Elder Ye

"I was just looking around. Have you come across any promising seedlings here lately?"

Elder Ye chuckled and stopped teasing him.

His bright eyes curved in a smile as he looked at him, filled with intense curiosity.

"Oh, Elder Ye, you're rubbing salt into my wounds. You know this place is remote—what promising seedlings could possibly fall to me? Even if there are a few, they can't rank among the prodigies of the major powers."

After saying that, he looked at Elder Ye with resentful eyes.

Elder Ye broke out in goosebumps under that look. No one could stand being stared at so resentfully by a plump middle-aged man.

"Not even one?"

"Not even one."

"Fine. I'll take a look around myself. Go get busy."

Without waiting for him to react, Elder Ye rose, clasped his hands behind his back, and left.

Senior Sister Huang Mei had business to attend to today and had left. Jiang Lu did not need to go to Courtyard One to tend the spirit plants, so she went to a medicinal garden that was temporarily untended to practice her techniques.

By now, she could use all kinds of basic techniques with ease, such as the Rainmaking Technique, Harvesting Technique, Earth-Turning Technique, Cleansing Technique...

She had also committed several offensive and defensive techniques to heart, such as the Fireball Technique, Wind Blade Technique, and Burrowing Technique. When it came to techniques, there might truly be few cultivators in the same Qi Refinement realm who could defeat her.

She had long since learned that sword art as well. It was a relatively basic sword art in the Immortal Cultivation Realm, the kind that two out of ten people knew. Its moves were simple and could be used for both offense and defense.

However, sword arts known to everyone naturally had many flaws. She still needed to find a new sword art as soon as possible.

After several months in the Immortal Cultivation Realm, she was no longer the clueless novice she had once been. She had gained an understanding of many things.

She had also grown taller, reaching one meter sixty. Reaching one meter seventy still seemed quite hopeful.

Yet her current cultivation was still being fiercely suppressed at Qi Refinement, Fourth Level. If she cultivated too quickly, she would inevitably draw everyone's notice, but she could not suppress it for much longer.

She sighed, torn over whether to leave Medicine King Pavilion. That way, no one would notice anything unusual about her cultivation.

But after observing things over this period, she felt she still needed the backing of a force. Otherwise, she would be at a great disadvantage and face even greater danger while traveling outside.

Those Rogue Cultivators did not avoid joining factions because they did not want to. Their strength simply was not enough to get in.

That was why she had hesitated again and again.

Jiang Lu swung her sword as she pondered. When she saw the two spirit beasts in the distance, she became even more troubled.

She had no idea what was wrong with them. After returning that day, they had clutched the Spirit Pearl and gnawed on it, then fallen into slumber.

To be honest, she coveted the Spirit Pearl as well. But she had a feeling that her physique could not rely too heavily on external objects. That was also why she rarely used Realm-Breaking Pills or Body-Solidifying Pills to aid her cultivation.

The two spirit beasts, Chi Li and Cangchen, lay curled up together nearby. They had long since divided the Spirit Pearl's spiritual energy between them and absorbed it. Now, they needed to refine that spiritual energy into part of their own power.

That was why they had fallen asleep. Spirit beasts cultivated like this, converting all energy into power while asleep. Once they awoke, their strength would rise.

When Elder Ye arrived, he saw the harmonious scene of one person and two beasts.

Twelve years old and already at Qi Refinement, Fourth Level—her strength was fairly good. Though she could not compare to those prodigies, she could still be considered impressive in a place like this.

But as he watched her use the Wood Spirit Technique, then the Fireball Technique, then the Whirlwind Blade, something felt wrong no matter how he looked at it.

Were disciples with Mixed Spiritual Roots now blessed with such high spiritual root purity?

Why did this feel so strange? He was not sure. He would watch a little longer.

With a tap of his toe, he leaped onto a tree and reclined on his side upon a branch. Holding a spirit fruit in his hand, he ate as he watched her.

Jiang Lu practiced every one of her techniques once, then ran through her sword art once before sitting down to meditate and cultivate.

Elder Ye watched her continue without pause from day until night, and he could not help admiring the disciple's temperament.

Just as he thought it was over, Jiang Lu took out her pill furnace.

Elder Ye's eyes widened. He froze where he stood, and the spirit fruit in his hand nearly fell to the ground.

Low-level cultivators in the Immortal Cultivation Realm did not cultivate endlessly like that. Even if they entered seclusion, they still had to sleep.

He lowered his head and looked at his fingers, curling them slightly as he calculated. He became even less certain. If he had not calculated wrongly, this child had already spent nine hours practicing techniques and meditating.

What was she planning to do?

Alchemy?

Did she still have the energy to refine pills?!

Interesting!

The corner of his lips lifted with interest as he watched Jiang Lu intently.

It had been a long time since he had encountered such an interesting cultivator. Cultivators these days had limited energy. Mastering one or two Dao arts was already quite good, but she seemed to have dabbled in everything.

Then Jiang Lu waved a hand, and a table appeared beside the pill furnace. She continued taking spirit plants from her storage bag and placing them on the table.

To avoid carelessly being discovered while using her space, Jiang Lu usually kept spirit plants and some commonly used daily necessities in her storage bag.

This had inadvertently helped her avoid having her secret spied upon.

She processed the spirit plants as she always did, then sent spirit fire into the pill furnace.

Elder Ye was startled. She was actually attempting to refine a second-grade pill. Several of the spirit plants on the table were second-grade spirit plants, and first-grade pills did not require them.

A Qi Refinement, Fourth Level cultivator refining a second-grade pill?!

Elder Ye's casual expression vanished. His face turned serious as he pressed his lips together and watched Jiang Lu's movements.

Her technique was steady, and she knew the sequence by heart.

Her foundation was extremely solid.

She calmly placed the spirit plants into the pill furnace one by one, continuously controlling the temperature of the spirit fire.

Bang—

It was finished.

Jiang Lu extinguished the spirit fire and opened the pill furnace. Ten round, full pills appeared on the jade plate.

They were all High-Grade Pills!

Elder Ye could no longer remain calm.

A twelve-year-old at Qi Refinement, Fourth Level? He found that perfectly normal.

Knowing how to refine pills? He found that nothing remarkable either. Being in Medicine King Pavilion, refining pills was simply basic skill.

But!

A Qi Refinement, Fourth Level cultivator refining a second-grade pill—and ten top-tier High-Grade Pills at that—was anything but normal!

This was a genius, wasn't it?!

No!

But... Mixed Spiritual Roots?

He lowered his head in thought. Then Jiang Lu put away the pills and pill furnace before leaving with the two spirit beasts.

Under the faint light of dawn, he watched Jiang Lu's back gradually vanish into the distance.

He immediately followed and saw Jiang Lu enter Alchemy Courtyard One.

His figure flashed, and he vanished from where he stood.

"Water Old Man, come out. I need to ask you something."

He walked into the courtyard of the West River City branch master and called inside.

Before long, the door flew open with a slap, revealing a pair of eyes filled with resentment.

Was he ever going to stop?!

"Elder Ye, is something the matter?"

Elder Ye nodded, then asked how many pill-refining cultivators there were in Alchemy Courtyard One and what their strengths were.