Ascended Without Me: Cultivating with a Genius Son | Chapter 69 | Refining the Spirit | Novela.app

Inside Yuhua Hall of Dongyang Palace, Li Xue looked at Daoist Yuhong with pure admiration. She complimented him, saying, "Master, you truly are brilliant. When an old veteran takes the field, he’s worth two of the rest!" Li Lin rolled his eyes at the comment, but Daoist Yuhong looked quite pleased with himself. Li Xue’s praise was sincere. After her master’s public outburst, no one would dare bother Li Lin again. It was a perfect, permanent solution. It seemed the saying was true: the older the ginger, the spicier it gets. These thousand-year-old "monsters" were all as cunning as foxes. Upon returning to Chonghua Hall, Li Xue and Li Lin began preparing to refine the Spirit-Restoring Pills. Shortly after, Li Xue received a transmission from Yiyi offering an apology. Li Xue sent back a polite, formal reply. Since Yiyi had treated her friends as pawns in her schemes, there was no longer any need to consider her a true friend. The debt of gratitude for the pill Yiyi had once gifted her had long been repaid through the steady stream of high-grade spiritual pills Li Xue had given in return. As for Yiyi’s original motives for giving that pill, Li Xue didn't care to dwell on them. There was no point wasting time on such people. In the cultivation world, as one’s lifespan increased, those who could remain true friends were few and far between, let alone under these circumstances. Furthermore, Yu Ming had learned that Yun Mingxuan’s decision to enter "death seclusion" was also related to Yiyi. As for the specifics, no one knew; they would have to wait until Yun Mingxuan emerged. With the monster cores bestowed by Daoist Yuhong and the dozen or so provided by Perfected Jingyuan, they had nearly fifty in total. The materials they had gathered were enough to attempt at least ten batches. By using Li Lin and Li Xue’s Yang spiritual power to temper the pills, achieving a yield of one or two pills per batch should be no problem. Normally, a single batch of Spirit-Restoring Pills could yield anywhere from zero to five pills; with the help of Yang spiritual power, the success rate would be significantly higher. After receiving the thousand-year-old spirit herbs from his disciple Yu Ming, Perfected Jingyuan had also entered seclusion to attempt a breakthrough to the late stage of Core Formation. The materials Li Xue had collected were exactly enough for eleven batches. Thus, Li Xue, Li Lin, and Yu Ming entered the alchemy room of Yuanhua Hall together to begin the refinement process. After more than three months of labor, the three of them emerged with a total of ten Spirit-Restoring Pills. Yu Ming took three, one of which he intended to give to Yiyi to finally settle the debt of the past pill gift. Although the sect had already obtained the recipe for these boundary-breaking pills, the materials used in this batch were all several thousand—or even ten thousand—years old. Combined with the tempering of Yang spiritual power, these pills were several times more effective than those refined through ordinary means. Originally, Yu Ming had considered giving her a Heavenly Heart Pill as well, but reflecting on Yiyi’s excessive pragmatism and her lack of genuine friendship, he realized that giving her such a treasure would likely only bring them trouble. He ultimately decided against it. When Li Xue learned of Yu Ming’s thoughts, she mused privately: *If Yiyi knew what she was missing, she would surely die of regret.* But no one was a fool; if you do not treat your friends with sincerity, they naturally won't treat you with sincerity in return. This common sense applied to mortals and cultivators alike. Li Xue and Li Lin divided the remaining pills. They made sure to set aside one each for Ji Rufeng and Yun Mingxuan, leaving them with more than enough for themselves. Coincidentally, it was at this time that Yun Mingxuan emerged from his seclusion. Inside Chonghua Hall, Yun Mingxuan spoke to everyone with a look of relief. "Ah, I certainly made the right choice going into seclusion this time. Look at that—I’ve come out, and all the trouble has vanished!" Li Lin’s lip twitched as he asked, "Exactly what kind of matter required you to go into death seclusion?" Yun Mingxuan looked at Li Lin helplessly. "It was all because of you!" This shocked everyone. Li Xue asked in confusion, "What exactly happened?" "Sigh, it was about Li Lin’s dual cultivation," Yun Mingxuan said with a sigh. "That girl in our Yun family with the Gold spiritual root is arrogant and domineering. Whoever marries her is in for a lifetime of misery!" "What?!" Li Xue, Li Lin, and Yu Ming were all incensed, their distaste for Yiyi deepening. "And Yiyi—she is now the Sect Leader’s wife, and she once gave me a pill, so I owed her a favor. She wanted me to come and persuade Li Lin. How could I do such a thing? Yet I couldn't openly refuse her either. I wanted to warn you, but you were all in seclusion for so long. I didn't know what Great-Grandmaster Yuhong’s stance was, and I didn't dare leave a transmission talisman, so I had no choice but to go into death seclusion!" Yun Mingxuan explained helplessly. So that was it. The expressions of the three listeners turned grim. Yun Mingxuan continued, "Actually, Yiyi is overthinking things. With her status as the Sect Leader’s wife and her special constitution, she is highly valued not just by the Yun family, but by the entire sect. There was absolutely no need for her to resort to such schemes. I truly don't understand her reasoning." Li Lin, however, hit the nail on the head. "It’s called 'a heart unsatisfied is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant.'" "Oh? Xiao Lin, when did you learn that saying? It’s a very apt metaphor," Li Xue teased with a smile. Li Lin curled his lip. "Does one even need to 'learn' that? I heard it once and remembered it." "Yes, that’s exactly right. It is simply insatiable greed," Yun Mingxuan and Yu Ming both agreed.