Qi-Gathering Pills, the Price of Cultivating with Mortal Bone

"Sister Lingyue, all the medicinal ingredients are in the Medicine Furnace."

Xu Taiping turned to Fairy Lingyue, a trace of excitement in his eyes.

"Very well done. Now you only need to maintain the furnace's temperature and tend it for an hour. Then the pills will be ready."

Fairy Lingyue immediately gathered her thoughts and nodded at Xu Taiping with a smile.

If I can't take him as a disciple, having an obedient little brother isn't bad either.

Watching Xu Taiping tend the fire, following her instructions with meticulous care, Fairy Lingyue's lips curved into a warm smile.

An hour later.

Whoosh...

Xu Taiping rose onto his toes and lifted the Pill Furnace's lid with both hands. A wave of heat billowed out, turning into white mist that spread through the backyard.

"Sister Lingyue, we made two pills!"

In the moonlight, Xu Taiping discovered with delight that two vermilion pills, their sheen as soft as jade, lay quietly among several clumps of black medicinal residue.

"Two pills actually formed?"

Fairy Lingyue was equally delighted.

Although she rarely refined such low-grade pills, her experience told her that, given the quality of the ingredients Xu Taiping had bought, even producing one would have been a good result.

It seems the little fellow really does have a gift for pill refinement. I can't teach him our sect's secret arts for now, but a few pill formulas should be fine. Besides, if I want to restore my cultivation, I'll need an Alchemist's help.

She silently resolved to nurture Xu Taiping into an Alchemist.

"Sister Lingyue, what's wrong?"

Seeing Fairy Lingyue lost in thought, Xu Taiping softly called to her.

"Oh, I was thinking that you could save the extra Qi-Gathering Pill to deal with that Tiger Demon."

Fairy Lingyue lowered her gaze to the two Qi-Gathering Pills in Xu Taiping's hand.

"A Qi-Gathering Pill can help me deal with the Tiger Demon?"

Xu Taiping was somewhat surprised.

"A Qi-Gathering Pill can supply you with an enormous amount of spiritual energy in a short time. Once converted into true qi, it's like having an extra Dantian, allowing you to cast spells beyond your current realm. For example..."

At this point in her explanation, Fairy Lingyue looked up at the moon and searched her memory before lowering her gaze to Xu Taiping again. "For example, the Ice Breath Art, which works with your Setting Sun Glow Art and normally requires mastery of the Gate Opening Realm. This art turns your breath into ice. Even with your current cultivation, if you use it with a Qi-Gathering Pill, you can freeze everything within an area more than ten zhang across in a single breath."

"Including that Tiger Demon?"

Xu Taiping asked excitedly.

"Although the Ice Breath Art is hardly some closely guarded secret technique, in your cultivation world, even an opponent a realm above you would fall prey to it if they hadn't taken precautions."

Fairy Lingyue nodded with complete certainty.

"Sister Lingyue, once I break through to the Gate Opening Realm, please make sure you teach me the Ice Breath Art!"

Xu Taiping's eyes shone as he made his request.

"If you're willing to learn, of course I'm willing to teach you. Don't forget, we're partners now."

Fairy Lingyue stroked Xu Taiping's little head and gave him a faint smile.

In her original cultivation world, the Ice Breath Art barely qualified as a mystic-grade spell. It was favored most by rogue cultivators, while sect disciples generally had better choices, let alone disciples of her own sect. Thus, she needn't worry that it would expose her identity.

A little while later.

Xu Taiping returned to his bedroom, ready to break through to the Gate Opening Realm.

Fairy Lingyue's remnant soul was also in the room.

"Little Taiping, relax. You have two Qi-Gathering Pills now. There's no way you won't be able to break through to the Gate Opening Realm."

Seeing Xu Taiping's tense expression, Fairy Lingyue smiled and gestured for him to relax rather than be so nervous.

"Mm."

Xu Taiping nodded firmly, then closed his eyes and exhaled a long breath of stale air from his chest.

"Sister Lingyue, I'm ready."

Xu Taiping opened his eyes and looked at Fairy Lingyue.

"Then take the Qi-Gathering Pill and make your breakthrough."

Fairy Lingyue nodded.

Seeing that Xu Taiping looked much more relaxed now, she felt deeply reassured.

Gulp...

Without further hesitation, Xu Taiping popped the Qi-Gathering Pill into his mouth and swallowed it.

The pill melted the moment it entered his mouth. Xu Taiping didn't even have time to taste it; he merely sensed a delicate fragrance spreading through his body before drifting out through his nostrils.

Buzzzz...

As Xu Taiping began circulating the Setting Sun Glow Art, a buzzing filled his ears, and the Qi-Gathering Pill's medicinal power abruptly took effect. Guided by the Setting Sun Glow Art, surging streams of spiritual energy rapidly transformed into Crimson Dawn True Qi and flooded his meridians like a rushing river, battering the apertures throughout his body.

Several apertures that had previously required tremendous effort to open were forced open within a few breaths.

The first step in breaking through to the Gate Opening Realm is to open every aperture in the body. The second is to circulate the Setting Sun Glow Art, drawing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into the body through those apertures and gathering it in the Dantian. Then push open the Dantian's walls, transforming it into a qi sea.

While circulating the Setting Sun Glow Art with all his strength, Xu Taiping silently recited the essentials of breaking through to the Gate Opening Realm that Purple Sun True Lord had taught him that day-how to turn a little Dantian, no larger than a fishpond, into a qi sea.

If he failed to take this step, the greatest achievement of his entire life would be that of a mere martial fighter who knew only how to battle with his fists and feet.

Boom!

At that thought, Xu Taiping unhesitatingly mobilized the true qi drawn through his apertures and launched his first assault on his little Dantian. The protective true qi of the Setting Sun Glow Art radiated from his body without warning.

"Argh!..."

But what followed was pain that pierced his heart and stabbed into his bones. Xu Taiping felt as though someone were tearing his scalp off piece by piece. It was several times worse than the pain of soaking in the Marrow-Cleansing Soup.

Even his iron resolve finally succumbed to that pain. The enormous mass of true qi he had painstakingly gathered burst apart into clouds of mist.

"Xu Taiping, this is the price of cultivating with mortal bone. If you can't endure even this little suffering, you might as well give up now!"

Fairy Lingyue deliberately goaded Xu Taiping.

How could she not know the pain Xu Taiping was facing?

But she understood even more clearly how cruel the Heavenly Dao was to those with mortal bone. Even after setting foot on the path of cultivation, the slightest lapse or flicker of fear would bring pain a hundred times worse than today's.

Thus, in her view, even if Xu Taiping failed to break through, he absolutely could not bow to this pain.

Her worries, however, were clearly unnecessary.

After his first attempt to break through failed, Xu Taiping immediately began a second.

Enduring the pain that had yet to fully subside, he continued mobilizing true qi from his apertures, calm and practiced. To Fairy Lingyue, watching beside him, Xu Taiping seemed nothing at all like a boy in his teens.