Inside the alchemy room of Jingyuan Hall, Jingyuan, Li Lin, and Yu Ming stared with wide eyes as Li Xue pulled out one storage bag after another. She began unloading various spiritual herbs from the bags, quickly filling several material storage bays to the brim.
"Junior Sister, what... what are you doing?" Perfected Cultivator Jingyuan asked, swallowing hard. Looking at the sheer volume of materials, he wondered if she had somehow plundered the Cloud Might Sect’s entire store of low-level spiritual herbs.
"Refining pills, of course. I spent nearly a year purchasing materials for Spirit Gathering Pills just so we could refine high-grade ones!" Li Xue said, her expression unchanged.
"Mother, why refine so many high-grade Spirit Gathering Pills? Don't you still have two bottles of White Spirit Pills?" Li Lin couldn't help but ask.
"To sell, obviously. I need to earn spirit stones!" Li Xue replied while organizing the herbs. "Oh, don't just stand there. Everyone, help out!"
"Sister, if you're short on spirit stones, I have plenty here. Take as many as you need!" Jingyuan offered generously.
"I need to collect materials for realm-advancement pills—Soul Returning Pills for the Foundation Establishment stage, Primordial Spirit Pills for the Core Formation stage, and so on. Those materials all need to be over a thousand years old. Senior Brother, do you really have that many spirit stones?" Li Xue’s hands never stopped moving even as she spoke.
"Soul Returning Pills? Primordial Spirit Pills?" Jingyuan’s eyes bulged. He asked urgently, "Sister, do you have the recipes?"
Li Xue shook her head. "No!"
Jingyuan instantly deflated. "Sister," he said helplessly, "how can you collect materials if you don't even have the recipes?"
"Senior Brother, if you wait until you have the recipe to start looking for materials, will you be able to find them immediately? Besides, will you have enough spirit stones then? This is called planning for a rainy day," Li Xue said calmly.
The three of them were stunned for a moment, then felt a wave of speechlessness. Her "planning for a rainy day" was a bit too grand in scale.
"Originally, I planned to let Xiao Lin refine them, and I’d join in once I learned how. Now that we have Xiao Ming, the three of us working together will be faster. Right, Xiao Ming, we’ll split the profits—the more you work, the more you earn. As for Senior Brother, I’ll leave the sect missions to you. Once I’ve collected the materials for the realm-advancement pills, I can share some with you!" Li Xue began laying out her plan, looking quite pleased with herself.
The trio felt even more speechless. Their future days looked positively grueling; they imagined they would be doing nothing but refining Spirit Gathering Pills whenever they weren't cultivating. However, Li Xue was right about one thing: any high-level material required a massive amount of spirit stones. Even with Chen Jingyuan’s current net worth, he wouldn't be able to afford several thousand-year-old spiritual herbs if he encountered them.
"Alas, the recipe for the Soul Returning Pill was lost five thousand years ago. Otherwise, why would reaching Core Formation be getting harder and harder?" Jingyuan lamented from the side.
Li Xue and Li Lin sighed in sympathy, but a sharp glint flickered briefly in Yu Ming’s eyes. He seemed to reach a decision. Looking up, he said, "I know the recipe."
"What?" Perfected Cultivator Jingyuan felt like his heart was being put through a sieve by these people—one moment filled with hope, the next with disappointment. Fortunately, as a Core Formation cultivator, his will was firm. He glared intensely at Yu Ming. "Xiao Ming, if you’re talking nonsense, I’ll have you refine pills for three years—no, ten years! You’ll refine Spirit Gathering Pills for ten years without a single moment’s rest!"
A metaphorical flight of crows passed over the heads of Li Xue and the others. Perfected Cultivator Jingyuan truly couldn't separate anything from alchemy; he even used it as a threat.
"Back when I was a rogue cultivator, I once entered an ancient cultivator’s cave dwelling. I obtained the recipe there," Yu Ming said, pulling out a jade slip and handing it respectfully to Jingyuan. He had indeed entered an ancient cave dwelling back then, but it had been abandoned for so long that there was nothing of value inside. However, others didn't know that. He would have many occasions to use spiritual herbs in the future, and he couldn't keep hiding everything forever. It was better to explain it now than to be found out later. Furthermore, he had decided to produce some even more heaven-defying items; that way, if he brought out thousand-year-old herbs in the future, they wouldn't seem quite so conspicuous.
"I also have a bottle of pills here. I’ve checked many archives, and I suspect it might be a spiritual pill called the Heavenly Heart Pill, but I wasn't certain and didn't dare ask anyone else to identify it," Yu Ming added, producing another bottle.
Before Yu Ming could finish, Jingyuan snatched the bottle. He opened it and poured out a single pill. A surge of spiritual energy that seemed to penetrate to the depths of the soul radiated outward, making everyone in the room feel instantly refreshed and clear-headed.
"That’s right, this is the Heavenly Heart Pill! Heavens, to think there are so many of such a heaven-defying pill!" Perfected Cultivator Jingyuan completely lost his composure as a Core Formation master, gesticulating wildly with joy.
"Master, what does the Heavenly Heart Pill do?" Li Lin asked curiously.
"The Heavenly Heart Pill is a medicine used to resist inner demons. It works regardless of one's realm; it even has a significant effect for those at the Deity Transformation or Tribulation Transcendence stages!" Jingyuan explained.
Yu Ming’s heart stirred. Perfected Cultivator Jingyuan truly lived up to his reputation as an exceptional alchemist, recognizing a pill that had been lost for tens of thousands of years. His respect for his master deepened.
