Ji An spent a night at Red Copper Mountain and bid farewell to Zhang Yuanshan the next morning.
Then he rode the Flying Shuttle to Purple Bamboo Mountain, the last stop of his journey.
Li Lingyu welcod him into her grotto mansion, with a strange smile on her face:
"Junior Brother, you’re quite rare as a guest."
The reputation of Stone Turtle Cultivator was widely spread among the sect’s many alchemists.
Ji An felt baffled:
"Why do you all speak in the sa tone? Senior Brother Ye from Diligence Hall, Senior Brother Zhang from Red Copper Mountain, you all talk weirdly."
This unspoken consensus made him feel like there was sothing going on he wasn’t aware of but everyone else knew.
"You haven’t stepped out of Red Fla Peak in ten years, saying you’re a rare guest isn’t unreasonable, is it?"
"Uh, alright."
Ji An raised both hands, what the other party said made sense, and he was speechless.
He coughed a few tis, took out a talisman paper covered with cinnabar words from his storage bag:
"Senior Sister, I’m here this ti to ask for your help with two things.
First, to help refine this pill.
Second, I want to ask if you can refine other pills to enhance cultivation.
After reaching Third-Layer Foundation Establishnt, the effect of Cyan Spirit Pill has been diminishing, and it can’t et my needs."
In the pills distributed to Early-stage Foundation Establishnt cultivators by the sect, only Cyan Spirit Pill suited him, and swapping for other pills was impossible.
The other party broke through to Third-Layer Foundation Establishnt six months earlier and as an alchemist should be able to refine pills to replace Cyan Spirit Pill.
"Only rembering Senior Sister when there’s sothing you need?"
Li Lingyu took the talisman paper, teasingly.
"Senior Sister’s words aren’t fair, every year I send pine nuts and quality spirit charcoal to your grotto mansion, right?"
"Pine nuts aren’t enough to eat."
Li Lingyu slyly blinked, the fox tail behind her raised up.
"Otherwise, shall I pay spirit stones to buy more from Junior Brother?"
Facing her advance-withdrawal tactic, Ji An shook his head:
"Starting next year, I’ll send dozens of extra pounds to Senior Sister annually, and anything good to let Senior Sister have a taste."
The items aren’t worth many spirit stones, and as an alchemist, she doesn’t lack them; she likely wants the joy of being favored.
At this point, satisfying this little thought is the correct approach.
Li Lingyu smiled sweetly, seriously examining the contents on the talisman paper. After a while she said:
"This pill formula is for refining pills necessary for Earth Elent Demon Beast; judging by the dicinal power, it’s likely for breaking through the Great Realm.
Could it be that Junior Brother’s Spirit-Seeking Rat is about to break through to Foundation Establishnt?"
"Senior Sister has discerning eyes, indeed, Golden Fur has reached Ninth-Layer Qi Refining Perfection for years."
"I don’t have experience refining similar pills, don’t know how many attempts it would take; Junior Brother should be psychologically prepared."
Ji An replied with a smile: "Senior Sister can refine with peace of mind, won’t let Senior Sister suffer a loss."
Refining this pill is much simpler than Foundation Establishnt Pill, the dicinal materials are mostly common herbs, not rare and not expensive. He can afford to waste one or two furnaces.
"I’ll start gathering materials these days; estimate in half a month I can give you news."
Li Lingyu took out a cyan jade bottle from her storage bag and continued:
"You’ve taken too many Cyan Spirit Pills now, developed resistance, and with realm improvent, feeling the pill’s effect diminishing significantly.
This is Cloud Mushroom Pill I refined; its dicinal power is slightly better than Cyan Spirit Pill and it’s also an early-stage Foundation Establishnt pill.
If Cloud Mushroom Pill’s effect isn’t satisfactory, I can’t help; you need to find an alchemist with more pill formulas."
She pointed to the stone door by the wall:
"The quiet chamber is over there; try refining a pill to see its effect."
This Junior Brother buys pills all the ti from her, she started calculating how many Cyan Spirit Pills he had consud over the years.
Ji An poured out a pill from the jade bottle; it’s faintly cyan with two white pill patterns, its gentle fragrance refreshing one’s mind.
He put down the jade bottle and said:
"I’ll refine the pill to see its effect."
Two quarter hours later, Ji An walked out of the stone chamber with a smile, cupping his hands:
"Cloud Mushroom Pill’s effect ets expectations; it should support my breakthrough to Mid-stage Foundation Establishnt. Senior Sister, how many pills do you have and what’s the value?"
The pill’s dicinal power should take an entire hour to fully refine, but he didn’t want to keep her waiting, so he ca out early.
Li Lingyu waved her hand, her sleeve fluttering with a light fragrance:
"It’s good as long as Junior Brother is satisfied; first completely refine the pill, don’t waste its dicinal power. This one is my gift to you, no spirit stones charged."
"Afraid Senior Sister grows impatient," Ji An cupped his hands and returned to the quiet chamber to refine the pill.
By the ti he finished refining the pill, it was already noon.
As they ate and chatted, Li Lingyu said:
"The dicinal material price for refining Cloud Mushroom Pill is slightly higher than Cyan Spirit Pill; the sect’s internal price is thirty spirit stones per pill, buy thirty and get one free."
She started refining Cloud Mushroom Pill only in the recent two years, and with her current level, this price provides very low profit.
"Okay, I’ll take sixty pills."
Ji An took out 20 middle-grade spirit stones, sighed and said:
"The extra spirit stones will serve as a deposit for refining demon beast breakthrough pills. Senior Sister, I might need to owe you for pills in the coming years."
"What, even a big spender has tis when they’re poor?"
Li Lingyu doubted it. The counterpart was a high-tier spirit farr who could amass a substantial fortune even before Foundation Establishnt.
"Well, after the upgrade of the spiritual vein at Red Fla Peak, over a thousand mu of spirit fields were added. I contracted them directly, but it will take years for the crops to produce yield, and the sect’s rent cannot be postponed."
He continued, "In the coming years, besides cultivation ti, a lot of my ti will be spent tending to the spirit fields, compressing the ti for talisman drawing."
"I see. Alright, I’ll give you a credit limit of three thousand spirit stones, no more."
"Okay, when I succeed in a few years, I’ll buy Senior Sister’s pills."
Li Lingyu was speechless; wasn’t it just this?
...
After leaving Purple Bamboo Mountain and returning to Red Fla Peak, Ji An considered his tasks completed.
Every morning, he cultivated his cultivation thod to improve his cultivation and comprehended the cultivation technique divine intent. During the day, he studied the Cyan Yang Talisman Manual and the Glaze-Gold Jade Bone Body, and under the moon, he worked hard.
His schedule was packed, restoring to the state when he first settled into Red Fla Peak.
He mastered the Five Directions Spirit Gathering Technique, discovering it required eight spiritual chanisms to advance, similar to the Spirit Sealing Technique.
However, it was much easier to improve than the Spirit Sealing Technique, consuming slightly more spiritual chanisms than enhancing Qi Refining Stage magic techniques.
Every day, he spent a quarter hour near the volcanic crater, under the erupting golden-red mist, practicing techniques to extract tal elent essence.
The spiritual chanism here was more intense, and he couldn’t persist for long. Each ti he descending from the mountaintop, his skin was flushed as if drunk.
Over half a month went by, and Wei Songnian ca to visit Red Fla Peak.
By the cold pool stone table, Ji An and Wei Songnian sat opposite. The wind furnace’s charcoal burned hotly, and white smoke curled up from the water kettle.
Wei Songnian took out his storage bag and two pieces of middle-grade spirit stones, saying:
"Glad to accomplish the mission. I’ve purchased all the spiritual objects you needed, with a surplus of two hundred spirit stones.
I just returned from Cyan Cloud Immortal City and headed here imdiately."
Ji An brewed spirit tea and picked up the storage bag, saying, "Let check the items."
Regarding cultivation thods, he couldn’t be careless, naturally needing to check carefully.
He took out the jade slip, checked the supplies, and weighed them. After a while, he nodded:
"Not bad, everything’s accurate. Thanks for your help, Junior Brother. How often do you visit Cyan Cloud Immortal City?"
"I’ll need to go again next month; afterward, it should be every three or four months."
Wei Songnian replied, planning to integrate more into the sect’s Foundation Establishnt circle this month, then discuss with the family store in the Immortal City which products to trade.
Ji An took out a jade slip:
"This records so tier two spiritual objects. Please help investigate if there are any channels available for trading or exchanging them.
Particularly the spiritual silk called Golden Spot Spider Silk, see if it’s available for purchase in the Immortal City."
This was the material he lacked for refining the apricot yellow banner. It would be best to gather them soon, otherwise, he’d have to slowly trade for them.
Wei Songnian took the jade slip and read the information, smiling:
"I’ll try my best to find out. They’re all high-tier spiritual objects, so it might be tough to get results shortly."
"Do your best, that’s all. Co, have so tea."
The two chatted for a while, Wei Songnian finished the spirit tea, stood up, and said:
"Senior Brother, I need to go back and arrange the magic array and build the grotto mansion. So many things await my attention. I must bid farewell for now."
Ji An nodded:
"Important matters co first, I won’t keep you any longer.
Once everything is settled, I’ll invite you and the Senior Brother from the two nearby spirit mountains to visit ."
"Alright."
...
Ji An flew the flying shuttle to the mountainside, opened the Dharma prohibition, and entered the grotto mansion.
The place was full of gold and fire Qi, making it suitable as a body tempering site.
He took off his Daoist robe and inner garnt, wearing only shorts, revealing a slightly muscular body.
From his storage bag, he extracted gold-brown mineral powder, mixed it with the necessary potion, and combined the powder and potion into dicinal mud.
The dicinal mud occasionally flashed with golden light, reminiscent of mud mixed with gold powder, emitting a scent of traditional Chinese dicine.
Ji An picked up the dicinal mud and applied it to the exposed skin.
The feel of the dicinal mud was unexpectedly cool, surprising him.
Using his divine sense, he ensured no part was missed, then started to operate the Glaze-Gold Jade Bone Body for the first skin refining.
Ji An assud a stance, adjusted his breathing rhythm, and with the effect of inner breath, his skin pulsed and subsided from the lower abdon.
It was as if waves surged up and down, slightly deforming the muscles.
The cool sensation from the dicinal mud gradually turned warm, soon scorching, accompanied by prickling pain.
The pain was bearable but continuous, perating from the skin into the muscles.
As he breathed, the dicinal mud emitted tiny sparkling lights.
After half an hour, Ji An felt the pain had completely subsided, realizing the dicinal mud had lost its potency.
The mud that was once soft like sludge had hardened, and as he moved, clumps fell off, exposing reddened skin.
"No wonder not many cultivators choose body refining. Whether cultivating the Qingyuan Scripture or Cyan Wood Longevity Skill, the body feels comfortable most of the ti, while body refining never feels pleasant even for a mont."
Ji An rested a bit, checked the state of his skin, found it could still bear it, and proceeded with another round of skin refining.
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