Songling Prefecture Academy, Pill Hall.
Since Xu Hanzhou took command, the Great Yu Dynasty has won battle after battle, and the war with the Great Qian Dynasty has entered a fierce, white-hot phase.
The frontline’s demand for pills is like a bottomless pit; the pill furnaces run nonstop day and night.
On the stone steps of the courtyard, several disciples who had just recently joined were whispering among themselves, glancing repeatedly at the most elegant alchemy room not far away, their faces filled with unabashed admiration.
“Look, look! It’s Senior Brother Li!”
“Wow, Senior Brother Li’s moon-white Dao robe today is really handsome!”
“Exactly! Not only is he good-looking, but his talent for pill refining is the best the academy has seen in hundreds of years! I heard the ‘Pure Source Pill’ he improved is hard currency at the frontline now!”
A female disciple with a few freckles on her face propped her chin with her hands, eyes sparkling like stars but sighing with a hint of regret:
“Alas, it’s such a pity. I heard Senior Brother Li’s cultivation talent is just average. Now that he’s fourteen, his cultivation is still stuck at Refining Qi Stage Two, even lower than a Pill Hall steward.”
“So what!” a companion immediately retorted. “Our Senior Brother Li is a pill refiner! That’s someone even Foundation Establishment cultivators treat with respect! What does it matter if his cultivation is slow? He has plenty of spiritual pills to supplement himself! Besides, this is called specializing in one path—you wouldn’t understand!”The girls chattered away, completely unaware that the “steward with higher cultivation” they mentioned, Liu Zhishi, was standing outside the alchemy room’s door at that very moment.
He glanced at the tightly closed door, waiting patiently, no trace of his usual stubbornness. Inside, he felt both regret and fear.
Regret for having been blind and foolish in the past, daring to make things difficult for such a person. Fear because this young man’s pill refining talent was nothing short of a prodigy!
In just a few years, Li Mengze’s name had already resounded throughout the entire Pill Hall.
Not only could he consistently refine Pure Source Pills with seven or more pill patterns, but he often innovated, improving ancient pill formulas to results even better than the originals.
Now, not only a lowly steward but even several elders of the Pill Hall treated Li Mengze with great respect, politely calling him “Young Friend Li.”
“I was truly blind! He’s no country bumpkin. I just hope the masters can be magnanimous and not hold my past mistakes against me.”
Just then, the alchemy room door suddenly opened with a soft “ah.”
Li Mengze walked out and saw Liu Zhishi at the door, calmly asking, “Steward Liu, is there something you need?”
“Alchemist Li, thank you for your hard work,” Liu Zhishi quickly bowed with a respectful but not servile attitude. “This is the monthly herbal medicine ledger for the Pill Hall. Please review it.”
Li Mengze took the ledger without saying much, simply nodding, “Leave it here.”
“Yes, yes. Then I won’t disturb you further.” Liu Zhishi said no more and quickly withdrew.
Looking at his figure, Li Mengze remained completely unruffled.
He already understood that in this cultivation world, so-called respect is never granted by others’ charity but is earned bit by bit through one’s own strength.
He focused his mind and returned to his room, sitting cross-legged.
That night, the moonlight flowed like water.
Li Mengze’s spiritual energy around him was as tangible as substance.
The contribution points earned over the years from improving pill formulas had bought him vast amounts of spirit stones and rare medicinal herbs. All those resources had been poured into his own cultivation.
Within his dantian energy sea, his magical power had already become as full as a river at high tide, repeatedly crashing against the tangible barrier blocking him from Refining Qi Stage Seven.
Just a little more, just a little!
He could clearly feel that he was only separated from breakthrough by a thin sheet of paper.
He did not rush but used his exquisite control over various medicinal powers, honed from pill refining, to organize the massive spiritual energy meticulously. Then, guided by the “Breath of the Tree” heart method, he nurtured his meridians and soul over and over again.
After an unknown amount of time passed, when the last trace of medicinal power was fully refined, the surging torrent of magical power finally converged into an unbeatable giant wave!
“Boom!”
A muffled roar, as if from the depths of his soul, shattered the sturdy barrier on cue!
Li Mengze felt his entire body lighten, a sense of indescribable comfort and strength surging from every corner of his body.
His dantian energy sea expanded several times its previous size. Magical power spiraled and flowed endlessly.
His divine consciousness spread outward like a tide, easily covering the entire Pill Hall.
Refining Qi Stage Four!
He slowly opened his eyes. A brilliant gleam flashed through them, and the whole room seemed to brighten for a moment.
He rose and walked to the window, pushing it open. Gazing at the bright moon outside, memories of distant Peach Blossom Village surfaced, and his heart grew peaceful.
But the peace did not last long before a gentle voice sounded outside his door.
“Mengze, are you asleep?”
It was the voice of his teacher, Su Qingxue.
Li Mengze’s heart stirred. He immediately suppressed his aura and quickly went to open the door.
Su Qingxue stood quietly in the moonlight, wearing a moon-white long dress, a faint look of satisfaction on her face.
“Teacher’s late-night visit—is there something important?”
“You’re quite humble and steady, child.”
Su Qingxue smiled softly, appraising her disciple from head to toe with growing satisfaction. “I have huge news to tell you.”
She paused, her expression turning solemn. “Although the war between the dynasty and Great Qian is temporarily at a stalemate, our Great Yu army is strong and has the support of many immortal sects. Victory is only a matter of time. The emperor is greatly pleased and has decreed to reopen the Pill Refining Bureau in the royal capital to cultivate true pill refining masters for the dynasty.”
“Pill Refining Bureau?” Li Mengze was shaken.
“Yes,” Su Qingxue nodded. “Songling Prefecture has earned a recommendation quota, and you, Mengze, are unanimously chosen by me and the entire academy.”
She looked at Li Mengze with eyes full of expectation. “Mengze, this is not only your honor but the entire Li family’s glory. If you pass the final selection and become a reserve pill refiner for the royal family, your Li family will be considered a true Immortal Clan throughout the Great Yu Dynasty!”
Li Mengze’s heart surged with emotion.
Royal family pill refiner!
What a noble and glorious status!
He took a deep breath and respectfully bowed to Su Qingxue.
“Teacher, please rest assured.”
“I will not fail your trust!”
Dragon Palace, Five Elements Hall.
The numbers on Li Pingcan’s panel changed once again.
[Water (35/70)]
[Metal (31/70)]
[Fire (33/70)]
The three attributes of Water, Metal, and Fire all broke through the 30-point mark together, leaping from low-grade spiritual roots to the level of middle-grade spiritual roots!
At that moment, Li Pingcan felt an indescribable transformation in both his body and soul.
The previously distinct spiritual energy attributes in his body now subtly began to flow and support each other. The magical power spirals in his dantian energy sea had also grown stronger and more condensed.
With the Five Elements complete, the foundation was self-established!
“Boom!”
Accompanied by a muffled roar from deep within his soul, the magical power inside him, which had already reached the peak of Refining Qi Stage Six, surged like a flood breaking through the final barrier!
His dantian energy sea expanded again, magical power roared, and his divine consciousness spread outward like a tide. Within dozens of miles, every breeze and grass movement was clear to his mind.
Refining Qi Stage Seven!
Li Pingcan exhaled deeply. These years of hard cultivation had not been in vain.
What surprised him even more was that with his breakthrough and strengthened soul, the fungal carpet network spreading everywhere had become extraordinarily active, like a collection of high-definition “cameras.” The distant scenes were vividly clear in his mind.
At that moment, the Fungal Lord Domain seemed to break through an invisible boundary.
His consciousness broke free from regional constraints, traveling along the mushroom spore network spanning everywhere, instantly crossing thousands of mountains and rivers to reach a territory he had never set foot in.
That was a land soaked in blood and fire.
Not far away in the sky, two Foundation Establishment cultivators were fiercely battling. The brilliance of magical implements and Dao arts flickered in the sky. Each clash made the mountains and rivers tremble.
Shouts of killing, clashing weapons, and the roars of demonic beasts echoed. Even across the vast space, the aura of blood and fire sent a thrill down the spine.
This was the border battlefield.
Li Pingcan quickly located Li Yuantu’s troops, who were tangled with a Crimson Flame Army force.
His gaze swiftly scanned the battlefield, and suddenly the “camera” stopped at an inconspicuous corner.
There, in a crater repeatedly plowed by explosions, a female cultivator dressed in a cyan Dao robe was leaning against the pit wall. A huge blood hole was in her chest as she staggered on her flying sword toward a distant valley, seemingly doomed.
Judging by the lingering spiritual energy fluctuations on her, she was at least in the late Refining Qi stage. Clutched tightly in her hand was a jade slip emitting a strange light.
“Another unlucky one...”
Li Mengze sighed heavily and was about to look away out of habit.
But in the next moment, he suddenly stopped.
“This jade slip, this spiritual energy fluctuation—it’s clearly not a mundane object!”
For a moment, Li Mengze’s heart battled between heaven and man.
Should he go or not?
Reason told him that the battlefield was filled with strong foes, danger lurking everywhere.
But the temptation of the jade slip whispered like a devil in his ear.
“Fortune favors the bold! Besides, I have the Windriding talent and Divine Movement Talisman.”
“That female cultivator is dying at the remote battlefield edge. If I sneak in quietly and take it without anyone noticing, who would find out?”
Li Pingcan did not appear directly but used his Earth Shaping ability to silently infiltrate underground like a swimming fish, swiftly approaching the dying cultivator beneath the chaotic battlefield.
The cultivator seemed to sense something and struggled to lift her head but had no strength even to move a finger.
The life in her eyes rapidly faded as she could only watch a man in black wearing a ghost-face mask slowly “grow” from the mud king beneath his feet.
“You...”
“Don’t speak. I’ll send you off.”
Li Pingcan’s voice was hoarse and low. Without any nonsense, a palm strike decisively ended her suffering.
He took a swift step forward to pocket the jade slip.
But just as his fingertip was about to touch it, a strong sense of danger suddenly swept through his heart!
“Not good!”
Without hesitation, he activated his Windriding talent to the extreme, retreating backward at an incredible angle!
Almost simultaneously, “Boom!”
The female cultivator’s corpse suddenly exploded without warning!
A black shockwave mixed with the stench of blood and flesh swept across a ten-meter radius!
Although Li Pingcan retreated quickly, the edge of the shockwave still grazed him. His protective Mystical Tortoise Armor shook violently, and his blood qi surged in his chest.
“What a vicious trap!”
He stared at the ground corroded by black energy with a sizzling sound, heart pounding with fear.
Fortunately, he had prepared thoroughly. These battlefield cultivators were far more ruthless than scattered cultivators. Even in death, they set terrifying traps like this!
Time was of the essence; delay would bring disaster.
Li Pingcan expertly and swiftly ransacked the target’s storage pouch, magical implements, and everything valuable.
He even stripped off her tattered second-rank magic robes.
“Even mosquito legs are meat; can’t waste anything,” he thought silently.
He then burned the corpse to ashes with a ball of fire, satisfied, and slipped back underground, vanishing without a trace.
The entire process flowed like water, taking only a dozen breaths.
Far away, the battlefield’s killing sounds raged on, with no one noticing the inheritance transfer that just took place in this tiny corner.
Returning to his Spirit Mountain cave abode, Li Pingcan began counting his “unexpected gains.”
“No wonder she’s a dynasty cultivator; her background is solid.”
In the storage pouch were dozens of middle-grade spirit stones and several bottles of holy healing pills. Most surprising was an ancient beast skin scroll.
On the scroll, an extremely complex formation was drawn with runes he could not understand.
“This is...”
He sent his divine consciousness into it, and a vast flood of information instantly flooded his mind.
A second-rank superior formation, the Nine Suns Spirit Refining Formation!
This formation could activate underground true fire, supplemented by the earth vein spiritual energy, forging a large “roasting furnace” in a region of space.
It could not only temper magical implements but also purify spiritual energy, even... forge a cultivator’s physical body and soul at the deepest level!
“What a domineering formation!”
Li Pingcan was shocked. “If this were laid out on Peach Blossom Mountain, wouldn’t that...”
He dared not think further; the image was too beautiful, stirring his heart.
“This matter is not urgent; meals must be eaten one bite at a time.”
He hurried to seek advice from the formation spirit teacher in Dragon Palace. With his current formation skills, he was not yet capable of setting such a formation and needed a master’s guidance.