"This is seven months' stock of inferior and ruined [Wood Origin Pills]. It's all here."
Master Mo pointed at the stack of long wooden boxes on the table, then carefully explained to Lin Changheng how to process these Defective Pills.
Only after listening did Lin Changheng understand.
As it turned out, processing the Defective Pills from [Wood Origin Pills] was not complicated, but it required a certain level of skill and consumed enormous amounts of time and energy.
That was the real reason Master Mo had only given Lin Changheng [Crimson Flame Pills] to begin with.
He needed to reverse twelve Pill Formula Hand Seals—the twelve used to incorporate Demon Beast blood essence during pill formation.
The goal was to extract the [Greenwood Snake] blood essence contained within.
Only a ranked Pill Master could do it!
Afterward, it would all be sent back to the Xu Family, rather than sold outside.
It could be used to nurture the eggs of a certain spirit fish in the Blackwater River, giving them a solid foundation, improving their survival rate, and helping them grow better in the future.
But because this took too much time, Master Mo had always taken the pills back each year and handed them straight over to the family.
Although he had repeatedly been asked to process them properly himself, Master Mo had still shamelessly carried on, leaving the family helpless, unsure whether to laugh or cry.
After doing this so many times, however, even Master Mo felt rather embarrassed. Now that Lin Changheng had come right to his door, he simply went with the current and handed the work over to him.
Young people should do more and learn more. It would do them no harm!
Before Master Mo could utter this "persuasion" that made his old face burn, Lin Changheng had volunteered to take the work, moving him deeply!
Then, watching Lin Changheng gather up eight long wooden boxes of Defective Pills from [Wood Origin Pills] and three of [Crimson Flame Pills], hugging them tightly as he headed downstairs, Master Mo was filled with emotion at such an attitude toward his duties.
This was what a disciple should be like-Lin Changheng!
"Wait!"
Suddenly, Master Mo called out, stopping Lin Changheng.
"What is it, Master Mo?"
Lin Changheng's heart gave a jolt.
"Take this. It's a Storage Bag I replaced some time ago, with one cubic yard of space. Don't turn your nose up at it. Consider it a gift to celebrate your advancement to Pill Master."
A strand of magical power carried a gray Storage Bag over to him.
"How could I possibly! Thank you, Master Mo. I'll treasure it!" Lin Changheng's eyes lit up.
"Heh, no need for thanks. Off you go!"
Lin Changheng had just finished performing the Pill Formula Hand Seals in the pill room and returned to the small cultivation room on the shop's ground floor.
With a wave of his hand, he took the last of the eight long wooden boxes of [Wood Origin Pills] out of his Storage Bag.
He had long heard about the wonders of Storage Bags. Even the lowest-grade bag, with one cubic yard of space, cost a hundred low-grade Spirit Stones.
That was thirty percent more than the price of a low-grade Magic Artifact.
Even a secondhand Storage Bag with obvious signs of use cost sixty or seventy Spirit Stones. There simply was not much of a market for them, since people feared they were stolen goods being fenced, with trouble attached, and steered well clear.
When he first received the Storage Bag, he had spent quite a while playing at "putting things in and taking them out" before carefully hiding it beneath his robes to keep others from seeing it.
Keep going!
Lin Changheng was very patient. He could have extracted all the [Greenwood Snake] blood essence in one go, but he had instead proceeded slowly.
He extracted it from a dozen or so pills each day.
After more than ten days, he was just about finished. This was the last batch!
Even if Master Mo suddenly told him to stop, even if he wanted to inspect the Storage Bag, he would not discover anything unusual!
This was Lin Changheng's own brand of caution!
He opened the long wooden box, looked at the dozen or so Defective Pills before him, and swept his hand over them.
At the same time, he linked his thoughts to the [Origin Cauldron] at the center of his sea of consciousness.
Whoosh!
Green light flashed, and all the blood essence in the Defective Pills from [Wood Origin Pills] was instantly extracted.
Then he sank into his sea of consciousness. The Origin Cauldron trembled slightly, its radiant glow parted, and a jade-green Treasure Seed appeared beside the gold and crimson ones.
[Greenwood Snake Treasure Seed · Spirit-Seizing Transformation in progress] [Spirit Seizure: 79/100] [Effects: mixed-grade Demon Beast bloodline, innate wood affinity, possesses innate talents: Entanglement, Poison Transformation, Miasma Spit. Upon completing Spirit Seizure, one may be selected for assimilation.]
Almost eighty percent gathered already! In another two or three months, this [Greenwood Snake Treasure Seed] will complete Spirit Seizure!
A hint of satisfaction flashed through Lin Changheng's eyes.
Even he had not expected to bring his progress this far in such a short time.
Entanglement, Poison Transformation, Miasma Spit... which should I choose?
Lin Changheng had wrestled with this throughout the past few days. Apart from Entanglement, both [Poison Transformation] and [Miasma Spit] seemed good. Today, he finally made up his mind.
Poison Transformation!
Lin Changheng ultimately chose the one that could protect him.
Unlike higher-stage cultivators, Qi Refining cultivators had limited means and relied heavily on poisoning techniques. All manner of poisons cropped up endlessly.
Moreover, this place was not far from the border of the Savage Wastes. Countless venomous insects and beasts lived there, and poisonous gases and miasmas were common sights. One could fall victim without even knowing how.
Whether during the "Great Reclamation" or the "Minor Wilderness Expedition," no small number of cultivators had been crippled by poison, their Dao Paths utterly destroyed.
Having a [Poison Transformation] technique truly would set his mind much more at ease.
Having thought this through, Lin Changheng touched the crimson Treasure Seed again and took a look.
[Fire Crow Treasure Seed · First layer] [Spirit Seizure: 22/100]
Mm, progress was proceeding steadily.
Next, Lin Changheng began taking stock of his current possessions.
They were quite substantial.
Originally, he had only one Spirit Stone left on him.
His ten-percent share of last month's pill production amounted to five [Crimson Flame Pills]. He had sold them to the shop at market price, earning ten Spirit Stones.
Adding the three issued to him as an apprentice, then subtracting the twelve spent on six [Blood-Replenishing Pills] that would last half a year, he had two left.
That was not the bulk of it.
The important part was that his Storage Bag still held twenty-five standard-quality [Crimson Flame Pills]. The five sets of ingredients he had previously left in storage had all been refined into pills as well!
At market price, those were worth fifty low-grade Spirit Stones!
Lin Changheng had also taken one of the pills himself.
It was indeed effective. Lin Changheng estimated it was equivalent to five days of arduous cultivation.
But Lin Changheng needed half a month to refine that one pill completely and slowly absorb it.
Moreover, it contained a tiny amount of latent pill toxin. Little though there was, it was still present.
Somewhat worried, Lin Changheng had asked Master Mo about this. The answer he received was to take them in moderation.
Master Mo recommended taking one standard-quality [Crimson Flame Pill] per month, so the benefits would outweigh the drawbacks.
Beyond that amount, the drawbacks would outweigh the benefits.
If he took premium-quality [Crimson Flame Pills], their medicinal effects would be stronger and their pill toxin content extremely low. He could try taking two per month.
Together, they would be equivalent to half a month of arduous cultivation!
Master Mo had also encouraged Lin Changheng to work toward refining pills of that quality.
Using himself as an example, he said that only ten percent of the pills in one of his batches were Premium Pills, and not every batch produced them.
Some particularly poor mid-grade Pill Masters could not refine even a single low-grade Premium Pill in their entire lives.
Premium Pills...
Lin Changheng walked home, deep in thought.
He considered himself very skilled at refining [Crimson Flame Pills], but after seeing the Premium Pill Master Mo had taken out, he knew he still had a long way to go.
He tried frequently, yet still could not manage it.
Could my Fire Control still be lacking? Am I not refining them deeply enough with the flame?
As he thought this, he suddenly saw a slender figure at his door, knocking.
He could not help pausing in surprise.