Li Ling summoned a servant, listed what he needed to refine Fragrant Body Pills, and instructed, "Go prepare everything on this list."
The servant bowed, took the list, and left.
Li Ling no longer needed to personally refine incense pills of this mundane grade, but he worried that others could not manifest their incense properties, which might affect their wondrous effects and interfere with his judgment. He decided to refine them himself after all.
Whatever the case, he would see how they worked first.
By noon, Li Ling had finished refining the Fragrant Body Pills. He sensed them briefly. Their incense essence rose in billows, like dumplings steaming in hot soup. They certainly looked the part, but the more he examined them, the more ordinary they seemed, with no sign of any wondrous effects.
After swallowing one, a fragrance lingered on his lips and teeth, and his breath grew fresh. His body, however, showed no change whatsoever, leaving him somewhat disappointed.
"Looks like my thinking was a little off..."
"Actually, even if something really could make my body fragrant, it might not be able to merge with my blood, vital essence, and spiritual power..."
Li Ling vaguely felt that he had grasped a thread, yet it seemed to slip through his fingers again.
Sure enough, things were not that simple.
Li Ling returned to the Inner Garden, but the Ninth Princess was nowhere to be seen. After asking around, he learned that she was testing her Dao Body aptitude in the residence's northern inner grounds.
Li Ling went over to take a look. In a training ground as broad as a plaza, the Ninth Princess controlled a flying sword, sending it darting back and forth like a weaving shuttle as she tested the effects of moving objects with divine sense