Taking the Qi Condensation Pill

After spending nearly an hour discussing how to run the shop with his two roommates at the milk tea shop, Jun Wangchen left and returned to Dormitory Room 520.

He had yet to take the Qi Condensation Pill he had obtained that morning. The pill contained a vast amount of Spiritual Power, and he was both eager and excited. Now it was time to test its effects.

With that thought, Jun Wangchen took out the Groundhog Phone, opened his wallet, and tapped the treasure chest containing the Qi Condensation Pill.

"Qi Condensation Pill. Withdraw?"

"Withdraw!"

A second after his index finger touched the screen, a white pill appeared in Jun Wangchen's hand.

The pill was only the size of his thumb and looked like an ordinary piece of candy, but Jun Wangchen could clearly feel the rich Spiritual Power emanating from its surface.

Staring at the Qi Condensation Pill, Jun Wangchen hesitated for three seconds. In the end, he stopped overthinking it and swallowed it whole.

The instant it entered his mouth, the Qi Condensation Pill dissolved into an exceptionally pure, potent stream of Spiritual Power that poured endlessly throughout his body.

As Spiritual Power surged, the lotus in Jun Wangchen's dantian rapidly grew more petals. Spiritual Power accumulated frantically in its grooves. They had originally been only one-third full, but the influx of Spiritual Power from the Qi Condensation Pill instantly pushed them past two-thirds.

"The Qi Condensation Pill really is extraordinary!" Feeling his Spiritual Power increase, Jun Wangchen's eyes flashed. He then closed them, focused his mind, and guided the energy into the grooves.

Late Qi Condensation involved accumulating the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and tempering the blood.

What he needed to do now was fill the grooves with Spiritual Power and expand their capacity, then use that energy to temper his blood.

" Hummm... "

As Spiritual Power continued to accumulate, the grooves gradually filled to capacity. With no room left to store it, the abundant Spiritual Power began colliding within them.

At first, these collisions were faint, producing clear, light sounds. But as time passed and more Spiritual Power accumulated, the collisions grew increasingly violent, and their sounds became more intense. Jun Wangchen's dantian was now like a balloon, swelling outward without pause.

"Hiss!" Even after undergoing Marrow-Washing and Hair-Purging, Jun Wangchen could not withstand the pain caused by the collisions of Spiritual Power. He sucked in a sharp breath as sweat streamed relentlessly down his forehead.

Only then did Jun Wangchen realize how much pain he had to endure to improve his strength on the path of cultivation.

Even so, he did not curse his fate. Compared with his former helplessness, he much preferred the strength he possessed now. Even tremendous pain was a price he was willing to pay.

Time slowly passed. Jun Wangchen gritted his teeth and held on doggedly, enduring for an entire half hour.

The moment eleven o'clock arrived, a series of crisp cracks rang out from the grooves in Jun Wangchen's dantian, and the wildly colliding Spiritual Power settled down.

The grooves expanded little by little, extending outward until every one of them had grown by fifty percent.

After half an hour of suffering, their capacity had increased by only fifty percent. Jun Wangchen could not help giving a wry smile. The road of cultivation truly was long and arduous.

He did not dwell on it. After resting for ten minutes, he began guiding the Spiritual Power from the Qi Condensation Pill into his blood.

Compared with expanding the grooves in his dantian, tempering his blood was much slower. Although there were many grooves, they occupied only a small area, whereas his blood ran throughout his entire body.

This is too slow. Besides guiding Spiritual Power into my blood, I need to make my blood actively absorb it. Jun Wangchen made up his mind. The blood throughout his body suddenly began to seethe. Where it had previously admitted only one thread of Spiritual Power at a time, it could now admit two.

With the enormous influx of Spiritual Power, his blood trembled more violently, as though it were boiling water.

The intense tearing pain made Jun Wangchen bare his teeth. It felt as though something were gnawing at his flesh and blood, yet he could not defend himself against it. Any attempt to do so would greatly diminish the effects of the blood tempering.

Time passed slowly, and another half hour went by.

Under the blazing midday sun, couples enjoyed meals together at restaurants on and off campus. Only one figure sat silently cross-legged in Dormitory Room 520, motionless as a statue.

Suddenly, Jun Wangchen let out a muffled groan where he sat on the dormitory floor, his face twisting violently. His blood was swelling with Spiritual Power seeping endlessly out of the Qi Condensation Pill.

Had anyone been there, they would have seen that Jun Wangchen's entire body was bloodred. He looked like a cooked crayfish, even giving the impression that he was about to explode.

Soon, however, a layer of thick, black, bloody grease began oozing from his crimson skin. It gave off an unbearable stench that made even Jun Wangchen gag.

Those were impurities expelled from his blood, far more abundant and disgusting than the ones purged during Marrow-Washing and Hair-Purging.

Three... two... one... done!

He silently counted down. The instant he reached one, Jun Wangchen's eyes snapped open. The thick, black grease and impurities peeled completely away from his skin, revealing flesh that looked newly reborn.

At that moment, Jun Wangchen seemed to glow softly. His blood had surpassed its former state entirely, undergoing a qualitative transformation.

If his blood's concentration had previously been 0.5, it was now twice that.

If his blood were used to save a patient suffering from blood loss, a mere dozen or so drops would probably suffice.

"Accumulating the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and tempering the blood—both processes of Late Qi Condensation are complete. Unless something unexpected happened, I've reached Late Qi Condensation now." Jun Wangchen murmured to himself, then stood and clenched his fists.

In an instant, a tremendous, terrifying power surged throughout his body.

His aura was now stronger than before. The Spiritual Power he could draw on from his dantian had originally been only the size of one baseball; now it had expanded to the size of two.

Spiritual Power surged ceaselessly through the grooves in his dantian, every strand brimming with power.

"Late Qi Condensation. I'm even stronger than before!" Feeling the strength within his body, Jun Wangchen's eyes shone with an imposing confidence.

With his current strength, even a casual punch could probably pierce an iron door ten centimeters thick.

"With a few more Qi Condensation Pills, I could probably reach the peak of Qi Condensation in one go." Jun Wangchen licked his lips, his eyes burning with eagerness.

He wondered whether he could become a nominal disciple of Taishang Laojun. If he could, he might ask him for a few more pills and improve his strength even faster.

In truth, as a Late Qi Condensation cultivator, Jun Wangchen was already beyond the ability of ordinary people to threaten his life. But after his sparring match with Mo Duoduo that morning, he had suddenly realized that there seemed to be other cultivators in this world.

If he fought someone like that, his current strength might not guarantee an easy victory. So the sooner he could grow stronger, the better.

With that thought, Jun Wangchen entered the bathroom and washed himself from head to toe. Only after rinsing away all the impurities covering his body did he change into fresh clothes and step out.

" Beep, beep, beep! "

As soon as he emerged from the bathroom, the Groundhog Phone on his desk suddenly chimed.

Jun Wangchen paused, then immediately walked over and opened WeChat.

Taking a closer look, he saw that it was not a red packet. Taishang Laojun had replied to his message.

Taishang Laojun: "My status has been up for nearly five hours, and you're the only one who commented on it. You've certainly shown me plenty of respect, so of course you may become my nominal disciple.

"However, I need you to help me with something now. If you do it well, not only will I give you another three Qi Condensation Pills, I'll also record a major contribution to your credit and promote you to a full disciple sooner."

Jun Wangchen's eyes lit up at the message. Becoming a full disciple meant little to him; he was interested only in those three Qi Condensation Pills.

Taking a deep breath, Jun Wangchen typed back, "What do you need done, Laojun? If it's within my power, I'll do everything I can."

"Just half an hour ago, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Sun Wukong, came here to cause trouble. He insisted that I refine the most delicious pill in the world, or he would smash my pill furnace with a single blow of his staff. With no other choice, I had to agree." Taishang Laojun rubbed his temples, nursing a headache.

"So now I need an exceptionally tasty ingredient to help me refine this pill. Unfortunately, not one of my tens of thousands of disciples has produced anything satisfactory. Do you happen to have an ingredient that might satisfy me?"

Jun Wangchen paused, then immediately broke into a grin.

He had initially worried that the task would be difficult, only to discover that Taishang Laojun wanted a tasty ingredient. Another task might have stumped him, but this one was ridiculously easy!

Without a second thought, Jun Wangchen took a packet of QQ Candy from his roommate's drawer, scanned it, and sent it to Taishang Laojun as a red packet.

Upon receiving the QQ Candy, Taishang Laojun immediately grew curious about the unfamiliar item. "What is this?"

"Laojun, this is called QQ Candy. It's made from ten-thousand-year-old syrup, formed under the perfect conditions of time and place. It's wonderfully springy when eaten, and it's an extremely rare and precious ingredient in our world." Jun Wangchen paused, then spun his tale.

"Such a wondrous thing exists in this world?" Startled, Taishang Laojun typed a brief reply, then immediately tore open the packet and popped a QQ Candy into his mouth.

Sweetness instantly swept across his taste buds, accompanied by a wonderfully springy texture.

Taishang Laojun froze, his face filled with disbelief. He simply could not believe that something so delicious existed.

Having tasted the delights of QQ Candy, Taishang Laojun hurriedly typed, "Do you have any more QQ Candy?"

"I'm sorry, Laojun. This QQ Candy is incredibly hard to come by. I only obtained one packet by chance, and I gave it to you before even tasting it myself," Jun Wangchen continued bluffing.

"What a pity." Taishang Laojun could not hide his disappointment. Jun Wangchen had sent him only twenty pieces of QQ Candy. He had eaten one, leaving nineteen.

Given Sun Wukong's temperament, once he tasted it, he would surely demand more. Those nineteen pieces of QQ Candy probably would not last long.

Disappointed though he was, Jun Wangchen had still provided him with such a delicious ingredient. He did not stingily withhold his reward and sent Jun Wangchen five Qi Condensation Pills, the extra two serving as a bonus.

"If you find any good ingredients in the future, remember to offer them to me first. Don't worry. I won't shortchange you."

"No problem." Jun Wangchen nodded, then claimed Taishang Laojun's red packet.

After exchanging a few more messages, Taishang Laojun ended the conversation, presumably to refine the pill for Sun Wukong.

"Five Qi Condensation Pills. That's enough to reach the peak of Qi Condensation." Looking at the five pills stored in his wallet, Jun Wangchen grinned so broadly that he could not close his mouth.

One packet of QQ Candy in exchange for five Qi Condensation Pills. His luck was unbelievable.

Of course, Jun Wangchen did not know that in the Divine Realm and the Immortal Realm, Qi Condensation Pills were merely feed for certain pets and had little value.

Delighted with his five Qi Condensation Pills, Jun Wangchen straightened his clothes and prepared to head to the cafeteria for a meal.

Just then, the Groundhog Phone quietly rang.

Jun Wangchen picked it up and saw that Zi Hanyan was calling.

Puzzled, he answered. "Hi, Zi Hanyan. What's the matter?"

"Jun Wangchen, a friend of my dad's is holding a tenth-anniversary celebration for his martial arts academy today. But Dad's busy and can't get away, so he asked me to attend on his behalf. Are you free right now? Could you come with me?" Zi Hanyan's ethereal voice drifted through the phone, carrying a hint of pleading.

Jun Wangchen paused, then asked with a smile, "Of course. But I have one question—will there be enough food to fill me up?"

"Pfft... don't worry, Jun Wangchen. There'll be lots of delicious food waiting for you. It's at the Yang Family Martial Arts Academy in Jinling City East District. Call me when you get there." Zi Hanyan covered her mouth as she laughed, her voice sweet.

"No problem." Jun Wangchen nodded, hung up, and headed toward the Yang Family Martial Arts Academy.

As the saying went, a wise man knew his food. Nothing could stand in the way of his lofty pursuit of a good meal now.

Never miss a chance for meat—once it was gone, it might never come again.

If love was meant to last forever, there had to be pork aplenty!