"The net of law is vast, its meshes wide, yet nothing slips through."
"Within the net, all are mere flies."
Lu Ming murmured Lu Jin's words to himself. Though he did not quite understand what they meant, he could faintly sense the absolute suppression and control contained within them.
For he knew that those so-called flies should include Divine Ability Masters like Lu Jin.
Yet Lu Jin's earlier appearance, clad in a Divine Ability Feather Robe and looking like a divine general, had already left him deeply shaken. By comparison...
It was clear how immeasurable a Grandmaster's might was, as deep as an abyss, as forbidding as a prison.
"You're still a long way from that level. There's no need for you to know the details."
Lu Jin smiled at Lu Ming and brought the conversation back. "Let's stop practicing the Flame Blade for today. You have little primordial Qi in your body right now, so you shouldn't train for too long. Otherwise, the fire Qi will erode your bones and harm your foundation instead."
"But you can try out the effects of a Bone-Tempering Pill."
Lu Ming was reluctant to stop, but he followed Lu Jin's advice. He could clearly feel that his right palm was especially hot, and a faint burning pain ran through its flesh and bones. That was the result of practicing the Flame Blade too often.
He took out a High-Grade Bone Refining Pill. The pill was round and smooth, with flecks of golden light patterned across its surface, and gave off a faint, unusual fragrance.
Lu Ming sat cross-legged on a nearby stone platform and popped the High-Grade Bone Refining Pill into his mouth.
The moment the pill entered his mouth, it turned into surging medicinal power that roared through his body like a torrent. In the end, it gathered above the Divine Ability Bone within him, forming what looked like a cloud of crimson mist.
Countless crimson specks of light scattered down onto the Divine Ability Bone, bringing a scorching, tingling sensation.
"What potent medicinal power! Its tempering effect is far greater than Divine Ability cultivation." Lu Ming sensed with delight that, tempered by the Bone-Tempering Pill's medicinal power, his Divine Ability Bone had become extremely active. A faint, strange rumbling seemed to echo from it.
Sure enough, "popping pills" was always the most obvious way to improve one's strength.
The five strands of Glazed Heavenly Light circling the Divine Ability Bone also began to flow, drawing in the medicinal power and speeding up its absorption.
Before he knew it, an hour had passed.
The cloud of medicinal power above the Divine Ability Bone had grown somewhat thinner.
This High-Grade Bone Refining Pill's medicinal power is so potent and pure that even with my sub-heaven-grade Divine Ability Bone, it'll take a full day to absorb it all...
But it really is worthy of being a High-Grade Bone Refining Pill. Its effect on tempering the Divine Ability Bone is stronger than I ever imagined. This one hour is probably worth two days of cultivation. If I absorb all its medicinal power, I can probably complete a tenth of the bone-tempering process.
The only trouble is these pill impurities...
Lu Ming directed his mind toward his Divine Ability Bone. He could see that as the Bone-Tempering Pill's medicinal power continued to merge into it, nearly imperceptible crimson medicinal spots had begun to appear on its surface.
These spots were impurities contained in the pill. If they were not removed after absorption was complete, they would accumulate over time and turn into pill toxins, eroding his underlying foundation.
For many Divine Ability Practitioners, removing medicinal spots and impurities was a time-consuming nuisance.
Buzz!
Just as Lu Ming was wondering how to quickly get rid of these pill impurities, he suddenly felt his Divine Ability Bone tremble slightly. Sweeping his senses over it, he saw to his surprise that the mysterious fire lotus mark on the bone was slowly giving off a fiery glow.
The glow was a little brighter than before, and it quickly spread across the Divine Ability Bone.
Lu Ming's heart jolted. He saw with his own eyes that wherever the glow flowed, the medicinal spots formed by the pill impurities that had seeped into his Divine Ability Bone turned into wisps of black smoke and vanished in an instant.
The pill impurities have been eliminated?!
Lu Ming was utterly astonished. The fire lotus mark actually had the miraculous ability to refine away pill impurities too?
After his astonishment came a surge of joy. With this ability to refine impurities and remove pill toxins, didn't that mean he could use Bone-Tempering Pills without restraint, without having to spend so much thought and time dealing with the hidden danger of pill impurities?!
Combined with the speed at which his sub-heaven-grade Divine Ability Bone absorbed pills, Lu Ming felt... his bone-tempering progress would be quite astonishing.
At that thought, Lu Ming opened his eyes.
"A-Ming, how was the bone-tempering effect?" Lu Jin and the other two had stayed beside Lu Ming for the entire hour. Seeing him open his eyes, they hurriedly asked.
"I should be able to absorb all the medicinal power of this High-Grade Bone Refining Pill in one day," Lu Ming replied.
"Tsk."
Lu Jinglei clicked his tongue enviously. "What an impressive sub-heaven-grade Divine Ability Bone. That absorption speed is much better than that ungrateful wretch Zhang Yue's. I remember when he first used a Bone-Tempering Pill, it took him a full three days to absorb its medicinal power."
"You took five days to absorb even one mid-grade Bone-Tempering Pill, and you still have the nerve to laugh at someone else?" Lu Jin scolded him, sparing his son no face.
Lu Jinglei could only look chagrined.
Lu Jin turned to Lu Ming, his expression shifting to one of kindness in an instant. "Once you've absorbed all the medicinal power of this Bone-Tempering Pill, be sure to expel the pill impurities that have seeped into your Divine Ability Bone before you use another."
Hearing this, Lu Ming scratched his head. "Grandpa, the pill impurities have all been removed already."
All three froze. "What did you say?"
So Lu Ming told them about the mysterious fire lotus's wondrous effect.
Gasp!
All three drew a light breath of cold air.
"It can even remove the pill impurities that have seeped into the Divine Ability Bone?" Lu Jinglei's rugged, fierce face was filled with astonishment.
Lu Jin pondered. "That mysterious fire lotus can even temper a Divine Ability Bone and raise its grade. Refining away impurities that have seeped into the bone isn't all that extraordinary by comparison."
Lu Qingyan murmured, "Doesn't that mean A-Ming can use Bone-Tempering Pills one after another?"
The three exchanged glances, each seeing the shock in the others' eyes. Lu Ming could absorb one High-Grade Bone Refining Pill in a day, and now he no longer had to worry about pill impurities eroding his foundation. He really could swallow Bone-Tempering Pills without restraint, and his bone-tempering progress would reach a frightening speed.
But the next moment, Lu Qingyan came to his senses and, with a bitter smile, poured a bucket of cold water over them.
"One High-Grade Bone Refining Pill a day..."
"I don't think we can afford it."
Lu Qingyan's words made the smiles on Lu Jin and Lu Jinglei's faces gradually fade. A High-Grade Bone Refining Pill cost five hundred grains of Heavenly Gold Sand, while Thunderfire Hall's monthly income was only a little over a thousand grains, barely enough to buy two.
Even if they spent all their current savings, they probably would not last many days.
"Damn it, this is all that ungrateful wretch's fault! He ate up the resources Thunderfire Hall had saved over so many years. What a beast!" The hot-tempered Lu Jinglei's face darkened as he burst into curses.
Thunderfire Hall had once had some savings, but over the years, they had spent nearly everything supporting the cultivation of Zhang Yue and his high-grade Divine Ability Bone. Otherwise, they would not be so hard-pressed now.
"Enough of that nonsense."
Lu Jin frowned and lit the pipe in his hand, taking a deep drag. His weathered, aged face appeared and disappeared in the smoke. At last, his calm, resolute voice emerged from it. "A-Ming's supply of High-Grade Bone Refining Pills can't stop. First, take out all the savings the hall can spare and buy as many as we can. As for the Dharma Pattern Pills you need for your cultivation, go without them for a while."
Hearing this, Lu Ming hurriedly said, "Grandpa, wouldn't mid-grade or low-grade Bone-Tempering Pills work about as well?"
Lu Jin shook his head and said gravely, "People develop resistance to pills of the same kind. The more they take, the less effective they gradually become, so naturally we should use the best."
"You don't need to worry about the family's affairs. Just concentrate on cultivating."
Lu Ming looked at the old man's aged, stern, and resolute face and could only fall silent. At that moment, he felt the responsibility on his shoulders grow heavier.
Lu Jin had placed all his hopes on him.
Lu Qingyan and Lu Jinglei had no objections to the old man's decision. After all, they both knew Lu Ming's potential. As long as they made it through this most difficult period, all of Thunderfire Hall would rise with him.
"I hear the new market lord of Qingyuan Market will take office in the next few days, so next month's Divine Ability Hall Gathering can be held as scheduled. If we can recruit a batch of new members there, that should help ease this urgent crisis." Lu Jin tapped his pipe, scattering ash, and a thoughtful look appeared on his aged face.
The annual hall gathering was personally presided over by the market lord of Qingyuan Market. The market lord was appointed by the domain lord's residence of the Great Luo Domain and was, in name, the highest authority in all of Qingyuan Market.
With that official backing, newcomers within Qingyuan Market's jurisdiction who wished to set foot on the Dao of Divine Abilities would flock to the gathering and find a Divine Ability Hall to their liking, joining it to cultivate.
For Qingyuan Market's major Divine Ability Halls, this was an annual event they could not afford to miss, because the new members recruited on that day were as many as they would normally recruit in more than half a year.
For a third-tier Divine Ability Hall like Thunderfire Hall, the annual fee for each member was two hundred grains of Heavenly Gold Sand. As long as they could recruit fifty people, they would be able to supply the Bone-Tempering Pills Lu Ming needed for his next two rounds of bone tempering in time.
However...
Lu Jinglei frowned deeply. "The news that Zhang Yue left Thunderfire Hall is all over Qingyuan Market now. Everyone outside is saying our hall is as shortsighted as a mouse, and that woman is clearly stirring things up behind it. Under these circumstances, I'm afraid Thunderfire Hall's recruitment at this year's gathering will be affected badly."
Lu Jin's thin hand stroked his pipe as his calm, aged voice sounded in a low tone.
"No matter how much we're affected, we have to do our best to fight for A-Ming's cultivation resources. If nothing else works, I'll make a trip into the depths of the Black Rain Zone. I'm a Divine Ability Master, after all. Surely I can afford to support my grandson's cultivation?"