These pills actually contained Origin Qi too, even purer than that in spirit stones. But pills were far too scarce, and a single pill could often be worth anywhere from several to hundreds of spirit stones.
He could not bear to use them yet.
For now, pills could only be eaten like food, not directly absorbed and refined like spirit stones.
Next, Chun Xiaobai sorted all his belongings into categories, then set aside two thousand spirit stones, preparing to break through to third blood refining in one push!
That would make his upcoming "ranking grind" much easier.
"Crack! Crack!"
Chun Xiaobai grabbed a handful of spirit stones and crushed them like walnuts, then immediately circulated his cultivation technique to absorb the Origin Qi drifting out of them.
He repeated this over and over. Half an hour later, he had drained all two thousand spirit stones.
His cultivation had also smoothly reached third blood refining.
Yet he was not happy in the slightest. Instead, he began questioning his entire existence.
"Fuck, am I some gold-devouring beast? Why does this cost so damn much?"
Two thousand spirit stones were enough for a disciple with decent aptitude to advance straight from first qi refinement to fifth qi refinement. And him?
He had advanced just one level!
He felt out the power inside him. Thankfully, it had more than doubled.
If he faced Zhao Wuyuan again now, he felt he could go toe-to-toe with him using nothing but his fists.
"It costs a fortune, sure, but the power I get is much greater than an ordinary person's. I suppose that's fair."
"Keep going!"
Gritting his teeth, Chun Xiaobai took out the remaining four thousand five hundred spirit stones and spent a full two hours absorbing every last one.
His face turned utterly dark.
Even after absorbing those four thousand five hundred spirit stones, he was still just a little short of fourth blood refining!
"Damn it!"
"This is a fucking bottomless pit!"
The remaining three hundred spirit stones were nowhere near enough to push him to fourth blood refining.
That was because fourth blood refining marked the dividing line between the early and middle stages.
He was stuck at this crucial juncture, neither up nor down.
With no other choice, Chun Xiaobai took out the jade box glowing with rich green light, his face dark and his hands trembling.
He removed the spirit herb inside and stuffed it into his mouth with tears in his eyes, crunching it up in a few bites before swallowing it whole.
Then a tremendous warm current exploded in his belly!
He immediately activated [Treasure-Seeing Divine Eye], locking firmly onto that mass of pure Origin Qi.
Judging by the purity of that green glow, Chun Xiaobai realized this might well be a precious tier two spirit herb.
As the strand of green light traveled through his body and was refined, the blood within his meridians actually began making flowing sounds, like a gently winding stream!
Then his meridians abruptly convulsed, expanded, and stretched, as though someone were skinning him and tearing out his tendons. The pain left his head drenched in sweat.
He knew this was the process of opening his kidneys described in the cultivation technique.
He could not make any other movement now. Otherwise, at best, all his previous effort would go to waste; at worst, every meridian would rupture.
Within moments, he looked as though he had just been hauled out of a great river.
The agony continued for two hours.
Only when the final wisp of Origin Qi had been completely absorbed did the pain slowly ease. At the same time, his cultivation reached fourth qi refinement.
"Whew!"
Chun Xiaobai forcefully exhaled a breath of stale air tinged with blood, feeling his whole body loosen.
A puddle had formed around him, made up entirely of sweat expelled from his body, giving off a foul, rank odor.
But in its place, his body was filled with a comfortable sense of relaxation.
This comfort did not come from the benefits of his breakthrough. It was a sense of release bursting from deep within his bloodline, as though he had broken free of some invisible shackles.
"Is this the benefit of opening the Divine Treasury within my body?"
Chun Xiaobai stood up and threw a fourth blood refining punch into the air. The wind from his fist stirred up a resonant boom!
"Bang!"
The wall that had only been repaired yesterday collapsed with a crash under the shock of that fist wind!
"It's this strong?!"
Chun Xiaobai could feel that, with his current strength, he would absolutely thrash Zhao Wuyuan if they fought again!
"I've finally stepped into middle qi refining!"
"Hahahaha!"
Chun Xiaobai's wild laughter echoed endlessly through his cave abode.
Suddenly, his nose twitched and nausea rose in his stomach. Only then did he notice that the entire training room was filled with a powerful stench.
"These must be the impurities expelled from my body!"
He hurriedly opened the cultivation room door, ran to the well in the courtyard, drew a bucket of water, and poured it straight over his head.
As the icy well water washed over him, the healthy, dark tan formed by years of wind and sun slowly faded from his skin, revealing its original color.
"Sure enough, Immortal Cultivation is the best beauty treatment!"
He looked up at the sky and realized that a whole day and night had passed during this cultivation session.
"No wonder they say time means nothing in Immortal Cultivation. The ancients truly didn't deceive me!"
To him, that day and night had felt like only two hours.
Thankfully, the time had not been wasted. He had finally brought his strength up to the threshold of middle qi refining.
But...
If he wanted to improve further, a few thousand spirit stones probably would not be enough.
While he was worrying over this, the courtyard's formation suddenly flickered. Immediately afterward, a "bang, bang, bang" came from the courtyard gate.
"Whoa, is a big shot from the rankings here?"
His mouth spread into a grin, and he rubbed his hands as he ran over.
When he opened the gate, sure enough, a dense crowd of spectators was gathered outside.
Leading them was a male disciple he did not recognize, with thick eyebrows, large eyes, and an imposing presence.
To his left stood Cheng Haoxuan, his face gloomy; to his right was Zhao Wuyuan, wearing a cold sneer. They looked like the two guardian generals, Heng and Ha.
They stared at Chun Xiaobai, expecting to see him scared shitless and groveling.
Instead...
Chun Xiaobai's mouth split into a broad grin, as though he had spotted a beloved son lost for eight hundred years. "Oh my, oh my! Welcome, welcome! A very warm welcome!"
"You're all here to challenge me, right?"
The thick-browed, large-eyed disciple leading them was named Shi Lei. He stepped forward, his voice ringing like a great bell. "That's right! I'm here to challenge you!"
"Mm, I figured."
Still grinning, Chun Xiaobai swept his gaze around and spotted that fatty Fang Yuan in the crowd again. He even saw Bai Jin'er, whom he had not seen for several days.
But the young girl clearly did not have much faith in his strength. Her little face was thick with anxiety.
He called loudly to the crowd.
"What about you? Are you all here to challenge me too?"
"We're not!"
The disciples immediately shook their heads. Then a voice rose from the crowd. "We're here to watch a despicable little worm like you get beaten into a cripple!"
"Who? Who called me a little worm?"
"That's right, you! Don't think I didn't hear you!" Chun Xiaobai pointed straight at a fellow in the crowd with a pointed mouth and monkey-like cheeks.
"You, get out here! Tell me, then-what makes a big man?"
The fellow was not afraid either. He squeezed straight out of the crowd, pointed at Shi Lei, and declared smugly.
"Let me tell you! This is Senior Brother Shi Lei! He ranks eightieth on our Outer Sect's Genius Disciple Ranking and third on the Sword Cultivator Ranking!"
"What?!"
Chun Xiaobai suddenly put on a terrified expression. Looking at Shi Lei, he instinctively stepped back, his voice trembling slightly.
"Eightieth?!"
Before you continue