Red Leaf Square, Lin Family residence.
"Xueying, how are matters with the Fire Resistance Pills?" A dignified middle-aged man past forty asked the young woman before him.
This man was none other than the Lin Family head, Lin Anshuo.
"Father, don't worry. I've already found three Pill Refinement Masters I can trust!" The young woman tugged on the middle-aged man's arm and swayed it back and forth.
"By the way, since the Fire Resistance Pills are so important, wouldn't it be better to find Pill Refinement Masters within the family?" The young woman looked at her father in confusion.
"The family's Pill Refinement Masters have other duties. Besides, Fire Resistance Pills are merely low-grade first-tier pills. If the few of you refine them, it won't draw anyone's attention!" The middle-aged man looked at his daughter fondly as he explained.
"With this Fire Essence Stone mine, our Lin Family will surely shine in splendor!" The young woman's eyes blazed.
Fire Essence Stone was an extremely common fire-element material used in artifact refinement.
Ordinary fire-element artifacts would all have this material added to them.
A fist-sized Fire Essence Stone often sold for more than ten spirit stones.
This showed just how valuable an entire Fire Essence Stone mine was.
Perhaps it could even nurture a True Core cultivator for the Lin Family in the future.
However, the place where the Fire Essence Stone vein lay was rich in fire essence power. Ordinary cultivators simply could not remain there for long.
Much less mine through rock and excavate spirit ore.
Fortunately, the cultivation world had miraculous pills such as Fire Resistance Pills. After taking one, a layer of protection would form around a cultivator's body, effectively warding off the invasion of fire essence power.
The effect lasted as long as three days.
Thus, refining these Fire Essence Pills was meant to protect the cultivators mining Fire Essence Stones, allowing them to devote themselves wholeheartedly to excavation.
Five days passed in the blink of an eye.
Over those five days, Zhou Xun had completely mastered the refinement of Fire Essence Pills.
Those five portions of ingredients had also been refined into Fire Essence Pills by Zhou Xun.
Aside from the first batch, which produced several inferior pills, each of the remaining four batches yielded more than ten pills, all of them standard-grade.
"The function of Fire Resistance Pills is to ward off fire essence power. Why is the Lin Family purchasing so many Fire Resistance Pills?"
"Could they have discovered some fire-element spirit mine?" Zhou Xun immediately guessed the truth.
However, he did not say it aloud. After all, he was only responsible for refining pills. As for what the refined pills would be used for and where they would go, that was none of his concern.
And so, more than two months passed.
Zhou Xun and Miss Lin had also become familiar with one another.
During this round of refinement, Zhou Xun displayed fifty percent of his pill refinement skill. Coupled with the experiences of his previous life, he had some different ideas about pill refinement.
All of this made Miss Lin view Zhou Xun in a new light.
Two thousand li due north of Red Leaf Square, at the foot of a towering mountain, large numbers of low-level cultivators raised their spirit picks and swung them with all their might.
Whenever someone dug out a fist-sized Fire Essence Stone, they would cheer.
What they did not know was that in a corner beyond their sight, a gray rat was staring intently at them.
More than ten li away, a young man in red waited anxiously. Before long, a rat returned to his hand, squeaking as though telling him something.
The man then swiftly departed, racing toward Red Leaf Square.
If anyone had seen him, they would have recognized that his robe belonged to the Wu Family of Red Leaf Square.
We're rich!
Red Leaf Square, Wu Family residence.
Inside a secret chamber, several people clad in red robes were discussing something.
"Seventh, tell the elders what you discovered." A middle-aged man in a red robe spoke, instructing the young man to his left.
This man was specifically responsible for tracking and covert investigations for the Wu Family. The Spirit Concealment Art he cultivated excelled at concealment and tracking.
"Yes, Family Head!" The man cupped his hands in acknowledgment.
He then began recounting his discovery:
"By the Family Head's order, I followed the Lin Family's Fifth Elder and discovered that he had actually mingled with the steward of Hundred Refinements Pavilion. The two chatted and laughed as they dined together."
"The Lin Family mainly grows spirit herbs and refines pills, while Hundred Refinements Pavilion specializes in artifact refinement. How could these two have become involved with each other?"
"Afterward, I continued following this Fifth Elder. After he left White Cloud Immortal City, he traveled west, flying for an entire month."
"In the end, he arrived at a great mountain two thousand li northwest of Red Leaf Square."
"Afterward, I sent a tracking rat inside to investigate. There was actually a Fire Essence Stone spirit mine there!"
"This must be why the Lin Family has been associating so closely with Hundred Refinements Pavilion!"
As he spoke, the man took an egg-sized fiery-red stone from his robes.
Several Elders took it and examined it carefully.
"It truly is Fire Essence Stone!"
"Hmph, the Lin Family actually dared to break the rules and hide a mine for themselves!"
When the Four Great Clans of Red Leaf Square were established five hundred years ago, they had formed a pact to watch over and support one another, four surnames as one family. If a spirit mine were discovered, it had to be shared among all four families.
"No wonder they've developed so quickly in recent years. In just a few decades, their strength has nearly caught up to our Wu Family!" An Elder with white hair and beard rebuked angrily.
"We must inform the Sun and Li Families of this matter and make the Lin Family hand over that mine!" The Elder's face was full of indignation.
In truth, if they themselves had obtained such a spirit mine, they would never have shared it with the other three families.
But when they were the ones being kept in the dark, naturally they could not stomach it.
"I think we can use this opportunity to drive the Lin Family out," the middle-aged man said calmly.
"Drive them out?" Everyone was greatly shocked.
"Family Head, ever since Red Leaf Square was founded, the Wu, Lin, Sun, and Li Families have stood together through thick and thin for five hundred years. Must that bond be destroyed starting today?" The oldest Elder in the room shook his head and asked.
"Perhaps the Elders do not know, but my elder brother has now advanced to Foundation Establishment Perfection. Meanwhile, a stalk of Essence Nectar Grass happens to be growing in the Lin Family's secret herb garden."
"That is the main ingredient of the Essence Crystallization Pill, which can raise the chances of forming a core by thirty percent. If we obtain it, with my elder brother's Earth Spiritual Root aptitude, his chance of achieving a Low-Grade True Core will be as high as eighty percent."
"Even for a mid-grade True Core, it will be as high as sixty percent. Even for a Superior True Core, it will still be as high as forty percent."
"In that case, our Wu Family may also break through the shackles of five hundred years and become a True Core lineage!"
"Foundation Establishment Perfection? Is that true? Zongdao has actually reached such a realm?" The Wu Family Elders were overjoyed.
"If that is the case, driving out the Lin Family is not impossible!" A fierce glint flashed through the oldest Elder's eyes.
Wu Zongdao, the blood elder brother of Wu Zongheng, the Wu Family head, possessed extraordinary talent and a metal-element Earth Spiritual Root.
After his Earth Spiritual Root had been tested, the Wu Family hid him away and publicly declared that he had perished.
In reality, he had been secretly nurtured elsewhere. After all, an Earth Spiritual Root was a naturally born seed for core formation, enough to provoke the wariness of others.
Only the Wu Family head and the Foundation Establishment Elders knew this secret.
Unexpectedly, in less than a hundred years, this boy had cultivated all the way to Foundation Establishment Perfection.
"I wonder how the Family Head intends to persuade the Sun and Li Families?"
"The Sun Family's main business lies in beast taming and purchasing demon beast materials. Now that a Tier 3 Great Demon has emerged in Hundred Savages Mountain, its influence has spread outward, and many demon-hunting cultivators have returned."
"The Sun Family's business has also been severely affected. From my observations, these past few years have brought in less than thirty percent of their former earnings."
"If they do not find a way to change things, they will likely soon fall to the bottom among the Four Great Clans. If, after destroying the Lin Family, we agree to hand all of the Lin Family's pill business to the Sun Family, they will certainly be tempted."
"As for the Li Family, they were already ranked last among our Four Great Clans, and now they are even more devoid of successors. Only Li Shanjiao at the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage is barely holding things together. You all know Li Shanjiao is already over a hundred and fifty years old, with little lifespan remaining. If we offer one second-tier Longevity Pill and one Foundation Establishment Pill as compensation, they will certainly agree!"
"Is it worth paying such a great price?" The oldest Elder was somewhat displeased.
A second-tier Longevity Pill could extend a cultivator's lifespan by thirty years. It was extraordinarily valuable, and every time one appeared, Foundation Establishment cultivators fought over it.
That second-tier Longevity Pill of the family had originally been prepared for him.
Given the Li Family's current situation, they naturally could not refuse those two pills.
"If my elder brother breaks through to the True Core realm, what would a mere Longevity Pill amount to?" The Wu Family head snorted disdainfully.
"Good, then we shall proceed thus!" That Wu Family Elder also saw the light, and the other two Wu Family Elders agreed one after another.
Danbao Pavilion, Alchemy Room.
Zhou Xun was refining Fire Barrier Pills.
During this time, Zhou Xun's refinement of Fire Barrier Pills had reached the point of consummate mastery.
Every batch of Fire Barrier Pills consistently yielded around eleven pills.
However, he still claimed ten to outsiders.
Even so, his yield of Fire Barrier Pills was the highest aside from Miss Lin's.
Every five days, he had to hand over the Fire Barrier Pills he had refined to Miss Lin, Lin Xueying.
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