According to Han Lang's original plan, over five days, he first needed about two days to refine a new batch of Spirit Gathering Pills.
After the closed-door cultivation ended, Tang Qin and Ma Long, and even his own supply of Spirit Gathering Pills would be running low!
If they weren't replenished, their subsequent cultivation would have to rely on the spiritual energy from the 6th major spiritual vein of the Special Task Force, just like other cultivators!
Due to the previous upgrade of the three-story pagoda, the area within it and the flow of time had significantly increased. Coupled with the fact that these spirit herbs had been growing for nearly three months.
Therefore,
The ages of the spirit herbs required for refining this batch of Spirit Gathering Pills ranged from a minimum of 200 years to a maximum of over 700 years.
The quality of the Spirit Gathering Pills refined with these spirit herbs would naturally be a significant leap from before!
The time spent refining them would also be longer!
However, Han Lang's strength had also increased considerably. His control over the heat for refining pills and his endurance during the refining process had also improved greatly. Thus, his refining efficiency could naturally be much faster.
With these factors balancing each other out, the time spent refining this batch of Spirit Gathering Pills was almost exactly two days.
"Phew! With this batch of higher-quality Spirit Gathering Pills, our cultivation speed should also be much faster than before! I hope after using this batch, everyone's strength can advance further!"
After completing the refinement, Han Lang carefully divided the pills into four portions, each containing over two hundred pills.
He planned to give one portion to Tang Geng!
After all, Han Kang was no longer in need. Although the surplus could be stored in the three-story pagoda, Han Lang felt it was no longer necessary.
Because he felt that he might break through to the Golden Core stage in not much time.
At that point, the spiritual energy concentration contained in low-grade pills like Spirit Gathering Pills would likely be quite insufficient for his daily cultivation.
For this reason, he would have to reserve a portion of space within the three-story pagoda to cultivate higher-grade pills he needed.
And once everyone completed their breakthrough to the Golden Core stage, the demand for high-grade pills would naturally skyrocket.
At that time, Spirit Gathering Pills would be completely phased out by him. The original locations used for cultivating Spirit Gathering Pills should naturally be replanted with other high-grade spirit herbs.
Therefore, for Tang Geng, whom he recognized as a friend and had now become a comrade, Han Lang did not intend to be stingy this time!
"In that case, over 200 Spirit Gathering Pills should be enough for everyone to consume for a long time, right? After this closed-door cultivation, I wonder what the missions will be like in the Special Task Force. Will there be time to refine pills again? Cherish the moment!"
With a slight sigh, Han Lang did not delay. He sat cross-legged again and began the next stage of his cultivation.
This time, he intended to use all the remaining time to break through to the second level of the Shen Nong Imperial Needle Technique!
With his previous experience, Han Lang knew that there were two major insurmountable difficulties in cultivating the Shen Nong Imperial Needle Technique.
First, one must fully inherit the legacy of the Shen Nong Heavenly Physician!
Without this as a foundation, the lethality of the golden needles would be reduced by ninety percent, and techniques like sealing meridians with golden needles would be practically unusable.
Therefore, this was also the fundamental reason why ordinary people could not practice the Shen Nong Imperial Needle Technique.
Second, the Shen Nong Imperial Needle Technique controls golden needles by dispersing the cultivator's divine consciousness, enabling each golden needle to have independent attack capabilities.
Under such circumstances, without a divine-level auxiliary cultivation method like the Heavenly Derivation Method, an ordinary person would likely spend decades of arduous cultivation to overcome the first level of the Shen Nong Imperial Needle Technique!
Let alone cultivating it to perfection and controlling eighteen golden needles simultaneously.
Han Lang's current cultivation at the middle stage of Foundation Establishment was just enough to meet the strength requirement for cultivating the second level of the Shen Nong Imperial Needle Technique, which was controlling six golden needles simultaneously!
According to the divine consciousness simulation method using the Heavenly Derivation Method, he estimated that increasing the number of golden needles by one per day should be feasible!
No sooner said than done!
Soon, deep within Han Lang's consciousness, tens of thousands of small white figures reappeared. From the moment they took shape, each figure had three golden needles suspended behind them, which was the number of golden needles controllable in the first level of the Shen Nong Imperial Needle Technique.
Then, they all exerted their strength, diligently controlling the three golden needles to prevent them from falling, while striving to make the fourth golden needle suspend.
This seemingly simple process was actually extremely torturous for the cultivator!
During the cultivation process, time seemed to freeze!
What appeared to be only a few minutes to outsiders felt like a thousand years to Han Lang, who was fully focused within his divine consciousness.
Even fine beads of sweat began to appear on his forehead.
Yet, he was completely unaware of it.
Suddenly,
With a "buzz."
The fourth golden needle steadily suspended before one of the thousands of white figures.
Almost simultaneously,
Within Han Lang's divine consciousness, a continuous hum reverberated!
All the small figures, as if self-taught, suspended the fourth golden needle.
Han Lang felt a surge of joy in his heart, knowing that his repeated efforts had not been in vain.
Without regard for his physical and mental fatigue, Han Lang lightly wiped the sweat from his face. Seizing the moment of exhilaration, he quickly familiarized himself with the control of four golden needles and immediately began the application of the fifth golden needle.
Time passed bit by bit. Han Lang, immersed in deep cultivation, remained motionless like an old monk in meditation for a full three days.
It wasn't until two days had passed.
The incessant alarm bells rang throughout the entire new recruit closed-door training area!
The doors of all the closed-door cultivation rooms opened, and young men who had been spirited and handsome three months ago emerged with stubble-covered faces and looks of exhaustion.
Some were in high spirits, likely having reaped significant rewards during these three months!
Others looked dejected, perhaps not having achieved their desired results!
However, regardless of whether they were happy or sad, after not seeing their friends for a full three months, the first thing they did upon exiting was to give their closest confidants a big hug.
Then, the entire corridor began to fill with a cacophony of discussions!
Just like students who had just finished an exam, they started comparing answers without any regard for anything else.
At this moment,
The stern voice of the acting squad leader, Huang Yuhua, echoed from the speakers on the ceiling on both sides of the corridor.
"Quick, quick, quick! Everyone, form up and exit the passage in order to undergo a strength test!"
Upon hearing this, the crowd immediately quieted down!
Everyone lined up in two long queues according to their cultivation room positions, gradually undergoing the inspection by Huang Yuhua, who stood at the end of the passage.
"Zhang Hu, early stage of Foundation Establishment, passed! Wait on the right!"
Zhang Hu heard this, his face filled with joy. He proudly held his head high and chest out, walking to Huang Yuhua's right side to await the completion of other members' inspections.
"Qian San, middle stage of Martial Artist, passed, wait on the right!"
Qian San took a deep breath, his eyes full of relief, and obediently stood behind Zhang Hu.
"Wang Si, thirteenth layer of Qi Refining, eliminated!"
Wang Si looked dejected. He was just a little bit short! If he had another ten days or half a month, he was confident he could break through.
Unfortunately, the rules of the Special Task Force were not to be broken, so he had to walk to Huang Yuhua's left side with a disappointed expression.
"Li Qi, early stage of Foundation Establishment, passed! Wait on the right!"
"Zhou Di, peak of Inner Strength, eliminated! Wait on the left!"
...
One after another, Huang Yuhua, like an emotionless machine, stood at the entrance, calling out the names of the testers one by one and announcing their test results.
Soon,
As the number of people on Huang Yuhua's sides grew, the number of people in the closed-door passage gradually decreased.
However, at this moment, Tang Qin, Ma Long, and the others were as anxious as ants on a hot pan!
Because,
Han Lang had still not come out!