Showing his hand

Time flew, and another few months passed.

After spending a few days showing Han Li how to tend the Herb Garden, Lin Yun left him to look after it on his own. He settled into his daily cultivation and sword refinement, mastering several more illustrations of the White Yang Diagram.

Han Li truly had a knack for tending the Herb Garden. Even without using the Little Green Bottle, he kept everything in perfect order. After visiting a few times, Martial Uncle Ma began to see him in a new light and even vouched for him so he could visit Yuelu Hall.

Although Han Li did not particularly doubt Lin Yun's claim that Yellow Maple Valley had only two pill formulas, caution-and his refusal to give up-still drove him to visit Yuelu Hall.

After that, he gave up completely.

From then on, Han Li began hoping that Lin Yun would soon enter seclusion to take his Foundation Establishment Pill, giving him a chance to accelerate the medicinal herbs' growth and refine Yellow Dragon Pills in bulk to advance his cultivation.

Unfortunately, Han Li did not know that Lin Yun had no intention of taking the Foundation Establishment Pill. For months, he could only wait in vain, without a single chance to use the Little Green Bottle.

That night, Lin Yun left his room and placed the Dew-Catching Plate in an open spot in the Herb Garden, preparing to collect Yin-Yang Dew.

After several months of cultivation, his stock of pills was nearly exhausted. It was also almost time to deliver medicine to Xin Ruoyin, so he decided to refine a batch of pills that night.

Although Han Li was also in the Herb Garden, Lin Yun was not afraid of letting him discover how he refined pills.

As dawn approached, the hazy, clear light over the Dew-Catching Plate began to fade. A shallow layer of Yin-Yang Dew had collected in the plate, glittering with golden and silver starlight.

Lin Yun stored the Yin-Yang Dew in a jade bottle, took out his pill furnace, and began refining pills, paying no heed to Han Li's spying from the thatched cottage behind him.

Han Li had been secretly watching ever since Lin Yun left his room to collect Yin-Yang Dew.

When he saw Lin Yun collecting Yin-Yang Dew with the Dew-Catching Plate, along with the strange phenomenon above it, he nearly cried out in shock.

Apart from being far less conspicuous, the phenomenon that appeared when the Dew-Catching Plate gathered Yin-Yang Dew bore a striking resemblance to that of his Little Green Bottle!

Han Li watched wide-eyed as Lin Yun poured the Yin-Yang Dew into a jade bottle, his mind reeling. What is that plate? Why does this look somewhat like the green liquid collected by the Little Green Bottle? Does Senior Brother Lin know something?

Countless questions welled up in Han Li's mind as he watched Lin Yun's movements a short distance away without blinking.

After collecting the dew, Lin Yun actually took out a pill furnace and an oil lamp, then performed a series of actions Han Li could not understand.

Whether Lin Yun was plucking leaves and petals from the medicinal plants and drawing out wisps of azure spiritual energy, or pouring the dew flecked with starlight into the furnace, Han Li watched in utter bewilderment. Aside from recognizing that this must be pill refinement, he understood nothing of what Lin Yun was doing.

After Han Li had watched stiffly for nearly an hour, Lin Yun slapped the furnace. Cloudlike vapor rose from within, transforming into a cloud-shaped lingzhi mushroom that bore several dozen pills of different colors.

This is pill refinement?! How incredible! Is this how pills are refined in the cultivation world? My Yellow Dragon Pills cannot compare at all! Han Li was astonished by the sight of the finished pills emerging.

Lin Yun took out an assortment of pill bottles and sorted the pills into them one by one.

Once he had put everything away, Lin Yun used a rain-conjuring spell to turn the remaining portion of Yin-Yang Dew in the jade bottle into fine droplets, scattering them over the herb beds to replenish the medicinal potency and vital essence consumed during the refinement.

Nourished by the rain and dew, the medicinal plants immediately brimmed with fresh vitality. Beneath the morning light, they looked tender and glistening.

Before returning to his room, Lin Yun cast a seemingly casual glance toward Han Li's room. His spiritual sense took in every detail of Han Li's astonished expression.

Chuckling inwardly, Lin Yun returned to his room.

After watching Lin Yun scatter the rain and dew, Han Li was shaken beyond measure. What is that dew? It seems capable of accelerating plant growth. Why is it so much like the green liquid?!

Once daylight fully broke, Han Li began tending the herb beds, his mind weighed down with questions. Every so often, his gaze drifted toward Lin Yun's door.

Only after Han Li finished tending the herb beds did Lin Yun complete his cultivation and leave his room.

"Morning, Junior Brother Han." Noticing Han Li's expression, Lin Yun greeted him.

Inwardly, however, he chuckled. Looks like I gave the old devil quite a scare.

Han Li answered somewhat stiffly. He desperately wanted to ask about what had happened that morning, but his instinctive caution left him unsure how to broach the subject.

Seeing Han Li's awkwardness, Lin Yun chuckled inwardly for a moment before saying, "Junior Brother Han, I'll be leaving the mountain for a while. I'll return in a month at the earliest, or three months at the latest. Thank you for taking care of the Herb Garden on your own while I'm away."

Having startled Han Li that morning, he ought to give him some time to settle his nerves-a little push and pull. Besides, he had not seen Han Li use the Little Green Bottle these past few months, so it was time to give him an opportunity.

Han Li froze for a moment at those words, then was overjoyed. Although he desperately wanted to know what connection Lin Yun's plate had to the Little Green Bottle, Lin Yun's temporary absence would finally let him use the bottle to accelerate the growth of a batch of medicinal herbs.

He immediately said, "Rest assured, Senior Brother Lin. I'll take good care of the Herb Garden."

Lin Yun nodded. Then, as though suddenly remembering something, he took a pill bottle from his Storage Bag and tossed it to Han Li. "I happen to have a bottle of Peiyuan Pills. They're quite effective at strengthening the foundation and nourishing the origin, so you can have them."

The bottle of Peiyuan Pills Lin Yun gave Han Li was not the sort of casually refined stuff he had previously given Elder Ye's grandnephew. These were high-quality pills fresh from the furnace that morning. This bottle alone could allow a cultivator with fake spiritual roots like Han Li to advance two cultivation levels beyond the ninth level of Qi Refinement.

After Lin Yun left, Han Li held the pill bottle and pondered for a while before pouring out a pill.

Looking at the yellow pill in his hand, lustrous as jade, Han Li was astonished. It looked nothing like his own Yellow Dragon Pills. Instead, it resembled a yellow jade bead.

After holding the pill between his fingers and examining it carefully for a moment, Han Li lowered his head and sniffed it gently, but could detect no medicinal fragrance whatsoever.

After a moment's hesitation, Han Li put the pill into his mouth.

To his surprise, unlike the pills he had taken before, this one did not need to be swallowed into his stomach. The instant it entered his mouth, it dissolved into a warm current that flowed down his throat and into his body.

Han Li immediately felt a gentle surge of spiritual power with a long-lasting force behind it. It erupted within his body along with the warm current, and he hurriedly sat cross-legged and circulated his cultivation technique, beginning to refine the spiritual power.

After the time it took to eat a meal, Han Li

finished cultivating. Sensing the increase in his cultivation, he looked astonished. "One Peiyuan Pill is worth several bottles of Yellow Dragon Pills!"

Han Li stared eagerly at the bottle of pills in his hand. "This bottle is enough to advance my Evergreen Technique by two levels!"

Then another thought occurred to him, and hesitation appeared on his face. I wonder if I could trade Senior Brother Lin for the Peiyuan Pill formula. But judging by his refinement methods this morning, these Peiyuan Pills must be very difficult to make, right?