Qi Refinement Second Layer

Senior Sister Dan thought for a moment, then nodded solemnly, as if there really was quite a lot that needed dealing with.

"Will Junior Sister be coming to keep a few when the time comes?"

The female cultivator who had spoken shook her head. "I won't need any. I simply can't use them up in that short a time—it would practically be a waste of time. I suffered quite a loss the last few times. Some disciples merely wanted them, so they asked me to inquire."

"Since that is the case, have them come to my place to collect them. That will save me the trouble of handling them."

"Alright, thank you, Senior Sister Dan."

Hearing this, Jiang Lu's hands moved even faster. Before long, she had sorted the remaining spirit plants into baskets.

She walked over and said to the two of them, "Senior Sisters, I've organized the remaining spirit plants as well. Please inspect them."

The two nodded and swept their Divine Sense over the spirit plants.

After hesitating for a moment, Jiang Lu asked, "Senior Sisters, from what I heard you discussing earlier, do you have unused pill furnaces that need to be disposed of? If one wanted them, what would one need to do?"

The two could not help giving Jiang Lu a deep look. These apprentices truly had some ambition, but that was not a bad thing. Those pill furnaces would be thrown away anyway; there was no harm in giving them away.

Whether Jiang Lu could refine pills or not, someone helping dispose of them was more than welcome. She nodded.

"You want one too? If you're finished with your work now, you can come with me to collect one."

Jiang Lu nodded at once. Of course she had time. Even if she did not, she had to make time.

"Senior Sister, I have time."

Today, only disciples from Courtyard One and Alchemy Courtyard Two had come to collect spirit plants. The other courtyards were scheduled afterward. It would make no difference if she handled the other work later; she only needed to inform Master Wen.

Following the two to Alchemy Courtyard Two, she saw that the entire courtyard looked no different from the others from the outside. But as they walked farther in, the courtyard split into three sections, and the buildings were considerably larger than the rest.

The section in the middle was where spirit plants were stored. The pill-refining rooms stood on either side. Looking from the courtyard toward those rooms, she could see enormous pill furnaces lined up within them.

Quite a few disciples bustled about before the pill furnaces. Perhaps because they were all enveloped by barriers, she could not hear any sounds from within, and the surroundings seemed utterly silent.

"Junior Sister, wait here for a moment. I'll be right back."

"Yes, Senior Sister Dan."

Jiang Lu stood beneath the steps, her gaze fixed on the disciples refining pills. Igniting the furnace, injecting spirit fire, adding herbs—before she knew it, she had become engrossed in watching.

Yet each disciple followed different steps, so she could only grasp the general outline. If she were to truly refine pills herself, she would still need to pay attention to controlling the key points.

When Senior Sister Dan came out of the room, she saw Jiang Lu staring unblinkingly toward the pill-refining rooms. She tilted her head and looked in that direction, but there was nothing special there. Then she asked,

"Junior Sister Jiang, what are you looking at? Come on, I'll take you to get them."

"Alright, Senior Sister Dan."

Her thoughts interrupted, Jiang Lu saw that Senior Sister Dan was already standing beside her.

She followed Senior Sister Dan behind the spirit plant room. After turning two corners, they arrived before a rather secluded house. These rooms stored damaged supplies.

Senior Sister Dan pushed open the door, revealing more than ten pill furnaces inside. They varied in size, and their surfaces were somewhat grimy.

"These are the ones. They are all damaged to varying degrees. Though they can still be used, they can easily lower the quality of pills. Still, after some repairs, they can refine some pills, and they are fairly suitable for disciples just learning pill refinement. Most importantly, they do not cost a single spirit stone. But if you truly want to refine good pills, you will still need to buy a proper pill furnace."

When encountering advertisements such as "Are you a True Person?", there was no need to pay attention. Simply close them. Do not scan any codes or send text messages!

Seeing Jiang Lu at a loss, she pointed at the pill furnaces on the ground.

"Junior Sister Jiang, you may choose two."

Jiang Lu nodded, then crouched down and inspected them one by one. They seemed to have no differences; presumably, the damaged parts could not be seen with the naked eye.

In the end, she chose two pill furnaces that looked more pleasing to the eye and cradled them in her arms.

"Thank you, Senior Sister Dan."

She nodded and told Jiang Lu how to inject spiritual power into the pill furnaces to open and close them.

When not in use, a pill furnace could shrink to the size of a palm for easy storage. When needed, it could be enlarged to whatever size one wanted after spiritual power was infused into it, making it easier to match one's height while refining pills.

Jiang Lu carried the two pill furnaces back to the courtyard and placed them on the table. After finishing the remaining spirit plants, she returned to her room, took out the spirit plants from the basket, and began processing them.

She plucked off the withered leaves. Then a thread of green spiritual power emerged from her fingertips and entered the spirit plants, traveling upward from the roots and stems before flowing out through the veins of the leaves, carrying a trace of juice with it.

These were the elements useless for pill refinement. During the refining process, they would also affect the medicinal efficacy.

After processing the spirit plants and setting them aside, she placed a pill furnace on the ground and infused it with spiritual power. The furnace gradually grew larger. She closed her eyes and carefully sensed its abnormalities, then discovered cracks beneath it. If spirit fire burned within, it would easily leak away, making its temperature difficult to control.

If only she could cultivate Divine Sense now. With a sweep of Divine Sense, she would be able to identify these abnormalities. Unfortunately, one needed the strength of the Qi Refinement Middle Stage to cultivate it.

She ran her fingers over the cracks. The effect was not great; she merely needed to find materials and repair it.

But just as Senior Sister Dan had said, if she wanted to refine good pills, she would still need to buy an intact pill furnace.

After putting away the spirit plants and pill furnaces, Jiang Lu finally began meditating to cultivate...

Bang—

A crisp sound rang out from within her body. Jiang Lu slowly opened her eyes and exhaled a breath of turbid air. Feeling the abundant spiritual power within her, she smiled faintly.

Wonderful!

She had finally broken through to the Qi Refinement Second Layer!

When she stepped out into the courtyard, she saw Master Wen approaching with a smile on his face.

"Girl Jiang, you're out!"

Jiang Lu nodded and asked,

"Master Wen, what good thing happened? You look to be in quite a good mood."

Master Wen waggled his brows at her.

"Hehe, Girl Jiang, it really is good news! But it's good news for all of you."

"Oh?"

"A small secret realm has appeared east of West River City. Only cultivators below Foundation Establishment may enter. My talent is only so-so, so there is no need for me to risk my life going there."

"But you are still young, so you can go and try your luck. If you go, you can follow the team arranged by Medicine King Pavilion. Going on your own is fine as well; you only need to notify them in advance."

"The elder in the front hall just said that if any of you want to go, upon returning, you only need to make up for the resources you missed over those days according to your contributions to the pavilion. I asked for you already. This small secret realm will last no more than a month. When you return, you only need to pay one hundred low-grade spirit stones or hand over resources of equivalent value."