Ever since returning to the Divine Firmament Sword Sect, Ying Huaixu had been in a foul mood.
First, he reviewed his fight with the City Lord.
Even though he was practically cheating, he still couldn't beat the City Lord at the ninth layer of body tempering.
The bastard had simply kept his distance, never giving him a chance to get close.
Even with flawless execution, he couldn't beat that City Lord before reaching meridian opening.
Only after reaching the Meridian Opening Realm could he return to familiar territory.
In the game, a boss's strength had been nothing more than a difference in stats to Ying Huaixu.
But now, it wasn't just about stats.
Bosses had brains too. And as long as they had enough spiritual energy, their skills seemed to have no cooldown at all.
That City Lord hadn't even had much combat experience.
Yet Ying Huaixu had still nearly died.
One hit from the City Lord had instantly cost him over two hundred Blood-Coagulating Pills!
If he encountered someone with plenty of combat experience, would the few game mechanics he still had give him any advantage?
Aside from that, the unexpected developments involving He Xiuyuan and Ye Ningshuang had caught Ying Huaixu off guard.
He could understand why Ye Ningshuang was acting like a useless little thing right now.
After all, she had only been at body tempering first layer when she left the sect. After one trip out to gain experience, she had already reached body tempering seventh layer.
The girl was rather innocent to begin with. That was already a decent achievement.
Besides, the City Lord boss had only been meant as one step toward changing Ye Ningshuang's mindset.
Ying Huaixu had never expected Ye Ningshuang to handle the City Lord in the first place.
But what the hell had happened with He Xiuyuan?
Why had that guy dropped straight off to sleep?
Because of He Xiuyuan, he had been forced to reach meridian opening ahead of schedule, throwing all his plans into disarray.
Originally, he had planned to stockpile a hundred thousand experience points, give himself a substantial boost after reaching meridian opening, then slowly take on some Hanging Mountain missions and progress steadily.
But after He Xiuyuan's stunt, Ying Huaixu had no choice but to rethink his progression path.
"No. Something like that business with the City Lord must never happen again!"
Ying Huaixu felt that, since this wasn't a game anymore, there were still plenty of things he could change.
Not only could he change things, he could even get the story back on track.
For instance, he was now putting everything into developing Ye Ningshuang.
As long as he raised Ye Ningshuang's cultivation, wouldn't he be able to kick back and relax?
There was no way Ying Huaixu was going to show off in front of everyone, anyway.
This world was far too dangerous, and he valued his life dearly.
Ying Huaixu had a very clear idea of his role.
He couldn't be too ordinary, but he absolutely couldn't be an attention-seeker either.
Yes, keeping a low profile was the best approach.
Of course, he had to finish today's daily quest first.
Ying Huaixu checked the map and was instantly speechless.
The daily quest marker was still on Huang Tianqi.
Seriously? You're a fucking alchemist. Can't you go find your own herbs once in a while?
Resigned, Ying Huaixu opened the quest panel and checked the daily quest's details.
"The sect's Huang Tianqi is troubled over finding an herb called dewgrass..."
Ying Huaixu couldn't help rubbing his temples.
The sect has a whole damn herb garden! What the fuck are you worried about?
Helplessly, Ying Huaixu headed to the herb garden, collected three stalks of dewgrass, then hurried to the alchemy room.
When he reached the entrance, he saw Huang Tianqi waiting anxiously.
The moment Huang Tianqi spotted Ying Huaixu, he hurried over to greet him.
"Junior brother, are your injuries any better? I have some Healing Pills here!"
As he spoke, Huang Tianqi took out a small porcelain bottle and handed it to Ying Huaixu.
Ying Huaixu froze.
Well, damn. Huang Tianqi was this good to me?
Seeing Ying Huaixu staring blankly, Huang Tianqi quickly said, "Just take them, junior brother. My father is the peak master of Pill Peak. I have plenty of these. Besides, they're only Healing Pills. They're worth next to nothing to me!"
"If you really feel bad about taking them, you could do me a favor!"
Ying Huaixu handed the dewgrass straight to Huang Tianqi.
Huang Tianqi was utterly bewildered.
I haven't even said anything, and you already know what I want?
"No one understands me like you do, Huaixu!"
"Ding! Daily quest completed. Reward: 3,000 experience!"
Ying Huaixu froze.
The experience reward had gone up again!
At the same time, Ying Huaixu's opinion of Huang Tianqi improved considerably.
Naturally, he didn't turn down the Healing Pills either.
But when Ying Huaixu opened the little porcelain bottle, he couldn't help freezing for a moment.
Huang Tianqi had really given him quite a lot.
Over a hundred top-grade Sweet Dew Pills.
These pills were worth a considerable sum.
With these, he could retire his Blood-Coagulating Pills.
The healing power of Blood-Coagulating Pills was adequate for body tempering, but fell rather short at meridian opening.
If his body couldn't instantly absorb pills and automatically take them without a cooldown, they really wouldn't have been much use.
"Do you have the Pill Formula for these?"
Ying Huaixu suddenly asked.
Huang Tianqi smiled.
"Junior brother, my father is the peak master of Pill Peak. What do you think?"
With that, Huang Tianqi generously handed Ying Huaixu the formulas for both Sweet Dew Pills and Second-Tier Spirit-Returning Pills.
After taking the formulas, Ying Huaixu turned and entered the Pill Room.
"Wait, junior brother. May I watch?"
Ying Huaixu nodded.
Huang Tianqi instantly grew excited.
He watched Ying Huaixu refine pills, going over every step of the process in his mind again and again.
Before long, Ying Huaixu finally finished his first batch of pills, though he wasn't very satisfied with the results.
Even in the real world, some of his habits as a player were impossible to shake.
When it came to pills, for instance, he wouldn't give anything below supreme grade a second glance.
So Ying Huaixu tossed the High-Grade Sweet Dew Pills into the basket beside him as though they were trash.
Then he continued grinding proficiency.
Finally, after the third batch, he maxed out his Sweet Dew Pill proficiency and unlocked Automatic Alchemy.
Once again, Ying Huaixu dumped two hundred portions of herbs into the furnace all at once.
Huang Tianqi went numb.
Here it comes, here it comes! That familiar feeling is back!
Still, the sheer number of pills Ying Huaixu produced was genuinely frightening.
Huang Tianqi couldn't help silently cursing his father again.
He's getting worse with age. Blind as a bat!
After some thought, Huang Tianqi also handed Ying Huaixu the formula for Qi-Gathering Pills, which cultivators at meridian opening used in their cultivation.
"Junior brother, take this too!"
Ying Huaixu glanced at it and immediately smiled.
This guy really did know how to deliver exactly what he needed, right when he needed it.
Still, Ying Huaixu wasn't sure whether Qi-Gathering Pills would work on him.
After all, he raised his cultivation through experience and spirit stones, and the stones he used were all Supreme Spirit Stones.
He planned to try them after he got back.
Then, over the course of half a day, Ying Huaixu once again raised his pill-refining proficiency, this time with Qi-Gathering Pills, to the point where he could leave the process running automatically.
Seeing Ying Huaixu's brutal approach to alchemy once again, Huang Tianqi knew he couldn't learn that.
But he had learned enough.
He had already memorized most of Ying Huaixu's pill-refining techniques. All he needed now was to properly digest them.
Meanwhile, Ying Huaixu carried five or six Storage Bags straight to the Pill Room's manager and exchanged everything inside for contribution points.
After all, cultivation methods for meridian opening could only be exchanged for contribution points!
Before you continue