of the Great Dao in its simplest form.

The more smoothly he performed it, the more powerful it became.

It was no longer merely an ordinary martial skill; it was more like an immortal cultivation method for close combat.

"I'll have to find a chance to test just how powerful this battle fist is."

Li Ping'an muttered.

In the blink of an eye, he had cultivated in the sect for nearly half a month.

The cold poison within Nan Zhi's body could be absorbed once more.

At the thought of Nan Zhi, Li Ping'an thought of her enticing naked body and her cheeks that often turned scarlet red.

His heart could not help stirring.

He packed his things and was about to head down the mountain for a stroll and pay her a visit.

Just then, a pattering series of footsteps came from outside the door.

Once they drew near, he saw two lovely figures appear in the Waste Hall.

Both women were beautiful, fresh, and refined.

One was pure and adorable, while the other was mature and alluring.

Who else could they be but Hong Ling and Qingyue?

Seeing the two of them, Li Ping'an could not help feeling somewhat dazed.

It seemed these two had not come looking for him to refine pills in a long time.

Yet they had suddenly come today!

"Little brother, we're here!"

Qingyue spoke first.

"Senior Sister and I went out to carry out a mission some time ago, which delayed us. The moment we returned, we came straight to find you without stopping."

"We haven't refined pills in so long. Today, we're going to practice to our hearts' content, right, Senior Sister?"

When Hong Ling heard Qingyue's words, the corner of her mouth twitched.

What did she mean, practice to their hearts' content?

Still, rough words often held true meaning.

After going out on a mission, she had accumulated quite a few pill-refining materials again.

Today, she would refine them all at once.

"Senior Sister, are you going first, or am I?"

Qingyue's eyes were smiling as she looked Li Ping'an up and down.

It was as though she were staring at a lamb awaiting slaughter.

"You go first."

Hong Ling said,

"Let your little brother properly assist you with pill refinement first. Let's see whether your pill-refining skills have improved during this time."

"Alright!"

Qingyue's face brightened with joy, and she looked excitedly at Li Ping'an beside her.

"Come on, little brother. Let's go refine pills together."

Li Ping'an nodded calmly and did not refuse this invitation.

He wished for them to blow up the furnace every single time.

Only then would he have an endless supply of cultivation resources.

The two soon arrived at the pill-refining room.

After not seeing her for some time, Qingyue's pill-refining techniques did indeed seem to have improved.

Her movements had always been crude before, but now they appeared mature and practiced.

However, this time, she had not chosen to refine the lowest-grade Body-Tempering Pill.

Qingyue wanted to challenge herself, so this time she had chosen the Qi-Gathering Pill.

This was a good thing. The higher-grade the pill she challenged, the more likely she was to fail.

Qingyue looked at Li Ping'an, her tone solemn.

"Little brother, this is my first time attempting this pill. You must help me control the heat properly."

Li Ping'an nodded faintly and said nothing more.

Soon, the flames slowly rose.

The final outcome was no surprise.

Qingyue had not even properly mastered refining Body-Tempering Pills, yet she wanted to refine Qi-Gathering Pills.

How could that possibly work?

She had not learned how to walk, yet she only wanted to learn how to run.

The first batch of pills soon ended in failure.

The second batch failed.

The third batch failed.

The unceasing failures gradually caused Qingyue to lose confidence.

Her face was instantly tinged with bitterness, and a flash of gloom passed over it.

"I said this pill was a little difficult to refine, but there's no need for me to keep failing, is there?"

"Little brother, you must control the fire properly this time."

After absorbing the waste qi from three consecutive batches of pills, Li Ping'an felt the spiritual qi within his body become incomparably abundant.

A trace of delight rose in his heart as well.

"No problem. You just focus on refining."

This time, the two refined pills for who knew how long.

They continued all the way until noon the next day.

Only then did the two emerge from the pill-refining room.

Qingyue's face carried a trace of excitement.

After refining twenty-seven batches of pills in a row, she had finally succeeded.

It was also one Li Ping'an had directly taken from the pill furnace and handed to her.